hi snow,neil,&lmh,&daisy...
so here is my 2cents re. virginia programs. (if anyone else is interested, i can speak to the DC programs, some in TX, NC, & FL, as well... letme know!)
MCV:
a.k.a. VCU (mcv is the old school name which we all still call it, vcu is the new name. if you wanna look cool, say MCV
same program otherwise)
this is a big, downtown, high-volume inner-city, tertiary referral hospital that has been around since before the civil war. the deliveries & procedures are almost 100% done by residents with med students occ gettig a few here & there, but most pts are w/o insurance, so rarely do the attgs have 100% private patients. this means more experience for the resident as far asi can tell. there are 6 res/year, strong ONC w/ 2 great profs here, good MFM (dept head is a cool guy & a MFM), & a cool, young (but intense) UROGYN gal. they have weekly conferences, residents seem for themost part very cool, with like 1/2 the class MCV grads usually, & they like at least 2 dudes/year, & usualy have 1 FMG/year, too. lots of females have babies 4th year of residency, most people are married so they really respect the desire to have time outsidethe hospital. use the NF system for call, as do most residencies now s/p 80hr work wk restrictions. residents have continuity clinic starting from 1st year so that is nice. very few people apply into fellowship (many stay as attgs or go into pr prac) but those that do apply have always matched really wellinto 1st choice fellowships (ONC match this past year in his 1st choice, for example). richmond is a pretty southern city, in my opinion. about 1million residents here, with a huge, active arts community, great museums, parks, a zoo, family activities, nightlife on the weekends, extremely affordable cost of living, & very safe in the "fan" area with pretty old fixed up houses (i.e. i jog at night & never feel worried) the area right around MCV is okay, too, but are a few dodgy neighborhoods in richmond, but that being said, i have NEVER had a problem. some people also live in suburbs just 10min away from MCV ... there you have your new built homes, giant movie theaters, barne's& noble, malls, target, et.al. the city is pretty much 50/50 conservative & very religous (biblebelt, here) & the other 1/2 of the city has a big punkrock/art/gay/liberal vibe. i find the blend very cool & makes fora nice combination of a city with a lot of tradition, but also younger people, too. the beach & moutians & wash DC are all an hour drive from richmond.
i would stay at my home program in a heartbeat if i had a different subspecialty interest, but i find that southern programs are all (exp emory in atlanta) very weak when it comes to abortion training (i.e. you can get it & be competent in basic 1st tris, etc; but beyond that it isnt a huge part of the training). if complicated, later term, etc ab training isnt important to you, than i wouldnt worry at all about mcv at all. if you like treating a large volume ofpatients with a totally supportive (reallly COOL) residency director, ina pretty, livable southern city, than mcv is awesome.
UVA:
in charlotteville, va (a beautiful southern town, with gorgeous architecture from thomas jefferson, vineyards, in the moutains, hiking & outdoors activities), UVA is probably more "academic" than MCV. it maybe has a better rep, but definately a smaller patient volume, mostly private patients, less complicated referrals, etc, but also probably more responsible mothers as inner city patient pop at MCV can sometimes leave something to be desired inthe parenting dept (as ALL inner city programs will be). i find the UVA atmosphere to be a bit more stressful & uptight with fewer patients & less bedside teaching. plenty of good research is going on here & the fellowship matriculaiton may be higher. crime is a non-issue here. cost ofliving is cheap & the city is so clean & beautiful, many virginias get married in charlottesville just for the atmostphere just to give you an idea. still has all the comforts of the suburbs with malls, etc. the school has a rep for being the only one with malignant potential in the state (the otehrs are fine) but as malignant goes, UVA is actually NOT bad at all.
EVMS:
in norfolk, va on the water, this program is probably a lotmore like MCV than UVA. a lot ofinner city patients, good atmosphere i hear, & good REI here, i hear. norfolk isnt the prettiest city by the water, but the part with EVMS is actualy nice by the udergrad campus of ODU. people often live in the "GHent" area here which is like th fan in richmond (pretty old, fixed up houses with a lot of character with some retired people, families, & college students for a good mix). norfolk also has its sketchy areas, but again, i have never had a problem & nor has my sister who lives here. i hear the word "transition" a lot in regards to EVMS, so that worries me at times, but it think it is a solid program that would train you well. they take a few males & FMGs q year. mostly private prac grads. i would say that if you had the pick between EVMS & MCV, MCV is a better program & EVMS isnt bad at all.
Roanoke
this is a community program in a city of 250,000 in the valley surrounded by moutains in the SW of the state. very pretty area (i lived here while growing up) in a super-safe, low costof living, awesome place to raise a family. you can live on a farm & have a horse & swim in secluded mountain lakes & hike & feel like you have total peace & quiet & a 5 min drive takes you to a little downtown with great food spots, a couple big malls, & all the other civilization you can dream of! there are a couple little colleges inc. a community college & great schools for the family peeps out there. as for the program here, the residents seemed actually academic quality in a communtiy program, which is sometimes rare. they seemed really competent & had good volume. strictly priv prac gradscoming out of here, but they seemed realy confident. the PD is a very nice guy & seemed great to work for. they do a lot of teaching, too, to keep the faculty fresh. no formal abortion training, although you can set up your own elective time to do this is interested (again, just putting this in for those of you that care about this)
Riverside
some of my classmates at MCV SOM go here instead of MCV every year (like i said b4, the residents do most ob deliveries, so this gave a few more "baby catching" opportunities to the med students) so all of my info will be from them: either lovedit or hatedit. a lot of cool residents tatloved to teach with a few bad apples that will soon be moving on. decent volume. community program. located in newport news, i htink, orsomewhere near there. it is about 30min from va beach & i think there are some local waterways there leading out to the chesapeke bay so there is some boating opportunity for sailors out there
the area is 50/50 insured & uninsured. less cultural activities in the area as far as i can tell. they have a LOT of FMGs there (like 1/2 the program) & a fair # of guys, i am told.
hope that helps! feel free to ask any other ?s!
can't wait to hear all the updates.
