Grand Rapids Med Ed Partners/Michigan State Residency Reviews

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coldcoldworld

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Ok, I'll be the 1st to bite and give up some reviews.

Interview festivities started the night before with a big dinner with a bunch of the residents at a nice tapas restaurant downtown and then out to the bar afterward. It was really nice as the residents picked us right up from the bed and breakfasts that we were put up in so we didn't have to worry about driving. Had a good turnout, including all 8 applicants and probably about 6 residents and their spouses.
Interview day started @ 7:45 with the typical program presentation and then we split up in half with one half interviewing while the other half toured the hospital. Interviewed with 4 people -- program director, asst. director, clinical faculty and a 2nd year resident. Nothing to hard here, mostly laid back questions. The tour included stops in the PICU, MICU, SICU, call rooms, cafeteria, ED, etc...more on that later.
Interviews wrapped up @ 11 and then we caught the last hour of the resident's conference and had lunch with them. Had the opportunity to stay and shadow in the ED but I was tired.

PROS:
*Resident happiness -- everyone seemed genuinely happy and very easy to get along with. Definitely got the sense of a tight-knit group. Also nice is that they only work 8 hour shifts. Interns work 21 and 2nd and 3rd years work 18 I believe. Residents said they typically are gone within 1/2 to 1 hour from shift end.
*Volume -- program sees about 130,000/year which makes it the largest program in the state. About 1/3 of their census is peds which is also pretty substantial. Also got the sense that most of their visits are for actual sick people rather than the seekers and "snack pack" visits that I'm used to in Detroit.
*Ultrasound experience -- Very integrated into the program with special emphasis on its clinical use beginning in the 1st year. One 2nd year resident said that you need something like 150 scans to be US certified and he already had 170.
*Facilities -- For those unfamiliar with GR, there are a few big $$$ families that are very philanthropic. One such family has really bought into the idea of an all-inclusive medical center in GR and it is definitely showing. ED was beautiful, set up in pods rather than a central fishbowl. The other units we saw were equally nice and the whole hospital and the surrounding areas seemed very clean. They recently finished a major cardiac facility on the campus, are currently building a cancer center and are building a tertiary care children's hospital to be completed in 2010.
*Other perks -- $1000 for books, etc in 1st year, $1500 in 2nd and 3rd years. $2000 a year for food

CONS
*Research -- No required research but definitely encouraged as they have dedicated research faculty. Required to go through steps of preparing research project including study design, grant writing, etc. I know they have active clinical research, they just didn't emphasize it much.
*Trauma -- GR and surrounding areas are pretty safe so they don't get as much penetrating trauma as I'm used to seeing in Detroit but it seems like they get a ton of blunt.
*Misc. -- Not sure how to classify this but it just seemed odd that so many of their residents were married (like 2/3). As a single guy, I was a bit leery of this but maybe I just need to catch up quick.

Overall, I was very impressed with the program, and kind of surprised to say so. It had enough of that urban/big city feel that I'm used to and require, yet it's really the only show in town so it gets a lot of actual sick patients with a community feel. I'll definitely strongly consider this program.

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GR is a nice medium size city. I know a bunch of residents over there and they are all cool laid back guys that are really easy to get along with. One of the smartest guys I know is going to be a PGY2 there shortly. Overall I think that it is a great program.

I would think most of the decision to go to Grand Rapids focuses on what location you want to train in.

Let one of the GR residents post more about their program as I personally don't have any interaction with them.
 
DocFlanny is a resident there and will probably chime in soon but for now I will say that I absolutely loved the program there and ranked it very highly. The residents were all super cool and seemed to have a lot of fun together. The faculty seemed quite nice. The PD wasn't super warm and fuzzy but seemed pretty cool. The facilities are top notch and there is a lot of money coming into grand rapids from a few philanthropists (sp?) that make it a pretty booming medical community. As for the city, I absolutely love the feel. Medium sized with everything you need but not too much traffic and the other crappy things about big cities. Cool things to do at night and lots of restaurants, etc. The only thing that sucks huge about the place is the weather but as they always seem to say up there is, "but the summers are awesome". So if the cold doesn't bother you, sweet place. :thumbup:
 
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I interviewed there and really liked it. From a program standpoint, they really are complete. In the end, I just wanted to train in a larger city. Also, my roommate just matched into their incoming class. I think I wrote a big review about the program somewhere in the review thread if you want more specifics.
 
I think we have a terrific EM program here. The hospital is fantastic and growing by leaps and bounds. By 2010, we'll have added another 300 beds by creating an attached 10+ story children's hospital. Our current children's hospital is already incorporated into our existing hospital. We've just broken ground this winter. They're currently construction a branch campus of MSU's allopathic medical school and cancer center across the street. The hospital and Grand Rapids medical community is booming.

We're very excited about our next intern class. They look like a fantastic group of residents. Overall, the residents are very laid back, enjoy outdoor activities, and motivated academically. Attendings are very friendly and personable. The ED is inviting and clean, despite a massive 135+K volume/year. Great computer system and resident salary/benefits. If you're really interested in getting a residency position your best odds to do a rotation here this fall. As you've probably heard many times before, making it into a residency is partly due to academics and partly due to personality and overall fit. Best of luck in your rotations.
 
Not enough has been said about this residency, truly is a gem of a place to train.

Census as mentioned above is >130,000 making it the largest ED in Michigan, also hands down the nicest, cleanest most inviting as well. Residents are beyond happy, no problem getting jobs later. Program has been around since 1977 and has an EXTENSIVE alumni network.

The new children's hospital mentioned above is right next to the main campus and I've been told was the most expensive ED ever built - I believe it. Gorgeous blue exterior with walls curved to look like waves. Interactive bubbles projected onto walls intdoors. Art everywhere. Fun space. Art Deco bridge connecting hospitals. Children regurally request if they can have birthday parties there.

There are more important things in a residency than decore, of course, but consider it a sign that this place has money enough good nurses in good numbers. Money to snag the best ED toys. Money to hire and retain great faculty staff. Just took on former PD from Kentucky. Current PD, Judge couldn't be a more approachable welcoming guy to talk to. Interview day extremely well done, really creative questions not heard anywhere else on the trail which really did a good job of evaluating key necessary qualities of residents.

Residents work 21 8 hour shifts per month as PGY 1; 19 per month as PG 2 & 3. Great for families, not many folk moonlight with so many days a month though.

Residents a happy group, mostly married it seemed. Scored fifth best in the nation on their inservice exam.

Grand Rapids itself is a surprisingly excellent 1 million person town. Clean, safe prosperous. College campus downtown, many bicyclists with bicycle racks on the walls of many businesses. Good brewpubs, sushi joints three to a block on one street. Google the "art prize" which is an annual event that draws in tons of tourists and happenings to town. Also an excellent annual comedy festival. Affordable houses within biking distanc of town. Great beach and sand dunes of Lake Michigan <1 hour away, even some rock climbing north of town a ways. Outdoor skating rink downtown. There's a bar (B.O.B) which makes their parking, periodically into one of those wireguided wakeboarding location if that makes any sense.

Only real minor cons are lack of much penetrating trauma, if your into that sort of thing. Less name brand recognition for your in-laws.
 
I found these forums immensely useful in getting information about residency programs except for those programs that didn't have much recent information. Residencies can change significantly year to year (if for no other reason than complete resident turnover every 3 years) so I'll chime in about the residency here in Grand Rapids, MI.

I could not be happier. I ranked this program #1 and got it and was absolutely thrilled when I matched here. As some background, my wife and I have 2 kids so we were looking for a program that had specific attributes: (1) first and foremost, I wanted to train at a well-respected residency with a large patient volume that would train me well to be an attending physician when I graduate; (2) I've always loved ultrasound and wanted a program where ultrasound education was supported and fostered because I hope to get my RDMS during residency; (3) affordable cost of living - we needed a 3+ bedroom home with a yard and a two-car garage and didn't want to live more than 15-20 min from the hospital; (4) enough activities for my wife and kids to do that they wouldn't go crazy at home when I was at work; (5) a safe neighborhood for the previously mentioned home that we would be happy living in for 3 years and maybe more...

Believe it or not, I got everything on that list here. The ED sees about twice as many patients as the ED at my med school but has ample attending physician and staff coverage so you retain all the learning opportunities you would have in a less busy department, but you'll never run out of patients. The staff here is incredible too - I remember the first shift I was here I needed to suture a kid's lac and went looking for the tray but the tech told me he would do it and grabbed the suture, local, and gloves I asked for. Very little scut work so you get to concentrate on learning and not figuing out where the (fill in the blank with an obscure instrument) is. Ultrasound is definitely strongly supported here. My med school has one of the national leaders of ultrasound so I was a little leery of ultrasound education at other institutions, but I feel very comfortable and supported in my desire to pursue ultrasound. Multiple attendings I have worked with are facile with ultrasound and have gone with me to do the exams. Looking at the long-term, graduates from this residency (which has been around for over 30 years) are all over the country which speaks to the tremendous training here and the fact that you aren't geographically restricted to the midwest when you finish.

It is also perfect for my family. Our house is perfect with a fenced yard and costs little more than our rent we were paying previously. The school we have our 4-year old in is perfect for him and the list of things to do in the area is quite extensive including a really fun zoo, children's museum, Meijer botanical garden (I was skeptical since it is a "botanical garden" but the room full of carnivorous plants was awesome!!), multiple state parks with beaches within 45 minutes of my home, and tons of parks for my kids to play in.

Happy to answer any questions you may have and hopefully I'll see you during interviews.
 
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Anyone able to provide a new review here? Got an interview and I'm excited to see what this place has to offer!
 
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