VCOM Losing VT Affiliation???

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I am really, really hoping that either:
1) this is a move by Carilion/VT to remind the admin that they are here, and the major powers in healthcare/education (respectively) in the region; so don't forget about them.
2) VT will start that school, then also buy out VCOM, so it owns two medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic), sharing the same faculty (saving some money, and greatly increasing class size)

We've known about the increasing partnership between VT and Carilion for a while now (the space at the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center that they sold to VT to form the Carilion Research Institute is but one example). I hoped that it would mean an increasing parternship between those two entities and VCOM, as each currently has some connections to the school. However, HCA (Carilion's competitor, locally) has poured a lot of money into VCOM, so maybe this is Carilion's way of expanding the turf war while they remake themselves as the "Carilion Clinic."
 
I'm a student at VCOM and the Dean sent us an e-mail this morning about the situation. Basically, the new med school won't have any affect on current students. We will still have our affiliation with VT. Furthermore, the proposed med school will be focused on training for subspecialties and will only be accepting 40 students.
 
Seriously though, why would anyone want to be affiliated with Tech? ... just kidding
 
QCOM2006 said:
I'm a student at VCOM and the Dean sent us an e-mail this morning about the situation. Basically, the new med school won't have any affect on current students. We will still have our affiliation with VT. Furthermore, the proposed med school will be focused on training for subspecialties and will only be accepting 40 students.
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Take EVERYTHING you hear with a grain of salt. This includes local news reports, Carilion, Dean's and anyone else who will write things they want to happen. If you read the second paragraph on page 2 and whole letter closely, it is very clear that no one knows how it will affect VCOM if it does in fact get built. The only thing that is a fact right now is that it will not affect any of the current VCOM classes... future classes might be a different story.
 
As a current student at VCOM we have been sent a memo about the possibility of a new MD school opening. Basically it said that the new MD school is just an idea right now and they have not even made plans for it yet. It also said that Virginia Tech does not have any money to help support the new MD school and would try to form an affiliation in another way and that the affiliation with VCOM would not change. Who knows what will happen in the future but I did not get the impression that there would be any negative effects on the education we and future students would receive.
 
so when you say current students does that mean just the classes of 08, 09, and '10? Will the class of '11 still be able to be affiliated w/ Vtech? I'm planning in going there next yr but the affliation was a large attraction for me. Will VCOM still remain affiliated even though its not Vtech's official med school? Will there be both DO and MD schools at Vtech like in Jersey and Michigan? Just wondering if this is going to hurt the class of 2011?
 
runfast5k said:
so when you say current students does that mean just the classes of 08, 09, and '10? Will the class of '11 still be able to be affiliated w/ Vtech? I'm planning in going there next yr but the affliation was a large attraction for me. Will VCOM still remain affiliated even though its not Vtech's official med school? Will there be both DO and MD schools at Vtech like in Jersey and Michigan? Just wondering if this is going to hurt the class of 2011?
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Those are all questions that no one can tell you for sure... Not even the school. The allopathic school is proposed to be in Roanoke, which is 30 minutes outside of Blacksburg. However, their main hospital will be Carilion Memorial, which is a major VCOM site. Asking the school or Carilion these questions is like asking a car saleman what the best car on the planet is. However, I wouldn't let this news affect your decisions. I really think that those won't have an affect on anyone for at least 5-6 years.
 
That is true. The dean told us that they are still trying to decide if they want to start an MD school in Roanoke and that once they decide to start it it takes 5 to 6 years before the first class starts. By the way just to make sure you guys know it is not VT that is opening this MD school it is Carilion and VT will not be financially vested in it. There will be an affiliation though, of what kind no one knows yet. I seriously doubt that anything would happen with our affiliation with VT. We are basically located on their campus (in their research park) and the school that might open will be located in Roanoke which on my best day takes me close to 40 minutes. Which is only to the airport at the beginning of the city. Do not worry about a thing, this news should not affect your decision. VCOM is a great school and it will just continue to get better.
 
A news article in yesterday's Roanoke Times indicates that it is a VT medical school.

"Virginia Tech and Carilion Health System confirmed a report in The Roanoke Times Thursday that they're discussing plans to open a medical school in Roanoke to address future physician shortages and patients' ongoing interest in new medical treatments."

http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/wb/xp-93884

It also appears that the concept has support in the Roanoke area...

"A 'neat' idea, indeed

Let's hope a proposed plan to open a medical school in Roanoke can become more than just "a neat idea."

A medical school -- at the moment, a plan between Virginia Tech and Carilion Health System still in the discussion phase -- could be a huge boon. A report by the Milken Institute, an independent economic think tank, cites many potential benefits of a research-based college of medicine, including creation of jobs, a boost in payroll and an increase in tax revenues.

This collaborative endeavor between the Roanoke and New River valleys could stoke regional economic development efforts in a region plagued by anemic growth."

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/xp-94005
 
I am just telling you what we were told by our Dean who has been involved with part of this process (to what degree I do not know). VT and Carilion are thinking about starting a med school just like VT and VCOM were involved with starting the DO school. VCOM is not a VT school but we are affiliated with them in that our students get some of the same benefits as VT students on their campus. We also work together in the research department. VT will not be providing any money for the new med school and they have not decided how they would be affiliated with it but my guess would be the same as VCOM. VCOM is not at risk of loosing its affiliation with tech. And yes a new med school could help the area. Western VA is going to have a severe doc shortage in the future and VCOM focuses on primary care and rural medicine while the new med school in Roanoke will be focused on specialized medicine, a mayo clinic type plan. It will be interesting to see how all of this will develop, if it does at all.
 
A research oriented medical school could fit into VT's general plan to attain top 30 research university status. Federal and private dollars to such a school would come in far greater amounts and at a faster rate than the present situation. Any dollars and research published by new medical school would be counted by VT.

VCOM's relation to VT seems to be more as a lessee than as a component of the university. VCOM claims benefits of VT "affiliated" status by paying for VT professors, student privileges, residence in the research park, etc.

As for the time frame, one should consider FAU-Miami medical school to get an idea of how quickly a medical school can be up and running. 5-6 years is probably an outside estimate for beginning a school, as Fall 2008 or 2009 could be a more realistic date if the SCHEV and General Assembly moved quickly enough. Much will depend on the medical community politics in Roanoke.
 
The VCOM association with VT is based on logistics. We use their professors and the vet schools profs for our education needs. This school would do the same. There is enough room for everyone here. We are focussed on primary care, they will be focussed on specialties.

We are also committed to mission medicine. This is reflected in the PhD in international medicine. Would VT drop us cause they decided to associate/coop on the formation of a Mayo style superspecialty allopathic program w/ a projected matriculation of 40? I don't think so.

Remember, our chairman and president are some hardcore hokies. VT will do well to affiliate at the least with both schools (like Michigan state).
 
VT has no PhD program for International Medicine listed. There is one for International Veterinary Medicine. Is this a planned program?
 
It is starting this year. We were told about it at the beginning of the year and as of right now, if I remember correctly and I might not be for sure on the years, the way they will work it is if you are interested you will apply for it in your second year and you will complete that work in your 4th year. It is not on the web probably because it is just starting.
 
runfast5k said:
so when you say current students does that mean just the classes of 08, 09, and '10? Will the class of '11 still be able to be affiliated w/ Vtech? I'm planning in going there next yr but the affliation was a large attraction for me. Will VCOM still remain affiliated even though its not Vtech's official med school? Will there be both DO and MD schools at Vtech like in Jersey and Michigan? Just wondering if this is going to hurt the class of 2011?
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I dont see why VT, a top 30 hopeful, would cut affiliative ties to VCOM. As mentioned, we are a private institution. This means that VT only gains by associating with us. Carilion still sees VCOM as a good contributor. Students here rotate with their doctors. Maybe some of the MD students would go into Carilion residencies, but prob. not FM, Peds, IM, etc. My guess is that if the MD school does happen, it will not be a state school (albeit some funding from the state may be procured b/c of its clinic model). But that is opinion. States have to pay alot of money, money that is hard to justify on 40 ppl a year. Hard, not impossible.
 
I was at VT when VCOM hadn't even been built yet, and it was essentially being run out of an office in the chemistry department.

They proposed the idea of a public medical school associated with VT before the Virginia state assembly, and the government wanted nothing to do with having another public medical school in the state of Virginia. And would not support funds to any public institution that wished to do so. I doubt much has changed politically due to the poor state of the Virginia economy, especially in public education.

Which is the main reason VCOM became a private institution, and is only logistically involved with VT, and not financially.

I would expect the same out of this collaboration with Carilion, which will be a private school, and only logistically associated with VT, IF Carilion can come up with all of the funding necessary.

I also remember hearing something about the rotation sites that VCOM used in the first couple of years, and Carilion was not one of them. b/c UVA had some sort of association with Carilion. that is why VCOM has a strong affiliation with HCA (the company that runs Montgomery).

I can see VT wanting to push the research collaboration with Carilion, as the research collaboration with VT and VCOM has evolved ALOT slower than what was initially talked about 5-6 years ago. aside from sports medicine, and a couple of specific professors, the research side of VCOM has been kind of disappointing...or at least compared to what they were hoping for when the school broke ground.

I remember there used to be talk of an entire building dedicated to research right where the parking lot is behind VCOM, it was supposed to be a phase2 of VCOM. I remember being told from a VIP from VCOM it was supposed to break ground 2 years after the initial building was constructed.

...so it sounds like VCOM may have gotten a little off track from their initial promises to VT, and went more for the rural clinical and mission medicine fields. and VT is probably just putting pressure on VCOM to build up research promises again by entertaining the talks with Carilion.

...thats JMO though since I was around during the initial development of VCOM and heard the talks b/w the faculty of the two schools...things could have obviously changed since then.
 
A good proportion of our faculty spend the majority of their time doing research in the research park. True, we do not have our own building for research but it is being done in other buildings. We just had a big research conference a couple of months ago. VCOM also does have rotations spots at both carilion hospitals.
 
On the subject of rotations at Carilion hospitals (there are actually 8 Carilion hospitals in our area--yet we can only rotate through 3 that I know of), there are still few VCOM students rotating through, and they were not initially available. UVA and MCV both send students to CRMH, though most of the MCV students I've run into have been 4th years, so maybe those were elective away rotations. As for UVA, I remember being told once in the before times (the long, long ago), that UVA received money via a state rural health initiative to send some of their students to "rural" Roanoke. As such, they strongly resisted the idea of VCOM sending students to one of "their" hospitals. CNRVMC was added for the class of 2007 after several students strongly requested the ability to rotate through there (even so, the number of students are limited there). I'd like to see more of our students at Carilion hospitals (especially at CRMH and CNRVMC), but currently, I only rarely run into a VCOM student at RMH (though, that's increasing with both 3rd and 4th years there), and only see them in the ED at New River.
 
folks,

get a life. VCOM has had a strong presence at Carilion since rotations have began for the initial class....and have already began DO residencies starting 2007. the research facilities are are at Va Tech and in leased buildings in the research park. I am a fourth year student and am telling you the facts as they are. Please dont fall into the gossip and speculation that perpetuates this web site....I do believe that at least one person on this forum is a part of the local roanoke media that is fishing for information. careful what you say on here. Again...get a life.
 
A little bit off topic...but I have a question.

Do a lot of West Virginians come to Roanoke for critical care? I was told by several physicians at WVSOM that they often reffer people to Charleston in WV or fly them to Roanoke if patients need critical care cause the hospital in Lewisburg does not have the facilites to take care of them.

...I guess it would make more sense going to Roanoke since it's only an two hour away - whereas Charleston is a close to four hours.
 
schon007 said:
Just a "heads up". You have only been at VCOM for 4 months. I would advise being skeptical of anything that you hear from administration. They have lied to our class on several occasions, maybe not intentionally but still a lie.
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In this instance, I may actually believe what DTR says, to a degree. A buddy of mine is a division manager with Carilion, and I asked him a few questions after he came back from a meeting. The school is going to be a Carilion school, not a Virginia Tech school (he didn't elaborate on Tech's involvement, but did say that the school would be part of the Carilion Clinic, not Virginia Tech). Carilion needs to have it's own medical school in order to push forward with their idea to become miracle whip (you know, "like Mayo"). Additionally, he stated that Carilion itself has the funds ready for this project--you can save a lot of money when you railroad your physicians into direct employment with massive pay cuts, rather than keep your contracts with private practice groups. Further, they plan on breaking ground for this school in two years--so, we may see them accepting their first students another 2-3 years after that. Finally, it is the future presence of this school that is preventing VCOM from expanding 3rd year clinical rotations with Carilion beyond what we currently have established.

It's times like this that I am somewhat glad I no longer work for the Big C.
 
QCOM2006 said:
Furthermore, the proposed med school will be focused on training for subspecialties and will only be accepting 40 students.
Click to expand...
How exactly does a medical school manifest a subspecialty focus?
 
Wednesday, January 3

Virginia Tech/Carilion Health System Announcement. Governor Kaine will join officials from Virginia Tech and Carilion in announcing plans to open a medical school in the Roanoke region. The new facility will address future physician shortages in the area, boost the local economy, and attract technology firms and an educated work force. 3:30 p.m. Riverside Centre for Research and Technology
Jefferson Street & Reserve Avenue
(entrance is off Jefferson St.)
Roanoke

http://www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaRelations/GovSchedule.cfm
 
So within a month or two, the actual plans have been announced. Have all you VCOM newbies learned anything about believing what you hear from certain sources? They plan to start taking students in 2009/10... a far cry from the decade predicted by some. I'm not saying this will have a large impact on VCOM, but no one can say for sure it won't. Time will tell.
 
All I have to say is read the press release. Here are some of the facts.

-It is a 5 year program that will produce research Dr's
-That 5 years does not even get you a masters or a PhD but it does get you closer to one than you would at a 4 year program
-They are only accepting 40 students per class
-Students have to write a thesis before they can graduate
-Yes VT will be involved to some degree but this new MD school is NOTHING like VCOM and will not compete with us.

I would not worry about it but make up your mind for yourself.
 
I'm digging up this old thread because I'm curious what the climate is like right now. I've recently been accepted to VTC and I'm trying to get a feel for what it'll be like for a student there. What're VCOM students and faculty opinions on the school? Have 3rd year rotations been worked out or is VTC going to have no effect whatsoever on VCOM?
 
In response to the title of the thread... no. VTC won't change anything about our VT affiliation.

not so calm now said:
I'm digging up this old thread because I'm curious what the climate is like right now. I've recently been accepted to VTC and I'm trying to get a feel for what it'll be like for a student there. What're VCOM students and faculty opinions on the school? Have 3rd year rotations been worked out or is VTC going to have no effect whatsoever on VCOM?
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Well first off, congrats on your acceptance to VTC! Carilion Clinic is a pretty great hospital, imo and you won't be disappointed by your choice of being taught in that environment. My personal opinion of having the school there is yay! Hopefully we can have a lot of collaboration between our two schools for doing research. Maybe you all can feed off of some things that we're doing and vise versa. More opportunities = better for everyone.

I'm very good friends with a lot of the higher ups in our SGA (club presidents), and I know they feel the same way. We were just talking last night about how we wanted to stay on great terms with you all... hopefully whenever you start, we can invite you to some of our student-run events! Faculty? I have no clue. The president of VT recently came to our school for Research Day to give a speech and he expressed the same enthusiasm that I did - hopefully VCOM and VTC becoming a collaboration.

3rd year rotations shouldn't be affected much. Your class only has 40, but our newest class I think has about 190. Our sites are pretty widespread and settled. They're spread out between NJ and SC and only a handful are at Carilion. I don't know if things will change in 2-3 years from you all starting rotations, but my guess is that there should be enough room for us all. Carilion's a big hospital.

PM me if you have any questions about the area!
 
Thank you for that info - that was really helpful. Wow, here I was thinking that Carilion was the main hospital for VCOM rotations. Even so it's still going to be a very small class. It would definitely be a plus to collaborate or even just socialize with VCOM students!

What's your opinion about the health care politics in the area? Over in the preallo thread there's some talk of carilion possibly misusing it's power as the main hospital in the region by charging excessive prices. Any truth to that you know of?
 
not so calm now said:
Thank you for that info - that was really helpful. Wow, here I was thinking that Carilion was the main hospital for VCOM rotations. Even so it's still going to be a very small class. It would definitely be a plus to collaborate or even just socialize with VCOM students!

What's your opinion about the health care politics in the area? Over in the preallo thread there's some talk of carilion possibly misusing it's power as the main hospital in the region by charging excessive prices. Any truth to that you know of?
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If I find out the exact number we have at Carilion, I'll try to let you know.

Honestly, I have not heard anything about the politics of Carilion's costs.
 
bioman2006 said:
Carilion is the biggest (and probably the most "academic") hospital of our rotation sites, but it's not necessarily the most important one for you. The two schools have such a stark contrast in missions--VCOM for rural primary care, VT-C for heavy research--that they should coexist just fine, and probably complement each other rather well. With that said, going to VCOM won't prevent you from a career in neurosurgery (we have a resident doing that at Carilion right now), and going to VT-C won't prevent you from becoming a family doctor.

Also, VCOM and VT just announced joint degree programs with DO/MBA and DO/MPH. The affiliation isn't going away anytime soon.
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Do you happen to know how many we have at Carilion? I was guessing 20-30 but didn't want to say it since I don't know for sure.
 
bioman2006 said:
With that said, going to VCOM won't prevent you from a career in neurosurgery (we have a resident doing that at Carilion right now), and going to VT-C won't prevent you from becoming a family doctor.
Click to expand...

Actually, we have two.

As to politics and Carilion, I have no idea what they are charging for their class, but the people behind the entity known as Carilion are pure evil. No, but seriously, they took a real hard line with their various private practice groups that used to work there, forcing many to become direct employees (at substantial pay cuts) or leave. The first year that Carilion reorganized itself into the Carilion Clinic, ALL of the Radiologists left their primary hospital (RMH), with many being absorbed by the groups at places like Lewis Gale, or leaving entirely. They can also be right bastards to patients when it comes to recouping costs (up to, and including, repossessing your land to pay off your medical bills), and treat many of their employees like crap. I used to work for them in the hazy days of yore, and it was not terribly pleasant. The nurses in the RMH ED also had a hilacious turn-over, as few wanted to work there for very long (and because of this, new grads could become the shift supervisor in only about six months). That having been said, I really enjoyed the rotations I had at that hospital as a third and fourth year med student.
 
Al2VCOM said:
The VCOM association with VT is based on logistics. We use their professors and the vet schools profs for our education needs. This school would do the same. There is enough room for everyone here. We are focussed on primary care, they will be focussed on specialties.
.
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So then whether you "lose" affiliation or not really does not matter. There are plenty of professors who are willing to teach. Am I missing something else? Rotation spots will be lost?
 
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