UNC vs UVA

[CaptainDave]

It seems like every XXX vs XXX thread is involving UVA these days, but I'm having a hard time comparing these two programs so I thought I would ask the forum what they thought.

It appears to me that these two programs are fairly equal as far as size, funding, ranking, etc. My feeling is that UNC may have an edge in patient population and diversity, but UVA has an edge in commitment to education, program culture, and fellowship placement. I'm interested in Cards, and I think UVA might have the edge there too.

Please weigh in and let me know what you think. I'm interested in knowing how the programs' reputation compares, especially in the southeast, as I wish to stay in the region for fellowship.

Thanks!

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[futureres]

UVA=UNC in both caliber and style of training, and both are strong programs. UNC definitely has the edge for patient population diversity, but UVA residents seem happier and had an obviously positive relationship with the PD. You really need to like Charlottesville though because it's fairly isolated when compared to Chapel Hill (close to Durham and Raleigh so more social diversity). There is a lot of exchange among Duke and UNC for fellowships, so this may be a consideration if you are interested in Duke for later stages of training.

I'd say UNC is stronger than UVA across multiple specialties as far as fellowship training is concerned, but for residency there is little difference. Overall, it's about a personal fit, but the quality of the programs are so similar that you could honestly flip a coin and come out the same from either imo.

 

[VCMM414]

There is a lot of exchange among Duke and UNC for fellowships, so this may be a consideration if you are interested in Duke for later stages of training.

This is generally true except in cardiology, and to a lesser extent GI as well.

 

[drdavemd]

I did residency at UVA, loved it. As noted, my residency crew was very happy and enjoyed working together. I found Cvilleto be very similar to Chapel Hill/Durham in size and feel. Richmond is a short 45 mins away from Cville and DC is about 2 hrs. I know people who trained at both programs, both are strong and both are good stepping stones for high end fellowships if that's your plan. People in my residency class matched fellowships at NIH, Cleveland, UCSF, and so on.

Good luck

 

[dragonfly99]

I think they are probably similar. If interested in a particular specialty area, you may want to look more closely at how well they place people into that specialty over the past 3 or so years, as well as whether they have well known faculty in the area(s) you are interested in and whether they have a lot of patients (i.e. would want somewhere with a big ICU, and lots of ICU months, if you want to do pulm/critical care, and lots of cancer patients and hopefully dedicated hem/onc months or a hem/onc hospital floor, etc. if you want to do hem/onc). Also, would try to find out the straight dope on research months and elective time, particular if you want to subspecialize. Even if you clinical training is good, if you get worked too much and have too few electives it could hurt your fellowship placement a little. Even so, the overall reputation of the place you train is probably as important as your performance there...both those programs are similar so will probably put you on about the same level if applying for fellowships in the SE later.