Geisinger (Full COA + 3 Year) vs VCU

[MiaS2000]

Hey everyone! I definitely am interested in internal medicine and it is the route I would take but I am torn if I should take this route or take the flexibility of VCU (to match into IM in preferably Florida where my support system is). I do not come from any money and I don’t have any one that is close to me in healthcare so I do not know how significant this opportunity with Geisinger is. I would really appreciate some insight/advice!

Geisinger (GCSOM)

Pros
- guaranteed residency spot in internal medicine at Geisinger
- 3 years
- full tuition plus stipend (it’s a loan repayment if I work for Geisinger for 3 years after residency)

Cons
- Weather (it’s always gloomy and cold)
- location is very lackluster and there was nothing to do
- If I choose another speciality, I loose the entire scholarship
- The residency program that I will have the spot for seems very uncompetitive and only has 1 md (from GCSOM) and everyone else is an IMG.


Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUSOM)

Pros
- Better ranked (match list was pretty impressive)
- More flexibility for future specialities
- Better weather (I really love being outside!)
- More research opportunities
- More things to do around the city

Cons
- no scholarships, will need to pay full cost to attend (~100k/year)
- 4 years instead of 3
- Also P/F as GCSOM but with internal rankings

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[BenzeneToluene]

Congrats on the As! I’ve also been accepted to a 3 year program with a similar guaranteed residency spot at a different university. However, my program seems to be a little different from the one you’ve been accepted to.

From what I’m reading, I would not recommend doing the 3 year program at GCSOM. You stated that your ultimate goal is to match back into Florida for IM, and you would be committing yourself to at least six years at GCSOM(3 years med school+ three years IM) far away from Florida. Then on top of that it sounds like to get the free tuition and stipend you have to work an additional 3 years at GCSOM AFTER residency. So you’re looking at what seems to be 9 years commitment to a place where you presumably don’t want to be long-term. On top of that, you don’t seem to be a huge fan of the residency program you have guaranteed placement into. That’s a huge deal because these programs are designed for you to essentially commit to the specific residency program you’ve been accepted into.

I personally wouldn’t do the three year MD program at GCSOM for those reasons. VCUSOM is super expensive but I would definitely take it if you don’t have any cheaper options outside of GCSOM. It’s a better institution and seems a bit more aligned with your goals. Good luck on your decision and congrats again on the success!

 

[Jose Alka]

Hey congrats! I am actually in the GCSOM 3 year program as well and I would actually say that is the better choice compared to VCU. The IM program that you said for Geisinger is an academic program (I believe both Wilkes Barre and Danville) so they are already supposed to be fairly good and will grant you research opportunities as they are part of the Geisinger network. I know you mentioned there are IMGs in the program but that is not a cause for worry at all. You still receive the same level of education training to be an IM physician weather you go to harvard or Geisinger so that should not be a worry.

However, the benefits of GCSOM are insane. You are going to be able to save around 600k+ or so over the course of the loan (because of interest). All you have to do is just whatever the program requirements are (you never have to worry about having to join a ton of clubs to "impress" residencies because you will have a close relationship with them through this program). NEPA is actually really beautiful too! I know its very cold but Richmond is not that different.

You really get a lot of benefits through GCSOM that I think make it the clear winner over VCU. I personally have turned down an acceptance to a T50 because a full COA scholarship is incredibly rare and something you should highly consider. But best of luck to you!