Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Residency Reviews

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Johns Hopkins:

Pro's:
-Strong academics with interesting fellowships (11 of them) open to residents
-Diverse clinical settings and patients
-Tremendous resources (tons of office space, lots of grant money)
-Interesting faculty with many connections
-Good peds exposure

Con's:
-Reputed to be "malignant" -- while I find this to be an overstatement, several of the faculty were not the friendliest
-Facilities a bit outdated and cramped, with new ED not to open until 2010

Many would list Baltimore as a negative, but I actually found it to be ok.

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Hopkins

Residents: 11 residents per class. They seemed very laid back and happy and all seemed to have ranked this place #1. They also seemed to have attracted a diverse group of residents as well. I would say they would all be great to work with and I did not get the impression that they were super competitive cut throat residents looking to get ahead by stomping on others. Happiness factor is high.

Faculty: Dr. Chanmugam is a very dynamic speaker and seems like he would be a strong leader. He was also extremely friendly and seemed genuinely concerned about his residents. Residents had very high praise regarding their relationships will all members of the faculty and enjoy being colleagues with them.

Facilities: Johns Hopkins Hospital is ranked #1 in the nation, but it's old and not very modern at all which I really wasn't expecting go into the interview. They are building an entire brand new hospital that will be completed in 2010. Rotations are also at Bayview and Howard County and provide the community experience.

Curriculum: Trauma experience is at Maryland's Shock Trauma, which I thought was odd because they had to rely on another institution to make sure they could provide their residents adequate experience. There is a medicine wards month, but this is Hopkins and it would probably be an honor to do be a part of their team because the teaching is top notch. All of the off-service rotations at Hopkins Hospital are top notch since they are so good at everything else as well.

Patient population: Trauma is at Shock Trauma, but there are still a decent amount of trauma that the ED at Hopkins Hospital will get. They are a big time tertiary care center so you'll see everything here on the medical/surgical side. And the patients you will see are diverse as any urban city.

Location: Baltimore has a bad reputation, but I was pleasantly surprised by the area and what it has to offer. Plenty of big city type things to do and the area around the harbor is very nice. I love DC, so being close to that area is a plus for me.

Overall: This program impressed me. They have the Hopkins name behind it, and seem to have a great program. The atmosphere wasn't all that malignant from what I experienced, but it might not have been as laid back as most EM programs. They have a ton of fellowships, many of which are not accredited but with the experience, if you decide to do one, you will become a leader in EM. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would have been going into the interview and I was surprised by how many other programs that I visited seemed to have a better feel and fit for me compared to Hopkins, but I will be ranking this fairly high, because I would be very happy if I ended up here. I'm not sure if it will be towards the top of my list yet. (which is probably a sign in itself) But if there was one place I could do a second look just to get a better sense of the program, this would be the place because it's a great program but I need to spend a little more time there to see if it would be a good fit for me.
 
Johns Hopkins:

Residents: I was kind of expecting more intellectual residents, but they were laid back and fun to hang out with at the pre-interview dinner. They have a good mix of single and married residents and it seems that people know each other rather well personally. They don’t seem to have many planned social activities, but they do have informal get togethers after a shift is over with. I felt like I could get along well with the PGY1 and PGY2’s so I feel comfortable fitting in if I had to work with them as my seniors.

Faculty and Administration: Dr. Chanmugam (PD) and Dr. Kelen (the chair) both spoke to us in the morning and both seemed to be good leaders. According to most of the residents, the faculty are definitely very friendly. The atmosphere that the faculty present does not seem to be malignant. All of the faculty members that I met seemed to be dedicated to resident education and wants to be a part of making the residents true leaders in the field.

Hospitals/Facilities: JHH is the “home” hospital. The ED itself is about average and not ideally as large as I expected. JH is building a new hospital that is supposed to be the largest medical renovation endeavor ever. It is projected to open in 2010 but even some of the faculty admits that might be a little optimistic. Either way, this entering class will likely not see it opened. Hopkins Bayview and Howard County are where the community experiences are. Both of them are only level 2 trauma centers. Residents did have good things to say regarding the physical plants of both of them, since they are rather new EDs. Trauma experience is at Maryland’s Shock Trauma. Residents had good things to say about it. It turns out to be the only real option to see a lot of trauma in Baltimore despite JHH being a level I trauma center because Shock Trauma is a dedicated trauma only hospital that has a much larger capacity so most traumas get flown there.

Curriculum: It is currently a 3 year program, but they will be changing to a 4 year program. They stressed that a lot because they feel that it’s the way EM is going. My concern is that if they feel this way, will this current entering class who will be the last with 3 years get shafted in some way?? Programs have changed from 4 years to 3 years, but this will be the first time that a program adds a year. Other than that, it is pretty standard. The off services are a positive because of the strong reputation of the medicine and surgical residencies. But it is still a pain to have to do a month of medicine wards, and 2 weeks of general surgery.

Didactics: Conferences are held on Fridays from 8-12 if I recall correctly. The last RRC required hour is dedicated to reading. The lectures are apparently well done and the speakers tend to put a lot of time and effort into them according to the residents. We sat in on Chairman’s hour, where an intern presents a case and Dr. Kelen is bringing up teaching points. It seemed to be an interactive session that was informative and worthwhile.

Pediatrics: The peds experience is about average. There are dedicated peds ED months at JHH, Howard County, and Bayview. There is also a PICU month at JHH and a peds anesthesia rotation of 2 weeks during the second year.

Patient population: Tertiary care patients at JHH, and bread and butter EM patients at Bayview and Howard County. Diverse groups of people with all kinds of illnesses, so nothing to worry about on this end.

Location: Baltimore has a bad reputation because it is a high crime city, but I was a little surprised by the area and what it has to offer. Plenty of big city type things to do and the area around the harbor is very nice but expensive to live in. The cost of living is high and it seems like most residents had to rent. Overall, there are much better places to live than Baltimore, but I think I could survive it for a few years.

Conclusion: I liked this program. I can’t imagine why they only match 10 of the 11 spots last year and had to scramble to fill the last spot, but this is of some concern to me because it does hurt their reputation in EM circles from the people I’ve talked to. There are lots of opportunities to do many things because of the “name” of the institution, but in terms of EM training, I believe that the handful of programs that garner more regarded reputations than Hopkins does for EM training is deserved. With that said, I still believe that Hopkins is a good program and I will probably rank it within my top 5 or so.
 
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What up guys new member here and looking to contribute reviews, as opposed to just lurking :D (ripping from solidgold.’.s.’. format)

JHU
Residents: Everyone seemed to be happy with their training and very motivated. I think you need to want to work pretty hard at this place. Good turnout at lunch and the pre-interview dinner, but didn.’.t get a sense of how much the residents hang out.

Faculty: The program director floored me .–. he spoke of becoming a leader in EM (I know cheesy, but very effective). Dr. Chanmugan (sp?) seems to be willing to bend over backwards to help realize what you want from residency. The faculty seem to be pretty well-known and very interested in resident education.

Facilities: Rotate through three hospitals (JHH, Bayview and Howard). JHH is the primary hospital and its facilities seem fairly average .–. although a new hospital is slated to open (probably after our class). Residents speak highly of Bayview, as it is the site for bread and butter EM.

Curriculum: A three year switching to a four-year; for us it will stay a three-year program. The feel I got was that the faculty wanted to attract a more academic mindset and that a four-year program would self-select for. Also, requires a research project of some sort .–. seems to be relatively painless. Furthermore, with the shear breadth of research opportunities available it should be relatively easy to find one that you enjoy. The exposure to about 11 fellowships (not all with accreditation) seems like an invaluable experience to myself. Main trauma experience is down at Maryland.’.s Shock Trauma (I guess when you have a Level 0 trauma center that.’.s where its at). As far as peds goes, there are dedicated peds months at every hospital .–. seems to be an average peds experience. Finally, the off-service rotations are all said to be well worth your time, but they will work you as it is Hopkins!

Patient population: There is a good reason why not many people want to live in Baltimore.….with the three sites you will get a good mix of tertiary care with regular EM cases. Obviously, there is a lot of inner-city exposure, which I think is a plus.

Overall: I was shocked by Hopkins .–. I came in expecting a solid program, but came away loving it. I think the key with Hopkins is opportunity; simply put the money in the department, reputation, and drive of the PD will open doors for you during and after residency. Although, it probably depends on what you are looking for out of EM. If you want to practice in the community (like most of us will), then a place like Hopkins is not necessary. However, if you want to be into academics or take charge in some way, then I would say Hopkins is the right place. The main downside is the fact that it is B.’.More .–. they gave us a tour of the city, but it really did not sell very well (and these were apparently the good neighborhoods). However, I will still rank this program highly.
 
Residents: Friendly group from all over the country, although lots of people from the Mid-Atlantic region. Being Johns Hopkins, not all residents are from Ivy League or other Top 10 schools and there is a good mix. Many people with MPH's and a mix of single and married folk, although maybe leaning towards people in committed relationships, as Baltimore is not the most happening city.

Faculty: The department chair, Dr. Kelen, has been at Hopkins for a really long time. He is a big wig within the hospital system (he sits on the board, I believe) and will stand up for the EM department whenever battles need to be fought. Dr. Chanmugam is a very kind and thoughtful PD who has spent a lot of time mentoring students in the past.

Interview Day: Long! The setup is that you have breakfast, listen to the PD and dept chair talk for quite a while, sit in on an M&M, have lunch, tour, and THEN interview. Be ready to be exhausted by the end of the day. That being said, it was a very well organized day where they take you on a driving tour of Baltimore and you get to see a good portion of Hopkins ED. Laid back interviews, 3 of them lasting 20 or so minutes.

Hospital: Most time spent at Hopkins, which is both a Peds and Adult ED. It is not the newest and fanciest ED ever, but above average with adequate space in each room and well stocked supply carts. Trauma rooms seem a bit small. They are building a new hospital building right next to the old one which will house the new ED ... but ground just broke on this and it won't be ready until 2011 (so it won't affect us).

Other sites include Bayview, which is close by and also in Baltimore. We did not get to see this hospital, but it contains a more working class/blue collar population with lots of vasculopathy - stroke, MI, etc. Bread and butter EM will be learned here and the interns all say that they enjoy this site, especially when they are first starting out.

Howard County is further south and in a more affluent area.

Ancillary Staff: Ancillary service is not a problem. You will never have to wheel your patient anywhere unless they are sick and you need to be there in case stuff happens.

Admitting/Documentation: Moving to all electronic by this spring - orders, notes, discharge, etc. ED has all admitting priveleges, although residents admit that surgery tends to give them the most problems.

Curriculum: Of course the big news is that Hopkins is moving from a 1-3 curriculum to a 1-4 curriculum. All rotations and the schedule will be essentially the same, with the fourth year being a "fellowship" track where you pursue 1 of 11 different interests in addition to some clinical time.

Although the curriculum online clearly delineates that PGY4 is solely for this "early fellowship", I got the sense that things are still in flux. There may be a few rotations that the PD would like to include and some rotations in the 1-3 years may move to the 4th year. You still work clinical shifts in your fourth year and the PGY4 role would not be defined until the 2008 entering class gets to that point.

Your PGY4 year would count towards advanced standing in a fellowship only at Hopkins. Obviously, you would have to negotiate things if you were applying outside of Hopkins. I'm also not sure if the fellowship would be guaranteed - for example, if you do ultrasound your PGY4 year, are you guaranteed an ultrasound spot? What if 4 people in your class all decided to do U/S? Then 4 fellows the following year?

No moonlighting as an institutional policy (residents at Hopkins are not allowed to do so). I think this makes the Hopkins PGY4 year a little less attractive in my mind than the BIDMC PGY4 year (which is optional, and you get to work as a half-attending with half-attending pay).

Didatics/Research: Didactics every Friday, there is also a Sim Lab - all of this is relatively standard. Lots of faculty interested in different areas of specialty - some unique ones include special ops, medical/legal, etc. With the MPH school right next door, there are a lot of resources.

City: Baltimore is hit or miss with most people - it depends on what you are used to. It's relatively affordable with rents for 1 BR's in nice areas of the town for $1000 or less. Easy to drive town without much traffic. During the tour, we drove through areas like Fels Point and Canton which have cobblestoned streets with trees, row-houses and newer condo buildings. Lots of young yuppie like food and stores around, but not as much as say NY or Boston. You could easily live out in the suburbs and have an easy commute.

Negatives: I think this new fourth year is rather questionable. To me, it seems that Hopkins is looking to take their grads in a new direction. Previously, a large proportion of the graduating classes went on to community jobs. While the PD and Associate PD mentioned that this is a great choice, they are looking to train more "leadership minded" people. Although I'm sure the extra year will give you your desired "niche," I'm not sure the curriculum has been laid out well enough for this to be worth it.

Overall: Already a good program with great training sites which will prepare you for most urban EM positions. With the addition of the fourth year, I do believe that Hopkins will begin to take on an even more academic feel. With so many other 4 year programs in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region though, I'm not quite sure whether this place would be at the top of my list as it seems like a very gratuitous 4th year. Why not just do 3 year program + fellowship or 3+optional 1 year?
 
This is my last review, I hope they've been as helpful as I found the previous reviews to be when I was considering EM programs. Now to sort out that whole ROL thing...:eek:


Johns Hopkins University

Residents: 12 residents per year. This will be the first class to enter the 4-year curriculum, so it will be years before there will be more than 36 total. The social event was well attended, and the residents appeared to get along well (some were doing shots; everyone was taking time to interact with the applicants). Interviewees attend a “chairman’s conference” (sort of like an M&M with a presenting resident and Dr Kelen running the show), and there was a lot of joking and good nature in the crowd. I was a bit surprised by this, based on rumor about the program, but for my interview day at least everyone seemed to get along well. Residents are from all over the country, and live scattered throughout the Baltimore area. I’m pretty sure SDN’s shortbread9 did my tour…:)

Faculty: I was extremely impressed by the faculty I met – possibly more than anywhere else. Interviewees get a lot of face time with Dr. Kelen, and he even does a bunch of the interviews. He’s very down-to-earth and confident about the program. The PD, Dr. Chanmugam, is really nice – even a bit goofy at times - a true resident advocate. He seems to have vision, albeit a little abstract, about leadership and teaching. Two other faculty members I interviewed with were wildly impressive – and everyone repeatedly mentioned how amazing it was to be an academic in the fertile Hopkins environment. One of the assistant PD’s took us on a bus tour of Baltimore and seemed really enthusiastic as well. Residents report a first-name basis with most attendings, although some did mention that there were a few that were tough to get along with. There is an incredible emphasis on international EM and policy/admin here – seems like practically everyone on faculty has an additional MPH or MBA.

Hospital:
Time is split between Hopkins, Bayview Medical Center, and Howard County hospitals with most of the time at Hopkins. Additional rotations are spent at Shock Trauma. We did not tour Bayview, which is a community/academic site and Burn Center with a more bread and butter volume, or Howard County which is a pure community place in the ‘Burbs.

Johns Hopkins University Hospital:
When speaking of the “ivory tower”, one may as well be talking about the dome at Hopkins; 1000 bed quaternary referral center where the halls and teams are named after the famous folks who used to run them. The Hopkins “brand” is clearly on display – in the lobby there is a wall will enlarged, framed copies of all 14 US News covers awarding them with #1 hospital status. The facility itself is not that impressive, but an enormous expansion is in construction that will make it the most state of the art hospital in the country (maybe the world). The ED is pretty basic (curtains, small rooms, crowds – 30-ish beds for 60,000 plus volume) and it’s in the basement. The patient population is mostly county due to the location, plus some random crazy referrals. There are two teams, each with interns and senior residents. Level 1 pediatric trauma, and level 1 adult for the immediate area around the hospital (lots of penetrating), the rest of the region goes to STC – but the residents rotate there too.

Ancillary Stuff: Supposed to be OK

Admitting/Documentation: Some residents said there was no problem with admitting, others reported occasional hassle, but ED has the last word on admission. Paper T-sheets are used in the ED, but they are going all computerized soon. Currently there are different documentation systems at each site, but I don’t know the details.

Curriculum: Hopkins is trying to do something unique; the leadership decided that it takes 4 years to educate academic EM physicians, but also that all academic physicians need a true focus area. So they are attempting to essentially keep a 3-year curriculum and add year 1 of a fellowship. In theory, PGY4s will work the clinical schedule of a fellow (similar to an attending), and have protected time for research. They will be automatically accepted to finish their fellowship at Hopkins the following year, making this essentially a 5-year curriculum with an infolded fellowship. Sort of. Intern year is off-service heavy, including a floor month that sounds very intense (Hopkins internal medicine prides themselves on intensity), trauma (also intense), a couple critical care months, and that really cool trauma anesthesia month at STC the UMD residents do as PGY2s. The PGY2s sort of run one section of the ED at Hopkins, and see only critical patients at Bayview. PGY3 is similar with a larger section of the ED to run. They do Peds at both JHU and Howard county, as well as a PICU month and a Peds anesthesia rotation. It surprised me that they only really do 3mo of critical care over all 3 years. The PGY4 year is as above, the residents choose one of about 12 focus areas (ultrasound, research, admin, critical care, medical legal, special ops, etc), and essentially do year one of a fellowship. Its sounds like clinically they will act as attendings (but they still have to get their charts signed off, etc). I was told that in the unlikely scenario that too many people all wanted to focus in the same area, they would find a way to accommodate them. Residents do 12 and 8 hour shifts, I forget how many.

Didactics/Research:
Didactics seem standard, except maybe for the fact that the faculty here is so strong. Dr. Kelen does his rounds weekly, and is obviously very involved. Research here is strong in almost everything (no real basic science). There is a major focus on international and policy, and they are planning a Tox program soon. The academic resources of JHU are out of this world, and you’d be hard pressed to find a place more likely to embrace any specific professional interest you may have.

City: See above post on UMD for my opinion of Baltimore. Hopkins campus is in a particularly bad section of the city, although the new biotech campus and the new hospital are very likely to gentrify it substantially in the coming years. There are cool neighborhoods here, and as stated before Mrs. UE has connections to the city so it’s not a real negative to me.

Extras:
Salary starts around $44,000, which is manageable in Baltimore. However, institutionally Hopkins does not allow Moonlighting (this may change) – twisting the knife a little bit in that PGY4 year where there would definitely be time and opportunity to make some more money. You have to pay for parking, but it’s subsidized. Access to Hopkins benefits around town, which are good.

Negatives: Facility (at least at JHU) is lacking for the stature of the department. While everyone seemed great while I was there, there is a prevailing theory that folks here can be malignant. For what it's worth, I've been told this by someone who rotated there and someone who took a second look, so it's all second hand. Off service rotations are probably tough, but rewarding. The real issue here is that fourth (and essentially 5th - I can’t imagine anyone would come to this program unless they plan on finishing the fellowship track they start on PGY4) year – do you feel it’s necessary for you? I have no doubt I would get amazing training, and an unbelievable leg-up finding an academic job coming out of 3+2 Hopkins training, but I’m not sure if it’s what I’m really looking for. I’m unsure why it seems all of the fellowships will now be 2 years in length – why don't they have any 1-year fellowships so one could choose to complete residency plus fellowship in the 4 years. Additionally, the residents there now all chose to be at a 3-year program – I wonder if the dynamic will change with the incoming classes.

Overall: The first program I’ve been very hot and cold about – there are things I absolutely love about it, and things I’m not sure I could handle. As one who aspires to be in academics, the opportunities and resources here are simply unmatched – but doing extra time with no chance of moonlighting seems to be a huge financial burden for someone with my level of debt. I was so impressed by the faculty I met, but the facility seemed depressing. If the new curriculum works the way they hope it will, Hopkins may set a completely new standard for academic EM once the new facility is open. This program is a wild card for me…
 
.Overview:. A 4 year program located in Baltimore, Maryland. There are a total of 3 ICU months, one month at Shock Trauma, and about 5 week of trauma at Hopkins. The fourth year, which was a recent change, is designed to give you more experience in certain areas of interest. There are 12 residents per year.

Residents: The pre-interview social was held at a bar in Fell's Point. There was a pretty decent turnout in terms of residents, with at least 7 or 8 residents showing up. The ones I met we pretty cool, easy to talk to, and friendly. The ones I met during the interview day were also friendly and easy to talk to. Most of them seemed happy with their choice. The majority of the residents are from schools on the East Coast, but there are a few from California as well.

Interview Day: The interview day started at 8:00am at the Emergency Medicine Offices in Mt. Washington, which is about a half hour north of Baltimore. Light breakfast and coffee was followed by a talk by the PD, who actually will be stepping down and handing over the reins to the current associate PD. Afterwards, we sat in during the Chairman's Hour, which was a case discussion facilitated by the Chair of the department. Then we were shuttled to the Hopkins ED in Baltimore for the tour, then shuttled back to Mt. Washington for lunch with the residents. Finally, afternoon interviews with 3 faculty members each about 20 minutes long. The interviews were low-stress and conversational in nature. The day ended at around 4:30pm.

Faculty: The current PD, who will be stepping down after this year, was a very dynamic speaker. The future PD was very energetic and friendly. I think she will make a great PD next year. The other faculty I met and interviewed with were friendly as well. The residents reported good relationships with the faculty, who for the most part like to teach.

Curriculum: 4 year program. Highlights include 2 weeks in the Burn Unit at Hopkins Bayview in the first year, 4 weeks at Shock Trauma and 2 weeks Peds anesthesia in the second year, and 4 weeks of elective in the third year. The fourth year was a recent addition. The impression I got was that the program is trying to train future academically slanted emergency physicians. During the fourth year, you'll spend extra time gaining experience in certain "tracks" such as Research, Emergency Ultrasound, and Medical Education. These aren't formal fellowships, so if you want to be officially fellowship-trained you'll have to do an official fellowship after residency.

The Peds experience seems just average, with 2 dedicated months of Peds EM in the first year and a PICU month in second year. I think that Peds patients are integrated in the shifts at their community site, but I'm not 100% sure if this is correct.

They seem to get a lot of trauma experience at the main Hopkins ED, which is located in East Baltimore (so they get all of the trauma that happens on the East Side). There is a dedicated trauma team, but the residents said that it usually takes some time before they make it to the ED, so the EM residents are the first ones to see the traumas when they roll in.

Didactics as per required 5 hours a week. They use a combination of formal lectures, small group sessions, simulation, and resident-prepared lectures. Chairman's Hour, which we attended, was very interactive, education, and entertaining. Specifics about the didactics can be found on their program web site.

Facilities: The Hopkins ED, which we toured, was rather small with about 30 total beds. They get about 50,000 visits per year. The patient population at the Hopkins ED is largely inner city and urban. Construction is currently underway on new facilities, which will be completed in the spring of 2012. I don't know many specifics about the new ED, but it will definitely be bigger with an estimated 60-70 beds.

Location: Baltimore, Maryland. There's a reason why Shock Trauma is in Baltimore... because there's lots of trauma to be had. Baltimore is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., however the vast majority of violence is drug-related. So unless you have a shady part-time job, you will most likely be fine. There are nice neighborhoods in the downtown area, such as Fell's Point, Inner Harbor, and Canton. Most residents rent, and the cost of living is pretty affordable. Having a car will be beneficial. The good thing about Baltimore is that it's in close proximity to other East Coast cities, like D.C., Philly, and New York City.

opb's final thoughts: Overall, I had a positive experience at Hopkins. For me, the 3 vs. 4 year debate is a non-issue. However, this recent change is something to keep in mind if it's an issue for you. I do think that the curriculum is geared more toward academic training, so if you're dead set on community then I would say that this probably isn't the program for your. If you're interested in academics, then I think this place will train you well. I think the 4th year focus on an area of interest will give you enough experience to land an academic job straight out of this program without doing a fellowship. I think the Peds exposure is a bit weak, but the trauma experience you'll get here will be second to none. Baltimore can be a liveable city if you know where (and where not) to go..
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Cornell/Columbia
(+): amazing resources with the two hospitals; nice mix of academic medicine and "community" like experience. cool electives, excellent peds exposure, NYC with housing help
(-) residents i met there said they were working a 'residency and a half'......they work 20 12 hours for the first two years!!! and when you throw in the commute time between hospitals, it adds up to very long days.

Penn
(+) great use of the 4 years with interesting electives placed throughout...residents said the PD was really invested in them and willing to tailor the curriculum to specific interests (one resident actualy worked out a plan where he worked half shifts for several months while doing a research project which combined his elective months the shifts).
(-) trauma exposure seemed lighter compared to other philly programs

Hopkins
(+): excellent faculty who were really excited about the 4 year switch....PD seemed flexible with directions to take for the 4th year. very strong off service rotations and residents seemed pleased with their experiences off-sites and at the different hospitals.
(-) 4th year details still being worked out....seemed a bit like the original 3 year curriculum with a 4th year tacked on. i spoke to some of the 3rd years and one mentioned that the PD offered the optional 4th year to the seniors and none of the 3rd years took him up on it. baltimore(+/-)?? although the bus tour they gave us was pretty fun and made me see baltimore in a new light!
 

iwakuni_doc

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I've completed all of my interviews & would be more than happy to share my opinions on the following programs:

Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard - awesome facility & equipment, very academic, optional 4th year as research/junior attending position. Residents are a very friendly & laid-back crew, and they seem genuinely happy. Faculty seemed nice & eager to teach, occasional tendency to throw the HARVARD name around but not bad. Program director was a little dry during interview & presentation, but that's kind of his way per the residents - assistant program director is very engaging & friendly.

Duke - as mentioned previously in other threads, the program director is a very strong plus. The faculty are very young, energetic, & eager to teach - a lot of diverse interests are available. The Duke hospital is beautiful & huge, but the ED is about average in terms of layout & size. They've renovated the psych section & supposedly plans are in place to build a new ED in the vaguely distant future. Off-service rotations - YOU'RE WEARING THE SHORT INTERN COAT...not to mention white pants on the surgery services! To me this is an extremely unnecessary addition to internship - the year's tough enough without the added humiliation of short coats & white pants. Attire aside, the off-service rotations are reportedly very good. Current residents seemed happy, but a fairly eclectic group of personalities - couldn't get a good grip on the group as a whole. I think it'll be a great program in 5-6 years.

Hopkins - Program director & coordinator were the two biggest positives for this program. Although my interview day was cut short due to inclement weather & I may have gotten a slightly skewed perception - it seemed to me that the program was very much about the "This is Hopkins...you should come because it is Hopkins" idea. This is not based on anything concretely said, but just my overall gut-feeling.

Maine - a very nice little ED, good facility/equipment. Residents seemed like a good group, very happy with their program & decision. Department Chair & Program Director are great - one of the biggest draws to this place. Dynamic young faculty mixed with some emergency doc's with 20+ years there who still love to teach. Portland's a great little town & the pay is the best of any place I've been. Only concern is if it's too small...

Maricopa - the only true "county" program I interviewed at, recently got a funding bill passed to provide for the next 20yrs worth of funding. Program director is great, they just hired the new chair of the dept - one of the editors for Tintinalli's. Residents seemed great & very happy. Good housing market. The only non-East coast program I applied & interviewed at.

Maryland - awesome facility/equipment, new ED, Shock Trauma, very academic/political. Chair & Program director are great. Very impressed with their academics & career development. Residents seemed very happy, personable & capable - current president of EMRA is there & interviewing applicants along with the faculty. Baltimore is fun city, quite a few rough areas but also several great areas - Inner Harbor, Fell's Point, Federal Hill, etc. The only knock that I could possibly come up with is that it's all 12-hr shift over all 3yrs...pros & cons to that, more hours but fewer shifts. I did a second look here & had a great shift in the ED - high acuity but also good bedside teaching, both from ED staff & consulting services.

UMASS - as mentioned by an earlier reviewer, it is a very busy & overcrowded ED (kinda similar to Maricopa in that aspect) although they are building a new ED to be completed in spring/summer of 2005 (start of our 2nd year). Great lifeflight program - not optional. Big on disaster/international medicine. Faculty were great, chairman has been there 20yrs - very stable & established program. Program coordinator is awesome. Very pro-military group, several reservists in the faculty & residents. Rotate at a couple other community hospitals in Worcester - taken there on tour...nice facility. Several nice perks: proximity to Boston yet reasonable housing market, good pay, state-sponsored 401K, free tuition at UMASS for spouse/children.

UVA - great facility/equipment, awesome college town environment. Chair is active in dept - was working shift in ED during my visit. Program director & coordinator were both very personable & seemed genuinely caring. Faculty was nice mix of young & experienced. Residents were happy & laid-back. Definitely the community-program feel, although it's in a large university hospital. Nice chest-pain center in the ED

I think any of these 8 will give me a good experience & training, and I plan on ranking them all. However, my top 5 are clearly Maryland, Maine, UVA, UMASS, Beth Israel Deaconess - order yet to be determined.
 
I just wanted to address a common theme I'm seeing in the reviews, which is the implication that Hopkins does not provide enough trauma experience, hence the necessity of the Shock Trauma rotations. This is not accurate.

At the main hospital you will see more penetrating trauma than you can shake a chest tube at (a Saturday night WITHOUT a priority-one stab or GSW is by far the exception). Bayview is located in between two interstate highways and receives a substantial amount of blunt trauma that is too critical to be taken the extra 15 minutes to Shock Trauma, as well as all the burn trauma cases in which the burn injuries are deemed more critical than the trauma.

The Shock Trauma rotations are a unique experience and valuable for many reasons, but no one should think that these eight weeks are the only trauma Hopkins residents get.
 
As someone who did anesthesia residency at JHH-- I completely agree with the previous poster. There is no lack of trauma at JHH. If we didn't have at least one level 1 bloodbath trauma each weekend night in the OR it was a very strange occurrence. And weekdays were no exception. Baltimore has plenty of trauma to go around, even with Shock nearby. Our SICU has a good number of trauma patients at all times.
 
I too trained there, and guarantee that you will have plenty of trauma to go around. As was posted above, you will see more penetrating trauma at JHH than you can imagine, and Shock trauma will fly in just about everything else from around the state. The truth is you will get "enough" trauma at any program, but the diversity and systems in place in Baltimore are an exposure you will likely never see again in your career.
 
Johns Hopkins

PROS: the big surprise of the interview trail since as I was concerned it'd be too stogy but literally every single person I came across was warm, humble, and kind; saw several faculty and residents engaging in witty banter and not taking themselves too seriously on multiple occasions; loved the PD and aPD, and Chair appears extremely interested in the success of the residents; great curriculum, solid community hospital sites, and trauma and trauma airway rotations at Shock Trauma; definitely an energized feeling here with the sense that any project/goal is attainable—and the 4th year allows residents to develop whatever area of expertise they want (you only work 20 hours/week and have Hopkins resources at your disposal); Baltimore nicer than expected with great COL

CONS: still not the biggest fan of Baltimore; competition for procedures with other services (ie ortho can be tough to fend off in their main ED); apparently no peds shifts in the 4th year but this may be getting fixed; not sure how much autonomy I'd be able to get here and maybe a little too ivory tower; 4 year program (but worth it here IMHO)
 
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Hi, since it's been about 4 years since the last major review (HolyWowBatman gave a short overview in 2013), can someone familiar with the program comment on the following?

  • Number and length of shifts per month for each PGY year

  • Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, will I only see trauma during concentrated blocks of training or throughout my entire residency experience in the ED?

  • Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?

  • Based on the curriculum, the site locations are:

    1. Johns Hopkins medical center
    2. Johns Hopkins Bayview
    3. University of Maryland Shock Trauma
    4. Howard County General Hospital (23.9 mi away from home institution, 31 min w/o traffic)
    5. Sinai Anesthesia (not sure what hospital this is referring to, maybe Mt. Sinai in NY?)

    Are there any other off-site locations other than the ones listed? Is there any commuting between these locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)? I'm looking for programs with minimal commuting.

  • Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?

  • How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).

  • Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?
 
Long time lurker, posting on alternate account in order to remain anonymous. These threads greatly helped me and as such I am paying it forward. Good luck for future medical students. I won't go into the curriculum details or specifics since those are mostly readily available on their websites, but rather I made a long pro/con detail list along my interview trail and I will highlight my thoughts from that list.

Pro: blown away with this place actually, amazing hospital, actually fun didactics, relaxed and organized interview day, great training, happy residents, very academic, crazy pathology, beautiful facilities, awesome faculty, was actually my #2 on my list after the interview day (and I almost canceled it), 4 year program that has a valuable 4th year and not just being used as a meat mover, PD is stellar as a person and clinician

Con: baltimore is expensive (although not as expensive as NYC or DC, something they said a lot during the day), felt more "hipsterish" fwiw, clinical site far away from didactic site, felt competitive with Maryland (both programs had negative things to say about the other at times),

Overall impressions
Gut feeling:9/10
Facilities/resources: 10/10
Location: 7/10
Didactics: 10/10
Prestige: 10/10
Research: 10/10
Shift/hours/wellness: 9/10
 
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Hi, since it's been about 4 years since the last major review (HolyWowBatman gave a short overview in 2013), can someone familiar with the program comment on the following?

  • Number and length of shifts per month for each PGY year

  • Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, will I only see trauma during concentrated blocks of training or throughout my entire residency experience in the ED?

  • Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?

  • Based on the curriculum, the site locations are:

    1. Johns Hopkins medical center
    2. Johns Hopkins Bayview
    3. University of Maryland Shock Trauma
    4. Howard County General Hospital (23.9 mi away from home institution, 31 min w/o traffic)
    5. Sinai Anesthesia (not sure what hospital this is referring to, maybe Mt. Sinai in NY?)

    Are there any other off-site locations other than the ones listed? Is there any commuting between these locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)? I'm looking for programs with minimal commuting.

  • Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?

  • How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).

  • Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?

Would like to see answers to this if possible!
 
Would like to see answers to this if possible!
Hi! I'm familiar with the program so I'll answer these questions:
  • Number and length of shifts per month for each PGY year
We do 8s on the weekdays, 12s on the weekends. Probably somewhere around 190 intern year, 170-180 second year and 160 third year. The fourth year is reduced to allow for you to pursue your interest, so around maybe 100 hours a month
  • Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, will I only see trauma during concentrated blocks of training or throughout my entire residency experience in the ED?
No they are not. Full acuity most of the time - you'll see plenty of trauma
  • Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?
The ED/Trauma teams run them together. Anesthesia is not really involved in the trauma. You and the trauma team share the procedures; there are no emergency procedures you are not allowed to do.
  • Based on the curriculum, the site locations are:

    1. Johns Hopkins medical center
    2. Johns Hopkins Bayview
    3. University of Maryland Shock Trauma
    4. Howard County General Hospital (23.9 mi away from home institution, 31 min w/o traffic)
    5. Sinai Anesthesia (not sure what hospital this is referring to, maybe Mt. Sinai in NY?)

    No other site locations. Sinai Anesthesia is an elective rotation at a separate hospital in Baltimore

  • Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?
It's completely paper charting. Just kidding, it's EPIC.
  • How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own patients to CT, obtaining vitals).
I never really thought about this, but actually there's pretty much 0 scut work. There is so much support staff.
  • Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?
It is. Maybe like 2-3 each class have kids? And many more are married.
 
Recently interviewed here, here's what I thought/found:

Johns Hopkins: 4 year program. Their 4th year is like a mini-fellowship, tons of elective and less dedicated ED shifts to focus on that. Ortho experience weak here (as are MANY EM programs), managed mainly by ortho surgery. With strong faculty and special 4th year “FAST” program, I would say itll be a strong experience in anything you want your niche to be (ultrasound, CCM, etc.); no TEE!. H3EM department focuses on humanities, social EM, and cultural competence. Hopkins gets traumas in East Baltimore, split procedures with surgery. Shock trauma rotation as PGY2 doing all advanced airways. Chief admin in hospital is EM-trained. Good ophthalmology experience here. Very friendly interviewers, residents happy with their experience. High autonomy on community rotations. Sorry no info on moonlighting, was one of my first interviews and didn’t think of all the questions I wanted to ask.
 
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Why are you so obsessed with TEEs? Is this just a proxy for "they are REALLY into ultrasound over here"?
LOL. Yeah I’m just really into ultrasound. It didnt factor into my decision for ranking at all, just felt like a fun new thing to think about
 
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