Anyone interview at UVA or have heard anything about UVA this year? I know that they have a decent reputation and that Charlottesville is a good place to live.
I've just heard some quiet rumors that the residents and faculty aren't so happy there and that they try to "manage" the interview day so that those issues are kind of hidden.
Going there would be an extra trip for me, so I am trying to see if it would be worth it. Reading through the boards, I see that at least one poster goes to medical school there - any insights from an insider?
Thanks.
P
Personally, I thought UVA was great. I went to the dinner the night before (which was at a resident's house and really made it more personal) and got a chance to meet many residents, and all of them were really happy with the program. They were for the most part really cool, laidback, and fun people, I didn't get any vibe they were trying to hide anything.
I could see if you didn't go to the dinner it would seem on the interview day that they were trying to "hide" something since you only hang out with the chief residents on the day of the interview. But its because the interview day is overall fairly short and there really wouldn't be time to meet the other residents during that time.
This is an extremely resident friendly program. The chair Dr. Rich even stated he thinks the greatest strength of the program are the residents, and everyone (after a few months being there) calls all the faculty and staff by first names, nobody calls him Dr. Rich, they call him George, and that is true of all the faculty. The faculty I interviewed with were super-friendly and I got a great vibe from them. They also will be implementing an electronic anesthesia record in the next year or so, so that's awesome.
It is a beautiful campus and area overall - also only 2 hours south of Washington DC and TONS of outdoorsy things to do like white water rafting, skiing, hiking, biking, etc. HOWEVER, my only reservation about the program is both how small the town is (its REALLY small) and the single scene there is not good at all - I heard this from multiple residents, both male and female. Lots of families in the area, and most of the most eligible girls get scooped up pretty quickly from my impression. I did have one of my interviewers tell me if I come she will make sure to set me up with someone which was nice
Anyway, to sum it up, great program, great faculty and chair (still works in the OR and really young), happy residents, lovely place but small, and poor singles scene. I'm definitely going to rank it but I have to give everything a consideration for sure!