At a certain point in our lives, all of us have to decide which school to go to, or which college to go to. There are plenty of them and the choice is down to your preference and what pulls you in.
When choosing your education, you are on your own and you need to know what you want to become and you need to understand the road to get there. Choosing a good college is important, especially in some branches like medicine or law. Some schools are simply better and more prestigious than others, but that also doesn’t mean that you will not learn the same.
If you are still unsure about your future or still looking around check this guide on how to apply in med school for tips from a different perspective.
Today’s topic is medical schools, and we’re going to take an unusual approach to it. We’ll mention a few things related to the four years it takes to get your M.D., but we’ll concentrate on the cities that are best for you for a variety of reasons. You probably guessed it from the title, but we felt it was important to clarify.
As previously mentioned, medical school is definitely one of the most difficult schools and you have four difficult years ahead of you before you get your M.D. Year one is the hardest for everyone because everything is new and everyone is new. You need to find your place there and you need to find your way around things. It will take some time and some acclimatization, but you will quickly see that this is the only one year out of four that will give you time for yourself.
Source: californiahealthline.org
The second year should be easier because you have initialized and you caught up with everything but it simply isn’t. The reason it isn’t is the fact that in the second year you have something called Step 1 which is the first of three US Medical Licensing Exams, or USMLEs. Step 1 will be the most important for matching into residency which is the reason for so much tension and stress this year. You will study more and make a lot less, but hey, it’s medical school what did you expect?
In the third year of medical school you either love or hate it. This is the fun year and the time when you have your clinical period. A clinical period means that you are spending your third and fourth year in a hospital or clinic. During this time you need to complete your core rotations while your participation and effort are evaluated by your colleagues. You will have to prepare for Step 2 CK at the end of your third year. The fourth year should be easy and all are joyful when it comes, but should you really be?!
The first half of the fourth year will be the most difficult part of the entire medical training process and that is thanks to sub-internship and preparing your residency application. The trick here is to choose carefully. Oh, and not to forget you also need to take a Step 2 CS.
Now that we have summed up in very short lines what you need to expect from all of this, we will tell you about some of the best towns you can go to med school so pay close attention.
Source: studying-in-uk.org
1. Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is famous for so many things and one of those is that this is the place of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, which gather the best and the brightest students from all around the world. If you look at Boston from the economic side you will also notice that it is the fastest growing one.
Apart from that, you also have a plethora of pubs and bars which all of us like and search for and we also can’t neglect this city’s passion for sports. The cost of living isn’t that high, and you can expect it to be around $850 per month with a good transportation system, which includes buses, trains, and so on. Life in Boston is more than OK, but don’t expect that you will have it a lot in medical school.
2. Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore, the country’s northeast and one of the largest cities in Maryland are one with a history and long and beautiful architectural heritage. University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore is one with a long tradition and place that has a huge student enrolment program and research programs that are important for everyone. There is another one and it is a John Hopkins School of medicine that can’t be forgotten, and this is probably the most famous school there. If you’re practicing radiology and would like to get a glimpse of radiology practices, visit this page.
The cost of living is slightly higher than in Boston, with an average monthly salary of $1,180, but with a prestigious medical school like John Hopkins, it is well worth it. As far as transportation goes you can use anything from bus, train, tram, and bikes, and as far as QS Student View Rank go it is in a solid 113th place.
Source: hopkinsmedicine.org
3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
One of the oldest universities in the USA, the University of Pittsburgh is well known for its top-notch STEM programs. The university has 4 regional campuses in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville in addition to 16 on-campus schools and colleges. Among US universities, the institute receives funding for federally sponsored health research in third place.
The University of Pittsburgh’s average tuition is less than that of the majority of Ivy League schools. The cost of living is around $1,100, again on the steep side but not something you can’t live with. As far as transportation goes it also offers bus, train, tram, metro, and QS Student View Rank is 93.
4. Chicago, Illinois
There are few things that Chicago is famous for like the name – the windy city as well as its beautiful facades, cultural heritage, diverse multicultural community, and entrepreneurial spirit. It has a beautiful shoreline by Lake Michigan, as well as many well-known attractions – the Navy Pier, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Millennium Park.
Employers are important for all future students and you are glad to know that employers value Chicago University graduates very highly. In terms of living costs, they are somewhere in the middle of all of these, at $1,000, and transportation is plentiful and similar to the rest – metro, train, bus, taxis. The rather interesting thing is the high QS Student View Rank which sits at 59.
