Why Harvard or Stanford Medical school as opposed to a less expensive medical school?

Question

I have looked at tuition costs and I am trying to figure out, just from a financial standpoint, if paying a lot more to become an MD at a highly regarded school is worth it. Do you ever make up for the difference in cost of the tuition? Also, does graduating from a prestigious university make any difference in being able to choose your specialty-- such as orthopedic or cardiac surgery?
In other words, why are people willing to pay a lot more to go to expensive schools, when you can become an MD from a less expensive program?
Thank you.

Answer 1

resources, credentials, quality of students you're surrounded by, proposed level of difficulty and hence the supposed resultant level of ability.

None of these things are necessarily better at Harvard/Standford than anywhere else, but because of the name, you'll always win bonus points with people. It's all in the name really...so much is implied/assumed from that alone.

But go where you want. Weigh your options and make a decision that's best for you.

Answer 2

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RE:
Why Harvard or Stanford Medical school as opposed to a less expensive medical school?
I have looked at tuition costs and I am trying to figure out, just from a financial standpoint, if paying a lot more to become an MD at a highly regarded school is worth it. Do you ever make up for the difference in cost of the tuition? Also, does graduating from a prestigious university make any...

Answer 3

Stanford Medical School Tuition

Answer 4

Congratulations on seeing through the fascade of medical schools. Your thought processes are right on the money. Here's some more fodder for your argument.

Very few potential medical students are aware of the relationship between US medical schools, the NBME (National Board of Medical Examineers), USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examinations) and the AMA's LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education).

Most medical schools use the NBME shelf exams to test. These tests are automatically scored by the NBME. If there is a significant variance in test results, the NBME knows it first and investigates. If that variance continues and the affected students perform poorly on the USMLE, the school risks losing its accreditation. That hasn't happened, so the argument exists that a quality education is assured at any US medical school. Therefore, it is illogical to pay $200/hour for the same information that can be obtained for $100/hour.

The prestigious names in medicine (Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, etc.) have earned their reputations from their residency programs and research--not from the medical schools. The people who don't know any better continue to apply for these high cost schools thinking they're getting a better education. They aren't or the "lesser" schools would be losing their accreditation.

Getting into a residency program is a very subjective process. Certainly, some program directors may have an affinity for certain graduates, but for the most part, PD's chose candidates based on grades, scores, recommendations and performance evaluations during Clinicals. However, most residency decisions are made following the interview process. Since this is a very important event in your medical career, you might want to read up on it: http://www.nrmp.org/index.html

Answer 5

Stanford Med School Tuition

Answer 6

Anybody who alleges one medical school is better than another doesn't know anything about medical schools. There's not a dime's bit of difference in the education one receives at one school versus another and it is the function of the accrediting authority to monitor each medical school to assure that. If one school's teaching method was superior to another, the administrators of that school would be flaunting that information. As it is, the only flaunting that occurs is the yearly report by the US News and World report that ranks schools. Every medical school knows that the criteria the magazine uses is worthless, yet the schools will still post that information to lure the naive. The Association of American Medical Colleges says this about the ranking of schools: "Rankings of American medical schools published annually by the news magazine U.S. News & World Report are widely used to judge the quality of the schools and their programs. The authors describe and then critique the rankings on methodologic and conceptual grounds, arguing that the annual U.S. News medical school evaluation falls short in both areas. Three categories of program quality indicators different from those used by U.S. News are presented as alternative ways to judge medical schools. The authors conclude that the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of American medical schools are ill-conceived; are unscientific; are conducted poorly; ignore medical school accreditation; judge medical school quality from a narrow, elitist perspective; and do not consider social and professional outcomes in program quality calculations. The medical school rankings have no practical value and fail to meet standards of journalistic ethics." Evbery medical student takes an exam after completing each course taught in medical school. These exams are developed and monitored by the National Board of Medical Examiners. If there is any significant deviation at any school an investigation is made. This deviation can be good or bad. If any thing produced superior results, all schools would immediately adopt it. If anything produced inferior results, an immediate remedy is mandated. Failure to do so would result in the immediate suspension of a school's accreditation and never, in the history of US medicine has a medical school lost its accreditation. People often mistake the reputation of a residency program or research facility that shares a common name of a medical school as the reputation for that medical school. One has nothing--absolutely nothing--to do with the other. If Harvard medical school produced superior graduates, Harvard would only accept Harvard grads into its residency programs. The best medical school is the one offered by your own state university. It's the lowest tuition you can pay. But, if you really want to pay an additional $35K to have Harvard on your resume, go for it. The name of your medical school doesn't mean a thing in medicine--it's where you do your residency that matters. Some times the best residencies are at the big name institutions. But just as frequently, there are at state universities.

Answer 7

To answer your question:

"In other words, why are people willing to pay a lot more to go to expensive schools, when you can become an MD from a less expensive program?"

People aren't willing to pay a lot more to go to expensive schools - their yuppie parents are.

Degrees in the medical field are in extremely high demand right now, so it's best to just save your money, go to a less expensive school and get good grades there.

Answer 8

Yes -- those who go to the top rated medical schools have a better shot at getting the better shot at getting the internships and residency programs that they want.

There are some great medical programs at public universities -- so it doesn't have to be as expensive as Harvard.