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Q. Will graduating from a lower-prestige university affect my medical school admission? I currently study chemistry at California State University, Northridge.A.Choosing the best premed school to get into medical school (generic article)New medical school in Elk Grove makes history (newspaper) (CNUCOM)Can CSU students get into medical school in California? (SDN discussion thread regarding CSU success with UC admissions)Pre Med 101 - Know What You Need to Get Into Medical SchoolChoosing a Pre Med School It does not matter what pre med school you attend to get your undergraduate training. The only thing that matters is that you are in an environment that YOU can be successful in. You may think it is hard to believe that it doesn’t matter, but once you are in medical school and see the vast diversity of your classmates you will agree that it does not matter if you went to Harvard or a small liberal arts college.[Pros and Cons of Liberal Arts colleges for the premed]The simple recipe to get into medical school:Get great grades in your pre-req classesHave a solid plan for your MCAT prep and get a competitive scoreGive yourself plenty of time for extraordinary volunteeringChoosing the best premed school to get into medical schoolDo not go to a great school. Go to a school that will make YOU great. – Ryan Gray, MDThere is no perfect or wrong choice when it comes to selecting a pre med school. The biggest considerations for most high school seniors are geographic location, proximity to family, size of school, range of degree programs offered, and cost. There are, however, some other important things to think about if you are thinking about becoming applying to medical school someday. Read below to find out 5 criteria for choosing a pre med school.Type of Experience: Happy Hour vs. Study BuddyFirst, before you even think about particular pre med schools, you should know that becoming a physician is a long journey requiring a lot of work, patience, and dedication. That said, if you are thinking of spending your college years as your chance to party every weekend and booze it up, you may want to reconsider your career aspirations. There are undoubtedly some professional schools which may still accept you if you skate by with a decent GPA and entrance exam score despite frequent nights of inebriation. Medical school is not one of these. Medical schools take your college transcript GPA and MCAT scores very seriously, as well as how you spend your time in college. They require several letters of recommendation and expect a certain amount of volunteer work or research while you are in college. This does not mean that you can’t have a certain amount of fun in college – of course you can. But, you have to remember the larger picture and that college is the first step in a long journey toward obtaining your medical degree.Type of School: University vs. Liberal Arts collegeThe next big choice to make when choosing a pre med school is whether you want to attend a large university or a small liberal arts college. Can you get an adequate pre-medical education at both of these types of institutions? Yes, for the most part. Almost all big universities will have the necessary pre-med science courses as they typically will have several science departments. Lots of liberal arts colleges, on the other hand, may have a wealth of courses in literature and the humanities but only a few in the biological and physical sciences. Given that your advisor and dean’s office can play a large role in the application process to medical school, you should ensure that they have the necessary services should a student wish to apply to medical school. Remember, you can major in Chinese or Art History and still go to medical school, but you also need to make sure that you will have a good science background in preparation for your future studies in medical school as well as for your MCAT preparation.Type of Competition: Cut-throat or Laid-backSome universities will have hundreds of premed students and inevitably have a high level of competition among the students. Others will have a more laid-back vibe. Given the importance of your college transcript, make sure that you select a school which will be a good fit for you. If you are someone who thrives in high-level competition with your peers and is not bothered by long hours and putting aside your weekend plans with your friends for some extra time in the library, then a very competitive pre-med program at a top university may be for you. If, on the other hand, you are someone who gets nervous around competition and 100% final exams, you may want to select a school with a more nurturing and laid-back environment.Type of Curriculum: Easy A vs Sweatin' BulletsMedical schools will look at your science GPA, your total GPA, and the level of rigor in your curriculum. If you have a 3.99 total GPA, but if most of your courses were in rock painting, your GPA will not be taken as seriously as someone with a 3.85 GPA with courses in integrative neuroscience and analytical chemistry. Most medical school requirements include many hours of studying very involved science material, so you admissions committees are looking for applicants who have already applied themselves, and succeeded, in difficult science courses in college. All of that being said, even if you going to major in History or German and only do the required pre-med sciences, courses, you need to make sure that the rest of your courses are challenging. Also remember that because med school courses are very challenging, you want to prepare yourself well for the level of rigor that you will face in medical school by challenging yourself in your undergraduate studies. The better the study habits that you form in college, the more prepared you will be for weekend-long studying sessions in medical school. The adjustment will also be easier if you are used to studying a lot before you set foot in medical school.Type of Matriculants: In-State vs OutMed schools and the AAMC keep public statistics of where students come from. It is not always as easy as public vs private medical school. If you have any idea about what medical school you are truly interested in attending, review the data and figure out if you should try to gain in-state residence. You might be able to gain the residence by attending an undergraduate school in that state. Many schools also keep data on the exact undergraduate school that their matriculants come from, although I think this data is less important.New medical school in Elk Grove makes historyCalifornia Northstate University College of Medicine (CNUCOM)California Northstate University is the first for-profit traditional medical school accredited in the U.S.The school, with an initial class of 60 students, hopes to make a dent in the nation’s physician shortageA total of 1,232 new students enrolled in California’s 12 medical school programs last fallMedical students Jonathan Huang, left, Zain Lalani, and Tyler Ellis observe a demonstration on performing an orthopedic exam at California Northstate University College of Medicine in Elk Grove last month. These first-year medical students are attending the first for-profit medical school in the nation. Randall Benton [email protected] KATHY ROBERTSONAmie Cai, 25, took a year off after she graduated from UC Berkeley to work as a laboratory manager and apply to medical school. She didn’t get in. Anywhere.Cai, who grew up in Folsom, decided to get more experience. She “shadowed” Dr. Kenan Si at a walk-in clinic on J Street in Sacramento where she could talk to patients in Chinese.First-year medical student Tyler Ellis takes notes at California Northstate University College of Medicine in Elk Grove last month. . The school was accredited in June 2015. Randall Benton [email protected] a new medical school in Elk Grove opened for business last year, Cai jumped at the opportunity. So did 59 other students in the inaugural class at California Northstate University College of Medicine.The first for-profit traditional medical school accredited in the United States hopes to make a dent in a physician shortage and lack of medical school slots in California and nationwide.The school was accredited in June 2015, took applications over the summer and signed up a full class by its launch in early September.Students who landed a spot still pinch themselves to be sure it’s real.California Northstate’s opening comes at a time when many for-profit colleges are under fire for misleading students about their job prospects and earnings, and saddling them with high student loan debt. In the most recent case, the Federal Trade Commission sued DeVry University last month.Students at California Northstate acknowledge the risk, but say they’re glad they got in.“When I heard about this new school in my hometown of Elk Grove, I thought, ‘What the heck?’ ” said Chris Phillips. “For me, this is a dream come true.”WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THIS NEW SCHOOL IN MY HOMETOWN OF ELK GROVE, I THOUGHT, ‘WHAT THE HECK?’ FOR ME, THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE.Chris Phillips, a student at California Northstate University College of Medicine in Elk GroveAt 30, Phillips is the oldest in the class. He’s married, has three children and a master’s degree. He taught high school physics and shadowed a doctor at a local pediatrics clinic before applying for medical school in 2016.“It’s an interesting group,” Susan Ely, assistant dean of student affairs, admissions and outreach, said of the student body. “It tells you immediately there are way more qualified medical students than places for them, especially in California.”More than 52,500 students applied to medical school for the 2015-16 school year, but only 20,631 enrolled, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.A total of 1,232 new students enrolled in the 12 medical school programs in California last fall, AAMC figures show. There were more than 67,000 applications. Students typically apply to two dozen schools or more because the market is so competitive.“That’s a lot of wasted talent,” said Dr. Joseph Silva,California Northstate medical school dean.California is particularly tough because people like to attend school in the state — and practice here afterward.“It’s a risk to go to a brand-new school, but (California Northstate) is an accredited California medical school, ” said Shermilla Pia, a new student from Davis. “It’s close to home. My family is here. So is my boyfriend. I’m part of creating something – and that’s pretty huge.”The class is diverse. More than half the students are Asian. Male students outnumber females by more than two to one. Almost 80 percent of students are California residents. For now, the school is not accepting applications from foreign students.The lopsided gender mix was a surprise. Women usually equal men in enrollment or come in a little higher.“(Selection) was all done in seven weeks, in batches,” Silva said. “In the first rush, men, quite frankly, had a better record. In the second batch, fewer women were invited for interviews.”Beyond that, Silva had no explanation. This is something the school will watch, he said.Students don’t seem to care about numbers. They see themselves as pioneers.“It doesn’t feel like a rigid, set-in-stone program,” Cai said. “We are the school. We can help improve it along the way.”California Northstate is the first traditional for-profit to be accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The only other for-profit is a Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colo. It opened in 2006.The plus of starting a school from scratch with investor funding is the ability to get the program off the ground quickly.Backers raised more than $50 million to fund the school. Now open for business, the school gets more than $3.2 million a year in tuition and fees from a class of 60 students.“Profit, nonprofit makes no difference. The school is what you make of it,” said Gopal Kodumudi, another student in the inaugural class. “The matriculation rate at the pharmacy school is great, so I have no worries.”Debt is a fact of life, students say. The $54,000 annual tab is lower than some private medical schools. In-state tuition and fees at UC Davis, the other medical school in town, are about $43,000 this year.“We’re taking out loans,” said Cai. “Anywhere you go, it’s going to be high.”The school launch was quick, but the program has been in the works for years.It’s part of a university that also includes a school of pharmacy, undergraduate college of health sciences and post-baccalaureate program to help students who want to improve their chances of getting into a medical, pharmacy or other health-related school.The medical and pharmacy schools share a campus on West Taron Drive in Elk Grove. The building used to be an AAA call center. California Northstate bought it in 2011 for $7.1 million.The model at the medical school is an integrated approach that brings basic science and clinical expertise together from the beginning. The traditional approach is two years of basic science and anatomy before two years of clinical study with patients.“We actually start with clinical study and the 120 different ways a patient presents to a physician,” said Dr. Ann Poznanski, associate dean of curriculum.Then students learn the underlying science behind the patient condition and see what it looks like in the anatomy lab.“This gives them something that actually makes sense,” Poznanski said. “Teaching in this more integrated way has more sticking power.”Students also teach each other.The focus recently was on hip, knee and joint pain. Broken into groups of four, students practiced their medical skills on actors posing as patients with a joint problem. Students took turns knocking on the door, asking questions and examining a patient. Those not on the spot scribbled notes, wondered out loud – and occasionally laughed.“It’s really cool how we can really interact with a potential patient and see how we come off as doctors, even though we are still students,” said Zain Lalani, who drew the short straw and had to go first.“This is a safe environment where they can make a mistake and can correct it,” said Dr. Ralitsa Akins, senior associate dean of medical education and accreditation. “We are developing a habit.”In one exam room, professor Hanns Haesslein kept a steady banter going as he watched each student.“We’re not just interested in the bones, for crying out loud,” he said. “What do you feel? Push it in and out.”Physical diagnosis is part of the detective work of being a doctor, said Haesslein, an obstetrician/gynecologist in private practice at the Sacramento Maternal-Fetal Medicine Medical Group. “I’m doing this because I love it. It’s a challenge because every day, there is another thing we need to work on, plan for, assess and change.”Dr. Ravinder Khaira, a local pediatrician who is medical director of four clinics in the area, is another member of the faculty at California Northstate.“It takes advantage of my advanced degree and offers a chance to form the new school,” he said. “The students? They are amazing. They are intelligent, very enthusiastic and happy they’ve been given this opportunity.”There is a looming problem for medical students here and throughout the nation, however. About 1,000 current medical school students won’t match with residency spots when they graduate this year, said Dr. Julie Freischlag, dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine.The federal government pays for most resident training, but capped the number of positions in 1997. There are more graduates, but the only new slots are funded by hospitals or other sources.“It’s good to have an increase in the number of medical schools as the nation tries to solve the problem of not enough doctors,” Freischlag said. “But we do need to find new places for them to train.”AT A GLANCECalifornia Northstate University School of Medicine’s inaugural Class of 2019:Enrollment: 60Total applicants: 686Acceptance rate: 8.8.%Female students: 19 (32%)Male students: 41 (68%)California residents: 47Out of state residents: 13Race/ethnicity: 19 Caucasian; 33 Asian; 3 African American; 3 Hispanic; 2 Pacific IslanderAverage Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score: 32Average GPA: 3.48Source: California Northstate University School of MedicineRead more here: New medical school in Elk Grove makes historyCan CSU students get into medical school in California?DISCUSSION THREAD REGARDING CSU SUCCESS IN GETTING ADMITTED TO UC MEDICAL SCHOOLS (A BIT DATED, STILL RELEVANT)Discussion in 'Pre-Medical - MD' started by missbones, May 7, 2010.missbones: Been reading some pretty disheartening comments on hsdn and elsewhere from people on adcoms or current med students in California stating that unless you apply disadvantaged, you wont get into a California med school with a CSU as your undergrad.Can anyone confirm or deny this or provide insight? I plan to speak to a counselor on campus next week. Just wanted as many viewpoints/experiences as possible. Also this thread might be helpful to other CSU students.I am a cc --> CSU transfer. Just decided to go pre-med in my senior year so I potentially have 4 more semesters ahead of me to complete all the chem prereqs. I'd like to know what my chances are and if would be smarter for me just to graduate with my BA and then try to get into an SMP or Post-bacc at a more prestigious institution in order to improve my chances for acceptance in California, instead of continuing on my current plan to just postpone graduation in order to take the required pre med classes.my gpa is around 3.56-59. I have 4 units I failed at the CC level. Am I dead in the water adding this to my CSU status?Chemokine7 I know people who went to a CSU and got into UCLA and USC but they had solid MCAT scores to back up their high gpa. If you have a high gpa at a csu and a low MCAT score, it will not reflect too well. One of my interviewers even said that he believes CSU gpas are way inflated compared to UCs. So make sure you do well in your MCAT and do not leave the adcom room to question it.mspeedwagon Status:Medical Student I know CSU kids in the CA med schools, but all had 30+ MCAT.plsfoldthx Status:Medical Student doesn't everyone in med school have 30+ mcat?Meat Status:Medical Student Check out my MDapplications link to the left. CSU student, good GPA, solid MCAT, some research, volunteering, etc. I was a bit late to the game (started doing health care activities two years before applying). I was murdered at the UC level in CA. Not one interview. Not even secondaries at UCSD or UCSF.I'm sure some will say "obviously something was wrong with your application," which may have been true, but not ONE UC invite with my numbers? I assumed there was some state hate.Good luck man! I would suggest transferring to a UC.EDIT: I do have a URM friend at my school that had a USC and UCLA interview. So its not totally impossible.missbones Status:Pre-Medical Did you apply early?Meat Status: Medical Student Submitted end of June, verified mid / late July, all secondaries in early August. Certainly could have been earlier.silverhorse84 Status:Resident CSU grad. Got into USC and was waitlisted at Irvine (never sent a letter of interest, which they highly suggest, so who knows what would have happened). Had a 3.6 something GPA, and 30 MCAT. No, I'm not URMIgnore what other people say - unless you want to go to a "top" medical school you'll be fine. Get a good GPA and a good MCAT, speak the truth in your essays and interviews, you'll be fine.Meat Status:Medical Student For sure. Do the best you can, you'll totally make it!missbones Status:Pre-Medical Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of doing the USC post bacc. I was all over that recent CSU thread, and I don't think anyone said it was impossible - just that it is much easier coming from Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD.lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician That said, with your GPA you will need a strong MCAT and maybe a post-bac.longhorn09 Status:Medical Student Have you tried Loma Linda?missbones Status:Pre-Medical the statements that you made, among what others said, that pretty much made me feel like I had no chance because I lack "near perfect GPA" and "extraordinary accomplishments":"Those very few successful applicants from the Cal State system tended to have extraordinary accomplishments outside of the classroom, near-perfect GPAs, and high MCATs""Can the CSULB student overcome this disadvantage? Of course, but most don't. It's not just a matter of scoring high on the MCAT. You would need to distinguish yourself in ways going above and beyond most pre-meds.""Again, the few CSU students that were accepted, in my adcom experience, were not accepted because they had great numbers (although they had to have that also just to be looked at) but because they had unusual life achievements."I also asked in that thread about people who attend post-baccs at CSUs and how they could have any kind of success rate if little to none of CSU med school applicants make it in, as you were saying. Since you didn't respond on that thread would you mind addressing this here if you have any experience in that area?missbones Status:Pre-Medical Loma Linda? Not interested. I'm very anti-christian.mspeedwagon Status:Medical Student I'm assuming you mean everyone that gets into a CA M.D. program... then the answer is likely yes (with a few exceptions).Of course 30 is close to the 80% percentile, which means only 20% of all test takes score at or above. So no, not "everyone" scores 30+.Side-note in response to another poster: Loma Linda is a terrible place to apply unless you are a 7th day adventist. They send you an automatic secondary (thus get your money) and then reject you (for the most part).lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician I was talking about my medical school in particular. Your odds at getting into a medical school somewhere in the US are not as bad, if your numbers improve. I think that if you improve your grades from this point, maintain 3.9+ in postbac and 30+ MCAT, you will be able to attend medical school somewhere in the country. You can't be picky though.U Turn Status:Pre-Health (Field Undecided) A high school friend of mine graduated from San Jose State last year and is currently an M1 at UCLA. She had a 3.9 GPA and a 32 MCAT from what I remember. She's not an URM but apparently adcoms at her interviews were impressed that she's a hardcore mountain climber and has climbed numerous mountains including Mt. Everest and Mt. McKinley.lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician Sounds like "extraordinary accomplishments outside of the classroom, near-perfect GPAs, and high MCAT" to me .missbones Status:Pre-Medical I already have ~110 units. So the best I can do is maintain and raise it maybe .1 in 2 years... Postbac seems like the best option for me. I really don't want to leave California.Maneuver Status: Pre-Medical CSU GPA's ARE inflated. You shouldn't have more than one or two B's. Certainly no C's, D's, or F's.MichaelRW Status:Pre-Medical plsfoldthx said: ↑doesn't everyone in med school have 30+ mcat?seriously?lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician If I were you, if prereqs are all fulfilled I would apply simultaneously to med schools and post-bacs - just in case you get in somewhere. But you'll probably need the post-bac.Even with the post-bac, your odds of staying in CA are not good. 4 years is not that long and if you work hard you should be able to come back for residency.missbones Status:Pre-Medical I'm not sure I understand this. If my pre-reqs are fulfilled why would I do a post bacc?lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician GPA boosting, especially if your GPA in the prereqs is similar to your overall GPAmissbones Status:Pre-Medical lord_jeebus said: ↑GPA boosting, especially if your GPA in the prereqs is similar to your overall GPA I guess you consider my gpa extremely bad because most other people I've talked to said it was fine/competitive. My gpa is a 3.5 ish mostly because of those 4 units I failed. I have only one other c and the rest are As, A- and a few B+'s, I think 5.JokerMD Status:Medical Student yes, its possible.amikhchi Status:Medical Student Calstate northridge grad 3.47 gpa and 36 mcat... Absolutely no love from any california schools... Congrats to those who got in from csu system, but looking back I would have gone to ucla... I'm rather confident if I had went to ucla (got accepted to all UCs for undergrad) I would be in med school right now with my 31 and wouldn't have had to retake mcat...Oh wellmissbones Status:Pre-Medical What are your ECs/volunteering/shadowing etc. Please be honest.amikhchi Status:Medical Student i've gone over this in several threads, and honestly they are avg i'd say, about 200 hrs of shadowing over the course of about 2 years, about 150 hrs of other volunteer community service, about 120 hrs of research (through my school), and an undocumented amount of hours that would probably fall under ECs, but not community service or clinical experience.missbones Status:Pre-Medical i know my gpa is on the low end, doesn't need to be stated, but my mcat is also on the higher end... anyone i talk to says it's "weird" that i get no interviews from CA schools, or that "something must be wrong with your application"... i think it's the CSU...sounds like it. I think id rather just stop taking pre-reqs, graduate, get into a uc post bacc and see how it goes from there. Its just scary because you can only get loans for those programs and most dont want you to work so what do you do after 2 years of debt if you dont get in? Get to work in the real world, I guess.Meat Status:Medical Student i think it's the CSU...Maybe there are just too many UC applicants applying for us CSU kids to be competitive. Why even interview CSU students when UC students are lining up with similar scores (albeit possibly slightly lesser scores in some cases). Maybe from the prospective of an adcom, with so many people to pick from the UC system, why even interview a CSU kid unless he / she has some REALLY unique features.All speculation of course. I certainly wish I would have had some UC interviews. Don't let this discourage you OP, there are plenty of other med schools out thereteenmachinery1 Status:Medical Student 200 hours of shadowing is NOT anywhere remotely near the average.amikhchi Status:Medical Student what's the average? ~4 hours a week for about 2 years with the exception of breaks and special circumstances.lord_jeebus SDN Moderator Status:Attending Physician Shadowing hours is never the issue. People don't get accepted because they shadowed a lot.JJMrK Status:Resident It's possible but you put yourself at a disadvantage.lovemesomeTJ Status:Non-Student UC post-bacs are for URM students who consider themselves disadvantaged and can back this claim up in their essays. I think the only one that might not require this is UC Berkeley, and it is not apart of the UC Post-Bac Consortium (or whatever it's called) that provides you with the extra help of getting in (I believe). If you meet this criteria, then all is well. But if not, you're going to need to figure out another alternative.I really don't see what the big deal is about California. Born and raised, all of my family and majority of my friends are here, and I could give a rat's *** about staying here for the rest of my life. Not to knock you and your motivations, but my goal is MEDICAL SCHOOL, not medical school in California. If you do exceptionally well at a school anywhere else in the country, you won't have trouble coming back here. To me, 4 years is a breath of fresh air from California and a chance to see another part of the country and how it lives. But again, we all have our motivations and reasons for our desires so I wish you luck in remaining in California.missbones Status:Pre-Medical USC takes non URM students. But other than that I was also looking into Mills, which has a high success rate of placing post-bacc students at UCs.casillas Status:Pre-Medical I can't say whether there is a bias, but it is not impossible. I met a few CSU students during UCSF second look weekend. so it definitely happens.Appless It happens, but as a whole CSU are going to be less competitive then UC students. They are seen as inferior schools like it or not and probably 95% of people who want to be pre meds end up at a UC somewhere. Furthermore, the opportunities at a CSU are going to be less which regardless of whether or not the CSU name matters, will hurt your app. Research is obviously a huge part in getting into UC schools as well as USC and other top schools and at CSUs, research just isnt going to happen at near the same level as a UC if it happens at all since not even all CSUs can grant phds for science. UCs have the monopoly on research in cali. Unfortunately, you should have transferred to a UC. Your chances arent over but you need to have other areas such as a great mcat to help you out. CSU gpas are indeed insanely inflated. If you dont just straight dominate the mcat, I would look into a SMP type post bacmissbones Status:Pre-Medical Follow up question: I have one more year of undergrad left, minimum because its too late to apply for fall graduation.I have taken bio 1 (this semester), and stats several years ago. I was planning on taking chem 1a fall, chem 1b spring. Should I stop pre-reqs completely, just finish up my major (only need 2 courses) and maybe add a minor to maintain FT status? Then apply for post bac/SMP for summer or fall 2011? I wonder if it will hurt my chances to spend another yr with no pre-reqs or if its a bad idea to keep taking them at a CSU if I intend to go to a post-bac anyway?Musclemass Getting admission to the CSU system is the opposite of competitive, it's almost open. There are no doubt many capable students at CSUs for reasons of economics, circumstances, etc., but med schools know the score and probably anything much less than a 4.0 and a strong MCAT is going to be a problem.Elijah05 said: ↑probably 95% of people who want to be pre meds end up at a UC somewhere.Not true, many go to private schools or go out of state. Funding and diversity problems at many UC campuses make them a less attractive choice to many.ILikeDrugs Status:Pre-Health (Field Undecided) I graduated from a CSU with a bachelors in psychology. If my applications weren't free I wouldn't even bother applying, but since it will be free I will apply just for the hell of it, even though I know I won't be going to school here in CA. I could probably also put down that I am a mex-american urm without lying since my family came from mexico and I am a first generation US born, but I don't consider myself an urm because I don't consider myself mex-american, nor do I look it, act it, or feel like it. I will check off "other" and put down "human".So why bother applying? Out of spite and to waste their time, of course.Sometimes this process/field/people in this field make me feel like I'm on Gossip Girl. I think someone on here actually said that being in med school is kind of like going back to high school in a Gossip Girl like setting.missbones Status:Pre-Medical I get the feeling. My high school record gave me the capability to attend any school in California I wanted, including Berkeley, UCs etc. I chose community college in the local area to figure out wtf I wanted to do before spending thousands of dollars. Plus my parents wouldn't drop a dime, but their income made it impossible for me to obtain financial aid. Basically Wah wah wah.I'm wondering if I can even get into a reputable post bacc like scripps or mills or usc tho... still being a csu student and all

Yes you can.You could try Debian or Linux Mint.For more check the list given below and select.Top Ten DistributionsAn overview of today's top distributionsIntroductionThe bewildering choice and the ever increasing number of Linux distributions can be confusing for those who are new to Linux. This is why this page was created. It lists 10 Linux distributions (plus an honourable mention of FreeBSD, by far the most popular of all of the BSDs), which are generally considered as most widely-used by Linux users around the world. There are no figures to back it up and there are many other distributions that might suit your particular purpose better, but as a general rule, all of these are popular and have very active forums or mailing lists where you can ask questions if you get stuck.Ubuntu, Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS are considered the easiest for new users who want to get productive in Linux as soon as possible without having to master all its complexities. On the other end of the spectrum, Slackware Linux, Arch Linux and FreeBSD are more advanced distributions that require plenty of learning before they can be used effectively. openSUSE, Fedora, Debian GNU/Linux and Mageia can be classified as good "middle-road" distributions. CentOS is an enterprise distribution, suitable for those who prefer stability, reliability and long-term support over cutting-edge features and software.A Guide to Choosing a DistributionLinux MintLinux Mint, a distribution based on Ubuntu, was first launched in 2006 by Clement Lefebvre, a French-born IT specialist living in Ireland. Originally maintaining a Linux web site dedicated to providing help, tips and documentation to new Linux users, the author saw the potential of developing a Linux distribution that would address the many usability drawbacks associated with the generally more technical, mainstream products. After soliciting feedback from the visitors on his web site, he proceeded with building what many refer to today as an "improved Ubuntu" or "Ubuntu done right".But Linux Mint is not just an Ubuntu with a new set of applications and an updated desktop theme. Since its beginnings, the developers have been adding a variety of graphical "mint" tools for enhanced usability; this includes mintDesktop - a utility for configuring the desktop environment, mintMenu - a new and elegant menu structure for easier navigation, mintInstall - an easy-to-use software installer, and mintUpdate - a software updater, just to mention a few more prominent ones among several other tools and hundreds of additional improvements. The project also designs its own artwork. Mint's reputation for ease of use has been further enhanced by the inclusion of proprietary and patent-encumbered multimedia codecs that are often absent from larger distributions due to potential legal threats. Perhaps one of the best features of Linux Mint is the fact that the developers listen to the users and are always fast in implementing good suggestions.While Linux Mint is available as a free download, the project generates revenue from donations, advertising and professional support services. It doesn't have a fixed release schedule or a list of planned features, but one can expect a new version of Linux Mint several weeks after each Ubuntu long term support release. Besides Mint's two "Main" editions which feature the MATE and Cinnamon desktops, the project also builds editions with alternative desktops, including KDE and Xfce. These editions are often completed several weeks after the two "Main" editions and may sometimes miss some of the "minty" tools and other features found in the project's flagship products. Another variant of the Mint line-up is a "Debian Edition" based on Debian's Stable branch. The Debian edition of Linux Mint provides a very stable base while the desktop packages are updated more quickly than in Mint's "Main" editions. Linux Mint does not adhere to the principles of software freedom and it does not publish security advisories.Pros: Superb collection of "minty" tools developed in-house, hundreds of user-friendly enhancements, inclusion of multimedia codecs, open to users' suggestionsCons: The alternative "community" editions don't always include the latest features, the project does not issue security advisoriesSoftware package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) with mintInstall using DEB packages (compatible with Ubuntu repositories)Available editions: A "Main" edition (with MATE and Cinnamon), "Community" editions (with KDE and Xfce), Linux Mint "Debian" edition (with MATE or Cinnamon)Possible alternatives: Ubuntu, elementary OS, Zorin OS, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Peppermint OSLinux MintUbuntuThe launch of Ubuntu was first announced in September 2004. Although a relative newcomer to the Linux distribution scene, the project took off like no other before, with its mailing lists soon filled in with discussions by eager users and enthusiastic developers. In the years that followed, Ubuntu grew to become the most popular desktop Linux distribution and has greatly contributed towards developing an easy-to-use and free desktop operating system that can compete well with any proprietary ones available on the market.What was the reason for Ubuntu's stunning success? Firstly, the project was created by Mark Shuttleworth, a charismatic South African multimillionaire, a former Debian developer and the world's second space tourist, whose company, the Isle of Man-based Canonical Ltd, is currently financing the project. Secondly, Ubuntu had learned from the mistakes of other similar projects and avoided them from the start - it created an excellent web-based infrastructure with a Wiki-style documentation, creative bug-reporting facility, and professional approach to the end users. And thirdly, thanks to its wealthy founder, Ubuntu was able to ship free CDs to all interested users, thus contributing to the rapid spread of the distribution.On the technical side of things, Ubuntu is based on Debian "Sid" (unstable branch), but with some prominent packages, such as GNOME, Firefox and LibreOffice, updated to their latest versions. It uses a custom user interface called "Unity". It has a predictable, 6-month release schedule, with an occasional Long Term Support (LTS) release that is supported with security updates for 5 years, depending on the edition (non-LTS release are supported for 9 months). Other special features of Ubuntu include an installable live DVD, creative artwork and desktop themes, migration assistant for Windows users, support for the latest technologies, such as 3D desktop effects, easy installation of proprietary device drivers for ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards and wireless networking, and on-demand support for non-free or patent-encumbered media codecs.Pros: Fixed release cycle and support period; long-term support (LTS) variants with 5 years of security updates; novice-friendly; wealth of documentation, both official and user-contributedCons: Lacks compatibility with Debian; frequent major changes tend to drive some users away, the Unity user interface has been criticised as being more suitable for mobile devices than desktop computers; non-LTS releases come with only 9 months of security supportSoftware package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packagesAvailable variants: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu MATE, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu Studio and Mythbuntu for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors;Suggested Ubuntu-based alternatives: Linux Mint (desktop), elementary OS (desktop), Zorin OS (desktop), Pinguy OS (desktop), Trisquel GNU/Linux (free software), Bodhi Linux (desktop with Enlightenment)UbuntuDebian GNU/LinuxDebian GNU/Linux was first announced in 1993. Its founder, Ian Murdock, envisaged the creation of a completely non-commercial project developed by hundreds of volunteer developers in their spare time. With sceptics far outnumbering optimists at the time, it seemed destined to disintegrate and collapse, but the reality was very different. Debian not only survived, it thrived and, in less than a decade, it became the largest Linux distribution and possibly the largest collaborative software project ever created!The success of Debian GNU/Linux can be illustrated by the following numbers. It is developed by over 1,000 volunteer developers, its software repositories contain close to 50,000 binary packages (compiled for 8 processor architectures), and it is responsible for inspiring over 120 Debian-based distributions and live CDs. These figures are unmatched by any other Linux-based operating system. The actual development of Debian takes place in three main branches (or four if one includes the bleeding-edge "experimental" branch) of increasing levels of stability: "unstable" (also known as "sid"), "testing" and "stable". This progressive integration and stabilisation of packages and features, together with the project's well-established quality control mechanisms, has earned Debian its reputation of being one of the best-tested and most bug-free distributions available today.However, this lengthy and complex development style also has some drawbacks: the stable releases of Debian are not particularly up-to-date and they age rapidly, especially since new stable releases are only published once every 1 - 3 years. Those users who prefer the latest packages and technologies are forced to use the potentially buggy Debian testing or unstable branches. The highly democratic structures of Debian have led to controversial decisions and gives rise to infighting among the developers. This has contributed to stagnation and reluctance to make radical decisions that would take the project forward.Pros: Very stable; remarkable quality control; includes over 30,000 software packages; supports more processor architectures than any other Linux distributionCons: Conservative - due to its support for many processor architectures, newer technologies are not always included; slow release cycle (one stable release every 1 - 3 years); discussions on developer mailing lists and blogs can be uncultured at timesSoftware package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packagesAvailable editions: Installation CD/DVD and live CD images for 12 processor architectures, including all 32-bit and 64-bit processors from Intel, AMD, Power and othersSuggested Debian-based alternatives: Ubuntu, SparkyLinux (Enlightenment, JWM, LXDE, MATE, Openbox, Razor-qt, Xfce), SolydXK (Xfce or KDE), KNOPPIX (LXDE), Tanglu (GNOME, KDE), siduction (LXQt)Debian GNU/LinuxMageiaMageia might be the newest distribution on this list, but its roots go back to July 1998 when Gaël Duval launched Mandrake Linux. At the time it was just a fork of Red Hat Linux with KDE as the default desktop, better hardware detection and some user-friendly features, but it gained instant popularity due to positive reviews in the media. Mandrake was later turned into a commercial enterprise and renamed to Mandriva (to avoid some trademark-related hassles and to celebrate its merger with Brazil's Conectiva) before almost going bankrupt in 2010. It was eventually saved by a Russian venture capital firm, but this came at a cost when the new management decided to lay off most of the established Mandriva developers at the company's Paris headquarters. Upon finding themselves without work, they decided to form Mageia, a community project which is a logical continuation of Mandrake and Mandriva, perhaps more so than Mandriva itself.Mageia is primarily a desktop distribution. Its best-loved features are cutting-edge software, superb system administration suite (Mageia Control Centre), ability to attract a large number of volunteer contributors, and extensive internationalisation support. It features one of the easiest, yet powerful system installers on its installation DVD, while it also releases a set of live images with either KDE or GNOME desktops and comprehensive language support, with the ability to install it onto a hard disk directly from the live desktop session. The distribution's well-established package management features, with powerful command-line options and a graphical software management module, allow easy access to thousands of software packages. The unique Mageia Control Center continues to improve with each release, offering newcomers to Linux a powerful tool for configuring just about any aspect of their computer without ever reaching for the terminal.While Mageia has been off to a flying start since it was established in September 2010, there is some concern over the developers' ability to maintain the distribution over the long term where much of the work is done on a volunteer basis. Also, it lacks the buzz and infrastructure accompanying some of the bigger and more profligate Linux distributions. The project's documentation could also do with some improvement, while its 9-months release cycle can also be viewed as a disadvantage in terms of generating news and media excitement, especially when compared to other major distributions which use a shorter, 6-month development process.Pros: Beginner-friendly; excellent central configuration utility; very good out-of-the-box support for dozens of languages; installable live mediaCons: Lacks reputation and mindshare following its fork from Mandriva, some concern over the developers' ability to maintain the distribution long-term on a volunteer basisSoftware package management: URPMI with Rpmdrake (a graphical front-end for URPMI) using RPM packagesAvailable editions: installation DVDs for 32-bit (i586) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; installable live CDs for 32-bit (i586) processorsPossible alternatives: OpenMandriva, ROSAMageiaFedoraAlthough Fedora was formally unveiled only in September 2004, its origins effectively date back to 1995 when it was launched by two Linux visionaries -- Bob Young and Marc Ewing -- under the name of Red Hat Linux. The company's first product, Red Hat Linux 1.0 "Mother's Day", was released in the same year and was quickly followed by several bug-fix updates. In 1997, Red Hat introduced its revolutionary RPM package management system with dependency resolution and other advanced features which greatly contributed to the distribution's rapid rise in popularity and its overtaking of Slackware Linux as the most widely-used Linux distribution in the world. In later years, Red Hat standardised on a regular, 6-month release schedule.In 2003, just after the release of Red Hat Linux 9, the company introduced some radical changes to its product line-up. It retained the Red Hat trademark for its commercial products, notably Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and introduced Fedora Core (later renamed to Fedora), a Red Hat-sponsored, but community-oriented distribution designed for the "Linux hobbyist". After the initial criticism of the changes, the Linux community accepted the "new" distribution as a logical continuation of Red Hat Linux. A few quality releases was all it took for Fedora to regain its former status as one of the best-loved operating systems on the market. At the same time, Red Hat quickly became the biggest and most profitable Linux company in the world, with an innovative product line-up, excellent customer support, and other popular initiatives, such as its Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification programme.Although Fedora's direction is still largely controlled by Red Hat, Inc. and the product is sometimes seen -- rightly or wrongly -- as a test bed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, there is no denying that Fedora is one of the most innovative distributions available today. Its contributions to the Linux kernel, glibc and GCC are well-known and its more recent integration of SELinux functionality, virtualisation technologies, systemd service manager, cutting-edge journaled file systems, and other enterprise-level features are much appreciated among the company's customers. On a negative side, Fedora still lacks a clear desktop-oriented strategy that would make the product easier to use for those beyond the "Linux hobbyist" target.Pros: Highly innovative; outstanding security features; large number of supported packages; strict adherence to the free software philosophy; availability of live CDs featuring many popular desktop environmentsCons: Fedora's priorities tend to lean towards enterprise features, rather than desktop usability; some bleeding edge features, such as early switch to KDE 4 and GNOME 3, occasionally alienate some desktop usersSoftware package management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packagesAvailable editions: Fedora for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; also live CD editions with GNOME, KDE, LXDE, MATE and Xfce desktopsSuggested Fedora-based alternatives: Korora (live DVD with GNOME, KDE, LXDE or Xfce)Suggested Red Hat-based alternatives: CentOS, Scientific LinuxFedoraopenSUSEThe beginnings of openSUSE date back to 1992 when four German Linux enthusiasts -- Roland Dyroff, Thomas Fehr, Hubert Mantel and Burchard Steinbild -- launched the project under the name of SuSE (Software und System Entwicklung) Linux. In the early days, the young company sold sets of floppy disks containing a German edition of Slackware Linux, but it wasn't long before SuSE Linux became an independent distribution with the launch of version 4.2 in May 1996. In the following years, the developers adopted the RPM package management format and introduced YaST, an easy-to-use graphical system administration tool. Frequent releases, excellent printed documentation, and easy availability of SuSE Linux in stores across Europe and North America resulted in growing popularity for the distribution.SuSE Linux was acquired by Novell, Inc. in late 2003, then fell into the hands of Attachmate in November 2010. Major changes in the development, licensing and availability of SUSE Linux followed shortly after the first acquisition - YaST was released under the General Public License (GPL), the ISO images were freely distributed from public download servers, and, most significantly, the development of the distribution was opened to public participation for the first time. Since the launch of the openSUSE project and the release of version 10.0 in October 2005, the distribution became completely free in both senses of the word. The openSUSE code has become a base system for Novell's commercial products, first named as Novell Linux, but later renamed to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.Today, openSUSE has a large following of satisfied users. The principal reason for openSUSE getting high marks from its users are pleasant and polished desktop environments (KDE and GNOME), excellent system administration utility (YaST), and, for those who buy the boxed edition, some of the best printed documentation available with any distribution. However, the infamous deal between Novell and Microsoft, which apparently concedes to Microsoft's argument that it has intellectual property rights over Linux, has resulted in a string of condemnation by many Linux personalities and has prompted some users to switch distributions. Although Novell has downplayed the deal and Microsoft has yet to exercise any rights, this issue remains a thorn in the side of the otherwise very community-friendly Linux company.Pros: Comprehensive and intuitive configuration tool; large repository of software packages, excellent web site infrastructure and printed documentationCons: Novell's patent deal with Microsoft in November 2006 seemingly legitimised Microsoft's intellectual property claims over Linux; its resource-heavy desktop setup and graphical utilities are sometimes seen as "bloated and slow"Software package management: YaST graphical and command-line utility using RPM packagesAvailable editions: openSUSE for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) processors (also installable live CD edition); SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server for i586, IA64, PowerPC, s390, s390x and x86_64 architecturesopenSUSEArch LinuxThe KISS (keep it simple, stupid) philosophy of Arch Linux was devised around the year 2002 by Judd Vinet, a Canadian computer science graduate who launched the distribution in the same year. For several years it lived as a marginal project designed for intermediate and advanced Linux users and only shot to stardom when it began promoting itself as a "rolling-release" distribution that only needs to be installed once and which is then kept up-to-date thanks to its powerful package manager and an always fresh software repository. As a result, Arch Linux "releases" are few and far between and are now limited to a basic installation CD that is issued only when considerable changes in the base system warrant a new install media.Besides featuring the much-loved "rolling-release" update mechanism, Arch Linux is also renowned for its fast and powerful package manager called "Pacman", the ability to install software packages from source code, easy creation of binary packages thanks to its AUR infrastructure, and the ever increasing software repository of well-tested packages. Its highly-regarded documentation, complemented by the excellent Arch Linux Handbook makes it possible for even less experienced Linux users to install and customise the distribution. The powerful tools available at the user's disposal mean that the distro is infinitely customisable to the most minute detail and that no two installations can possibly be the same.On the negative side, any rolling-release update mechanism has its dangers: a human mistake creeps in, a library or dependency goes missing, a new version of an application already in the repository has a yet-to-be-reported critical bug... It's not unheard of to end up with an unbootable system following a Pacman upgrade. As such, Arch Linux is a kind of distribution that requires its users to be alert and to have enough knowledge to fix any such possible problems. Also, the infrequent install media releases mean that sometimes it is no longer possible to use the old media to install the distribution due to important system changes or lack of hardware support in the older Linux kernel.Pros: Excellent software management infrastructure; unparalleled customisation and tweaking options; superb online documentationCons: Occasional instability and risk of breakdownSoftware package management: "Pacman" using TAR.XZ packagesAvailable editions: Minimal installation CD and network installation CD images for 32-bit (i686) and 64-bit (x86_64) processorsSuggested Arch-based and Arch-like alternatives: Manjaro Linux (live with Cinnamon, Enlightenment, KDE, LXDE, MATE, Openbox, Xfce), Antergos (live with GNOME 3), ArchBang Linux (lightweight with Openbox), Chakra GNU/Linux (live CD with KDE), Bridge Linux (live with GNOME, KDE, LXDE and Xfce), Parabola GNU/Linux (free software), KaOS (live with KDE)Arch Linux (an example desktop)CentOSLaunched in late 2003, CentOS is a community project with the goals of rebuilding the source code for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) into an installable Linux distribution and to provide timely security updates for all included software packages. To put in more bluntly, CentOS is a RHEL clone. The only technical difference between the two distributions is branding - CentOS replaces all Red Hat trademarks and logos with its own. Nevertheless, the relations between Red Hat and CentOS remain amicable and many CentOS developers are in active contact with, or even employed directly by, Red Hat.CentOS is often seen as a reliable server distribution. It comes with the same set of well-tested and stable Linux kernel and software packages that form the basis of its parent, Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Despite being a community project run by volunteers, it has gained a reputation for being a solid, free alternative to the more costly server products on the market, especially among experienced Linux system administrators. CentOS is also suitable as an enterprise desktop solution, specifically where stability, reliability and long-term support are preferred over latest software and features. Like RHEL, CentOS is supported with approximately 7-10 years of security updates.Despite its advantages, CentOS might not be the best solution in all deployment scenarios. Those users who prefer a distribution with the latest Linux technologies and newest software packages should look elsewhere. Major CentOS versions, which follow RHEL versioning, are only released every 2 - 3 years, while "point" releases (e.g. 5.1) tend to arrive in 6 - 9 month intervals. The point releases do not usually contain any major features (although they do sometimes include support for more recent hardware) and only a handful of software packages may get updated to newer versions. The Linux kernel, the base system and most application versions remain unchanged, but occasionally a newer version of an important software package (e.g. LibreOffice or Firefox) may be provided on an experimental basis. As a side project, CentOS also builds updated packages for the users of its distributions, but the repositories containing them are not enabled by default as they may break upstream compatibility.Pros: Extremely well-tested, stable and reliable; free to download and use; comes with 7+ years of free security updates;Cons: Lacks latest Linux technologies; occasionally the project fails to live up its promise to deliver timely security updates and new stable releasesSoftware package management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packagesAvailable editions: Installation DVDs and installable live CDs (with GNOME) for i386 and x86_64 processors; older versions (3.x and 4.x) also available for Alpha, IA64 and IBM z-series (s390, s390x) processors.Other RHEL clones and CentOS-based distributions: Scientific Linux, Springdale Linux, SME Server, Rocks Cluster Distribution, OracleEnterprise LinuxCentOSPCLinuxOSPCLinuxOS was first announced in 2003 by Bill Reynolds, better known as "Texstar". Prior to creating his own distribution, Texstar was already a well-known developer in the Mandrake Linux community of users for building up-to-date RPM packages for the popular distribution and providing them as a free download. In 2003 he decided to build a new distribution, initially based on Mandrake Linux, but with several significant usability improvements. The goals? It should be beginner-friendly, have out-of-the box support for proprietary kernel modules, browser plugins and media codecs, and should function as a live CD with a simple and intuitive graphical installer.Several years and development releases later, PCLinuxOS is rapidly approaching its intended state. In terms of usability, the project offers out-of-the-box support for many technologies most Windows-to-Linux migrants would expect from their new operating system. On the software side of things, PCLinuxOS is a KDE-oriented distribution, with a customised and always up-to-date version of the popular desktop environment. Its growing software repository contains other desktops, however, and offers a great variety of desktop packages for many common tasks. For system configuration, PCLinuxOS has retained much of Mandriva's excellent Control Centre, but has replaced its package management system with APT and Synaptic, a graphical package management front-end.On the negative side, PCLinuxOS lacks any form of roadmap or release goals. Despite growing community involvement in the project, most development and decision-making remains in the hands of Texstar who tends to be on the conservative side when judging the stability of a release. As a result, the development process of PCLinuxOS is often arduous. For example, despite frequent calls for a 64-bit edition, the developers held off producing a 64-bit build until fairly recently. Furthermore, the project does not provide any security advisories, relying instead on the users' willingness to keep their system up-to-date via the included package management tools.Pros: Out-of-the-box support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs; rolling-release update mechanism; up-to-date softwareCons: no out-of-the-box support for non-English languages; lacks release planning and security advisoriesSoftware package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using RPM packagesAvailable editions: KDE, KDE Full Monty, KDE Minime, LXDE, LXDE Mini, Openbox, Openbox Bonsai, Phinx, Phoenix for 32-bit (i586) processor architectures, KDE for 64-bit (x86_64) processor architecturesPCLinuxOSSlackware LinuxSlackware Linux, created by Patrick Volkerding in 1992, is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. Forked from the now-discontinued SLS project, Slackware 1.0 came on 24 floppy disks and was built on top of Linux kernel version 0.99pl11-alpha. It quickly became the most popular Linux distribution, with some estimates putting its market share to as much as 80% of all Linux installations in 1995. Its popularity decreased dramatically with the arrival of Red Hat Linux and other, more user-friendly distributions, but Slackware Linux still remains a much-appreciated operating system among the more technically-oriented system administrators and desktop users.Slackware Linux is a highly technical, clean distribution, with only a very limited number of custom utilities. It uses a simple, text-based system installer and a comparatively primitive package management system that does not resolve software dependencies. As a result, Slackware is considered one of the cleanest and least buggy distributions available today - the lack of Slackware-specific enhancements reduces the likelihood of new bugs being introduced into the system. All configuration is done by editing text files. There is a saying in the Linux community that if you learn Red Hat, you'll know Red Hat, but if you learn Slackware, you'll know Linux. This is particularly true today when many other Linux distributions keep developing heavily customised products to meet the needs of less technical Linux users.While this philosophy of simplicity has its fans, the fact is that in today's world, Slackware Linux is increasingly becoming a "core system" upon which new, custom solutions are built, rather than a complete distribution with a wide variety of supported software. The only exception is the server market, where Slackware remains popular, though even here, the distribution's complex upgrade procedure and lack of officially supported automated tools for security updates makes it increasingly uncompetitive. Slackware's conservative attitude towards the system's base components means that it requires much manual post-installation work before it can be tuned into a modern desktop system.Pros: Considered highly stable, clean and largely bug-free, strong adherence to UNIX principlesCons: Limited number of officially supported applications; conservative in terms of base package selection; complex upgrade procedureSoftware package management: "pkgtool" using TXZ packagesAvailable editions: Installation CDs and DVD for 32-bit (i486) and 64-bit (x86_64) processorsSuggested Slackware-based alternatives: Zenwalk Linux (desktop), Salix (desktop, live CD), Porteus (live CD with KDE, LXDE, MATE, Razor-qt or Xfce), VectorLinux (desktop)Other distributions with similar philosophies: Arch Linux, Frugalware LinuxSlackware LinuxFreeBSDFreeBSD, an indirect descendant of AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), has a long and turbulent history dating back to 1993. Unlike Linux distributions, which are defined as integrated software solutions consisting of the Linux kernel and thousands of software applications, FreeBSD is a tightly integrated operating system built from a BSD kernel and the so-called "userland" (therefore usable even without extra applications). This distinction is largely lost once installed on an average computer system - like many Linux distributions, a large collection of easily installed, (mostly) open source applications are available for extending the FreeBSD core, but these are usually provided by third-party contributors and aren't strictly part of FreeBSD.FreeBSD has developed a reputation for being a fast, high-performance and extremely stable operating system, especially suitable for web serving and similar tasks. Many large web search engines and organisations with mission-critical computing infrastructures have deployed and used FreeBSD on their computer systems for years. Compared to Linux, FreeBSD is distributed under a much less restrictive license, which allows virtually unrestricted re-use and modification of the source code for any purpose. Even Apple's Mac OS X is known to have been derived from FreeBSD. Besides the core operating system, the project also provides over 24,000 software applications in binary and source code forms for easy installation on top of the core FreeBSD.While FreeBSD can certainly be used as a desktop operating system, it doesn't compare well with popular Linux distributions in this department. The text-mode system installer offers little in terms of hardware detection or system configuration, leaving much of the dirty work to the user in a post-installation setup. In terms of support for modern hardware, FreeBSD generally lags behind Linux, especially in supporting cutting-edge desktop and laptop gadgets, such as wireless network cards or digital cameras. Those users seeking to exploit the speed and stability of FreeBSD on a desktop or workstation should consider one of the available desktop FreeBSD projects, rather than FreeBSD itself.Pros: Fast and stable; availability of over 24,000 software applications (or "ports") for installation; very good documentationCons: Tends to lag behind Linux in terms of support for new and exotic hardware, limited availability of commercial applications; lacks graphical configuration toolsSoftware package management: A complete command-line package management infrastructure using either binary packages or source-based "ports" (TBZ)Available editions: Installation CDs for AMD64, ARM/ARMEL, i386, IA64, MIPS/MIPSEL, PC98 PowerPC, SPARC64 and Xbox processorsSuggested FreeBSD-based alternatives: PC-BSD (desktop), GhostBSD (live DVD with GNOME)Other BSD alternatives: OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFly BSD

As stated in Nagarajan Srinivasan’s answer:in the evolution of the human race from the stone age to the present sophisticated civilization, most of the biggest changes have been brought about only by the unknown persons. Some such unknown persons go on to achieve fame and a celebrity status, many just remain in the background and fadeout and a vast majority still remain what they always were - unknown and unsung.This answer discusses some similarly relatively less known and unknown people.VaccinationVaccination has saved millions of human lives ever since its invention. There are actually many less known and unknown people behind the development of vaccines.Eradication of Smallpox[1]Before vaccination, there was inoculation. The information has been taken from Spencer McDaniel’s answer on Who invented vaccination?Inoculation[2] is a set of methods of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases. The form of inoculation practised was mostly variolation[3] i.e. inoculation against smallpox.Instances of inoculation practices are known from China, India, Ethiopia, Sudan and West Africa — mostly reported by European colonialists, and in case of China, from Chinese medicinal texts. Smallpox inoculation also independently developed at some point in ~17th century CE among impoverished members of various Christian ethnic communities living under Ottoman empire.Smallpox used to kill millions of people globally:It was a leading cause of death in the 18th century CE. Every seventh child born in Russia died from smallpox. It killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year in 18th century CE, including five reigning European monarchs. Most people became infected during their lifetimes, and about 30% of people infected with smallpox died from the disease. Franco-Prussian War triggered a smallpox pandemic of 1870–1875 that claimed 500,000 lives.In 1849 nearly 13% of all Kolkata’s deaths were due to smallpox. Between 1868 and 1907, there were approximately 4.7 million deaths from smallpox in India. Between 1926 and 1930, there were 979,738 cases of smallpox with a mortality of 42.3%.Smallpox in Angola was likely introduced shortly after Portuguese settlement of the area in 1484. The 1864 epidemic killed 25,000 inhabitants, one third of the total population in that same area.After first contacts with Europeans and Africans, some believe that the death of 90–95% of the native population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases. It is suspected that smallpox was the chief culprit and responsible for killing nearly all of the native inhabitants of the Americas. For more than 200 years, this disease affected all new world populations, mostly without intentional European transmission, from contact in the early 16th century CE until possibly as late as the French and Indian Wars (1754–1767).The successful vaccination drive against smallpox resulted in its complete eradication, with the last known case being in 1977.→ A person with smallpox in the United States, 1912 [Source: File:SmallpoxvictimIllinois1912.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]→ This young girl in Bangladesh was infected with smallpox in 1973. Freedom from smallpox was declared in Bangladesh in December, 1977 when a WHO International Commission officially certified that smallpox had been eradicated from that country. [Source: File:Child with Smallpox Bangladesh.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]→ A man with severe hemorrhagic-type smallpox (Bangladesh, 1975) [Source: File:Hemorrhagic smallpox.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]Onesimus:[4]A West African Akan ethnic slave with unknown original name, renamed to Onesimus in the mitigation of the impact of a smallpox outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was enslaved and, in 1706, was given to the New England Puritan minister Cotton Mather, who renamed him. Onesimus introduced Cotton Mather to inoculation, who then used this knowledge to advocate for inoculation in the Boston’s population (during 1721 smallpox outbreak), a practice that eventually spread to other colonies. Boston and London in 1726 and 1722, respectively, performed trials on citizens and, on average, inoculation decreased the mortality rate from 17% to 2% of the infected population.Mary Wortley Montagu (15 May 1689 – 21 August 1762)[5], Charles Maitland (1668–1748)[6]:Mary Montagu was the wife of then British ambassador to Ottoman empire, and documented the the practices of inoculation there, which she subsequently introduced and advocated for in Britain. Mary was well aware of the horrors of smallpox, since her brother died of it in 1713. She herself caught the disease in 1715 and, although she survived, it left her severely scarred.In March 1718, Mary had an elderly Greek practitioner in Constantinople inoculate her eldest son Edward[7] under the supervision of British embassy surgeon Charles Maitland. Thus, Edward Wortley Montagu became the first western European ever to undergo a recorded inoculation for smallpox. In April 1721, Mary had her daughter Mary Stuart[8] inoculated by Charles Maitland, with three physicians from the Royal College of Physicians as witnesses. One of the witnesses, James Keith, was so pleased by the success that he had Maitland inoculate his 6-year-old son; Keith's other children had all died of smallpox.On 9 August 1721, Maitland received a Royal Licence that allowed him to test variolation on six prisoners from Newgate Prison. The experiment took place in August 1722, under the direction of Sir Hans Sloane. All prisoners survived, and they were pardoned later that year. One prisoner who was exposed to the disease proved to be immune.In late 1722, Caroline of Ansbach[9] ordered the inoculation of five orphans of St. James's Parish in London. Following their success, Caroline had Maitland inoculate her eldest son, Frederick and one other child.John Fewster (1738–1824):[10]John Fewster was a surgeon and apothecary in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England, UKGBNI. Fewster, a friend and professional colleague of Edward Jenner, played an important role in the discovery of the smallpox vaccine. In 1768 Fewster realized that prior infection with cowpox rendered a person immune to smallpox.In 1768, Fewster noted that two brothers (named Creed) had both been variolated (purposefully infected with smallpox) but that one did not react at all to variolation. On questioning, this subject had never had smallpox, but had previously contracted cowpox. This prompted Fewster to wonder whether cowpox might protect against smallpox, a notion of which he was previously unaware. He is reported to have discussed this possibility over a Convivio-Medical Society dinner at the Ship Inn in Alveston. He also encouraged others to take up the inquiry. Amongst those at the meeting was Edward Jenner, a young medical apprentice at the time.This was a highly significant discovery, since inoculation, despite being effective had its risks: inoculates could develope a real case of smallpox and could infect others.Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823)[11] was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae (smallpox of the cow), the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the long title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.In 1796, the inoculation methodology Onesimus introduced was replaced by Edward Jenner's development of vaccination for smallpox and cowpox. Thereafter, vaccination became compulsory in Wales and England and variolation became banned for its side effects. In 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been completely eradicated due to global immunization efforts, making the disease the first and only infectious disease to have been entirely wiped out.In Spencer McDaniel’s words:Jenner is rightly praised for having invented and promoted the smallpox vaccine. It is important to remember, however, that Jenner’s vaccine was merely an improvement on the already-existing treatment of inoculation, which had originated outside of Europe centuries earlier. If inoculation hadn’t already existed, Jenner almost certainly would never have invented the vaccine.Thus, while Jenner definitely deserves some credit for his own work, we need to remember all the other people who contributed to the development of the smallpox vaccine, including the anonymous Chinese Daoist alchemists, West African folk doctors, and poor ethnic minorities in the Ottoman Empire who first experimented with inoculation, the woman who introduced it to Britain, the enslaved Black man who introduced it to Boston, and the prisoners from Newgate Prison who were experimented on to prove that it worked.Viktor Mikhailovich Zhdanov (14 February 1914 – 14 July 1987)[12] , William Herbert Foege (born March 12, 1936)[13]:Viktor Zhdanov was a Soviet virologist. He was instrumental in the effort to eradicate smallpox globally. In 1958, Zhdanov, as Deputy Minister of Health for the Soviet Union, called on the World Health Assembly to undertake a global initiative to eradicate smallpox. The proposal (Resolution WHA11.54) was accepted in 1959.→ Viktor Zhdanov [Source: By Victor Zhdanov - Victor Zhdanov, CC BY-SA 4.0, File:Viktor Zhdanov.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]William Foege is an American physician and epidemiologist who is credited with "devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s" While working for the Centers for Disease Control in Africa as Chief of the Smallpox Eradication Program, Bill Foege developed the highly successful surveillance and “ring vaccination” strategy to contain smallpox spread. This greatly reduced the number of vaccinations needed, ensuring that the limited resources available sufficed to make smallpox the first infectious disease to be eradicated in human history.→ William Foege [Source: By CDC - Public Health Image Library(PHIL), Public Domain, File:William H. Foege.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]→ Decade in which smallpox ceased to spread in each country [Source: By Our World in Data - Global Health, CC BY 4.0, File:Decade-in-which-smallpox-ceased-to-be-endemic-by-country.svg - Wikimedia Commons]Eradication of Rinderpest[14]Rinderpest is the only other infectious disease to be successfully eradicated, with the last known case in 2011. It was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs. Death rates during outbreaks were usually extremely high, approaching 100% in immunologically naïve populations. Inoculation was found to be largely ineffective, and infact sometimes more harmful in case of Rinderpest.The African outbreak in the 1890s[15] killed an estimated 80-90% of all cattle in eastern and southern Africa, as well as in Horn of Africa. The loss of animals caused famine which depopulated sub-Saharan Africa, allowing thornbush to colonise. This formed ideal habitat for tsetse fly[16], which carries sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis)[17], and is unsuitable for livestock.The eradication efforts for Rinderpest were actually tied to immunization efforts against smallpox and polio, as would be seen later in the answer.Arnold Theiler (26 March 1867 – 24 July 1936):[18]Arnold Theiler’s success at producing a vaccine to combat an outbreak of smallpox among the miners of the Witwatersrand brought him an appointment as state veterinarian for the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek[19], in which capacity he served during Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)[20]. During this period his research team developed a vaccine against rinderpest. This vaccine was instrumental in curbing the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.Walter Plowright (20 July 1923–19 February 2010):[21]Walter Plowright was an English veterinary scientist who devoted his career to the eradication of the cattle plague rinderpest. Plowright received the 1999 World Food Prize for his development of tissue culture rinderpest vaccine (TCRV), the key element in the quest to eliminate rinderpest.As a young veterinary pathologist, Plowright carried out research in Kenya and Nigeria. East African Veterinary Research Organization at Muguga in Kenya provided the base for Plowright and his colleagues to adopt the cell-culture techniques used to develop the polio vaccine to produce a live attenuated (non-pathogenic) virus for use as a rinderpest vaccine. Plowright used a mono-layer of kidney cells to culture the virus until it became non-virulent and could be transmitted from one cattle to another, producing lifelong immunity against rinderpest. Unlike its predecessors, tissue culture rinderpest vaccine (TCRV) could be used safely in all types of cattle, it could be produced very economically and conferred lifelong immunity.The research and application techniques that brought Plowright success in fighting rinderpest were later replicated by his colleagues to vaccinate against sheeppox and lumpy skin disease.In addition to rinderpest, Plowright also contributed to the study of such viral animal diseases as African swine fever, malignant catarrhal fever, poxviruses, and herpesviruses.Of course there is the ongoing battle against polio. The stalwarts reponsible for developing vaccine againts it: Jonas Edward Salk[22] and Albert Bruce Sabin[23] have already been mentioned in Angel Santiago’s answer.Ambulance servicesTransporting patients to hospitals/treatment facilities holds utmost importance, especially in emergencies. Efficient and rapid transportation can prevent many deaths, otherwise causable due to lack of medical attention.The first record of ambulances being used for emergency purposes relates to the troops of Isabella I of Castile[24] in 1487. The Spanish army of the time was well treated and attracted volunteers from across the continent; and among their benefits were the first military hospitals (ambulancias), although injured soldiers were not picked up for treatment until after the cessation of the battle, resulting in many dying on the field.A major change in usage of ambulances in battle came about with the ambulances volantes designed by Dominique Jean Larrey (8 July 1766 – 25 July 1842)[25], who later became Napoleon Bonaparte’s chief physician. Larrey was present at the battle of Spires, between the French and Prussians, and was distressed that wounded soldiers were not picked up by the numerous ambulances (which regulations required to be stationed two and half miles back from the scene of battle) until after hostilities had ceased, so he set about developing a new ambulance system. Having decided against using the Norman system of horse litters, he settled on two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn wagons to transport fallen soldiers from the active battlefield after they had received early treatment in the field. Larrey adapted the axle assembly from the French army's horse-drawn artillery ("flying artillery" – artillerie volante [French]) that made their gun carriages especially maneuverable on uneven terrain, and so christened his ambulances "flying ambulances" (ambulances volantes). The flying ambulances were first used by Army of the Rhine in 1793. Larrey subsequently developed similar services for Napoleon's armies, and adapted his ambulances to the conditions; including developing a litter which could be carried by a camel for the 1798-1801 French campaign in Egypt.→ Dominique Jean Larrey, portrait by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson [Source: Dominique Jean Larrey - Wikipedia]→ Ambulance volante du modèle Larrey [Source: Dominique Jean Larrey - Wikipedia]More advances in medical care for the military were made during the United States’ Civil War. Union military physicians Joseph Barnes and Jonathan Letterman built upon Larrey’s work and designed a prehospital care system for soldiers, which used new techniques and methods of transport. They ensured that every regiment possessed at least one ambulance cart, with a two-wheeled design that accommodated two or three patients.Edward Barry Dalton (September 21, 1834 – May 13, 1872)[26] was an American physician who served in American Civil War and created New York City's first ambulance service. He started an ambulance service to bring the patients to the hospital faster and in more comfort; the service started in 1869. These ambulances carried medical equipment, such as splints, a stomach pump, morphine, and brandy, reflecting contemporary medicine. Dalton believed that speed was of the essence, and at first the horses were kept in harness while awaiting a call: within a few months this practice had been replaced with a 'drop,' or 'snap,' harness arrangement, whereby the tack was lowered by pulley from the ceiling straight onto the horse: under either scheme, ambulances were ready to go within 30 seconds of being called. The service was very popular and grew rapidly, with the year 1870 seeing the ambulances attend 1401 emergency calls, but 21 years later, this had more than tripled to 4392.→ A horse-drawn ambulance outside Bellevue Hospital in New York City, 1895 [Source: File:Bellevue Hospital Ambulance, New York Times, 1895.JPG - Wikimedia Commons]In 1880, the President of the Liverpool Medical Institution, Reginald Harrison, suggested a horse-drawn ambulance for the city. In 1884, this ambulance service was created based at the Liverpool Northern Hospital: it was the first in Britain.In Queensland, Australia, military medic Seymour Warrian called a public meeting in Brisbane and established an ambulance service after witnessing an event at the Brisbane showgrounds during Show Week in 1892 — a fallen rider, suffering a broken leg was walked off the field by well-meaning but misguided bystanders, worsening his injury. As a result of the meeting, the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade was formed on 12 September. The first ambulance station in Queensland operated out of Brisbane Newspaper Company and officers on night duty slept on rolls of newspaper on the floor. They had a stretcher, but no vehicle and transported patients on foot, although in time, they gained horse-drawn stretchers and eventually vehicles. A year after the establishment of the Brisbane centre, another was established in Charters Towers in north Queensland, growing to over 90 community controlled ambulance centres. In 1991 the independent QATB centres amalgamated to form Queensland Ambulance Service which is now the fourth largest ambulance service in the world.The first motor-powered ambulance was brought into service in 1899, with Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, USA taking delivery of the first automobile ambulance, donated in February 1899 by 500 prominent local businessmen.In 1917, Lieutenant Clifford Peel, a medical student, outlined a system of fixed-wing aircraft and ground facilities designed to provide medical services to the Australian Outback; the first custom-built air ambulances did not come into existence until the late 1920s. These ideas became reality under the guidance of the Very Reverend John Flynn[27] in 1928 when Australian Inland Mission[28] service established Aerial Medical Service, a one-year experimental program. Physicians in this program had several responsibilities, one of which was to fly out to a patient, treat the patient, and fly the patient to a hospital if the physician could not deliver adequate care on scene. Eventually, this experiment became the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia[29].→ [Source: John Flynn (minister) - Wikipedia]→ Australian Flying Doctor Service vehicles in 1954 [Source: Public Domain, File:Flying doctor Alice Springs 1954.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]After Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash in 1952[30], ambulances in Britain were restructured to be a "mobile hospital", rather than just transporting patients, thus leading to modern ambulances. Part of the result was the creation of standards in ambulance construction concerning the internal height of the patient care area (to allow for an attendant to continue to care for the patient during transport), and in the equipment (and thus weight) that an ambulance had to carry.→ A 1964 police cruiser, which is also fitted to transport patients [Source: File:StratfordPd64.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]→ A 1973 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance. Note the higher roof, with more room for the attendants and patient, and the increased number of warning lights. [Source: CC BY-SA 3.0, File:DFVAC 1970s Cadillac Miller Meteor color.jpg - Wikimedia Commons]Battle against Leaded fuelInfectious Diseases are not the only thing that takes countless lives, and vaccination is not the only thing saves lives. In some cases, legal battles have to be fought to save people’s lives. Details taken from Susanna Viljanen’s answer on What technology do you wish was never invented?Engine knocking[31] in spark ignition internal combustion engines occurs when combustion of some of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder does not result from propagation of the flame front ignited by the spark plug, but one or more pockets of air/fuel mixture explode outside the envelope of the normal combustion front. The fuel-air charge is meant to be ignited by the spark plug only, and at a precise point in the piston's stroke. Knock occurs when the peak of the combustion process no longer occurs at the optimum moment for the four-stroke cycle. The shock wave creates the characteristic metallic "pinging" sound, and cylinder pressure increases dramatically. Effects of engine knocking range from inconsequential to completely destructive.To prevent this phenomenon, anti-knocking agents were being researched upon. A young chemist Thomas Midgley Jr. experimented with various concoctions, and finally encountered dimethyl magnesium and tetraethyl lead - which were found to be effective antiknock agents. The good thing with tetraethyl lead[32] was that it also lubricated the valves.The problem? Of course, Lead. Tetraethyllead is highly toxic, with as little as 6-15mL being enough to induce severe lead poisoning. The hazards of TEL's lead content are heightened due to the compound's volatility and high lipophilicity, enabling it to easily cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the limbic system, frontal cortex, and hippocampus, making chelation therapy ineffective. Early symptoms of acute exposure to tetraethyllead can manifest as irritation of the eyes and skin, sneezing, fever, vomiting, and a metallic taste in the mouth. Later symptoms of acute TEL poisoning include pulmonary edema, anemia, ataxia, convulsions, severe weight loss, delirium, irritability, hallucinations, nightmares, fever, muscle and joint pain, swelling of the brain, coma, and damage to cardiovascular and renal organs. Chronic exposure to TEL can cause long-term negative effects such as memory loss, delayed reflexes, neurological problems, insomnia, tremors, psychosis, loss of attention, and an overall decrease in IQ and cognitive function.Lead poisoning in children has been linked to changes in brain function that can result in low IQ, and increased impulsivity and aggression. These traits of childhood lead exposure are associated with crimes of passion, such as aggravated assault in young adults. An increase in lead exposure in children was linked to an increase in aggravated assault rates 22 year later. For instance, the peak in leaded gasoline use in the late 1970s corresponds to a peak in aggravated assault rates in the late 1990s in urban areas across USA.[33]Toxic effects of TEL were either less known or ignored. Infact, General Motors, Du Pont and Standard Oil founded Ethyl Corporation to produce tetraethyl lead and sell it to fuel manufacturers.Clair Cameron Patterson (June 2, 1922 – December 5, 1995):[34]→ [Source: File:Portrait of Clair Cameron Patterson.jpg - Wikipedia">Link</a>]Enter geochemist Clair Patterson. His work had initially nothing to do with TEL. He was trying to measure Earth’s age. He found that the samples he was using to do so had much more lead than expected.He determined, through ice-core samples from Greenland taken in 1964 and from Antarctica in 1965, that atmospheric lead levels had begun to increase steadily and dangerously soon after tetraethyl lead began to see widespread use in fuel. In his effort to ensure that lead was removed from gasoline (petrol), Patterson fought against the lobbying power of Ethyl Corporation (which employed toxicologist Robert A. Kehoe), against the legacy of Thomas Midgley, Jr. (which included tetraethyllead and chlorofluorocarbons), and against the lead additive industry as a whole. Following Patterson's criticism of the lead industry, he was refused contracts with many research organizations, including the supposedly-neutral United States Public Health Service. In 1971, he was excluded from a National Research Council (NRC) panel on atmospheric lead contamination, even though he was then the foremost expert on the subject.He continued his efforts nonethless. Finally, USA mandated the use of unleaded gasoline to protect catalytic converters in all new cars starting with the 1975 model year, but Patterson's efforts accelerated the phaseout of lead from all standard, consumer automotive gasoline in USA by 1986. Lead levels within the blood of Americans are reported to have dropped by up to 80% by the late 1990s.Clair’s efforts did not just save lives immediately but also contributed to increased average intelligence (having decreased due to Lead exposure) and decrease in crime rate (again, which had increased due to violent behaviour due to lead exposure).Chennai Snake Park[35]→ Romulus “Rom” Earl Whittaker [Source: By Dr. Raju Kasambe - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, File:Mr. Romulus Whitaker.JPG - Wikimedia Commons]Romulus Whittaker is an Indian herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, and founder of Chennai Snake Park[36], Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET), and Madras Crocodile Bank Trust[37]. Regular viewers of National Geographic may know about him. His efforts have been instrumental in driving India’s wildlife conservation efforts. Chennai Snake Park especially has a twofold importance: saving lives and livelihoods, as explained here.Venomous snakebites are estimated to cause 20,000 to 125,000 deaths worldwide. Therefore, any site that produces anti-venom (Chennai Snake Park) included holds high importance. South Asia and South-East Asia seem to be the most affected by snakebites. According to the most conservative estimates, at least 81,000 snake envenomings and 11,000 fatalities occur in India each year, making it the most heavily affected country in the world.→ [Source: By Eightofnine - Own work, Public Domain, File:Number of snake envenomings.svg - Wikimedia Commons]As part of its conservation efforts, India had banned snake trading. While this was a great news for snakes, it created a livelood loss for Irula tribals[38] many of whom had depended on snake catching as traditional occupation. Enter Chennai Snake Park. After the snake trading ban, it started to employ Irulas, in the form of Irulas Co-operative Society utilising their traditional knowledge to give them livelihood, drive snake conservation efforts and anti-venom production.This also had a possibly unintended effect for Irulas. In January 2017, Masi Sadaiyan and Vadivel Gopal from Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu, India were brought in, along with two translators, to work with detection dogs to track down and capture invasive Burmese pythons in Key Largo, Florida. The Irula men and their translators were paid $70,000 by Florida state, and captured 14 pythons in less than two weeks.[39]Footnotes[1] Smallpox - Wikipedia[2] Inoculation - Wikipedia[3] Variolation - Wikipedia[4] Onesimus (Bostonian) - Wikipedia[5] Lady Mary Wortley Montagu - Wikipedia[6] Charles Maitland (physician) - Wikipedia[7] Edward Wortley Montagu (traveller) - Wikipedia[8] Mary Stuart, Countess of Bute - Wikipedia[9] Caroline of Ansbach - Wikipedia[10] John Fewster - Wikipedia[11] Edward Jenner - Wikipedia[12] Viktor Zhdanov - Wikipedia[13] William Foege - Wikipedia[14] Rinderpest - Wikipedia[15] 1890s African rinderpest epizootic - Wikipedia[16] Tsetse fly - Wikipedia[17] African trypanosomiasis - Wikipedia[18] Arnold Theiler - Wikipedia[19] South African Republic - Wikipedia[20] Second Boer War - Wikipedia[21] Walter Plowright - Wikipedia[22] Jonas Salk - Wikipedia[23] Albert Sabin - Wikipedia[24] Isabella I of Castile - Wikipedia[25] Dominique Jean Larrey - Wikipedia[26] Edward Dalton - Wikipedia[27] John Flynn (minister) - Wikipedia[28] Australian Inland Mission - Wikipedia[29] Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia - Wikipedia[30] Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash - Wikipedia[31] Engine knocking - Wikipedia[32] Tetraethyllead - Wikipedia[33] Lead poisoning - Wikipedia[34] Clair Cameron Patterson - Wikipedia[35] Chennai Snake Park - Wikipedia[36] Chennai Snake Park - Wikipedia[37] Madras Crocodile Bank Trust - Wikipedia[38] Irula people - Wikipedia[39] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/01/26/florida-is-deploying-snake-hunters-from-india-to-catch-invasive-pythons/