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Thousands Apply for 42 spots at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

vtc.vt.edu

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine has graduated just three classes yet has become so respected that a record number of hopefuls--4,600-- applied for just 42 student openings to start this year.

 

 Dr. Aubrey Knight is associate dean for student affairs,

"We are one of the smallest schools in the country. We're small by design based on our curriculum and what we call our distinctives. There continues to be a greater interest in applicants applying to our school."

Knight says the schools small size is probably the biggest attraction but that size compliments VTC's other benefits,

"We have a deliberate and robust research curriculum. Students are required to have a research project. The second thing is that our curriculum is a patient centered, problem based curriculum. Even as the students are learning the basic science of medicine they are doing that in the context of a patient and a patient problem."

Knight says research is so important that "we do expect that a student applying to VTC will have some kind of a research background that allows them to have that fundamental knowledge such that they can succeed in that part of the curriculum."

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is located in Roanoke among the many buildings making up Carilion Clinic. The school taps Carilion resources to integrate students into medicine.

"Carilion is our near exclusive clinical site for training so the entire third year of the student's curriculum is spent at Roanoke Memorial. In addition to that, the clinicians at Carilion Clinic are very intimately involved in the teaching of some of the basic science courses as well as the clinical skills training that occurs with our students for the first two years."

Hannah Palmerton is one of the 42 selected for the class of 2020. She's from Roanoke and her father is a physician. She says VTC, while not her dad's alma mater, was her choice.

"My plan is to go into practice here. What they say, is they are making scientists physicians. The emphasis is on the physician, the clinical, practical part, but we also have the background and time to do research. We see the importance of that so we can contribute to the field while we are practicing."

Malek Bouzaher is also one of the 42 for 2020 and he embraces the small size of VTC,

"One of the cool things about have a class of 42 is that you really get to know your classmates. By the second day we already knew everybody's name, where they were from, where they did their undergrad at. You really develop this collegial and collaborative atmosphere that a lot of schools like to talk about but is really in practice here and I can see that in the first week."

Malek says the school's small size means students have greater access to the instructors,

"Before coming to medical school I heard about how great it is to have faculty invested in you, involved with you. The other day we had our first meeting with what is called the physician thought leader community. We sat down, six of us with an actual doctor who is practicing, the first thing she did was say, 'here's my phone number, call me whenever you want, let's schedule coffee.' I mean, this stuff doesn't happen at every school. I think we are at a special place here and I think it is going to be a fantastic experience over four years."

When I talked to these future doctors I asked what they see in their future. Their answers exemplify why they're part of the 0.9 percent accepted

Hannah Palmerton: "I actually lean more towards the country because having grown up in Roanoke. The surrounding areas are fairly rural so I am familiar with that and I do see the need. The physician deficit that we have is a really big problem, the lack of clinics for a lot of people. So that's a big thing for me. I lean towards that instead of the city."

Malek Bouzaher: "There are problems in healthcare everywhere. The big motivation for me was international relief and volunteering. Although, I am not really sure I want to be in a city or in a rural area, I know that I want to volunteer my time in some capacity; whether it is trying to clear health disparities in our communities or even the odds a little bit in third world countries that don't have a functioning healthcare system. The beauty in having people from diverse backgrounds and from all over the place is that you have someone like Hannah who is coming here from Roanoke and she wants to come back and give back. Then you have someone from New York and realizes there are problems in the healthcare system there and they want to go back there."

Of the students accepted for the 2020 class, seven come from UVA, four from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, three graduated from Virginia Tech, and two students graduated from the College of William and Mary. In all, the 42 students represent 27 schools.

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine