Reply to Why do top US universities weed out most pre-med kids & then we import foreign MDs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]IMO one of the largest factors is that medical school (like law school) does not screen for the factors that make for a good practitioner and over relies on grades and test scores. This tends to lead to a glut of medical students with astronomical scores and low social skills / emotional IQ. I don’t care as much about the role of foreign trained physicians as the fact that the structure of premedical and medical education weeds out kids who would be truly terrific doctors, particularly in primary care / peds / geriatrics (where the need is highest and “soft skills” are hugely important. I just finished a non-medical masters program at a top medical school. I was horrified at the utter lack of social skills amongst the so called best and brightest and it wasn’t just the international students by a long shot. Truly, it was so bad I worried for my future medical care. I think something has to change! [/quote]

You raise an interesting point.

The schools that are listed as the top medical schools are all research schools.  Getting into them typically requires a lot of research experience, including being listed as an author on a published paper (or more).  Med schools below this tier put far more emphasis on a lot of clinical medical experience and community volunteering, activities that tend to help develop soft skills.

The personality needed to be a top researcher is very different from what you need to be an outstanding clinical doctor.  There, an ability to listen to a patient is a very important skill.  As the saying goes, if you listen to a patient long enough, he will tell you what is wrong with him.

The research inclined tend to be short in this skill set, and those were likely the type of students you were encountering in your top flight medical school.  It likely would be different at a mid tier medical school; these often do not have the considerable resources needed to be an upper echelon research institution and, so, the focus is more clinical.

Another interesting point is that the lowest subscore for most people taking the MCAT is not in the science sections, but the critical analysis and reasoning section (CARS).  This section is the one in which students who are really good in liberal arts shine and STEM students struggle with.

Canadian med schools put a huge emphasis on the CARS in deciding whom to admit because they believe it is indicative of a more well rounded student who likely has better social skills than a very STEM heavy applicant.  US medical schools, while often setting a minimum subscore for each section, are very inclined to let high scores in the science sections make up for a lower score in the CARS.[/quote]

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