Official 2012-2013 Heme/Onc fellowship application cycle

[feelfox]

Any one heard from UVA, univ of Buffalo, univ of Florida?

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[Elfik]

What kind of questions do they ask during the interview? Anything Hem Onc related or mainly general?
Thank you!

 

[happygolucky1]

for maryland or colorado?

 

[miki511cn]

It has been quiet since last Friday. No rej or ivts. Is the end of the invitation season?

 

[feelfox]

It has been quiet since last Friday. No rej or ivts. Is the end of the invitation season?

Maybe. But at least Univ at Buffalo said they will send out IV some time this week. And I have not heard any info from UVA and Univ of Florida?

 

[avidgolfer]

I think it's still early (even though it doesn't feel that way). It seems like a lot of programs still have not sent out any invites (CCF, UCLA, Emory) but I could be out of the know.

 

[adi1978]

I think it's still early (even though it doesn't feel that way). It seems like a lot of programs still have not sent out any invites (CCF, UCLA, Emory) but I could be out of the know.

Emory and UVA started giving out invites.

 

[TXonc]

Has anyone else heard from MD Anderson?

 

[zensatori]

any one heard from uva, univ of buffalo, univ of florida?

uva

 

[zensatori]

still nobody addressed how to prepare for interviews??

 

[blabbyblab]

What do you guys think - go on the interview for Fox Chase or Duke?

I am interested in all things hematology but haven't completely ruled out solids.

 

[whitecoatjimmy]

I just had to cancel interviews at OHSU, Michigan, Colorado, Duke, and UCSF b/c my wife who is applying to Cardiology didn't get interviews there. This hurts my heart a little, but I hope one of you fellow SDN'ers is able to benefit.

 

[dba134]

Go on interview at colorado or tufts... i have east coast preference but not if there is a seismic difference between the two

 

[anemic]

how was Jefferson?

I really liked my visit to Thomas Jefferson. I wasn't definitely planning on going but I I didn't have any conflicts I am very happy I did. I felt they were well balanced between benign heme, malignant heme, and solid tumor. The benign heme there I think is pretty strong. The fellows have a lot of support with NPs and faculty to assist in growing workload.

The program seems to have grown enormously in the last 5 years, taking a bunch of faculty from fox chase and penn. It seems flexibile enough that they train academic faculty, basic science researchers, and private heme-onc fairly well. The program director seemed very accomodating to work with the fellows and their specific interests.

A couple of things I noted as well are that the program is definitely in a state of flux. For example, they almost have a night float system that was a bit confusing but just started and they are working out the kinks. I think the fellowship is still catching up to the growth of caseload in terms of organization and autonomy. I bet in 2 or 3 years it will be talked about much more.

Keep in mind though this was my first and only interview so far though.

 

[Alemtuzumab]

Do you guys have any thoughts on the relative merits/weaknesses/reputation/long term job opportunities in academia at Cornell vs Columbia? I know that Columbia is expanding and Cornell is strong in heme, but don't know much more than that. Thanks.

 

[aesir79]

Hi everyone,

I need a little help on which interviews I should try to make.

MSKCCC
JHU
Columbia
OSU
Moffitt
Georgetown
UMD
UC, Irvine
Vandy
Wake Forest
BU
UVA
Washington Hospital, DC

I'm leaning more toward malignant heme.

I think definite interviews are: MSKCCC, JHU, OSU, Moffitt, Columbia
Unsure are Vandy, UMD, UC Irvine, Wake forest, BU, Washington Hospital/DC, UVA
My schedule will allow me to go to about 8-10 interviews.

Thanks

 

[happygolucky1]

Mskcc, jhu, Columbia, osu, moffitt, umd, vandy, wake forest, UVA are the no brainers

 

[anemic]

invite from umd and brown... spoke to nyu and on waitlist. yet to hear from cornell, mskcc, mdacc, fox chase, chicago, bidmc, emory, bu, upmc... how many interviews are people planning to go on... im thinking about 10

 

[SwineLake98]

Hi everyone,

I need a little help on which interviews I should try to make.

MSKCCC
JHU
Columbia
OSU
Moffitt
Georgetown
UMD
UC, Irvine
Vandy
Wake Forest
BU
UVA
Washington Hospital, DC

I'm leaning more toward malignant heme.

I think definite interviews are: MSKCCC, JHU, OSU, Moffitt, Columbia
Unsure are Vandy, UMD, UC Irvine, Wake forest, BU, Washington Hospital/DC, UVA
My schedule will allow me to go to about 8-10 interviews.

Thanks

From what I know about the BU program, I'd skip it. Funding for Onc research there isn't great, and you have some awesome places on your list. I think Vandy might be worth the trip if you don't mind living in that part of the country. I don't know enough about the others to comment.

 

[SwineLake98]

invite from umd and brown... spoke to nyu and on waitlist. yet to hear from cornell, mskcc, mdacc, fox chase, chicago, bidmc, emory, bu, upmc... how many interviews are people planning to go on... im thinking about 10

Take a look at some of the earlier posts, around page 4 of this thread.

This was the best response, in my opinion:

Not applying this year but have been keeping a close eye on things here the last two years.

It seems like there are three tiers of applicants.

1. RockStars (ala GutOnc) - these applicants receive interviews from Memorial Sloan Kettering, Farber, or MD Anderson etc. These applicants apply to 10-20 programs, CHOOSE which 6-8 interviews to go to, and match at their top three choices.

2. Middle of the Road - These applicants apply to the Farber, MD Anderson, Kettering and get no interviews from the top place. These applicants get half academic/half community hospital interviews. Apply to 20-30 programs, go to 8-10 interviews, and match at top five.

3. Bottom of the Pack - these applicants apply to 30+ programs, go to whatever number of interviews offered (less than 5). If they receive more than 5 interview invites they are considered Middle of the Road. If they get less than 5 interviews, they either match or don't match.

We can add GutOnc's perspective on this, but it seems like RockStars can go wherever they want to go (ie based on the strong academics or location). Middle of the Road end up matching as long as they go on at least 5 interviews. And Bottom of the Pack, end up matching depending on whether they receive more than 5 interviews.

I think this is why upperclassmen at my program keep saying that the same people show up on the interview trail because based on people's application they end up in one on these tiers.

What do you guys think?

 

[avidgolfer]

Hi everyone,

I need a little help on which interviews I should try to make.

MSKCCC
JHU
Columbia
OSU
Moffitt
Georgetown
UMD
UC, Irvine
Vandy
Wake Forest
BU
UVA
Washington Hospital, DC

I'm leaning more toward malignant heme.

I think definite interviews are: MSKCCC, JHU, OSU, Moffitt, Columbia
Unsure are Vandy, UMD, UC Irvine, Wake forest, BU, Washington Hospital/DC, UVA
My schedule will allow me to go to about 8-10 interviews.

Thanks

Vandy was a great program, although I think they're still living off the past. A lot of their big faculty (D Johnson, Carbone ) have left and they have hemorrhage allot of faculty to Tennessee oncology, which is the big private group that does a lot of the clinical trials in Nashville.

 

[tele man]

Dartmouth invite

 

[happygolucky1]

UPMC invite

 

[greennyc]

any DOs getting interviews and where?

 

[Poca]

UPMC here too. I am trying to trim my IV list a bit, I can go to two of the following three, wondering if someone can help me to make a choice.
1. Allegheny General Hospital-Western Pennsylvania Hospital
2. Lehigh Valley hopistal
3. Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center Program.
Much appreciated.

 

[Aplastic Crisis]

UPMC here too. I am trying to trim my IV list a bit, I can go to two of the following three, wondering if someone can help me to make a choice.
1. Allegheny General Hospital-Western Pennsylvania Hospital
2. Lehigh Valley hopistal
3. Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center Program.
Much appreciated.

I would get rid of Lehigh Valley, they just got accredited and 2013 will be the first year and I don't know much about Georgetown or Allegheny General but at least they have been around longer.

 

[gutonc]

UPMC here too. I am trying to trim my IV list a bit, I can go to two of the following three, wondering if someone can help me to make a choice.
1. Allegheny General Hospital-Western Pennsylvania Hospital
2. Lehigh Valley hopistal
3. Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center Program.
Much appreciated.

GT. Skip the other 2 if you have >5 other interviews.

 

[scubadive]

What do you think about the UPMC program? Is there any malignant hem. orientation?

 

[happyslav]

Actually, that's not Georgetown. Thats Washington Hospital center which is a big inner city type community hospital. I think you could compare allegheny hospital very well to this one. And I agree about lehigh - they just started their program this year so you don't know what you are going to get.

Personally, I would rank them

Allegheny
Washington hospital center
Lehigh

Just interns of quality but you might prefer downtown dc to downtown Pittsburgh , I don't know

Good luck!

 

[happyslav]

Just an update on Ivs

Interviews at
Buffalo Roswell park
Allegheny
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Ut San Antonio
Albert Einstein

And. Few small programs

Rejections at

Jhu
U Chicago
Nyu

 

[anemic]

chicago rejection today and emory 'if you haven't gotten an invite, you are rejected' yesterday; utah invite today

 

[whitecoatjimmy]

MD Anderson and Utah invites today!

 

[akoult]

From the perspective of an individual who knows the program well, I'd say that the program is mixed with training opportunities in both heme/onc/BMT though the onc training is superior.

The strengths of the research program are in breast (Nancy Davidson, Adam Brufsky), melanoma (John Kirkwood, Skin SPORE), thoracic malignancies (Mark Socinski, Lung SPORE) and H&N cancer (H&N spore led by ENT). From a basic science perspective, immunotherapy has always been a strength (Olea Finn, Pawel Kalinsky, Joel Nelson).

Malignant heme/myeloma programs were excellent but following the departure of Lentzsch, Mapara, Roodman, this has taken a beating.

 

[SwineLake98]

cornell

Has anyone else heard from Cornell? I want to make travel plans for my trip to NY, but I'd like to know if I'm going to try to squeeze in another interview that week. Would it be inappropriate to email and ask?

 

[fischer]

Rejection from University of Chicago and Emory in last two days.

Invites from Dartmouth and UC Irvine.

Leaning toward malignant heme, but not 100% certain. Need to narrow down my interview list: Of UMass, University of Rochester, Tufts, UC Irvine, and Dartmouth, opinions of which 2 I should do?

 

[tele man]

I know Yale has sent out invites but has anyone gotten a rejection? They've still got me in limbo.

 

[feelfox]

I got rej from Yale. In the rej letter, it is said there r 60% more applicants than ever before. Do we really have so many people applying to hem/onc this year? Or just each one of us applys to many programs at the same time?

 

[firstgenedoc]

MD Anderson and Utah invites today!

congrats!!

 

[tele man]

I got rej from Yale. In the rej letter, it is said there r 60% more applicants than ever before. Do we really have so many people applying to hem/onc this year? Or just each one of us applys to many programs at the same time?

An assistant program director I've spoken with was surprised by the amount of apps they got this year. What that actually means, who knows. I applied to 14 programs all together and am only waiting to hear back on three more - Yale, Cornell, and BID.

 

[feelfox]

An assistant program director I've spoken with was surprised by the amount of apps they got this year. What that actually means, who knows. I applied to 14 programs all together and am only waiting to hear back on three more - Yale, Cornell, and BID.

My friend is a first year fellow at ucsd. She said 5 out of 12 residents from scripps applied to hemonc this year.

 

[avidgolfer]

An assistant program director I've spoken with was surprised by the amount of apps they got this year. What that actually means, who knows. I applied to 14 programs all together and am only waiting to hear back on three more - Yale, Cornell, and BID.

I think part of the reason for increase applications is the change in the application process so people that were planning to delay a year last year are applying now with the individuals that were already planning to apply.

 

[zensatori]

Mayo clinic/Rochester. anyone done with their interview over there? details?

 

[sk8bored]

Silence from the last few places I have yet to hear from...i'm guessing rejections. For some reason I was expecting more interviews from some predictable places based on former residents experiences from my program. Anyone else a little surprised this year?

 

[december 31]

Hello every body :
does any body know when does this season ends ? I mean when will the programs stop sending interviews to applicants ?

 

[Elfik]

Yes, this season is impressive... . Who knows why? My best guess is that everything will slow down completely in September and by October there is no more IV to be expected, unless smbdy cancels and there is an urgent opening. Programs are giving pre-matches, and taking internal candidates. (I am watching my university sub-specialties at least). I know that Cards are pretty much the same....

 

[gutonc]

Yes, this season is impressive... . Who knows why?

This part is easy actually. There are basically 2 full years of applicants this year with the recent change in the schedule. There was no fellowship match last year so all of last year's applicants, and all of this year's applicants are applying for the same Match.

I'm actually kind of shocked at how poorly this is understood by both applicants and the people on the committees reviewing apps. I can't tell you how many times one of our, very smart, senior faculty members, looked at an app and said "so if they're such a good candidate, why didn't they apply last year?".

 

[Elfik]

I can't tell you how many times one of our, very smart, senior faculty members, looked at an app and said "so if they're such a good candidate, why didn't they apply last year?".

Dear GutOnc, you are totally right! There is at least small pool of "undecided" candidates, who were not sure whether to choose J1 waiver or apply to fellowship due to credentials, but apart from that "yes" - it makes this year's Match twice as hard as the last one... Part of me is wondering whether the next year is gonna be better somehow...

 

[opinionkitten]

I am having difficulty editing my interviews. I am in a pal med fellowship and basically can only interview the month of October due to coverage issues. I am pulling teeth to get 6-7 interviews scheduled with time off service. I have 8 now and awaiting word 8 schools. Any advice on how to edit my programs? Example: can go to either UCI or UT San Antonio. Which is better? Not a lot of literature online about either place. Geography wise they are equally acceptable. Where should I look for info?

 

[gutonc]

I am having difficulty editing my interviews. I am in a pal med fellowship and basically can only interview the month of October due to coverage issues. I am pulling teeth to get 6-7 interviews scheduled with time off service. I have 8 now and awaiting word 8 schools. Any advice on how to edit my programs? Example: can go to either UCI or UT San Antonio. Which is better? Not a lot of literature online about either place. Geography wise they are equally acceptable. Where should I look for info?

Here is as good a place as any to look for info.

UTHSCSA has good solid tumor and an AWESOME Phase I program if that's something that interests you (probably top 5 in the US along with MDACC, Denver, Wayne St. and DFCI). UCI is a pretty small, but well-rounded program. If you have a major leukemia boner, probably look elsewhere (although the SA VA is one of 3 VA BMT sites in the US...but I think they only do autos).

 

[gutonc]

Dear GutOnc, you are totally right! There is at least small pool of "undecided" candidates, who were not sure whether to choose J1 waiver or apply to fellowship due to credentials, but apart from that "yes" - it makes this year's Match twice as hard as the last one... Part of me is wondering whether the next year is gonna be better somehow...

I'm not even talking about folks who need visas. I'm just talking about applicants in general. There are two full classes trying to apply for fellowship this year.

I think it will be better next year but it will be another 2 or 3 years before the backlog from this year gets cleared out.