What I Look For in Med Schools

It's scary how fast time creeps by when you don't pay attention to it. The AMCAS (the "common app" for medical school) will be open in less than 3 months on May 1st! There is also the TMDAS  which is for certain Texas schools that opens on the same day, but I won't be applying to any of these because of cost and there is not really a Texas school that I was DYING to apply to (that I know of). I am still in the middle of doing research on the schools that are out there so the verdict is still out on that. 

Currently my goal is to finalize my list of schools that I will be applying to. I qualified for the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) for AAMC. One great advantage of FAP is that you can apply to 15 schools for free. Hallelujah! Yeah having this will definitely really help with being in debt and having to sell your liver/other unnecessary body parts to be able to go to med school. 

I have began really looking into criteria to look for while applying to medical school to know which school is right for you. I used to think location, location, location was all the really mattered but now I know (a little bit) better. Although location is very important, there are a lot of factors that go into a medical school as well. Below are some factors that I feel are important to me, sorted loosely in order. 

1. Grading system

Did you know that there are schools out there that does Pass/Fail system which means no scary competitiveness between you and your peers?! I mean don't get me wrong, being the aggressive go-getter Christina Yang is what I am all about. But I think there is truly something special about working together with your peers who you will be with for the 4 most important years of your life and who understands exactly and perfectly everything you are going through. It might be wishful thinking, but going to a school with this system is definitely a crucial criteria for me. Not only can you hold hands and sing Kumbaya with your colleagues, it will definitely help to really not stress you out because you are not restlessly up at night attempting to study more to get that precious "A" you so desire (trust me, I understand this feeling I have definitely been there plenttyy of time). 

On the other hand, there is the traditional letter grading system eg. A, B, C, D... This system has its positives as well. You can really understand where you stand compared to the rest of your peers regarding the knowledge you obtained from the classroom. This system could tremendously motivate you study harder, more and resulting on possibly a higher Board scores. But I really think that just being in medical school and being thisclose to your life-long dream is enough motivation as it is for you to study hard and do your best. This is purely my opinion, it could be different for everyone :)

2. Location

Yes, I know that right above this list of factors I look for in medical schools I stated that location is not everything. But location is a very important aspect of attending medical school - I mean, after all this is where you are going to be for the next 1,424 days (4 years, calculating it out in days is super daunting now that I think about it...). Location not only affect your personal life during medical, you could possible meet "the one" while in med school *moment of silence to let the seriousness of the situation sink in* 

Location definitely will have a huge impact on the type of training you will receive in med school as well - are you in a metropolitan area? Are you going to be working mostly with an under-served population? Are you going to be dealing with crazy trauma cases or more day-to-day problems? All these things add up and will shape you in ways you never imagine. It is to you whether you want to be in a crowded city or in a calmer area. 

3. Curriculum 
There are to different kinds of curriculum that med schools are kind of "grouped" into - integrated and standard. Standard curiculum will be a lot like how undergraduate classes work where you have different classes for different subjects regarding the human body - chemistry, biology, biochemistry, etc. You are learning about different aspects of the body in each class. The integrated system, you learn system by system. So you will learn all the stuff you have to learn for a system (chemistry, biology, biochem, etc.) and then you move on to the next organ system. I am unsure which one is better than the other as both of these curriculum will provide you with the same information. For me personally, I think integrated would be easier for me to learn since it will help things organize better in my brain. I'm really just throwing ideas out there right now though haha. I am pretty even on this part and it is not going to be a deciding factor for me.

However,  there is another component to the curriculum - the length of the basic science. Some schools teach basic science the first 2 years and then do the clinical portions the last 2 years. Others are accelerated and have basic science for 1.5 years and giving you an extra half of an year to gain hands on experience to know which specialty you are most interested in before you have to apply to residency. I think that right now, not knowing a lot about the different specialties I think shortening the basic science year would be better for me to learn more about what is out there. There are like a hundred different specialties under radiation! And that is just the beginning of it all *gasp*

These are just some of the qualities I am looking for in medical schools but it is always evolving as I learn more and various aspects of medicine. Only you know what's best for you and every case is different. I might see a school that has nothing of what I am looking for and it may just feel right - I would pick gut feeling over a list of qualities any day. I can't wait to keep sharing my journey with you guys :)! Here is the link to a really comprehensive guide by Rice University on being a pre-med student in general and it really helped me to learn what I'm looking for in a medical school

http://www.scribd.com/doc/111627193/Rice-Premed-Student-Guide-2012