Premed Tip #5 -Picking Schools Part 2

Part 1 of picking schools focused on how to narrow down schools to look at to have a realistic list of schools to optimize your chance of an acceptance while Part 2 focuses on picking schools that are right for you. Here we will focus on features of schools that might be important to you and what you should look at to see if schools offer what you want.

First things first, think about your goals for the future after medical school and the type of residency you would like to go into. These goals will help you decide what you want in a medical school. Here are some deciding features of schools, in my opinion, that will help you decide on schools to add to your list.

• Curriculum
• This is by far one of the most important things to look for when looking at schools as you will spend most of your time focusing on the curriculum in medical school. Do you prefer a systems based ( where they cover all the material for each system of the body at a time) curriculum or topic based (they cover all the biochemistry of the body at once for example)? Do you want a traditional 2-2 curriculum (2 years of classes and 2 years rotation) or another style? Do you want time to pick your own advance studies after the traditional rotations? There are so many small differences in curriculum between schools, so pay close attention. 
• Mission Statement
• Get to know the values of the school to see if it conflicts with your own. Some institutions will not teach certain topics (ex abortion) if it conflicts with their values. Find out what you want in your medical school education and your values and see if a school's values fit those.
• Dual Degree Programs and Second Change MD/PhD
• What kind of job do you want to have after your training? Do you want to go into health policy where a MPH would help? Are your grades and research experiences not strong enough to go directly into an MD/PhD program but still interested in an MD/PhD? These types of questions will help you determine if you want to get more than one degree during your time in medical school and help decide if a school that has/doesn't have these opportunities is a deciding factor for you. There are many dual degree programs out there so check them out!
• Volunteer Clinics
• The majority of schools have volunteer clinics, and they are great experiences to have. That being said, not all volunteer clinics are alike. Do you want a clinic that works with a specific ethnic group? A certain setting? Or will you volunteer in any? Do you want a clinic that has teaching roles for medical students? Look at what clinics the school has to see if they fit your interests.
• Required Volunteer/ Community Service Hours
• Some schools require you to get involved in the community and volunteer. While I consider this a plus, you may or may not, so check out what volunteering they offer, if they have a requirement, or if they allow you to create your own volunteering opportunity.
• Research
• Many medical students are a part of research during medical school. Does the school have research that you are interested in? Do they have summer programs for research? Do they provide a gap year during medical school for research? Do they have an honors program for research? Check it out.
• Required Research and Academic Medicine
• Some schools require you to do research and are more geared to producing students to go into academic medicine. These types of schools also typically have curriculums that also reflect this (like Harvard) but not always. Ask yourself if this where you see your career going. 
• Track Programs
• Track programs are programs that have classes and experiences that focus on certain aspects of medicine, like global health, rural medicine, women's health or health management, that run in conjunction with the curriculum. Many schools have these so see if what their requirements are and what they offer.
• Match Lists
• While many of us premeds don't truly know how to look at a match list, as they do not tell you if the students got their first choice or not, these lists will tell you if the schools produces mostly students going into specialties or into primary care. This can sway your opinion of the school.
• Location
• Location is important because you want to live somewhere where you can be happy for 4+ years. Do you want to live in a city? Rural area? Hot weather? Cold? 
• School Size
• The standard is 200 or less students per class. Do you want a small class size like 50 students or larger?
• Ranking
• I hate putting this on here, but, to some, ranking is important. The US news ranking is misleading to many as the ranking is also determined by endowment size and not necessarily how great the school is. Keep that in mind, but do you research on your schools as a top rank school might not provide exactly what you are looking for.