As much as I hate to slay a lot of idealism I've come to realize on my interview trail that the more a school talked about mission and what not the more it likely existed to profiteer. There are genuinely very few mission based DO schools that honestly want to help their communities. Far too many even go so far as to claim that their poor rotations at out-patient clinics are for their student's betterment and preparation for dealing with certain populations, while also providing very little learning as a clerkship ( I think VCOM tends to have good rotations albeit, though they're LECOMish in that they're very spread out).
But yah, the only truly mission based school that I believed was CUSOM. Why? because they actually invested money into building hospitals and residencies for their class in General surgery, Dermatology, fellowships in peds and Im, and etc because they acknowledge that it'll help keep the medicine inside NC more than just having a building in a rural county.
So in reading your many opinions, you still aren't making many sensible points supported by anything other than theory or speculation. VCOM has now started three DO programs that have affiliations with nearby schools. This is good for them because these affiliations do mean a level of autonomy, while still having a lot of benefits.
Students get gym, library and other facility access, football games and other events at a fraction of the cost to VCOM as providing these services would cost independently. VCOM provides insurance plans for students. People do have the opportunity to pursue research at VT or respective university (I am speaking of my knowledge at VCOM-VA specifically). Does this mean the school presents 20 opportunities on a silver platter? No, you have to have an interest and try, but it is not nearly as difficult as you are suggesting (or "imagining" as you put it). Is there meaningful research? Yes, and at the forefront of my mind is a joint effort with VT and Carilion in concussion studies has yielded tens of millions in funding from the DoD and NFL <
http://www.hokiesports.com/pr/recaps/20140930aaa.html>. There is a lot more than just that article.
Oh, and VCOM also has the opportunity to utilize lecturers from VT, VT's Carilion Med School and VT's Vet school (and the DO clinic down the street). What a horrible idea, having partnerships that lead to a pool of MDs, DOs and PhDs right around the corner, while still being based in rural/underserved southwest VA to easier fulfill your school's mission.
What does VCOM actually get for their autonomy? They can plan, budget and execute a fiscal plan independently of a major university. This does not mean lack of accountability, and VCOM is not a for profit school. It means that funds generated from their tuition, their alumni contributions, etc. are spent as they see fit. This in no way suggests impropriety, shady business, or whatever was suggested before by someone else. There are knowledgeable administrators, and a board of directors filled with some very smart people that includes many smart lawyers, doctors, and even a businessman on the Forbes 400 list. For that matter, being a profit school wouldn't suggest whatever impropriety you were hinting at whatsoever. The world is based on profits, for profit medical tech firms and hospitals are the driving force of innovation. These are cliche blanket statements someone made based on a lack of understanding and is frankly just annoying, but I'll restrain my tangent.
You suggest that this does not match the mission, which is providing primary care services to rural and underserved areas (CUSOM is the only school that does? Did you really just say that??). VCOM is very involved in the local Appalachian area, while having a very large presence internationally. VCOM has regular mission trips and clinical rotations to El Salvador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. In fact, they are set to open up a pretty large clinic in El Salvador that will provide a permanent site for such efforts. This allows VCOM to reach out to some of the poorest people in the western hemisphere at a cost they deem acceptable. This information is buried deep on their website (click on About-->International Missions), so I can understand if you couldn't find it.
How does this correlate to prestige (if that's how this whole conversation got started)? DO schools aren't ranked, so as far as I'm concerned if you take out the outliers of the top 2-3 oldest, most well known DO schools, and keeping the newest one's on "probation," I don't see there being that much variation between any. But, to address your concerns for the sake of argument:
While the above factors should only help the reputation/image/prestige of VCOM, maybe some don't really understand the tangible and intangible benefits of such an affiliation, so they form their own conclusions.
So please tell me... how does this affiliation come at the EXPENSE, either literally or figuratively, of their students? VCOM finds rotation sites, passes boards, and match better than most.
I could go on, but have said just about enough for now. It looks like you are a premed student going to another school, so I'll end by saying the above question is rhetorical and suggest you speak to things you know.
