Medical Training Misconceptions

Expectations and Reality of Medical Education

Medical school and residency are often held up as the pinnacle of education. Only the best students are accepted and the brightest of them graduate. While this may have been true at one time, it isn’t anymore.

The disconnect between how people view physicians and what physicians actually learn in their training years is huge. This is especially true for medical school.

In order to get accepted into medical school in America you must have a 4-year degree. Your GPA usually has to be above 3.5 and you must complete the MCAT. Those three requirements are often enough to get you into one of the nearly 200 medical schools in America. This number increases if you apply to Caribbean school or schools overseas.

Once you’ve been accepted into medical school, both the student and school have vested interest in you graduating. The student wants to graduate and do well for obvious reasons. The promise of a stable career making a lot of money and the prestige of being a physician. Plus, all that debt needs to be paid down.

At the same time, the schools don’t want people to fail. Schools post their passing rates online and brag about passing 99% of students. This makes them more attractive to potential applicants and also improves their ranking (a nice ego boost for the Dean).

It takes a lot of effort to fail out of medical school.