These statements may not be relevant answers, but rather thoughts re: your question. I have just received an offer to attend VCOM and have been pondering over your question since I interviewed there. First of all, there is no real way (no evidence) to tell if VCOM graduates will be able to secure "competitive" residencies since the first class has not even taken the step 1 boards. The board scores for the first class will be interesting because generally lower MCAT scores "predict" board performance. So, with the avg. MCAT score around a 24, it will be interesting to see how their students perform which may or may not reveal how well VCOM prepares its students. I know VCOM does not place a lot of weight on the MCAT (read it in print) and actively searches for health care professionals, so this group may be statistically different than the average college grad?.
With that said, I feel anecdotally that VCOM graduates will have equal access/opportunity to these residencies when compared to any D.O. school. Although their mission is rural medicine/primary care, they told me that they would be happy if 50% of the class enters this field. This mindset coupled with the requirement of the USMLE exam for graduation, I feel this school is preparing itself and students to be competitive in residency selection (specialties, etc.). Plus, its affiliation with VT for research, etc. (which is growing much faster than anticipated and eventually could become a research leader in terms of dollars for the D.O. world-- new research building proposed in addition to VT campus) will ultimately increase perceived "respect" & could help with residency selection for certain specialties. Only time will tell. Good luck.
