How to choose the right medical school…

I decided that post bacc programs are my most likely route. I will make another post devoted to choosing the correct post bacc for your situation. With that being said I decided to look at table 25 to decide if my chances of me being accepted in my current situation are viable. After conferring I decided to apply to post bacc programs leading to master degrees and medical schools that have missions in line with the type of physician I want to be.

The basic purpose of medical schools is to educate physicians to care for the national population and with that intention, a sufficient number of minority physicians in the workforce is necessary. That is why AAMC is committed to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medical education.

When choosing I first wanted to look at schools that accepted lower GPA and MCAT scores. (My thinking is these schools are more likely to look at my application) That information I found at Medical School Admissions Requirements, an invaluable resource that I highly recommend paying for.

Next I wanted to filter out Medical schools that are devoted to the social mission of medical education; training primary care physicians, increasing access to health careers for minority students, and improving health care services in regions that are undeserved. I used Medical School Admissions Requirements as well as The social Mission look at table 1 for the medical school ranking (my thought is schools that score higher on this list are devoted to producing a certain number of minority physicians). You might also want to read : https://www.wdhstore.com/hispanic/data/pdf/june6-debunking.pdf , http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/Forms/AAMC%20Premed%20Resources.pdf

After that I decided to narrow my search to schools that are in the middle of the country especially considering that more applicants will apply to schools that are coastal and/or in major cites US news tips for selecting medical schools.

Next I looked at their curriculum I wanted a school that matched my learning style.

Last but not least  apply to your dream school. You will regret it if you don't !!

I  want to stress that I do not think it matters which medical school you attend in "the end" as long as you attend schools that are in the states, when considering between a state school and an Ivy-league. Every student in the nation will take the same board exams . So no matter which school you choose to attend you will still graduate as a doctor.

Also note that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), have agreed to a unified system  for graduate medical education programs in the United States.

A single graduate medical education (GME) accreditation system will evaluate and provide accountability for the competency of physician residents consistently across all GME programs.  Making it that much harder for foreign graduates to get residencies. Thus providing you with another reason to stay in the states.


Useful websites : Selection factors https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf
Advice guide: http://premed.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Not-so-short-guide-to-getting-in-to-med-school.pdf Choosing:  http://www.beagooddoctor.org/pcpr/choosing-a-medical-school

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