Does it matter which medical school you go to?
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Does it matter which medical school you go to?
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We are often told that some medical schools are better than others, does this make a difference in the standards of the doctors they produce?
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 3:22 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1
First: 21/2/2012 Last: 21/2/2012 |
I think it is very importent indicator in medical education. Great mentors are very important. Without a good metor you force spend many hours in library for a simple problem. |
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 4:04 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 678
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 15/5/2012 |
Great question. This is a subject that sparked a lot of interest here in Dundee a couple of years ago when a report suggested that Dundee graduates were the third worst performing in the MRCP exams. This caused us all significant consternation, of course. When we looked at performance in the MRCGP instead, we're in the upper third, if not the upper quartile. If we look at Dundee trainees sitting the MRCP, they tend to do very well, regardless of which medical school they went to. So how do we make any sense of all that? Do Dundee graduates do well if they stay in Dundee, but worse if they go somewhere else? Does that mean that Dundee graduates are less likely to get a job in a well performing hospital elsewhere? Who knows. The top of the performance league tables is always Oxford, interestingly.
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 4:05 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 7
First: 9/9/2010 Last: 30/3/2012 |
Good Universities offer opportunities to their students. This includes mentors, library facilities, motivation for extra-curriculum activities e.t.c. However, it's up to the individual to make the most of what he/she is given. For example someone can concentrate on individual studies and others may prefer one to one discussions with their tutors. There can even be people who chose to do part time studies because they feel they need to dedicate some of their time on other fields. Therefore, universities can give an indication of what "weapons" it can offer to it's graduates. A good doctor should be identified by his ability to use appropriately these "weapons". The final result is then reflected on every person's work and career pathway. To conclude, it is important to choose a really good university. The good university though will not "magically" transform you on its own to the new "Alexander Fleming". |
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 4:09 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2
First: 9/9/2011 Last: 21/2/2012 |
I agree, mentor is a cornerstone in the educational process. Very important is the method you follow to reach the diagnosis or treatment, and that method must be teach by an experimented clinician. So, good school must have good staff and of course other importants things...
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 4:21 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2
First: 21/2/2012 Last: 2/3/2012 |
Yes and no. Generally speaking a good medical school will produce generally good students. Yet a great student will gain from even a not-so-good medical school. How a college is depends on its faculty, equipment, and the kind of program they are running. Amitava |
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 5:11 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 28
First: 20/2/2012 Last: 3/4/2012 |
I think its important to distinguish between a good doctor and someone who is good at passing exams. Now I graduated from UCL where a lot of emphasis was placed on medicine, pathology and pharmacology whereas my two flatmates are imperial graduates where a lot of emphasis was placed on surgery and that reflected in our respective knowledge in the fields certainly in our first year as a doctor. I think the inequalities in knowledge and skill between medical schools are apparent in the first year following graduation but this tends to even out in subsequent years as those who weren't trained as well are forced to catch up in their own time in order to work effectively as a doctor (as well as to pass post graduate exams). As mentioned before being a good doctor is not just about passing exams, there are many non-medical skills required, eg organisational, prioritising, etc. Some of the less "academic" medical schools tend to instill this better from what I've experienced. Mostly because they dedicate a lot of time to 'shadowing' during final year whereby the medical student is effectively a junior doctor and therefore has a chance to develop these non-medical skills. |
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 5:16 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2
First: 21/2/2012 Last: 6/4/2012 |
In Response to Does it matter which medical school you go to?: We are often told that some medical schools are better than others, does this make a difference in the standards of the doctors they produce? Posted by Anand1986 Yes it matters; all of my colleagues went to the 2nd best school Jacques Loeb MB BS FRCS FRCSC FACS |
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Re: Does it matter which medical school you go to?
posted at 21/2/2012 8:08 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 678
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 15/5/2012 |
There seems to be an assumption that the "best" medical schools will have the best mentors - is this really a given? Why can't a senior figure in a "lesser" university provide quality mentorship? There's lots of reasons to choose a place of work, rather than prestige, so why can't there be excellent role models in DGHs? Clearly there are. |
