UVA vs Vandy vs Wash U

[gee]

I'm having a difficult time deciding between these three programs. I'm looking for outside opinions of your interview experiences and how you would compare/rank these three programs with the intention of eventually doing GI or heme/onc. Thanks for the help.

My thoughts:

UVA- Great camaraderie, smaller program where all the residents know one another. One hospital system, don't know if would see enought patient diversity. Interesting call system with one week of night float per rotation. Committed PD w/ impressive fellowship match over last few years, but don't know if it has as strong as reputation as other two.

Vandy: Nice two hospital system w/ incredible computer system. Residents seemed happy and were a close knit group. PD seemed very genuine and an advocate for the residents. Traditional q4 w/ no night float system. Only two weeks vacation as intern, but three as 2nd and 3rd year. Strong rep. w/ good placement for fellowships. Nahsville had a nice southern charm and seemed to be very affordable.

Wash U: Much bigger program but residents were impressive group and seemed to be well taken care of by program. Not sure about private attending factor? Not sure about current computer system?? Night float system where resident goes home at around 9 would be very nice as 2nd & 3rd year. Probably best reputation w/ much more research emphasis but in turn great fellowship placement. St. Louis fairly diverse city so would see more urban pathophys.

That's enough from me.

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[kingofhearts]

Let me start off by saying that as a PGY-3 at Wash U, I cannot speak for the training at the other programs that you mentioned. What I can tell you is this:

1. Wash U has an excellent IM residency program. Training here is top-notch and the Wash U name is well-regarded. You will be a strong applicant for whatever fellowship/career path you choose if you complete your training here.

2. Our program has done very well at matching our residents into outstanding GI fellowships. In the last 3 years, we have had residents match in GI at Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Brown and Case Western Reserve (to name a few places). It is also worth noting that our GI department favors and respects our residents. With this year's GI fellowship application cycle finished, 3 out of 4 GI fellowship positions here went to our own residents.

3. Our program has also done quite well at matching our residents into hematology/oncology fellowships. In the last 3 years, we have matched our residents into programs such as Johns Hopkins, Duke, Mayo, U of Chicago and U of Michigan. Once again, our heme-onc department clearly favors internal applicants for our own fellowship program. It is also worth noting that our hospital was recently designated by the NCI as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. BMT and hematology have always been top-notch here, but our oncology department as a whole is rising dramatically in stature. http://mednewsarchive.wustl.edu/medadmin/PAnews.nsf/0/19005CB1359C44E486256F7E007BD10D

You will see a large and diverse patient population here. Specifically, you will experience a mix of urban, suburban, rural and immigrant patients. Although we do have private patients, the majority of your patients will be on the ward-service where you will be the primary physician directing their care. Plus, you will rotate through our VA where there are no private patients.

Our computer system has improved considerably and gives you the ability to view all radiology studies, EKGs, medicine clinic notes and WWW browsing from just about every computer. Another advantage to our computer system is that residents have the ability to set-up a proxy account with the Becker Medical Library (Wash U’s medical school library). This will enable you to have full electronic access (i.e. free subscriptions) to essentially EVERY major medical journal from your own computer at home.

Research is a very important aspect of securing a fellowship position, and with our C-STAR and Mentors in Medicine programs, you will have the opportunity to design your own study, receive protected research time and obtain funding directly from the medicine department. There is an amazing amount of research occurring here, and you will have a large group of physicians to look towards for mentorship.

I hope this helps you in preparing your rank list.

 

[gee]

How would you all rank these three programs?

 

[Renea]

Greetings! I agree with most of your comments about each of these great programs.

I loved the "esprit de corps" at UVA, and they had some great teaching conferences while I was there. I think I would like their innovative ward rotation system. For me, it comes down to location--C'ville has been described by several of my friends as a nice place to live with a definite college town feel--although Virginia is beautiful, a town of 200,000 may just be too small for me.

I also liked Vanderbilt (more than I expected). The residents did seem happy there, and they were very friendly. Great pt diversity and they have a fabulous computer system. I detected a little bit of a gool 'ol boy vibe there, and my interviewer did comment that Nashville has a little bit of that "old blue-blood" character. I also found the Chair to be a little too involved in the program--he interjected quite a bit during the resident's presentations at morning report to the degree that I found it a little demeaning to them.

Wash U--As a student here, I have had the chance to learn a lot about our program. It IS much larger than the other two, but I think the firm system allows you to have a mini-program within the larger group--and you get the benefits of the larger program (easier to find ppl to cover, greater schedule flexibility). The residents seem very happy here and say that the PD is very responsive to student concerns. You see some amazing pathology here, and my interactions with attendings have been very positive. Our computer system does not compare to Vandy's, but they continue to improve it and given the enormous size of our hospital, I think they have done a pretty good job with it. I could go on and on, and I haven't even mentioned the VA! For me, one of the greatest benefits of training here is that you get top-notch training at an extremely well-regarded IM program, but it doesn't FEEL like it. Meaning, ppl are friendly here and not too uptight. And St. Louis is large enough, but not too large=just right.

My personal opinion of these three in terms of ranking:
1) Wash U (great training+great reputation+great people=fabulous program)
2) Vanderbilt (a very well-regarded program with great diversity of patient exposure)
3) Virginia (a very well-regarded, one hospital program with great atmosphere in a college town setting)

Hope that is helpful!

 

[philcolby]

I think it is pretty clear. I remembered interviewing at all three programs with the clear mind to pursue fellowship (originally GI when I was interviewing- now cards). While all three programs have their merits, I don't think there is comparison to the research/fellowship-placement power of WashU. As research is increasingly a necessary component to top fellowship placement (pure clinical tracks are becoming sparse), you are best served to go to a program that encourages mentorship/research from the intern level onwards. Also, as Heme/Onc and GI are both highly competitive fields, it is also in your best interest to consider programs that will not only provide an outstanding IM education, but also offer a clear track into subspecialty placement (with guidance as well). Good luck!