I thought I would post a review of SLU - i just went yesterday. Maybe it will come in handy to some MS3's or MS4's.
Overall I was impressed with Dr. Comunale - he is very pro resident and has put a huge emphasis on education. The lectures are year specific and you are required to do presentations at lectures. CA 3 are required to present at grand rounds. Everyone goes to the sim lab once a week and it seems nice to me - i haven't seen a lot of sim labs so I am not really qualified to comment on it i suppose. He has been there 3 years and the board pass rate has gone from 16% to 94% this year (last yr was 100%)
Residents seem very happy - buy houses and go out a lot. Not a lot of residents with families but St Louis seems like a pretty family friendly city.
Lots of critical care experience - they are applying this year to open up a critical care fellowship. Drexel comes here for their icu months
Associated with Cardinal Glennon children's hospital so lots of strong pediatrics exposure and apparently the cafeteria there has awsome waffles on tuesday mornings.
You see lots of trauma, liver transplants, kidney transplants. Some hearts that are complicated - the 85 yo smoker, renal failure cabg that takes 4 hours - but they have rotations out at a community hospital also where you see the healthier uncomplicated cabgx1.
you also do anesthesia for ECT's for the psych pts 1-2 q week - never seen that!
OB is at a community hospital i can't remember its name - it is almost all uncomplicated deliveries. You have the option of going to omaha for a month of maternal/fetal stuff.
regional is being revamped this year - the regional person sits down with faculty 3:00 the day before and goes over the ortho schedule and they determine what blocks are going to be done the next day - i guess they have had problems in the past with residents taking the initiative to get their numbers.
its strictly a 4 yr program now- no transitional year. there is a practice management month which is business stuff and no call - sounds cool.
They break in their ca-1 with one month of am lectures and pm ca 1 are with upper levels in the OR. by the end of July you are on your own and you start call in august. Call is one ca-1 and one ca-3, there are always 2 people on.
they have new anesthesia machines in the OR and anticipate having computerized/automatic charting in the near future.
i like that they call it "sloo"

They work 10 - 12 hour days with call q7-10 and there is no official moonlighting.


anyone else want to post their reviews - hope it helps

Wow - you've already had your first interview?! Congrats. I haven't applied to SLU but thanks for sharing your experience. I think this will be a helpful thread.

Thanks for the review. I'm curious what the actual interview process was like as well -- how many people did you interview with, were there group interviews, what kinds of questions were you asked, etc. If you have time to add any of this additional info, that would be great. Thanks!

Thanks for the review. I'm curious what the actual interview process was like as well -- how many people did you interview with, were there group interviews, what kinds of questions were you asked, etc. If you have time to add any of this additional info, that would be great. Thanks!
Good question!
there were 4 other interviewees - we went out to dinner the night before with the program director and a resident. We had a tour with one of the cheif's in the am, a little lunch with the residents and a breif talk from Dr. Statzer who is a long haired rock and roll attending that played with the sonny and cher band. Normally the education director does the talk but he was out of the office that day. After lunch we met individually with the PD dr. Comunale, and three other attendings. Q's that were asked to me - which is better intelligence or common sense, why SLU, why anesthesiology, tell me about a difficult time in your life - an easy q for me since i am a hurricane katrina evacuee with absolutely no clinical rotations scheduled for the rest of this year! Also asked if I was interested in research. there's not a lot of research there right now - but i think they are trying to ramp that up.
one of the other interviewees was asked something about a code situation - what would you do...It was very laid back and fun.

I also recently interviewed at SLU and agree 100% with Sugar72. The only two things I would add are;

1. I wish I could have met more of the residents. Although I realize it’s hard to pull residents out of cases, I think you then risk appearing that you are trying to "hide" them from the interviewees. I should mention that the two residents I did meet said that they were happy and resident morale was high.
2. Dr. Statzer may be the coolest anesthesia attending on the planet with his long hair, Harley, and electric guitars. He even had music on during the interview. :D

Overall I was impressed with the program. They are definitely heading in the right direction.

It was also pretty cool running into 'NoodleIncident' on the interview trail :thumbup:

I am glad you both had good interview experiences at SLU. I am a CA-1 there. I will express your wishes about meeting more of us to the attendings. Our ORs have been very busy recently (good for us as we are getting great cases), which means there are fewer "free" residents to stop by and talk. I appreciate the feedback. I think we are a "what you see is what you get" program. The residents and faculty really do get along and enjoy our jobs. And you are right, Statzer is the coolest attending ever!

Good luck and feel free to PM me with any other questions about the program.

Just a little money-saving tip for those of you heading out there. Instead of paying $45 for a cab to the hotel, you can pay about $1.50 for the Metrolink rail system to take you to the Grand stop. Then take the university's free shuttle to the Salus Center hotel. You can do the same for the trip back to the airport.

Hope all is well for you ear-ache, and good luck with your future interviews.

I also interviewed at SLU recently and thought that it was a laid back and resident friendly environment. The one thing that struck me the most was the talk by Dr. Connors, the director of education, who explained his philosophy and method for helping residents passing the boards after CA-3. It really is a great didactic program that they have put together, and he and the rest of the administration seem very serious about putting boards preparation at the top of their priority list. The call schedule seemed too good to be true.
My only reservation was that I wasn't able to meet as many of the residents as I would have liked. It would have been helpful to have been able to meet some more at the dinner.
Overall a good experience.

I am glad you both had good interview experiences at SLU. I am a CA-1 there. I will express your wishes about meeting more of us to the attendings. Our ORs have been very busy recently (good for us as we are getting great cases), which means there are fewer "free" residents to stop by and talk. I appreciate the feedback. I think we are a "what you see is what you get" program. The residents and faculty really do get along and enjoy our jobs. And you are right, Statzer is the coolest attending ever!

Good luck and feel free to PM me with any other questions about the program.

Thanks camkiss!

Just a little money-saving tip for those of you heading out there. Instead of paying $45 for a cab to the hotel, you can pay about $1.50 for the Metrolink rail system to take you to the Grand stop. Then take the university's free shuttle to the Salus Center hotel. You can do the same for the trip back to the airport.

Hope all is well for you ear-ache, and good luck with your future interviews.

There is also a shuttle for $15 called something like Transexpress - the hotel can give you the phone number for them.

Anyone else like to tell us about an interview?

bump.
Anyone been on an interview recently?

First two to comment on

Florida

The overriding theme here is: 1) excellent training, 2) hard work, hard work, hard work, 3) Gainesville = meh


1) I think this could be one of the top 5 programs in the country. Shands is a tertiary referral center and, as such, sees tons of stuff from the southeast corner of USA. All the subspec. are represented and the CA-1s are doing transplants, carotids, etc. early in CA-1 year, one-on-one with an attending. I have been told that after graduating from UF that your job prospects are limitless. Level I trauma for about a year now, I think.

2) Hard work = true 6AM - 6PM days...each resident/attending mentioned how frustrating it can be to have that elective case boarded at 4:30, just when you were thinking you might get out by 5. However, no call (except for on OB), as they employ a night float system. No CRNA support means that residents still get hit with the little stuff when it rolls in, but thats not necessarily bad.

3) Gainesville is not for everybody. Small college town of 150,000 that absolutely dies in the summer time. Very high percentage of physicians to non-physicians, and as such, real estate is pricing higher. If this program were in Tampa or Jacksonville, no doubt it would be very sought after.

Strong pros: Practically invented the anesthesia simulator, original chairman still on staff, his son is current chairman. PD (Dr. Mahla) might be the most hard-working, resident-friendly attending I have met. A huge asset.

Strong cons: No internal moonlighting (yet?), work hours (average 62 logged hours/week), Gainesville (might love it, might hate it).

Vanderbilt

Program's is fairly comparable with that at UF, but I think Nashville has many more resident-friendly places to live, hang out, eat, play, etc. All the attendings at Vandy are very friendly and helpful and some are true geniuses, IMHO. I spent a month here, so I saw a good variety of transplant (3 livers, 2 double lungs), cranis (several open), ortho, regional, etc. In contrast to UF, there is a huge CRNA contingent here, and this is probably my biggest negative about the program, as they are training SRNA's while residents are being trained as well...has to be difficult not to bump elbows every so often. But they do provide a hige service, so I think that it is much more of a benefit to have the 20 or so (?) full-time CRNA here.

Residents are pretty happy and dont seem too overworked. Didactics are strong and the hospital/campus are lovely. Vandy has lots of money and the attendings are all very supportive. Plenty of perks, from what I have heard (book $, others). The chairman currently is an interim chair, and he may or may not remain as permanent chair (likely to remain), but I think he is a big asset, personally. He was very supportive of the students.

Overall, two very good programs that I was very pleased with.

Oklahoma

I was a little surprised here. Apparently this program was near death ~5 years ago. They brought in a new director (ran parts of Baylor, Yale) and she has whipped the program into shape. 16 K cases a year, with strengths being peds and OB (relative to some other progs). Pain fellowship currently with apps for peds and ob anesthesia fellowships. Three main buildings, all connected, with all procedures available (transplants, peds, etc.) One of only two hospitals owned by HCA (Tulane is the other) and Dr. Fitch says this is a tremendous help, as $$$ is pumped into anesthesia from the college, HCA, and the other departments. 8 residents per year, 40 faculty, 12 CRNAs...seems to be a nice mix.

The internship year is tremendous. Ranked by the RRC in the top "2 or 3" transitional years in the country. Interns run the private hospital, all the codes, etc. when on call. Intern year averages 50-52 hours/week (!) as per residents.

Biggest negatives are probably OKC, if you dont like it...it can be boring (small town living in a big city). But, cost of living is excellent. This seems to be a real up-and-comer as far as programs go. I was not prepared to be too impressed, but I was surprised, and pleased, that I went with an open mind.

Coming soon:

UT Southwestern: 11/7
WashU: 12/14
UAB: 11/22
Rush: (Cancelled)
Mayo-Jax: 12/2
JHU: 12/5
UVA: 12/7
Wake: 1/17

Still hope to be able to comment on:

Penn
MGH
Yale
B&W
Duke

Close to giving up on:

Emory
Cornell
Stanford (rejected)
Scott & White
Columbia (rejected)
UCSF (rejected)
Northwestern
Dartmouth
BID
Arizona
Colorado (offered-declined)
SLU (withdrew)

Thanks Idiopathic :thumbup:

Idio - did you already do the "behavioral interview at Vandy?
another q for you - I read a really super negative post about the program in terms of resident attrition rates (lots of CA2's leaving the program)- did you get any kind of feel about that? It sounds like the residents you worked with were pretty happy there.

Idio - did you already do the "behavioral interview at Vandy?
another q for you - I read a really super negative post about the program in terms of resident attrition rates (lots of CA2's leaving the program)- did you get any kind of feel about that? It sounds like the residents you worked with were pretty happy there.

Lots of CA2's leaving?? Did not know that. Remeber anything else??

Lots of CA2's leaving?? Did not know that. Remeber anything else??

Right after I got my interview invitation there, I did an anesthesiology forum search on Vanderbilt and this thread popped up where the poster just slammed the institution saying that Ca 2's were leaving the program and that when people finished the program noone could get a job in Nashville it was really, really negative. I choose to believe that it was just one unhappy person because I had never really heard bad things about it - they seem to offer residents a lot of perks. Anyway, I just thought I would see what idio thought since it looks like he spent a month there.

Right after I got my interview invitation there, I did an anesthesiology forum search on Vanderbilt and this thread popped up where the poster just slammed the institution saying that Ca 2's were leaving the program and that when people finished the program noone could get a job in Nashville it was really, really negative. I choose to believe that it was just one unhappy person because I had never really heard bad things about it - they seem to offer residents a lot of perks. Anyway, I just thought I would see what idio thought since it looks like he spent a month there.

I did hear that about the job market in nashville being a little saturated. However, none of the residents I met seemed unhappy. I didnt hear about any mass exodus of residents, thats for sure.

Scroll up to my first post for Oklahoma interview.

Idio, Northwestern didn't offer me my interview till late november. UIC forgot to call me so I called them and set up my interview in late december...So hang in there because there are plenty more on the way.

VANDERBILT
First off, this department has money coming out of its ears. They put you up in a pretty nice hotel and the restaurant was super delicious. Dinner was with residents - I think 4 residents and their significant others came. The campus is beautiful especially this time of year and Nashville is an easy to live in city with a pretty low cost of living. Residents are all happy and there are a lot of events in the department for socializing. There evidently was a purging of sorts several years ago when they got rid of about 5 residents who were "whiny and lazy".
The lectures are not year specific there are lectures M-Th am and Miller lectures Tuesday pm. Everyone gets out to go to lectures. They have a sim man now that really doesn't get used but they are building a brand new sim lab with a new faculty member who is a sim lab genius - that is supposed to open summer-fall 2006.
Seems like this program is pretty strong in every department. I was really blown away by the facilities and the computerized charting and electronic records are amazing. I was told you will pretty much see everything here - and I believe it. They also have crna and srna's which I like. I like the flexibility of getting the cases I need not 6 million lap choles. They have preop clinic which does the h&p's and put them in the computer so you spend more time during the day running cases and not doing h&p's. I like that too.

THere are both categorical and advanced positions. The categorical intern year is tough from what I could tell - but everyone I talked to said they had no regrets about it. 2 mo surgery, 3 mo IM/MICU (but no clinic), 2 mo critical care(SICU/NICU), 2mo ER, 1 mo Peds, 2 mo Anesthesiology.

The last month of internship is your second anesthesiology rotation and you are paired with a ca3 and an attending and you learn how to run a room. They have a proficency checklist that they check off the items as you get the hang of them and once you run through the list you are on your own - usually ca-1 are running their room about midway through July. The ca-1 that come in after internship get everything in July. I talked to a Ca1 who had just started and he was a little worried about his upcoming ICU month because he had no idea how to run the computer system.

Call is like q3 for about 8 months for internship, then it is 3-4 times a month ca1 on. Call during the week is 3pm to 7am....seems nice to me. Weekend call is 7-7am.

Moonlighting opportunities start ca-2 $60 an hour to run rooms on the weekend for mostly ortho cases. You can also moonlight at the VA once you ahve rotated over there. You get paid $4 q minute for PACU holds too.


So ummm-it was an awful place and noone else should put it on their ROL except me!

VANDERBILT
First off, this department has money coming out of its ears. They put you up in a pretty nice hotel and the restaurant was super delicious. Dinner was with residents - I think 4 residents and their significant others came. The campus is beautiful especially this time of year and Nashville is an easy to live in city with a pretty low cost of living. Residents are all happy and there are a lot of events in the department for socializing. There evidently was a purging of sorts several years ago when they got rid of about 5 residents who were "whiny and lazy".
The lectures are not year specific there are lectures M-Th am and Miller lectures Tuesday pm. Everyone gets out to go to lectures. They have a sim man now that really doesn't get used but they are building a brand new sim lab with a new faculty member who is a sim lab genius - that is supposed to open summer-fall 2006.
Seems like this program is pretty strong in every department. I was really blown away by the facilities and the computerized charting and electronic records are amazing. I was told you will pretty much see everything here - and I believe it. They also have crna and srna's which I like. I like the flexibility of getting the cases I need not 6 million lap choles. They have preop clinic which does the h&p's and put them in the computer so you spend more time during the day running cases and not doing h&p's. I like that too.

THere are both categorical and advanced positions. The categorical intern year is tough from what I could tell - but everyone I talked to said they had no regrets about it. 2 mo surgery, 3 mo IM/MICU (but no clinic), 2 mo critical care(SICU/NICU), 2mo ER, 1 mo Peds, 2 mo Anesthesiology.

The last month of internship is your second anesthesiology rotation and you are paired with a ca3 and an attending and you learn how to run a room. They have a proficency checklist that they check off the items as you get the hang of them and once you run through the list you are on your own - usually ca-1 are running their room about midway through July. The ca-1 that come in after internship get everything in July. I talked to a Ca1 who had just started and he was a little worried about his upcoming ICU month because he had no idea how to run the computer system.

Call is like q3 for about 8 months for internship, then it is 3-4 times a month ca1 on. Call during the week is 3pm to 7am....seems nice to me. Weekend call is 7-7am.

Moonlighting opportunities start ca-2 $60 an hour to run rooms on the weekend for mostly ortho cases. You can also moonlight at the VA once you ahve rotated over there. You get paid $4 q minute for PACU holds too.


So ummm-it was an awful place and noone else should put it on their ROL except me!

Hey Sugar...care to comment on the "behavioral" interview style there?

Hey Sugar...care to comment on the "behavioral" interview style there?

Somewhere on this forum is a link to an article that the Vandy anesthesia dept published on their interview and it has an appendix with all of the questions. I think it is in the enormous interview thread. The only questions off of that list that were actually asked of me were describe a situation where you had conflict with someone and how you dealt with it and describe when you had obstacles to overcome. I think it was just much more tempting to ask me about some of my crazy jobs before medical school.

Somewhere on this forum is a link to an article that the Vandy anesthesia dept published on their interview and it has an appendix with all of the questions. I think it is in the enormous interview thread. The only questions off of that list that were actually asked of me were describe a situation where you had conflict with someone and how you dealt with it and describe when you had obstacles to overcome. I think it was just much more tempting to ask me about some of my crazy jobs before medical school.

Thanks! Yeah, I have that article..was just curious what they specifically asked. I had a couple of crazy jobs too prior to med school as well...maybe I'll get the same treatment.

The whole behavioral thing really isnt that bad. Just be yourself, and dont be afraid to say what you honestly feel. The questions are geared towards allowing you to develop the conversation.

No o2

I love sonic youth. How often r u changing your avatar, a 3 hours?

No o2

I love sonic youth. How often r u changing your avatar, a 3 hours?

Yeah, pretty close :laugh:

Guess I have too much time on my hands. God, I love 4th year! At least I mowed the lawn today--I'm not completely worthless. :thumbup:

Was just in a SY mood today...I get that way sometimes.

For those of you intervieweing at Hopkins there is a new review written by a faculty member and former PD at scutwork.com. Pretty cool to see his opinions.

Interview starts with nice dinner the night before - the residents that came all said that they had no input on the interview, so invited us to ask anything at all. They were all very friendly and inviting, and all of them said they were very happy at Mayo. The interview day starts with an introduction to Mayo by the director, then the group of interviewers split up - one gets the tour, the other gets three thirty minute interviews. Then they reverse the groups and do it again. After all the interviews we went down to the cafeteria for a lunch and talked with more residents we hadn't met yet. The interviews were conversational, with one of the three mainly consisting of personality questions. Every one of the interviewers were pleasant and inviting, none of them seemed malignant in any way.

They put you up in a nice hotel for 2 nights so my wife and I drove the 1.5 hours to get to Minneapolis/St. Paul to see the Mall of America - which is so big it even has several stores dedicated to just selling Mall of America souvenirs! We really liked the area, but we're both from an extremely small town (<1000 people) so it felt a lot like home. Rochester might not have a thriving club scene, but there were plenty of restaurants and several places to go shopping. They have several golf courses, and most of them offer cross country skiing trails during the winter months. The resident that gave our tour said he goes snowboarding in the area nearly every weekend during the winter, so there is plenty to do - as far as I could tell. (I'll admit I've never really liked living in a city, so I am admittedly biased).

Overall a great program; only real weaknesses being Peds that you have to go to Mayo-Jax if you really want an in-depth experience (they do put you up in a pretty sweet place for free with a free car, though). They also offer offsite OB if you want more exposure in a rotation at Wake Forest. They have a pain rotation at Scottsdale where you're apparently the only resident when you're there if you take that option (apparently these are very coveted in the cold winter months). The residents said they have no problem taking the off-site rotations, and Mayo provides an apartment, airfare, and rental car during these rotations - if you choose to take them. The people were very nice and laid back. There seems to be very little scutwork, they NEVER (I believe) have to do preops according to the 5 residents I spoke to; call schedule and daily work hours said to be very good (the 200 CRNAs on staff helps this). Rochester is a pretty nice place to raise a family (very safe, good schools, etc.) - just likely not a great choice for singles......... overall a very strong program with down-to-earth people, nice interview process and good pre-interview dinner. Almost all the residents were married and most had kids. One guy had 6 kids and another had 4, and both said they felt their family life was healthy during residency.

I copied some of this from an earlier review by Dorian Gray in this thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2074261&postcount=18) , but edited some to match the feel I got when I was up there. Overall, I was very impressed with Mayo - other programs would have to do quite a bit to overtake them on the top of my list so far.

Right on Jamier! Thanks!

Thanks everybody for the reviews! I'll do my best to contribute regularly to this thread over the next 2 months....got a buttload of 'views coming up :eek:

No problem. I know these reviews have helped me make some decisions, and given me things to ask about on interviews as well, so I'll do my best to contribute.

Six of us were interviewed. The morning began with three short (10-15 mins) interviews conducted with either a faculty member or a PGY4 resident. The atmosphere was very relaxed and down to earth. The interviews were enjoyable ‘chats’ with very straightforward questions (why Miami, why anesthesiology, stuff from your personal statement/cv).
We then had a tour of Jackson Memorial, visited their patient simulator, and had a look around the department. After that we crammed into a cab and headed over to South beach where we had lunch in a restaurant with Dr. Gallagher and a couple of the residents. It was fun, Dr. Gallagher is a nice guy and also funny (he has done some stand up comedy in the past).
My overall impression was that this is a really busy, hard working program with plenty of exposure to complex and diverse cases (loads of trauma, they do transplants, lots of OB). It’s a massive program and residents rotate at about seven different sites.
This program has tried hard to place more emphasis on teaching in recent years and is encouraging residents to get involved with research. A couple of the CA-3’s are currently spending 6 months of their final year doing research. Maybe half of the residents go on to do fellowships (some to prestigious programs…MGH etc.).
I would have liked to have spoken to some more residents during the interview day, but I guess they were busy. The third year resident that interviewed and ate lunch with us seemed happy. Miami is a beautiful place to live, and Jackson Memorial serves a diverse population (in addition to the local population, they get patients coming over from Haiti and South America). They offer a clinical base year that is run by anesthesia and involves a mix of Medicine, Surgery and ICU.
Conclusion: The clinical training/exposure is great. There isn’t a huge amount of teaching or research at present, but things are improving. Seems like a good place to train.

WashU (I will try to keep this succinct)

Overall: I loved this program! I would encourage everyone to take a long hard look at it. It has many strengths and few weakness

Interview: Very relaxed and conversational. Dr Evers (chairman) and Dr. Cox did most of the talking. No pimping, presenting, or baiting. I had four interviews that day, one of the interviewers was an incredibly nice chief resident. They gave us a lot of access to the residents and everyone offered me their email address for future questions. Everyone (interviews and residents) were very open and straightforward.

Pluses:
- They do A LOT of things well. Most memorably: Peds, CCM, CT anesthesia, and research.
- They have access to large case volume with complexity (various transplants, trauma, zebras). I have not doubt that you would be prepared for nearly anything coming out of this residency.
- Research. Residents are NOT required to do research, but if you are interested, you can find nearly unlimited opportunities. They were 4th in NIH grant funding in 2004
- For those interested in CCM, the Cardiothoracic ICU (TICU) is closed and run by anesthesia.
- It is also an institution that is not cash strapped.
- BJH/Children’s is a huge, beautiful facility – I think it takes up three city blocks. All your cases are in-house, no need for off-site rotations.
- Fellowships are available. There are plenty of complicated/interesting cases for everyone.
- No call for your first 6 months of CA-1 year.
- Two weekends off/month
- The residents work hard. There did not appear to be any slackers in the group. The camaraderie among staff and residents is very good.
- Well structured didactics & simulation training.
- Excellent program reputation
- St. Louis has a very respectable cost of living (when compared to SF or Boston).

Minuses:
- The residents work hard. It was made very clear this was not a done by 3pm residency. (Not a minus in my book, but perhaps to others).
- It’s a huge facility. Although impressive, it can be overwelming.
- No call the first 6 mo of your CA-1 year (you have to make it up eventually and not as many people taking call the first 6months of the year).
- The one negative that the residents frequently sited was lack of reading time, however, the residency does not have a problem with board pass rates.
- It’s in Missouri. (Again, this may not be a minus to everyone)
- I have personally found that WashU’s reputation is confined to the Midwest, unless you are ‘in-the-know’ or subscribe to US News & World Reports (IMHO).

I also think the recent reviews on scutwork are reflective of the program.

UT Southwestern

First off, they are good, and well aware of it. But they are always trying to improve. Dr. Johnston (chairman) is a research/fellowship driven kind of guy and encourages hard work, reading, and subspecialty training. The faculty are all excellent, and come from all over. Residents do work hard, and are in their own room on the first day of CA-1, and take call the first week. Some residents expressed displeasure at this. I would have to say that the clinical experience at this institution (i.e. number and variety of cases) is on a par with the very best in the country. They have to go outside Parkland for hearts, and overall, CT may be the weakest experience (although they do have two CT fellows approved). OB is likely the best in the country with 19K deliveries a year (rumor that one resident got all the epidurals needed for residency on one 24-hour shift!). All fellowships available, except neuro, and the word is they are working on an 18-month combined CT/critical care fellowship where you can get BC in both TEE and CC.

Pluses: strong faculty, didactics, no shortage of cases and experiences. Dallas is a great city, internal moonlighting available. All spots (15) are 4-year linked spots, and the intern year is supposedly very good.

Minuses: hard work (really a minus?), no real breaking-in period as a CA-1. No anethesia opportunity as PGY-1. Must learn some Spanish to function on most wards. County hospital (may be a plus)

The interview day is very non-stressful. No tour is (for me) as plus, as I find the tours to be a beating. Starts at 830, and over by 200 at the latest. Great pre-interview dinner and hotel is nice as well. Two 30-45 minute single interviews, followed by an exit interview from the chairman. Some application-specific questions, but mainly they just want to see if you are a total tool.

Good luck to all.
Anyone who knows me knows I love Dallas and love this program. Hope my view isnt terribly biased.

WashU (I will try to keep this succinct)

Overall: I loved this program! I would encourage everyone to take a long hard look at it. It has many strengths and few weakness

Interview: Very relaxed and conversational. Dr Evers (chairman) and Dr. Cox did most of the talking. No pimping, presenting, or baiting. I had four interviews that day, one of the interviewers was an incredibly nice chief resident. They gave us a lot of access to the residents and everyone offered me their email address for future questions. Everyone (interviews and residents) were very open and straightforward.

Pluses:
- They do A LOT of things well. Most memorably: Peds, CCM, CT anesthesia, and research.
- They have access to large case volume with complexity (various transplants, trauma, zebras). I have not doubt that you would be prepared for nearly anything coming out of this residency.
- Research. Residents are NOT required to do research, but if you are interested, you can find nearly unlimited opportunities. They were 4th in NIH grant funding in 2004
- For those interested in CCM, the Cardiothoracic ICU (TICU) is closed and run by anesthesia.
- It is also an institution that is not cash strapped.
- BJH/Children’s is a huge, beautiful facility – I think it takes up three city blocks. All your cases are in-house, no need for off-site rotations.
- Fellowships are available. There are plenty of complicated/interesting cases for everyone.
- No call for your first 6 months of CA-1 year.
- Two weekends off/month
- The residents work hard. There did not appear to be any slackers in the group. The camaraderie among staff and residents is very good.
- Well structured didactics & simulation training.
- Excellent program reputation
- St. Louis has a very respectable cost of living (when compared to SF or Boston).

Minuses:
- The residents work hard. It was made very clear this was not a done by 3pm residency. (Not a minus in my book, but perhaps to others).
- It’s a huge facility. Although impressive, it can be overwelming.
- No call the first 6 mo of your CA-1 year (you have to make it up eventually and not as many people taking call the first 6months of the year).
- The one negative that the residents frequently sited was lack of reading time, however, the residency does not have a problem with board pass rates.
- It’s in Missouri. (Again, this may not be a minus to everyone)
- I have personally found that WashU’s reputation is confined to the Midwest, unless you are ‘in-the-know’ or subscribe to US News & World Reports (IMHO).

I also think the recent reviews on scutwork are reflective of the program.

I have a good friend in this program, and based on his opinions this seems to be a pretty accurate post. Obviously, just like most most programs, WashU apparently does a great job "selling" itself. Like my friend said, "Dr. Evers could sell a snowcone to an eskimo." I think this program is a little more malignant and hard-working than you suggest, but your description is what you would expect from a one-day interview. Anyway, while he feels he will get great training at WashU, you can get great training at many other places with a better environment. I decided to decline this interview, partially based on his input and partially because of St. Louis. All of that that being said, still a solid program.

Strong work everyone! Every year during interview season this is in my opinion the strongest and most valuable thread. It helped me a ton last year. There were many things that I forgot to write down after interviews that escaped my mind come rank time. Which reminds me, write everything down after the interviews. By number ten you will never remember the details of #2. If you have already interviewed at a program and you are reading this, write a review and contribute!

UT Southwestern

First off, they are good, and well aware of it. But they are always trying to improve. Dr. Johnston (chairman) is a research/fellowship driven kind of guy and encourages hard work, reading, and subspecialty training. The faculty are all excellent, and come from all over. Residents do work hard, and are in their own room on the first day of CA-1, and take call the first week. Some residents expressed displeasure at this. I would have to say that the clinical experience at this institution (i.e. number and variety of cases) is on a par with the very best in the country. They have to go outside Parkland for hearts, and overall, CT may be the weakest experience (although they do have two CT fellows approved). OB is likely the best in the country with 19K deliveries a year (rumor that one resident got all the epidurals needed for residency on one 24-hour shift!). All fellowships available, except neuro, and the word is they are working on an 18-month combined CT/critical care fellowship where you can get BC in both TEE and CC.

Pluses: strong faculty, didactics, no shortage of cases and experiences. Dallas is a great city, internal moonlighting available. All spots (15) are 4-year linked spots, and the intern year is supposedly very good.

Minuses: hard work (really a minus?), no real breaking-in period as a CA-1. No anethesia opportunity as PGY-1. Must learn some Spanish to function on most wards. County hospital (may be a plus)

The interview day is very non-stressful. No tour is (for me) as plus, as I find the tours to be a beating. Starts at 830, and over by 200 at the latest. Great pre-interview dinner and hotel is nice as well. Two 30-45 minute single interviews, followed by an exit interview from the chairman. Some application-specific questions, but mainly they just want to see if you are a total tool.

Good luck to all.
Anyone who knows me knows I love Dallas and love this program. Hope my view isnt terribly biased.

Glad you enjoyed my old stomping grounds. Just to add one point, the CT numbers at St. Paul and the VA, the dedicated university CT programs, are low in number (last year 256 hearts) but very high risk CT (transplants, MODS, VADS, etc.). You get rotations at Baylor Dallas and Methodist Dallas where you have access to 1,400 and 400 more hearts respectively. You can do as many or as few as you want on those rotations as they are designed to be CT rotations, but the groups there allow you to do any case you want.

I have a good friend in this program, and based on his opinions this seems to be a pretty accurate post. Obviously, just like most most programs, WashU apparently does a great job "selling" itself. Like my friend said, "Dr. Evers could sell a snowcone to an eskimo." I think this program is a little more malignant and hard-working than you suggest, but your description is what you would expect from a one-day interview. Anyway, while he feels he will get great training at WashU, you can get great training at many other places with a better environment. I decided to decline this interview, partially based on his input and partially because of St. Louis. All of that that being said, still a solid program.

Thank you for your input and counter points. You're obviously correct that my opinion comes from a one day interview through the department's rose colored glasses. I personally have a hard time distinguishing "hard-working" from "malignant". It may have been that I only meet the happy residents, but I did not get the impression that morale was low - although I may certainly have gotten the wrong impression. Anyways, I was very impressed by their commitment to CT anesthesia & CCM.

What I am trying to say is that all of these reviews are highly subjective. They come from one person's opinion during a highly orchestrated, short interaction with the program. However, every opinion you get about a program, whether it is from an interviewee, resident, or PD is SUBJECTIVE. Unfortunately, that is just the nature of the beast.

Glad you enjoyed my old stomping grounds. Just to add one point, the CT numbers at St. Paul and the VA, the dedicated university CT programs, are low in number (last year 256 hearts) but very high risk CT (transplants, MODS, VADS, etc.). You get rotations at Baylor Dallas and Methodist Dallas where you have access to 1,400 and 400 more hearts respectively. You can do as many or as few as you want on those rotations as they are designed to be CT rotations, but the groups there allow you to do any case you want.

I will love doing the crazy stuff, but to support 15 residents, very few of whom will be cardia fellows, you certainly need a good amount of bread and butter cases. Im sure the residents at UTSW get these, but relatively, it seems like a weakness. Glad to hear about the extra rotations, though.

OCHSNER
I Live in town so I can't comment on the hotel except that it is attached to the hospital - but dinner the night before was pretty good - 2 residents.
New Orleans is definitely weird right now - a lot of traffic. The cost of living here is still pretty reasonable although I am not quite sure what is going on with the housing market-it will probably still be reasonable to buy a house if so inclined. The dept has a pretty good presentation on what Katrina meant for Ochsner - mostly it meant more cases - more trauma (since charity is closed) and more crani's because apparently everyone and their dog is falling off the roof and landing on their heads.
Residents are all happy and there is socializing among the department - there is also a fellows association which encompasses all of the residents (>200) and they have events for families and singles for socializing.

The lectures are split into CA1 on Mondays, CA2,3 on thursday, M&M or guest lecture on Wed, Journal club/guest lecture Tuesday and Friday is key word presentation. CA1's get 2 weeks of Miller Lite lectures in July along with being paired with an upper level for usually about 6 weeks. There is also an anesthesiology rotation you take during your intern year for some breaking in! Everyone gets out of rooms for lectures.
Residents get all of their numbers by end of ca2 for the most part. They have lots of crna's so the program is very good at getting the residents their numbers and getting the residents out early enough to go to lectures and do reading.


This program is categorical - the intern year is 8 mo of call 4 inpt IM, 1 heme/onc, 1 renal, 1 ER, 1 pulm consult, 1 cardiology, 2 ICU, 1 anesthesiology. you get 3 weeks of vacation either during ED, Pulm consult, or Anesthesiology. Call is q5 IM, and q3 icu. Heme/onc and renal cross cover and call is like q6.

Call CA1 on is not really q anything but is about 4-6 times a month. If you are on call on a sat you get monday off. Call is mostly OB, pain, codes. You don't start call until 6mo into your CA1 year.

Moonlighting opportunities start in the ED once you have taken step 2. $60 / hour. If you stay after 3pm you are also moonlighting at $60/hour. You can sign up for OR shifts to moonlight once you are a ca2. Apparently, there are moonlighting shifts in the ICU but noone actually ever does those. As a ca3 you can moonlight on the flight care team also which is $40 on call and if you get called in you make more. To moonlight DO's have to have the USMLE steps it is written in the ochsner protocol not state licensure...I am not sure if you have to take the USMLE CS too to qualify noone could answer that question.

I didn't take any notes so if anyone has any q's about the program - I probably know the answer and just didn't remember to post it. The sitting president of the ASA is from here - I met him today. Lots of politically active peeps at this program.

I will love doing the crazy stuff, but to support 15 residents, very few of whom will be cardia fellows, you certainly need a good amount of bread and butter cases. Im sure the residents at UTSW get these, but relatively, it seems like a weakness. Glad to hear about the extra rotations, though.

It kind of depends on your eagerness and willingness to stay late (you are not forced to on the Baylor or Methodist months except for liver transplants) as you can get quite a few. I finished with 183 CPB cases. I also did a ton of off pump, thoracic, and major vascular cases.

Beautiful hosp. nice ppl/office. someone described the hosp as a 'las vegas hotel" well that's an UNDERSTATEMENT. they set you up at a hotel in Dtown Cleveland. There's a pre interview dinner and a post interview lunch. Usually residents get there at 6:30A and leave anytime b/w 3-6PM. to give you all a picture, there are a few hospitals in the cleveland area supposedly--> there's CWRU Univ hospitals and CWRU metrohealth. Additionally there's Cleveland Clinic Foundation. I have to admit, CWRU seems to be able to hold their own in terms of a great rep in the area. In terms of interviews, you will have 6 different interviews w/ 6 diff attendings.

Pluses
residents seem happy. ppl seem to get along really well. interviews are really laid back (no pimping,etc). if u present at conferences they pay for everything and the time you are there is not taken away from your vacation time. moonlighting is available.

Minuses
i really didnt see one....but they claim that their regionals are on the lower side, but they are improving that starting this year. nevertheless, they are able to get their regional #'s every year. not sure how big they are on research for those of u that are thinking of that....the chief did say that there are a few 'powerhouse' researchers there, but i got the impression that there's not too many.

not sure how big they are on research for those of u that are thinking of that....the chief did say that there are a few 'powerhouse' researchers there, but i got the impression that there's not too many.

Phil Morgan and Marge Sedensky are there - look them up in Miller or Barash. If anyone is gonna figure out how volatiles work, it is going to be them.

Phil Morgan and Marge Sedensky are there - look them up in Miller or Barash. If anyone is gonna figure out how volatiles work, it is going to be them.
i stand corrected...well there ya go.........

Ill echo all the sentiments about Wash U. I was not sold by Dr. Evers, however. I think he felt pressed for time. Or maybe I did too good a job of selling the program for him :o

Ill echo all the sentiments about Wash U. I was not sold by Dr. Evers, however. I think he felt pressed for time. Or maybe I did too good a job of selling the program for him :o


huh?

read: i talked up the program to my interviewers. I was legitimately excited about being there, and I unabashedly told them this.

Not being from Texas, I was pleasantly surprised by this program. Incredibly resident-friendly with friendly residents.

Program-wise: AM didactics. As much teaching as you ask for. Not only is the intern year spread over 2 years so you see the OR early, but it's been tailor-made by the anesthesiology dept -- from what I remember, only a few months of wards, 2 months ICU, more consults. The anesth dept carries some weight in the hospital, and anesth residents won resident of the year and intern of the year. Dedicated block room. Shriners Burns Hospital -- one of only 4 in the country, where you'll take care of some really sick kids. Texas Heart and Methodist for cardiovascular, and some neuro at Methodist as well. The other away elective is peds in Corpus Christi. Overall it seems like you'll see everything you need to. No problem getting numbers.

As for the burning question: you're on an island, where do all the patients come from? There's quite an indigent population, and UTMB also takes care of the prisoners with more complex medical issues.

The interview itself is laid-back. Although a little strange because without a dinner the night before, I didn't really get immersed in the program by the time interviews started after the short presentation.

One tip: The hotel is nice, but breakfast is expensive!

Overall: Nice program that's on it's way up -- they get to add more residents for a total of 14 or 16 (maybe eventually 18) per year. No glaring negatives.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=159701

Its in the FAQ 2 as well...along with lots o' other goodies.

Good luck all ye fledgling anesthesiologists to be.

UT San Antonio

Overall, my experience was very positive here. There were a lot of people interviewing; the program secretary told me they had received 450+ applications and were interviewing 130 total for 8 categorical slots over 5 total dates. Half of us interviewed in the morning, the other half in the afternoon. The mixer the night before was nice although it’s not a real dinner, so don’t come very hungry. There were several residents that turned out and everyone I talked to seemed very happy and would be willing to come here again if given the opportunity. All stressed the varied caseload, resident camaraderie, and city of San Antonio as the program’s strengths. Weaknesses were a little harder to coax out, but some said post-call pre-ops (off by 7am, but have to come back to the hospital after 3pm to see your pts for the next day), friction with surgeons, and didactics were at least somewhat problematic. The residents said they have no problems getting their numbers and all rotations are now able to be completed in San Antonio. Previously, to get their neuro and peds case requirements, they were sent to Baylor and Texas Children’s in Houston, but no longer. UTSA’s neurosurg program reopened this year so there are PLENTY of cranis, etc to go around and residents are now rotating at Santa Rosa Children’s in downtown San Antonio for additional peds.

Like I said, caseload is great—was told you’ll see just about everything there is here. Transplants are particularly numerous, especially livers. Apparently, your experience with such things can begin early…Dr. Hickey, the program director, told us one CA-1 did a liver transplant during his first week in the OR! Regional experience sounds pretty strong with dedicated block months and a busy acute pain service—was told you can easily do over a 100 blocks when on a regional month. For SICU, you rotate through the VA where the unit is run by anesthesia. There are several CRNAs on staff who take lower-yield cases and help relieve residents. No student RNA program so no competition for cases.

Lots of ICU experience: during your CBY, you’ll do 1 month of SICU, MICU, PICU, and NICU each and 2 additional SICU months during the CA-2 year. Other rotations during your CBY include 3 months of surgery (trauma w/ q3 call, cardiothoracic, and general), 2 months medicine (wards and geriatrics), 1 month pedi wards, 1 month OR anesthesia, and 1 month of the perioperative medicine clinic. The three months of surgery sound like a beatdown with you basically chained to the floors doing paperwork all day/night.

The two interviews with faculty are very relaxed and conversational. Basically just “get to know you” questions and stuff pertaining to your CV. They also want to know if you have any compelling reasons to move to San Antonio (both asked if I had any family in the area). Only saw the interim chair, Dr. Bracken, at the mixer the night before for a few minutes as he was unable to attend the interview day. Everyone said he is a real asset to the program. A search for a permanent chair is underway. The faculty is stable and nobody is planning on leaving apparently. Both the chair and PD claim to be strong resident advocates and meet monthly with the residents to discuss how the program is going and if there are any grievances. One thing that struck me was that Dr. Hickey and Dr. Allen (Assistant PD) themselves took us on a tour of the facilities—nice touch.

I think board pass rates have been on the low side recently, although when asked, the PD really did not provide an actual number. I heard from a resident that it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% at some point and the faculty responded by beefing up the didactics and things are improving. There is a generous educational allowance of $5000 distributed over years CA-1 to CA-3 to pay for books, computers, and board exams. One nice perk is a $1000 bonus for passing the intraining exam during your first two years. CA-2s and 3s can sign up for “backup” call which pays 200 bucks a pop whether you get called in or not…this is their version of “in-house” moonlighting—sounds good.

Well, this is too long. I’ll try and make things more concise next week. Bottom line, UTSA sounds like a strong program with very friendly, competent people…think I could be happy and trained well here.

Baystate Medical Center

This is basically a really great program...stuck in the middle of ****ing nowhere. The program usually fills with lots of DOs and FMGs who get excellent training in every subspecialty of anesthesiology. All rotations are done at the hospital -- they used to have to spend a month at BWH (or was it BID?) to do neuro when a bunch of their neurosurgeons took off but they hired new ones and so neuro is very good again. No having to travel away to get peds numbers or whatever. Volumes are good all across the board. While this is a tertiary care center with a huge catchment area including Western Mass and parts of Connecticut, I get the feeling you see sicker folks in Boston, New Haven, etc. 20 ORs in main OR suite, another 10 or so in the new, gorgeous ambulatory facility. Separate pain center which is supposed to be awesome but I've never seen it. Ortho ambulatory center a block away where you can do a regional month (or more) as a CA-3 (otherwise you just do whatever comes along in the main hospital as a CA-2 or 1, which is not much. Maybe an interscalene twice a month). OB is very busy, something like 6000 deliveries. Given that there's only 9 residents per class or so, you get very good at OB early on as CA-1. ICU training is excellent, 3 or 4 anesthesiologist-intensivists on staff. They're big on airway here, especially Bullards. Two months of dedicated airway rotations where you can just pick a day and tell your attending that you're gonna use fastrach LMA on eveybody. Some would argue that if you go to a big university program with super-sick patients that you'll get good with airway toys just by using them all the time but I think dedicated rotations are a good idea.

Very modern hospital, nice Cerner computer system, computerized order entry, etc. Place is very well run, hospital is rolling in dough.

Three interviews, one with the PD, who's kind of abrasive but in a loveable sort of way. He's a real resident advocate.

Weaknesses:

1. Springfield (although Northampton is nice for folks used to Boston and NYC)
2. Not much in the way of reputation.


Hope that helps somebody.

I was not impressed at all. Problably they were not impressed either.
Should i rank it just because they are JHU?

I went to this interview with an open mind but was disappointed by this program.

-It’s a small program (6 residents per year) and they offer a clinical base year at the Medical College Hospital.

-The Program Director, Dr Marco, was friendly and enthusiastic and was very open about the reasons why this program continues to be on probation (due to academics, lack of formal ICU rotation and poor board pass rates over the past five years). This program has taken steps to remedy these problems and now have improved teaching sessions (which are more board exam oriented), they have an ICU rotation in place, and the faculty have been busy trying to do more research (although research opportunities here are very limited).

-The interviewers were all nice, friendly, down to earth people. One interviewer described the program as ‘having a lot of potential’, another was very blunt and openly admitted that this program was amongst the lower third of all US anesthesia residency programs.

-Clinical exposure/ experience seems good, they do some kidney transplants. The hospital is a level 1 trauma center, but residents go to Ann Arbor for peds experience. Residents work approx. 65 hrs/week.

-The residents that we met were not too enthusiastic and didn’t seem to love the program. Most seemed to have elected to train here because of family ties/ wanting to stay in the area. One resident said that the relationship between surgery and anesthesiology was pretty poor, and that patients were rarely optimized prior to surgery.

-A minority of residents go on to do fellowships.

-I found the Toledo locals to be extremely friendly and warm but Toledo itself is very sleepy and seemed like it would be a boring place to live.

Conclusion: :thumbdown (just my opinion)

This program was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed the interview day and was impressed by the experience that this program offers.

Pros:
-Excellent clinical exposure.
-Lots of regional anesthesia (they do a yearly regional course where you can look at prosected cadavers and practice doing blocks).
-Serves a diverse patient population.
-They have a patient simulation lab.
-Lots of teaching sessions and preparation for board exams, including the occasional weekend to do ACLS/ATLS/other courses.
-Clinical base year included.
-High board pass rates (can’t remember the exact number).
-Faculty (at least those that interviewed me) seemed friendly and down to earth. Dr. Chidiac, the Program Director was extremely nice and was very enthusiastic about this program. The residents all felt that he was a real resident advocate.
-The residents were a mix of US and foreign grads. They seemed like a happy bunch and really seemed to like this program.
-Graduating residents were getting into the fellowships that they wanted.

Cons:
-They don’t do transplants.
-There isn’t an abundance of cardiovascular surgery (though more than enough to get the required numbers).
-Location? I actually quite liked Detroit, the multiethnic environment was very appealing and meant that they have a really great range of restaurants.

Overall impression: :thumbup: If I were to end up here, I’m pretty sure that I’d enjoy it and would receive very good training.

I loved this program… it seemed to have everything that I was looking for (with the exception of being located in a sleepy town that gets very cold).
The interview process began the night before when the interviewees had dinner with some of the residents at a nice restaurant. It was fun. The residents were friendly and very enthusiastic about the program. This was my first ‘pre-interview dinner’ and it was a good chance to speak openly about the program and about its strengths and weaknesses.
The interview day itself comprised a talk by Dr. Rose, three one-to-one interviews with faculty which were informal and friendly, a tour of the Mayo buildings and OR with a resident followed by lunch with some residents.
Pros:
-Excellent exposure to a wide range of complex and diverse cases.
-The facilities here are amazing. The patient simulation lab that has just opened is cutting edge and incredibly sophisticated.
-The faculty that interviewed us were all very down to earth and nice. Dr Rose, the Program Director, was great and my interview with him seemed to touch on every subject except anesthesiology.
-The current residents that we met all seemed bright, enthusiastic and happy. I thought they were an impressive group of people.
-Lots of teaching- they have daily fifteen minute keyword lectures and plenty of preparation towards the board exams.
-The in training exam scores and board pass rates are extremely high.
-They really made us interviewees feel important, and the interview experience was enjoyable.
-The research opportunities are abundant, they do a lot of research here (basic and clinical) and actively encourage residents to get involved. In fact, they have something called the clinician investigator track for people who want to head into research.
-Rochester is a safe place to live and raise a family.

Cons:
-The only two relative weaknesses in exposure (compared with other areas) are in peds and obstetrics. Residents get their required numbers but have the option of going to Mayo Jacksonville for peds or to National Children’s Medical Center in Washington DC. Residents can also go to Wake Forest for obstetrics experience.
-Rochester is fairly small and can’t really be described as an exciting place to live, but I think the quality of this program overcomes this issue.
Overall: :thumbup: :thumbup: I was very impressed- an excellent place to train.

SUNY BUFFALO
S/O
Pros: Good schools for kids, cheap housing... 1800 sq ft house in amherst for ~ 120K :eek: . Pretty cheap for northerners, although the s is typically a cheaper COL. Fellowship opportunities abound, and research interest is growing. Not much scutwork.

Cons: No transplant. Not much formal/classroom teaching, but some does exist. No central hospital, but ~9 hospitals to rotate thru. Most hospitals are close to each other, and only like 2-3 of them are a 15-20 min drive. Buffalo actually seemed like a reasonable place to live if your from the NE and used to snow. I had no prob with the weather/environment... in fact, I almost brought my brothers board.

PD: Dr Lema is awesome! He is working super-hard to improve the standing of the program. He has helped with funding from NIH (#35), and is working on more funding which would put them in the top 10 for NIH funding. New clinical scholar program is a research track which gives you 6 mo during CA-3 to do research, and he says that residents have no prob's meeting ACGME requirements even during research.

Interviewers: Warm, down to earth people. No grilling, or pimping.

Residents: Seemed happy. Good experience. Fellowships are no prob.

Ancillary: Phlebotomy team, good nurses, +CRNA's.


Impression: Good program, getting better with such a strong leader.

Plan: Would sign a pre-match, but wasn't offered. Will continue to monitor until interview season ends.


Addition: Just saw a report on safest vs most dangerous cities to live in in the US, and Amherst was #3 safest. Amherst is a few minutes N of buffalo, and was the location of the actual interview.

[
Plan: Would sign a pre-match, but wasn't offered. Will continue to monitor until interview season ends.[/QUOTE]


WELL WELL WELL- there are advantages to being a IMG or a DO- you may be able to get this crap overwith sooner than all those other poor allopathic MDs who have to wait for the match results :laugh:

DREXEL
Overall a positive vibe during the interview day. The residents and attendings all seem to get along and have a genuine good time with each other. The interview day is structured well - morning presentation by the PD, 4 or 5 interviews (15 minutes each) with attendings, a tour with a resident, lunch with residents. Seemingly a solid program.

Pros:
- Varied and extensive caseload, including transplants.
- Loads of high-risk OB.
- Level 1 trauma center. Upper level residents can attend traumas, especially if a difficult airway is anticipated.
- Great resident-attending relations/camraderie. Dr. Okum is a pilot and takes residents to DC for dinner.
- New PD - Dr. Horrow. Not new to the program but he has been away working in pharmaceuticals and brings back with him contacts for research sponsorship. He seems to have a strong and focused vision for the program that is evident when you meet with him.
- Didactics are reported to be very good with individualized attention if you are weak in particular areas.
- Peds rotations at St. Christopher's - a top-notch childrens' hospital (in the shadow of CHOP, but nationally recognized nonetheless).
- Call schedule seems fair compared to other programs, and they have an "early-out" rotating system that keeps any particular individual from consistently being stuck late in the OR.
- Free parking across the street from the hospital (very important if you want to live outside of the city and not be killed by the notorious parking garage fees).
- Philadelphia is a great place to live, work, and have fun.


CONS
- The ICU rotation is a little odd. The SICU at HUH is apparently not a great environment, or weak in some regard (this was vague), so residents are flown to SLU for one mandatory month, and can choose to do their second month there also. This may be seen as a plus by some, but if you are interested in ICU research, I see this as a potential problem.
- The hospital is difficult to navigate, even by hospital standards. I have been there several times as a student and always get lost. Ancillary staff tends to be on the grumpy side.
- Probationary status. Personally I am not bothered by this because I am familiar with Drexel and have seen them pull together to make positive changes. As explained to me, the program is on probation for a few reasons that are being addressed. One was a problem with board passing rates which was skewed downward by a few bad years in the late 90's, and rates have been improving. Another issue was the lack of "scholarly activities" at the program. This is expected to turn around with the help of Dr. Horrow.


I can't recall any other real outstanding cons with this program. In fairness it was my first interview so I am not exactly sure what I am looking for when I look for pros and cons. I will rank this program, but the ICU situation makes me wary, moreso than the probation status. Great people, friendly atmosphere. No holier than thou attendings chewing out the residents in the OR.

WELL WELL WELL- there are advantages to being a IMG or a DO- you may be able to get this crap overwith sooner than all those other poor allopathic MDs who have to wait for the match results :laugh:


:thumbup:
Yup, nothin' like all the turnkey opportunities offered to IMG's. :laugh:
Even with all these benefits, I think the US students may have a slight advantage. Either way, I wouldn't change anything I've ever done... how many people do you know got to study medicine AND live on a golfcourse next to the beach on an island that people typically honeymoon on? :D

MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GA
There was not a dinner the night before - I like the dinners. The general thing that stands out the most from the interview is the sense that the faculty really acts like a team to support the residents to help them succeed in politics, research, etc. There is also a new anesthesiology department office area that is not quite ready yet - no furniture - but it is a huge area and is going to be quite nice with lots new computers, online resources, and giant tv's.
Not a lot of time is spent on didactics. There are grand rounds which are guest speakers on monday am. A 1-2 hour lecture on thursday afternoon and mock orals every other fri am. This is very much a read on your own and learn program. Depending on your personality this could be a plus or minus.

Once a month the department pays for an outing organized by the chief res. which consists of 2 free drinks and hors d’oerves. There are also organized department gatherings like a barbecue at the lake in July and a kids Christmas party.
Residents seem very happy - lots of married with kids here. Cost of living is pretty low and most residents buy houses and evidently boats. I didn’t spend a lot of time here - maybe I will take a leisurely trip through here with my husband later in the year to take closer look at Augusta.

The entire medical center got a crap load of money from tobacco settlements so there is a lot of money that has been allotted to make MCG a really top notch place in every department. Anesthesiology has a lot of new faculty and they are still looking for more. They have a pain fellowship and are working towards developing fellowships in every subspecialty - I believe that ped’s and critical care are next. Speaking of critical care there is a lot of critical care exposure in their rotation schedules - I think you do 4 months your intern year alone – usually 1 ccu at the VA, 1 MICU and 2 SICU.

They have categorical and advanced positions. The interns I talked to there said they felt like the CBY was not as demanding as most. On medicine, there is a night float that covers the hospital during the week so you just split up the weekends with the other interns.

Ca-1 break in by being paired with an upperlevel/attending for a month. You are in a room in the morning and afternoon lectures. You are usually on your own by the 3rd week
Call ca 1 is about 4 times a mo, that increases your ca2 and ca3 when you are on general OR to about 6 times a month. OB is set up so that there are 3 residents – one covers nights, one is covering the c-sections, and one is consulting for epidurals so OB seems pretty demanding right now.

There is not any official moonlighting - however, if you are not on call and not on a specialty rotation and they need someone past 5pm - you will get paid $50 an hour. Evidently this is a rare occurrence. I don't 100% understand what I put in my notes here so this might not be 100% right but there is also the opportunity to take code call overnight "next door" - I don't know what I meant by that - sorry. You can do that once you are licensed and you get paid $350. Maybe someone else that interviewed here remembers this better!?


You get $1500 for books etc., the dept will pay for you to present at conferences. They were very proud that MCG presented the most research of any other program at ASA convention this year. They will also support you if you are an official delegate to associations. Dr Head has a lot of political connections as do many of the faculty. I think it is safe to say that the department has a clear, mission and plan for making this a top program.

OK - I forgot my pen on this interview so I apologize for the holes!

VCU
There is a dinner the night before that is catered at a faculty members house. It is very personable. There is a lot of construction and a huge expansion plan for the medical center – some parts of the hospital are kind of dumpy and need new construction. However, the OR’s have pretty new equipment and there is computerized charting and electronic medical records that look pretty user friendly. Most of the faculty were very nice and affable. One of the people I interviewed with told me that there is no time for any research during your residency and any interviewer at any program that said there was time was lying to me. I thought that was a very interesting position to take.

Lectures on Mon and Thurs afternoon and grand rounds on Thursday morning. Nothing special stands out in my mind about them. They evidently have some type of simulator but never use it according to the residents.

Cost of living is pretty low and most residents buy houses – some parts of the Richmond are becoming pretty expensive to live and the traffic is getting bad in west end. There are lots of things to do in the area – amusement parks, sports, cultural activities etc.
VCU has a daycare that is open from 6 am to midnite and it is also on the list of top places for women to work in the “Working Mother” magazine.

The CBY year – at this point I think is 4 mo medicine, 3 mo of surgery (inc. ENT), NICU, 2 mo anesthesia, DO’s can take family medicine or OB to work it towards the rotating internship and EM. The 2 mo of anesthesiology are at the beginning (to orient) and at the end (to start breaking into your CA-1).

Break in to Ca-1 – the last month of intern year you are paired with a ca-3, you also attend 6 weeks of lecture based on morgan mikail (spelling?)

There is no overnight call except ICU, and your OB nights, T2 and T3 months. ICU is q4, OB nights is 20 12 hour shifts and T2 is 7pm-7am for 2 weeks with 2weeks off (3 of them) T3 is 7pm to 7 am with the other 2 weeks in the general OR (3 of them)

Moonlighting right now is $70 an hour with your Va license and after 6 mo of ca-1. You get paid to be the late resident (2:30 – 11), and you get paid if you work past 5 pm in the general OR and on specialty rotations. This seems pretty generous.

You have to pay to park like $30 a month, there are some pretty bad parts of town – but I guess that only means more penetrating trauma – right?!

SLU
Best interview experience so far – attendings are super cool. They really made a big effort to sell the place. Basically you get a bunch of presentations by different attendings all about the program, the town – just about everything you’d ever want to know. Then you tour the hospital which is a really nice place and every one seems friendly. The lunch with residents, all of which were down to earth. The program had some problems in the past with passing boards, but have been good last few years. Interviews were about as informal as it can get, with pretty much no agenda. The chair, dr comunale is a little more intense and a super cool dude. Hes got this vision of making slu a “top 20 department” – not really sure what that means or how that is measured, but I kinda doubt it if hes talking about NIH funding and stuff like that. Most attendings are not research guys, despite having amazing resources – so maybe he can attract more researchers – but again these types seem more likely to take less pay and more work at Wash U, then head across town, but we’ll see. Despite that – definitely a good program especially if your leaning towards private practice.

San Antonio
I thought this was weird interview until I got to Miami. The night before you go to a ballroom type of thing and have drinks and snacks with residents who (according to the email) are evaluating you. Seems like a really bad idea, but actually it was pretty cool. I didn’t care much about them evaluating me, so I had a pretty good time – figured if they didn’t like my off color humor and sarcasm, then it wasn’t meant to be. Actually, as it turned out, the residents were really cool guys (and gals), very laid back, and found a couple even more sarcastic then myself – so I felt right at home. Interview day was exactly as No oxygen (who I got to meet there – really cool guy, btw) with the additional few comments. The residents here work hard – lots of call and they are brutal calls. 3rd years have seen so much action theyre basically running the show at night. The thing that was the biggest draw back was that they have to go back in on the post call day around 3 pm for the next days pre-ops. They didn’t think it was that big of a deal. The medical center is in the nice part of town – and housing is dirt cheap. San Antonio seems like the last place you’d want to be if you were looking to find hot chicks – but seems great for families – both cheap and the residency director gave this pro family speech. Anyway, all in all definitely solidly good place- strong leaning towards private practice.

Jacksonville –Mayo
First they put you up in a posh hotel with one of those mattresses you see on tv that you can adjust the firmness of your bed – never slept better (seriously). Then you go to this beautiful little suburban hospital where everyone is smiling and the patients are going to that hospital because they want to not cause they have to (like most teaching hospitals). You start with an hour presentation from the program director – who is the most down to earth person – really nice. The 4 half hour interviews. Each was different – ¾ more of a get to know you, one was a little awkward with really, really open ended questions (why are you here?) The focus here is research, academics, excellence, prestige – the standard big name kinda selling points. The attendings are the people who write the books we all read, and they are all friendly and down to earth (according to the residents). Call schedule and work load are ridiculously light – almost frighteningly so. If san Antonio seemed like to much call – this seemed like to little…guess Ill never be happy. The residents get they’re numbers easily though cause they get every interesting case they want and crnas take the leftovers. Scut work is nearly nonexistent seemingly. I tried to find a bad part about the residency, but nothing seemed to jump out. My only concern was that you might not see enough stuff go really wrong and see lots of complications – but didn’t want to offend the residents so I never asked theyre opinion on that. Residents seemed really happy and friendly (better be with that call schedule) – the chief who was giving the tour was the nicest guy you could imagine – offering to do just about anything other than lend his keys for some afternoon joyriding- and who knows, maybe I shoulda asked! Jacksonville seems ok, good weather if your into heat and humidity- basically a huge sprawling suburb – which is fine by me at this point in life. Housing is not as cheap as I expected, but seems like everyone lives along the beach.

Miami
Welcome to the land of the weird interviews. First you go to a small white room located in an office space composed of a bunch of empty white rooms, all of which is behind a tiny unassuming door along a hospital hallway. Once there, the program director comes in cracks a few jokes and leaves. 20 minutes later hes back and takes a couple people out for interviews in other little offices. The he takes me and another dude to a completely different part of the hospital which is near the anesthesiology offices (where were we before??). Two interviews later he takes me back to the little white room where I get an interview from a resident. No presentation about the program. No meeting the residents for lunch. The tour was from the little white room to the anesthesiology office (where there is another conference room right there???) – no ICU, PACU, OR tour. It was so very odd, I kinda liked it. The program director had in his office evidence to what anyone would suspect spending more than a minute with him – he is also a stand up comedian. Ok, welcome to the twilight zone. Dr Gallagher was really cool though, pretty much a nut. Had a couple students at the interview familiar with the program that shed a little light on how thing are run there – all of which were positive. Cant really say much about the program, but seems like the residents work hard and have a reputation for being strong clinically. The new chair is strongly stressing research, and publications are starting to increase. Lunch was on south beach – which was a nice touch. Miami is one of those cities that I think is hard to figure out unless you spend some time there. Last time I was there was 5 years ago and it has changed a lot. Housing is fairly expensive. Miami (the city) is very cheesy, and its fun looking at people trying to look “Miami” which makes it even more cheesy. More half-way buttoned shiny brightly colored shirts then you can shake a stick at. The whether is great between hurricanes – not as hot as central florida in the summer and warmer in the winter. All together it is a strong program in a really awesome city.

U. Kentucky:

This program knows how to treat applicants. Stay in the Sheraton Suites, eat at an upscale steak restaurant (order whatever you want), and get very nice leather exec folders.

Academics: argueably the best in the country. PD, Dr. Schell out of Loma Linda very enthusiastic about teaching, very structured lecture series that covers all aspects of anesthesia in about 18 months. Faculty are there to teach, most write for the boards, 3 are "real" oral board examiners. 100% of residents have passed the boards last 3 years due to great board review course. Excellent one-on-one teaching in the OR. #1 program goal: resident education!!

Clinical training: get necessary numbers, but nother stellar, working to improve weakness of CT by opening a new rotation in Houston for more hearts. Follow all RCC recommendations for more months of ICU, pain, and regional months. Work load is nice, call is 2-3 x months, 1 weekend.

Facilities: 3 hospitals
UKMC: Level 1 trauma center for East KY (mostly MVAs, ATV accidents and falls, very little knife/gun club) OLD academic hospital, 18 revamped ORs, calls rooms okay,
VA: next to UKMC, sicker pts, mostly hearts and vascular
Shriner's: private kids hospitals, learn to work efficiently

simulator: small (in the ICU), broken while I was there, supposedly intergrated into the program, not very impressive.

Residents: Very happy, interact well with each other. Mostly married with families, though some singles. M>F.

Interview: ask mostly "What questions do you have?" so I don't feel they got to know me all that well. Very laid back, they really tried to sell the program.

CBY year is pretty sweet and is divided 6 months on anesthesia, then 6 months off-service. During PGY-2 year, same schedule, 6 on, 6 off. Based on this, it's possible to do 12 months of off-service rotations and then come back and be thrown into a room expecting to pick up where you left off as a CA-1. Residents said they were a little "rusty", but got back into the groove pretty easily.

CBY rotations:
1 m Medicine Wards
1 m Pulm consult
1 m Cards consult
1 m PICU
2 m elective
1 m anesthesia
1 m Surgery
1 m EM
1 m CCU
1 m Preop clinic

Overall: excellent academics, average clinical training. You will get your numbers, but nothing stellar, not a lot of trauma or transplants. Cases and work load is moderate. Residents seem very happy. Lexington is a good sized city with most things that a person could want or need. Not a high-powered name or reputation, but putting out very knowledgable anesthesia consultants. Program is definitely improving and provides excellent academic training.

UAB


Good program in the middle of the SE US. It suffers a little bit from the area (see: WashU) as far as perception goes, but considering University hospital is the (only) Level I facility for about 10 million people, you have the potential to see a lot. OB is about 60% high risk (seems high, thats per residents) and, they stress that every service is fairly busy (regional is always iffy, except at VMU, but they are working to build it here.) THe residents have insane amounts of moonlighting opps, essentially CRNA shifts and home call. ~100 interviews for 16 spots surprised me, but apparently they take plenty of UAB students.

Strengths: Residents seem very happy, reputation for being a very resident-friendly program. Moonlighting, good case exposure. Closed unit (which they are proud of...heard claims along the line of "as good as any SICU in the country"). New facility with state of the art equipment (to rival Vandy, in my mind). Non-onerous call schedule (averages q5.6 throughout).

Cons: Only 3-year spots available. Heard different reports re: didactics (residents say weak, attendings say strong, likely in the middle).

Birmingham is an interesting city. It seems to me to be a big city (pop of 1 mil) with sort of a small-city feel. Still some pretty poor parts of town and some very rich parts of town. Managing cost of living with schools/proximity can be tough for families.

Overall, a very good program in a neat city with some great perks and great faculty support.

Although this has already been reviewed, I'll just post my impressions.

The pre-interview dinner was held at a nice seafood restaurant. There were three residents and they showed up a bit late. I was taken aback when we were making introductions and the CA-3 was suprised that one person there was a CA-1, as they had never seen each other before. The residents were pretty helpful in answering questions. The management of the dinner was a little strange as we weren't informed until afterwards that we'd have to pay for our drinks and that we were left without a ride back to the hotel. The residents were kind enough to drive us back. The transportation issue may be the hotel's fault as our prior correspondence with UTSW indicated that everything would be taken care of.

The interview day started in a conference room with a short movie and presentation. We were then taken to two individual interviews and then both lunch with a resident and an exit interview with the chairman. All of my interviews were relaxed without any difficult questions. The chair stressed that the program has a 100% first attempt pass rate on the written boards and that by the end of the CA-2 year, 75% of the residents did well enough to pass the boards. If you score well enough in your CA-2 year, then they will pay for your real written exam. Other notable things are a faculty pay incentive program where the faculty are divided into quartiles by resident reviews and are paid according to where they stand. The program also offers extensive OB and trauma experiences. There also seems to be plenty of opportunities to moonlight. Call seems to be q4 24hrs in-house for CA-1s. The senior residents either take call from home or in-house depending on where they are assigned. Home call is rarely paged in.

Pros: Dallas (great city and affordable), Can stay in the same city for all rotations, 7 training facilities (county, VA, private, children's, etc.), plenty of volume, great OB experience, great passing rate on written boards, moonlighting, proactive chairman, little recent faculty turnover, residents felt very confident in their abilities and the variety that they've seen, well-balanced intern year which may change to include a mo of anesthesia

Cons: Lots of residents (good for workload, bad for getting to know your colleagues), SICU (was told by a resident that they only have 4-5 patients and they take q4 call. The more difficult patients are handled by fellows, but they may be taking on Parklands SICU soon), Lots of fellows (little hands-on in pain, and was told that if you want to do pain, you'll have to do 12-18 months of it so missing out on hands-on in residency wasn't a big deal), Again, lots of fellows (the CA-3's I spoke with had not done any pedi hearts and said that it was above a resident's level - surprising b/c CA-2's at my institution do pedi hearts)

Although this has already been reviewed, I'll just post my impressions.

The pre-interview dinner was held at a nice seafood restaurant. There were three residents and they showed up a bit late. I was taken aback when we were making introductions and the CA-3 was suprised that one person there was a CA-1, as they had never seen each other before. The residents were pretty helpful in answering questions. The management of the dinner was a little strange as we weren't informed until afterwards that we'd have to pay for our drinks and that we were left without a ride back to the hotel. The residents were kind enough to drive us back. The transportation issue may be the hotel's fault as our prior correspondence with UTSW indicated that everything would be taken care of.


Kind of funny, but this was exactly the same experience we had two weeks ago.

I was not impressed at all. Problably they were not impressed either.
Should i rank it just because they are JHU?

Don't rank a program unless you are totally ok with going there...bottom line.

Baylor

Very impressive program--definitely the best offices and library I've seen thus far (very modern and chic, huge marble table that you sit around for breakfast and chatting between interviews). Recent split with Methodist hospital seems to be finally ironed out now...residents formerly did some of their cardiac cases at Methodist but now will be going to the world reknown Texas Heart Institute. In place of the Methodist affiliation is St. Luke's hospital. Faculty seemed to think this was a blessing in disguise and the program will only get stronger. The next phase of the Baylor Clinic will be opening in the next year or so and with it will come many brand new ambulatory ORs. Baylor is situated right in the middle of the so-called Texas Medical Center which includes 13 hospitals and over 9,000 hospital beds making it the biggest medical district in the world. Needless to say, as a resident, you will cover several of these hospitals and be exposed to everything out there. Calls can be busy with lots of penetrating, ballistic trauma typical of a huge city (Houston is the 4th largest city in the US) but at least you get to come in at 2:30 pm and leave at 6:30 the next morning (depending on what rotation you're on). Residents typically do post-call preops the first 6 months of the CA-1 year then begin to share the duties with a friend so you can have your post call day completely free. 4-5 calls per month are typical and work hours are in the range of 60-65/week. The residents stressed that they work hard but definitely have lives outside of the hospital and the presence of a student RNA training program allows them to be relieved between 3 and 4 pm when not on call. The residents seemed very friendly and happy. Some cited the multiple hospital coverage as a downside since you often don't see other residents for weeks at a time. No internal moonlighting exists but apparently you can do some general moonlighting during your CA-3 year, although this is rare. Dr. Conlay (Chair) and Dr. Raty (PD) are very outgoing and energetic and appear to be committed resident advocates. 3 interviews (with the Chair, PD, and another faculty member) were all very conversational, relaxed, and completely non-threatening. I felt very comfortable the entire day there. You take a bus tour of the medical center and surrounding areas which is nice (great to not have to walk around for an hour!).

Houston is big and very spread out. It's very affordable and 70% of residents own homes. Parking is apparently somewhat painful but you are at least partially reimbursed for the cost. It's very hot and humid during the summers which is the only drawback for me. Nevertheless, the training here is excellent and the people seem great.

I am putting the review in this thread b/c I think it's where it belongs. Hopkins seems to be under a lot of scrutiny on this forum and I am not really sure why. Anyways, let me first start out by saying that I thought the program was outstanding. I would be beyond happy to match at Hopkins. I felt they spared no expense with the pre-interview evening. About 9-10 residents showed up and all were extremely laid back, very friendly and enthusiastic about the program. There wasn't the slightest bit of elitist attitude. They were very open and honest about the program, the department, the working conditions, relationships between the residents and among the attendings. They all said the attendings were very supportive and encouraging. As with any program they stated that there were a few bad apples but it was rare that you had to work with them since the department is very large. All said their relationship with the PD is great and he is a very strong advocate and friend to his residents. I never once heard any resident use the term or allude to "the Hopkins way". All agreed that the variety and complexity of their cases were second to none. I walked away feeling that the residents were proud of their program and their training. To me this does not equate to being elitist.
As far as the city is concerned I think Baltimore has a lot to offer. If you are looking for a NYC, LA, SF etc then go train in NYC etc. I spent two days there with my wife and we both agreed that it has to offer what 95% of all cities in the US have. I spent some time in Baltimore 10 years ago and it has dramatically changed since then. The revitalization of the city is incredible. Cost of living seems to be high but it is the east coast.

The interview day... It started out with a presentation by Dr. Mittman (PD). There were about 8 of us sitting around a table. I thought it was a nice touch. Very personal. I am getting tired of seeing rehearsed power point presentations of faces I don't know and pictures I really don't care about. This was a chance to ask questions which he encouraged. As for what he was wearing, I won't even comment, I think that is irrelevant. This is a profession that basically wears pajamas to work everyday with goofy looking hats. I felt his presentation was sincere and I walked away with the feeling that I could go up and talk to him about anything, both program and non-program related. I was reassured this when I interviewed with him. It was nothing but conversational. We discussed our families, our hobbies and our interests. We had 4 interviews total. They are on a schedule and they told us up front that they run on time with the interview day. They gave us a time at the beginning of the day that we would be out by and they delivered. They are punctual. A plus in my book. Back to the interviews. All were very conversational and laid back. I think 1 had read my application but that is no concern of mine. The application is to get me the interview. The application is self explanatory if you can read. The interview is the social application. I actually prefer not talking about anything on my application. In my book, for a 15-30 minute conversation nobody should need reference notes or cue cards to hold a conversation. In my interviews we talked about everything from college football to family to dogs. Dr. Ulatowski (chief) was a genuinely nice guy. All were very informative and honest in answering questions.
We were given a tour by one of the residents who was very nice. He was very honest about some of his perceived strengths and weaknesses. As far as the physical structure. It has already been covered in the other thread. The Cancer center is new and very nice. The general ORs are older. Some looked remodeled and some looked much older. The anesthesia machines were new as far as I saw. What I thought was cool about some of the older ORs was those were where some ground breaking surgeries were done...if walls could talk. The facilities were no different than where I spent 4 years of medical school, some new buildings some old. The anesthesia department is in the older building and it is a little small and shows some age. I am not applying for an administrative position; I don't get an office up there, so I could care less. We had lunch with a group and residents, about 15 in total. Very nice people. All said they were happy at Hopkins. None had any regrets about coming to Hopkins. They all felt they would be extremely well trained which I do not doubt. So there you have it. I never saw the elitist, rude, or "Hopkins way" attitude that some has alluded to. Overall I was very impressed with the program and liked Baltimore. A very good friend of mine did an elective in anesthesia there and read some of the other posts and said he couldn't have disagreed more with the negative comments about the personalities and lack of encouragement. His opinion was the department was very warm and supportive of its residents.
Just to add to some of the other posts. I also interviewed at Mayo Rochester, Vanderbilt, and UF and agree with the other posts on those programs.

One thing I forgot to ask at the interview. Does anyone know their board pass rate? Thanks

I am putting the review in this thread b/c I think it's where it belongs. Hopkins seems to be under a lot of scrutiny on this forum and I am not really sure why. Anyways, let me first start out by saying that I thought the program was outstanding. I would be beyond happy to match at Hopkins. I felt they spared no expense with the pre-interview evening. About 9-10 residents showed up and all were extremely laid back, very friendly and enthusiastic about the program. There wasn't the slightest bit of elitist attitude. They were very open and honest about the program, the department, the working conditions, relationships between the residents and among the attendings. They all said the attendings were very supportive and encouraging. As with any program they stated that there were a few bad apples but it was rare that you had to work with them since the department is very large. All said their relationship with the PD is great and he is a very strong advocate and friend to his residents. I never once heard any resident use the term or allude to "the Hopkins way". All agreed that the variety and complexity of their cases were second to none. I walked away feeling that the residents were proud of their program and their training. To me this does not equate to being elitist.
As far as the city is concerned I think Baltimore has a lot to offer. If you are looking for a NYC, LA, SF etc then go train in NYC etc. I spent two days there with my wife and we both agreed that it has to offer what 95% of all cities in the US have. I spent some time in Baltimore 10 years ago and it has dramatically changed since then. The revitalization of the city is incredible. Cost of living seems to be high but it is the east coast.

The interview day... It started out with a presentation by Dr. Mittman (PD). There were about 8 of us sitting around a table. I thought it was a nice touch. Very personal. I am getting tired of seeing rehearsed power point presentations of faces I don't know and pictures I really don't care about. This was a chance to ask questions which he encouraged. As for what he was wearing, I won't even comment, I think that is irrelevant. This is a profession that basically wears pajamas to work everyday with goofy looking hats. I felt his presentation was sincere and I walked away with the feeling that I could go up and talk to him about anything, both program and non-program related. I was reassured this when I interviewed with him. It was nothing but conversational. We discussed our families, our hobbies and our interests. We had 4 interviews total. They are on a schedule and they told us up front that they run on time with the interview day. They gave us a time at the beginning of the day that we would be out by and they delivered. They are punctual. A plus in my book. Back to the interviews. All were very conversational and laid back. I think 1 had read my application but that is no concern of mine. The application is to get me the interview. The application is self explanatory if you can read. The interview is the social application. I actually prefer not talking about anything on my application. In my book, for a 15-30 minute conversation nobody should need reference notes or cue cards to hold a conversation. In my interviews we talked about everything from college football to family to dogs. Dr. Ulatowski (chief) was a genuinely nice guy. All were very informative and honest in answering questions.
We were given a tour by one of the residents who was very nice. He was very honest about some of his perceived strengths and weaknesses. As far as the physical structure. It has already been covered in the other thread. The Cancer center is new and very nice. The general ORs are older. Some looked remodeled and some looked much older. The anesthesia machines were new as far as I saw. What I thought was cool about some of the older ORs was those were where some ground breaking surgeries were done...if walls could talk. The facilities were no different than where I spent 4 years of medical school, some new buildings some old. The anesthesia department is in the older building and it is a little small and shows some age. I am not applying for an administrative position; I don't get an office up there, so I could care less. We had lunch with a group and residents, about 15 in total. Very nice people. All said they were happy at Hopkins. None had any regrets about coming to Hopkins. They all felt they would be extremely well trained which I do not doubt. So there you have it. I never saw the elitist, rude, or "Hopkins way" attitude that some has alluded to. Overall I was very impressed with the program and liked Baltimore. A very good friend of mine did an elective in anesthesia there and read some of the other posts and said he couldn't have disagreed more with the negative comments about the personalities and lack of encouragement. His opinion was the department was very warm and supportive of its residents.
Just to add to some of the other posts. I also interviewed at Mayo Rochester, Vanderbilt, and UF and agree with the other posts on those programs.

One thing I forgot to ask at the interview. Does anyone know their board pass rate? Thanks

Agreed 100% with this. I think to an extent impressions just depend on individual applicants' priorities

I interviewed at Penn State recently. All I have to say is ROCK SOLID in EVERY area. The PD is such a resident advocate. Rather than elaborate on my opinions on the forum, please boardmail me if you have any questions. I'd be more than happy to respond.

I interviewed at Penn State recently. All I have to say is ROCK SOLID in EVERY area.

Every area except:


"anything to do for social/personal life in a 100 mile radius, except for Hershey Park, which gets old after the 3rd or 4th tour through the history of chocolate train ride"


seriously... i loved what i read about the PSU program but if you are single, Amish country is not the place to be.

unless you really dig girls with candles and homemade apple-butter.

Every area except:


"anything to do for social/personal life in a 100 mile radius, except for Hershey Park, which gets old after the 3rd or 4th tour through the history of chocolate train ride"


seriously... i loved what i read about the PSU program but if you are single, Amish country is not the place to be.

unless you really dig girls with candles and homemade apple-butter.


mmm...candles

;)

Every area except:


"anything to do for social/personal life in a 100 mile radius, except for Hershey Park, which gets old after the 3rd or 4th tour through the history of chocolate train ride"


seriously... i loved what i read about the PSU program but if you are single, Amish country is not the place to be.

unless you really dig girls with candles and homemade apple-butter.

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv10750.php

Perhaps. Hershey sure is appealing to me as a married man. Harrisburg is 15 minutes away, however. It has a population of 50K and a lot to do. NYC, DC, Baltimore, et al., are all within a brief drive. I really wouldn't rule it out if I were single. These are some of the coolest residents I've been around too.

Penn State is really a great program. A class act through and through. Put you up in a nice hotel. Nice dinner the night before. Nice lunch the day of. Facilities are great; well kept and very clean. Department has a lot of space and money. Attendings down to earth. Lots of supervision and teaching. PD is a former military dude who is a strong resident advocate and gets things done. Residents friendly and very happy. Strong simulation program (they place Sim Man in some random hallway, outside bathroom, in the parking lot, and call code blue to see the response time, and also see how they would handle the code. Definitely lots of case variety. Got trauma. They have a CT scan right next to trauma room. Decent hours. Many big cities close by. Nittany Lions football is rocking this year. However, I just got a creeping feeling that JoePa is gonna retire soon, especially if the team wins one of the big bowls this year. And finally, Hershey is very chocolatey :)

Now, the not so good part: I think many residents are married. Many came from so so medical schools. I think many attendings were trained in other countries. HOWEVER, all this does NOT mean they are weak; it's just an observation. I only say this because I know many of you guys put a special value on "pedigree" and "prestige" and where people came from. I personally don't give a damn. I would be very very happy training with them. 5 interviews, 20 minutes each, but they're easy. Not a lot of diversity in the residents or the patient population (ie mostly caucasian that I could see). 4-year program only, even though the curriculum does seem to make sense in that they have you start on some anesthesia stuff your first year. No call the first 6 months though, if I remember correctly.

Impression: this is definitely a winner, if you are married or is used to rural area/suburban life. If you cannot live without city life, then don't rank. They don't want unhappy residents. Many stay in the area or end up in Philadelphia after residency.

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv10750.php

Perhaps. Hershey sure is appealing to me as a married man. Harrisburg is 15 minutes away, however. It has a population of 50K and a lot to do. NYC, DC, Baltimore, et al., are all within a brief drive. I really wouldn't rule it out if I were single. These are some of the coolest residents I've been around too.


If I were married I'd love to wind up at PSU. I'm just not ready for that pace of life yet. No matter what my liver says. ;-) Now if it were located at the main campus of PSU... whole different story.

Penn State is really a great program. A class act through and through. Put you up in a nice hotel. Nice dinner the night before. Nice lunch the day of. Facilities are great; well kept and very clean. Department has a lot of space and money. Attendings down to earth. Lots of supervision and teaching. PD is a former military dude who is a strong resident advocate and gets things done. Residents friendly and very happy. Strong simulation program (they place Sim Man in some random hallway, outside bathroom, in the parking lot, and call code blue to see the response time, and also see how they would handle the code. Definitely lots of case variety. Got trauma. They have a CT scan right next to trauma room. Decent hours. Many big cities close by. Nittany Lions football is rocking this year. However, I just got a creeping feeling that JoePa is gonna retire soon, especially if the team wins one of the big bowls this year. And finally, Hershey is very chocolatey :)

Now, the not so good part: I think many residents are married. Many came from so so medical schools. I think many attendings were trained in other countries. HOWEVER, all this does NOT mean they are weak; it's just an observation. I only say this because I know many of you guys put a special value on "pedigree" and "prestige" and where people came from. I personally don't give a damn. I would be very very happy training with them. 5 interviews, 20 minutes each, but they're easy. Not a lot of diversity in the residents or the patient population (ie mostly caucasian that I could see). 4-year program only, even though the curriculum does seem to make sense in that they have you start on some anesthesia stuff your first year. No call the first 6 months though, if I remember correctly.

Impression: this is definitely a winner, if you are married or is used to rural area/suburban life. If you cannot live without city life, then don't rank. They don't want unhappy residents. Many stay in the area or end up in Philadelphia after residency.

This was much my impression as well. Really liked this program and Dr. Kimatian is very impressive. They do offer a couple of advanced positions but the vast majority are categorical...really like the categorical curriculum. Dr. Kimatian definitely sold me on it!

MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GA
There was not a dinner the night before - I like the dinners. The general thing that stands out the most from the interview is the sense that the faculty really acts like a team to support the residents to help them succeed in politics, research, etc. There is also a new anesthesiology department office area that is not quite ready yet - no furniture - but it is a huge area and is going to be quite nice with lots new computers, online resources, and giant tv's.
Not a lot of time is spent on didactics. There are grand rounds which are guest speakers on monday am. A 1-2 hour lecture on thursday afternoon and mock orals every other fri am. This is very much a read on your own and learn program. Depending on your personality this could be a plus or minus.

Once a month the department pays for an outing organized by the chief res. which consists of 2 free drinks and hors d’oerves. There are also organized department gatherings like a barbecue at the lake in July and a kids Christmas party.
Residents seem very happy - lots of married with kids here. Cost of living is pretty low and most residents buy houses and evidently boats. I didn’t spend a lot of time here - maybe I will take a leisurely trip through here with my husband later in the year to take closer look at Augusta.

The entire medical center got a crap load of money from tobacco settlements so there is a lot of money that has been allotted to make MCG a really top notch place in every department. Anesthesiology has a lot of new faculty and they are still looking for more. They have a pain fellowship and are working towards developing fellowships in every subspecialty - I believe that ped’s and critical care are next. Speaking of critical care there is a lot of critical care exposure in their rotation schedules - I think you do 4 months your intern year alone – usually 1 ccu at the VA, 1 MICU and 2 SICU.

They have categorical and advanced positions. The interns I talked to there said they felt like the CBY was not as demanding as most. On medicine, there is a night float that covers the hospital during the week so you just split up the weekends with th