Rank Order Lists for 2012

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psmith

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I used past posts about people’s thought on the programs on their rank order list to help formulate my own preferences in the programs I interviewed at so I thought I would pass my thoughts along about the programs on my ROL, now that all interviews are said and done. Be forewarned: I’m not very picky about where I do my training, so I ended up making a lot of decisions based on gut feeling and random preferences.

1. JPS, Ft Worth: Really clicked with the faculty and residents. Hospital and program is well funded and the EM program has a lot of pull and respect within the hospital. Really like the city for its size, low cost of living, and reasonable traffic volume. Almost all the training (except three months) is at their hospital.
2. Christiana, Delaware: Very well respected program that’s been around a long time. I did a rotation there and its clear that many of their residents are very strong. Has many of the same qualities I liked about JPS (strong and respected program within the hospital), but I grew up in the area and am hesitant to move back. Has two training sites that are 20 minutes apart.
3. Ohio State, Columbus, OH: Really liked a lot of the residents I met. Had trouble clicking with some of the faculty, but did get to sit in on a small group session with one of their younger faculty members leading who was a phenomenal educator. Columbus seems like an awesome town. Just a little hesitant about the separate training sites.
4. Summa, Akron, OH: The nicest cafeteria I’ve ever been to. New YMCA connected to the hospital. Maybe that shouldn’t have influenced me so much, but it did.
5. York, PA: I was really into the program director’s pride in having a strong sense of community in the program. I also thought their simulation and other educational programs sounded really engaging.
6. Baylor, Houston, TX: Assistant residency director (Tyson Pillow) was the most personable, fun, and candid person I met the entire interview trail. Would love to work under him.
7. Jefferson, Philadelphia, PA: Three different training sites, some of which appeared to be long commutes. Really cool neighborhood for the university hospital, but pricey. Awesome airway course included with the education.
8. Little Rock, Arkansas
9. CHRISTUS Spohn, Corpus Christi, TX: Program director seemed a bit awkward and not very personable, but the assistant program director and a lot of the other faculty seemed cool. Didn’t really click with any of the residents. Seemed like they have a cool simulation experience.
10. St. John’s, Detroit, MI
11. UTSW: Very cool residents. Did get the impression that their training experience was a bit skewed to free labor taking priority over education side of things. Clerkship director was very arrogant. Very insistent on his excellent clinical and educational abilities.
12. Metro/Clevland Clinic: Great reputation, but many of their residents seemed burnt out and dissatisfied. They were also the only place where the residents didn’t seem to hold their program director in especially high regard.
13. New York Hospital Queens: The fact that this is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the US makes me think I’m going to have to use a translator way too much.

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Thanks for posting your thoughts and starting this thread--as an MS3 planning on applying for EM next year, these lists really are great to read.

Best of luck to ya!
 
My rank list was based on geography, the presence of friends/family in the area for my fiance, and gut feeling. Sure, early on in the process I thought things like procedural experience, patient census and reputation were vital, but once you go through you realize that "fit" is the most important thing. These programs fit my aforementioned needs and my personality. Also, I'm throwing in some of my perceived negatives to make this more helpful to current/future applicants.

1. Northwestern: A program whose curriculum is very well thought out, with a ton of critical care months. I loved all the faculty I met in interviews, and would enjoy learning from them. Residents were very smart, and had diverse interests. The professional development part of the curriculum is alluring. Dr. Gisondi, the PD, was impressive. Chicago is a cool city and would be a nice place to be since I've lived my life on the east coast. Fiance has a bunch of friends there too. Facilities are immaculate. The gut feeling champ. We have a winner.
Negs: big academic place so there's competition for procedures, 4 yrs (not a negative for me, but for others it may be), Chicago is pricey (no Bos/NY/LA pricey, but still). Would have liked a little more time with the residents at the social (it was at the PDs house for and educational event, so people were a bit buttoned up)

2. BIDMC: Another extremely well-thought out curriculum, with a 3 +1 model. The optional 4th yr adds value. Sick, geriatric patient population which would be great to learn from. Academic resources that come with Harvard. Personable and down to earth residents. Faculty that are forward thinking. Great EMR. I liked that ED nursing was part of the interview process. Boston is a plus, as this is where we live and fiance has a job. Ton of friends in the area. This was another high rater on the gut feeling scale.
Neg: Rotate at a ton of hospitals (which could be construed as a positive), relatively low census at home institution (but residents see a ton of patients when the other sites are added in), Boston is pricey (but otherwise a great place to live)

3. Pitt: I went to undergrad here, love the area, and boy is it afforadable. A hidden gem of a city. The residents were my kind of people, hard working and hard playing with significant interests outside of medicine. I liked the autonomy one could get with the prehospital care part of the curriculum. Great critical care training. Diverse training sites. We have family and friends in the area. Real solid program
Neg: I went there for undergrad and hence there is no novelty in moving back there. We think we will move back to the area in time, so residency is a chance to live somewhere else before returning.

4. Hopkins: FAST program is very cool. It is basically a mini-fellowship you complete during your 4th year. They have a critical care one, so I was stoked. Faculty and residents were incredibly personable and close-knit, which is something that was a bit unexpected. Resources that Hopkins has. Great facilities, sick patient population. Baltimore seems fun.
negs: No real family or friends in the area for my fiance. They have a spouses organization though.

5. Boston Medical Center: Loved the people here. The residents are the most fun of all I experienced. The faculty were down to earth and personable. Enjoy the social mission that "Boston City" has embraced. A county experience with resources. In Boston, hence have social support.
Negs: I rotated here during a nursing shortage and my experience was less that optimal. Hard to rank it any higher when I had a month that was lackluster. If not for the extenuating circumstances, would have ranked them higher. Also, in Boston. Wouldn't mind trying somewhere new.

6. Maine: A hidden gem of a program. The nicest people on the planet live in Portland. Close-knit, down to earth, outdoorsy residents. Great hospital with new facilities. Portland is awesome, with natural beauty all around, great restaurants/night life, and affordable to boot. Spent some time here rotating on another service and the vibe is incredible. No ortho residency so that augments your training. Huge catchment area for the trauma team.
Neg: No real social support for the fiance and she wasnt so crazy about it.

7. Brigham and Women's/MGH: Two "home" hospitals with very different feels, which I thought was a positive. Harvard resources. Very productive faculty. Boston.
Negs: Didnt love the vibe at this place. Some of the faculty were uber academic and came off a little cold. Residents were big into their research (not necessarily a bad thing), and not as personable as others I interacted with.

8. Cook County: County hospital experience. Going to see a ton of patients, learn autonomy, and see some strange pathology. Very friendly and personable PD. Great trauma experience. Burn ICU. Like the social mission. Chicago would be a great place to live
Neg: Residents badmouthed other programs in the area, and I didnt particularly mesh that well with them.

9. Baystate Medical Center: Ridiculous census, very sick/violent patient population, great hospital. Brand new ED opening this year. Incredibly supportive PD who focuses on resident wellness. Resident autonomy. Extremely friendly and outgoing residents. A gem of a program that is off the beaten path.
Neg: In Springfield MA. Not a place my fiance or myself wanted to live. Its unfortunate as this is such a solid program.

10. Temple: Great clinical training given the pathology, poverty and violence in North Philly. Ridiculous trauma experience (my tour guide had done 2 emergent thoracotomies in the past week). Focus on resident wellness with a monthly resident night out (all residents are off in the ED so they can hang). Philadelphia seems nice, and I have friends/family in the area.
Neg: Gut feeling wasnt here. Fiance lacks significant social support. I prefer the other side of the state

11. Penn: Academic place with name recognition, if that is important to you. Some great faculty (there is one attending who runs free clinics for migrant farm workers, and he was incredible). Energetic PD. Philly is cosmopolitan and afforadable. I have friends/fam in the area. Good critical care experience
Neg: Didnt really mesh with the residents (the tour guide was, well, awful). Just had a negative interview day (I got absolutely poured on walking from the parking garage to the ED offices, which set the tone).

12. Allegheny General Hospital: Its in Pittsburgh, which I like. Residents seemed chill
Negs; Constantly badmouthed PItt/UPMC thoughout the interview day, which I thought was unprofessional. PD was uninspiring. Had an interview with a very cocky U/S guy. It also rained this day.
 
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When do programs have to lock in their lists? I'll post mine then.
 
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Here is my list:
1. BIDMC- PRO- 3 +1, great academics, very sick pt population, multiple sites (most of the time at the BI), peds mixed in at away sites, Boston, best EMR that I have seen, big names on faculty, Red Sox games, residents are down to earth and friendly, Run the ED as a 3rd year NEG- Small amount of pent. trauma ( made up for at other sites), COL
2. PITT- PRO- EMS (both ground and flight), very academic, multiple sites ( split evenly among them), COL, Pitt, great residents, faculty are amazing NEG- different documentation at each site, Peds set up
3. UofC- PRO- EMS ( flight), multiple sites, new PD seems great, residents have a lot of fun, moonlighting, Chicago, sick pts, good trauma at one of their sites CON- trauma 2 at main hospital, change in leadership ( Dr. Howes is staying onboard but is focusing on international med more), traffic to get to sites, US weak
4. CMC- PRO- Benefits of a community program with a county type of patients, treat residents very well, residents seemed down to earth, Charlotte, COL, EMS fellowship, reputation of program, PD and aPD are very nice and residents loved them NEG- everyday lecture, one site, Not as academic as other programs
5. Vanderbilt- PRO- teaching, COL, EMR ( similar to BI set up), Trauma, Residents are fun, Peds integrated/ new peds ED, EMS fellowship ( nobody recently has done it) Neg- Nashville ( really dropped this program on my list), one site,
6. Maine Medical Center Pro- The most friendliest residents around, Peds integrated, only big hospital around, COL, Portland Neg- community program, no fellowships, no pent. trauma, one site
7. Temple- Pro- Philly, trauma, PD was amazing, great teaching NEG- one site, County, one type of pt population, COL
8. Advocate Christ- Pro- near chicago, residents seemed happy, great trauma NEG- oaklawn, no support for international, religious hospital
9. Indiana University-
10. University of Maryland
11. UMASS
12. ORMC
13. JAX Shands
14. Drexel
15. UCONN

My top 2 are a flip of a coin. I have family in Boston and my gut was leaning to BI. 3-5 I would be very happy at. After 8 my happiness goes way down. Some of my lower ranked programs are because of location others for really bad interview experiences. Feel free to PM if you want my thoughts about my lower programs.
 
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be careful of Jeff, some of the residents complain about the low acuity at the program
 
I've told a few programs they were my "tops" but now I've completely rearranged my list after seeing some drama, made me realized that the people and family are the most important things to me. I'm sure I'll push myself and succeed no matter where I go, if the enviornment is right. I've decided not read SDN anymore prior to the match.

1)Baystate. I really, really liked the PD here, very laid back, genuine guy. I also hit it off with the residents. Great bunch of people. Of course the patients and training are clearly top notch. Close to family.

2)UCONN. Quite a hidden gem in my opinion. Clearly great training, not as well known maybe because of its location but it works for me. Again, really liked the PD and the residents.

3)UMASS. Will be very happy here and really could have interchanged it freely with my top 3s. I'm not crazy about the flight exp. resident-focused PD and faculty.

4)Boston. old school bad ass kind of place. All the attendings I met were nice folks, as were the the nurses.

5)Maimonides. I'm not keen on NYC but really liked the feel here. PD is quite a character. residents are happy and can look at me straight in the eyes saying some of the best training and no scut. shouldn't be too far from the truth.

6)Brown. strong research, close to family.

7)SUNY Stonybrook. Really nice PD, solid training, by the books kind of place. at the end nothing really bad about this place and had a really good feel. decided to rank it higher

8)SUNY Syracuse

9)Jacobi

10)SLR. Wanted to like it more but got a mixed vibe from this place. People were nice but some were kind of insincere. Residents seemed happy. Many faculty members left recently. In a former life I've worked with attendings that trained at this place and they happened to be some of the weaker ones I've encountered.

11)Beth Israel
12)MOrristown
13)NYHQ
14)Johns Hopkins
15)Mt Sinai

2 programs not ranked.

Good luck all.
 
Created a new name to stay anon:
About me: Soon to be married, Middle of the road medical student with avg board scores, and probably a little better than avg letters. No Home EM program so went and did two aways. Have a few dogs, and am looking for a place that I can afford to start a family. Pretty much open to go anywhere as long as I can find a great clinically oriented residency. So on with my rank list

1. Texas A and M- Scott and White- Beautiful Hospital, Brand new peds hospital within a mile of the main campus. Work a few peds shift each month to keep current with the kiddos. 85 k visits, large catchment area. Temple is kinda a downside, but super cheap to live there, and the lake in Belton is awesome. Only an hour from Austin which is an awesome city. Great moonlighting opportunities start of 2nd year. PD was way down to earth and easy to talk to. Is in his first year, but has a very distinct handle on the program and where he sees it going. Coolest group of attendings I met. Was actually told by one of my interviewers that any program would make me a great Doc, but he wanted me to be a great husband, father, person, all these things were important. Most residents were married, some with kids.

2. Wake Forest- Main ED is nice, little older, but really practical layout. Brand new Peds ED is on the campus and beautiful and very kid friendly. Also do peds shift each month here. High Volume, really great group of residents. PD said he wanted to be the coach of the team not our boss. Just had a great feeling from start to finish. Most residents were married, not to many with kids.

3. UT-Houston- Surprised by this place. Memorial is the Main ED with about 50k visits but with supersick patient population, a ton of trauma and the only flight program in the city. 2nd hospital is a county place in NE Houston with a typical county patient population and about 75k visits. Spend about half your time in each hospital. Houston was beautiful.

4. Christiana Care-Super cool residents, Lots of patients. Main ED and hospital are beautiful. Very clinically adept group. Attendings seemed to really love to teach. Not many other residencies in this hospital so might get to do a little more than at other programs. Everyone seems really happy.

5. Cook County-Rotated here. Loved this place. Loved Chicago. Attendings love to teach, everyone is there because they want to take care of the under served. Patients were the most appreciative I have met anywhere. Wasn't the biggest fan of the separate trauma ED, and the lack of integrated peds shifts during the year. Would have been higher but my Fiance really doesn't wanna move some place this cold, and expensive. Would be very happy with the training here though.

6.Indiana- Was super stoked to interview here. Have read and heard so many good things. I was kinda sick on the interview day and this was my last interview so maybe that came into it but I just didnt really mesh with the Program directors. I felt both seemed a bit stand-offish. I really liked the other faculty I met and the residents were the coolest I met on the trail. Lots of athletes, after conference pick up basketball games, and resident get togethers. Loved the three hospital system. 250k patients between the three places, with all types of patients around. Feel like this place would train you to be a BAMF when you get done.

7.Maryland-Lots of stress on academics, teaching, and creating leaders in EM. Kinda felt like possibly at the expensive of clinical awesomeness. Again with the separate Trauma thing at Shock Trauma. By the end I realized i like taking care of trauma on my normal ED days. Thats what I will be doing out in the community probably should be good at this from the start.

8.Kentucky-Way suprised by this place. High Volume in the 80's with a brand new Department and only 8 residents per year. New ED is probably the nicest ED in the country and gets lots of patients from a hugh catchment area. Program director in flux as Dr Roberts is interim as they find a new PD. Some residents were really cool, and laidback people you would want to hang with. Others not so much. Probably happens everywhere but just seemed like more of the latter than at other places.

9.Cooper-County type population with a heavy emphasis on critical care in a nice new ED and hospital. Lots of trauma from all over south philly. Doing a lot of crit care research and sending a lot of ppl to start cooling programs once they finish residency. Loved the chairmen, Dr. Chanksy. This is one of those guys you want to learn from and would be happy to work for. Wasnt that keen on Philly, as I rotated there as well. Wife really didnt like it. Would have been higher if not for being basically in Philly.

10.Temple-Penetrating Trauma. Lots of it. Very low SES pt population that like to shot and stab each other. Often times being dropped off at the front door with no EMS involvement. Residents had down multiple ED thoracotamies before surgery even gets downstairs. 90% black population and in about the worst neighborhood in philly. Residents were super cool and seems very easy to get along with. I was told the Chair was gonna be really hard to interview with because he is so quiet and matter of fact but we were laughing and having a good time by the end. Another great place to train that would have been higher if not for the S.O. and the lifestyle we have in mind. Would not be un happy if i ranked here.

11.UPenn-Rotated here. Great sub-I. Great autonomy. Awesome attendings to teach and residents to work with. Super sick patient popluation. I sent someone pretty much every shift to the unit. As a sub-i was able to pick up any patient and get help as needed if they were over my head. An awesome experience. As a residency it was moved down by the lack of integrated peds shifts, philly as a whole, and the 4th year. I felt the 4th year should be a very different year where I would get to really spread my wings and get ready for being an attending and at times I didnt see that here. You do get to be a Jr Attending as a 4th year but often times they were tailoring the work-up of a patient to the attending working with them instead of being given the freedom to work up their patient on their own. THat being said there are some amazing things about this place and I would still be very happy to train here.

12. Louisville-weird interview day. I hated the group interviews. Loved the automony but just had a weird vibe. Think the training is solid, but just did not feel the fit.
13. NYMethodist-Didnt want to live in NY But would have been with the training.
14. York-Busy Community place. Would be great if I did not want to get out and explore the country a little more.
15. Albert Einstein (Philly)

Would really feel like I would get great training at any of the places on my list and would be pretty happy all the way to number 11 even if my SO had to make a concession about where we live for my training. I loved the process and look forward to March 16th.
 
Been following for awhile and figured I would add my list and thoughts:

1. Austin: I know, I know, brand new program. But super impressed by everyone in the program. Would love to end up in Austin, would love to train with the faculty I met. Surprisingly nice ED, hospital and simulation center. Just loved everything about this program except for the fact that there weren't any residents to meet. Didn't take this as a negative though because all the faculty were so excited about the new program. Highlights were peds experience at Dell, living in Austin, and awesome PD.

2. Little Rock: Really got a good vibe from this place. Had a really laid back attitude, but could tell that the teaching was outstanding and residents really had a handle of the place. Really excited about their peds experience. Huge emphasis on moonlighting which is a huge plus, whether or not I actually take advantage of this. Negative was they do all 12's but this is also good for moonlighting and job placement. Little Rock was surprisingly nice.

3. Birmingham: Another great program. Really felt like I clicked with the residents here, they were very hard working and had lots of good ideas of fun things to do outside of the ED. Probably the most impressive hospital system I have seen, literally like 28 square blocks of hospital all connected by skybridges. Really impressed by the PD, seemed like he really cared about the residents well being and he just had a good understanding of where he wanted the program to go and the type of people he wanted to be a part of it. Again impressed by hospital, PD and residents. Birmingham was nice, surprisingly a lot of outdoorsy activities.

4. JPS Fort Worth: Another new program in Texas. Loved it. Had a really good feeling about the PD and lots of the faculty. Residents were laid back and fun to hang out with. Huge hospital with sick patients all the time. This program is going to be getting more and more popular and harder to get into. Fort Worth is amazing, I like it way better than Dallas and the hospital is easy to get to from multiple directions. Would be very happy here. Nothing bad to say about it, but peds experience is pretty far away from JPS. Highlights are PD, hospital, and outstanding benefits.

5. Gainesville: Best set-up of any ED I saw. Also probably the coolest group of residents I came in contact with. It seemed like every resident from the program went to the dinner the night before and that was a really cool thing. Got to hang out, have fun. Highlights were ED, PD, great benefits and residents. Only reason it is #5 is because Gainesville is pretty hard to get into and out of especially when having to fly to see family.

6. UVirginia/ Charlottesville: Superb program. Would still be very happy to match here. Had a great interview with chair and met some awesome residents. Very academic but every faculty member I met was just outstanding. The city was small, but had a lot going on and a lot of outdoorsy things around the area as well. Not sure how much I want to do academics and part of me wants a more county feel, but this place really is a top-notch place. Peds was okay and not a lot of moonlighting.

7. Ohio State/ Columbus: Amazing, this place offers its residents it seems like every fellowship known to EM. Outstanding hospital and building onto it, but won't be done til 2014. Seemed like a great group of residents, but just didn't click with them like I did in other places. Columbus was a highlight and all the things that Ohio State can do for you.

8. Charleston: Have you ever been to Charleston? Probably my favorite city. Would be extremely happy to match here, mainly for the city. I loved the city. In fact, I'm putting this down as one of the places I would love to practice after residency. As far as the program, it was good, nothing bad to say about it.

9. UKentucky/ Lexington: Really nice ED, very new. Didn't get to meet a lot of residents as only a couple came to dinner and then only met a couple the next day also. The resident who gave us the tour seemed kind of disgruntled, or maybe just having a bad day, shouldn't affect me but it does. Highlight was Lexington because it is so gorgeous.

10. Wake Forest: An outstanding program that has a great reputation. Have a great peds experience which I would really like. Interviewed here towards the end of the interview trail and was pretty burnt out. Was looking for some encouraging words from the PD and just didn't get them, it's nice to feel pursued or wanted at a place, perhaps they just didn't want me. Great residents, really down-to-earth people, I would have enjoyed spending more time with them.

11. Louisville: Two words: Group Interviews! Really, seems like everyone I met disliked this, not sure why they continue to do these. Louisville seemed like a nice city though traffic was pretty bad for a city that isn't a metropolis. Just didn't get a great feel for much while I was there. Only met a couple of residents.

PM if you have further questions.
 
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Anonymously posted list:

US MD senior. Average pre-clin grades with 1 or 2 H's; 260 step I/ 280 step II, Pass CS, range of third year grades with some pass, some high pass, and some honors. Honors in EM clerkship. What I hear were very good letters/SLORs. No away elective.

1. Northwestern- awesome program. Completely justified 4th year. Lots of ICU time and act as senior resident for much of it. Chicago is awesome.
2. BIDMC- 3+1 is really interesting. I like the grad. responsibility here and senior-run department. Boston expensive, but cool
3. Vanderbilt- High severity of illness, lots of penetrating trauma. Nashville seems ok.
4. Pitt- 3 different hospitals, awesome EMS experience. Great research. Pittsburgh is a really cool city with cheap COL.
5. Cincinnati- Perfect graduated responsibility. Integrated flight program -50 scene response. EM incredibly respected and supported within hospital. Cincinnati is blah.
6. Michigan- Good variety of sites. Flight program that seemed mediocre...residents supposedly bumped for other flight crew occasionally and is 90% inter facility. I didn't love the idea of living in ann arbor
7. Advocate Christ- Clinically, a phenomenal training program. I have no doubt that I would be incredibly efficient and well prepared from this program, but considering going into academics, there just isn't enough resources at this program. Probably more regionally known than nationally.
8. Georgetown/ Washington Hosp. Cntr.- I think this program will eventually be top notch, but isn't quite there yet. Dr. Love the PD is awesome and I think has a clear vision of where the program is going. It would be a great place to be if you're interested in policy.
9. Indiana- Program seems great and all the residents love it here but I think it is a very specific type of person that is happy here and fits in. I don't think I fit that mold. Some of the faculty/PD seemed a little aggressive/off-putting during the interviews.
10. U Maryland- Nothing in particular I didn't like...just wasn't wow'ed with any aspect of the program and didn't fit with the residents.
11. UCSF- The only program I really didn't like. SF is awesome, but WHOA expensive and especially difficult on a resident salary. The PD was quite rude, I thought, and a lot of the faculty were off-putting. Just didn't get a good feel here.
 
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Man I remember when Feb 22 seemed like such a long ways away. Can't believe we have to submit this thing in a few days...

Good luck all.
 
M3 here. Just wanted to say "thank you" to all those that have posted. I love reading these lists.
 
1. CMC - Program is awesome. Treat their residents well. Charlotte is the perfect sized city.
2. EVMS - Awesome residents and faculty. Norfolk is not ideal, but its not the worst either.
3. Wake Forest - Toughest decision was whether to rank them #2 or #3. Great faculty, amazing facilities. Never got a chance to meet many residents. Concerns about how much fun Winston-Salem would be.
4. UVA - Loved everything except the condition of the ER.
5. Johns Hopkins - Awesome program. Four year program just isn't for me. Baltimore is a negative as well.
6. Christiana - Great residents and faculty. Would still be happy to match here.
7. ECU - Fun residents. Location left a lot to be desired.
8. WVU
9. Georgetown/Washington
10. York - Invested program director. Just don't want to be in PA.
11. VTC - Awesome program in cool city (Roanoke, VA). Would be much higher if they weren't in the 2nd year of their residency.
12. Penn State -
 
So a little about me: Single, male, med school in midwest looking to get out. Middle of the pack candidate, with honors in EM clerkships, above 230's on both steps, lots of EC activities. My main deciding factor was location and living in big city. Here's my list:

1. Emory: +Emory has been around for a while, great connections, Grady is absolutely ridiculous and will learn anything and see everything, ATL was rated #1 singles city a while ago. - not too thrilled about ATL compared to other places I interviewed, but not too worried about it.
2. Loma Linda: +CA is where I ultimately want to end up, residents all seemed super chill, low COL, - 30 min east of LA, which really means 1 hr to get to LA, but still not too concerned
3. ORMC: +it's FL, amazing weather, 1 hr from the beach, residents PARTY HARD and love to go out, all seem really happy. - 12 hour shifts may get a little tiring.
4. Beth Israel New York: +I originally wanted to end up in NY before interviewing, but after seeing the high COL, won't have a car, and a little too cold for me, I moved it down the list. but still seems a very solid program, residents love to go out and seem very happy.
5. USF: +again it's FL -PD was super awkward, 12 hour shifts might get tiring
6. Maimonides: +solid program with very sick pt population. -Would rather live in Manhattan than Brooklyn
7. North Shore (Manhasset): +Long Island would be a really cool place to live in -Nothing really stood out for me, seemed most residents grew up around the area and wanted to stay there for residency.
8. Advocate Christ: +Chicago can be a really cool city, but.....-cannot handle the winters, being interviewed by 9 different ppl was way too much.
9. Wash U (St Louis): Wanted to get out of midwest, and way too research heavy, 4 years long
10. Dartmouth: +Dartmouth is....Dartmouth..excellent off service rotations with lots of very smart people, but...-the city is literally 4 streets long, most people married, new program so lots of kinks that will have to be sorted out.
11. UMass: nothing really stood out
12. Louisville: -group interviews....got a very weird vibe from this program, still in midwest.

So all in all, I'd be thrilled to match at my top 4, and satisfied with top 7. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions!
 
6. Maimonides: +solid program with very sick pt population. -Would rather live in Manhattan than Brooklyn
7. North Shore (Manhasset): +Long Island would be a really cool place to live in -Nothing really stood out for me, seemed most residents grew up around the area and wanted to stay there for residency.

How are these statements congruous? Brooklyn is way cooler than Manhattan for anybody younger than 40 and with a net worth <$5 million. I basically quit going to Manhattan the last year that I lived in Brooklyn.

Long Island is your last stop before you move to Del Boca Vista. It's a sweet place to live if you're 55 and you have 3 kids in high school. Otherwise....
 
How are these statements congruous? Brooklyn is way cooler than Manhattan for anybody younger than 40 and with a net worth <$5 million. I basically quit going to Manhattan the last year that I lived in Brooklyn.

Long Island is your last stop before you move to Del Boca Vista. It's a sweet place to live if you're 55 and you have 3 kids in high school. Otherwise....

With the Brooklyn Vs. Manhattan issue, I said I'd rather live in Manhattan because I was basing it off the nightlife and single's scene. Can you elaborate on why Brooklyn is cooler than Manhattan? I never got to spend too much time down there when I went.

And same goes for Long Island, but I always think of the Hamptons when I think of Long Island...I know very skewed perception. So what I was trying to get at with Long Island is it would be nice to live in a suburb of New York City, but still be able to go into downtown and enjoy the nightlife.
 
With the Brooklyn Vs. Manhattan issue, I said I'd rather live in Manhattan because I was basing it off the nightlife and single's scene. Can you elaborate on why Brooklyn is cooler than Manhattan? I never got to spend too much time down there when I went.

And same goes for Long Island, but I always think of the Hamptons when I think of Long Island...I know very skewed perception. So what I was trying to get at with Long Island is it would be nice to live in a suburb of New York City, but still be able to go into downtown and enjoy the nightlife.

The nightlife and singles scene (assuming you're not a douchey musclebound bridge and tunnel clubber) in Brooklyn is as good or better than in Manhattan. Also, Brooklyn is closer to Manhattan than Manhasset is.
 
The nightlife and singles scene (assuming you're not a douchey musclebound bridge and tunnel clubber) in Brooklyn is as good or better than in Manhattan. Also, Brooklyn is closer to Manhattan than Manhasset is.

Brooklyn is mainly douchey hipsters in addition to "muscle-bound" B&Ters. It's actually hard to avoid.
 
I'll chime in as I found these threads helpful. DO student. Shooting for the moon and we'll see what happens, poor stats other than step 2 score (240) but not that guy that's going to say but had "awesome letters" as I have no idea what any of them say.
1. Cook County - Rotated here. Loved it. Autonomy is unparalleled. Residents were all very cool and pretty much ran the show. I like the idea of a 4 year program. I saw things I'm still telling stories about today. Can pretty much pick where you want to go when out. Chicago is my favorite city and close to home. The clincher, this is the girlfriends top spot. Yeah there is grunt (scut) work, but coming out of this place I feel like most jobs would seem easy.
2. Summa Akron City - Totally surprised after interviewing here. Akron area isn't that bad, lots of outdoors stuff to offer (mtn biking is my vice). Awesome Sim Lab. Brand new ED and entire ED department, conference hall, resident lounge, locker room, really state of the art stuff. Happy residents, lots of ICU time. Shock trauma for a month. Cheap to live. (-) Akron isn't Chicago, no friends in area.
3. MSU Kalamazoo - Really nice hospitals. Happiest residents I've come across. Seemed family oriented. 1on1 resident attending ratio when in ED. ED the strongest program in hospital. Awesome EMS experience. PD really works for the residents. Pretty cush (seems like they have techs for everything and people making calls for you) (-) Residents did say you won't see a lot of trauma, weird michigan rule for DOs eats up all my elective months. Hardly any diversity.
4. U Rochester - Very cool residents. Busy county like hospital. Mountains near by. Rochester seems like a cool city (Yeah I said it).
5. U buffalo - was surprised based on what I've heard about Buffalo, but the city has some really cool parts and seems to have a lot of parks. Would get great training here between their different facilities. Both here and rochester are just areas/programs im less familiar with so they fell down the list mainly for that reason
6. Mercy St Vincents - Rotated here. Amazing flight program. Busy ED and the ED residency definitely runs the hospital, strongest when on off service rotations. You'd get great training here no question but didn't really mesh with the residents and they didnt seem overly friendly to any of the students. Unfortunately Toledo really does not have much going for it, the downtown is like a neutron bomb went off, there is nothing there and most residents commuted in from the suburbs.

Yup, thats it, only 6 spots so there are some non rock stars lurking these forums. I'd truly be happy to match at any place on my list and because all seem to be awesome programs, just have some drawbacks I'd have to adapt to and make the best of. I really hope I don't have to SOAP (any catchy term for this yet?) into IM or family med.
Now back to the ultra competitive folks applying for Denver of another other program west of there. May the algorithm bring everyone good news on March 12.
 
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This thread needs some Best Coast love so here goes. I'm couples matching, and we ranked mainly based on location and then placed the programs within each city. I made my decisions mainly on gut, so I don't have a whole lot of explanations but I'm happy to answer any questions about programs.

1. USC - Rotated there, loved it. Love the faculty, patients, everything.
2. Harbor - A close second. A little unsure about the 3-4 change and transition to the new ED.
3. Oliveview - Love the PD and county/private split, but didn't 100% click with the residents and the commute between sites is daunting to say the least.
4. Highland - HATED the MMI interview day and everyone there is very proud of themselves...but it's highland.
5. Stanford
6. UCSF-SFGH - Rotated here too, liked it but wasn't in love. Unsure about the PD.
7. LLU - Really liked this program, not to thrilled about the area and the requirement to live within 40 miles.
8. Maryland - Shock trauma is so sexy. Baltimore is not.
9. Hopkins - Was surprised in a good way by this program. Love that you can roll your first year of fellowship into residency.
10. BMC - LOVED this place. Loved. Boston's cold and my significant other was opposed.
11. BIDMC - meh
12. UCI - Rotated here, it was cool and the residents seem happy, but way to community for me. I really like the PD.
13. NYP
14. Bellevue
15. Jacobi
16. BWH - Got a terrible vibe from this place on interview day. The (chief) resident who sat and talked with us was SUPER condescending and socially awkward. It was just a really weird interview day overall, including the group of applicants. Even the awesomeness of Mass General couldn't overcome it.

If I weren't couples matching, it would have looked something like this:
1. USC 2. Harbor 3. BMC 4. Maryland 5. Highland 6. Hopkins 7. NYP 8. Oliveview 9. Stanford 10. Bellevue 11. BIDMC 12. LLU 13. UCSF 14. Jacobi 15. UCI 16. BWH
 
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DO re-applicant, Steps >250, Good extracurriculars and leadership, High pass/high pass/ honors EM, EXTREMELY happy to be any where, still paranoid I won't match somehow . . .

1 Emory - Intro video narrated by Samuel L Jackson
2 Austin - Excellent food trucks
3 U of I Chicago - My brother's pretty awesome, works nearby
4 North Shore - good money, windows in the ED

5 Allegheny - Town's got an up-and-coming, but less annoying Portland vibe. tour guide hilarious
6 JPS Fort Worth - Bicycle to work year round, I like line-dancing
7 Baton Rouge - Scary good moonlighting, residents party hard, strange new part of country, boudin,

8 Grand Rapids - Eight hour shifts, extremely well funded organized/educated/staffed
9 Kentucky - Climb the Red River Gorge
10 St John - Happiest residents, internal moonlighting

11 Wayne State Sinai Grace - Lifetime of "holy ****" stories
12 Kalamazoo - Can swap out two shifts a month and fly a helicopter instead, PD well known
13 Buffalo - ED looks like an apple store, friends with some townie non-medical folk

14 Metro/Cleveland - Probably the best training of all the places, but WAY too many hours
15 Toledo - International experience in year three fantastic
16 Shreveport - Good pie shop near the hospital, Strawns, try the strawberry
+/- Most unusual ED design I've ever heard of

Interviews Cancelled: Arkansas, Augusta, Louisville, Oklahoma, Omaha, Iowa, Southern IL, Resurrection, Madison, Receiving, Maimonides, Rochester, Lincoln, Newark, Metropolitan, St Lukes, Lehigh,

(I'll post full reviews when I've time, bunch of these places didn't have recent info on SDN)
 
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DO re-applicant, Steps >250, Good extracurriculars and leadership, High pass/high pass/ honors EM, EXTREMELY happy to be any where, still paranoid I won't match somehow . . .

1 Emory - Intro video narrated by Samuel L Jackson
2 Austin - Excellent food trucks
3 U of I Chicago - My brother's pretty awesome, works nearby
4 North Shore - good money, windows in the ED

5 Allegheny - Town's got an up-and-coming, but less annoying Portland vibe. tour guide hilarious
6 JPS Fort Worth - Bicycle to work year round, I like line-dancing
7 Baton Rouge - Scary good moonlighting, residents party hard, strange new part of country, boudin,

8 Grand Rapids - Eight hour shifts, extremely well funded organized/educated/staffed
9 Kentucky - Climb the Red River Gorge
10 St John - Happiest residents, internal moonlighting

11 Wayne State Sinai Grace - Lifetime of "holy ****" stories
12 Kalamazoo - Can swap out two shifts a month and fly a helicopter instead, PD well known
13 Buffalo - ED looks like an apple store, friends with some townie non-medical folk

14 Metro/Cleveland - Probably the best training of all the places, but WAY too many hours
15 Toledo - International experience in year three fantastic
16 Shreveport - Good pie shop near the hospital, Strawns, try the strawberry
+/- Most unusual ED design I've ever heard of

Interviews Cancelled: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Omaha, Iowa, Southern IL, Resurrection, Madison, Receiving, Maimonides, Rochester, Lincoln, Newark, Metropolitan, St Lukes, Lehigh,

(I'll post full reviews when I've time, bunch of these places didn't have recent info on SDN)


Did you apply to EM first time too? Only wonder because your board scores/grades seem, from afar, to easily be enough to have landed you a spot somewhere. Lol, did I accidently wander into the Derm forum again...
 
im pretty avg candidate i would say. 240/250; doubt my letters are anything that special; only a few honors 3rd year; go to school in NE at a top 40 MD institution ; a bit of work and research; single guy looking mainly for best place to live. luckily i have no real attachments and will be happy at any of the 10 programs I've ranked

1- ORMC.. best vibe, love the city / weather
2 - UVA ... has been 1 off and on, so depending when i certify / officially submit could be 1
3 - Duke ... really enjoyed the people, not quite as nice of a city
4 - Palmetto Health South Carolina - awesome faculty / PD
5 - Pittsburgh - underrated city, would be nice place to live it seems.. just bad weather and people i interviewed with (applicants) really sucked, so that put it down on my list
6 - Hopkins - 4 years moves it down, but pretty impressive hospital.. maybe a bit too intense for me though
7 - Maricopa - really cool residents, don't really like AZ much

then 8/9/10 are other programs i interviewed at that all had really good training, i just didn't get the right vibe from them or the location or whatever and they will round out my list...
 
I would be hesitant to base my ranking of any program based on the people you interviewed with. Programs interview many people for their spots and odds are that the people that you interview with on any given day will not match at the same program.
 
A little about me, terrible pre-clinical grades, 201/223 step scores, pretty good SLOR's, honors in one EM rotation and a pass in the other, honors/high pass on all my 3rd year clerkships. I'm far from a rockstar but got a pretty good vibe from most places that I interviewed and I'm cautiously optimistic

1. SUNY Downstate - Rotated here in Aug-Sept and had an awesome experience, great teaching from attendings and upper level residents alike. High volume high acuity ED with tons of opportunities for procedures. Seems like a great place to train, residents were pretty happy and a great bunch to hangout and work with. Born and raised in NY and would love to return. 12 hour shifts during the first two years were a negative
2. LSU New Orleans - Very pleasantly surprised by my interview day here. As a minority applicant their commitment to diversity was impressive. Chance to moonlight as a PGY-2 and their "charge resident" system gives you tons of autonomy pretty early on. Another plus was the 3 months of elective time during the 4th year which gives you the time/opportunity to carve your own niche within EM. They also have several community outreach programs in place which is a big plus to me, a lot of my non ED time will be spend engaging in these sorts of activities. Residents were easily the most fun bunch that I encountered on the trail. 12 hour shifts were a negative
3. Emory - Rotated here and wasn't super impressed with the program. Had a few great experiences with the faculty and had several pretty ****ty ones too. Wasn't too pleased with the fact that I didn't receive a SLOR in spite of being promised one and I was unable to get in contact with ANYONE regarding this after the fact (actually they gave the shaft to several people that I rotated with). Having said that I went to college in Atlanta and love the city and the training is solid.
4. UCONN - My fav part of this program is the sim center, easily the largest and most impressive one I've ever seen. Not crazy about the idea of being in Hartford but it could be far worse.
5. University of Rochester - Location is the only bad thing about this program, put it anywhere halfway desirable and I would probably rank it first. Great resources, good job/fellowship placement and numerous fellowships in house. Lots of opportunities to be involved with EMS if you're into that. Not much diversity which is a bit of a drawback for me
6. USF at Tampa - Great location and facilities, but little diversity and 20 12 hr shifts during intern year were a negative.
 
Average applicant - midwestern med school, average grades, average step 1, 250s step 2, good EC's, little research
1. VCU - The residents and faculty I met were all great. Seems strong in critical care. Loved Richmond.
2. Wash U - Diverse pathology. Lots of trauma. Great off service rotations.
3. Palmetto - One of the nicest PD's I have met. Lots of different opportunities with 3 elective months. Strong ultrasound. South Carolina is beautiful.
4. Kentucky - Extremely nice faculty and residents. Ultrasound is going to be pretty good. Beautiful ED. One of the prettiest areas I've seen in the country. Interim PD so question mark when it comes to future direction.
5. MCG - Nice people. Seems to have an expert in every area. Not much in Augusta.
6. EVMS
7. UMKC
8. Louisville
9. Arkansas
10. Scott and White
11. SLU
12. JPS
 
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DO student, 230s/240s step I/Step II, passed PE, don't have honors instead A, B, C..., got an A at home institution EM rotation, don't know about my other two SLORs, got all As 3rd year, but my school has grade inflation, applied 42 MD (mostly midwest and south), got 12 interviews (three of them through interest emails they mattered more than I thought), ranked all 12, have not received much post interview feedback (a couple of thank yous nothing too personal), so hopefully 12 will be enough

1. Cook County (+) great autonomy, great pathology, great name/history, good curriculum, 4th yrs seems amazing, moonlighting opportunities, community EM rotations, good interview, awesome PD, like chicago (-) county ancillary staff can be difficult, a lot of medicine months intern yr, not much EM intern year, long drive for me personally

1a. Indiana (+) amazing hospitals, county-academic hybrid, amazing ICU experience, great EMS/mass event medicine opportunities, great children's hospital, cool residents, loved the pre interview dinner, leadership focus was cool, well known, low COL and great benefits, wife can transfer within her company (-) big resident class, lots of paperwork, some may not like the feel of the interview day

3. UIC-P (+) best ED on the trail, high volume, good trauma, hospital has huge catchment area (2.5 million), best flight program on my list (1500+ flights), amazing moonlighting opportunities, low COL, liked the residents, great benefits (-) wife may have a little more difficult time finding a job in peoria, not much elective time, PD was a little quiet but nice but didn't feel like my interview with him was amazing, plus didn't get the phone call post interview so don't know where I am on their ROL

4. UIC-C: (+) good hospitals, lots of variety, chicago is a fun city, good audition rotation, trauma at Christ is a bonus, good amount of fellowships, good toxicology experience, cool lectures, very laid back program (-) lots of driving from the diff sites, residents were alright didn't click with them, chicago is expensive with ipass and gas prices

5. Resurrection (+) loved St. Francis audition, good pathology at Res, great residents, comfortable environment, stronger program than people give it credit for, trauma at Sinai and Cook is strong, good benefits, in Chicago (-) avg interview day, didn't click with all faculty at Res, not as many opportunities (fellowships, flight, EMS...) as other programs

6. Kalamazoo (+) two great hospitals, great PD, cool residents, amazing EMS experience, good ICU time, good interview day, flight experience, low COL, close to chicago (-) wife's job will be harder to find, PD might be staying or leaving disappointed his status was not clearly explained on interview day, long interview day, big resident class

7. Ohio State (+) amazing program, best peds experience on my trail, tons of fellowships, Hawaii elective, cool/talented residents, great faculty, columbus seems fun (-) 1st interview so probably a little lower on my list just because its the furthest back in my memory, higher COL than expected, would rather be in chicago, don't really know why its my 7 just a gut feeling, but great great program really surprised on the interview

8. Metrohealth Cleveland (+) county-academic hybrid, tons of trauma, good ICU, flight, low COL, cool residents, great pre interview dinner, cleveland clinic was awesome, cool interviews and faculty (-) cleveland.....don't know what else, location was a big deal for me with this program

9. St. Vincent's Toledo (+) great county experience, active flight (4 flights during interview), good PD, chill residents, good trauma, low COL (-) not as many opportunities as other programs, LOCATION, difficult for my wife to get a job

10. Summa Akron (+) 2nd nicest ED, opened on my interview day, good volume, nice/relaxed residents, low COL, good benefits, cool rotation at Shock trauma, financially stable program (-) location, resident mentioned to get chest tubes had to go to Shock Trauma didn't sit well with me, seemed like a cush program, just a feeling

11. UT-Houston (+) amazing trauma, super high acuity (45-50% admit rate), low COL, good off service rotations, medical district was impressive, some county experience (-) location, didn't like weather too humid, didn't like size of city, residents seemed burned out, trauma is cool but not looking for that to be the main draw and it felt like that at UT, great program tho, great PD as well

12. Louisville (+) low COL, great autonomy, old program (-) group interviews weren't that bad, but didn't gel with old PD or new PD, weird residents, disappointing pre interview dinner with a resident who didn't want to be there, thought a lot about not ranking them, but ending up there would be better than nowhere

Just want to state these are my opinions, all of my ranks are great programs thats the beauty of EM its hard to go wrong with a program, I hope I match, I'd be real happy with top 7 and blown away with my top 3. Good luck to everyone.
 
]im pretty avg candidate i would say. 240/250; doubt my letters are anything that special; only a few honors 3rd year; go to school in NE at a top 40 MD institution[/B] ; a bit of work and research; single guy looking mainly for best place to live. luckily i have no real attachments and will be happy at any of the 10 programs I've ranked

1- ORMC.. best vibe, love the city / weather
2 - UVA ... has been 1 off and on, so depending when i certify / officially submit could be 1
3 - Duke ... really enjoyed the people, not quite as nice of a city
4 - Palmetto Health South Carolina - awesome faculty / PD
5 - Pittsburgh - underrated city, would be nice place to live it seems.. just bad weather and people i interviewed with (applicants) really sucked, so that put it down on my list
6 - Hopkins - 4 years moves it down, but pretty impressive hospital.. maybe a bit too intense for me though
7 - Maricopa - really cool residents, don't really like AZ much

then 8/9/10 are other programs i interviewed at that all had really good training, i just didn't get the right vibe from them or the location or whatever and they will round out my list...

Out of curiosity, based on all the best available match data that suggests otherwise, why do you think your profile makes you an "average" applicant? Because I think a lot of people would be pretty happy to be in those shoes you've got on.
 
Everyone keeps referring to themselves as "average applicants" with like 250s and a bunch of honors in third year. I'm going to keep it real: I feel like I was pretty competitive. Top 5 med school, top third of my class, 220 on step 1, 249 on step 2, Honors three EM rotations (one home, two away), one second author publication in a major journal, several abstracts at national meetings. I'm just listing my top 5, because I don't feel like explaining the whole list.

1. UCSF: loved the sites, love the city, super strong research division, lots of underserved healthcare. Rotated here and thought the faculty and residents were fantastic.
2. Highland: amazing name, established, very impressive program with both a county feel and an academic component. Would be very happy to end up here. PDs are super-approachable.
3. BMC: Program director here was incredibly humble, kind, and awesome. Amazing research, county feel, excellent and innovative projects being championed by faculty both in and out of the ED.
4. Northwestern: would've ranked it higher if I were convinced by the PD's assertion that they get a decent amount of underserved patients--I think they define "underserved" as "uninsured," which may be disadvantaged to some degree, or may just be people like my sister who is middle class, employed, and without health insurance. Awesome curriculum, love chicago.
5. University of Washington: I know, its new. But faculty and residents alike seem very happy here. I also kind of like the thought of being part of a class that shapes the program for years to come. Love seattle, love the variety of trauma (bear attacks?!?!)

:thumbup: for "keepin it real"
 
I am an odd applicant for at least a few reasons (personality notwithstanding). I'm leaving a military service commitment after working as a flight surgeon for several years. I applied broadly due to relatively low USMLE scores, but had good EM grades, great LORs (from people I work for), and some relevant military experience.


1. UC Davis- location, reputation, PD is awesome
2. U of Arizona- location, great PD and faculty
3. Baystate- felt very much at home here with faculty and residents
4. Akron General- robust didactics and an impressively dedicated PD
5. University Hospital / Case- openness of the PD to fix or customize the program
6. Mercy St Vincent- flight medicine
7. York- wilderness medicine
8. University of Toledo- 3 electives
9. Sinai Grace- great PD
 
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****'s about to get real...
--Below average applicant.
--MD/MPH combined program, current senior.
--Step 1 first attempt 181, 2nd attempt 205. Step 2 225.
--Ranked towards bottom of class.
--Struggled to get C's first year. Worked up to A's/B's/C's 2nd year. By third year it was all A's & B's with average/slightly above average board scores in almost everything.
--A lot of volunteer hours. Not sure if it meant anything, but good conversation starters at a few interviews.
--Worked hard during 2 aways and I've been told the letters were really good.

Same old sob story. I came into med school never being challenged and it took me a while to figure out what it meant to really study and how to study for multiple choice tests especially (majority of undergrad sciences had been in engineering, thus free response tests even in bio).

I knew EM would be hard to get with my stats, but I want it more than anything. Applied to 145 EM programs and got 5 interviews total. 2 at places I did aways and the other 3 were late interviews offered after I emailed the PD/PC expressing interest.

1. SUNY Downstate - Really liked everyone (residents, attendings, PD). Love Brooklyn. Love the pace. Kings County pathology. Good location for my SO. Overall felt at home.

2. GWU - Great didactics. DC is great. I'm interested in policy and this place has some great resources for that. They seem really into developing well rounded graduates with a wide array of interests.

3. Akron General - Although very unlike my top 2, the interview really surprised me. I have been on the fence about community and academic programs, and this one really made me re-think community in a positive way. All of my interviewers were great and made me feel like I would really fit in here. Residents too. Ranking this place above my last 2 had a lot to do with gut feeling.

4. Penn State - Really drab city, but it there are a lot of major cities within relatively close driving distance. Overall, I liked what I saw on interview day. The ED is really nice/new. I got to sit in on M&M, which gave great insight as to how the program interacts, and I liked what I saw.

5. St John, Detroit - I had a hard time getting a feel for this program. The residents came in and all kind of said snarky little things about the program the whole time we were waiting to interview. Overall, snarkyness doesn't bother me and I thought they were funny, but they just seemed...worn out? But at the same time I felt like I'd get along with them. There are a few weird rotations you have to take (nephrology???). On the plus side, I loved my interviewers. I felt like we really clicked. Also, It seems like the residents get great experience with handling heavy loads of really sick patients. And Detroit doesn't scare me.


I will be OVERJOYED to go to any of these 5 programs. Can't wait 'til that email on Monday saying I matched categorical.
 
@Hypomaniacs We've got pretty similar stories, best of luck to you. Hope to see you @ Downstate in July
 
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@Hypomaniacs We've got pretty similar stories, best of luck to you. Hope to see you @ Downstate in July

You're right, we do. Thanks for the well wishes. Hoping to see you there as well.
 
****'s about to get real...
--Below average applicant.
--MD/MPH combined program, current senior.
--Step 1 first attempt 181, 2nd attempt 205. Step 2 225.
--Ranked towards bottom of class.
--Struggled to get C's first year. Worked up to A's/B's/C's 2nd year. By third year it was all A's & B's with average/slightly above average board scores in almost everything.
--A lot of volunteer hours. Not sure if it meant anything, but good conversation starters at a few interviews.
--Worked hard during 2 aways and I've been told the letters were really good.

Same old sob story. I came into med school never being challenged and it took me a while to figure out what it meant to really study and how to study for multiple choice tests especially (majority of undergrad sciences had been in engineering, thus free response tests even in bio).

I knew EM would be hard to get with my stats, but I want it more than anything. Applied to 145 EM programs and got 5 interviews total. 2 at places I did aways and the other 3 were late interviews offered after I emailed the PD/PC expressing interest.

1. SUNY Downstate - Really liked everyone (residents, attendings, PD). Love Brooklyn. Love the pace. Kings County pathology. Good location for my SO. Overall felt at home.

2. GWU - Great didactics. DC is great. I'm interested in policy and this place has some great resources for that. They seem really into developing well rounded graduates with a wide array of interests.

3. Akron General - Although very unlike my top 2, the interview really surprised me. I have been on the fence about community and academic programs, and this one really made me re-think community in a positive way. All of my interviewers were great and made me feel like I would really fit in here. Residents too. Ranking this place above my last 2 had a lot to do with gut feeling.

4. Penn State - Really drab city, but it there are a lot of major cities within relatively close driving distance. Overall, I liked what I saw on interview day. The ED is really nice/new. I got to sit in on M&M, which gave great insight as to how the program interacts, and I liked what I saw.

5. St John, Detroit - I had a hard time getting a feel for this program. The residents came in and all kind of said snarky little things about the program the whole time we were waiting to interview. Overall, snarkyness doesn't bother me and I thought they were funny, but they just seemed...worn out? But at the same time I felt like I'd get along with them. There are a few weird rotations you have to take (nephrology???). On the plus side, I loved my interviewers. I felt like we really clicked. Also, It seems like the residents get great experience with handling heavy loads of really sick patients. And Detroit doesn't scare me.


I will be OVERJOYED to go to any of these 5 programs. Can't wait 'til that email on Monday saying I matched categorical.

thanks for keeping it for real. I'd be happy at my top 10 of 15 programs myself
 
I'll share my ROL. My stats are 229, 245 on boards. Probably around the top 25 percent in my class. Honors in my EM rotations. I applied to 24 programs, got 4 rejections and turned down 7 when the invitations started coming in. I think Vanderbilt would have been ranked quite highly on this list (probably 3 or 4) if they hadn't turned me down :'( Location is VERY important for me, I didn't even apply to programs that were in places I wouldn't be extremely happy to live in.

1. UT Chattanooga - Great location and I was extremely impressed with the quality of residents and faculty for it being such a new program. The hospital treats residents really well and everyone seemed really happy there.

2. Univ New Mexico - This was my number one from the moment I decided to do Emergency Medicine until yesterday morning but in the end family and friends seemed more important than program strength alone. I hope I don't regret making the switch. I loved the location, the culture, and the quality of faculty and residents there.

3. Univ of Arizona - Probably the most impressive program that I interviewed at. I just didn't feel like they were quite as laid back as the residents and faculty at UNM and UTC and overally I felt like my personality was a better mesh with the top two.

4. Univ of Arizona UPHK - Another new program but the faculty are incredible and they work with U of A main so much that I don't think being new is an issue.

5. Maricopa - Loved the program, didn't love Phoenix

6. Carolinas

7. Emory - Liked the program, didn't like Atlanta

8. Grand Rapids

9. University of Arkansas Medical Science
 
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Carib IMG, 240+ on both, top 1/3 of class. Letters commented on positively during interviews. Will write a little more extensive in the other thread about IMG about my experience, but applied VERY broadly (138 programs)

1) Univ of Mississippi- felt like I clicked really well with the residents. Really liked PD. Ability to tailor education to interests. Only negative for me was that it's Jackson.
2) Sparrow (MSU-Lansing)- Lansing a much better location, 2 hospital system. Really friendly and laid back residents
3) NY Metropolitan- Residents seemed pretty tired. Was concerned about commute to Westchester, but everyone there said it wasn't a big deal. Incredible benefits supposedly. Huge cost of living.

Prelim years ranked after that, but hoping and praying it won't come to that.
 
About me: US Allopathic applicant, Step 1 + 2 = 240s, top 1/4 pre-clinical, research (no pubs), MS3 honors in medicine + OB-Gyn, honors in 2 EM clerkships (home + away), solid SLORs.. applied to 30 programs, received 25 interview offers, went on 12 interviews.

I'll write my ROL mainly focusing on the subjective aspects. Most of the nuts and bolts (benefits, curriculum, shift schedule) can be found online. My decisions were made mostly on gut feeling.

1. Erlanger MC, Chattanooga, TN - PROs: rotated here, loved my rotation, good resident autonomy, solid core faculty. Single institution academic program with a community/county feel (only teaching institution in area, only hospital to serve indigent population in large area, staffed partially by community docs) Good curriculum (no floor months) like the shift schedule (17 12s, 17 10s, 16 10s). Love the area. CONs: new program. hoping the growing pains are mostly taken care of.. hospital losing money as of Nov 2011. No real international opportunities.

2. MUSC - Charleston, SC - PROs: got one of the best "vibes" on the trail here, everyone was super nice, residents seem very happy. Love the location, probably one of my ideal US cities (historic downtown, good architecture, arts scene, beach nearby, lots and lots of Southern charm), pretty classic EM curriculum, great PD (really enjoyed our conversation!) single institution with lots of other residency programs, newish EM program (2006) t-sheets (going to EPIC soon IIRC) CONs: newish program, not established, division of medicine (IIRC)

3. UNC - Chapel-Hill PROs: loved the area.. this is a program I'm very tempted to rank #1. PD was outstanding, gave an inspiring initial presentation (not joking). Beautiful facilities, UNC is right near-by so all the academic opportunities are there, Chapel-Hill is a perfect small-town, you can tell it's a very affluent area (fwiw). Training split between UNC (tertiary, academic) and Wake-Med (community, indigent care). Residents seem to really enjoy the Wake-Med experience to prepare for community practice. Work is something like 22 7, 8, 9s depending on level. So lots of short shifts. Would be very happy to match here. If I match here I probably will never leave, lol. CONs: lots of driving between hospitals, lots of short shifts (not really a con) more expensive COL (but still not bad)

4. Palmetto-Health, Columbia, SC: PROs: Wow! a very pleasant surprise. Program very established. Single-institution with large catchment area. Most organized powerpoint presentation about program I saw on the trail. PD outstanding, makes it clear that resident wellness and overall success is huge priority (all of them say this but Dr. Cook is so genuine you have to believe him). Hawaii elective. CONs: 12 hr shifts IIRC, Columbia is a nice-sized city but the location isn't ideal.

5. Emory, Atlanta, GA: PROs: established program, been around forever, well known, large class (19 + a few saudis) classic county experience at Grady. Emory was one of those places you really got the feeling from senior residents that the training they receive makes them very confident in going to any ED in the country and practicing.. they walk around like rockstars on the tour. I felt this about many programs but Emory more than most. Diverse resident class. ATL is a cosmopolitan city; good sports (Braves!), restaurants, ATL symphony, anything you want to do basically. CONs: class size a little big for me.. ATL in general is just a bit big, don't feel like dealing with traffic or living in an apt in the city for 3 years. Would be happy to match here, probably if I didn't grow up around ATL I would rank Emory higher.

6. Ohio State, Columbus, OH: Another pleasant surprise. Really nice faculty. Interview day was full of classic interview questions (whatever that means, not malignant just obvious they're running some kind of personality profile.) PD seems very nice, pro-resident. Was impressed with their U/S, peds, and ICU experience. Columbus is a great city, didn't know much about the area before coming here but felt I could definitely be happy when I left. CONs: far from friends/family, cold winters, ED is under construction for the next few years. I'm an SEC fan..

7. UAB - Birmingham, AL: PROs: very energetic, young PD excited about EM and preparing residents for community (and academic) practice. Emphasis on clinical and also administrative EM (moonlighting highly emphasized) Beautiful facilities, classic "old Southern" feel to city. Hospital makes a lot of money and you can tell.. CONs: not too excited about B-ham.

8. Utah - PROs: SNOWBOARDING!!! haha, excited, "cool" PD.. residents seem happy, good experience at IMC (off-site hospital). SLC is a cool town CONs: like the city but friends/gf/family far away. Hospital up on the hill.. lower volume at primary site, multiple institutions so lots of driving..

9. Scott & White, Temple, TX - PROs: Solid program. Established. Large catchment area. My impression of S&W: "set up for resident success". Very organized system (so less worrying about system errors and focus on education). CONs: I'm a single guy (with SO) not too excited about the location. It's not bad.. just a smaller town. Austin is amazing but 1.5 hours away.

10. UAMS, Little Rock, AR - PROs: established, good moonlighting (internal + outside). Cool faculty. CONs: kind of wierd interview day, PD wasn't there.. was really tired (crazy week on the road) so that probably coloured my impression. Not super excited about LR, but seems cheap COL..

11. Loma Linda, CA - PROs: Dr. Smith (PD) is awesome, good resident advocate. Strong academic and county training at LL and Riverside County. Good U/S, good network in Cali if you wanna stay there (Riverside attendings are high ups in CEP). 1 hr to good surf, 1 hr to decent snowboarding. CONs: an hour from everything, the IE sucks. do not want to live in So Cal.

12. UMC - Las Vegas, NV - PROs, solid program, good entertainment in Vegas, separate trauma dept seemed cool. Good "systems" training in residency. CONs: do not want to live in Vegas.

My ROL is primarily set up on location. I'm ranking two fairly new programs above some very established programs.. I'm a self-directed learner and feel that all programs on my ROL will give enough appropriate supervision and opportunities to "learn from your patients" to become an excellent EP. There's a balance between happiness at work (ie. "I'm in the perfect program") and happiness at home, (ie. "Perfect location"). I love the location of both my #1 and #2 and have no concerns about residency life or training (rotated at #1 and loved it). I'm a little bummed that I'm not ranking some programs higher (**UNC**, Palmetto, OSU, Scott & White) as they were really excellent interview days and I was really impressed! Overall it was a great interview season and I enjoyed every place I went. EM people are generally very cool...
 
I used these threads so much before, that I have to post mine now.

About me: although I normally cringe away from sharing scores, I'll 'keep it real' as well and say that I'm a very competitive applicant. pre-clinical top 10% of class, Steps 250's/260's, honored all rotations third year and EM rotations, AOA, strong SLORs, + research pub (but not in EM). I evaluated programs mostly by 'gut feel.' Grew up as a west-coaster with no qualms about moving anywhere.

1. Vandy - PROS: dear GOD what a place! blown away by the detailed organization, by the PD and chair, by their resources and by the sense that I would be molded into awesome there. The emphasis on teaching woo-ed my happy nerdy self. You know their policy for &#8216;tenureing' faculty is based on the quality and frequency of their teaching? It seemed&#8230;inspiring, challenging, and I do love a challenge. The fact that they have their own EMR written by Vandy, plus they are open and excited about constantly improving the program really cemented it for me. CONS: I had to look on a map to find out where Tennessee was, I know no one there, no snow.

2. Utah - this was 0.02 msec behind Vandy, was such a hard decision. Agonized over it until the bitter end. Would be ecstatic at both. PROS: 100% my type of people, a program that is passionate about its residents and giving them the best opportunities, open to feedback, impressive mix between four sites, IMC is oh so cool as EM are the only residents on the trauma team, plus you can't beat the location. My favorite type of fun - mountains and ton of them. low COL. CONS: lots of Mormons, not quite the same alumni network as Vandy

3. Stanford &#8211; PROS: lots of $$$/resources plus working at three sites plus living in beautiful norcal. Also, they had s'mores at the interview dinner. I'm addicted to s'mores. CONS: 12 hour shifts plus 30 min commute each way. I hate traffic/driving. high COL.

4. Loma Linda &#8211; PROS: possibly the best mix of county/academic experience I saw in California, plus it's 3 years&#8230;WIN. PD is amazing, the best peds ED on the interview trail, low COL. CONS: I don't like Southern California.

5. UCLA Harbor &#8211; PROS: great vibes from faculty and residents, good reputation, &#8216;live on the beach, work in the county,' you'll leave speaking adequate Spanish. CONS: incredibly poor system of organization in the ED, they are hampered by space and funds, still on paper charts, residents seem tired and overworked. Unenthused by the upcoming switch to 4 years, even though it wouldn't apply to me.

6. UC Davis &#8211; PROS: good enthusiastic PD, great proximity to Tahoe, 3 years, nice people. CONS: Sacramento = no bueno

7. U of Az &#8211; PROS: jived with the residents here almost as much as at Utah, old strong program, good rep, new PD is cool. CONS: Scorching summer heat.

8. OHSU &#8211; thought this place would be #1 coming in, surprised that I didn't quite mesh there.

9. Highland &#8211; PROS: great rep, could live in San Fran, happy low key program with a rocking yearly Halloween ball. CONS: four years

10. USC - PROS: rockstars CONS: couldn't convince me of the utility of a fourth year

11. St. Lukes-Roosevelt - PROS: NYC would be an adventure. CONS: not a strong Peds exposure

12. Albany - PROS: super nice and supportive PD, best interview dinner on the trail. CONS: nothing special draws me to Albany

13. Denver - PROS: great rep, denver may be my most ideal city of all time - beautiful, metropolitan, close to snow with large hispanic population. CONS: really poor vibe from program, they changed PDs two years ago, rumors they might change again, had an extremely unpleasant interviewer.

14. Mayo - PROS: amazing organization and resources. CONS: I can't live in Rochester Minnesota, it's too......'married and settled down' people

 
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Not too keen on sharing scores, but for the sake of transparency...

Midwest MD program. Step 1 220s, Step 2 CK 270s, passed CS. Average preclinical grades, top 1/3 of class after clinical rotations figured in. 3rd year 2 honors, 3 high pass, 4th year 1 EM honors and 1 EM high pass with SLORs from both and both away since no home program. Honors MICU with LOR and LOR from 3rd year medicine clerkship. 2nd author on a book chapter (not in EM) published. Extras: local EMIG president, helped start a volunteering organization, went to regional SAEM and EMRA conferences. Red flag: failed a preclinical test/class, but passed on the retake.

Applied to 40 programs, mostly midwest. Received over 20 invitations to interview, but withdrew my application from many programs before I heard back from them and very early on. Accepted 14 interviews only in the midwest. On the trail, found that the "fit" found me. Although all EM people are awesome, each place has a personality that either coincides with my personality or did not. For me, the "fit" in combination with location (family considerations) drove much of my ranking. I did not leave any programs off because I felt that I would be fine anywhere I interviewed and that the training would be good. Very long/hard debate between 1 & 2 for me.

1. Regions Hospital (St. Paul): Agree with the PD philosophically and great fit well with residents, love the twin cities, good pt mix, good critical care and EMS, "ultrathesia" months integrating EM, US, anesthesia and EMS during first year to spend more overall time in ED, transparent in feedback and changing the program
2. Indianapolis: Awesome program overall and great fit with residents and attendings. Lots of critical care, EMS, advocacy, disaster management. Good pt mix and insane volume (250k visits). Very willing to change. Enjoyed the city. Despite large program size, I felt that they were very involved with each resident and making sure they succeed.
3. Hennepin: Really like the PD, attendings and residents. County hospital with lots of research and infinite trauma. EM "owns" the ED and runs the traumas, does the reductions, etc. 3rd year pitboss role allows the 3rd year resident to function as an attending and run a section of the ED, more-or-less. US, EMS, critical care and surgery heavy. Twin cities are great. Do not like the lack of airways until 3rd year.
4. Wash U in STL: Really like the PD, attendings and residents. High volume of advanced disease and trauma. Tons of research and academic opportunities with lots of elective time. STL is a fun city. Not too wild about a 4 year program (the only 4-year program I interviewed at and only applied to three 4 year programs).
5. Madison: Emphasis on EMS and critical care with a strong flight program. PD and residents are solid. Madison is fun, but not really interested in being in a college town. Have a 3+1 format for an extra year of residency to explore interests or prepare for fellowship if desired.
6. UMKC: Love KC and the people. Established program with large volume trauma. KC is my hometown, so looking for a change from that for a while.
7. Iowa: Lots of EMS, critical care, great residents and attendings. Not too wild about a college town, though I do like IA City.
8. Mayo: Lots of critical care, lots of EMS, fairly high volume. Program surprised me in how much I liked it and how well I fit, but it ended up lower on the list because of location with respect to wife's educational pursuits.
9. Resurrection: I may be the only person out there that does not want to live in Chicago. I loved the program and felt very at home with the PD and residents. Residents seemed to be running the hospital (not just the ED), which was cool and not many other specialties training there, so EM residents got to do a ton.
10. SLU: Surprising maturity for a newer program. Large trauma volume. Like STL. People are cool.
11. Omaha, NE: Solid program. Great people. Trade trauma days with another local hospital at which residents do not rotate. City is OK.
12. KU: Newer program, so resident to resident mentorship lacking, which ended up being more important to me than I had originally thought. Love KC, the people and feel that the program is solid overall.
13. Tulsa, OK: I found that I do not have a Southern personality (aka, poor fit with residents), but the PD was a lot of fun and very down to earth. Program seems to be on its feet despite recent change of hospital.
14. Springfield, IL: See a lot of volume (120k visits for 6 residents/class), but I felt the program was too new to offer good resident to resident mentorship going through. Split trauma years between major hospitals in town, but residents work at both so no impact on education. Not that desirable of a location for my wife and I.
 
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About me: competitive app w/ very high step scores, nearly all honors 3rd year, honors in EM w/ strong slors, no especially interesting EC's, ruggedly handsome, from the midwest. I applied to about 30 places all over the country and got interviews everywhere. Favored 3 year programs heavily, as I'm interested in going into critical care.

For me, I think the ideal program would be a single site community hospital that serves as the regional level 1 and tertiary care center. (One thing I noticed during interviews was how many residents raved about their community months, as they got to do a lot more w/o the pressure to consult out and saw a higher proportion of sick patients) Unfortunately, there really aren't all that many places that fit this bill.

As far as the whole "there are no bad programs" thing, that might be true and I'm sure that the RRC ensures every program graduates competent residents, but I do believe that there are significant differences in the quality of training provided between places. All in all, I'd be thrilled to end up at any of my top 5 or 6 and would certainly be happy with any of my top 10.

1. Advocate Christ--loved this place, unrivaled clinical training w/ a pretty forgiving schedule. A community hospital w/ bite, that sees and does everything. Single training site. Got along well w/ faculty and residents. Love the way the ED is staffed (residents 1:1 w/ attendings staffing a third of the department w/o any formalized graduated responsibility). Negatives: some wierd off-service rotations (no floor medicine, but floor peds, gen surg and 2 weeks neuro); trauma only during dedicated rotations; not a big name to impress your in-laws, it's in Oak Lawn, so most people commute from the city. Christ was the best fit for me in a location that both me and my SO love, so it was my clear #1.

2. Vandy--man, the leadership of this program blew me away. It's clear that Slovis and Wrenn (the chair and PD, respectively) put a premium on education and they've built a fantastic shop for this. Seems like they get great training w/o any major deficiencies, only worry is that it's a touch too tertiary. Also didn't really like it how 1st years don't work much on the high acuity side. I was actually disappointed w/ Nashville, but I"m sure I could put up w/ it 3 years.

3. UC Davis--liked the residents and faculty a lot. They see a ton of sick patients at Davis, but also have a great community site to round it out. Contrary to a lot of other people, I actually liked Sacramento--seemed like a really livable city w/ lots of bars and restaurants, fantastic weather year round, and you could live close to the hospital and bike in every day.

4. Indy--Fantastic program, probably the gold standard. Great training w/ a huge volume and diverse sites all located pretty close to each other. Fantastic critical care training (although 2 months of PICU is a little overkill). Leadership seems great w/ a lot of adaptability and desire to adopt best practices. That said, I didn't feel like I fit in w/ the people as well as my top 3 and the PD did come on a little strong. Indianapolis seems like a decent place to live, but it is kind of blah.

5. Pitt--another great program that I'd be thrilled to match at, fantastic program w/ great training, great ICU experience. Negatives for me were the multiple sites (university hospital seem way too specialized for me) and the prehospital focus. I do like Pittsburgh as a city though.

6. Brown--loved this place, probably woulda been number 3 if it weren't a 4 year program. I also got the impression it had a little more formal environment than some of the others.

7. ORMC--community hospital that sees it all w/ a ridiculously high acuity rate. Big negative for me here was Orlando--it just seemed like a dumpy city to me w/o all that much going on.

8. Carolinas--another place where the hospital fits my ideal, what pushed this place down was the large number of off-service rotations (they spend less than half their residency in the ED) and the daily lectures (read: no days off during the week). Also, didn't get a good vibe from the leadership and Charlotte was another eh city, kind of the Indianapolis of the South.

9. Maine--man, Portland seems like such a nice little city--I could definitely be happy there. Nice academic community program where the residents do a lot themselves. It fell in my list b/c of the lack of patient diversity, anemic trauma volume, and I got a weird vibe from some of the residents at the dinner.

10. OHSU--biggest disappointment on the trail for me. Great location, but didn't really feel the residency. By far the worst turnout to the dinner w/ only like 2 residents showing, and then only met one or two the next day too, leaving me w/o any knowledge of how I'd fit in w/ them. Also didn't like the leadership all that much, and the group interview with the aPD was really wierd--I don't think I could put up w/ her for 3 years. Also didn't like the fact they rotate between 4 different hospitals and the highly university atmosphere. That said, I do think the complaints about their volume and trauma, or lack thereof, are overblown.

11. Medical College of Wisconsin--seems like a good program that turns out top notch clinicians. Not a whole lot to dislike about this place, but nothing really set them apart either. They did hype their Peds experience, but honestly I'm not so sure asit seemed more dominated by tertiary care type stuff vs "normal" sick kids, and the residents get pushed aside by the fellows on codes.

12. Regions--stand up program w/ happy residents, location is a negative for me.

13. Hennepin--strong program w/ good rep. Pretty low acuity overall since they see a ton of BS, couple that w/ really aggressive triage to the resus bay that's only covered by the R3's, and you get a program where it's really only one year of emergency medicine. Residents also seem tired and not as happy as at other places. Recent, very abrupt, PD change also a red flag.

14. Madison--volume seems really low, the ED was literally empty the day I interviewed. Also didn't care for the focus on flight.

15. Wake Forest--liked this program a lot, great high-yield curriculum. Seemed like all the residents were married men though, and I could not see myself living in Winston-Salem.

16. UCSF--I got a really bad vibe from this place, huge disappointment. The hospitals are dominated by others services and the residents seemed beaten down. Off service rotations seemed pretty low yield, like having to stay in one room during Gas, one month each of OB and Gyn, no ICU months until 3rd year. Also, they only get the trauma airway during weekends which is a huge red flag for me. Finally, the PD seemed bat**** crazy.

17. UIC--weird, weird interview day. No real introduction other then a five minute spiel from the PD about how they rotate at like 7 different hospitals. Then off to conference where they do this bizarre "introductions" thing where each resident, attending and applicant in attendance introduces themselves to everyone else--the whole thing took like 45 minutes. Bad feel and the fact that you have to commute to every side of Chicago almost made me not rank this one.
 
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1. Peoria, IL : (+) EM is a powerhouse and the residents are very respected in off-service rotations, awesome moonlighting, strong peds, very enthusiastic and helpful residents, great salary and benefits (-) 3 hours away from nearest large airport
2. Iowa : (+) Amazing facilities, air med program, awesome residents, great salary and benefits, fit in very well, close to family (-) Didn't get to meet the PD, had one awkward interview
3. Kalamazoo : (+) PD is amazing and very well-known, active oral board prep, mix of university/community, lots of procedures, large class with great residents, low cost of living, amazing interview day, strong reputation (-) Living in Michigan, not sure whether PD is staying with program?
4. Dayton, OH : (+) Protected conference time, good didactics, balances clinical experience, procedure friendly, strong curriculum, good benefits (-) No resident dinner before interview, didn't get to meet the PD, didn't click as well with residents
5. Springfield, IL : (+) Strong curriculum, have friends in the area, lots of potential, very impressed with the PD--one of my favorites that I met, good didactics (-) Newer program, less than stellar salary and benefits
6. Resurrection in Chicago : (+) EM residents are the go-to residents of the hospial, tons of procedures, 100% written and oral board pass rate, happy residents, very impressed with program (-) This would be much higher in my list if it weren't in Chicago
7. Corpus Christi : (+) Trauma codes run by EM residents, 9-hour shifts, protected conferences, no competition with other residents, US is very strong (-) Location, newer program
8. Omaha, NE : (+) Loved Omaha, great residents, strong program, great salary and benefits (-) Disappointed by curriculum, very rural focus
9. Maricopa in Phoenix : (+) Loved Phoenix, strong program with a great reputation (+) Too county, old facilities, not a great fit for my learning style, bad review by a student who rotated there brought it down to #9 when it used to be #6
10. U of MO Kansas City : (+) Strong faculty, value resident input, oral board prep (-) Finances, didn't click with residents, not a great fit for me
11. El Paso, TX : (+) Good reputation, read own CT & US, protected conference time (-) No reading schedule, undesireable location, interview experience seemed unorganized, the residents were unenthusiastic

Plus 2 others.

I will be be relieved and excited to match anywhere on my list!!
 
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