<p>I am an MD, who graduated from UMKC SOM. Having gone to school there, I will say, it is not as bad as some people on this blog say. There are pros and cons to every school. In my class, 3 went to Harvard hospitals (Brigham and Women’s, MGH, BI), 2 to Penn, 1 to Hopkins, several to UT Southwestern, several to Rush/Northwestern McGaw/Loyola, few to Emory/WashU etc. If you work hard, and do well on Step 1, it does not matter where you go. You could go to Northwestern or WashU and screw up Step 1 and have difficulty matching at UMKC. </p>
<p>UMKC has issues… I would not do a 6 year program. I would go to college. I did not do the 6 year program. I went to college, grad school at Penn and came back home to Missouri and went to Med school at UMKC to be close to family. I started in year 3 of 6. </p>
<p>Much of this is about what each individual values. I valued my college experience, life experience and the people I met along the way. I would never give that up to have finished a BA/MD in 6 years. That is my view. To each, their own. </p>
<p>Rice/Baylor is a phenomenal program. As is Northwestern. When you are comparing Northwestern, UIUC, WashU and UMKC, I am assuming you are comparing undergraduate studies at UIUC, WashU and Northwestern with UMKC’s Medical Program. At UMKC, once you are in, if you study hard and do well, you are set. However, it is rough. Barely any summers off after the first year or two and continuous studying. We started a Free Clinic my year and this has since taken off and is doing very well. UIUC is a good solid undergrad as is WashU, but nothing to write home about. Northwestern’s undergraduate and Medical Program are phenomenal. </p>
<p>I would caution against looking at rankings. A lot of the rankings are based of NIH grant money, of which UMKC does not receive much. The rankings are great to stratify the top 10 schools from the other top 30 schools but that’s about it in my view. Look at the Match Lists. </p>
<p>Thank you and good luck to you all.</p>