Top EM Programs

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orthoguy

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How are you guys judging what the "top" EM programs are.........is it word of mouth......are there lists availiable that list what these programs are (What are the top programs).......

Also what defines a top EM program..........fellowship afterwards? Job placement etc?

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I think there are always the "classic" top EM programs that have been discussed ad nauseum here (Cinci, Denver, Indiana), but most of the programs are very similar, since the RRC is pretty stringest (esp with EM).

The elusive "Top" programs in EM is almost as asinine as the "Top Medical Schools" that the pre-meds discuss on this website...

And as you can tell from the past few weeks, people's ROL do not reflect the "Top" programs... unless they are all surroudned by "whorish pixies" who swallow.
Q
 
Can anyone else tell me what the top progrms are/where one can find this information out and how is it that these programs are judged to be "the best"
 
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Originally posted by orthoguy
Can anyone else tell me what the top progrms are/where one can find this information out and how is it that these programs are judged to be "the best"

1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. U Penn
4. Stanford
5. UCSF
6. Wash U

These are the top rated in the MLATMAPGA rankings.

mike
 
Is it possible to get a real answer?

:confused:

:D
 
Probably a better question, one which I wish I had the answer to earlier, is what programs did you really like on the interview trail which you thought you might not or really hadn't heard much about (the "hidden gems"). My vote is for Medical College of Wisconsin. Good peds, good flight experience, the hospital is located in a nice area but is the only regional Level 1 trauma center, good facilities, great people and a livable city.

I think Kalamazoo is a great program too if you are ok with smaller towns.

-endo
 
OK.......so it does not seem to be possible to get an answer to my question.......so I will rephrase..........

I am a 3rd year getting ready to start my 4th year and begin searching for the EM residency that will be right for me.......I have not interviewed anywhere yet so I cannot discuss the "hidden gems" out there.......what I would like to know is what programs are considered top level programs......people continuoulsy use the term "nationally raked" on this board to refer to programs......I assume this is mostly conjecture b/c I know of no official EM rankings quite the way there is for say IM porgrams.......I would just like to know what programs out there are considered excellent programs so I can start researching them and learning more about them..........

Also if you state that a program is a good one why is it so? IM docs use a good residency to score a well ranked fellowship etc.........since EM usually does not do the same why is a great program considered so? Is it the jobs their residents land afterwards........the reputation amongst the EM community etc.......

Any non-tangentia/non-sarcastic help would be greatly greatly appreciated
 
There is already a thread on the "top ranked" EM programs, however, it does not really explain why they are "top ranked". But usually, top ranked programs have these characteristics:

1. EM is strong within the "house of god"
2. They are older programs / well established
3. They have high volume
4. They offer good offservice rotations
5. They have good pediatric exposure
6. They have faculty who are fellowship trained in tox, disaster etc.

Among other characteristics. Most all EM programs are very good, the differences seem relatively minor compared to other specialties.

-endo
 
The reason that so many of the replies are tangential and/or sarcastic (and God knows I love sarcasm) is that this particular dead horse has been flogged to a pasty red spot on the ground. There is no "answer" just various opinions. It's like asking what the best car is. It's different for everyone.
I would suggest browsing program webpages and asking docs at your med school to start getting together a list of places you might be interested in. You can also lurk through the threads on this forum and pick up a lot of uncensored opinion. Once you narrow it down then you will be able to ask specific questions about programs.
 
Prominence....you do realize that what/who you think is Quinn......is not really Quinn. From all previous accounts......Quinn is a guy. So if you meant the best program based on her (errr His) looks then you are way off......no offense to quinn.
I haven't seen the real quinn and i'm not into guys so I can't make any more of a judgement.
 
Originally posted by jashanley
Prominence....you do realize that what/who you think is Quinn......is not really Quinn. From all previous accounts......Quinn is a guy. So if you meant the best program based on her (errr His) looks then you are way off......no offense to quinn.
I haven't seen the real quinn and i'm not into guys so I can't make any more of a judgement.

How do you know that Quinn isn't pulling a double-secret-agent type move on you? Perhaps Quinn was so overwhelmed with the responses to her beautiful picture by sex-starved horney internet geeks, that she PRETENDED to be a guy playing a girl and she's really a girl pretending to be a guy pretending to be a girl.

Besides, who names their kids Quinn anyway? That's almost being a woman regardless.

mike
 
Too funny.......even more so post call
 
There is no easy answer to this question. Residency isn't like med-school where you have a major news magazine throwing worthless rankings at you every year (thank god). EM is a very new specialty. Most of the "top name" medical schools don't have the "best" EM residencies. This is probably because the other specialties at the hospitals are so strong that it takes a long time to get funding, departmental status, respect, etc.... Conversely, many non-academic programs, ie. community and county hospitals, were able to establish programs quickly and gain a foothold.
Also, a previous poster was correct in that the RRC for EM is very strict, especially at 3 year programs where there are lots of rotations required for certification that must be crammed into a tight schedule. Therefore, curriculum is very similar at most programs.
You need to look at what you are looking for in a program. I looked at location initially, along with whether I wanted a county-type program or a university-based one and if I wanted 3 or 4 years. Then do some research. Talk with the program director at your medical school. They will be able to tell you which programs tend to be the most selective, which is probably the best judge of "top EM programs" at this point in the young life of the specialty. Then apply and go on the interviews. The interview is the most important part in terms of telling you if the program is right for you.
Overall message here is to relax. Residencies aren't like Also, stay off of web-sites like this. They just make the process more stressful than it needs to be (this is my first and hopefully last time on this site).
Good luck to you, I hope you can find your list somewhere but I'm just not sure it exists.
 
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Quinn wrote: "surroudned by 'whorish pixies' who swallow."

Alright, guys - if this was a reference to my woman who isn't really mine - she's not a "whorish pixie" but a pixie with a virgin heart and whorish demeanor.

It's all about the demeanor, see? She struts around like a woman of the street, her laugh unsettles pigeons, and yet her nature is so very sweet.

Stop making fun of my woman!;)


Update: I hung out with her this past week in NY and found that I don't like her after all. Already submitted my NY-heavy ROL on Wednesday. Oops.

Here's to hoping that I rank further down on my list, then.


Forget whatever I wrote last week. Heed the conventional wisdom about submitting ROLs and you'll be fine. Don't chase whorish-appearing pixies; they are illusory, friend!
 
Originally posted by mikecwru
How do you know that Quinn isn't pulling a double-secret-agent type move on you? Perhaps Quinn was so overwhelmed with the responses to her beautiful picture by sex-starved horney internet geeks, that she PRETENDED to be a guy playing a girl and she's really a girl pretending to be a guy pretending to be a girl.

Besides, who names their kids Quinn anyway? That's almost being a woman regardless.

mike

DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN! My stupid Rural Medicine Rotation gives me but two days a week I can check the internet, I will miss out on studentdoctor.net!!!!!!!!! Crap! I won't really be able to post on the countdown to Match Day. Shoot. Ah, the roads we have travelled...

Well, I will lay it all to rest. My real name is Pat. I am 5'3 and less than 200 pounds (but more than 100). I like TV, food, and reading. I like people who work out. I have dark hair and dark eyes. People tell me I look like one of the main stars in "Pretty Woman." (But with different colored hair). I like Metallica and The Indigo Girls. My two favorite movies are "The Matrix" and "Steel Magnolias."

NOW DOES THAT LAY IT TO REST WHAT MY GENDER IS?

And the best program IS the program I will be attending next year (assuming I match), basically because I love to throw parties and invite a lot of my guy friends and girl friends. Maybe you can meet my fiance'. My fiance's name is Jo.

Now stop wondering if I'm a guy or a girl, this post should make that painfully clear.

And I am NOT a pixie heart with a whorish virgin.

:love:

Man this website is funny.
Q
 
Damn you do not know how to let a joke die...........can all of the outrageously witty people who post to hear themselves speak start their own thread where people can pretend to be women online and find this to be hysterical while the rest of us are able to talk about issues pertaining to emergency medicine?

Is this possible or are they just so funny that they cannot help themselves?
 
Originally posted by orthoguy
Damn you do not know how to let a joke die...........can all of the outrageously witty people who post to hear themselves speak start their own thread where people can pretend to be women online and find this to be hysterical while the rest of us are able to talk about issues pertaining to emergency medicine?

Is this possible or are they just so funny that they cannot help themselves?

You'll do real well in EM.

mike
 
If your definition of exceeding at emergency medicine involves endless *****ic jokes about my gender posted all over a website sucking up valuable webspace(..............its valuable.......valuable I tell ya) then you are right......I am most certainly not in your league and I wish to apologize to the gods of the STUDENTDOCTOR.net emergency medicine forums..........I was trying to find out helpful information from other med students and residents about EM residencies when clearly I should have put a picture of a dog in my profile and pretended to be an animal.........



However I think I will make a good ER physician

Mostly Its b/c I rule.

But generally its b/c you aren't funny..........yes, yes that is why I will be a good er physician.

Makes sense to me.
 
Originally posted by orthoguy
If your definition of exceeding at emergency medicine involves endless *****ic jokes about my gender posted all over a website sucking up valuable webspace(..............its valuable.......valuable I tell ya) then you are right......I am most certainly not in your league and I wish to apologize to the gods of the STUDENTDOCTOR.net emergency medicine forums..........I was trying to find out helpful information from other med students and residents about EM residencies when clearly I should have put a picture of a dog in my profile and pretended to be an animal.........



However I think I will make a good ER physician

Mostly Its b/c I rule.

But generally its b/c you aren't funny..........yes, yes that is why I will be a good er physician.

Makes sense to me.

I think the bottom line is--we're mostly 4th year med students, just recently done with the trials of interview season, estatic, yet nervous, that ROLs have been placed, anxiously awaiting the where we'll be next year. i think its called "senioritis."

we've posted continuously this season, and have revisited many of your questions over, and over again. If I were you, I'd probably take some (alot) time and read through many of the old post, for that is where your answers lie. Just b/c one may be too lazy to browse, doesn't mean where beng immture b/c we don't wanna keep answering the same questions.

Honestly, I think the site will revert back to its meaningful user-friendly self after match day, and the "gods of STUDENTDOCTER.net will be pleased".

Until then, read, read, read to find those answers, get a mentor, visit saem.org, and be ready so that when students like yourself begin asking those questions, you'll be ready to spit out vauable info for them...best of luck...

i promise in between the jokes here there is a wealth of information. go and find it....

keepin' it real forever- afro4life ;)
 
Dude. Nobody's making fun of your gender. But not having at least a rudimentary sense of humor is going to make you a distinct minority about EM practitioners, in my own experience. If you're gonna do this for a living, you might as well lighten up, because you're going to see and treat depressing things in the ED on a daily basis, and if you can't laugh at yourself and other people, you'll end up crying at the end of every shift.

Most of us are sitting around biting our fingernails for the next two weeks and change, eagerly and anxiously awaiting to learn IF and WHERE we're going to spend three or four (or more) years of our lives becoming emergency medicine physicians. Any attempt at humor to take my mind off this horrible, hideous waiting is certainly welcome, for my two cents.

You're never going to get anyone to tell you what the "best" program is, because there's no way to define that. Do you want to live in a certain geographic region? Do you want to do lots of trauma in a busy county ER where you're drawing all your own labs and wheeling patients to X-ray yourself, or do you want to work in a pretty, well-lit community program with great benefits and lower volumes? Do you want to focus on EMS, HBO, administration, toxicology, something else? Do you want a program with fellowships? Is placing yourself in a fellowship important to you? Do you want to do lots of research, some research, no research? Do you want a program with six residents per class and lots of camaraderie, or a program with 20 residents per class and lots of diversity? What kind of program director do you want to work for? Do you want to moonlight? Do you have a spouse and children, and if so, what kind of place would they want to live? Do you want a three or four year program? Do you want a combined program (e.g. EM/IM)? The RRC ensures that all residency programs meet a standard, and for emergnecy medicine, that's a pretty high standard universally. You aren't going to get hosed by going anywhere accredited, and there's still plenty of demand for EM docs most places. It's hard to make a WRONG choice; it's much harder to make a RIGHT choice. In the end, just like going to medical school, it's going to be what you make of it - what kind of recommendations you get, how are your evaluations, what kind of professional connections do you make, and so on. The places with good reputations are the places which are generally established programs at large academic centers; if you want to do high-powered academic medicine, someplace like Cincinnati would be perfect for you. Me, I want to do small-town community emergency medicine, and the idea of a research-oriented urban knife-and-gun program just depresses and frightenes me, which is why I ranked highly programs that are community-type programs with a clinical, not a research, bent (e.g. Orlando Regional, Palmetto Richland, East Carolina). So, the only way to find out what programs are the best is to figure out what YOU want and find the programs whose aims match yours. I hope something in there was helpful. Best of luck to you in your search.
 
Originally posted by orthoguy
If your definition of exceeding at emergency medicine involves endless *****ic jokes about my gender posted all over a website

I'm sorry if you thought I was questioning your gender. There has been a running joke about Quinn, who has seemed to have not minded. In no way did I mean to question your gender.

As for you being a good EM physician because you rule, I hope you have more than that.

In general, basing your sense of acheivement on always going to the best school, best residency, etc, is eventually going to let you down. Who or what will validate you after you have done "THE BEST" fellowship? The newest Jag? What happens if you don't end up in "THE BEST"? Do you become just not worth it?

Orthoguy, I'm certain there has got to be more to your life than being the best. Getting upset because no one will tell you what the best is, is a good sign you need a break to see that life is certainly much more than being "THE BEST." Hope to hear from you, in a much better mood, once you discover real life.
 
Originally posted by Annette
I'm sorry if you thought I was questioning your gender. There has been a running joke about Quinn, who has seemed to have not minded. In no way did I mean to question your gender.

As for you being a good EM physician because you rule, I hope you have more than that.

In general, basing your sense of acheivement on always going to the best school, best residency, etc, is eventually going to let you down. Who or what will validate you after you have done "THE BEST" fellowship? The newest Jag? What happens if you don't end up in "THE BEST"? Do you become just not worth it?

Orthoguy, I'm certain there has got to be more to your life than being the best. Getting upset because no one will tell you what the best is, is a good sign you need a break to see that life is certainly much more than being "THE BEST." Hope to hear from you, in a much better mood, once you discover real life.

I don't know why he's so upset. I gave him the list of the top places with ranking source.

mike
 
Originally posted by orthoguy
If your definition of exceeding at emergency medicine involves endless *****ic jokes about my gender posted all over a website sucking up valuable webspace(..............its valuable.......valuable I tell ya) then you are right......I am most certainly not in your league and I wish to apologize to the gods of the STUDENTDOCTOR.net emergency medicine forums..........I was trying to find out helpful information from other med students and residents about EM residencies when clearly I should have put a picture of a dog in my profile and pretended to be an animal.........


Well, you did post with the name ortho guy, so we're already thinking of you as a sub-species. Maybe you should change your name to EMd00d and we'll answer your posts more promptly.

mike
 
You are right Anette.......I have tried to be the best for too long and too hard........I need to change before this all kills me.......I was actually hoping to work 30 days/month in order to satisfy this intense desire to be the best and I was asking about what residencies are consiered "the top in the field" not b/c I wanted to research where I could go to get excellent training (silly you) but I wanted to find a place that is considered the best so that I could be considered the best and then my car would be considered the best and its stereo the best and so on until I would become the best human being........then I'd die the best.........

I should have worked harder to mask my psychological need to be better than other people in my post that simply asked "what are the top programs so I can research them and understand why they are considered so" .............I am so bad at hiding all that defines me in a post..........

Oh and BTW...........LOL to apologizing to me about "questioning my gender" where did that come from exactly........um i don't recall anyone questioning my gender or my making reference to being upset about it.............I guess when you are the best people are always looking for resons to knock you down

:clap: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
Hey orthguy

I know this may be some harsh advice, but what everyone is saying is true. There is no best program out there, just concern yourself with finding the best program for you. If you take a look at our ranklists forums you will notice that most of us did not rank the same programs and those of us that ranked the "big name" programs did not necessarily rank them number one.

If you have more specific questions based on what your future goals are feel free to post more. I'm sure we would be willing to offer our advice on programs with good reputations in more specific fields i.e. EMS, rural medicine, academics, and strong problems in regions.

Good luck and lighten up... we all mean well and all the humor is in good fun.
 
OK no one seems to get it so it clearly must be me.............1)None of my posts to what happened above were serious read them carefully they are very tounge in cheek.................2)I AM NOT LOOKING TO FIND THE BEST PROGRAM...........go back to my intial post where I was asking "what are considered the top programs and why are they considered so/how do you judge them/what is the measure of a program".........I posted b/c I noted a number of you refering to "top programs" in your posts and I was wondering what these programs were that you were referring to and how and why they have been judged to be so.....I was not looking for people to just list residencies so I could pick what was considered the best with no further exploration into it........What I was after wa learning what these "classic" top programs are......and why they are considered so/how is a program judged to be a great program/what is it that makes it so .......is it job placement/fellowships/academics/trauma exposure etc ...(some of you have begun to write about this).......This was the question I posed and it was assumed that all I wanted was a list ranking from 1-10 the order of what is great and what is not........I am fully aware that EM is not IM and that there is no absolute ranking...........

If its any consolation to those of you who thought it was possible to psychoanalyze me based upon an internet post........... I still rule
:laugh:
 
I feel bad for the negative energy directed towards you, orthoguy, but you are a little uptight. I listed a few reasons why good programs may be considered good. But really, a simple search of prior posts would have shown you that this topic had been covered before. As for why each of the programs are good, well, a reasonable person may visit programs' websites, look at comments by residents/med-studs on scutwork.com and ask about particular programs. Why the "top" are considered good is not something that is easy to answer, because most schools' curricula are very similar. Anyway, just set your tension level from red back to orange and you should be ok...

peace,

-endo
 
Orthoguy here's my view on some of the "top programs" They all have great Attendings and are all pretty old programs with great academic reputations. All of these places plus many more will get you any where you want to go be it academic medicine or a fellowship.

Indiana- Strong peds training, critical care, and EMS. Their trauma is also pretty progressive as well as the amount of resident input into the program

Pittsburgh-Also has a strong EMS background. The jeep and flight experience are stellar. Good Critical Care training

Hennepin- Their trauma experience is second to none in my opinion. The STAB room is top of the line, excellent airway training and ED runs the traumas and surgery consults unlessed asked to step in. The two mos of neurosurgery are intense for critical care training.

Cincinatti- First program in the country, great flight program and pediatric training. Trauma and Critical Care training also excellent

Denver-Didn't go there so I can't tell you about it.

There are plenty more top programs, but these are probably the five that have the some of the biggest reputations.

And my personal "top program" - UIC- Can't be the diversity in chicago, great critical care and peds training (2 mos of PICU) and also because I ranked them #1 and I RULE!!! (j/k) :laugh:
 
Orthoguy, I quoted you about you being upset about people questioning your gender.

I'm glad you rule in your small kingdom.

Good luck in always being the best.
 
Pinbor1...............you have done it..........you answered my question............You do rule
 
I think I should add my own two cents in to the mix. The programs Pinbor mentions are all known to be great programs, but there are several that he left out. He also shows a remarkable proclivity for the center of the nation. Much of this game is about geography - there are many great regional programs that can land you a great career in that region, and a few great national programs. Basically, I am just talking about name here - how far away from that program you can go and still land a good job. To be honest, I dont know the midwest well; pinbor appears to have a good handle on our country's breadbasket - if you are looking into going into the midwest than dont take this listing too seriously (I dont know how Metrohealth fits in, etc...). However, if you are bi-coastal like me, then I think this is pretty representative.

National level programs (in descending order):
4 years: Cincinnati, Denver, Cook County, Highland, Jacobi, UCSD, Bellevue, Charity
3 years (no order here): Harbor, Pittsburgh, Hennepin, Carolinas

Regional programs (There are probably lots more, especially 3 years).
4: LA county, Brown, BU, Michigan, Kings County
3: Emory, Vanderbilt, UNC, UC Davis, Madigan, Christiana, UIC, OHSU, Maricopa, UNM, Detroit Recieving

I am getting a bit tired of looking on the SAEM website and reflecting on all the programs, but I think this will be a great starting point for anyone not intersted in the midwest.

I hope you find this helpful to get an idea. The most important thing about a program is how you feel you fit in, and whether the program can move your life and career in the direction you want it to.
 
flEM

Thanks for the more complete list. All the programs listed have great reputation. SAEM is a great place to check out these programs. Most importantly pick a program that fits your personality and learning style.

Gosh... I didn't realize how much of a midwesterner I actually was. Prior to the ROL submittal, I had every intention to move west.
 
About a year ago, I posted this:

After interviewing last year, matching, and (literally) talking to dozens of EM faculty and residents across the country, I would have to say there were ~7 programs that people repeatedly said were in the top 5 (in no particular order):

Denver
U. Cincinatti
Highland (in San Fran)
Hennipen
Carolinas
Pitt
UCSD

Other good ones:

Jacksonville
UCLA-Harbor
UNM
Methodist (Indiana)

Up and coming:

UT-Southwestern
Vanderbilt

This does NOT mean that other programs are bad or anything. It just means that these are the ones that I heard were the best over and over from faculty and residents


Anyway, I find these threads very frustrating because reputation DOES matter. It always matters. I'm not saying it should be this way . . . it just is. I personally define the "best" programs as those that give you the MOST opportunities after graduation. Person X who attends Harvard Medical School will have more opportunities than someone who attends Backwater U med school. It is a fact. I feel the above programs, by reputation alone, will give you the widest range of career choices after graduation.

The real question is what are you willing to give up to attend these residencies. For example, I did not rank Cincinatti because of its location (no offense to those who live in Cinci) although it is arguably one of the "best" programs in the country. I do feel that all programs will train you well (except perhaps 1 or 2 that made me nervous). I do NOT feel that the "best" programs necessarily have the "best" training (in an ideal world this would be the definition of the "best" program).
 
Orthoguy-

I heard that Howard University has the best program for people that are interested in orthopedics, I highly suggest that program...

JPGreer, as usual, brings a good point. I believe senioritis, the upcoming match (less than 14 days), adn the end of interviews has led to a... rather... jovial but blunt atmosphere on this forum... I bet it will be that way a year ago and it was this way a year ago.

So many questions have been asked these past six months, and the core 8-12 of those posting have been somewhat exhausted (I hear Blackcat is recovering well from the CTS release Sx).

I must go now and powder my nose and put on my jock strap.
Q
 
Robert Kennedy 123's post clearly identifies the programs with the best reps, and he bluntly points out that rep is important.

No, he doesn't say that everyone should choose his program based on rep; and no, he doesn't say that those who choose based on rep are buffoons. He just lays it out in an honest and analytical way. I dig that.

That being said, let me comment that at my Hennepin interview day, two of the interviewers badgered me about the fact that I was not AOA, and they reminded me ad nauseum that they could fill their entire residency with AOA students.

(I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but in case I did not, I wanted to take one last opportunity to truthmouth Hennepin.)

They deserved to be told to f-uck off, but I'm a gentleman, so I politely let them know that I couldn't speak for the other applicants and their credentials; all I could comment on were my own capabilities.

The moral of the story is: you have to weigh rep with the prospect of working with a$$hole attendings.


peace OUT

(in albany, ny, i'd be arrested for wearing a t-shirt with those words on it.)
 
Originally posted by QuinnNSU
Orthoguy-

...JPGreer, as usual, brings a good point. I believe senioritis, the upcoming match (less than 14 days), adn the end of interviews has led to a... rather... jovial but blunt atmosphere on this forum... I bet it will be that way a year ago and it was this way a year ago. ...


Hey, that was my good point first...LOL about Howard Univ...Have a great weekend, on off to my second job--bar-hopping....
 
Originally posted by Hornet871
...
peace OUT

(in albany, ny, i'd be arrested for wearing a t-shirt with those words on it.)


i'd be arrested for being in albany...
 
Originally posted by orthoguy
OK.......so it does not seem to be possible to get an answer to my question.......so I will rephrase..........

I am a 3rd year getting ready to start my 4th year and begin searching for the EM residency that will be right for me.......I have not interviewed anywhere yet so I cannot discuss the "hidden gems" out there.......what I would like to know is what programs are considered top level programs......people continuoulsy use the term "nationally raked" on this board to refer to programs......I assume this is mostly conjecture b/c I know of no official EM rankings quite the way there is for say IM porgrams.......I would just like to know what programs out there are considered excellent programs so I can start researching them and learning more about them..........

Also if you state that a program is a good one why is it so? IM docs use a good residency to score a well ranked fellowship etc.........since EM usually does not do the same why is a great program considered so? Is it the jobs their residents land afterwards........the reputation amongst the EM community etc.......

Any non-tangentia/non-sarcastic help would be greatly greatly appreciated
 
This question was debated extensively last year after I asked a similar question orthoguy. After traveling the country interviewing and now that I have close friends in a number of "top" programs and a number of "good" programs, I have decided it matters more where you want to live than any thing else. The differences between programs are minor. We all do trauma months. We all do medicine months. We all hate them. We all work in the ED. We all love it The programs are all much more similar than they are different. That being said....the top programs in the country are:
1) University of Arizona
2) University of Arizona
3) University of Arizona
4) Whatever that program in Florida that Quinn's at is. (If I didn't put it on the list, I'd hear from him within 1.5 minutes, since that's the frequency with which he checks this site. By the way, why isn't he a moderator yet?)

But seriously, nationally reputed programs have been discussed above. I was less than impressed with a number of them when I interviewed there. Regionally reputed programs have also been discussed above, but keep in mind that someone who lives in the Northeast doesn't know **** about which programs are regionally reputed in the Southwest, and vice versa. If its accredited....it'll be fine. Some days I wish I was at another program, you probably will too, no matter where you go. But most days I realize there is no place I would fit in better, no place I'd be happier living, and therefore no place I would get a better education.

P.S. "Top" programs are called that because 15 years ago when somebody decided what the top programs are the ones that we now call the top programs were old, and the other 15 programs were new. EM is a very different place than it was 15 years ago. Since then there have been 80 new programs started.

U of Arizona interview invites are going out within the next few days....let me know if any of you need a place to stay.

One final note from my Halloween shift. When stepping in front of a moving train as a suicide attempt, be sure that it gets your torso. It's tough to wake up in the ED without any limbs and realize you're going to make it after all.
 
After being out of residency for a couple years, I'd also second the notion that the variation between EM residencies is pretty small. EM's RRC seems to be a lot more strict than those in some other specialties, so the quality of the training is almost unvaryingly good. What has struck me most working in the private world is how much all the residency-trained guys think alike. There are some small individual differences, but I don't think those differences are due to where we trained, but more due to differences in our personalities.

I think the most important thing in shopping for residencies is finding the program that fits you best, rather than looking for the "best" program and trying to make yourself fit in. It's in that environment that you'll be most happy, and in which you'll learn best.
 
Desperado-
Damn its taken me 12 hours to respond, tsk tsk I'm getting slow... actually just started my EM rotation (loving it) but have less time to scan SDN (lots of time on trauma/medicine call... perhaps this is why MikeCWRU and Hornet are gone...).

And I still don't know why I'm not a moderator...
:(

Q, DO
 
This has been a very interesting thread to read. I just started giving tours for the interviewees at our program and the question has already come up a bunch of times.

Just to re-emphasize the point, the "top" programs are all just rumors by in large. Unlike Medicine Residencies that have a posted list EM does not. I agree with the previous posts that you have to find YOUR best fit and that EM in general has great programs, tough to find a bad one.

That being said there are programs that consistently stand out when talking to PDs around the country. It appears from reading the threads that I interviewed at a few of and then matched at one of these "programs that are consistently mentioned". I did not discover this website until after interviews so I came about my list in a way I hope others will find helpful.

1. The program has to have flexibility: can I go on to community, county, university-based, big city, small town and feel prepared?
2. Do they actively try to meet core competencies?
3. Are they progressive in ciriculum? Mass gathering, U/S?
4. Are the attendings active in the field of EM? Check the editors of EM journals and executive bodies of the EM associations, ask other EM docs.
5. Do they have the contacts to get me a job where I want in the future?

However, after all that a lot of it came down to - did I want to emulate the attendings I met and did I get along well with the residents when it came to my match list, so all that planning may have been for nothing.

Nof55
 
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