can only do one more interview- not sure which one to pick

[seeking]

I can only get time off for one more interview. I can't decide which place to pick. Any advice?
Here are the choices-
Birmingham, Louisville, Emory, Tampa

Does anyone know anything about the call schedule at these programs and if residents are happy there? Thanks!

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[Ligament]

Hey there,

this is a really useless post, but the only one I have heard anything about is emory. The others could be outstanding, but I have not heard anything about them.

best of luck, ligament

 

[seeking]

Well, I ended up declining all four of the interviews. It was just going to be too hard to get to them. I hope I haven't committed Match suicide. I applied to 8 programs and got 8 interviews. I already did 4 interviews and declined the last 4.

How many programs do most people rank for PM&R??

I saw on the NRMP site that 90% of the PM&R programs filled last year. Does anyone know if there were any applicants that didn't match?

 

[seeking]

I am still stressing over turning Emory down. This was my logic, does it sound accurate or faulty? I would only have interviewed at any of the above four locations as my backup to Houston. I figure if I can't get Houston, I can't get Emory so why bother.

I have already interviewed at Dallas and San Antonio as backups. Tampa, Birmingham, and Louisville would have been backups to these programs. Birmingham and Louisville did not fill the past two years, so why not just save the pain and expense of interviews and scramble there if I don't get any of the programs where I already interviewed.

I am just trying to make myself feel better about declining these interviews. I just couldn't see spending all day at the airport while watching my bankaccount drain to interview at places that I don't really want and will only serve as backups.

Sigh.... I wish March 20th was here already

 

[spineguy]

Well this is my first post, but I guess you have to start somewhere. I have been quietly watching all of the great posts and appreciate all of the great insight. Anyway I am applying for PM&R this year and have had great interview experiences. Aside from the top tier programs I was pleasantly surprised with Birmingham. Here are a few pieces of info from that program:

1. They are a model system for both SCI and TBI
2. Great faculty and resident relationships.
3. They are the national database for SCI cases.
4. Huge medical center with free standing Rehab hospital.
5. Ranked in U.S. World News.
6. Excellent moonlighting
7. 6 months of paid electives
8. Their own flouro machine for injections
9. Tons of Botox
10. You can rotate with former UAB residents that are interventional spine specialists and they each offer a fellowship in interventional spine
11. You may notice that they only filled 2 out of 3 spots last year. That is because they sacrificed the position to accept residents from the Chattanooga,TN (did I spell that right) that closed down.
12. 3 months SCI, 3 months TBI, 3 months stroke.....all the rest outpatient, consult, peds etc...

Anyway I thought this was a great program that could easily hold it's own with the other big names. I felt like alot of other programs were still to strong in inpatient, and were "trying" to expand their musculoskeletal/interventional progam.

Well I hope this answers some of the questions about Birmingham. Good luck everyone!!!

 

[bbbmd]

I heard that this year the competitiveness of PM$R increased because of the increasing popularity. All of the Texas programs filled through the match last year and I am sure they will fill again this year... Good luck to you in the match!!! Its nice to hear that you are ranking Houston #1... I matched there last year and will be starting in July after this year of internal medicine hell.

The program in Tampa is brand new so I dont think anyone knows much about it. I heard that Emory was a decent program, but I dont know anything about the others... Not to stress you out, but I do know a couple of people that did not match into PM$R last year... I dont exactly know the reason why they did not match as last year was not as competitive. One of them tried to scramble, but all the programs that didnt fill last year filled quickly and he ended up not getting a spot. He is now miserable in Internal Medicine!!!

Hey... Money matters and so I think you made a well thought-out decision. Anyways, wishing you all the luck in the match and I hope to see you in Houston in 2004!

 

[Ligament]

seeking,

I understand your reason to interview at only four programs, but if you are even remotely thinking that you may need to scramble then you should definately take your remaining four interview offers. Why scramble when you could automatically land one of these spots if you ranked them 5-8? The scramble is not easy and is full of stress.

best of luck!

 

[seeking]

Thanks everyone. This website is great!

Spineguy- how is call at Birmingham?

I guess I figure the two Dallas programs would be easy to get. Southwestern didn't fill any of their slots in 2001 during the match and no one has even heard of Baylor-Dallas. I could probably squeeze in one more interview. It seems that if I do one more, it should be one that I think would be easy to get into since it will be a backup program. What is easier to get- Birmingham, Emory, Tampa, or Louisville?

 

[rehabdoc]

strongly rec emory over othe choices.

regards