ROL
The city for each program played a big role in my list.
1. Baylor: Pros: I liked Houston a lot and grew up in and still have most of my family in the SW. I liked the residents. Faculty seemed cool and are from all over. I think I would like to end up in the SW when I'm done with residency. Ben Taub was nicer than I was expecting and the Texas Medical Center was impressive, some Peds EM at Texas Children's Hospital. 6 months of ICU. I'd get to work on my Spanish. Free lunch everyday while working in the ED. 8's during the week and 12's on weekends to allow for a weekend off a month while in the ED. (I've forgotten how many shifts- 20-22ish?)
Cons: Newer Program (In its first year). Houston Traffic. Moonlight starting 3rd year. Residents Pay for parking.
2.Univ. of TN- Chattanooga: Pros: I rotated here and like the faculty and the residents. No floor months (Peds or IM). About 5 ICU months. Nice hospital, Nice ED. Free food + parking. Newer program (in it's 3rd year) but has a lot of support from the college of Medicine and Hospital- the Dean of the College of Med is an EP and the president elect of ACEP. Good "outdoor activities." Variety of good food- I've was pleasantly surprised. I'd be very happy to end up here, and thought about putting them number 1 but chose Houston over Chatt. 17 12's as an R1, 17 10's as R2, and 16 10's as an R3 (or something close to that).
Cons: Not a big city, although Nashville and Atlanta are close by (not a plus for me). Not a great place to fly out of- most flights take you to Nashville or Atl first. No family nearby.
3. JPS: Pros: Some of the faculty seemed pretty cool. Fort Worth seemed ok from what I saw during my 1 day visit. I like most of the curriculum- about 6 months of ICU. 1 mo of Cardiology is a plus in my book. Nice ED. Free food + parking. Good benefits package. Dallas nearby. This program could have gone lower on my list, but I like the city more than the ones below, and although the idea of being at a brand new program is a little scary it didn't scare me off. Also, it could be cool to be the senior-most resident in the ED on day 1 and not have 2 classes above to compete with for procedures and cool cases.
Cons: Brand New Program. Hard to get a feel for things because no residents to talk with. PD not at interview day. 2 months of Medicine. No Peds EM integrated into Adult EM months (this was the issue that most worried me, but the Assoc. PD said that they will see what the residents think and are working on some of the hospitals nearby but have nothing solid as of the time I interviewed. They do however, have 3 months of Peds EM- 1mo as an R2 and 2mo's as an R3 at Children's Hosp. of Dallas. Nothing R1 year).
4. Kansas City (KUMC): Pros: Nice people, Nice ED
Cons: 1 mo of Medicine + 1 mo of Peds, Newer program ( in 1st year), I think KC may be a bit colder or more snowy than what I'm looking for
5. Arkansas: Pros: Established program. Nice people. Newly built ED that was pretty nice. I believe an EM resident is involved in/runs all of the Traumas. A lot of moonlighting opportunities.
Cons: Little Rock. Residents give a lot of the lectures. 1 mo of Medicine at the VA (I think they may consider changing this?) 1 Month of Peds Flight experience (I think this is a combined EMS/Flight experience. You can opt out of the helicopter rides and do an additional month of PICU instead, but most people don't). All 12's (R1- 18, R2-17, R3- 16)
6. Christus Spohn: Pros: The beach. Good weather year round. Family is the only other program, so when you are off service you are working w/attendings. EM handles the all of the traumas (no surgery residents). No call, except for one service.. PICU, I think. Everything else is shift work. When on Trauma, it's 12 hr shifts. Moonlighting opportunites. 9 hr ED shifts (20/19/18 for R1/2/3). Weekly quizzes to go with reading (+/-) Free food + gated parking. Optional flight experience. 1 mo of Cardiology.
Cons: Older EDs. Level Two Trauma center (although they say they see plenty, plus no surgery residents to compete with). 1 mo of Neurology (they say it's beneficial, bc you're often consulting Neuro, good experience, etc.) 1 mo of Medicine
7. Emory: Pros: I rotated here for a month. I loved Emory (EUH, Emory Hospital- Midtown, etc) but wasn't a fan of Grady. Lots of sick pt.s at all of the EDs. At Grady, at the beginning/end of each shift the teams sort-of mini round on all of the pts. , it's brief (about 10 min max) and usually an attending, resident, and med student will share something cool that they saw or learned. Now have EMR. Some cool residents. The SICU month is supposed to put hair on your chest. During intern year (it may be during the first month in the ED) you get a month to cherry-pick procedures and can take some from the upper levels so that you get more comfortable and more experienced during that month. A lot of the faculty were very nice and the residents seem to like each other. I believe Emory gets the most NIH research money for EM. 8hr shifts during week, 12's on weekend to allow for 1 weekend off a month while in ED. Around 22 shifts a month(?).
Cons: Grady just wasn't really my style. Very crowded. Lots of pts on stretchers in the hallway, my 3rd year wheeled a pt to CT and then I took him to X-ray. A lot of the rooms don't have functioning ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes. Some of the labs didn't get drawn on a few pts. Very large class size (19, likely going up to 20). 1 mo of Medicine. ATL traffic. I'm also not a big fan of ATL and I think that colored my experience as well. I think it is a good program. Most of my mentors in EM went to Emory and they are awesome, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to check it out. I think when you come through the program you'll be very well prepared. 75% of the program is at Grady, 25% at Emory. Because of this and since I didn't like the city either, It had to be a lower ranking for me. I agree that Grady really is a place you should rotate at if you very interested in going there for residency. You'll find out if you like it or not during that month and they take heavily from those who have rotated (in one class, I think 18 of the 19 did a rotation there).
8. St. Louis (SLU): Pros: 1 mo of Tox + 1 mo of Burn Unit. St. Louis can be a violent city (trauma).
Cons: St. Louis can be a violent city. Small ED with lower pt census (I believe around 35K/yr). Interview day was a bit disorganized. Newer program (in it's 2nd year) 1 mo of Peds, IM, and Neuro. A couple of awkward interviews, although PD seemed cool. I also missed the pre-interview dinner and didn't get to meet some of the residents.
9. MS: Pros: A lot of moonlighting opportunities. Since it's a 4 yr program, they have room for all of the things that other programs pick only a few of (Cardio, Radiology, EKG, Tox, Ultrasound, Peds Sedation, TeleMedicine). Most of the resident were pretty cool.
Cons: 4 years is about 1 year too long for me. Jackson. 1 mo IM. 1st year is very off-service heavy, only 3 mos of EM (2 adult + 1 Peds).
