<p>From SDN and an adcomm–a list of practical advice on applying to med school:</p>
<p><a href=“Application season has started! Goro's guide to the app process | Student Doctor Network”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/threads/application-season-has-started-goros-guide-to-the-app-process.1075272/</a></p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>‘Know your target schools, beyond the numbers. Many schools are mission driven, like Howard, UCI, SIU, and Central Michigan.’</p>
<p>I checked UCI. It said:
'Mission (our purpose)</p>
<p>Discover. Teach. Heal.</p>
<p>This statement represents our interwoven tripartite mission of excellence in patient care, research and education. Our mission is fundamental to our overall plan because it serves as the guide post by which strategic decisions are made.</p>
<p>Vision (our aspiration)</p>
<p>To be among the best (top 20) academic health centers in the nation in research, medical education, and excellence in patient care.’</p>
<p>My question is: are all the schools saying about the similar things: research, education?</p>
<p>How do I know the real difference between each school’s mission? I assume some schools focus on primary care, some are on research, some are on …?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>All schools have missions. Some explicitly state they are interested in producing primary care, physicians, or in producing academic physicians, or producing physicians to meet the need of a certain region or population group. Some school missions are only expressed implicitly by the focus the school places certain issues or by its ranking in certain health fields. (i.e. primary care, rural medicine, etc.)</p>
<p>Also Goro isn’t from CA. He may have confused UCI’s mission with UC-Riverside’s mission. UCR has as its mission to train primary care doctors for CA’s Central valley.</p>
<p>Not to get off the main focus of the thread but I think UCR’'s mission is focused towards the Inland Empire region of CA which is a different area than the Central Valley </p>
<p>I have a very stupid question. </p>
<p>If I am a pediatrics. After a few yrs, I get bored. Can I do another residency and become other specialty doctor, ex oncologist?</p>
<p>Bored? 
</p>
<p>I supposed you could apply to another residency, but would you really want to spend another 3-8 years re-training and living the resident’s lifestyle (long hours, low pay) after doing it once already?</p>
<p>You’d also have to look at whether it would be economically feasible (think about your loan repayment!!)</p>
<p>That said, I do know of at least 1 physician who retrained in a different specialty. My kids’ first pediatrician quit pediatrics and retrained as a pathologist following a nasty divorce. (He later left medicine altogether to become a professional cantor.) </p>
<p>Wow this is so helpful! WayOutWestMom you are just the best!</p>
<p>WOWM, the little face is so funny! </p>
<p>That’s why I called stupid question. I just want to see if it’s feasible. </p>
<p>My friend, at the tender age of mid 40’s, gave up a very profitable practice in HK and when HK returned to China in 97 he moved here in the US start his residency over and became a ~Primary Physician…</p>