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Katie Allan (Class of 2024)

• We ranked Price as our #1 choice. We had never visited the area prior to lottery day and we have no family in Utah, meaning our only experience of Utah was St. George/ Ivins during our first two years of medical school. I don’t know anyone from RVU who has been “sent” to Price that hasn’t loved it within a month of being here. I’ve had many friends cry for weeks prior to moving here. 4-5 weeks in they are loving life, laughing and full of joy. I could see it being our forever home.

• All the RVU medical students in the area were invited to the ER doctor (clinical site director’s) house for a backyard BBQ. Dr. Engar and his family provided the main meal and we brought something to share. All the kids, both student and attending doctor’s, played all over their house. The medical students got the chance to talk to other attending doctors in the area, and we medical school wives felt like we were one with the attending doctor wives that were there.

• There is little to no commute. The longest commute was 20 minutes, and that was for ONE month. Usually it is a 5-10 minute commute. They are NEVER sent out of region. 

• There is stability between specialities. Every student doctor rotates with the same attending doctors for each specialty (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, etc) so you have an idea of the hours/ schedule to expect based on other’s experiences.

• Surgery: You get to experience both general and orthopedic surgery. Their schedules are both great - a little variable depending on the specific weekly surgery schedule, but nothing like I’ve heard other region hours being - it is rare to ever be called in during the evenings or weekends.

• Side note: Physicians here take vacations often. You’re almost guaranteed to have at least one week off during the school year because your preceptor is on vacation. If you want to work with another physician during that time, they’re more than happy to facilitate that. Say you’re interested in anesthesiology, pathology, ENT, etc. They also recognize the importance of family time and study time and are happy to give you that week off.

• We have all the major grocery stores (Walmart, Smith’s, Lin’s), hardware stores, and the cutest boutiques on Main Street. An easy day trip away for other stores- Spanish Fork is 60 minutes away, Provo is 1.5 hours away, and Salt Lake City is 2 hours away. 

• There are so many activities for kids of all ages to get involved in - sports, music class (you have to sign up for “Let’s Play Music” if you have a kid between the ages of 1-7 years old), dance, preschool, etc.

• I have had WAY MORE time with my husband during 3rd year than we had with him for the first two years of medical school COMBINED. We love it here, I wish we didn’t have to move for residency, and I hope we’ll be back some day! If anyone has any questions about the area, please reach out to me!

Hope Steele (Class of 2024)

• Though we ranked Price 5th, we were assigned here. To be fully transparent, I cried, a lot, for no other reason than it wasn't what we thought we wanted. Knowing what I know now if I could do it over again, I would rank Price as number one. Here has been my personal experience:

• Clinical Rotations - preceptors have been incredible. We've been invited over for dinners and parties and have felt like one of them rather than merely a student.

• Schedules - as a family with kids, we have had more family time living in Price the past few months than we did during the first and second years of medical school combined. His furthest commute was half an hour away, for one rotation. Everything is close.

• City Life - Price is a small town with limited options compared to bigger cities. The town puts on plenty of social events to keep busy. There is a wave pool (open year-round), sports teams (for kids and adults), and lots of great hole-in-the-wall food joints.

• The people - you won't find down-to-earth, kind hearted, and sincerely giving people anywhere else. We've made some lifelong friends here.

• Shopping - shopping is limited - so you'll save money here or you'll spend more online; your call. There is a Walmart, a handful of restaurants, and basic needs shops (hardware stores, mechanic shops, etc.) Costco is a little over an hour away but is near tons of shopping centers if you need it.

• Overall cost of living - relatively low compared to other cities. However, due to the current housing market, rent is an average price, in my opinion.

Emily Poulson (Class of 2022)

• We loveeeee it here. It’s a small town, but everything you could ever need is an hour away. We live in a little town called Spring Glen which is about 10 minutes outside of Price and it’s super cute.

• I will say however finding housing here is hard. There’s not many options for renting. We actually bought our house (which def has it’s own pros and cons list) but it’s worked out well.

• It’s SO good for the students. The doctors here are so excited about having them and are genuinely excited about teaching them. Lots of hands-on experience. They’re so nice to families too. Our basement flooded right before my husband left for an audition rotation and the doctor Austin was working with before he left, made sure that I had his number and not to hesitate to call if I needed anything.

• I cried for days before and after we moved, but it’s such a good place and it’s SO good for students. I will be very sad when we have to leave and we’re hoping to someday come back!

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Helen Udy (Class of 2025)

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​Price is a small town in southeastern utah, a little over an hour away from Spanish fork! To be quite honest, if you have kids there isn’t much to do around town. There’s a few fun parks, a wave pool located in Price (which is open year round!) and another community pool 10 minutes away in a town called helper. Even though there isn’t a ton to do around town, we have enjoyed living here. The people are incredibly kind and welcoming and so far the weather has been very enjoyable. My husband has loved the experience he has had in Price with rotations. He is able to work one on one with his preceptors and feels like he has learned a lot! The preceptors here let the students do a lot of hands on work and we have only had positive experiences with them! The only rotation he will have to travel for is the last half of family med, and that is only 30 minutes away at a clinic in a mining town called East Carbon. The rest of the rotations are in Price which has been awesome!

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Rachel Wesemann (Class of 2025)

My thoughts on Price: As a forewarning, I was born closer to Chicago, so I am a city girl through and through, which makes me biased against rural areas. I will also be blatantly honest about my review of Price because I think that will be most helpful for those finalizing their lists for the lottery. Price is not what I expected. It is a lot more rural than I thought it would be. It does have a Walmart, a Lin’s, and a Smith’s, but does not have much when it comes to clothing stores (besides Walmart, it just has a Maurice’s and some small boutique shops). It has two local movie theaters that only show movies in the evenings, and it has more fast food choices than sit-down restaurants. I guess what I’m getting at here is that Price is very rural. And if you like rural and are okay running into people you know often at the grocery store, you will like Price. :) For my husband and me, one of the pros of living in Price has been saving money on rent (i.e. we only pay $800 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment). The only downside to that is the houses/apartments are typically older and consequently less modern, and it can also be hard to find housing. But, with patience and persistence, you can find something! Another pro of living here is that there hasn’t been any traffic on the roads and everything is super close by so you can save money on gas/mileage. I work full-time and my husband and I only share one car, and we have been able to make it work driving to both my job and his rotation the same morning and even later meet up for lunch. Finally, and probably most importantly, Price has been really good for my husband because of the doctors he has worked with so far (i.e. for his family medicine and internal medicine rotations). They have given him one-on-one time and have pushed him to have a lot of his own interaction with patients. My husband’s schedule has been relatively flexible, too, so he has had a lot of downtime to study and relax after he comes home from his rotations. In the end, I feel like Price was a great selection for my husband and I even though there’s a lot I don’t like about rural areas. The people here have been very kind, there are always local events happening on weekends (such as rodeos, fairs, or demolition derbies), and most importantly, I know my husband is getting the medical experience he needs in the field to decide if certain specialties are right for him.

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