Sleeper Programs

[Dmayor22]

I know this topic gets talked about a lot but I hadn't see a lot of recent discussion on "sleeper" programs besides Wheaton and a few others that have been popular by SDNers this year.

In terms of high volume and good quality attendings, what are some of the sleeper programs out there nowadays? Thoughts about Mt. Auburn in Boston? The Ohio or Indiana programs?

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[air bud]

I definitely think Mount Auburn will be a good program. I interviewed with them and was really impressed. It was my first experience meeting the Cooks, and it seemed like everything I heard about them was true. They really enjoy teaching, are incredibly intelligent and demand excellence from their students. There should be more people like them in teaching. Dr. Basile was also really cool and seemed to enjoy teaching.
Pay attention to a 1 year old program in Roanoke. It is based at the new Virginia Tech medical school. Lots of MD training with ortho trauma (Roy Sanders fellow, Rubin institute fellow), off service stuff with MD's and other residents. The director trained at JPS in Fort Worth and is really cool and laid back.. Level 1 trauma center where podiatry is part of ortho department. Lots of other good stuff too.
I can't speak for any of the Indy programs. I also only have experience at 1 of the Ohio programs. Lets just say I was less than impressed by its preceding reputation.

 

[Feli]

Many, many programs in the Detroit metro don't get the interest they should due to no nearby pod school, poor rep of Detroit quality of life, etc. Houston or New England area also has a couple great programs, but they're not as "underrated." I wouldn't call any of the ones near the pod schools underrated.

In terms of Detroit/Flint programs in SE Michigan:
Genesys is great for elective, Oakwood for academic/trauma, DMC for heavy trauma. Henry Ford Macomb can also give you what you need, and StMarys Livonia is new and upcoming also. StJohn Hosp and Medical Center is fairly underrated due to location, but it's on the border of Detroit (trauma, diabetes, etc) and Grosse Pointe (fancy pants elective recon) and is absolutely the best program in the nation for a motivated resident. I heard a future ACFAS president and maybe future surgeon general of the US went there; I guess he works up in Fenton right now.

GL in match.
PS, I won't reply to PMs until next month... busy work week.

 

[air bud]

I have good friends who had very good things to say about the new Oakwood program as well as Macomb

 

[Feli]

Pretty much all the Det area programs are branched off either Kern (now called Southeast... pretty low level training due to internal politics) and StJohn (still excellent... was StJ North Shores, now StJohn Hosp and Med Center).

I have good friends who had very good things to say about the new Oakwood program as well as Macomb

There's a lotta history in Det/Flint metro since the first pod surg programs (Kern and others soon after) were here:
Kern branched and its alumni started Providence, and Genesys (and some other no-namers that saw program sponsor hospitals close and go by the wayside).
StJohn NS branched, became StJ Hosp and Med Cntr, and its alumni now direct the residency programs at DMC, HF Macomb, StJohn Macomb, etc.
Oakwood Annapolis is an older program, and while I'm not exactly sure where it started, its alumni are affiliated with various programs (ie DMC's current asst director).
DMC alumni started the newer StMarys Livonia and Oakwood South Shore (or whatever it's called?).

 

[darazon]

+1 to St Mary Mercy Livonia. I interviewed there and was impressed with them. They have only been around for a couple of years, but it has great potential.

Another one that could be good is Reading in PA. Brand new this year, but the director is convinced that residents will be able to log about 1,000 surgeries a year. Their plan sounds good, but time will tell. In a couple of years it could be a great program.

St Vincent Charity in Ohio is one that is looking better. It was started by Gerard Yu and was a great program under him. They have had problems keeping good attendings in the past couple of years. The 2 main attendings bring a lot of rearfoot surgeries to the program and they are now in the process of adding more attendings to get more elective cases.

 

[mildoc2016]

Pretty much all the Det area programs are branched off either Kern (now called Southeast... pretty low level training due to internal politics) and StJohn (still excellent... was StJ North Shores, now StJohn Hosp and Med Center).



There's a lotta history in Det/Flint metro since the first pod surg programs (Kern and others soon after) were here:
Kern branched and its alumni started Providence, and Genesys (and some other no-namers that saw program sponsor hospitals close and go by the wayside).
StJohn NS branched, became StJ Hosp and Med Cntr, and its alumni now direct the residency programs at DMC, HF Macomb, StJohn Macomb, etc.
Oakwood Annapolis is an older program, and while I'm not exactly sure where it started, its alumni are affiliated with various programs (ie DMC's current asst director).
DMC alumni started the newer StMarys Livonia and Oakwood South Shore (or whatever it's called?).

directors of HF macomb, DMC, and St. John Macomb are graduates of St. John Maine. The director of oakwood is not a graduate of St. John North shores.

 

[Podophile]

Were there programs at CRIPs that didn't care if you externed or visited? I hear there a few that really don't give their clerks priority and will rank a competitive applicant (good GPA/class rank) who does well during the interview. Swedish is a program that initially comes to mind but again this is just something I "heard" and we all know hearsay doesn't count for much. I figured I would pose the question nonetheless.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Swedish picks their ranking order strictly off a points system, factoring in several things including how many questions you answer correctly during the interview. I believe points are indeed given for those that extern, but not an insurmountable number.

 

[darazon]

I didn't extern at Swedish, but I did visit them. I had a few classmates that did extern. They were all told that their month essentially means nothing. It's all about the interview.

Swedish is the only one that I know is like this.

 

[Feli]

I didn't extern at Swedish, but I did visit them. I had a few classmates that did extern. They were all told that their month essentially means nothing. It's all about the interview.

Swedish is the only one that I know is like this.

GTEF (.org) programs also.

It all depends on the individuals running the program and what they like. I would always recommend visiting or clerking any ones you are serious about. "It doesn't matter" is generally poor advice in business or professional relations. JMO and my (limited) exp

 

[Podophile]

St. Luke's has lost some big attendings and, along with taking an additional resident per year, isn't what it once was. Not bad training by any means, but I would call it overrated as opposed to underrated.

Shands has been and will likely continue to be trauma heavy due to their solid ortho trauma rotation, and therefore getting rearfoot numbers will always be easy for their residents. Only time will tell if the new director can help bring some elective reconstructive cases which the program is likely in need of. While pilons and triples both carry a very high level of difficultly, they are completely different animals and require different training, planning, etc.

 

[Zalligan]

Does anyone have any input on the University Hospital/ Univ of Cincinnati program?

I'm a first year, so obviously I have no experience, however a current resident presented last week and it sounded good on paper.

Things I made note of were currently they are 1/1/1 but I believe he said they will take 2 next year. The current resident said he takes call every other night during the week, and every other weekend. He works 70-90 hour weeks, and does surgery every day. They have the opportunity to work with UC athletics, if they so choose. There is good flexibility within the rotations (he apparently broke his hand a week before one of his surgery rotations, and was able to pick up another rotation and postpone his surgery rotation until he was out of a cast.) They learn coding and billing in the resident run clinic. Research is strongly encouraged, though I don't believe he said it was required. You get good diversity in procedures amongst the various attendings, and they encourage students to visit. I also think he said they will be participating in CRIPs for the first time this coming year, though I may be getting them confused with another program.

Hope that helps a bit.

Edit: IIRC, he was just 2 months into first year and had something like 130 or 140 cases logged already, so they seem to get their numbers pretty quickly. Also said taking 2 next year shouldn't slow down getting numbers too much as they have a lot of cases that go uncovered since there's only 3 of them and they are high-volume.

 

[Porkchop22]

Long island jewish medical center in NY is an amazing hidden program. Tons of exposure and RF cases....scope is only going to get better too.