UVA Impressions?

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philthom

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Anyone interview at UVA or have heard anything about UVA this year? I know that they have a decent reputation and that Charlottesville is a good place to live. :confused:

I've just heard some quiet rumors that the residents and faculty aren't so happy there and that they try to "manage" the interview day so that those issues are kind of hidden. :eek:

Going there would be an extra trip for me, so I am trying to see if it would be worth it. Reading through the boards, I see that at least one poster goes to medical school there - any insights from an insider?

Thanks.

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No idea about the department, but Charlottesville is a wonderful place to live. The town itself is very pleasant and beautiful countryside is 20 minutes drive in any direction. My only caution would be to people who can't function outside of NY/LA sized city.
 
...but I don't want to go to a program that deliberately misleads when interviewing. I am all for presenting your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses...but "covering up" or not letting you get all the information seems a little shady.
 
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I got meet an '05 grad of the program on an away rotation this year- he's in the military- and he could not say enough good things about the program, from top to bottom.
 
...you did an away rotation at a military hospital? Are you in the military also? P
 
philthom said:
Anyone interview at UVA or have heard anything about UVA this year? I know that they have a decent reputation and that Charlottesville is a good place to live. :confused:

I've just heard some quiet rumors that the residents and faculty aren't so happy there and that they try to "manage" the interview day so that those issues are kind of hidden. :eek:

Going there would be an extra trip for me, so I am trying to see if it would be worth it. Reading through the boards, I see that at least one poster goes to medical school there - any insights from an insider?

Thanks.

P
Click to expand...



Personally, I thought UVA was great. I went to the dinner the night before (which was at a resident's house and really made it more personal) and got a chance to meet many residents, and all of them were really happy with the program. They were for the most part really cool, laidback, and fun people, I didn't get any vibe they were trying to hide anything.

I could see if you didn't go to the dinner it would seem on the interview day that they were trying to "hide" something since you only hang out with the chief residents on the day of the interview. But its because the interview day is overall fairly short and there really wouldn't be time to meet the other residents during that time.

This is an extremely resident friendly program. The chair Dr. Rich even stated he thinks the greatest strength of the program are the residents, and everyone (after a few months being there) calls all the faculty and staff by first names, nobody calls him Dr. Rich, they call him George, and that is true of all the faculty. The faculty I interviewed with were super-friendly and I got a great vibe from them. They also will be implementing an electronic anesthesia record in the next year or so, so that's awesome.

It is a beautiful campus and area overall - also only 2 hours south of Washington DC and TONS of outdoorsy things to do like white water rafting, skiing, hiking, biking, etc. HOWEVER, my only reservation about the program is both how small the town is (its REALLY small) and the single scene there is not good at all - I heard this from multiple residents, both male and female. Lots of families in the area, and most of the most eligible girls get scooped up pretty quickly from my impression. I did have one of my interviewers tell me if I come she will make sure to set me up with someone which was nice :love:

Anyway, to sum it up, great program, great faculty and chair (still works in the OR and really young), happy residents, lovely place but small, and poor singles scene. I'm definitely going to rank it but I have to give everything a consideration for sure!
 
...thanks for the feedback. Sounds pretty positive. Two quick questions:

1. How many faculty did you actually interview with or meet on the day of the interview?

2. What does their workload seem like? (hours per week, weekend duty, how late in the evening do they stay, etc.?)

Thanks. Sounds like I need to go ahead and keep my interview date there...just a bit worried based on what I had heard previously. Maybe that was just one person who had a bad day.

P
 
philthom said:
...thanks for the feedback. Sounds pretty positive. Two quick questions:

1. How many faculty did you actually interview with or meet on the day of the interview?

2. What does their workload seem like? (hours per week, weekend duty, how late in the evening do they stay, etc.?)

Thanks. Sounds like I need to go ahead and keep my interview date there...just a bit worried based on what I had heard previously. Maybe that was just one person who had a bad day.

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1. interviewed w/3 faculty and a chief resident, talked to 2-3 other faculty at lunch.

2. they all say around 55h/wk, 1 in 5 weekends, they have 6 "call" people per night and say a rough estimate is 12-your call number is the time you get out. call 1 has post call day off, call 2 gets done at 1pm, and if anyone else has to stay someone else starts your room so you get your 10h off.
 
Most of the residents I talked to echoed what nutmegs posted. However, there were a few that I talked to who said the hours were more like 65-70 per week, and that the program was not as cush as it once was when everyone was leaving by 4 PM. They said it tended to be more like 5:30 or so now. Also, their ICU months are q3 call, which is somewhat rough. Most other places I have been have been q4. With that being said, I enjoyed the day and think it is a great program.
 
...so how do you account for the discrepancy between what "most" of them said and the few that told you differently? After all, the difference between 70 hours a week and 55 hours a week is not only quantitatively different but also, as we all know, a significant qualitative difference in terms of quality of life. :oops:

This is what I had heard also....without going into more details which might not be fair since I have not been there myself yet....there is the "party line" and then there is some hint that what is being sold/told is not really what is actually happening. :(

P
 
...so you interviewed with three faculty. I am guessing that one was the Chairman and one was the Program Director. Did you interview with anyone without a "title" - meaning any faculty members that would not be directly tied to the running of the residency and recruiting? I've found that it is sometimes the "regular old faculty" that will give you a truer picture of the place as compared to the people "in charge" of things.

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um, aren't you just going to interview there? I think you are reading too much into an interview. odds are, you are never going to figure out the "real" scoop, most of the residents seemed happy, the sig others I talked to said they saw the residents enough, and that was good enough for me.

one of the faculty was just a faculty. realize, though, that they are not going to pick disgruntled faculty to interview, and I heard the same thing from everyone.

I think the longer work hours were being reported by CA-0s on their non-OR months.
 
...based on what people have reported here, I think I am going to keep my interview with UVA. I was on the fence about cancelling when I posted.

As I said initially, I was trying to get some confirmation about something I heard - either from an insider (i.e. medical student that attends UVA) or from someone who has already interviewed there to see what they thought.

Since you all have posted generally good things, I did decide to go and see for myself. This doesn't mean I am not still interested in what everyone's impressions are...so don't stop posting!

Thanks, however, for helping me make the decision.

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I am a current first year anesthesia resident (not at UVA). I am not going to tell you where I am, because I am NOT trying to promote my own program (which I like, but God knows we have our own set of problems). I do, however, have a good friend who is at UVA now.

All I can say is, ask a lot of questions and make sure you get the scoop. My friend likes the city, the people (residents and faculty) and thinks the training is decent....BUT says that she feels misled in many ways by the promises made about work hours, call schedule, weekends, etc. She says other share the feeling of being "lied to" or at least gently deceived during recruiting to try to get people to come to the program.

She also said that there have been some changes in leadership recently and some more coming...and not all of those were things she considered postiive.

As I said, every program has its problems and this doesn't mean UVA isn't a good place to go...just ask a lot of questions and make sure you are getting what you think you are getting.

Just my two cents...my friend gave me permission to post as long as I didn't identify her and she is not a member here, so there you have it.

:oops:
 
...and I can only say that my impression closely tracks what has been posted here. Nice town (a bit small if you are a city boy) and very nice people. The residents are all very cool and very helpful when you visit...

Interview process was pretty controlled. You only met the people that they wanted you to meet during the day. The exception is that there is a dinner held at one of the resident's homes...no faculty there (so you don't get to meet any faculty other than the ones that interview you), but the residents are there and free to speak their minds.

Here is my general gut feeling - there is some general background dissatisfaction in an otherwise very solid program. Residents are working slightly harder than they were told they would be. There are slightly later days than they thought. There are slightly more weekend shifts than promised. There is a feeling that the anesthesia department gets stepped on by the hospital and surgeons. The residents are very positive and try to cast these things in the best positive light - but you can tell they also want to tell the truth.

One resident told me that the issue is that they work pretty hard clinically and don't get much didactic teaching - it is a program that expects you to read a lot on your own. But with the increase in hours, there is little time or energy left to read...so they feel as if they are missing a bit in terms of education.

At the same time, they all do great on their boards and they all get good jobs....so they must be doing something right.

Anyways, it seems like a decent place. I don't really like the feeling that you are being "managed" on interview day in terms of what you get to see and hear...but the resident dinner made up for that and allowed me to get the "real scoop" (I think...)

Thanks to everyone who contributed here...it helped me make a good decision about interviewing and it helped me ask the right questions to get to the nitty gritty.

P
 
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