Yes I do remember them saying that as well. They made it seem that it was not a "cut-throat" process. I guess my question is really asking what are the quality of the rotations given the limited number of available seats at the larger hospitals. For instance, I would imagine that CAMC goes to the lottery given the nature of its rotations and popularity. Really looking for current third or fourth year students' opinions. Thanks!
Current third year here.
So WVSOM's clinical rotations are far from perfect, but the nice thing is they are established. WVSOM does something called "statewide campus" for third year clinical rotations. During your second year, you choose a region to rotate in for your third year. Within that region, you choose a "base site" hospital where you will do a majority of your rotations. For example, I'm in the southwest region and my base site hospital is Our Lady Bellefonte Hospital. Most of the regions you can choose from are in WV. There are some base site hospitals that are outside of the state (one in New York, one in Ashland, one in Ohio, etc.). Check out the link for a picture description:
http://www.wvsom.edu/Academics/swc-sites
If you click on a region, it will list all the possible hospitals you can choose as a base site. For fourth year, you can either continue at your statewide campus base site, or go do rotations anywhere in the nation. I plan on doing most of my rotations back in MN fourth year. The only caveat with that is the paperwork involved trying to set up an agreement to rotate at a different hospital.
WVSOM has a preceptor model for rotations. I think most DO schools are like this. This has advantages and disadvantages compared to our MD counterparts. The advantage is you get 1 on 1 treatment and can be right with the physician. You aren't behind 3 residents, and 3 fourth year medical students. However, the disadvantage is that preceptors can be either really really good or really really bad. Luckily, my preceptors have all been pretty good, but there will be some that just aren't as motivated to teach. I personally have been enjoying third year rotations and have been learning a ton.
I can't speak on the quality of every region as I am only in one region. I have not heard any complaints from classmates in other regions. All in all, I think rotations at WVSOM are generally good. But, YOU need to be motivated and want to learn. If you do rotations at a small hospital, you need to go home and learn about diseases you probably won't see at a small hospital. If you aren't motivated and want someone to hold your hand, rotations might be tough.
A little more on the lottery. The whole process may or may not be stressful for you. It depends how bad you want to go to a particular site. If you are flexible, and have an open mind about the process, it will be just fine. We did have some students that were very upset the night of site selection because they were 100% banking on getting this particular site and didn't get it. Just be flexible and have a few options in mind. Sites wax and wane in popularity every year, so it's hard to say which site will go to lottery. It really depends on the dynamics of the class. For example, if you have a large number of students who are from the NE United States, the Eastern region will be popular.
