VCOM and family friendly schools question

[dancote]

Does anyone attend VCOM? I am very interested in this school and will be interviewing there this fall (they said they'd call to schedule). I have a family and three young kids and am trying to find the school that will be good for me (program) and good for my family (area, resources, time for dad to play with kids). I know that there is a system based track. Is lecture mandatory? What do you think it would be like to be a student with a family at this school? Is there a competitive atmosphere? Are there other students with families?
I am trying to steer away from schools which don't have a "family-friendly" atmosphere. So far, it sounds like VCOM would be good, as does, WVSOM, AZCOM, PSCOM, OU-COM, and MSU-Com. I am sure visiting the schools will reveal more. My wife is planning on traveling with me so that she can get a feel for the area as well.

Thanks for any help or information on schools that might fit our requirements.

-Dan
Negaunee, MI

PS-if it helps any, I want to be a rural FP doctor and we would prefer smaller towns.

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[dancote]

Any VCOM students that would be interested in telling me what they think about their program? I realize how new it is.

-Dan

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[drbrowneyes]

VCOM's first class (class of 2007) is currently in the middle of finals, so they may take a minute to respond. I am an incoming MSI(class of 2008). From what I can tell, the school seems family friendly. They have activities once a month for students and families to get together. They have an organization for spouses and significant others. During orientation, they even have activities for the families. I think they atttempt to encourage family involvement as much as possible.

As far as class, I know that lecture attendance is mandatory. There are no class rankings in order to encourage students to work together. The school is on block scheduling so, I feel that with the many intermittent days off you will have time to spend with you family. Of course, this is just my opinion based on the information received in the mail and during orientation and speaking with the staff.

 

[dancote]

.."The school is on block scheduling so, I feel that with the many intermittent days off ..."

Thanks for the reply, yes, I'll wait until finals are over to ask this question again. What are the intermittent days off you speak of? I am not real familiar with medical school schedules. I understand that the blocks mean exams only every so many weeks--correct?

-Dan

 

[drbrowneyes]

At VCOM, a block consists of studying a particular subject area. For example, Block 1 (Foundations of medicine) is 10 weeks then you get a 3 week break. Upon returning you will then focus on a body system for 4-6 weeks. After that you take another break. The breaks vary from block to block. If it is a short block you may get a long weekend. Again, now, I am an entering MS-I....surely the MS-II could do a better job on the time aspect.

 

[KHep]

great question! I am also applying to VCOM this fall...and have two young kids. This has weighed heavily on my decision as to where to apply. I've essentially been a stay at home mom, so it is necessary for me to be somewhere that is at the very least understanding of issues of "married with children."
I also decided not to apply to any big cities because I don't want my kids to get lost in urban public schools.
Anyway, can't wait to hear the feedback!

 

[Amy B]

Hi,
I picked VCOM for a number of reasons, including being a family friendly school. They have potlucks once a month. People can bring their kids , eat dinner and then they have adult events in one lecture hall and kid friendly movies in the other hall.

Our class just had a cookout. We had a bunch of families come with their kids. The kids played together and watched movies and had fun. There are a lot of families in our class (class 2008).

I found a daycare center right across the street that is going to give my daughter before and after school care during the week. It is open in the morning so I can go to class and stays open till 5:45 at night.

There are some spouse's in our class that are offering babysitting during the day . I can only assume the class of 2009 will be about the same. I have friend's with kids in the class of 2007 and they still believe VCOM is very family friendly.

Blacksburg schools are good. The high school offers lots and lots of different courses. I don't know anything about the middle school except it is a newer building. My daughter's school has a great staff, but I will have to see if the school is great as well. I can only assume it will be. My neighbors have been happy with it for the last few years.

If you are looking for a family friendly place to live and go to school, I personally think the Blacksburg area and VCOM fit the bill.

Good luck.

 

[KHep]

Amy B,

that sound wonderful. Exactly what i am looking for. What state were you originally from? I have some family in rural Virginia and my parents are in Eastern TN, so that would be another perk if I were to get into VCOM. My stats are kinda low, so we'll see what happens. I just submitted my app so I don't expect to hear anything for a while. Thanks for taking the time to give all that feedback!

 

[Amy B]

Hi,
I was born in Chicago but have moved all around the country. I lived near Blacksburg from 5 grade until 11th grade, so it seems like home here. I intend on staying in this area and opening a rural practice.

Good luck. Let me know if you get an interview. I will try and come in and say hello.

 

[KHep]

I will definitely let you know if I get an interview, thanks! I was thinking about opening a rural practice near Pennington Gap, but that is a long way off!

 

[sdeel]

I am a current VCOMer getting ready to go to the 1st annual MS-1---MS-2 get-2-gether. There are alot of families and many had more children while in school.. Moms and Dads alike find time for thier families. If you treat it like a 8-5 job w occasional work at home then you'll be fine. Here is our schedule for next year to give u an idea of our breaks(this is from the dean)

The breaks for 2004 for the Class of 2007 are as follows:



Interval Break
Following Block 7 10/30 through 11/7

Block 8 begins 11/8
During Block 8 11/20 through 11/28 Thanksgiving Vacation
Following Block 8 December 23 through January 2



Block 9 begins January 3
Following Block 9 February 28 (10 am) through March 6th



Block 10 begins March 7th
Following Block 10 April 23th through May 1st

Block 11 begins May 2
Following Block 11 June 18th through June 26

Block 12 begins June 27
Following Block 12 August 6th through September 5th.



End of OMS II

 

[Hillbilly]

I hate to sound like a wet blanket, but it is not all smiles and roses.

For the guys in our class whose wives have had babies and are stay at home moms. VCOM is very family friendly. If you have small children who can adapt to your schedule VCOM is very family friendly. The community is great, schools are great, environment is great. But our schedule sucks if you want to be involved with your and they are school aged. Your weekends are always tied up because we have tests EVERY Monday. We have mandatory attendance and for our first block of MS II we will be in class from 8-5 everyday exept for one afternoon a week. We finished our first year today. We had one week of break this summer. Public schools start back this Tuesday so we had 7 weekdays off when school-aged kids were off this summer. We do get out intermittently throughout the year, but most of our short breaks are during times when the kids are in school. We have a month off now that school-aged kids have started back to school.

The faculty and administration are very accommodating if you have emergencies and sick children, but the schedule is grueling and unless you are a genius, come in with a great background or don't really care if you are on the very border of passing 8-5 just won't cut it. A typical week of 8-5 would leave you with about 10 hours a week to study--if you use every second of down time. I may be slow, but, I can't learn everything that I need to learn in 10 hours.

My opinion is look for a school without mandatory attendance and use your attendance time wisely. If I had kids in school I would also shop around for a program that would give me some time off in the summer to devote to my kids--they will have a big adjustment to make if they are used to having you involved in their lives.

My humble opinion.

 

[dancote]

You say 10 hrs is not enough. How much time does it require outside of lecture for the average learner to do decent work?? I am sure this varies by many variables, but can students give me a general idea? Also, what about PBL for married with children folks? I have an inteview coming up at WVSOM and they offer this program.
Thanks for your excellent help so far-all of you!!
-Dan

PS-Do lectures actually go to 5pm each day at VCOM?

 

[missyb]

Don't fret about the VCOM schedule ! Your first block of MSI, you won't be in class past noon. As you get further into the year, class is generally scheduled from 8-5 Mondays (anatomy lab), Wednesdays (anatomy lab), and Thursdays (OMT lab/lectures)---or atleast it was for us. Even within those days though, 5 pm isn't written in stone, most days you won't stay that long and other days you will find yourself in anat lab until 7pm.

As far as the studying goes...that is so totally individual. I am not good at studying (definitely prone to distraction), so I mostly study Tuesdays and Thursdays which is when my husband is at rugby practice so I have the house to myself and then weekends when he is more or less occupied with his own research at VT. Its not like my hubby demands attention at all...I would just rather spend my time outside of class with him, than my laptop and text books.

Hope that helps, let me know if I can help "sell" VCOM to anyone else

 

[NotShorty]

I'm single w/o kids, so I'll keep my contribution to this thread short.

There are TONS of people at NSU-COM with kids. There is a "families of med students club" (the axillary club i believe).

dancote, there is also a rural med club here, with lots of extra-curr activities.

weather here is great, so you could take your kids to the beach/park year round.

HOWEVER, since we are required to be in class all day, it might be a pain in the butt for you, depending on how much time your s/o is able to contribute. But come on, it's med school, you'll be busy every minute of every day anyway.

I'd at least check us out, because most people are pleasantly surprised by NSU.

-NS