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I interviewed there last year and would be happy to comment.
Some quick background, I am a born Texan and honestly wanted to stay in the south, but I have some family up near MI, OH, PA.....so I thought what the heck, I'd give those places a shot.
I was really impressed with the program in Saginaw. The program directors name escapes me at the moment, but she was someone who is VERY well connected in EM and I think was heading up organizing the last ACEP in Seattle. The residents were a very cool group of folks. I had the most laughs and carrying on at the night before dinner there over any other place I went. It was generally a 'family' feel...which is what I was after anyways. EM as a department seemed to have a strong hold in that hospital. I believe there was two different hospitals you worked at, and I think you could moonlight only as a third year (MI law...2 PGY years). Housing was dirt cheap in the area and it was beautiful country. Also, out of 13 programs I visited, it was the only one that a resident stayed in contact with me throughout the season via phone calls and emails. Her heart was VERY much into the program and she worked at recruiting hard....
So why did I not go there?
Lets be honest, my blood boils better than it freezes. Listening to the residents talk about how it was 'no biggie' to shovel the snow out of the driveways in the mornings made my back hurt. Also, it was like 1500 miles from home, and the nearest airport in Detroit was about 2 hours away.
As with most people, Location became my biggest player....I figure Saginaw gets hurt doubly on that being it is very north and very rural compared to the many other MI programs. If you have a 'tie' to that area or just really want to go to MI....I think it would be a good place to learn!
I also went to Kalamazoo, St Johns, and Sparrow. Of those three, I liked Kalamazoo the most.... I forget my exact rank list, but out of the MI programs, Kalamazoo and Synergy was on top....but still very low on my list strictly because of the geography...
