MCV vs. EVMS

[bowdoinguy]

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I saw a thread of UVA vs. MCV up a few days ago, but I think the real question is this. UVA seems to be at a level above MCV and EVMS. I was accepted at EVMS and I have an interview coming up at MCV in a week. I really liked EVMS when I visited and they got great student reviews on the AMSA site. I haven?t ever been to MCV and they had mixed reviews on the AMSA site. I was just wondering if anyone had further input on these schools.

EVMS has a small student body (100), is in a nice community (Norfolk), and has you working with professional patients in the first week!!😎

 

[hokiedoc]

I am in a similar situation. I was accepted at both EVMS and MCV and I absolutely loved EVMS when I was there but MCV seems to be a great school also that is more established and has some definite pluses about it! I would love to hear more feedback.

 

[caferine]

MCV definitely has a much better reputation than EVMS. EVMS is a relatively new school, so it needs time to make its name well-known. Most out-of-staters have never heard of EVMS, as well as many in-staters. I was impressed with the students at EVMS when I interviewed; they all seemed really outgoing and happy. One student even told me, "It's really easy here. It's just like college." While this may sound good at first, I just wasn't impressed. Medical schools is supposed to be hard, and I wonder just how well EVMS is preparing its students.

I also remember hearing that EVMS students have contact with standardized patients the first week. But, MCV students also have this opportunity in the Foundations of Clinical Medicine class which meets once a week. MCV's standardized patients are trained my EVMS people.

I would say, if your career goals include a more competitive field or residency, you should definitely consider MCV over EVMS.

Hope this helps. I guess I'm a little bit biased towards MCV.

 

[uncwalley]

Just so you can get the other side of the story, EVMS is just as good as MCV if your trying to get into a competitive residency. The fact is, unless the reputation of a school is much greater than that of another, then their students will be pretty much on an even level in the eyes of residency directors. Ex. Three students; 1 from Harvard, 1 from MCV, and 1 from EVMS; all have fairly similar stats. The one from Harvard gets a little star by his name. Neither of the other two get little stars. It has been said by many doctors that it doesn't matter where you go to medical school, you're gonna learn the same things and you forget most of it anyway. So true. We all have to learn what is gonna be on the boards.
As far as rotations go, I don't know a thing about Richmond, but if you want to do anything in Peds, EVMS is the place to go. CHKD is incredible.
Students at EVMS are happy and everybody says so. The Hampton Roads area is a great place to live. The beach is close, and there is just about everything you could want to do pretty close by.
The moral of my story: Don't be fooled by people talking about reputation of a school, unless the school has a really bad reputation. Find the school that fits you and work hard to make the most of your education. Every year, there are students from just about every school who get into the most competitive residencies.

 

[uncwalley]

And if you are still stuck on reputation, MCV's standardized patients are apparantly trained by EVMS, so they are obviously just an inferior imitation.

EVMS 1, MCV 0

Also, I don't think a lot of out-of-staters have heard of MCV either. Maybe I just wasn't listening.

 

[tedstriker]

Schools aside, any thoughts on Richmond vs. Norfolk?

 

[hoping4amiracle]

pick MCV...so there'll be one more spot for me after my EVMS interview in Feb 😉

just kidding....sorta

best wishes,

h4am

 

[MedSchool2007]

evms is great school, even though i have chosen another school, i would definitely make that choice.

 

[uncwalley]

As for Norfolk, the town is pretty nice. The school is in Ghent, which is a kind of uppity part of town, but you can walk down the road and get into some pretty sketchy areas in not too long. If you're into the bar thing, there are plenty around. There are some pretty interesting places to take your parents on parents weekend like Nauticus, which is a sort of navy museum with a lot more. There is also a decent aquarium in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach is pretty fun itself, and don't be fooled by impressions that you may have had as a youth. The first time I went was about 8 years ago and I wasn't impressed. The beach was really dirty and crowded. Since I've been here though, it is obvious that they've been doing some work to try to clean the place up. There's plenty of things to eat and see on the boardwalk. If you're into a quieter beach, you can just drive 20 or 30 blocks up the shore towards the bay and you can be pretty much alone with the water. Not skinny-dipping alone, but alone enough that you could count the people that walk by on your 20 digits. Traffic in Norfolk is pretty interesting. Things move pretty well everywhere but around tunnels and bridges, of which there are plenty. What more can be said? Several of my classmates go to Richmond on the weekends to visit friends, but I can't imagine there is anything more to do there. If you have specific questions, you can PM me. Later.

 

[Suz177]

I'm dissappointed to hear you think MCV is so much inferior to UVA and furthermore that just because our standardized patients come from EVMS that they are also better than us. MCV is a great school with a ton of excellent opportunities to offer. I am not saying anything against the other schools, in fact I interviewed at EVMS last year also, and happened to really like it.

Here is some info about MCV:
Yes, we do get our standardized patients from EVMS, but that is because we only use them for clinical skills exams and a for teaching a few specialized skills, such as breast and abdominal exams. The rest of the time we meet in small groups w/ a family practice/peds/IM doctor from the community and practice our skills on eachother. Additionally, from the 2nd week of school, we begin working w/ a preceptor (again fp/peds/im) one afternoon on the off weeks from our skills class. Personally, I love this system, because I get to practice the skills I learn in class on real patients as I feel comfortable trying them and I have one on one guidance/feedback from my preceptor.

MCV students also, traditionally do very well on the boards. One of our physiology professors, Linda Constanzo, has put together everything we need to know about doing well on the boards. She teaches a review course throughout the 2nd year and very few to no students will even bother w/ commercial courses.

Lastly, my favorite thing about MCV is all of the great extracurricular opportunities available to us. We have interest groups for lots of specialties, medical and nonmedical community service, and this summer there will be 3 different groups traveling to third world countries to provide medical care.

If anyone has any questions about MCV, please feel free to PM me. I love my school and would be more than happy to share w/ you any info I can!

 

[anxiousmed]

any last minute advice for my upcoming interview next week? it would be much appreciated.

 

[Suz177]

Interview at MCV or EVMS? Good luck either way!

EVMS was hands down the most difficult interview I had. The questions went into a little more depth than I was prepared to discuss on ethics and healthcare reform type topics. They also had 2-3 interviewers per student.

At MCV, the interview was more friendly and personal. We mostly discussed the stuff included in my application and the rest of the time the interviewer tried to stay away from controversial topics, such as stem cells. This does not mean MCV is easy to get into, it just means they feel it is more informative for them to see the 'real' you rather than how you react under pressure or whatnot.

Hope that is helpful! PM me if you have any more q's.

 

[uncwalley]

To put your mind at ease a little, though some people do come away from EVMS interviews feeling like it was high pressure, my experience and others feel like it was a very comfortable interview. It all depends on who you interviewed with. I had a clinician and a 3rd year student interviewing me, and I could not have imagined feeling any more comfortable in an interview. They didn't focus on the cookie cutter med school interview questions as all my other interviewers did. For me, and most others I imagine, that is a good thing. It is so hard to make your answer to the question of why you want to be a doctor sound much different from everybody elses. We spent a good deal of time talking about physician-assisted suicide. I started off giving my little disertation on how I felt about it and then we just talked back and forth about how it could/should be implemented if at all and what were the moral considerations involved. If you don't already know, this is a panel interview, meaning you and a few interviewers in the room at the same time.
EVMS also has a ton of special interest groups and the number of opportunities to do community service are nearing ridiculous. Intramurals are available through ODU which is right down the road as well.
As for board scores, EVMS also does quite well, above the national average. However, we don't have any kind of school sponsered review. You're on your own for that one. Maybe I'll pose as an MCV student occasionally next year.
Suz, I don't know bowdoinguy, but I don't think he was saying UVa is a lot better than MCV or EVMS, just a little, especially on the reputation and funding end, which is undeniable. I also realize that sarcasm does not transmit well through writing, but I don't feel that MCV has inferior SP's. But I do know this, if we had a football team, it would crush yours. Have a good one. Later

 

[hoping4amiracle]

anymore advice for the evms interview?

i'd love to hear more about the ethic/current events aspect of the interview.

do you think that at this point most candidates are put on the waitlist? or is their still hope for an acceptance?