UHS vs. Pikeville

[minime]

To most of you the choice is obvious. UHS has made a name for itself while Pikeville hasn't had time yet in the four years that it has been open.
I however am a KY resident and will save about $18,000 per year by attending Pikeville due to a scholarship given to Ky residents.
I have talked to several clinical faculty at the school and they all advise me against Pikeville. They have said that the students don't really know what they should coming into rotations and that the quality of the rotations isn't that great either.
So, what would you do? Spend the extra money or stay at Pikeville and wonder if I'm not getting the best education that I can.

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[Firebird]

Ah, we're just finding fellow Kentuckians everywhere.

I guess you're in undergrad right now; where at?

Is there some reason you want to go Osteopathic instead of Allopathic? If not, I think you could fix your problem really simply by going to UK or UofL. Both are great schools.

It just comes down to whether you like Tubby or Rick better...

 

[Firebird]

Whoa!!! I just saw that you're from London. I dated a girl from there once. Did you go to North or South?

Do they still have the big cruising circle in the Wal-Mart parking lot?

 

[nathan]

From what I've been told by many doctors, the extra money that you're going to spend now on your medical education (which seems gigantic in sum) by going to a school that is quite a bit higher in tuition but gives a higher quality of education and especially better rotations, will be pocket change (so to speak) a few years from now. That is why I chose to go to UHS. I hope this helps and good luck! By the way- I'm from MO and I don't even get a real break on tuition to UHS.

-Nathan (UHS-COM '05)

 

[Pikevillemedstudent]

I thought I was the only hillbilly on SDN. I used to cruise the Wal-mart parking lot too.

As for UHS vs Pikeville, the school has come a long way from its first class as far as selecting students. Believe me on this one. They only recieved 300 applications for that class. Today they recieve six times that amount. Also, just because they are clinical faculty does not mean they are happy about the existance of our school. I would bet that they were most definitely MD's since that is all there is in our area and possibly a few IMG's. These docs are afraid PCSOM is going to take away there monopoly. I hope you have shadowed Dr. Grentz or Dr. Spady. Both are DO's who graduated from UHS and are clinical faculty at PCSOM. I am sure they will tell you that the third years they have now are better than those fourth years. But I am also sure they will praise UHS even more since they are graduates from there. Also, the quality of rotations is stepping up. We are now affliated with Grandview Hospital in Dayton Ohio for rotations and are setting up an Internal medicine residency at the VA hospital in Huntington WV. As a side note, these docs have only had experience with the London hub site and the students there. The majority of the fourth years stayed in Pikeville. Good luck on your decision.

 

[Firebird]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Pikevillemedstudent:
...and are setting up an Internal medicine residency at the VA hospital in Huntington WV.
•

Go Marshall!

How far is Pikeville from Huntington?

 

[Freeeedom!]

Go where the board scores and the 3rd year clinical rotations are the best...quite literally that would be neither school, but if you have only those 2 choices...choice the one with the best track record (or only track record between them).

If you exclusively wanted to go DO then choose MSU or UMDNJ primarily because they are attatched to ESTABLISHED univeristies. Trust me, there is a difference between clinical rotations at UHS and UMKC or KU. You deserve the best clinical education experience possible. You deserve to See pathology every day. You must work with residents. You should be around research.
Ask yourself...where will I get this?

later free

 

[Pikevillemedstudent]

Pikeville is about 1 1/2 from Huntington. You can actually do 3rd and 4th year in Ashland with some rotations in Huntington. As for freedoms comments about board scores, I think both UHS and PCSOM do fine. Research is in no way crucial for a medical education. Don't get me wrong research is definitely important and we are starting to some clinical research in 2003 I think, but our schools mission is for rural primary care medicine. Incidently, I think it is very impressive that PCSOM was ranked 20th in the nation for rural medicine by US News. To give you some perspective, Marshall was 23rd and Univ. of Kentucky was 24th. I know these rankings can be taken with a grain of salt, but I feel for a school that hasn't even graduated its first class, it is definitely providing a great education that is getting noticed nationally. As for the pathology and resident statement, even if you go to London for your rotations, they are starting a Family practice and Internal medicine residency there. With the opening of the new heart unit, you will definitely see pathology everyday.

 

[PCSOM2002]

I am currently finishing my third year rotations, and I have had nothing but praise from my clinical preceptors for the education I received prior to starting my clinicals. I had an acceptance to UHS but was advised by a close friend, who was at UHS at the time, not to attend UHS because of some of the same similar complaints, except the years established, that has been stated against Pikeville. His clinical experiences at UHS were about the same as mine at Pikeville.

If you are depending on the school to make you a good doctor then you will never be one! I have rotated side by side with both osteopathic and allopathic students from other schools, and I feel that am just as prepared as they are are at this point.

Go where you will be the most comfortable!

 

[minime]

Yeah, I'm a fellow hillbilly and I don't exactly live in London (Actually closer to Corbin), but yeah they still have the cruising circle, although from what I have seen, since they put the new Wally World in it's popularity has deminished. What a shame, huh.
And yes, the doctors that I asked were at the London hub(MDs) and maybe they aren't getting the total picture. From my own experiences with Pikeville students and Dr. Spady (Yeah, I've shadowed Spady and actually was a field worker for the Coronary Valley Project) I have been really impressed, I was also very impressed by the school and have heard only good comments from all of the students that go there. It seems that there is a lot of positive energy coming from the school. I do realize that the school is very new and am just trying to get a realistic picture of what going there is going to be like. I also agree with the comment that a medical education is what you make of it, however, it makes it a little easier if the faculty is dedicated(which I have heard positive comments about). If anyone has read the numerous horrible accounts of the Des Moines school you'll know why I'm asking around about the school. Anyway thanks for everyone's advice and if it is O.K. I'd like to ask Pikevillemedstudent and PCSOM2002 a few more questions if you don't mind exchanging emails. Mine is [email protected]

 

[Firebird]

Ah yes, Corbin.

The illustrius Belks, and the omnipresent Cracker Barrell.

Not to mention the nearby Cumberland Falls...ever seen the Moonbow?

Anyway, I would be ecstatic to do clinical years in Ashland. I live not more than 15 min from there. KDMC and Bellefonte are great hospitals and it would be great to work there. I take it that since you can go to Ashland for clinical years, there's not much bookwork at all during that time?

 

[Pikevillemedstudent]

If I would have know you were from Corbin, I would have advised against you coming to PCSOM! Of course I am just kidding. Being from Clay Co., I have to trash those Corbin Redhounds who we consistently kill on the basketball court.

Anyway, I think PCSOM2002 summed it up pretty well.

Firebird,
You have a test at the end of each rotation, so if you don't hit the books, you might get to do a rotation twice

Anyone going to Hillbilly Days? They expect over 100,000 people this year. Can you believe they can fit that many people in downtown Pikeville?

 

[Freeeedom!]

Well, I guess I didn't realize this was a Kentuckian chat page...
My point was to use the premier medical schools as Gold standards (ie Columbia, Wash. U, Vandy etc), where research, high pathology, well regarded and published attendings, and MANY residents are the norm. Pikesville just doesn't offer that. UHS doesn't either, but it has better affiliations etc.
Just trying to be honest guys. Sometimes comparing DO and MD medical education is like apples and oranges.

 

[Firebird]

Can't say I'm going to Hillbilly Days. Usually the only KY thing I go to is Mt. Sterling Court Days.

I've been to London's Chicken Festival before; that was interesting (and yes, to you non Kentuckians, Kentucky actually has a "CHICKEN Festival").