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There was a suggestion to start a thread on program reviews. Thoughts...positives...negatives... Anything that you want to share that would benefit others through this odd process.
Program Review
- Thread starter sapfrit
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i have a few but will wait til a bit into the season
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I've interviewed at 7 programs so far and have noticed that it is really coming down to a few questions:
1. Is it a location in the country you want?
2. Are the facilities where you want to spend up to 80 hrs/wk?
3. Do you mesh with the types of residents there?
4. Do you like the faculty, program director and learning style emphasized?
5. Are there any specifics to the program that are absolute or significant drawbacks?
6. Does the program have a specific opportunity you might be interested in?
There are lots more details, but after talking to other applicants, these are really the things that make or break positioning on the rank list. Any thoughts from others?
1. Is it a location in the country you want?
2. Are the facilities where you want to spend up to 80 hrs/wk?
3. Do you mesh with the types of residents there?
4. Do you like the faculty, program director and learning style emphasized?
5. Are there any specifics to the program that are absolute or significant drawbacks?
6. Does the program have a specific opportunity you might be interested in?
There are lots more details, but after talking to other applicants, these are really the things that make or break positioning on the rank list. Any thoughts from others?
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1. free standing children's hospital. although this may be a fellow driven hospital. so as we do only 2 years of peds, 2 things are important to me. 1. autonomy and 2. bread and butter peds. If you have a smaller peds part but provide this, i'm good
2. combined medpeds clinic is a make or break option for some. Some consider this the backbone of a good program. However, if there are medpeds faculty and i feel like i get enough exposure to kids and adults i am happy.
3. location, location, location...Always important
4. length of intern year. Some programs have up to a 16 month internship with thought being that being ready for a supervisory R2 role requires a longer intern year (the residents at these programs support it). others feel that you transition will be bumpy no matter what so extending intern year is unneccesary.
5. happiness of residents. why i value the pre-interview dinner
6. I have yet to visit a program that did not support any post-residency training that they wanted (fellowships) or didnt want. Nice to know that i am supported in all scenarios.
7. I have yet to visit a program that doesnt say that its medpeds residents are not well integrated into its categorical med and peds programs. While this is stated at all programs, i think that this is something that i'll assume is true and wont absolutely know until the middle of intern year.
more?
JW
2. combined medpeds clinic is a make or break option for some. Some consider this the backbone of a good program. However, if there are medpeds faculty and i feel like i get enough exposure to kids and adults i am happy.
3. location, location, location...Always important
4. length of intern year. Some programs have up to a 16 month internship with thought being that being ready for a supervisory R2 role requires a longer intern year (the residents at these programs support it). others feel that you transition will be bumpy no matter what so extending intern year is unneccesary.
5. happiness of residents. why i value the pre-interview dinner
6. I have yet to visit a program that did not support any post-residency training that they wanted (fellowships) or didnt want. Nice to know that i am supported in all scenarios.
7. I have yet to visit a program that doesnt say that its medpeds residents are not well integrated into its categorical med and peds programs. While this is stated at all programs, i think that this is something that i'll assume is true and wont absolutely know until the middle of intern year.
more?
JW
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Good point about the length of intern year and the Med-Peds clinic. I was lucky, I guess, in that all the programs I am applying to have 12-month intern years with at most a month or two that are "resitern" months after that. I agree that having a Med-Peds clinic-and therefore Med-Peds faculty with whom to work-is a key component. It's an important place to get to combine the medicine and pediatrics components, otherwise you might do your whole residency without ever seeing the two together, only separately.
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I agree with nevercold's remarks. My list of what was important changed after interviewing at a couple of places. Most people told me before that it was important that you felt integrated and that you could get fellowships if you wanted to, but after interviewing most all the places that I went to said that they felt well integrated and could get whatever fellowship they wanted. So in my experience this doesn't really help you differentiate. I guess if you ran across a program that couldn't say yes to those two things it may be a red flag.
Now, I think the things that nevercold mentioned are very important. Also, I would add there is a certain something else. Just a feeling about how you fit with the program. Like some programs might look superior to others on paper, but you just don't feel right or like you don't fit in. I think fitting in with the residents is important and may reflect on that resident happiness thing. Just a thought.
***
After rank lists are turned in an stuff, I'll likely try to post individual reviews about programs. I know some people at different programs browse this site and my picture for my avatar gives me away.
Just want to keep my cards close to my chest right now.
Now, I think the things that nevercold mentioned are very important. Also, I would add there is a certain something else. Just a feeling about how you fit with the program. Like some programs might look superior to others on paper, but you just don't feel right or like you don't fit in. I think fitting in with the residents is important and may reflect on that resident happiness thing. Just a thought.
***
After rank lists are turned in an stuff, I'll likely try to post individual reviews about programs. I know some people at different programs browse this site and my picture for my avatar gives me away.
Just want to keep my cards close to my chest right now.- Joined
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This forum has been quiet for awhile, nice to see some life...
I have to say that I am really glad that the previous people posting have approached this forum the way they have. I think that reviewing individual forums can be very subjective and I haven't always found prior reviews that helpful. The programs that I may review not-so-highly were due to my own personal experiences, which could vary between person to person and day to day. I have noticed that these PD's really take their programs to heart and I wouldn't want in any way to unfairly tarnish their name.
With that being said, I really recommend interviewing at a variety of programs from all geographic regions. You know yourself best and what you want out of your career, so you can see what every place has to offer (e.g. some places have a VA or community hospital other than the university hospital...do you want a variety of exposure to healthcare?) One big thing that I've seen with these programs, is how are they managing the 80 hour work week? Some have put a night float system into place, others have established caps, and I've seen a few programs hire resident assistants to help manage the aftercare of the patient (scheduling CT, follow up appointments). Each system has their pros and cons.
Also are you going to see primary and tertiary medicine and pediatrics at all these locations (peds seems to be the one that can go either way)? There are programs that are the only shop in town, so you are going to see everything. Other programs have other children's hospitals in the region or are very specialized in one department and so you may see more of one specialty than getting a balanced experience. It all depends what your priorities are. If you want to go into a certain specialty, make sure you check with residents to see if there is enough mentorship/research and then see if any recent alumni have matched into that specialty and where (I like to see someone at the top children's hospitals to know that the sky is the limit!)
Lastly, this process is bigger than you if you have a SO. As supportive of your dreams they may be, you want to know that both of you are going to be happy for 4 long years at the place you matched. It's nice if there are family/friends in that location so that both of you have a support network and are not just implanted into a completely foreign area. Also, look at these dinners to see if resident's SOs are there. Bring your SO to the interview or a second look. If they do come with you to the night-before dinner and a resident's SO is there, have them talk to see how life is like as a SO at this program/location.
Things you believe are important in the beginning become less important, and things you never thought would pop in your head suddenly have meaning.
Just my two cents...
I have to say that I am really glad that the previous people posting have approached this forum the way they have. I think that reviewing individual forums can be very subjective and I haven't always found prior reviews that helpful. The programs that I may review not-so-highly were due to my own personal experiences, which could vary between person to person and day to day. I have noticed that these PD's really take their programs to heart and I wouldn't want in any way to unfairly tarnish their name.
With that being said, I really recommend interviewing at a variety of programs from all geographic regions. You know yourself best and what you want out of your career, so you can see what every place has to offer (e.g. some places have a VA or community hospital other than the university hospital...do you want a variety of exposure to healthcare?) One big thing that I've seen with these programs, is how are they managing the 80 hour work week? Some have put a night float system into place, others have established caps, and I've seen a few programs hire resident assistants to help manage the aftercare of the patient (scheduling CT, follow up appointments). Each system has their pros and cons.
Also are you going to see primary and tertiary medicine and pediatrics at all these locations (peds seems to be the one that can go either way)? There are programs that are the only shop in town, so you are going to see everything. Other programs have other children's hospitals in the region or are very specialized in one department and so you may see more of one specialty than getting a balanced experience. It all depends what your priorities are. If you want to go into a certain specialty, make sure you check with residents to see if there is enough mentorship/research and then see if any recent alumni have matched into that specialty and where (I like to see someone at the top children's hospitals to know that the sky is the limit!)
Lastly, this process is bigger than you if you have a SO. As supportive of your dreams they may be, you want to know that both of you are going to be happy for 4 long years at the place you matched. It's nice if there are family/friends in that location so that both of you have a support network and are not just implanted into a completely foreign area. Also, look at these dinners to see if resident's SOs are there. Bring your SO to the interview or a second look. If they do come with you to the night-before dinner and a resident's SO is there, have them talk to see how life is like as a SO at this program/location.
Things you believe are important in the beginning become less important, and things you never thought would pop in your head suddenly have meaning.
Just my two cents...
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I will not reveal the name of the program that this happened with so as to not unfairly bias anyone else.
I got an interview at one program and made travel arrangements to go there. A good friend of mine is in the area so I planned to spend the weekend with her. I got an interview at a second program in the same geographic area for the following Monday, so I changed my flights to go through that city, incurring a $75 penalty from the first flight plan and having to obviously pay for the new flight. However, this didn't set me back too much. Both places were paying for my hotel the night before and there were good shuttles for each.
With these coming up this coming weekend, I spent Sunday tracking down all my information on the programs and my travel. I realized that for the second
program, they were supposed to send me information but did not. Thus, I sent an email to the program coordinator asking them to resend any information. Two days later, I get a call in the late afternoon informing me that they had canceled this coming Monday as an interview day because of staffing for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. Apparently they were supposed to have sent me notice of this earlier. To reschedule would require canceling the first city or getting ANOTHER flight (at a clip of $220) for the following Friday.
So now I have a flight to this city with a return flight about 28 hours later to my home city. If I cancel and fly home from the first city, I have to buy a $140 ticket, I lose $100 in a penalty, and I am left with an $80 voucher only good for a year that I probably won't get to use. If I keep my flight, I can get some good deals in the second city for hotel and rental car and spend about $120-140 and still see the area.
Either way, this second program is miles off my rank list now and I am out about $140 extra.
Just, wow.
I got an interview at one program and made travel arrangements to go there. A good friend of mine is in the area so I planned to spend the weekend with her. I got an interview at a second program in the same geographic area for the following Monday, so I changed my flights to go through that city, incurring a $75 penalty from the first flight plan and having to obviously pay for the new flight. However, this didn't set me back too much. Both places were paying for my hotel the night before and there were good shuttles for each.
With these coming up this coming weekend, I spent Sunday tracking down all my information on the programs and my travel. I realized that for the second
program, they were supposed to send me information but did not. Thus, I sent an email to the program coordinator asking them to resend any information. Two days later, I get a call in the late afternoon informing me that they had canceled this coming Monday as an interview day because of staffing for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. Apparently they were supposed to have sent me notice of this earlier. To reschedule would require canceling the first city or getting ANOTHER flight (at a clip of $220) for the following Friday.
So now I have a flight to this city with a return flight about 28 hours later to my home city. If I cancel and fly home from the first city, I have to buy a $140 ticket, I lose $100 in a penalty, and I am left with an $80 voucher only good for a year that I probably won't get to use. If I keep my flight, I can get some good deals in the second city for hotel and rental car and spend about $120-140 and still see the area.
Either way, this second program is miles off my rank list now and I am out about $140 extra.
Just, wow.
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Ouch, sounds like someone dropped the ball there.
