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- Jun 19, 2016
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I am currently trying to decide between VCU and Rush and find myself flip-flopping every couple of days. What do you guys think?
Long-term Career Goals:
Competitive Specialty (preferably Ophtho/Otolyn/Rads/EM)
West Coast Residency (prefer CA)
Leave the door open for academic medicine/research (not sure yet)
Rush
Pros:
+ Match List
- Curriculum
VCU
Pros:
+ True Unranked Pass/Fail
+ 1.5 year traditional lecture with some PBL preclinical
+ Focus on ultrasound screening (?)
+ Weather
- Research Thesis Requirement
- Malignant clinical rotation sites? (Have heard rumors of malignant IM rotations, but can't confirm)
- City
Nonfactors:
Research Ranking (VCU and Rush are both 3.3 rating by Residency PDs)
Cost (OOS VCU and Rush are both ~53k/yr for tuition+fees, neither has offered significant grants/scholarship)
Facilities (both are excellent with Rush having a slight edge)
Impression at Interview (both seemed outstanding during the interview and can see myself going to either one)
Long-term Career Goals:
Competitive Specialty (preferably Ophtho/Otolyn/Rads/EM)
West Coast Residency (prefer CA)
Leave the door open for academic medicine/research (not sure yet)
Rush
Pros:
+ Match List
I perceive their match list as better than VCU because they tend to send much more people to California and/or strong Midwest programs in Chicago that I could see myself ending up at. After analyzing VCU vs Rush match lists for the past four years, I see that VCU tends to send significantly more people to primary care residencies (notably, FM and OBGYN).
+ Superior Clinical TrainingCompared to VCU clinical rotation sites, Rush's hospital is higher rated in numerous specialties.
Cook County has such a diverse patient population and will be AMAZING if I end up going EM
+ School Administration/Class EnvironmentCook County has such a diverse patient population and will be AMAZING if I end up going EM
Seems miles ahead of VCU in terms of outreach and school support. I was accepted at VCU for several months but have had no contact from the school at all (no acceptance packet/letter or 2nd look). Rush has set up much more outreach (Email Buddy programs/Phone calls from current M1s/FB group/2nd look)
+ CityDowntown Chicago >>> Downtown Richmond
Cons:- Curriculum
Second year of the new flipped classroom curriculum
Admins on interview day seemed overly defensive about their new curriculum
This year's class has told me they have gotten better over the last few months
- Students Rankings by MSPE Letter (unsure if unranked preclinical)Admins on interview day seemed overly defensive about their new curriculum
This year's class has told me they have gotten better over the last few months
Research into MSPE Letters showed that Rush divides class into quartiles and the top quartile is further sliced into 5 sections (top 5/10/15/20/25%)
- WeatherChicago winters are brutal
VCU
Pros:
+ True Unranked Pass/Fail
+ 1.5 year traditional lecture with some PBL preclinical
Clerkships begin in April vs May for Rush
+ Step 1 Prep (3 months and 1-on-1)Interview emphasized that VCU is strong on this (curiously has lower step 1 averages than Rush though)
Board Review setup by Dr. Linda Costanzo - author of major physio text used for board study
Tests centered around Step 1 prepping
+ Lower COLBoard Review setup by Dr. Linda Costanzo - author of major physio text used for board study
Tests centered around Step 1 prepping
However has higher COA on MSAR (?)
+ Attached undergrad campus+ Focus on ultrasound screening (?)
+ Weather
Coming from CA, much more temperate than Chicago
Cons:- Research Thesis Requirement
I have a background in research for ~3-4years with 4-5 coauthor pubs right now, but I still don't like being it being a requirement
- Administration/Student Outreach (virtually none)- Malignant clinical rotation sites? (Have heard rumors of malignant IM rotations, but can't confirm)
- City
Richmond is okay, but it's not Chicago
Nonfactors:
Research Ranking (VCU and Rush are both 3.3 rating by Residency PDs)
Cost (OOS VCU and Rush are both ~53k/yr for tuition+fees, neither has offered significant grants/scholarship)
Facilities (both are excellent with Rush having a slight edge)
Impression at Interview (both seemed outstanding during the interview and can see myself going to either one)