To me, these schools were very similar and served similar populations. I'm mostly interested in EM or Anesthesia, maybe a little interested in Cards, but need a whole lot more exposure before I can decide. I'm from CA, so distance from a support network isn't going to be a deciding factor between these two.
Albany
Pros
No required attendance (other than labs)
Albany medical center: seems to have a greater variety of cases from what I hear
Reputation, given that it's an old and established program, the curriculum is stable, works for the students, and unlikely to have major change.
Traditionally better match outcomes (not weighing this a whole lot because of how contigent it is on my personal effort)
Cons
Tuition is $59,780, ~8k more expensive than VTC
Weird grading system with different degrees of pass. however, students there state they basically treat the preclinicals as p/f because STEP 1 has so much more power
It snows a lot, would have to drive in deep snow
Virginia Tech Carilion
Pros
Have heard only great things about working closely with faculty because of small class size
Slightly more time for STEP 1 prep
Pass/fail
Cost of living is significantly lower
Rotation sites are all within 10 miles of VTC, minimal uprooting during years 3-4 until I do aways
Cons
Preclinicals with required PBL 3 hours a week. I've heard its done very well there, and the students I've talked to seem to like it, but I just don't like that style of learning since I prefer to just teach everything myself at home.
I hear Carilion medical center can be slow paced. Extremely large population of narcotic dependent patients, especially from the west virginia area, so the variety may be less. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.
Required research project. Not sure if con because I'd do some research no matter where I go for medical school. But long term I'm not that interested in academic medicine.
My "gut" feeling was very similar at both schools. And I have about the same opinion of Albany as I do Roanoke. After typing all this out, I'm leaning towards VTC simply because of the cheaper cost and benefits that come with the smaller class size. However, I would love to hear any input on the programs, especially regarding clinical years which I weigh a lot more in importance than preclinical education. Thanks in advance.
Albany
Pros
No required attendance (other than labs)
Albany medical center: seems to have a greater variety of cases from what I hear
Reputation, given that it's an old and established program, the curriculum is stable, works for the students, and unlikely to have major change.
Traditionally better match outcomes (not weighing this a whole lot because of how contigent it is on my personal effort)
Cons
Tuition is $59,780, ~8k more expensive than VTC
Weird grading system with different degrees of pass. however, students there state they basically treat the preclinicals as p/f because STEP 1 has so much more power
It snows a lot, would have to drive in deep snow
Virginia Tech Carilion
Pros
Have heard only great things about working closely with faculty because of small class size
Slightly more time for STEP 1 prep
Pass/fail
Cost of living is significantly lower
Rotation sites are all within 10 miles of VTC, minimal uprooting during years 3-4 until I do aways
Cons
Preclinicals with required PBL 3 hours a week. I've heard its done very well there, and the students I've talked to seem to like it, but I just don't like that style of learning since I prefer to just teach everything myself at home.
I hear Carilion medical center can be slow paced. Extremely large population of narcotic dependent patients, especially from the west virginia area, so the variety may be less. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.
Required research project. Not sure if con because I'd do some research no matter where I go for medical school. But long term I'm not that interested in academic medicine.
My "gut" feeling was very similar at both schools. And I have about the same opinion of Albany as I do Roanoke. After typing all this out, I'm leaning towards VTC simply because of the cheaper cost and benefits that come with the smaller class size. However, I would love to hear any input on the programs, especially regarding clinical years which I weigh a lot more in importance than preclinical education. Thanks in advance.
