Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone has any info about Meharry Medical School. Thanks in advance!
Kim
well, other than the MCAT avg is below most other schools, (i.e. less than a 10 per section), this is not a bad thing, its just a stat.
The school is fine. You'll get an MD whether you go there or UCLA.
A visit might be appropo if you haven't actually been to a school. That will tell you lots more than just some words on a screen from their web site and my repose.
well, i was on a job interview once and the interviewer recommended Meharry. he said he went to school across the street, and his friends graduated from there. He also mentioned that there were great opportunities for minorities.
Hi there,
Meharry is one of four HBCU (Historically Black College or University) medical schools in the United States along with Howard, Morehouse and King-Drew. Don’t let the lower MCAT and GPA averges at a HBCU medical school fool you into thinking that the education is below par or that these schools are easier to get into. Often the class size is smaller and more emphasis is placed on a candidate being a “good fit” as opposed to strictly numbers. You will need to present an application that is well-rounded with solid numbers and good extracurricular activites that show you can thrive in a diverse community. Howard, my alma mater, is chartered and endowed to produce “minority physicians who are dedicated to primary care of underserved populations”. Does this mean that you are bound to serve underserved populations or bound to primary care if you attend Howard of one of the other HBCU schools? No but a large proportion of your class and your education is slanted in that direction.
Meharry has a small class (around 80 students to start) and residency programs in primary care so primary care is a large portion of their academic slant. Your instruction is going to focus around the diseases that affect their service populations such as diabetes, hypertension and sickle cell disease. Like Howard, Meharry is dedicated to treating a traditionally underserved population. Meharry and Vanderbilt students share an alliance that has been a source of strength for both institution. This alliance has brought millions in research funding and offers great research opportunities for Meharry students.
If you can thrive in a diverse student body, then Meharry could be a good match and a good school experience for you. If you are interested in a career that involves providing primary care to underserved populations, then Meharry should be a top choice for you.
Natalie
| QUOTE (njbmd @ Feb 17 2003, 11:28 AM) |
| Don't let the lower MCAT and GPA averges at a HBCU medical school fool you into thinking that the education is below par or that these schools are easier to get into. Meharry and Vanderbilt students share an alliance that has been a source of strength for both institution. This alliance has brought millions in research funding and offers great research opportunities for Meharry students. Natalie |
Thanks to everyone for the info.
I'm a little familiar with the high standards Meharry institutes through a friend that was a Harvard grad with good stats and was NOT admitted to medical school there.
I was also recently looking through some AACR award info and the majority of the 50 or so achievement awards in cancer research were awarded to Meharry students (some were doing research in conjuction with Vanderbilt).
What I'm not so sure about is how flexible the school is given I'll be attending medical school as a divorced parent. I understand that I won't be the first to be in this situation there, but the other folks I knew of had family in the area. I'll essentially be there by myself.
Finally, Meharry is without a doubt one of the schools I'll be applying to next year. Besides, I really like Nashville!!
Hi, I am starting at Meharry this fall. Are you from Nashville? If so, I would recommend doing volunteer work at Metro General which is the teaching hospital for Meharry if at all possible. I think that really helped with my application because I was able to meet students who went to Meharry, talk to doctors and talk about my experience in their hospital during interview. The thing that I really really like about Meharry is their mission. They want to train people who will serve in areas where physicians are needed and they want to offer services to people who would not otherwise be able to afford it. They do not seem to have the elitist attitude about medical education that some schools seem to have. They take people who they feel will make compassionate, dedicated doctors and who may have had to overcome huge obstacles to reach medical school and they do not just focus on stats. I think, for a medical institution, this is a brave move. They have a new dean this year and I think that she will focus more on research. Their alliance with Vanderbilt will help. I do know that you can do electives at Vanderbilt, use their library facilities and hopefully do rotations in their hospital which, unlike general, is a trama 1 hospital. Hope that helps. Like the other poster said, if you are interested in primary care I would recommend you apply.
I wanted to add that one of the comments a professor made to me while visiting Meharry is that Meharry is a college that really takes student-parents in stride. You don't have to hide the fact that you are a parent. I met quite a few students with children and they said that the professors there are really willing to work with student-parents. One professor even let the student bring her child to class! I have a son who will be 2 yrs. old when I start so this aspect of the school was important to me.
| QUOTE (jblue @ Feb 18 2003, 11:57 PM) |
| Hi, I am starting at Meharry this fall. Are you from Nashville? |
I'm not from Nashville, but I visited the city a few years ago and it's certainly not the "country" place I envisioned it to be being the heart of country music!
Now that I'm at the end of my fellowship (in DC ), I'm looking into jobs in other cities and Nashville is on my list due to the reasonable cost of living along with the good universities.
If I should get accepted and attend I'd definitely like to stay in touch with you. Perhaps we could swap babysitting duties every now and then!
Kim