University of Kentucky vs. Louisville

[ashleyjessie]

I got into both and can't make a decision!! ANy thoughts???

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[carramrod]

I've looked at UK and UofL pretty extensively (friends at both), and my thoughts are that the pre-clinical years are a little better at UK--stronger profs, nicer schedule, etc; but that years 3 and 4 are better at UofL, with a stronger group of hospitals/clinical options to select from. I liked both, but for me the entire decision is coming down to finances anyways. Just on their merits, I liked UK a little more, but I'm biased and from Lexington so take it for what its worth.

 

[MarzMD]

All the cool people go to UK.

 

[Dimness]

Go to UK.

 

[doctor0125]

go blue

 

[Texas Jayhawk]

I got into both and can't make a decision!! ANy thoughts???

My Dad is a U of L medical school graduate. He now practices in Lexington. After talking with him, I think he feels that UK offers a better medical education these days. UK seems to have more support and funding. In my opinion, however, I like Louisville better than Lexington, and I'm all about the clinical experiences. It's a tough call.

 

[JDUB44]

Well I didn't apply to louisville, but i'm more than likely gonna attend UK. I've been accepted at UT but lexington is just closer than memphis.

 

[jjp1633]

Which city is the least expensive for living?

 

[Steve203]

louisevile has a better football team and a better basketball team...its a no brainer

 

[premedgirl07]

Louisville hands down.

 

[WillyWonka]

I got into both and can't make a decision!! ANy thoughts???

Congrats on getting into both schools. I am jealous! I am a KY resident and I will definitely apply to both schools. I'd like to know your thought process.

What decision did you end up making? What criteria did you use? Thanks a lot!

 

[sosarah]

Since this thread is over a year old, I don't know if Ashley will actually reply. But since I know her, I can tell you that she ultimately chose Louisville and seems pretty happy with it. She's doing the Trover program so I think the final decision had to do with financial aid.

 

[Crono]

I'm in a similar spot. Anyone else have anything to add to the discussion or why she chose U of L?

 

[lildave2586]

I'm from Owensboro so I'm in state and was also deciding between these two schools. I came to the decision to attend U of L. Many of the doctors that I worked with in the operating room pushed me towards U of L. Everyone said that the clincal experience you get in Louisville can't be matched in Lexington. You just get to see a larger variety of cases. Also, I want to go into surgery, and U of L has a top 10 surgical training residency. They take 5 U of L grads every year automatically, so that was the selling point for me.

If you want to go into a field like surgery, Louisville is the place for you. However, if IM is your field of choice, UK may suit you just as well. THey do have the tuition program that locks in your rate freshman year, so that's a plus. But the way I figure, we are all going to be in debt anyway so what's another 50K?

Another reason why I chose Louisville is because I have a cousin who graduated there last year. He was extremely pleased with his medical education and really pushed for me to settle on U of L. He is at UAB right now doing a residency in Urology, and he said he did more surgery as a med student at Louisville than he has done as a surgical resident at UAB.

However, if you want to be a physician scientist, I think UK would be a better choice right now. THey are getting more research dollars than Lousivlle.

So here's my quick snyopsis:
If you want to go into the following fields go to U of L: Surgery, Peds(how can you not, I mean they have Kosair!!)

If you want to go into the following fields, go to UK: IM, MD/PhD/research

I could go on and on about which school is better but at the end of the day each has its strong points. U of L is for some people and UK is for others. It just so happens the U of L is for me because of Surgery.

 

[LikeClockWork]

I'm from Owensboro so I'm in state and was also deciding between these two schools. I came to the decision to attend U of L. Many of the doctors that I worked with in the operating room pushed me towards U of L. Everyone said that the clincal experience you get in Louisville can't be matched in Lexington. You just get to see a larger variety of cases. Also, I want to go into surgery, and U of L has a top 10 surgical training residency. They take 5 U of L grads every year automatically, so that was the selling point for me.

If you want to go into a field like surgery, Louisville is the place for you. However, if IM is your field of choice, UK may suit you just as well. THey do have the tuition program that locks in your rate freshman year, so that's a plus. But the way I figure, we are all going to be in debt anyway so what's another 50K?

Another reason why I chose Louisville is because I have a cousin who graduated there last year. He was extremely pleased with his medical education and really pushed for me to settle on U of L. He is at UAB right now doing a residency in Urology, and he said he did more surgery as a med student at Louisville than he has done as a surgical resident at UAB.

However, if you want to be a physician scientist, I think UK would be a better choice right now. THey are getting more research dollars than Lousivlle.

So here's my quick snyopsis:
If you want to go into the following fields go to U of L: Surgery, Peds(how can you not, I mean they have Kosair!!)

If you want to go into the following fields, go to UK: IM, MD/PhD/research

I could go on and on about which school is better but at the end of the day each has its strong points. U of L is for some people and UK is for others. It just so happens the U of L is for me because of Surgery.

Also consider that UK is building a spiffy new hospital that should be ready for the class of 2012's two clinical years. So UK may gain a little bit in the clinical aspects (though it won't have the diversity of UofL's hospital choices - I think there are 3 or 4 right around campus).

 

[Crono]

I'm interested in surgery but I thought the U of L has been getting a lot more research money since 2000? I'm interested in doing research (helps for a lot of surgery residencies) and I figured UoL would have good opportunities there since they are in a city (and from what the admissions people said, they've been making a push there)...

 

[lildave2586]

I'm interested in surgery but I thought the U of L has been getting a lot more research money since 2000? I'm interested in doing research (helps for a lot of surgery residencies) and I figured UoL would have good opportunities there since they are in a city (and from what the admissions people said, they've been making a push there)...

They have been getting more money but UK still tops them. That might change after the new research buildings are finished. However, if you want to go into surgery I think it would be foolish to choose UK over U of L. There are just too many opportunities at U of L with surgical specialties and subspecialties. In fact I heard recently that they are restarting the Urology residency.

Someone mentioned the hospitals where rotations are done at Louisville. It is a very diverse list including Nortons, Jewish, Kosair children's, University Hospital (all 4 within walking distance of campus) and the VA hospital which is about 4 miles from campus. It's hard to find such clinical opportunity within walking distance of a medical campus.

 

[Crono]

Well, I'm not 100% certain I want to do surgery since I haven't spent anytime in the OR other than a little shadowing, you know?

Does anyone know if the pass/fail @ UoL is only the first two years or does it (unlike every other place I've looked at) run through all four years? Oh, I'm pretty certain UK has AOA, does UoL?

Also, you said they're getting more money. As in the amount of money coming in is going up or they're making more than UK? The reason I'm wondering about this is because it seems more and more important to have research experience/publications if one wants to get into surgery...

 

[DrBowtie]

Well, I'm not 100% certain I want to do surgery since I haven't spent anytime in the OR other than a little shadowing, you know?

Does anyone know if the pass/fail @ UoL is only the first two years or does it (unlike every other place I've looked at) run through all four years? Oh, I'm pretty certain UK has AOA, does UoL?

Also, you said they're getting more money. As in the amount of money coming in is going up or they're making more than UK? The reason I'm wondering about this is because it seems more and more important to have research experience/publications if one wants to get into surgery...

UL is H/P/F which is just one less level than UK's A/B/C/F.
U of L does have AOA.

 

[Crono]

I can't find the info online, but you wouldn't happen to know how students do on Step 1 and match at both schools, would you DrBowtie?

 

[DrBowtie]

I can't find the info online, but you wouldn't happen to know how students do on Step 1 and match at both schools, would you DrBowtie?

Step 1's are not officially published and their match lists can be found various places with the majority of people matching in KY. In terms of variety of matches, they are pretty equal. A few in each of the competitive specialties.

 

[Crono]

I found UoL's match list but I can't find it for UK. As for step 1s most places give a passing rate or something (that I've seen).

So besides surgery, which specialties are better at UL or UK (i.e. what departments would draw you either way)? Any advice as to which way to go?

Oh, and thanks for the help - how's your trek to med school going?

 

[lildave2586]

I found UoL's match list but I can't find it for UK. As for step 1s most places give a passing rate or something (that I've seen).

So besides surgery, which specialties are better at UL or UK (i.e. what departments would draw you either way)? Any advice as to which way to go?

Oh, and thanks for the help - how's your trek to med school going?

Definitely Peds/ Med Peds. They have some of the best pediatric oncologists in the country practicing at Kosair and a lot of them are on staff as asistant professors. When I was a kid I went to one of the pediatric oncologists who happens to be on the admissions board now. I think it may have helped me get in haha.

 

[themaplekind]

we really aught to start posting on this forum again, now that another cycle of acceptances has begun.

one thing i've seen in talking with interviewers and students and researching each school is that UL has the better clinical years and UK has the better preclinical years. This knowledge makes me lean more toward UK just because I will be better prepared for Step 1. I know that a good score on Step 1 isn't everything, but I am under the impression that it does mean a lot. Am I right in assuming that UK will actually prepare me better for Step 1?

I would love some feedback, insight, etc.

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to 'school specific discussions' forum.

 

[DrRower]

we really aught to start posting on this forum again, now that another cycle of acceptances has begun.

one thing i've seen in talking with interviewers and students and researching each school is that UL has the better clinical years and UK has the better preclinical years. This knowledge makes me lean more toward UK just because I will be better prepared for Step 1. I know that a good score on Step 1 isn't everything, but I am under the impression that it does mean a lot. Am I right in assuming that UK will actually prepare me better for Step 1?

I would love some feedback, insight, etc.

Ahh, these things are never that simple, haha! Your logic is good, however, it is common that when a school drastically changes their formal curriculum design, the next batch of students to take boards tends to score poorly. This happened at UofL several years ago. Just a couple years ago UK went from day-long lectures to 8AM-noon lectures only. The first class of kids to have 4 hour lecture days, according to numerous accounts from UK students I know, "bombed" their boards. I have no idea how -- low scores, more people failing, or simply not as good overall as in the past -- but it's something to keep in mind. Only one class of 8-noon students have had their board scores reported as far as I know. Someone please let us all know if this hearsay isn't right

Interestingly, current students at UofL told me they heard UK's scores were a tad better. Current students at UK thought UofL's were a bit higher.

 

[themaplekind]

That is interesting. Does anyone happen to know the board scores? There must some objective piece of info to help us make a more informed decision.

 

[aSagacious]

There must some objective piece of info to help us make a more informed decision.

Here are some random objective facts:

Class size:
UK - 113
UL - 160

Debt at graduation:
UK - 142k
UL - 142k

Student-to-faculty ratio:
UK - 1.8
UL - 1.2

% Primary care residency:
UK - 42
UL - 38

NIH$ (millions) / $-per-faculty (thousands):
UK - 88/107
UL - 59/77

Associated teaching hospitals:
UK - 3 (4 now?)
UL - 6

Curriculum:
UK - Traditional, 8-12 lectures
UL - Traditional, 8-12 lectures

...if you couldn't tell, they are VERY similar by the numbers. Flip a coin.

 

[bucks2010]

I am reposting my analysis here from the Louisville thread:

Louisville pros:
- aside from the first semester, the preclinical exams are all block exams. every 6 weeks or so on a Friday, you will have several hours of exams with questions that cover material from every class that block (the exams might be cumulative but I'm not sure). the advantages to this are that the questions are supposedly USMLE-style so it prepares you will for Step I. also, since you have one big exam every 6 weeks, you do get some time to rest after exams, which I think would be better than having 1 exam every 2 weeks or whatever. I think students typically have no classes on the week leading up to a block exam, and the week after is sometimes/usually an ICM week (patient skills) so you get a break from studying. the curriculum is more traditional with biochem, physio, etc. 1st year and pharm, path, etc. 2nd year, but supposedly the more high-yield Step I material is taught more towards the end of 2nd year. also, you have several classes at a time and the classes themselves are spread out over many weeks. so you may cover Path and Pharm over the majority of 2nd year vs. covering each one separately and independently -- I will talk more about this in the UK part.

- the clinical resources available in Louisville are the best in the state. it just comes with having a larger medical center that serves a larger population. 4 great hospitals within a few city blocks, plus a decent VA not far away. I've heard many good things about the clinical years at Louisville and have no doubt that it would prepare you well for intern year and beyond. chances are you will rotate through all of the teaching hospitals at some point and thus get exposure to several different types of practice (& patient populations).

- you get a long summer after M1 -- I want to say 12+ weeks? good time to do research if you are so inclined.

- plenty of research resources available. summer research opportunities post-M1 and the distinction in research track offer more structured ways of finding research projects, but there are also plenty of opportunities to seek out things on your own.

Kentucky pros:
- "block-style" curriculum. this could be a pro or con depending on your own opinion. basically, with the UK system you will only have one class at a time. so, fall of M1, you will study anatomy and only anatomy for x number of weeks before moving on. it's good if you like to focus on one thing at a time. on the flip side, it may be more difficult if you think you'd get burned out only having one subject to study, or that you may have more difficulty integrating everything you're learning and remembering it for Step I.

- class schedule. 8-noon + occasional afternoon commitments. the tradeoff is you lose the long summer that Louisville has.

- the research opportunities are a little more well-publicized. the school funds a summer research fellowship + even a year-long experience if you are so inclined.

- the educational and clinical facilities are pristine. classroom facilities are probably <5 years old, or at least they look like it, and the new hospital looks fantastic. the caveat with UK's new hospital though is that it is open in a limited capacity right now and there are no guarantees as to how much of it will be open in time for our clinical years.

Neutral:
Louisville vs. Lexington -- mid-sized midwestern city vs. sleepy college town. preference for location comes down to your own opinion. Louisville has many of the amenities available in most midwestern cities while still having a successful independent business & cultural scene. Lexington has fewer amenities, but you're literally minutes away from the countryside if you like the rural environment more.

also it is important to note that both schools put all of their lectures online, so class attendance is not mandatory and you are free to find a way to study that works best for you.

 

[bucks2010]

Here are some random objective facts:

Class size:
UK - 113
UL - 160

Debt at graduation:
UK - 142k
UL - 142k

Student-to-faculty ratio:
UK - 1.8
UL - 1.2

% Primary care residency:
UK - 42
UL - 38

NIH$ (millions) / $-per-faculty (thousands):
UK - 88/107
UL - 59/77

Associated teaching hospitals:
UK - 3 (4 now?)
UL - 6

Curriculum:
UK - Traditional, 8-12 lectures
UL - Traditional, 8-12 lectures

...if you couldn't tell, they are VERY similar by the numbers. Flip a coin.

btw regarding the curricula, they are very very different. see my post.

 

[themaplekind]

does the strength of a clinical experience during medical school effect getting in to residencies. I think this might be applicable to our current dilema.

 

[DrRower]

does the strength of a clinical experience during medical school effect getting in to residencies. I think this might be applicable to our current dilema.

The only thing I can think of is that doctors in the region who make resident decisions hold personal opinions regarding which school prepares student better (doctors outside the region wouldn't know/care, probably). But personal biases like that aren't usually super strong and aren't as important as the other stuff they're looking at about you.

Does anyone have an generalities they could toss out about financial aid at the two schools? Does one give "more", or give a lot of need based aid, anything like that?

 

[Logano2230]

I'll second that question: does anyone know what kind of institutional aid is offered from UK/UL?

 

[bucks2010]

I'll second that question: does anyone know what kind of institutional aid is offered from UK/UL?

We touched on this briefly at my UK interview. My interviewer seemed to imply that UK doesn't have as many resources for financial aid (in terms of grants and scholarships) as UofL. He seemed to think that this was due in part to the fact that UK COM is younger than UofL by a few decades.