just curious if any of you having gone through at least the first year of residency can attest to the great/not-so-great preparation you received during years 3 and 4 of med school at UVM or MSU that has made facing the challenges of residency a little bit easier. or perhaps residents who have worked with fellow residents graduating from either of these two schools can comment... like a lot of other students, i learn better through actually doing and thus, am wondering if there are differences in opportunities for being fully immersed between these two schools. any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

so no one has any thoughts to share on this? please PM if you would rather not post some scathing/gushing review or experiences you've had with graduates of these schools :) - thanks!

Hi there, I'm a 4th year student at MSU - CHM... actually I will be graduating in 3 days! I feel that I have received exceptional clinical training from my school. I've also had the opportunity to work with many attendings and residents who trained at MSU - CHM throughout my medical education and have only the highest praises to give them.
I guess I'm not sure exactly what specifics you would like to know, but feel free to PM me with questions!

I'll let you know in about 6 months how prepared I was for residency. MSU-CHM consistently places students at top residencies in medicine every year, so those program directors must be happy with our preparation.

I can say that the clinical years at MSU were great. The hospitals are all relatively large, tertiary centers that have residents. The exception to this is the rural physician program that places you at a place with only an FP residency, but this is both competitive and elective for those who choose it. The advantage in my opinion is that by spreading the students out, you never have any competition for anything. My clinical years were definately more hands on than some other places that I've seen, including where I am a resident now in Boston. I don't know much about UVM except that I rotated with some students in Portland, ME when they were there. Great hospital in a great location. Very similar to the MSU way of teaching, small, and a great experience.

thanks for the input so far! any more on MSU? none on UVM?

One thing about CHM that stood out to me was the fact that they actually wanted us there and were excited to teach at my community campus. As an MS3 and 4, you were part of the team and had responsibilities as such. Not having 120 other students, there was a ton of one-on-one teaching, both by residents and attendings and the opportunity to do and learn many hands on procedures. True, not having a huge academic center you may not see the rarest things every day (you will see them though), but when you did, such as in surgery, it was you, one resident and the attending scrubbing the case. Like anyplace else, if you work hard and prepare, there is a ton to gain; I think that the environment in which you do this is a great asset that our program offers. I'm actually very sad to be leaving (I'm heading to Boston for residency) and will hopefully return as faculty in a few years :) Best of luck to you!