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- Apr 17, 2003
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Same here. I'm debating whether to post anonymously, but will be posting a number of reviews in the coming weeks! So far, 9 down, about 9 more to go (including a few transtionals though...).
this thread has been very disappointing. i used this a ton, when i applied b/c it was such a great resource
Really, these reviews help not only the upcoming MS4s but also those current MS4s who may be wondering if their impression of a given program matches what others have said?
I believe that a number of folks who don't have the energy for writing one of these reviews are, in fact, posting reviews on the SDN residency review site that docB mentioned. While I feel that they're not as helpful overall as the more in-depth postings, they're definitely still worth having.exactly. it only hurts the current and future applicants. i can only hope more of you use this.....
The other intern barely spoke and appeared catatonic, and when asked why he chose ECU, gave me the weirdest look that I've ever seen.
Wow, this thread is pretty lame this year! Last year was awesome with multiple reviews on each program. Always fun to read. Maybe next year.
As has been previously noted, most reviews this year have been posted under the "SDN Residency Interview Feedback" thread. However, I think it would be a great help if residents would post information on their own programs instead of students relying on another student's perspective after spending only a few hours at a program.
That's a great thought and all...but I asked about Toledo, which is a new program this year. So there are obviously no reviews from previous years and there are no reviews on Toledo from anybody yet this year (which is safe to say considering that if you go back a page, you'll see posts from over a year ago and no posts about that program). A forum search yielded nothing, either. So, I would have thought this would be a good place to post a request.Do a search buddy. A ton of the reviews were done by myself and others during the application process two years ago...There is too much "anyone been to so and so program?" and not enough contribution from members. As I always say, step it up.
That's a great thought and all...but I asked about Toledo, which is a new program this year. So there are obviously no reviews from previous years and there are no reviews on Toledo from anybody yet this year (which is safe to say considering that if you go back a page, you'll see posts from over a year ago and no posts about that program). A forum search yielded nothing, either. So, I would have thought this would be a good place to post a request.
If you take a look at some of the other programs listed on the first page of the EM forum, you'll notice I reviewed a few other programs I'd been to that had been asked about.
So, I'd appreciate it if you cranked the 'tude down a few notches.
-k thx luvya bye
A ton of the reviews were done by myself and others during the application process two years ago. I've read through the "SDN residency interview feedback" and it pales in comparison to the detail students have been posting in this thread through the years. I found students posting their impressions and basic info about programs based on a days visit to be very helpful. It is much less biased than that of a resident reviewing their own program. I don't think anyone is reading these to "rely" on them for rank list decisions, but it's helpful to get a somewhat first hand exposure to a program that you know little about. Read through mine, I listed positives and negatives about many of the programs I visited. There is too much "anyone been to so and so program?" and not enough contribution from members. As I always say, step it up.
Boston Medical Center
Overview
In my opinion, it's the best program in the Boston area. It gets, by far, the most trauma (70% of all Boston trauma), and serves the underserved/poor population that is the closest to 'county' in the region.
I agree that BMC is an excellent program but it's really about the right fit for one's personality and future aspirations, more than the best program in town.
Believe it or not, no one actually knows that data on trauma distribution in Boston. The "70%" number doesn't jive with the numbers of cases that we are seeing at MGH, BIDMC, or BWH. With NEMC just getting it's level 1 trauma status, that distribution should change even further. The helicopter patients are equally shared and trauma destination is otherwise by determined proximity. Being on the south of town, BMC should get more penetrating trauma, but Mission Hill near the Longwood area and the northern suburbs generate a fair amount of penetraing trauma for the other site. There is a much higher percentage of indigent cases at BMC, but everyone has at least 20% indigent cases in their ED.
I am sure Olshaker is knows that BMC is the best program. Ron Walls is absolutely positive that the BWH-MGH program is head and shoulders above the others, and I am certain that BIDMC is the best. As for everyone else, the only way to know is to get a close look at each one and see if the shoe fits.
good point. i remember mult threads stating what is the best em program. Students: the best EM program is the one that fits you. While reps are important, you will suceed where you feel most comfortable
Overview
Excellent 4-year
o Michigan economy: Its bad, folks. Per the above quote, its difficult out there for folks not in/around Ann Arbor. And if your SO has non-academic or non-medical career options, Im not so sure that they would be able to find a good job right now. Though Id love to be proven wrong.
Sorry about the change in font on my last review. I was having computer/internet issues and had to copy and paste from a Word document. Also, sorry for any typos... I'm usually watching TV and enjoying a cold beer while I'm writing these. Anyways... on to Beth Israel Deaconess.
Overview: A 3 year academic program located in Boston, Massachusetts with an optional (but guaranteed) 4th year as a junior attending. There are 4 months of ICU time, 2 months of trauma, 3 months of Peds, and 7 weeks of elective in the third year. The base hospital is BIDMC, and you will be rotating at a total of 7 other sites over the course of your training. There are 12 residents per year.
Residents: I attended to pre-interview social, which was journal club held at a Japanese restaurant. I thought it was a little hard to mingle with this kind of format, but I was able to talk to a few residents during this time. They seemed nice and happy with the program. Afterwards, a few of us applicants and a handful of residents when to a nearby bar for a few more drinks. I was able to meet a few more of the residents but actually spent most of this time talking with the other applicants (some of whom I had known from previous rotations and interviews). During the interview day, I met a good amount of residents (with a good representation of all the years), and they all seemed happy with the program and got along well with each other. Overall a pretty easy-going group.
Interview Day: Started at 8:45am (I love the late starts!) with breakfast and coffee. This was followed by an hour overview of the program by the PD. The applicants were then split into two groups, with one group going on the ED tour and the other doing interviews. There were a total of 3 interviews each about 20 minutes long (PD, associate PD, attending). All were low-stress with questions geared towards things on your application. I really enjoyed my interview with the associate PD. Next was lunch with the residents, tour, then final interview with the head RN, which was an interesting touch. The day was over by 2:30pm.
Faculty: Nationally recognized and from diverse training backgrounds. The PD trained at Denver and the Associate PD trained at Hennepin. Per the residents, the majority of the attendings were good at teaching.
Curriculum: 3 year program with an optional but guaranteed 4th year as a junior attending. Graduated responsibility with you assuming more of an "attending" role by the third year. The specifics of their curriculum can be found on their website. Some highlights include: 3 weeks of floor medicine in first year, 3 weeks plastic surgery, 3 weeks Tox in the second year, 3 weeks EMS/Administration in the third year. Like I said in the Overview, you will be rotating at an additional 7 site throughout your training. The residents reported good experiences on the majority of the off-service rotations and good relationships overall with the other services. International EM seems to be pretty strong here, with involvement in areas such as Russia, Europe, Central and South America, and programs in Italy. Another cool thing about this program is that work shifts at Fenway Park for Boston Red Sox games.
Peds experience seems pretty standard with 3 dedicated Peds EM months (2 of those at Children's Hospital Boston) and a PICU month in third year at Tufts. There may be integrated Peds experiences at the community sites, but I'm not 100% sure about this.
For trauma, ED gets all of the airways and the trauma/EM teams rotate for running the trauma and performing procedures. The thing about trauma in Boston is that there are three level I trauma centers: Boston Med Center, BIDMC, and MGH. So, if you do the math, splitting trauma activations between three sites could mean less trauma here than if you were working at an institution that is the only level I trauma center in town.
During the junior attending year, you work about 22 clinical hours per week and spend your remaining time working on an individual academic/administrative project. This year is geared for those interested in academic emergency medicine and is optional.
Didactics as per required 5 hours a week. This includes monthly grand rounds, simulation sessions, weekly M&M conferences, skills labs, monthly journal clubs, and monthly follow-up conferences. Also, they have daily change-of-shift teaching rounds, which I thought was pretty cool.
Facilities: Like I said, you will be working at a total of 8 different facilities. I'm only going to talk about two of them.
BIDMC is the base hospital. It's teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School and a level I trauma center. The annual census is about 53,000 per year and the patient population here is mostly elderly patients and people with PMDs who come in when they are really sick. I forgot how big the ED is, but it's divided into two sections - the Core, which handles the high-acuity patients, and the Periphery, which deals with less acute patients. I think interns work the majority in the periphery with movement in to the core as you progress in experience. There is a really cool (and efficient) patient tracking system and EMR with consults just a point-and-click away.
Another site were you do some shifts is St. Luke's Hospital. This is where you'll deal with a more urban/inner city patient population and where you'll get most of your exposure to penetrating trauma.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts. Seems like a mid-sized city with a big-city feel. Cost of living is a bit high with most residents renting. The street layout of the city is atrocious, with no sane organization of the streets. I had a rental car with a GPS and still got lost about 10 times. Also, traffic around the medical center was ridiculous when I drove in for my interview. I think most residents use public transportation, but a car is necessary as you'll need to drive to some of your rotation sites. Boston has a lot to offer - sports (Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins), bars, restaurants, and close proximity to other northeastern cities. Winters can be cold here, and this year they (along with all of the Northeast) are getting pummeled with snow.
opb's final thoughts: If you're interested in pursuing a career academic EM, then I think this one of the better places you can go to. If you're not sure, then I think this place is still a great place to go to because of the optional 4th year. If you go in academically inclined but change your mind, it's all good because you can finish your 3 years and go to community practice. If you go in unsure and decide to do academics, then you can stay on as a junior attending (with a nice 6-figure income) and gain more academic experience during your extra year. I really loved the 3+1 option... I think it gives you a lot of flexibility. One thing to keep in mind is that this is an academic program... so if you're looking for a hard-core county experience then this is probably not the place for you. Also, with 3 level I trauma centers in Boston, you'll get less experience than if you worked at a place which is the only game in town. That being said, the residents said that they had enough trauma exposure, and that their experience at St. Luke's gave them enough experience with penetrating trauma. Peds experience seems average, but International EM seems really strong here. I liked Boston and think that you'll be entertained here for 3 (or 4) years... granted you don't get lost trying to get to where you're going.
Program director: Sarah Stahmer. Impressive. Word on street is fully supportive of her residents, more like a Mom. She's an excellent teacher (her specialties in particular are ultrasound and cardiology -- frequent EKG review sessions) and an even better communicator (seen her at ACEP a few times). Good supporting academic team for running the residency.
Rest of EM faculty: Strong. Not a power publishing place (you might have thought otherwise given Duke) but the potential is there if you *want* to publish as a resident, and overall the mix of academics and real-world is a good balance. Many have worked in community including the current Division chief.
Residency history: Program has definitely matured, and is no longer a "new kid on the block"... been around almost a decade now. Now on second set of residency leadership which is important as new ideas have been integrated, and new approaches to existing problems from the original team have been, at least attempted, re-addressed. And make no mistake, the first team was pretty stellar (many are obviously still there, but there's been some turnover) led by Susan Promes (who then opened up UCSF's residency). Residents have autonomy in trauma, airways ... the usual turf battles were fought years ago. Now it's in a maturation cycle that is really involving the faculty and their struggle toward department status more so than the residents and their learning experience. In fact, the whole Division vs Department is a non-issue for the residents, only frustrating, I think, for some faculty who have left over past few years, as they would like to be moving toward departmental autonomy faster, but again, as a resident, it doesn't matter.
City: The Carolinas is a fabulous place to live. Durham makes up (with Raleigh and Chapel Hill) the Triangle area. About 1.3 million people all told. Raleigh, typical small to mid-size city. Durham, some bad areas of inner city rot (see clinical experience, below) but lots of lush forest and a beautiful campus for running, etc. Good, edgy bar and restaurant scene. Chapel Hill, one of the prototypical American College towns. Beach is 2.5 hours away.
Clinical experience: Huge physical plant that was purpose-build and opened in the last three years. 4 full resuscitation bays, an integrated pediatric department, and a pod system in the rest of the (adult) ED. 65 to 80 beds all together I guess, at least that was the plan when I was last there three years ago. The characteristics of Durham mean you get a fair bit of penetrating trauma, but proximity to highways etc. ensures steady diet of blunt, and the ivory-tower types of Duke ensure good bread and butter experience. It's no knife-gun-club -- if you want maximum exposure to Trauma, go to Cook, LAC-USC, Highland, etc. -- but definitely in the second (next) tier of exposure, and thus you get a lot of it. EM gets airway 100% of the time. EM and trauma resident (which, actually, might be another EM resident) alternate days between who runs trauma, the other gets procedure (central line, chest tube). Works very well with trauma Attendings who let residents truly run the show while they stand in the background, and help if necessary, but let you swim if you look like you're above water. EM and Trauma surgeon faculty get along real well, this is a huge factor as many places have turf wars.
Pediatric experience.... so so. Department gets minimum amount of peds cases a year to remain credentialed I think, but enough for you to get comfortable with pediatric fever. They're produced a couple of peds EM fellows, I think,though volume is too low for them to have done their fellowship at Duke (I think they went elsewhere). A lot of pediatric hearts, etc. that go straight to inpatient, so questionable value. Most faculty are EM-trained/peds fellowship but some are primary peds with EM training, but they're superstars in their own right.... think like ER docs as opposed to some you come across elsewhere who are good pediatricians but don't "get" the EM aspect of it.
Off-service rotations - Fair to middling. You would think strong since the services are so strong (cardiology , etc.) but a lot of academic types in medicine and cardiology make it painful, and think that EM isn't really a specialty. Good pathology, though, just questionable faculty leadership on these off service rotations. Cardiology in particular, extremely malignant. ******* attendings with only a few exceptions. It might be a research powerhouse, but i absolutely would not want my family member cared for by Duke cardiology... to interested in reseach, and they neglect patinet care. Rule out MI means labs get cycled, no actual attending presence or considered evaluation done while in hospital. Peds experience blows. Residents were pulled out of PICU a few years ago it sucked so bad, a lot of mid-levels in PICU who think they know everything and try and boss the residents around (including the peds residents). ICU rotations are very strong - MICU, SICU, fortunately no CT surg. Strong in critical care here, and a good track record via the ED as a recent grad from EM continued at Duke to do a SICU fellowship through anesthesia and is now attending in another institution in the unit.
Duke: Well-funded. Beautiful facilities. Nice name on your lab coat and stands well when looking for a job post-residency. In practice, some people that work here believe in Duke elitism, but mostly that's their pathology, not yours.
PM me with any other questions.
Admitting: I've had several people ask if we have "admitting privileges" from the ED. This is kind of an odd question since technically "admitting privileges" means that you have the right to bring a patient in to the hospital on your service (most ED folks wouldn't want that since it means you'd then have to take care of the patient on the floor).
EM and Trauma surgeon faculty get along real well, this is a huge factor as many places have turf wars... a lot of academic types in medicine and cardiology make it painful, and think that EM isn't really a specialty.
In response to this, I just have to directly quote a Duke trauma surgeon's response when I told him I wanted to do Emergency Medicine:
"Now why the f*** would you want to do that?"
Sounds like Steve Vaslef.
Not quite. Think bigger and meatier.
Most of the people who post on these forums are the rah-rah chief resident types.
Really?
And that was a lot of color and font code, there.
Says the post ***** with 15,000 posts. That must be some kind of world record. I think there is a DSM IV diagnosis for that, isn't there? Unplug from the matrix, Neo. Follow the white rabbit...
Watch out! You might get your post deleted!