How important is a medical school’s rank in a student’s decision to apply and attend? It’s a question that comes to light each year as the U.S. News & World Report releases its annual rankings of the “best” medical schools for primary care and research. While critiques of the rankings have existed almost as long as the rankings themselves, this year’s discussion took a decidedly different turn with the publication of a new study from researchers at University of California Davis School of Medicine.
The study, published in the August issue of Academic Medicine, explores the methodology behind the primary care rankings specifically and questions the validity of the rankings (and others like them) at large. Like others before them, the authors take exception with the use of seemingly arbitrary “The variability is greater than could be plausibly attributed to actual changes in training quality,” the authors conclude, continuing on to assert that “these findings raise questions regarding the ranking’s validity and usefulness.” In a commentary following the study in the same journal, AAMC President and CEO Dr. Darrell Kirch and Chief Academic Officer Dr. John Prescott continue the discussion, noting that “the mission and strengths of each medical school – and the impact each has on individual trainees, patients, and the larger community it serves – are unique; thus, schools are poorly served by arbitrary and limited ranking methodologies.”
Notably, both the Davis study and Kirsch commentary examine the issue from the perspective of the medical schools themselves – posing the question of how the rankings can or should be used to change the practice of medical education from institution to institution. Equally important, however, is the question that began this piece – how prospective medical students are influenced by rankings. Driven by the pressure to control the expanding costs of the application process and influenced by a desire to attend one of the “best” schools, it’s not uncommon for students to limit the number of schools to which they apply – and in the process, they run the risk of cutting out lower-ranking schools that might actually be a better fit.
So what tools can students use to get a more complete picture of the schools they’re considering? Here are a few of my favorites that I share regularly with students:
-MSAR/CIB: Probably the best known resources among students, the Medical School Admissions Requirements publication and the College Information Book contain detailed profiles of every accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical school, respectively. These titles are generally considered a must-have for the admissions process, and the AAMC and AACOM will typically provide free copies to advisors.
-Fellow Students: One student’s experience isn’t necessarily directly transferable to another, but their perspectives can be helpful. While some of the information on the internet can be anecdotal at best, the American Medical Student Association conducts an on-going survey of active medical students to help pre-medical applicants understand “what it’s really like at their schools.”
Personal Experience: The best way to know whether or not a school is the right fit is to learn about it firsthand; unfortunately, many students wait until Interview Day to do so. While the costs of visiting each campus before applying can be prohibitive, there are other options: many medical schools send representatives to local pre-medical conferences, and online webinar-style information sessions are growing in popularity.
