2006 VCU Central

[ssquared]

1. i read on the website/secondary that they are implementing a change, and that starting from the matriculating class of 2007 (ie class of 2011), some of the students will do clerkships on campus while some others will do them away from campus at fairfax inova hospital in falls church, va, just outside dc. we need to indicate which we would like, and this choice is binding...i am not sure which would be the better choice.....both seem like big/busy hospitals....and i am assuming the medical training would be the same at either place??? any thoughts?

Fairfax INOVA is one of the best hospitals in the country. There are at least 3 or 4 medical schools I can think of off the top of my head that have training going on there. They just built a huge cardiac care unit, too. I've done some shadowing there I really liked the environment. As for living there, it's quite different from Richmond....Falls Church is most certainly a suburb, and I imagine that the types of patients that you would see come in would be different from a city.

(and they may say "right outside DC" but what they really mean is "fight traffic for 30 minutes and you might make it across the river to the district" )

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[luckycharms08]

hi guys
sorry to crash this thread, but i was wondering if you could help me...im trying to apply to vcu this year, and i have two questions...

1. i read on the website/secondary that they are implementing a change, and that starting from the matriculating class of 2007 (ie class of 2011), some of the students will do clerkships on campus while some others will do them away from campus at fairfax inova hospital in falls church, va, just outside dc. we need to indicate which we would like, and this choice is binding...i am not sure which would be the better choice.....both seem like big/busy hospitals....and i am assuming the medical training would be the same at either place??? any thoughts?

2. also on their 2007 secondary, one of the essay questions is, "what are your thoughts on specialties and how do you plan to choose yours?" i am just trying to get into medical school first...it seems like they want us to have a solid plan as to where we want to go after med school....but dont ppl change their minds/dont really know until med school has progressed anyway? help! not sure how to best address this question....

any help/input/thoughts/advice on either of these points would be much appreciated....
thanks again, guys

it's not binding. but if you don't live in the area, there's probably not much benefit to relocating & enduring the traffic and higher cost of living.

7. What if I changed my mind about going to Fairfax after I’ve started medical school?

The School of Medicine has made a commitment to Fairfax Hospital to provide 24 students for each of the third and fourth years. We recognize, however, that extenuating circumstances can occur following matriculation; and the school will work with students individually to meet their needs. If too few or too many students choose Fairfax Hospital, a lottery will be held in the second year to select students to go to Fairfax.

(from http://www.admissions.som.vcu.edu/inova_faq.htm )

 

[pseudoknot]

2. also on their 2007 secondary, one of the essay questions is, "what are your thoughts on specialties and how do you plan to choose yours?" i am just trying to get into medical school first...it seems like they want us to have a solid plan as to where we want to go after med school....but dont ppl change their minds/dont really know until med school has progressed anyway? help! not sure how to best address this question....

They do not require you to have a solid plan, and they know perfectly well that you're likely to change your mind. Indeed, acknowledging that YOU know that, and have an open mind, could be part of a good answer to the question. They ask that because you must have thought about it a little, and it's a way of seeing how you think about the field and what your level of exposure is.

What types of things excite you most about medicine? Long-term patient contact? Intervening in critical situations? Technology? Working as part of a team with other doctors? For me at least, those are some of the issues I consider in answering that question (along with the brutality of the hours, but I wouldn't suggest talking about that in your essay).

 

[BoBaE]

Fairfax INOVA is one of the best hospitals in the country. There are at least 3 or 4 medical schools I can think of off the top of my head that have training going on there. They just built a huge cardiac care unit, too. I've done some shadowing there I really liked the environment. As for living there, it's quite different from Richmond....

ssquared, so would you say training at fairfax inova would give students a significant leg up in residency placement? bc i would usually tend to agree with luckycharm that relocating is a big headache i would like to avoid, unless there was some huge reason to compensate for the hassle...

so if i do not have an extenuating circumstance, then it is pretty much binding, then, huh? oh well

thanks again

 

[BoBaE]

thanks, that helps

 

[BoBaE]

that last one was meant for pseudoknot

 

[ssquared]

ssquared, so would you say training at fairfax inova would give students a significant leg up in residency placement? bc i would usually tend to agree with luckycharm that relocating is a big headache i would like to avoid, unless there was some huge reason to compensate for the hassle...

I have no idea! I'm not really the person to ask regarding residencies. Being a top hospital, it may, but I don't know enough about matching to really give any sort of educated opinion.

Maybe you should ask one of the MCV deans what they think. I'm sure they have an opinion on the subject (although it may not extend beyond "all of our training is equally excellent..." )

 

[Instatewaiter]

INOVA is a great hospital but will not be very much different from the kind of things that you will get at the MCV hospitals. Clinicals are by far the strongest point of the MCV curriculum and always have been. You will get excellent exposure at either hospital, The MCV Hospitals are very highly regarded and moving up to NoVa will be a pain in the butt, not to mention the cost. There are, however a lot of people very interested in INOVA in my class and even a waitlist to do 3rd year there. There are only 24 spots for INOVA and a significant portion of my class is from northern Va.