Dartmouth or Virginia?

[eagledoc2]

I know there's another UVA vs. Dartmouth thread out there, but hear me out.

Money isn't an issue since both places turn out about the same for me. I'm fine with either location, and I can see perks to being in either Hanover or Charlottesville.

Dartmouth's curriculum is more traditional while UVA has the 1.5 year curriculum with a mix of lecture/small group stuff. I feel like UVA's more integrated curriculum might better prepare me clinically, but adapting to a different learning style and condensing the material is a little intimidating. And I'm wondering how preparation for Step 1 (which I know also depends on the individual) will be affected since the guinea pig class hasn't taken it yet. Although I would assume that a school wouldn't change their curriculum if they had even an inkling that it would negatively affect board performance.

I like the earlier start of clerkships at UVA because it frees up 4th year for pretty much anything, and since I'm not 100% sure what I wanna specialize in, it'll be nice to have more time to explore specialties. However, I like that Dartmouth has more varied locations for clerkships (especially San Fran).

The small class size (~90) at Dartmouth really appealed to me because I feel like you would get more individualized attention (esp. with the one-on-one contact in On Doctoring) and get to know your classmates pretty well. Despite UVA's larger class (I think 160 this year?), they seem to create good bonds between students with the small group stuff too.

I can't argue that UVA's educational facilities >> Dartmouth's. Although DHMC is pretty amazing too. I didn't see much of UVA's hospital, so I can't compare.

Now the contentious issue of reputation/match lists... Ranking doesn't matter to me, seeing as I already turned down a school ranked higher than both. Dartmouth seems to be pretty spread out specialty-wise and geographically. UVA seems to be pretty spread out geographically too, but I've been hearing that more and more UVA students are going into pediatrics and internal medicine. I don't know if that's indicative of anything though.

I'm completely torn between the schools, so I'd appreciate any comments on either school.

Thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[0919mmk]

Dartmouth all the way.



also...are you...bceagle? God I hope so.

 

[eagledoc2]

Any specific reason why you say Dartmouth?




And sorry to break it to you, but I am not bceagle....

 

[Steeler7588]

If cost and location are equal for you, then UVa's curriculum is just too appealing to pass up (obviously biased). Getting done with basic sciences in 1.5 years, having more elective/research time - there's no way I'd want to sit through an extra 6 months of stuff I don't need to know.

As far as residency goes, a friend was saying this past year's match was amazing - I don't know anything about residency rankings, so I can't personally comment. However, it's all easy to look up here, if you want to analyze any trends. I'd imagine specialty choices vary a lot by students' interest, given our average board scores, but maybe their placements have some merit (although I'd imagine that's also influenced a lot by personal interests).

 

[eagledoc2]

anyone else want to comment? those of you that voted, do you have any reasons for your choice?

 

[KinasePro]

Uva.

The schools are equally excellent, but I get the feeling that DMS plays third fiddle to the undergrad and business schools at dartmouth. Uva med is the crown jewel of their university system, and the recent, epic investments in the medical school reflects this. Are there any recent developement projects at dartmouth? they might have been the only med school I interviewed at that wasnt building anything or expanding. Just a thought.

 

[eagledoc2]

Dartmouth was building a gigantic sciences center in the vicinity of the med school complex, but it doesn't to appear to be a significant part of the medical school's program. I don't know if that would open more research options for med students, but from what I gather, it's primarily for the undergrads.

It's impressive how much has gone into UVA's med school with the new building, curriculum, etc. And it's not like they weren't an impressive school beforehand. I thought the law school tended to be the "crown jewel" though.

Med school curriculums are constantly evolving, and Dartmouth's curriculum is starting to implement changes as well, but the fact that UVA is taking a greater initiative makes me think that they are really dedicated to providing better clinical preparation. I'm sure that Dartmouth does an awesome job with clinical training as well, but that passion from UVA is making me lean towards them a little bit more.

Anyone else have thoughts on either school?

 

[mvenus929]

You never specifically asked me about hospital facilities, but here you go.

UVA just opened a brand new cancer center. It's gorgeous. There are constant improvements to the main hospital. They broke ground a couple of weeks ago on a children's and outpatient surgery center on the corner of JPA and Main. We are a referral center for all of Southwest Virginia, as mandated by state law (though now that VT has a medical school, they might take over more of those responsibilities in coming years).

While we don't have stats about Step 1 scores on the new curriculum, historically Step 2 scores have been insanely high. As far as residency placement, the 2011 graduating class was said to be the intensely academic class (each has its own personality), and they matched into a lot of really competitive programs, as you can see from Steeler's link.

I'm obviously biased, though

 

[eagledoc2]

Thanks to all of those who've responded.

Can anyone from Dartmouth comment on the clinical experiences at DHMC and their other sites around the country? Since there are so many options, are you pretty much all over the place for 3rd/4th year, or do you do most stuff at DHMC?

 

[Brachyury]

Thanks to all of those who've responded.

Can anyone from Dartmouth comment on the clinical experiences at DHMC and their other sites around the country? Since there are so many options, are you pretty much all over the place for 3rd/4th year, or do you do most stuff at DHMC?

The SF location is at CPMC, which is an excellent community hospital: CPMC is a network of hospitals in Northern California, and the main referral hospital for the network is located in SF (there are also two additional CPMC hospitals located in the city). For being such a small school, I have two friends from college at Dartmouth. For both of them, when they were finishing their rotations at CPMC, they both had mini-meltdowns because the prospect of going back to New Hampshire was a little difficult.

While I think Dartmouth is an excellent school, many posters on SDN seem to place it on a pedestal next to Penn and WashU--point is, just be cognizant of this inflation as you sift through these posts.

The last thing I will say is that I am a student at a school that is neither Dartmouth nor UVA, and my best friend in med school went to Dartmouth for UG. My friend was accepted to Dartmouth’s med school and the school we currently attend, and for him, he chose our school because while Hanover was great from 18-21, for him, the prospect of spending four more years--and part of his early to mid 20's--in Hanover was, to put it lightly, very unattractive. Charlottesville, like Hanover, is a small town in a rural area, however, Charlottesville is larger than Hanover, and Charlottesville is closer to Richmond than Hanover is to Boston.

Good luck with your decision

 

[eagledoc2]

The SF location is at CPMC, which is an excellent community hospital: CPMC is a network of hospitals in Northern California, and the main referral hospital for the network is located in SF (there are also two additional CPMC hospitals located in the city). For being such a small school, I have two friends from college at Dartmouth. For both of them, when they were finishing their rotations at CPMC, they both had mini-meltdowns because the prospect of going back to New Hampshire was a little difficult.

While I think Dartmouth is an excellent school, many posters on SDN seem to place it on a pedestal next to Penn and WashU--point is, just be cognizant of this inflation as you sift through these posts.

The last thing I will say is that I am a student at a school that is neither Dartmouth nor UVA, and my best friend in med school went to Dartmouth for UG. My friend was accepted to Dartmouth’s med school and the school we currently attend, and for him, he chose our school because while Hanover was great from 18-21, for him, the prospect of spending four more years--and part of his early to mid 20's--in Hanover was, to put it lightly, very unattractive. Charlottesville, like Hanover, is a small town in a rural area, however, Charlottesville is larger than Hanover, and Charlottesville is closer to Richmond than Hanover is to Boston.

Good luck with your decision

Were your 2 friends that rotated at CPMC used to living in cities before DMS? I've had experience living in a big city and a more rural/suburban area, so I feel like I could potentially adapt to Hanover. But I'm slightly concerned about spending a chunk of my 20s there.

And did they do any rotations at any of the other sites (Arizona, Manchester, etc.)?

 

[Brachyury]

Were your 2 friends that rotated at CPMC used to living in cities before DMS? I've had experience living in a big city and a more rural/suburban area, so I feel like I could potentially adapt to Hanover. But I'm slightly concerned about spending a chunk of my 20s there.

And did they do any rotations at any of the other sites (Arizona, Manchester, etc.)?

We all went to a rural LAC (so living in a town the size of Lebanon was nothing new for them), and they are both from urban/suburban areas. One of them did a rotation in San Diego (or maybe it was in Orange Country?). In both cases, they did the majority of their rotations in New Hampshire (I'm not sure of the breakdown between Lebanon and Manchester).