Why do people hate on VCU/MCV?

[mardok]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I really liked MCV. It seems like the school had recently poured in lots of money into new research facilities along with new clinical facilities. They have a long and respected heritage, founded 1838? USMLE scores seem good. So, why do they get a 2nd rate reputation?

My anecdotal evidence:
I know two northern VA docs in their 40's, one went to UVA and the other went to MCV. They both ended up at inova fairfax for residency. The UVa doc ended up becoming a ob/gyn. During his med school training, he saw two babies delivered apparently. The other Doc from VCU personally delivered 40 babies during med school. Seems like MCV offers a more essential and relevant clincal experience than UVA. UVA may have more NIH funding dollars, but only since 1993, before that MCV had more NIH money than UVA. It seems the respective healthcare markets and patient populations have affected each school differently. Before the healthcare money crunch of the mid 90's MCV's poorer population did not drain as much from the hospital as it did in the late 90's when ratings and # of NIH grants were slipping fast.

What are your opinions? What accounts for MCV's tarnished reputation?
Thanks.

 

[Construct]

The answer is obvious: MCV's matriculants typically have lower mean MCAT/GPA scores than those who go to UVA. This does not reflect poorly on the quality of the institution in the slightest, but you asked why MCV gets ragged on....and there's your answer.

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

I really liked MCV. It seems like the school had recently poured in lots of money into new research facilities along with new clinical facilities. They have a long and respected heritage, founded 1838? USMLE scores seem good. So, why do they get a 2nd rate reputation?

My anecdotal evidence:
I know two northern VA docs in their 40's, one went to UVA and the other went to MCV. They both ended up at inova fairfax for residency. The UVa doc ended up becoming a ob/gyn. During his med school training, he saw two babies delivered apparently. The other Doc from VCU personally delivered 40 babies during med school. Seems like MCV offers a more essential and relevant clincal experience than UVA. UVA may have more NIH funding dollars, but only since 1993, before that MCV had more NIH money than UVA. It seems the respective healthcare markets and patient populations have affected each school differently. Before the healthcare money crunch of the mid 90's MCV's poorer population did not drain as much from the hospital as it did in the late 90's when ratings and # of NIH grants were slipping fast.

What are your opinions? What accounts for MCV's tarnished reputation?
Thanks.

You are basing your decision/opinion on experiences of two people (n=1 for each school) in one limited area (number of babies delivered during OB clerkship); to make it even better, they probably attended med school about 20 years ago -- there probably haven't been too many changes since then. Good methodology...

 

[ssquared]

I think honestly part of it is their association with their undergrad colleges. UVA is known for their undergrad school, whereas VCU is much lower ranked. I'm a Virginia resident, and while I was being brought up I was continually told of UVA's superiority. Nowadays I'm not such a big fan of UVA, but I really do like MCV a whole lot. So I guess it just depends on who you ask. I think most people who are unfamiliar with med schools would most be likely to rag on MCV because they're uninformed.

 

[ShyRem]

Hmm. I applied last year and it certainly didn't seem to me like MCV was "hated on". Try looking at how active the 2006 VCU/MCV Central thread was!

 

[doctorsareneat]

I'm a VCU undergrad student right now, and I love it here. I love Richmond, I love the undergrad campus, I love the doctors at MCV, I love the opportunities and the cooperative, open, fun, atmosphere. I love it.

I haven't talked to a med student at MCV that didn't love it down there. A lot of them went there because of money, and ended up so happy that they did. It's great.

 

[Instatewaiter]

I think honestly part of it is their association with their undergrad colleges. UVA is known for their undergrad school, whereas VCU is much lower ranked. I'm a Virginia resident, and while I was being brought up I was continually told of UVA's superiority. Nowadays I'm not such a big fan of UVA, but I really do like MCV a whole lot. So I guess it just depends on who you ask. I think most people who are unfamiliar with med schools would most be likely to rag on MCV because they're uninformed.

Other than on SDN or from pre-meds, I have never heard anyone talk badly about MCV especially not doctors. On SDN most pre-meds assess a school using stats and what USnews has to say, both rather flawwed ways.

I have to agree w/ ssquared. Most in Va consider VCU undergrad to rank somewhere around 7th in the STATE (for all things other than art). Because of this poor reputation of VCU, being associated with VCU has definately hurt MCV's reputation nationally. When people look at a school they figure, good Ugrad good med school, not-so-good Ugrad, not-so-good med school. Even though MCV was around long before the thought of VCU ever came to the Va assembly it is now lumped in with the Ugrad. So while they are ostensibly joined in name, functionally MCV and VCU are 2 autonomous units. To its credit, VCU (ugrad) is really comming up in the world. Expect it to rise in national standing in the next decade or so.

now for things that don't impact daily operation at MCV (like national reputation) VCU has been a liability. For things that do affect daily operations (money poured into building new hospitals/getting new equipment) VCU has been a major asset.

 

[jillibean]

I loved MCV when I was there for my interview and I am really considering going there. For me, my only hesitations are the cost of OOS tuition and I would prefer to be on the west coast. However, I didn't think was second rate in any way.

 

[boo-yeh]

I think honestly part of it is their association with their undergrad colleges. UVA is known for their undergrad school, whereas VCU is much lower ranked. I'm a Virginia resident, and while I was being brought up I was continually told of UVA's superiority. Nowadays I'm not such a big fan of UVA, but I really do like MCV a whole lot. So I guess it just depends on who you ask. I think most people who are unfamiliar with med schools would most be likely to rag on MCV because they're uninformed.

There definitely is a bit of truth to this. UVa is one of those big undergrad colleges that is nationally recognized and has a lot of prestige, yada yada, so it must have an equally good med school. Not always the case.

The thing that surprised me the most about undergraduate attitudes when I came to college was the disdain many of the students had toward MCV. UVa med was awesome, MCV is a fallback. This definitely should not be the case, as most people that are familiar with the med school acknowledge that the US News rankings give it the shaft, and it's a pretty damn good med school.

Being a Virginia resident, I know that in-state this kind of hating on MCV doesn't occur much. For instance, when people talk about doctors in my area and where they went, there has never seemed to be any lack of respect for doctors that went to MCV compared to those that went to UVa. Most people in VA know that MCV pumps out a lot of quality doctors, as does UVa. The only time any hating goes on in-state is with undergrad institutions (where most people think UVa > W&M > Tech, etc.).

 

[FFwannabeMD]

I work for a very respectable PI (MD/PhD) who taught at both UVA and MCV. He once told me that MCV students had much more rigorous, hands-on training and that UVA med students had it "much easier". So forgot reputation, med school is med school. I feel close to both schools, but I definitely consider MCV to be more hands-on, whereas UVA may be more noteworthy for academia. It just depends what part of the med school experience is important to you.


I'd be more than happy to go to either 🙂

 

[Jwax]

I don't like VCU b/c they rejected me pre-secondary last year. 🙄

I'm sure I deserved it though...