- Joined
- Nov 16, 2007
- Messages
- 87
- Reaction score
- 1
I'm finally catching up on the last of my 11 December interviews
Albany Medical Center
** This program was one of only 2 so far that have paid for my night before in a hotel. The hotel was across the street from the hospital, brand new and awesome! A Starbucks gift card was included in the welcome packet for the Starbucks on the ground floor - excellent.
Residents: 10 per year: happy and diverse bunch. A reception the night before was attended by about 7 residents. All had great things to say and were very interested in the program. There seemed to be an equal balance of men and women, one of the women I met was pregnant and said the program could not be more supportive. Seemed to be an even mix of residents with and without families.
Faculty: I met about 5 faculty on the interview day. All very laid back and passionate about the program. Interviews were remarkable that everyone seemed to have read all my application materials with many asking me detailed questions about my background and interests. A diverse group of attendings with family and outdoors being the draws to Albany. The program director was very compelling in the usual morning intro to the program and spoke alot about resident placement into careers - the residents stated that the program is very supportive in this regard. THe program coordinator was awesome! particularly given my schedule issues I had for the interview and connecting me to the hotel. About half the faculty are women, including the Chair.
Hospital: Tyical tertiary care place with sick patients, lots of peds, trauma, etc. I couldn't find any weaknesses in the patient population which seemed very broad including a small inner city group of patients. The ED is new - opened in 2005.
Ancillary Staff: No issues - the residents said the nursing was very good and the IV and transport backup good. This is important to me after rotating to an innner city program without good ancillary services.
Admitting/Documentation: Paper orders handwritten. ED electronic tracking. THe residents said that they are supposed to start an electronic order entry sometime in 2008. Radiology was all electronic as well as labs. Documentation all dictated.
Curriculum: Usual 1-3 format. THe program director emphasized that the program curriculm emphasizes ICU and EM - no peds floors! There is one month of ward medicine but that's all with alot of EM time, and the usual one month elective during the third year. Ultrasound seemed solid with the residents I talked to. The faculty indicated that the program tries to be flexible to meet the interests of the resident - something that the residents also told me.
Didactics/Research: The program director said that there is currently "no one killing small animals for the sake of medical science" - which I thought was funny, no benchtop program. The research approach seemed to be resident-driven with many residents doing alot and a few doing a little. I asked the residents about this and they said that there were lots of things going on in research - clinical-based. I met one resident who was a review for Annals of Emergency Medicine - gotta like that.
City: Albany looks like a medium sized city with a decent cost of living. Resdients said the crime was minimal and the cost of living good. The city is close to alot of great outdoors activities in the Adirondacks, VT, and through NY including skiing, hiking, biking, etc.
Extras: CME funds looked good as did the salary. Residents said parking could be better.
Negatives: Hard to pin down any on this program. I guess Albany as a city might be a negative but it seems as good if not better than the other northeast cities I've visited. THe location seems close to everything including skiing and other outdoor activities. I'm biased though since I'm not interested in living in a big city like NYC or LA.
Overall: High on my list - a place that seemed established, flexible - despite being a 3 year program, with a great group of attendings and residents. THe theme here seems to be "diverse" for both the program and the people making it one of those 3 year programs that seems to have it all covered except living in a big city or killing small animals!
Albany Medical Center
** This program was one of only 2 so far that have paid for my night before in a hotel. The hotel was across the street from the hospital, brand new and awesome! A Starbucks gift card was included in the welcome packet for the Starbucks on the ground floor - excellent.
Residents: 10 per year: happy and diverse bunch. A reception the night before was attended by about 7 residents. All had great things to say and were very interested in the program. There seemed to be an equal balance of men and women, one of the women I met was pregnant and said the program could not be more supportive. Seemed to be an even mix of residents with and without families.
Faculty: I met about 5 faculty on the interview day. All very laid back and passionate about the program. Interviews were remarkable that everyone seemed to have read all my application materials with many asking me detailed questions about my background and interests. A diverse group of attendings with family and outdoors being the draws to Albany. The program director was very compelling in the usual morning intro to the program and spoke alot about resident placement into careers - the residents stated that the program is very supportive in this regard. THe program coordinator was awesome! particularly given my schedule issues I had for the interview and connecting me to the hotel. About half the faculty are women, including the Chair.
Hospital: Tyical tertiary care place with sick patients, lots of peds, trauma, etc. I couldn't find any weaknesses in the patient population which seemed very broad including a small inner city group of patients. The ED is new - opened in 2005.
Ancillary Staff: No issues - the residents said the nursing was very good and the IV and transport backup good. This is important to me after rotating to an innner city program without good ancillary services.
Admitting/Documentation: Paper orders handwritten. ED electronic tracking. THe residents said that they are supposed to start an electronic order entry sometime in 2008. Radiology was all electronic as well as labs. Documentation all dictated.
Curriculum: Usual 1-3 format. THe program director emphasized that the program curriculm emphasizes ICU and EM - no peds floors! There is one month of ward medicine but that's all with alot of EM time, and the usual one month elective during the third year. Ultrasound seemed solid with the residents I talked to. The faculty indicated that the program tries to be flexible to meet the interests of the resident - something that the residents also told me.
Didactics/Research: The program director said that there is currently "no one killing small animals for the sake of medical science" - which I thought was funny, no benchtop program. The research approach seemed to be resident-driven with many residents doing alot and a few doing a little. I asked the residents about this and they said that there were lots of things going on in research - clinical-based. I met one resident who was a review for Annals of Emergency Medicine - gotta like that.
City: Albany looks like a medium sized city with a decent cost of living. Resdients said the crime was minimal and the cost of living good. The city is close to alot of great outdoors activities in the Adirondacks, VT, and through NY including skiing, hiking, biking, etc.
Extras: CME funds looked good as did the salary. Residents said parking could be better.
Negatives: Hard to pin down any on this program. I guess Albany as a city might be a negative but it seems as good if not better than the other northeast cities I've visited. THe location seems close to everything including skiing and other outdoor activities. I'm biased though since I'm not interested in living in a big city like NYC or LA.
Overall: High on my list - a place that seemed established, flexible - despite being a 3 year program, with a great group of attendings and residents. THe theme here seems to be "diverse" for both the program and the people making it one of those 3 year programs that seems to have it all covered except living in a big city or killing small animals!