The reason I say this is because Duke condenses teh basic sciences into 1 year, the only med school in the country to do so. Baylor and Penn have 1.5 year basic science curriculums.
At Duke, you start your clinical rotations in the 2nd year, a full year early than every other school in the country (except for Baylor/Penn, in which case Duke beats them out by half a year). The clinical training at Duke is among the best in the country, and I would argue that its THE best simply because you get to work in the wards before anyone else does.
The 3rd year is devoted entirely to research. You can get an MPH, MBA, or work on a PhD during this time if you want. Its the only med school in the country that has protected research time (Yale requires a research thesis, but they dont set aside any protected time for it). You can either write a thesis, or submit a research paper that has been submitted or printed. Duke leads the country in the number of its medical students who get published while in med school. In my opinion, Duke is the best medical school in the country for research.
Duke's med students are some of the best medical student researchers in the nation. Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowships, arguably the most coveted/competitive/prestigious research fellowships are eaten up by Duke students. Last year, of the 54 fellows chosen, 10 of them were Duke students, and accounted for almost 20% of all athe HHMI awards.
90% of Duke's grads match into their top 3 choices for residency, and a whopping 75% of them got their absolute #1 choice. The amazing thing is that nearly every Duke grad applies to some of the most prestigious residency slots in the country. 20% of Duke grads go into academic medicine.
The financial aid at Duke is among the best in the country. Although the tuition/fees are higher than state schools, every year there are many people who turn down their state school because Duke gives them such a generous scholarship/grant package which makes the price comparable to state schools.
Some people dont like Duke because of the location in Durham. In my opinion, based on the strength of the school itself without regard to location, Duke is unmatched. Excellent and early clinical exposure, only 1 year of basic science, protected research time, and excellent financial aid. If there's another med school out there who can match that, I sure havent seen it
are you going to attend Duke?
Are you only talking about their program for MD/PhD students or is this for all the students. I already have a PhD and have been doing research for several years.
But I would like to be able to continue doing some research in medical school, so I'm interested in schools that would be flexible about this and where there would be more opportunities to fit this in - in a reasonable way.
| Quote (Laramisa @ July 27 2002 10:00 pm) |
| Are you only talking about their program for MD/PhD students or is this for all the students. I already have a PhD and have been doing research for several years. But I would like to be able to continue doing some research in medical school, so I'm interested in schools that would be flexible about this and where there would be more opportunities to fit this in - in a reasonable way. |
Yes, I go to Duke.
But what I am referring to is the MD program alone. Of course the MD/PhD is a little different, but since there are no MD/PhD people on this forum that I have noticed, I crafted the post directly to people looking at the MD-only route.