The Student Room Group

The prestige of your current medical school matters...

Certainly not when applying for foundation or specialty training positions, but as a current med student, I've seen that it becomes much more relevant in the following circumstances:

When applying for fellowship positions abroad (particularly for the US and Canada; certain medical schools have well-established links with universities such as a Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale and Emory)

When trying to set up a private practice
- I've done summer work in a number of private practices and patients frequently ask where doctors studied and I've seen them become visibly relieved when doctors have mentioned training at Oxbridge
- Almost all of the doctors I've seen in these private practices, have to emphasise studying/working in London, Oxford or Cambridge, even if only for a very short period of time
- One particular doctor I worked with was the lead for his clinic, but was the only one to emit his university from the clinic biographies because he went to a newer medical school.

I know these are obviously anecdotes, and by no means will attending a top tier university be the ultimate determinant of whether somebody is a good doctor, but I think it can be somewhat disingenuous when we say medical school prestige doesn't matter at all.

Just my 2p.
Original post by Anonymous
Certainly not when applying for foundation or specialty training positions, but as a current med student, I've seen that it becomes much more relevant in the following circumstances:

When applying for fellowship positions abroad (particularly for the US and Canada; certain medical schools have well-established links with universities such as a Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale and Emory)

When trying to set up a private practice
- I've done summer work in a number of private practices and patients frequently ask where doctors studied and I've seen them become visibly relieved when doctors have mentioned training at Oxbridge
- Almost all of the doctors I've seen in these private practices, have to emphasise studying/working in London, Oxford or Cambridge, even if only for a very short period of time
- One particular doctor I worked with was the lead for his clinic, but was the only one to emit his university from the clinic biographies because he went to a newer medical school.

I know these are obviously anecdotes, and by no means will attending a top tier university be the ultimate determinant of whether somebody is a good doctor, but I think it can be somewhat disingenuous when we say medical school prestige doesn't matter at all.

Just my 2p.


Yeah but how many people are those anecdotes relevant too. Not many will move to US and not many will start their own private practice (you can still do private work without having a practice of your own).
Reply 2
What about when it comes to private practice? I've heard that due to NHS pay rates not keeping up with inflation, more doctors may feel the need to undertake private practice. I've observed that patients really do look out for doctors who have those top-tier universities in their clinical profiles. And tbf, I think clinicians realise this too. I've seen a lot of clinical bios emphasise things like "Trained at Oxford", even if it was just for foundation years.

I agree that university prestige plays a very minor role in a doctor's career progression; I just appreciate that some medical students may find themselves limited in certain areas.

I didn't know about that in Singapore - any link to the list?
Original post by Anonymous
Certainly not when applying for foundation or specialty training positions, but as a current med student, I've seen that it becomes much more relevant in the following circumstances:

When applying for fellowship positions abroad (particularly for the US and Canada; certain medical schools have well-established links with universities such as a Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale and Emory)

When trying to set up a private practice
- I've done summer work in a number of private practices and patients frequently ask where doctors studied and I've seen them become visibly relieved when doctors have mentioned training at Oxbridge
- Almost all of the doctors I've seen in these private practices, have to emphasise studying/working in London, Oxford or Cambridge, even if only for a very short period of time
- One particular doctor I worked with was the lead for his clinic, but was the only one to emit his university from the clinic biographies because he went to a newer medical school.

I know these are obviously anecdotes, and by no means will attending a top tier university be the ultimate determinant of whether somebody is a good doctor, but I think it can be somewhat disingenuous when we say medical school prestige doesn't matter at all.

Just my 2p.


Thing is, how many UK trained doctors actually want to work in the US? Relatively few. Anyway, this is a peculiarity in the US hive mind - in their view, the only universities that exist are Oxbridge and maybe St Andrews. Even the University of London medical schools (which are actually the oldest) don't seem to get much recognition. I think this arises from the same point of view that regards London as being the only city in the United Kingdom England. Scotland/Wales/NI or even the rest of England obviously don't exist.

Most UK doctors working abroad seem to head for Australia or New Zealand, which, as far as I'm aware have no preferences when it comes to universities. I didn't realise Canada did, so that's interesting, do you have a source?

I would add even in the case of Singapore your postgraduate qualifications can "make up" for not being on their list of approved medical schools. Never underestimate the utility and prestige of MRCx/FRCx abroad.

Re private practice: I really think it's more complex than this - there are lots of doctors who trained abroad (never mind non-Oxbridge) who still seem to do well privately. Anyway, what's the solution to this? Are we going to go around telling 17 year olds that they must kill themselves to get into Oxbridge because 20 years hence they may or may not get an approving nod from a patient at Spire or Nuffield?

Finally, why are you anonymous? The non-Oxbridge medical school mafia isn't going to put a hit out on you for discussing this you know :tongue:
Reply 4
Original post by Democracy
Thing is, how many UK trained doctors actually want to work in the US? Relatively few. Anyway, this is a peculiarity in the US hive mind - in their view, the only universities that exist are Oxbridge and maybe St Andrews. Even the University of London medical schools (which are actually the oldest) don't seem to get much recognition. I think this arises from the same point of view that regards London as being the only city in the United Kingdom England. Scotland/Wales/NI or even the rest of England obviously don't exist.

Most UK doctors working abroad seem to head for Australia or New Zealand, which, as far as I'm aware have no preferences when it comes to universities. I didn't realise Canada did, so that's interesting, do you have a source?

I would add even in the case of Singapore your postgraduate qualifications can "make up" for not being on their list of approved medical schools. Never underestimate the utility and prestige of MRCx/FRCx abroad.

Re private practice: I really think it's more complex than this - there are lots of doctors who trained abroad (never mind non-Oxbridge) who still seem to do well privately. Anyway, what's the solution to this? Are we going to go around telling 17 year olds that they must kill themselves to get into Oxbridge because 20 years hence they may or may not get an approving nod from a patient at Spire or Nuffield?

Finally, why are you anonymous? The non-Oxbridge medical school mafia isn't going to put a hit out on you for discussing this you know :tongue:

With regards to Canada, I meant more with respect to partner universities and the elective/fellowship opportunities that come with these.

Ah i've not really explored Australia so I didn't actually know if they had any university preferences.

That's the difficulty - I agree that medical students here should just be encouraged to apply to whichever university will let them in and accept the offer that is most suitable for them...but I can't help but remember how difficult I found it to secure research and international lab internships, compared to the ease that an Oxford friend had. It makes me think that my medical school may affect me down the line.

I'm anonymous because I know this is quite a contentious issue in Medicine and A LOT of TSR disagree with this:colondollar:. I want to be able to post my usual comments without other users having a negative impression of me. :smile:
Original post by Anonymous
Certainly not when applying for foundation or specialty training positions, but as a current med student, I've seen that it becomes much more relevant in the following circumstances:

When applying for fellowship positions abroad (particularly for the US and Canada; certain medical schools have well-established links with universities such as a Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale and Emory)

When trying to set up a private practice
- I've done summer work in a number of private practices and patients frequently ask where doctors studied and I've seen them become visibly relieved when doctors have mentioned training at Oxbridge
- Almost all of the doctors I've seen in these private practices, have to emphasise studying/working in London, Oxford or Cambridge, even if only for a very short period of time
- One particular doctor I worked with was the lead for his clinic, but was the only one to emit his university from the clinic biographies because he went to a newer medical school.

I know these are obviously anecdotes, and by no means will attending a top tier university be the ultimate determinant of whether somebody is a good doctor, but I think it can be somewhat disingenuous when we say medical school prestige doesn't matter at all.

Just my 2p.


is there a reason you needed to be Anon for this post? clear abuse of the anon function, what do you have to hide?
Original post by Anonymous
With regards to Canada, I meant more with respect to partner universities and the elective/fellowship opportunities that come with these.

Ah i've not really explored Australia so I didn't actually know if they had any university preferences.

That's the difficulty - I agree that medical students here should just be encouraged to apply to whichever university will let them in and accept the offer that is most suitable for them...but I can't help but remember how difficult I found it to secure research and international lab internships, compared to the ease that an Oxford friend had. It makes me think that my medical school may affect me down the line.


Most doctors aren't looking to do international lab internships or international research so I think this is unlikely to be a significant issue for most people. I think if you're driven enough to want those things, you're probably also capable of finding a way around the system.

I'm anonymous because I know this is quite a contentious issue in Medicine and A LOT of TSR disagree with this:colondollar:. I want to be able to post my usual comments without other users having a negative impression of me. :smile:


Well it's a contentious issue on TSR amongst applicants i.e. non-medics. I wouldn't say it's a contentious issue in medicine as a profession - I don't think I've ever met any medical student or doctor who was worried about the prestige associated with their medical school, which again makes me think this is something of a non-issue.

Your username is (presumably) unrelated to your irl name and if it isn't you can change it. It doesn't really allow the community to develop when the forum is treated like an anonymous messaging board - this isn't 4chan! It's not a big deal for people to disagree with you :tongue:
Original post by Democracy
Thing is, how many UK trained doctors actually want to work in the US? Relatively few. Anyway, this is a peculiarity in the US hive mind - in their view, the only universities that exist are Oxbridge and maybe St Andrews. Even the University of London medical schools (which are actually the oldest) don't seem to get much recognition. I think this arises from the same point of view that regards London as being the only city in the United Kingdom England. Scotland/Wales/NI or even the rest of England obviously don't exist.

Most UK doctors working abroad seem to head for Australia or New Zealand, which, as far as I'm aware have no preferences when it comes to universities. I didn't realise Canada did, so that's interesting, do you have a source?

I would add even in the case of Singapore your postgraduate qualifications can "make up" for not being on their list of approved medical schools. Never underestimate the utility and prestige of MRCx/FRCx abroad.

Re private practice: I really think it's more complex than this - there are lots of doctors who trained abroad (never mind non-Oxbridge) who still seem to do well privately. Anyway, what's the solution to this? Are we going to go around telling 17 year olds that they must kill themselves to get into Oxbridge because 20 years hence they may or may not get an approving nod from a patient at Spire or Nuffield?

Finally, why are you anonymous? The non-Oxbridge medical school mafia isn't going to put a hit out on you for discussing this you know :tongue:

Interesting I've never heard about St Andrews being known internationally, only Oxbridge and a few of the London unis. And to echo what others have said OP, the prestige of your medical school doesn't matter if you want to stay in the UK, but if you want to go abroad, while it's not the be all and end all, it can definitely help if you went to an internationally recognised uni. All the people that I know who got on to a US residency went to Oxbridge and a few of the London unis. But of course they had high STEP scores etc, which was obviously more important.
Don't think it really matters. I went to Cambridge so it would suit me if it did matter, but I really don't think it does.
I think it can matter hugely for abroad work.

I'm not sure how much it matters for private practice, but if you've got it you flaunt it for sure.

I think prestige does correlate with some other factors which we should care more about. Like if a med school isn't producing graduates willing to fill in demand specialities we should be annoyed, and if I had graduated from a med school where the pass rate for postgrad exams was only 50% i'd be pretty livid? Why have I been left so heavily disadvantaged? But that's not prestige, of course.

Original post by Democracy
Well it's a contentious issue on TSR amongst applicants i.e. non-medics. I wouldn't say it's a contentious issue in medicine as a profession - I don't think I've ever met any medical student or doctor who was worried about the prestige associated with their medical school, which again makes me think this is something of a non-issue.

For what its worth, I avoid talking about whre I went to med school mainly because in about 50% the reaction is 'wow you must be so clever', even from doctors. Its very annoying.
Original post by Anonymous
Certainly not when applying for foundation or specialty training positions, but as a current med student, I've seen that it becomes much more relevant in the following circumstances:

When applying for fellowship positions abroad (particularly for the US and Canada; certain medical schools have well-established links with universities such as a Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale and Emory)

When trying to set up a private practice
- I've done summer work in a number of private practices and patients frequently ask where doctors studied and I've seen them become visibly relieved when doctors have mentioned training at Oxbridge
- Almost all of the doctors I've seen in these private practices, have to emphasise studying/working in London, Oxford or Cambridge, even if only for a very short period of time
- One particular doctor I worked with was the lead for his clinic, but was the only one to emit his university from the clinic biographies because he went to a newer medical school.

I know these are obviously anecdotes, and by no means will attending a top tier university be the ultimate determinant of whether somebody is a good doctor, but I think it can be somewhat disingenuous when we say medical school prestige doesn't matter at all.

Just my 2p.

Re fellowships/research i suppose if you're applying having not been vouched for then it may make a difference but most of these are organised well in advance having been recommended by one of your bosses who has already been or knows them well from academia etc. University is far less important than having the right person send an email to the programme director. Probably unfair in itself but there is very much still a "boys club" surrounding this. It does however make it critical that you train in the right area at ST level if you know the fellowship you likely want to do.

Again re private practice i think fellowship is far more important than university. That being said if you pick the right specialty there is hardly a paucity of private work.
Reply 11
^re-iterating a point someone made earlier, I can think of many Harley Street doctors who did not train in the UK but made a name for themselves successfully in the UK. I personally don’t think the medical school you went to plays a huge role in opportunities further down the line - it’s how well you do during med school. A lot of the doctors that end up working in the US/private practice/international research, etc. generally all have one major thing in common: top grades/prizes/distinctions. I’ve read many clinical bios and researched some of these kinds of doctors, and this is thing that separates them from the rest, not their med school. Just aim to do as well as you can, I’d say. Obviously Oxbridge can give you the edge, but ultimately your performance counts for a lot, wherever you go.
Original post by nexttime
For what its worth, I avoid talking about whre I went to med school mainly because in about 50% the reaction is 'wow you must be so clever', even from doctors. Its very annoying.

Don't worry, you can tell me. One of my siblings went to Oxford so I'm immune :tongue:
Original post by nexttime
For what its worth, I avoid talking about whre I went to med school mainly because in about 50% the reaction is 'wow you must be so clever', even from doctors. Its very annoying.


:ditto: Advantage of working in my current deanery is that this happens much less!

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