Thoughts about EVMS

[hardworker101]

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For those who have been to EVMS, what did you think of the school?

What are the good and the bads of the school?
How is the reputation of the school?
Thanks.

 

[ayeaye]

There are a lot of cool things about EVMS. First it has one of the best standarized patient program! They really emphasize patient/ physician relationships. Reallyy friend and dedicated faculty!You do ur rotations at their children's hospital and sentara. The children's hospital has some of the best facilities. The only bad thing about it is the location.

 

[hardworker101]

Any thoughts about reputation and board scores?

Thank you

 

[Fiddlergirl]

I interviewed at EVMS, and the board scores weren't particularly better or worse than the other Virginia schools. I wasn't particularly impressed by the standardized patient program, mainly because I prefer schools that throw you into a hospital rather than working with actors (no matter how good). I was also completely unimpressed by the students. I don't care how "casual" your school is, it is not appropriate to lead a tour dressed in sweatpants and a tank top.

 

[joanofarc0907]

i'm sorry that the last person to post had a bad impression from their tour guides attire. However, if you base your opinion of evms based on what we wear on wed and fridays, you aren't getting the whole picture. ITP days everyone is extremely dressed up (these don't fall on either wed or fridays for either the first or second year) and honestly when i'm in class all day, 9-5, i like to be as comfortable as possible...even if i am taking time out of my lunch to give a tour.

As far as the area goes, I'm from maryland and am used to being in a metropolitan area. Now I wouldn't say norfolk is anything like big city like DC or baltimore, but I actually really like it down here. I personally live a block from an art museum, 2 blocks from an opera house, can walk to the down town bars (and to school) I've been to circus de soliel and a baseball game down here. the beach is 40 minutes away, etc etc. Honestly, i couldn't really ask for more. sure there are some sketchy neighborhoods, but you are going to get there wherever you go.

as far as reputation goes, evms is a small school and doesn't really have a reputation. not a whole lot of people know about evms and i believe they said there are only about 3,000 doctors who have graduated from evms. It only opened in 1977 so it is a very new school still. now, as i say this, i'll let you know that before i came here i checked it out, and evms students have a good reputation among residency programs for their clinical skills. if you want to see the match list, its on the website. most students get their 1st or 2nd choice on the match, so that aint too shabby.

for board scores, this year's 3rd years did really well on the boards, so these numbers are probably even higher for the past year (but they haven't come out yet) Here are the 2006 numbers:

USMLE Step 1 scores as a % of national average: 102.2%
USMLE Step 2 scores as a % of national average: 96.8%


overall i think that an M2 who talked to me a great bit about evms before i decided to come here summed it up with a quotation from one of our professors...

"What I really want to see is at the end of October when you are neck deep in anatomy, histology, physiology, several exams all packed together, and you are completely swamped, you still take the time to help out with the haunted hallway, only then will I know you deserve to be here". Followed up by, "if you are looking for research, and big school assets, an environment which is about the science, not the person, then leave, you do not belong here. But, if you recognize medicine as an art and it is about your patients, not their disease, then you belong here"

it all depends on what you are looking for in a medical school. hope this helps.

 

[luckycharms08]

that was really nicely put 🙂

 

[postbacker]

i'm sorry that the last person to post had a bad impression from their tour guides attire. However, if you base your opinion of evms based on what we wear on wed and fridays, you aren't getting the whole picture. ITP days everyone is extremely dressed up (these don't fall on either wed or fridays for either the first or second year) and honestly when i'm in class all day, 9-5, i like to be as comfortable as possible...even if i am taking time out of my lunch to give a tour.

As far as the area goes, I'm from maryland and am used to being in a metropolitan area. Now I wouldn't say norfolk is anything like big city like DC or baltimore, but I actually really like it down here. I personally live a block from an art museum, 2 blocks from an opera house, can walk to the down town bars (and to school) I've been to circus de soliel and a baseball game down here. the beach is 40 minutes away, etc etc. Honestly, i couldn't really ask for more. sure there are some sketchy neighborhoods, but you are going to get there wherever you go.

as far as reputation goes, evms is a small school and doesn't really have a reputation. not a whole lot of people know about evms and i believe they said there are only about 3,000 doctors who have graduated from evms. It only opened in 1977 so it is a very new school still. now, as i say this, i'll let you know that before i came here i checked it out, and evms students have a good reputation among residency programs for their clinical skills. if you want to see the match list, its on the website. most students get their 1st or 2nd choice on the match, so that aint too shabby.

for board scores, this year's 3rd years did really well on the boards, so these numbers are probably even higher for the past year (but they haven't come out yet) Here are the 2006 numbers:

USMLE Step 1 scores as a % of national average: 102.2%
USMLE Step 2 scores as a % of national average: 96.8%


overall i think that an M2 who talked to me a great bit about evms before i decided to come here summed it up with a quotation from one of our professors...

"What I really want to see is at the end of October when you are neck deep in anatomy, histology, physiology, several exams all packed together, and you are completely swamped, you still take the time to help out with the haunted hallway, only then will I know you deserve to be here". Followed up by, "if you are looking for research, and big school assets, an environment which is about the science, not the person, then leave, you do not belong here. But, if you recognize medicine as an art and it is about your patients, not their disease, then you belong here"

it all depends on what you are looking for in a medical school. hope this helps.

First, thanks for this post...but please elaborate on this aspect (bolded), since research seems to be so very critical for residency placement...what kind of research is available to EVMS students - what have you and fellow classmates been able to do research-wise?...also, can you or someone else comment on the MD/MPH option?

 

[Instatewaiter]

There are a lot of cool things about EVMS. First it has one of the best standarized patient program! They really emphasize patient/ physician relationships. Reallyy friend and dedicated faculty!You do ur rotations at their children's hospital and sentara. The children's hospital has some of the best facilities. The only bad thing about it is the location.

We use the exact same standardized patients at MCV and I can tell you all that it is a great way to learn the proper way to do an H & P. EVMS really focuses a lot on the standardized patients and the students have very ample access to them.

That said, there comes a point where you cant learn anymore from a standardized patient. You will probably hit that point right around the time you are meant to go to the hospital in 3rd year.

Any thoughts about reputation and board scores?

As has been said about a million times on SDN, a school's board scores are really a function of the students they select and the motivation of those students rather than the school's teaching style or curriculum.

For MCV/VCU, EVMS and UVA the board scores hover around 215 - 225.

For Va schools, reputation generally goes EVMS < MCV < UVA but again, reputation of your school doent mean a whole heck of a lot. There will be students from EVMS who match into the most competitive specialties and those from UVA who wont be able to match into anything but psychiatry.

Really, any school will be what you make of it. What you do after med school will be determined by how YOU do on the boards, 3rd year rotations etc rather than what your school does for you.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the standardized patient program, mainly because I prefer schools that throw you into a hospital rather than working with actors (no matter how good).

not many schools are going to put you into the hospital in a meaningful way until 3rd year. Most use standardized patients or something similar, mixed with some community preceptor exposure and perhaps a touch of hospital work.

 

[joanofarc0907]

First, thanks for this post...but please elaborate on this aspect (bolded), since research seems to be so very critical for residency placement...what kind of research is available to EVMS students - what have you and fellow classmates been able to do research-wise?...also, can you or someone else comment on the MD/MPH option?

Honestly, I'm not the one to ask. I don't know very much at all about the MD/MPH program other than it is 5 years, one year is just MPH (or at least i think that is right....) There are only 2-3 students every year that do it, and i'm not one of them.

Second, I'm also not really a good person to ask about research. I'm not interested in research hence why i came to a clinical school instead of a big research school. To be fair, I think what was meant in that quotation was that we don't have the facilities of big institutions. EVMS is working hard to bring more research to the area, but it still doesn't compare with somewhere like Duke or UVA or Maryland. The Jones institute does a lot of fertility and women's health research, and I know there are other research opprotunities here, but I'm just not really that interested right now so I havent really explored it. I know there is info on the website about it, so it would probably be better to look there or to ask at your interview.

Sorry I can't be more helpful for that

One thing about the standardized patients...that isn't the only exposure we have to patients. We also have LGM which is where we shadow either a Internal Medicine, Family Practice, or Peds practitioner in the community-- so that is real patients. Plus there are many opprotunities to get involved in the community at local clinics and practice the skills we learn with the standardized patients on REAL patients. In fact, this thursday I'm going to volunteer at the Va Beach free clinic and get that REAL experience myself. So don't think that all you are ever going to see are "fake patients"

On that note...I thought I would clarify what haunted hallway is. Its during halloween where disadvantaged kids come and trick or treat at our school since their neighborhoods aren't safe enough to do that in. Dr. Avarich was trying to say that he expects EVMS students to care more about the community than just doing well on the many many tests we have coming up. If that sounds like you, you'll enjoy EVMS a great deal. I know I do.

 

[belgianbeerguy]

I don't care how "casual" your school is, it is not appropriate to lead a tour dressed in sweatpants and a tank top.

Are you serious? What's the big deal? The idea of interview day is to give an idea of what life is like at our medical school ... not to put up a facade. Yeah, we're a casual medical school, and we're also very professional when necessary.

 

[digitlnoize]

For the record, I had no problem with how my tour guides were dressed. They have no need to impress us...we're supposed to be trying to impress them!

They're the ones working their butts off in med school. If they wanna wear sweats, then I have no problem with it. Pull the sticks out of your butts people. Relax a little.

 

[TarHeel55]

I'll second that. My tour guides at EVMS made a positive impression on me, dress included. I haven't met more approachable, down-to-earth, and friendly students anywhere. I interviewed on a muggy, warm day, and I actually found it reassuring that my tour guides wore sandals of the sort I like to wear on muggy warm days.

 

[belgianbeerguy]

good to know people still appreciate our down to earth attitude. 😎

good luck to you guys! I still remember how arduous it was to wait and see where I'd be going to school.