Rank important factors in choosing a med school?

[astudentis]

Would people like to share the order of importance (i.e. Rank the following list, 10 being most important, 1 being least important) for yourself

 

 

# Facilities (Newness/Latest tech)

# Distance from home

# Teaching style (PBL/Lecture based)

# Number of Years for MD

# Reputation of School

# Class Size

# Tuition Rates

# Research funding available

# Location of City (cold vs humid weather, dispersion of city, friendliness of people)

# Residency Programs Offered (elaborate please...)

 

 

 

edited for Jochi... hehe I am trying to decide if I want to be your classmate next year

[Jochi1543]

For me, the biggest factor is not actually on your list - the residency programs and in-town electives offered at the school. The more contacts I can make at my home school, the better. I don't wanna have to fly to another province to do an elective that's a bit off the beaten path.

[Ollie]

Location, location, location.

Seriously, pick the city you will be happiest in. Whether that means close to home, far from home, a city you know well or a brand new place, I think it's the most important thing. Unless you already know that you want to be somewhere that has a Pediatric Ciliary Dysfunction clinic or that you absolutely must not spend more than 4 hours a week in PBL, then I wouldn't worry about the minutiae of each program. You will get a good education at any school. The only major curriculum difference is Mac vs everyone else.

 

PS: There is a ciliary dysfunction clinic at Sick Kids.

[medaholic]

Location, location, location

 

Wrote more about this here Guide to picking a medical school

 

If I had to order them

 

8 Facilities (Newness/Latest tech)

2 Distance from home

3 Teaching style (PBL/Lecture based)

4 Number of Years for MD

7 Reputation of School

6 Class Size

5 Tuition Rates

9 Research funding available

1 Location of City (cold vs humid weather, dispersion of city, friendliness of people)

10 Residency Programs Offered (elaborate please...)

[cateyes0223]

1) City (wanted a bigger city, and couldn't see myself living somewhere small like Kingston, London, etc.)

2) Distance from home

3) Teaching style

4) Number of years for MD (wanted more time instead of less because I'm indecisive and will probably need a while to figure out what I want to do for residency)

5) Class size

6) Facilities

7) Reputation

8) Residency programs offered (arguably could give you an advantage if you want to go to your home school for residency)

9) Research funding available

10) Tuition costs

[tooty]

1) did they accept me.

2) location.

[Microbiodude]

1) Facilities (Newness/Latest tech) [Don't want to be surprised during your residency]

2) Distance from home (I like coming home from time to time, especially if i've forgotten something or need to get something)

3) Tuition Rates (Most ON universities are roughly the same so it doesn't play a huge role...but if I could choose between Sherbrooke and Queen's..welll...)

4) Class Size (not as small as Windsor...but not as large as U of T)

5) Residency Programs Offered (If you wanted to pursue cardiology, Ottawa has a top Heart Institute so you can network really well and improve you chances of being matched)

6) Number of Years for MD (I prefer 4 since I'd get a bit of a break, but doesn't matter too much)

7) Teaching style (PBL/Lecture based)

8) Location of City

9) Reputation of School (not a huge factor here in Canada)

10) Research funding available (more likely important if you're doing an MD/PhD or a Research-Clinician position later on)

[BigManOnCampus]

1) Facilities (Newness/Latest tech) [Don't want to be surprised during your residency]2) Distance from home (I like coming home from time to time, especially if i've forgotten something or need to get something)

3) Tuition Rates (Most ON universities are roughly the same so it doesn't play a huge role...but if I could choose between Sherbrooke and Queen's..welll...)

4) Class Size (not as small as Windsor...but not as large as U of T)

5) Residency Programs Offered (If you wanted to pursue cardiology, Ottawa has a top Heart Institute so you can network really well and improve you chances of being matched)

6) Number of Years for MD (I prefer 4 since I'd get a bit of a break, but doesn't matter too much)

7) Teaching style (PBL/Lecture based)

8) Location of City

9) Reputation of School (not a huge factor here in Canada)

10) Research funding available (more likely important if you're doing an MD/PhD or a Research-Clinician position later on)

 

 

Can anyone speak to the relative quality between Queen's and UWO?

[mildoc1]

1. Anywhere I get in

 

That's it really

[A-Stark]

5) Residency Programs Offered (If you wanted to pursue cardiology, Ottawa has a top Heart Institute so you can network really well and improve you chances of being matched)

 

A curious comment, given that no one matches directly to cardiology and it's not that hard to get matched to internal (which you wouldn't need to start in Ottawa anyway).

 

I am glad that Dal has programs in just about everything though.

[Wolvenstar]

# Facilities (Newness/Latest tech)

# Distance from home

# Teaching style (PBL/Lecture based)

# Number of Years for MD

# Reputation of School

# Class Size

# Tuition Rates

# Research funding available

# Location of City (cold vs humid weather, dispersion of city, friendliness of people)

# Residency Programs Offered (elaborate please...)

 

 

1. Location (hate the prairies, feel like ****, and am grumpy and don't want to get involved in the community when I live there)

2. Number of Years for MD (prefer 4 years, don't see taking classes over the whole summer as beneficial for learning)

3. Reputation (speaks alot what students will say about their school)

4. Teaching style

5. Class size

6. Tuition rates

7. Facilities

8. Res program

9. Research

10. distance from home

 

 

Pretty much after class size the rest are irrelevant to me. I don't want to do the research side of medicine, I hate my hometown (which is why I moved when I was 16), and as long as you have some willpower you can pay off any tuition debt encountered.