Winston-Salem, NC
Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit
🎓 The Basics ▼
Overall, how satisfied are you with this program?
9 out of 10What was the zip code of your residence in high school?
90274
What do you like most?
The faculty, administrators, and support staff at Wake Forest School of Medicine (and the associated Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) make this medical school, in my humble opinion, one of the best places to study medicine in the country. As a student I had the opportunity to explore every prospective specialty and subspecialty of medicine that I was interested in starting on Day 1 of medical school (actually, if I'm being honest I emailed a few physicians prior to medical school letting them know I was interested in shadowing them -- they all responded with warm and welcoming replies). I was able to fully invest my full efforts into my studies, all the while being supported by professors, doctors and school administrators who KNOW that all of us are a little different with how we study, what resources we will enjoy using and how we will respond to the stresses that are inherent to medical school. When an opportunity arose for me to pursue a learning opportunity outside of the planned and programmed curriculum EVERYONE on staff (from doctors in the department of my desired specialty all the way up to the Dean of the Medical School) was 100% supportive of me pursuing my dreams. I was incredibly lucky being able to attend Wake Forest School of Medicine (about to graduate), and if I could do it all over again, I would not change a thing.
What do you like least?
Medical school is tough, it will challenge you. Fortunately at Wake Forest you're always surrounded by people who genuinely care about your success and your goals, and the sights that you set your eyes on (even if those dreams change along the way). What did I like least? I was not the biggest fan of biochemistry -- fortunately we have some great teachers at Wake to help you through this topic and they really guide you to the major points that will be critical for your clinical reasoning and for your future exams.
🧾 The Details ▼
Does the student body seem cooperative or competitive?
10 out of 10Does the environment seem supportive for underrepresented minorities?
10 out of 10Does the environment seem supportive for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual students?
10 out of 10Does the environment seem supportive for married students?
10 out of 10Does the environment seem supportive for students with disabilities?
10 out of 10Does the environment seem supportive for older/non-traditional students?
10 out of 10Do you/did you feel well prepared for your board exams?
10 out of 10How approachable are faculty members?
10 out of 10What are the facilities and clinics like (old/new, well maintained, etc.)?
There is a brand new school in downtown. This building is pristine beyond comparison. As a medical student who started at Wake Forest when it was on the old campus (i.e. attached to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) and who then moved to the new campus (Innovation Quarter, on the east side of downtown) -- it was like night and day. The facility was so amazingly nice, there are simulation labs, the anatomy room is 1st class and the lecture halls (tiered, flat (large and small), with individual conference rooms for small group study and noise-proof silent study halls overlooking a beautiful atrium is world class. Oh...and did I mention the sleek and stylish medical student lounge on the 3rd floor for house community hangouts/kitchen space and flat screen TV hangout areas? Honestly, this place was an amazing place to be at for medical school.
How do students from this program do after graduation - are they adequately prepared for practice?
From what I have heard we leave incredibly well trained, knowing a great deal of clinical medicine and practical procedural skills. If you check the news there's a story of a Wake Forest medical graduate (Dr. Sij Hemal) who delivered a baby, mid-flight on a plane as a 2nd year urology resident. Dr. Hemal graduated from Wake Forest School of Med in 2016, needless to say you leave well prepared for residency.
What are rotations like?
Rotations are busy depending on the service (as you would find at many university associated medical centers). As with many other aspects of medical school: you get out of these moments what you put into them. One thing I would emphasize here is that Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center serves a large catchment area including not just western and eastern North Carolina but also parts of South Carolina (2 hours away), eastern Tennessee (~3 hours away), southern Virginia (only 2 hours away), and West Virginia. While I of course can only speak to my own experiences, I can and will say with a high degree of certainty that as a medical student at Wake Forest you will not only witness an incredibly wide breath of patient presentations, you will also directly contribute to the care of those patients and your education will be immeasurably improved from the direct participation approach that Wake Forest School of Medicine provides for.
How do students from this program do in the Match?
We rocked the match. What do I mean by that? 100% of us matched. Not only that but just to throw this out there if you are considering Wake Forest from an out-of-state perspective (I myself was out-of-state when I applied): We match all over the country. 2 of us are headed as far north as Minnesota, ~15 of us are headed to the New England area, 8 of us are headed out to California and another one to Oregon.
I'm just going to link our match statistics here: https://school.wakehealth.edu/Education-and-Training/MD-Program/Match-Day-2020
Any other information you want to share?
Everyone reading this will have his or her own individual reasons for wanting to go to medical school and his or her own goals and dreams of what they envision their medical careers to be like after medical school. I think the most important thing that you can do when you pick a medical school is pick a medical school that will support you no matter what -- be it financially by paying for UWorld/Sketchy subscriptions, emotionally by listening and just being there when the going gets tough (it's medical school, the going will get tough at some point), or institutionally as someone who is vested in your future and who will approve your one- or multi-year long extracurricular research experience that will enrich you as a future physician but also you as a person. Wake Forest is that kind of medical school, and I hope each and every one of you reading this gets a chance to experience that kind of "Wake Forest" support first-hand.
Success!
School has been added to your favorites.