Wvsom

[keithslc]

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I would like some feedback from students that are attending or have information about this school. I have been invited for an interview (I guess they only send secondaries to those they interview).. How good are they at securing residency placement for residencies besides primary care. What is the cost of living like in the Lewisburg area?..Family Friendly?.....My wife will be teaching c=school so any info on elementary teaching is helpful and possiblities of residency tuition being offered after attending the first year is a huge help.
thanks
Keithslc
Utah resident

 

[medic170]

I would like some feedback from students that are attending or have information about this school. I have been invited for an interview (I guess they only send secondaries to those they interview).. How good are they at securing residency placement for residencies besides primary care. What is the cost of living like in the Lewisburg area?..Family Friendly?.....My wife will be teaching c=school so any info on elementary teaching is helpful and possiblities of residency tuition being offered after attending the first year is a huge help.
thanks
Keithslc
Utah resident

Cost of living is high in Lewisburg, but you can live nearby for cheaper.

VERY family friendly

You can NOT get residency tuition after the first year, you are stuck paying $40,000 for all 4 years.

 

[keithslc]

Are you a student who is attending the school or?.. I called the school and they said that if your spouse worked while you are in med school and you are buying a house you could be offered resident tuition after MS1. The key word is COULD be.I would not have thought living in that area was expensive at all?....Any feedback about the schools reputation and ability for graduates to secure residencies?

 

[medic170]

Are you a student who is attending the school or?.. I called the school and they said that if your spouse worked while you are in med school and you are buying a house you could be offered resident tuition after MS1. The key word is COULD be.I would not have thought living in that area was expensive at all?....Any feedback about the schools reputation and ability for graduates to secure residencies?

No, I interviewed there last month. I don't know about residency placement, but I can tell you I was VERY impressed with the school, and it does have a good reputation.

 

[InductionAgent]

I wouldn't count on being able to get in-state tuition; remember, they'll say anything to get you to go there. I would definitely try to get ahold of written policy concerning the matter.

As I've said before, WVSOM relies heavily on us out-of-state cash cows to pay their bills, and accepts a lot of us.

The cost-of-living in itself is actually quite low in Lewisburg compared to the country as a whole. However, that's somewhat neutralized by the $40,000+ a year you'll be paying.

I think the quality of education is better during the Basic Sciences years than during the Clinical Education years. To make matters worse, the school is trying to rapidly expand (80 in class of 2006, 100 in class of 2007, 108 in class of 2008, with eventual goal of 200/class), and it can't even take care of 80/class right now.

But don't let that stop you. There have been some graduates that have matched to good non-FP residencies. There's a 2004 grad who matched to Yale's IM program, and another who matched to Florida for Anesthesia to name just two.

 

[Xanderain]

I interviewed there nearly a year ago to the day. It is a nice school in an extremely small town (a charming one though). Personally, having a Super-Walmart as my only entertainment would drive me nuts. Tuition there is insanely high. It is a great, if not the best school for rural primary care, but if you are going to do something else, I would say look elsewhere. I am now going to LECOM Bradenton, and it is amazing (today is the first day of orientation). Everything down here is state of the art, and the area is nice (though houses are expensive in some areas). Lots of schools too. And the tuition is more than 10,000 less a year.

Joey

 

[Doc Hef]

I talked to a student when I interviewed there a year ago and he said that he rented an entire farm house for less than 700/mo. He had a huge yard and left his front and back door open when he rode his bike to wvsom.
The town is nice and cozy, but is virtually empty. I would definitely only go there if you are in-state. Too expensive for out of stater's. I'm a wv resident, so I applied. Got waitlisted, but was accepted at LECOM and went there. I'm paying just slightly more than the in-staters here. Not like the huge difference at wvsom. Don't get me wrong, I loved the school - would be expensive though. Also, I wanted to do the PBL program - and it was their first year doing it last year. I didn't want to be a guinea pig. LECOM has PBL, ISP, and LDP - all tried and true. Sorry for putting a plug in for lecom, but I would say that about any program that was just beginning at a school, not just wvsom - be careful. you might want to go to a school where the kinks are worked out if you plan on doing a special pathway.

 

[keithslc]

DOC Hef,
Would you mind expanding upon the three types of education styles you just mentioned. I want to make sure I understand all three.

 

[Doc Hef]

DOC Hef,
Would you mind expanding upon the three types of education styles you just mentioned. I want to make sure I understand all three.

No problem:
LDP - Lecture Discussion Pathway - traditional classroom style learning. 8am - 3 pm in class (or what have you)
PBL - Problem Based Learning - You meet in small groups (say 6-10 students) two or three times a week for a couple hours each session. During the session, one student plays "patient" (only this student has access to the history of present illness) and another student plays "doctor". The "doc" asks the patient questions (takes a history) and the other students can speak up when they have any other questions that the "doctor" can't think of. Then, as a group you pick labs, tests, any other treatment that you might want for the patient. You assess the labs and tests and diagnose and decide on a plan of care. Once you are done with the "case", you pick learning issues (chapters) that you would study for that case. No class for this pathway --it might sound complicated, but it is GREAT. You learn how to think clinically so much sooner than most students. (This is the pathway that I chose)
ISP - Independent Study Pathway - You are given learning issues to study and you study the material on your own - no class or groups.

Some schools only have one pathway, some all, some a couple. My school has all 3, but the new branch that they have built in Florida will only do PBL.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Hi,

Richie here. I'm a 1st year PBLer at WVSOM. Here's a link to another post I made in response to the PBL track:

http://forums.drslounge.com/showthread.php?t=146881

With regards to the school. The facility is bar none, the friendliest I've seen in the nation. Taking into consideration that I've interviewed at many MD schools and a few DO schools, this is quite a compliment. It's a small town so you do get to know alot of people and yes, Wal-mart is the center of civilization in Lewisburg. However, there are things to do, especially if you enjoy the great outdoors. Tuition does suck (and I'm an out-of-stater), and marrying a West Virginian is the only way to get your in-state tuition. Even then they will fight you on it. However, keep in mind if you move to a school in the big city, your living expenses will counteract the cheaper tuition in the long run. Living in Lewisburg is dirt cheap compared to alot of other places.

I have a couple classmates who are from Utah and have fit in well at WVSOM. As for elementary school teaching, I am not quite sure but I do know the job market is a bit tight around here unless you are a computer science/IT professional. Graduates typically get their 1st and 2nd match each year. From what I have heard, you only have issues if you try to match to a high tiered program and performed poorly overall. If you are worried about getting a specific residency, the keyword is networking. Start early, get to know people, and go after it from the beginning.

Okey dokey, back to the library I go 🙂

Regards,
Richie

 

[InductionAgent]

Tuition does suck (and I'm an out-of-stater), and marrying a West Virginian is the only way to get your in-state tuition. Even then they will fight you on it.

You bring up a good point. As an out-of-stater, it is unlikely that you will be a relative of your new spouse, and thus they will tend not to recognize your marriage.