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Hello Everyone,
I just got off the waitlist at Toledo and now have some difficulty deciding between Toledo and Rosalind Franklin. I need to make the decision within a couple days. If anyone can offer any input, it would be most appreciated.
What I am ideally looking for: To be well-prepared for matching into a residency back in CA while having an enjoyable time doing it. At this point in time, I am open to both primary care and competitive specialties.
RFU
Pros:
First 2 years P/F
Inter-professional environment (will be interacting with lots of other kinds of healthcare professional students)
3rd and 4th year: Clinical rotations are done in downtown Chicago, including Cook County hospital. This allows for a diverse range of patient exposure. I think its because of this why RFUs match list has been so impressive in recent years. In short, it has a great history of matching into excellent residencies.
Cons:
Due to a large class size (almost 200) and that the facilities are shared with so many other kinds of students, the campus seems a bit cramped. Will it be easy to find a study space on campus or simply a place to sit down at the cafeteria?
Also, the campus is located in North Chicago, which is an isolated area about 45 minutes away from the Chicago everyone knows and loves. Is it difficult to find recreational areas during the first 2 years? I hear people comment that you will be too busy studying for the first 2 years anyways to have time to go out anywhere. This may be true, but I would like a nice break every once in a while. Being closed up in a room with your books for weeks does not seem healthy to me.
In short, do students feel trapped and isolated for their first 2 years?
I feel RFU will prepare students well during their clinical rotations for matching into great residency programs. Im just a little concerned if CMS students dont enjoy the first 2 years as much as they could be.
Pros:
Amazingly friendly atmosphere! The people there seemed so nice and supportive.
Beautiful campus including their own testing center for Step 1
Community Care Clinic (basically they have a student-run clinic) for some early patient exposure
CoA is a little cheaper than RFU (about 40k less). This is assuming I get in-state tuition after 1st year. This was estimated by comparing the budget guides both schools gave me.
There are enough fun places nearby to allow students to relieve some stress if needed.
Cons:
Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail Grading
Many people stay in the Toledo area or Michigan for residency. This makes sense since the school serves the Northwest region of Ohio as a state school. However, does that make it difficult for students to match back to CA for residency? It may be that Californians are not as significantly represented in the student body as they are in RFU, which would skew the match list results but Im not too sure about that.
There is a strong emphasis on rural medicine. My concern is that because of that, the patient exposure during clinical rotations will not be as a diverse as a big city area like downtown Chicago. Will this make it difficult to secure a competitive residency if I choose to pursue it?
I loved the atmosphere of the school when I visited, but I feel that by coming here it would close the doors to some opportunities, such as matching back to CA and/or matching into a competitive residency.
Any input? Thanks.
I just got off the waitlist at Toledo and now have some difficulty deciding between Toledo and Rosalind Franklin. I need to make the decision within a couple days. If anyone can offer any input, it would be most appreciated.
What I am ideally looking for: To be well-prepared for matching into a residency back in CA while having an enjoyable time doing it. At this point in time, I am open to both primary care and competitive specialties.
RFU
Pros:
First 2 years P/F
Inter-professional environment (will be interacting with lots of other kinds of healthcare professional students)
3rd and 4th year: Clinical rotations are done in downtown Chicago, including Cook County hospital. This allows for a diverse range of patient exposure. I think its because of this why RFUs match list has been so impressive in recent years. In short, it has a great history of matching into excellent residencies.
Cons:
Due to a large class size (almost 200) and that the facilities are shared with so many other kinds of students, the campus seems a bit cramped. Will it be easy to find a study space on campus or simply a place to sit down at the cafeteria?
Also, the campus is located in North Chicago, which is an isolated area about 45 minutes away from the Chicago everyone knows and loves. Is it difficult to find recreational areas during the first 2 years? I hear people comment that you will be too busy studying for the first 2 years anyways to have time to go out anywhere. This may be true, but I would like a nice break every once in a while. Being closed up in a room with your books for weeks does not seem healthy to me.
In short, do students feel trapped and isolated for their first 2 years?
I feel RFU will prepare students well during their clinical rotations for matching into great residency programs. Im just a little concerned if CMS students dont enjoy the first 2 years as much as they could be.
Pros:
Amazingly friendly atmosphere! The people there seemed so nice and supportive.
Beautiful campus including their own testing center for Step 1
Community Care Clinic (basically they have a student-run clinic) for some early patient exposure
CoA is a little cheaper than RFU (about 40k less). This is assuming I get in-state tuition after 1st year. This was estimated by comparing the budget guides both schools gave me.
There are enough fun places nearby to allow students to relieve some stress if needed.
Cons:
Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail Grading
Many people stay in the Toledo area or Michigan for residency. This makes sense since the school serves the Northwest region of Ohio as a state school. However, does that make it difficult for students to match back to CA for residency? It may be that Californians are not as significantly represented in the student body as they are in RFU, which would skew the match list results but Im not too sure about that.
There is a strong emphasis on rural medicine. My concern is that because of that, the patient exposure during clinical rotations will not be as a diverse as a big city area like downtown Chicago. Will this make it difficult to secure a competitive residency if I choose to pursue it?
I loved the atmosphere of the school when I visited, but I feel that by coming here it would close the doors to some opportunities, such as matching back to CA and/or matching into a competitive residency.
Any input? Thanks.
