West Virginia University (WVU) Residency Reviews

Morgantown stinks.

Oh and what do you get if you mix blue and gold? Green!

i'm also interested in any info on this program...no one seems to mention it and i wonder why?
any info is appreciated-even why you didn't apply here.
thanks
streetdoc

I thought the residents and faculty were very happy there when I interviewed last year. I ended up ranking it number 12 of 12, however, because as a previous poster mentioned, the city of Morgantown absolutely blows. There is one main road in town and unless you are a huge lover of the mounain life, there wasn't much close unless you wanted to take an hour drive to Pittsburgh. Also, my SO would have had nothing - zero - zilch - for job oppurtunities. I think I would have enjoyed the program, but there was no way I could ever leave the hospital and be happy...

EMwannabe said:

Any thoughts/opinions on this program?

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Point/Counterpoint.....
WVU is a very unique program, and as I think you'll find as you apply, research, and interview places, has pros and cons.

Pros- smaller program, very cool faculty. Flight month in 3rd yr. It is in a beautiful spot, with tons of kayaking, climbing, and biking opportunities (how much free time you'll have is another story, but when you get that day off, there is plenty to do). Unlike almost every other program I interviewed at, it is in a small town, with affordable housing and a real funky little feel to it. On my second visit, I saw great faculty/resident interaction, very familial and fun, with plenty of pathology. Went out and saw a cool band and drank cheap beer. None of the residents I talked to had any major complaints.


Cons-It is not going to be the research powerhouse or the end all be all in the EM world I'm sure. There is somewhat of a dirth of penetrating trauma, which they will tell you straight up. However, the more people I asked, even at other programs, tell me that among problems in EM, the penetrating trauma pt. is not the most difficult- you resusc, image, and send 'em to the OR if need be. It is not in a big city, which is important to a lot of doctor types, so if you are one of them I would forget it. Living in Baltimore, NY or Jersey would be at best a necessary evil for me, but hey that's me...

So like everything, it's a mixed bag, but I hope this helps....

Good luck

Did I mention WVU sucks?

Thanks elio. that was good info about the program (i'm not much on big cities either). i assume you are not at WVU...could you elaborate on how you ranked them compared to other programs? Or was it just not a good fit? I'm kind of looking for a small but good program to prepare me to work in a rural ED with a good bit of EMS experience. And do you know what kind of numbers/competitiveness they look for?

Firebird...we get it. you don't like WVU. could you keep you remarks to the program and not the city (i actually find it a positive). Not that anyone will consider your input since you obviously seem bias.

Thanks!
streetdoc

streetdoc said:

Firebird...we get it. you don't like WVU. could you keep you remarks to the program and not the city (i actually find it a positive). Not that anyone will consider your input since you obviously seem bias.

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Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. I thought it was clear that I was making a joke. Lighten up a lil, though.

I went to WVU's rival for undergrad and am there for medical school, as well. We always make fun of it, especially since it is in the middle of nowhere. Its facilities are probably much better than ours (although we do have a new hospital, and a new cancer center being built...so I don't know how true that actually is).

It's a little hard to not be biased, by the way. WVU gets 10's of millions of dollars from the state via a pop can tax that was set up specifically for the Morgantown school. We run our school off of minor state revenues and tuition. By the way...just because someone is biased doesn't mean that you shouldn't listen to them...

any recent thoughts on this program?

So I'm an intern currently in the program.

As for the comments from FireBird, if anyone hadn't figured it out, they're from Marshall which is WVU's rival.

The previous comments from elio are pretty spot on.

Residents - Real tight group of residents. We have a pretty spread out group of married/single aged 20s/30s. We have a decent amount of social events throughout the year from pool parties to margarita nights to outdoor activities. I would say most buy a home, though a decent amount rent.
Faculty - The faculty are amazing. Everyone seems to have their own style of handling patients with the appropriate treatment. I feel like I can pick and choose the qualities I like in each of them to apply to my own style. All the faculty are there to help you and most partipicate a great deal in the conferences/lectures/simulations. During 2nd/3rd year, you do rotations at another hospital about 45 minutes away. From what I've heard, it gives you more of a community hospital feel compared to the huge tertiary care center that you are at the majority of the time.
Outdoors - There are a ton of outdoor activites in the area. I know its not as cool from a distance compared to Colorado/Utah/California, but the nice thing about it here is everything is so close. I literally can drive 10 minutes from my house to some amazing biking/cross-country skiing areas. There are five ski resorts within a few hours of the town. A decent amount of the residents also climb.
Rotations - Rotations so far are pretty good. Theres a few that depend on the time of year (Trauma/Ortho/Peds) on how busy/slow the rotation is, but for the most part, you come out of the rotation with the knowledge you need. Some require more grunt work and time than others (Trauma), but you still get a decent amount of time off with others (Peds/Anesthesia). Especially with the new duty hour schedule, things aren't that bad anymore. You get two elective months. Our PD and some of the other faculty do alot of international rotations and always like residents to come along.
ER - Theres always plenty going on in the ER. Its a smaller Level 1 ER compared to a city with only 27 beds, but the patients/resident ratio is still very high. There are some nights where the place really dies down by 3-4am, but again, thats hit or miss. You get plenty of procedures and most of the faculty want you to take first shot at that the ortho reductions. I have noticed some procedures such as chest tubes may take toward the end of 3rd before you get them all in.
Trauma - No knife and gun club here. Alot of blunt trauma comes in. We do get a decent amount of drunk ATV accidents in the summer and hunting accidents as well throughout the fall.
City - Morgantown is growing on me. Im slowly finding the good restaurants to go to, but theres definitely not the selection compared to a city. I'll be honest, theres not much of a night life for the post-graduate as well. There are a decent amount of chill bars, but like I said,you can't compare Morgantown to a city's environment. The outdoor activities completely make up for it. Housing is definitely cheaper than city life, though is not dirt cheap since it's still a college town.
Research - Im not too big on research, so this really didn't matter to me much. Like any other place, theres faculty that get involved and we do have a required research project for the three years. I wouldn't say we're big on research though.
Fellowship - We did just get accepted for starting an ultrasound fellowship this upcoming year. All faculty appreciate ultrasound. There are a few faculty that are the US gurus that are great to work with. Intern year you do two shifts of ultrasound per ER month.

Sorry for the long review. If you have any more questions, PM me. I'll be honest about it. Ive checked on a few residents who are now a few years out and they all feel completely competent. The program likes residents to stay in the area, there isn't a push or anything. Im planning on going back close to home (not WV) and thats a common trend with a majority of the residents.

Just to give an update on the program. Im now a third year with the program.

Comments from my post above still remain true. Our department has a pretty strong reputation with the hospital and if theres a problem with another specialty whether in the department or on rotation (which is few and far between), its fixed pretty quickly.

Our ultrasound fellowship is now into its second year. We will start having two fellows a year starting next year. I would say ultrasound is definitely one of our strong points. I feel completely competent with the bread/butter procedures (gallbladder, echo, RUSH, FAST) and now have moved on to mastering others (transvaginal, DVT, ocular). It would not be uncommon in a shift to ultrasound every patient you have if you had time.

We now have a scribe system (currently only two residencies in the country do this). Basically a pre-med undergrad follows you around all shift and charts for you. You only get this starting second year and they really only cover about 75% of the shifts so you still master computer charting by the time residency is done. Really brings out more free time for residents after shifts.

Now having my own kid on the way, I can say Morgantown is probably one of the best towns to raise a family. Great school systems (particularly Cheat Lake) and extremely low crime rate. Again, if you're looking for a city life, you'll be disappointed, though with the university, there is a large variety of restaurants for the size of the town and many social events (theaters, festivals, concerts, college sporting events). A decent percentage of us like being outdoors (road/mountain biking, skiing, kayaking, rock-climbing) which is extremely easy to access in the area.

Midway through my third year, I can say I feel pretty competent as a physician and if I had to, I would feel pretty good about starting a job January 1st. I have no regrets with picking WVU as a residency. Its been a great program, excellent and diverse faculty, great pathology, no malignancy what-so-ever. You get the education and experience you need and also get the time-off you want for family/recreation.


Again, if you have any questions about the residency, just PM me. I will be more happy to answer any questions for you.

Any more recent feedback from applicants who interviewed here?

I don't know the program but I know the associate residency director and ultrasound director. Both are tremendously dedicated to teaching and would be great people to learn from.