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  • West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
  • Allopathic Medical School
  • Morgantown, WV
Individual Feedback 4 9 Responses
General Info

What graduating class are you in?

Response # Responders
2007 0
2008 0
2009 0
2010 1
2011 4
2012 1
2013 2
2014 1
2015 0
2016 0
2017 0
2018 0
2019 0
2020 0
2021 0
2022 0
2023 0
2024 0

Are you pursuing any joint degrees (MD/PhD, MD/MPH, etc.)?

Response # Responders
No 9
BA/DO 0
BS/DO 0
DO/JD 0
DO/MA 0
DO/MBA 0
DO/MPH 0
DO/MS 0
DO/PhD 0
MD/JD 0
MD/MBA 0
MD/MPH 0
MD/MS 0
MD/PhD 0

Are you considered in-state or out-of-state for tuition purposes?

Response # Responders
in-state 6
out-of-state 3
international 0
Not applicable 0

What is your race/ethnic background?

Response # Responders
Caucasian 4
African American 0
Hispanic 0
Asian or Pacific Islander 2
Native American/ Native Alaskan 0
Other/Multiracial 1

Overall, how would you rate this medical program?

Response Avg # Responders
6.22 9

0 = terrible, 10 = world class

What is the reputation of the school in the medical community?

Response Avg # Responders
6.11 9

0 = really bad, 10 = top tier

What is the reputation of the research that goes on at this school?

Response Avg # Responders
3.89 9

0 = really bad, 10 = top tier

What was your MCAT score?

Response Average # Responders
508 9

What was your undergrad GPA?

Response Average # Responders
3.78 9

What was your undergrad science GPA?

Response Average # Responders
3.81 9

What was the zip code of your residence in high school?

26037

NA

24740

26062

26505

25401

26554

25314

16066

What do you like most about this school?

"IM faculty in the Morgantown campus are top notch. Most programs other than general surgery are diamonds in the rough. Avoid general surgery here at all costs." | Report Response

"I got in" | Report Response

"Morgantown is a nice place, perfect size." | Report Response

"The faculty are awesome, and we must have the most supportive student services office in the country. Our Deans actually take call to be available for us 24/7." | Report Response

"Cost of living is low in this area. Pass rates on boards are above average. In-state tuition is reasonable. Basic science teaching is very good." | Report Response

"Community and classmates" | Report Response

"Non-competitive atmosphere and a lot of interaction between students and faculty" | Report Response

"It feels like family at WVU. Everyone takes good care of students and has a lot of concern for how students are doing (no matter what year you are)." | Report Response

"The professors and staff are caring and friendly. It is the type of school that wants you to succeed" | Report Response

What do you like least about this school?

"Too much time wasted with additional "activities" that administration feels is important to our education when it has no bearing whatsoever on it. CPX (clinical performance examination) is a PRIME example. General surgery has a highly malignant attitude. They make residents and students feel terrible about existing, let alone being in medicine." | Report Response

"Too many times, the Camtasia recordings mess up. Not nearly as reliable as they should be." | Report Response

"Week night football games that prevent access to the building because the stadium is right there." | Report Response

"The faculty and staff that are inclined to mistreat students do so with impunity. Teaching in the clinical years is not always a high priority. Class failure rate is often quite high. Students on the wards or in the clinic are often ignored and occasionally abused. Students have no recourse and receive no protection when they are mistreated. Communication between the administration and students (in both directions) is exceedingly poor. Mentoring is not promoted." | Report Response

"Longitudinal curriculum for 2nd year" | Report Response

"Nothing really" | Report Response

"They don't do a good job of orienting you to campus when you are new there. They offer some numbers to find housing, but they don't do more than that. Everyone did okay in the end though." | Report Response

"They split us up for clinical rotations so half your friends are several hundred miles away." | Report Response

Please provide any other general comments on your school

"Average school at best. Since it was the best option in the state, I am happy with my decision. The overall education was average, and the experience itself was slightly below average." | Report Response

"Geared toward production of barely-passable rural Docs." | Report Response

"This is an excellent program to become a great clinician. I learned so much about actually caring for people. I have been on some audition rotations and I was better prepared than any other students who were rotating." | Report Response

Curriculum

How is the curriculum structured?

Response # Responders
Systems-based 6
Traditional 2

How many courses are taken at a given time?

Response # Responders
1 0
2 0
3 2
4 2
5 2
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0

How long are you typically in class per day?

Response # Responders
<1 hour 0
1-2 hours 0
2-3 hours 0
3-4 hours 5
4-5 hours 2
5-6 hours 0
6> hours 0

Are courses recorded for medical students?

Response # Responders
Video recording 8
Free note taking service 1
Fee-based note taking service 0
Powerpoint slides provided only 4
None 0

How many days per week is anatomy lab?

Response # Responders
1 0
2 1
3 4
4 2
5 1
6 0
7 0

How many students per cadaver?

Response # Responders
Prosections only 0
1-2 0
3-4 5
5-6 3
7-8 0
>8 0

How long (in months) do you have anatomy?

Response # Responders
3 months 6
6 months 2
9 months 0
12 months 0
24 months 0

Is the curriculum lecture-centric or small-group centric?

Response Avg # Responders
3.56 9

0 = 100% lecture, 10 = 100% small group

Are standardized patients used?

Response # Responders
yes 8
no 0

How much patient interaction is there in the pre-clinical years?

Response Avg # Responders
4.22 9

0 = none, 10 = extensive

Are syllabi provided for the student?

Response # Responders
yes 6
no 1

How frequently do pre-clinical medical school activities have mandatory attendance?

"At least once to twice per week." | Report Response

"Not many times" | Report Response

"hardly ever !" | Report Response

"The Physical Diagnosis course has mandatory attendance at lectures and small group meetings. PBL & other small groups are also mandatory. Otherwise, you can choose to go to class or not. All lectures are recorded and posted on the school's website, so you can choose daily whether you want to attend." | Report Response

What books are necessary?

"None." | Report Response

"Not many" | Report Response

"many books are recommended but I did not purchase many of them" | Report Response

"Ask other students for recommendation of review books." | Report Response

"No" | Report Response

"Most students use books recommended by the majority of medical students in the country. "Required" textbooks generally aren't needed. PowerPoints are provided, so if tests are based on lectures, they come from the PowerPoints." | Report Response

"Few required. I bought almost no books except for Step 1 studying, along with Netter's and a few other standard med school books." | Report Response

What books are unnecessary?

"Most if not all." | Report Response

"Most" | Report Response

"most of them" | Report Response

"First year biochemistry text. Epidemiology books. Unless you read super fast, most of the official textbooks are too long." | Report Response

"Biochemisty, Neuroscience, Anatomy text" | Report Response

"Most of the "required" textbooks aren't needed." | Report Response

"The "required" books really aren't, and you can share." | Report Response

Location & Housing

How do you feel about the location of the school?

Response Avg # Responders
6.38 8

0 = Uncomfortable, 10 = Desirable

Do you feel safe on campus?

Response Avg # Responders
8.88 8

0 = Not safe, 10 = Very safe

How available and convenient is public transportation?

Response Avg # Responders
3.25 8

0 = Non-existent, 10 = Extensive & convenient

Is a car necessary at any point during your education here?

Response # Responders
Pre-clinical years 0
Clinical years 4
All years 4
No 0

If a car is required for education, how available and convenient is the parking provided to students?

Response Avg # Responders
7.13 8

0 = Almost impossible, 10 = Available & convenient

Is on-campus housing available?

Response # Responders
yes 4
no 2

What is the quality of available on-campus housing?

Response Avg # Responders
5.00 8

0 = terrible, 10 = great

What percentage of your medical school classmates would you estimate live on campus, if on-campus housing is available?

Response Avg # Responders
3.38 8

0 = 0%, 10 = 100%

Is couples housing available?

Response # Responders
yes 5
no 1

Is nearby off-campus housing available?

Response # Responders
yes 6
no 0

How expensive is nearby off-campus housing?

Response Avg # Responders
6.25 8

0 = exorbitant, 10 = reasonable

Please describe the on-campus housing if available (i.e., cost, type - studios, 1-br, 2-br, etc.)?

"Different units are available in the Medical Center apartments, but these are not recommended." | Report Response

"1, 2, and 3 bedrooms. Preference given to married couples." | Report Response

"During the clinical years, housing is available in Charleston. Housing is available in Morgantown, but it is older, and I don't know anyone that lived there. Housing is usually available at rural sites." | Report Response

"On the Charleston campus, housing is readily available. I pay 605/month for a beautiful one bedroom, including water and trash." | Report Response

Cost/Financial Aid

Are fees/tuition expensive?

Response Avg # Responders
6.11 9

0 = exorbitant, 10 = reasonable

How is the cost of living (rent, food, bills, etc.)?

Response Avg # Responders
6.89 9

0 = exorbitant, 10 = reasonable

Are many institutional scholarships/grants available?

Response Avg # Responders
5.56 9

0 = none, 10 = many

Is institutional aid need-based or merit-based?

Response # Responders
Need-based 1
Merit-based 0
Both 5

Faculty/Grades

Are faculty members very open to students during office hours?

Response Avg # Responders
7.89 9

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very open

Are faculty members very available to students via email/message board?

Response Avg # Responders
7.89 9

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very available

Are there many opportunities to shadow/work with clinical faculty?

Response Avg # Responders
7.33 9

0 = none, 10 = lots

Are the faculty willing to mentor students in regards to career guidance?

Response Avg # Responders
7.11 9

0 = no, 10 = very

Is the class ranked?

Response # Responders
yes 7
no 1

How is the instructional faculty during pre-clinical years?

"Pitiful" | Report Response

"Overall good with a few exceptions" | Report Response

"They are really all quite excellent." | Report Response

"Very good." | Report Response

"Very good. Friendly, lots of interaction." | Report Response

"Most of the faculty is very good. There are only a handful of teachers that you can tell don't really want to be there, or they don't have a good way of conveying their point to students. Otherwise, the teachers are spectacular." | Report Response

"Most are very good, especially course coordinators. A few of the guest speakers are terrible." | Report Response

How is the instructional faculty during clinical years?

"Either bad (majority) or surely soon to leave WVU." | Report Response

"NA" | Report Response

"The clinical faculty are outstanding and really want to teach and help you learn." | Report Response

"Often very good. Sometimes not so nice to students." | Report Response

"Many of the faculty go out of their way to help students understand concepts starting at a basic level. Faculty with busy work schedules and practices spend less time as expected. But if faculty are directly associated with WVU, they generally take time out of their day for students." | Report Response

"Wonderful. Generally, they really care about teaching students and frequently volunteer lectures." | Report Response

Clinical Rotations

Are the desired rotation sites easy to obtain?

Response Avg # Responders
6.67 9

0 = difficult, 10 = easy

Is desired rotation order easy to obtain?

Response Avg # Responders
5.22 9

0 = difficult, 10 = easy

Are the elective rotations easy to obtain?

Response Avg # Responders
6.33 9

0 = difficult, 10 = easy

Is there substantial hands-on experience for medical students?

Response Avg # Responders
7.00 9

0 = none, 10 = substantial

Are the rotation sites conveniently accessible for medical students?

Response Avg # Responders
6.44 9

0 = difficult, 10 = accessible

How far are the clinical sites from the main campus?

Response Avg # Responders
5.67 9

0 = far away, 10 = close

How are clinical rotations scheduled? What are the required rotations?

"NA" | Report Response

"you choose the order you want to complete the six required rotations which are Surgery, Medicine, Peds, OB, Fam Med, and Psych/Neuro each of which is 8 weeks" | Report Response

"Students list preferences but this may have little impact on the resultant schedule. Year three required rotations are Medicine, Surgery, Peds, OB/Gyn, Psych/Neuro, Family Med." | Report Response

"OBGYN, family med, peds, surgery, neuro/psych, internal med" | Report Response

"You schedule rotations online near the end of second year. The scheduling system opens up at a certain time and you enter your choices (first come, first serve) in open spots. Required rotations in the third year are OB/GYN, Peds, Medicine, Surgery, Psych/Neuro (6 weeks psych, 2 weeks neuro), and Family. You are required to do a month of rural medicine during the Family rotation. (All rotations are 8 weeks total). In the fourth year, a Sub-I, Acute Care, and Rural month are required. Ample time is given for interviews and studying for Step 2." | Report Response

"Third year rotations are all core rotations but you can pick when you want each one. Peds, OB/GYN, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Psych/Neuro, Family Medicine. There are opportunities to choose specialty rotations within each one. I did a week of neurosurgery and a week of cardiothoracic surgery." | Report Response

What responsibility do med students have on the wards?

"NA" | Report Response

"We have a lot of responsibility. We get to do a lot of procedures under the supervision of the faculty. I am very confident in my procedural skills." | Report Response

"Sometimes students will get to see patients and report to the attending or the resident. Sometimes students are supposed to have responsibilities but don't (e.g. know one will notice if you saw your patients or not). Sometimes students are ignored altogether." | Report Response

"Pre-rounding, presenting patients, writing notes, orders, scripts" | Report Response

"This depends on the clinincal campus the student is assigned to. You rank Morgantown, Charleston, and Eastern during your interview. The assignment is made in your acceptance letter. You are free to swap as long as it is a person-for-person swap. Eastern campus is very small and geared towards those who want to do rural medicine. Charleston has less residents and no fellows, so students have lots of hands on experience. Med students are expected to keep up with knowing patients on the service they are assigned to and learning how to manage their stay in the hospital/clinic." | Report Response

"See your patients every day. If you come up with a plan for your pt, the attending will often agree. In surgery, you sometimes get first or second assist." | Report Response

What is the status/condition of the affiliated hospital(s)?

"Good condition. Certainly not doing anything innovative though." | Report Response

"NA" | Report Response

"They are quite new and well maintained." | Report Response

"Physically the hospitals are fine, although there are not enough elevators and almost all the stairs are closed to non-emergency use." | Report Response

"good" | Report Response

"Charleston and Morgantown have Level I trauma centers. The hospital in Morgantown is WVU Hospital. Students on the Charleston campus rotate through Charleston Area Medical Center's 3 hospitals. The hospital on the Eastern campus is a smaller facility." | Report Response

What is the typical patient population medical students work with?

"Toothless Rednecks. Drug abusers. Average WV Pt = Obese, Smoker, Type2 DM. Many on disability ." | Report Response

"Poor,white,diabetic, and very appreciative." | Report Response

"There are many underserved populations. There are especially high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Also many patients have low health literacy and have never received medical or dental care other than emergency services." | Report Response

"All types" | Report Response

"There is a fair mix of private and non-private patients, with the mix swinging towards the non-private side." | Report Response

"Underserved" | Report Response

Social Environment

Do students do a lot of activities outside of school together?

Response Avg # Responders
6.50 8

0 = none, 10 = lots

How would you rank student involvement in extracurricular clubs?

Response Avg # Responders
7.13 8

0 = none, 10 = lots

What is the range of extracurricular clubs available?

Response Avg # Responders
7.63 8

0 = almost none, 10 = wide range

Is the student body cooperative or competitive?

Response Avg # Responders
7.75 8

0 = competitive, 10 = cooperative

Is the environment supportive for underrepresented minorities?

Response Avg # Responders
6.38 8

0 = no, 10 = very

Is the environment supportive for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual students?

Response Avg # Responders
5.25 8

0 = no, 10 = very

Is the environment supportive for married students?

Response Avg # Responders
8.25 8

0 = no, 10 = very

Is the environment supportive for students with disabilities?

Response Avg # Responders
7.00 8

0 = no, 10 = very

Is the environment supportive for older/non-traditional students?

Response Avg # Responders
7.38 8

0 = no, 10 = very

What do the students typically like to do in the area?

"Bars, movies, just going out.. sports" | Report Response

"Go to sport events, hiking, skiing, bowling, etc." | Report Response

"Going to bars, drinking before football games, going to football games, drinking after football games, drinking and bowling, etc. There is very good rock climbing and whitewater nearby, and some skiing, but hardly any students do these." | Report Response

"watch movies, go out to eat, picnics, hikes, camping" | Report Response

"Hike, rock climb, ski, go out to bars" | Report Response

"Go out to area clubs/bars, go out for outdoor activities like hiking." | Report Response

"There are a lot of bars, as well outdoor activities. The student government arranges a block party after each exam." | Report Response

Post Graduation

How do graduates from this school fare in residency and clinical practice?

"Some actually match to prestegious programs. Many are content living here forever. others get stuck here because they can't match elsewhere" | Report Response

"NA" | Report Response

"GREAT !" | Report Response

"excellent" | Report Response

"Very good, from what I hear." | Report Response

"Graduates fare very well from what I have heard. Many people go on to secure fellowships and go to residencies at top institutions if they want." | Report Response

"Very well. The match rate is excellent." | Report Response

What do you believe residency directors think about graduates from this program?

"They think they are terrific. I had many program directors tell me that they loved our grads when I was on the interview trail, and just having graduated from here made me more competitive for a spot in their programs." | Report Response

"Great candidates" | Report Response

"Incoming residents from WVU are considered to have a very strong base training." | Report Response

"Well prepared to practice any type of medicine in any type of setting he or she desires." | Report Response

"Students at the Charleston campus have more hands-on experience than some interns at other hospitals. I got to drill a burr hole and put in a chest tube with supervision." | Report Response

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