Wayne State/Detroit Medical Center/Detroit Receiving (DRH) Residency Reviews

I am an intern at Detroit Receiving Hospital (DRH) in EM. I am a former Wayne State student and interviewed at all the programs in the Detroit area besides U of M. I obviously am biased towards DRH as it was my first Detroit choice but have friends at many of the other area hospitals.

As far as the original question regarding the two WSU programs: The two programs are completely separate with separate program directors and separate recruiting. The two programs share affiliation with WSU and a few clinical faculty split time between the places. At the beginning of the year we have a combined retreat with the 1st and 3rd years of both programs too. We do both rotate at Children's and Hutzel hospitals. There used to be a crossover month during your third year but that stopped because resident's from both places hated it.

As far as Detroit area programs are concerned I agree with much of what JeepERdoc has said. To that post I will add the following:

Detroit Receiving Hospital: I decided on DRH based upon the faculty and more academic feel of the program. I think that there is a little better national name recognition to this program, aprox equal to that of Ford. One thing that I think is misleading is that we share trauma with surgery. EM leads the trauma resuscitation 90% of the time, we control airway nearly 100% of the time. The true alternation comes down to procedures, which ends up being 50/50 for all the trauma procedures. There are abundant procedures so this doesn't cause any problems…there are many times when the three bays are all full of trauma cases. My favorite thing, though, are the other residents that are in the program. We have 3 years of extremely energetic, smart and diverse people.

Sinai Grace: Like the previous poster mentioned this place is in the middle of a more residential area of Detroit. There is LOTS of trauma, probably the most of all the hospitals in Detroit. The EM residents are boss of their ER and no one takes any control away from them. The EM residents are the top residents in the hospital, which gives them a lot of power. Graduates of this program will have seen EVERYTHING, possibly twice. Are traditionally friendly to FMGs.

Ford: Ford's strength lies in it's critical care in the ER training. Manny Rivers has brought national attention to this program with his early intervention in sepsis work. We just got a grad of their program as new faculty at DRH and he is very into critical care. They also have the EM/IM and EM/IM/Critical care tracks. Their ER is set up with a great area to take care of the very sick individuals (Cat 1) and then a crappy area for everyone else (Cat 2 and 3). They put on a good presentation on interview day. Dig deep and get your questions answered. Last year many of my friends matched here and I haven't heard any complaints.

St. John: You can't talk about St. John without mentioning Don Benson. He is the program director and probably one of the most interesting people in EM in Detroit. He was an old military medic guy and is a bit nuts. This will not be a "normal" interview for you. In my interview we basically talked about hockey for 45 min. Agree with previous post. Traditionally friendly to FMGs.

Beaumont: Very busy ER. Definitely has a more suburban feel with much less penetrating trauma. One thing not mentioned is that the program really seems to be interested in the political aspects of EM. Had a good dinner last year. I wouldn't call it "Kushy" it's just that the ED isn't filled with coke addicts and homeless alcoholics.

U of M: All I had to hear about the program is that it was 4 years and I was out. I love Ann Arbor though and think that it is a GREAT place to live based on lifestyle. Can't really say more since I didn't interview there.

Hope it helps. If you have any other questions please PM me. I will be open and honest about all aspects of my program and can probably give you a little bit of insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the other programs. If you are interviewing and want some suggestions on where to stay or eat then just let me know.

Intern here at Wayne State U./Detroit Receiving Hospital. Kind of hard to separate what I like and what stands out because what I like are also things that stands out.

What I like:
- The residents and faculty are easy to get along with and supportive.
- I just had a gut feeling that I would fit in here.
- All peds EM shifts at the Children's Hospital of Michigan next door.
- The large, medically-underserved, urban population.
- 3 elective months in a 3-year program (1 month each year).
- Curriculum lay-out (EM and CC in 2nd-year, only EM in 3rd-year).
- Ancillary staff is quite good from what I was used to.
- Hospital known for its emergency and trauma care.
- Fast-track and observation units.
- School of medicine on campus which to me translates into plenty of academic resources and med student teaching opportunities.

What stands out:
- Level-1 trauma center that has the whole gamut of traumatic injuries coming in. Burns, gun shot wounds, stabbings, high-speed motor vehicle collisions and rollovers, assaults, falls, water/boating injuries, transfers from suburban/rural facilities, etc.
- All peds EM shifts at the children's hospital on campus.
- Clean, modern ED with good use of technology.
- ED-critical care month.
- In-department 24-hr pharmacy, lab, and radiology.

Can any current residents or recent grads add more info about the DRH residency? I would like to know more about safety on and around campus, where residents live, how much driving you have to do on a typical day, and would you say that there is a lot of push for residents to do research? Also can you tell me about palliative care?

Pure Anergy said:

Can any current residents or recent grads add more info about the DRH residency? I would like to know more about safety on and around campus, where residents live, how much driving you have to do on a typical day, and would you say that there is a lot of push for residents to do research? Also can you tell me about palliative care?

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Ditto... Also, I've heard rumors about funding issues at DRH and in Detroit in general. How secure are the residencies there from cutbacks?

Pure Anergy said:

Can any current residents or recent grads add more info about the DRH residency? I would like to know more about safety on and around campus, where residents live, how much driving you have to do on a typical day, and would you say that there is a lot of push for residents to do research? Also can you tell me about palliative care?

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Holy Zombie thread...

As a WSU-SOM grad, can tell you that many of my classmates lived in Royal Oak.
The area around DRH is covered by Detroit cops, WSU security, and DMC security - never felt too uncomfortable there myself, but other may report otherwise.

Anonymous Review

Detroit Receiving/Wayne State/ Detroit Medical Center

Overview

Fun, energetic, and active residents. Very proud program with definite "street cred" as serving one of the most underserved and intense areas of the country. Doctors who train at "Receiving" have a reputation that preceeds them of being very ept, efficient, and strong in all aspects of emergency care. The trauma team is world renown and hosts the annual conference of trauma surgeons.

Residents
14 per year. 8-10 hour shifts. ER residents are VERY well respected in the hospital, and seen as one of the strongest programs. Many residents go on to fellowships in Sports, tox, EMS, and others. Many residents involved in research. No shortage of patients or procedures. They all admit that you will work very hard, but the payout is enormous. The confidence you will have as soon as you leave there will allow you to work in any setting. "No hospital is more intense than Receiving"

Hospitals
Detroit Medical Center. It is an academic medical center with Wayne State University. Very active research. Detroit Receiving (county hospital), Childrens of Michigan (pediatric hospital), Huron Valley (suburban community hospital). The main Receiving ER was updated a couple of years ago but definitely still has the county hospital feel with curtain beds and somewhat cramped quarters. You definitely know you are in an underserved hospital and if you are looking to be pampered this place is definitely not for you. Peds experience is 2 months in intern year and 5-7 shifts each month in 2nd 3rd years.

There are many ER residencies in Michigan and most send residents to Receiving for trauma experience.

Faculty
There is a new PD who is very much engaged in taking the residency into the very top tier of programs in the county. Adam Rosh is the author of the PreTest Emergency Medicine book that med students carry around. He has very ambitious goals for the program and a great vision. The residents rave about the faculty. They hang out outside work.

Didactics
3 year program. Lots of ICU time (6-8mo). 3 elective months. No floor months. Weekly conference. Protected time. Conference has become one of the strongest aspects of the program in the past couple years. Very active research department with one of the highest amounts of NIH funding, especially in acute cardiovascular and neurological emergencies.

Detroit
It's actually a great place to live. It has definitely suffered over the past decade but is finally rebounding. There are definitely more fun attractive cities, but Detroit really has a lot to offer. It's becoming a hipster type of place with young people moving back to the city with artists and many young professionals. Lots of sports teams (Tigers, Pistons, Redwings, Lions.) The weather is getting more mild especially with global warming.

Overall

One of the very first ER residencies, where you get nationally recognized "street cred." Very strong program. World Renown medical center in a city that has fallen on hard times. Great residents who enjoy their work. Very technologically advanced hospital (won most digital award from US News). Abundant procedures. Tons of trauma. Ancillary staff is great, but overworked as with most county hospitals. Seems like a great place to train. County hospital with heavy volume and strong academics.

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Any updates?

Updates as interview season begins?

Hey guys. I've been on the site for years but made a new profile for anonymity. I'm a 4th year going into EM and I found these threads so incredibly helpful that I want to help contribute to keeping them up to date.

I interviewed at Detroit Receiving so I thought I would share my thoughts:

Pros

• The hospital. If you're a "county" hospital type of person, you'll love it here. People of all walks of life funneled into various too-small rooms and hallways. If that's what you're looking for (which I am) then this place will fit the bill
• The residents were some of the coolest I've seen on the trail. They love going out, very approachable, funny, pretty much everything good lol. They're a bit on the young side, though, so if you're not into going out and having drinks as fun then they may not be your cup of tea. They're also genuinely friends which is a major selling point for me
• Very cordial/friendly with faculty. Seems like it would be a fun work environment
• There's not a lot of hand-holding here which I think is a positive thing. I learn better that way and I'm happy to see that they kind of let you jump right in but are there to safely monitor you
• They are a tertiary referral center in Detroit so they see a ton of stuff from around the city. Detroit has a reputation and I think that makes for a good place to learn EM
• Although Detroit has it's rough parts, Downtown and Midtown are really cool places to be with tons of bars and restaurants to go to. You can feel that the city is coming back and it's a cool time to be there. I felt totally safe walking around with a friend (both of us are female) in these areas

Cons

• Interns only get 2 months in the ED for the whole year. Major downside. Now if you ask the faculty they'll say that's not entirely true because there's an ultrasound block where you're in the ED and some shifts during orientation week. Regardless, it's not much time working actual shifts in the ED for your entire first year. The 2nd and 3rd year are very ED-heavy so it's kind of a trade-off but I picked EM because I wanted to spend time in the ED. Not do another year of rotating through everything I don't want to do
• Detroit is a cool, fun, young city but it's just so cold lol. I'm a southerner and I don't know if I can pass up county medicine with great pathology in a warm state over county medicine with great pathology at Receiving.

Overall I loved this program. I jived really well with both the residents and the faculty. The hospital was exactly the safety-net hospital I was hoping to find. The city seems like a cool place to be and with lots of activities to do. Really the only downside for me is the weather/location. It'll definitely be ranked highly on my list though. Top 3 at least.

Hope this helped someone! Happy interview season!