University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Reviews of Doctorates in Health Sciences

"Pitt is awesome, let me count the ways: --School reputation and residency competitiveness. Pitt doesn't have the name recognition that other Top#s do, but that's a branding problem on the school's part. Program directors from other institutions seem to respect Pitt highly, and historically students match well with most going to Top20 programs (including Pitt; a lot of folks want to stay). --Mentoring. Excellent. The teaching faculty are surprisingly caring and generous with their time, considering how academically impressive they almost uniformly are. Very task-oriented, down-to-earth faculty, very few hyperinflated egos. --Catchment area and population for clinical research. HUGE, with no other local medical schools to compete with for patients. --UPMC. Definition: 1) An up-and-coming, technologically sophisticated health system that is dumping tons of money into innovation and probably will grow rapidly in the next 10 years; 2) a ridiculously profitable nonprofit that has a (mostly) decent relationship with the surrounding city... --Neuroscience. If that's your thing you really can't miss Pitt. It pulls a huge amount of NIMH money, and the research and residency programs in ENT, Psych and Neurosurgery are VERY strong --Pittsburgh. Big-city-caliber stuff to do, yet housing/food/transportation are extremely cheap (p.s. free unlimited bus pass for Pitt students). Super livable, college vibes, tons of festivals (particularly in the summer), breweries, very outdoorsy, gets more bike-able every year --Curriculum. Pass/Fail for the first 2 years so you do have time to enjoy the city and pad your CV with activities. Nice mixture of problem-based-learning and lecture-based class material. Mandatory patient contact starts early and happens often. Scholarly project MAKES you do research and residency programs really like that. Cons: --Curriculum is old-fashioned but modernizing. Still paper syllabi (with electronic versions and lecture podcasting options); coursework focuses more on wards excellence than acing board exams. Overall, though, I love it at Pitt and can't believe it took me months to decide to come here. H 2 P"

"I really enjoy the supportive atmosphere and all the wonderful opportunities at PittMed!"

"PittMed is a great school that is connected very well with the medical community worldwide."

"Med school is hard and expensive, no matter where you're at. U of Pittsburgh has a lot of great resources, especially if you're interested in research, and Pittsburgh is a nice city to live in."

"The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine constantly strives to provide its students with a multitude of support systems and academic resources to help us succeed in our studies. There are ample research opportunities to give us the experience and skills necessary to become clinical researchers that can better scientific understanding of the human body. However, the lack of integration of the computer and other high tech platforms/interface makes test taking and studying format less engaging."