Hey thanks for the advice. Yea, I know there are some issues with the two campus's -- I turned down Tucson b/c I didn't think it was a very good fit for me. It seemed to much like college and I wasn't super impressed with the facilities. Do you think the clinical and educational experiences will be significantly impacted b/c of the bickering/administration problems? In general, I like their curriculum and the way they have their clinical experiences structured. The 3rd and 4th year shouldn't be different since U of A has always had those programs in Phx.
The rumor I heard from my M1 friend is that the Dean of the Phx campus, the former Yale guy, was fired due to the fact that he wanted to break off from UofA Tucson and run/create his own school. That sounds EXTREMELY shady to me. Whether its true or not, who knows. People talk and want these kinds of things to be true for gossip's sake.
Regardless of the above incident I would have to say that Phx campus presents disadvantages in terms of structure. I remember in my interview the students bragged about how great it was to that all they have to do is tell the staff about problems with the cirriculum and it is adjusted accordingly. While they patted themselves on the back for such a "great system" I couldn't be anymore turned off and alarmed by this. This is your formal medical education! The administration guiding you should be EXPERIENCED and KNOW what the best course of action is. I compare the Phx students and staff to childern be led by a blind, deaf and dumb parent through a busy intersection at rush hour. I realize I am embelishing and it's probably not as bad as I make it out to be. After all, I am biased and perhaps my feeling for them are influenced by the fact that i was rejected. Who knows?
However, clinical evaluations and board scores determine a lot in terms of your residency placement. Im sure they have brilliant and dedicated teachers and staff but HOW EXPERIENCED are they at teaching and running a school? I see problems in every direction.
I can tell you that from the information I have collected I see none of these problems at VCU. In fact, it has a great reputation for clinical experiences, a dedicated and experienced staff, a TOP-NOTCH STEP 1 study plan, and new buildings and expansions just like UofA phx.
Like I said b4, I would still have gone to Phx campus over VCU but only because of the cost and the fact that my entire life is in AZ. Apart from that VCU is a better school in every facet.
