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anyone have any opinions/impressions about IM program at University of Michigan? or their interview day?
University of Michigan
- Thread starter Pantalaimon
- Start date
The Michigan day is really well organized and run. You can park near the cancer center or the other lot and they will validate. We all met in a big conference room and had breakfast. The program directors and staff float around and introduce themselves at the outset. Then there is a series of 20-30 min presentations about the program which seemed a bit long to me. After that are the interviews. I think I had 2 interviews that lasted about 30 min and were very laid back. Michigan is good about escorting you to/from interviews as opposed to other programs that get you lost.
Then there is the tour of the wards which was nice, especially the new cardiovascular tower. The lunch food is kind of weird and is a notch below other programs. Before lunch there is some kind of case conference which was really good. If I remember correctly we got out before 3 pm which was great given the airport is kinda far.
Overall it seemed like a great program, with outstanding residents. Ann Arbor was a lot nicer place than I expected and reminded me of college towns on the east/west coast, albeit a lot colder. The PD is very nice and friendly. I will rank them highly and recommend them.
Then there is the tour of the wards which was nice, especially the new cardiovascular tower. The lunch food is kind of weird and is a notch below other programs. Before lunch there is some kind of case conference which was really good. If I remember correctly we got out before 3 pm which was great given the airport is kinda far.
Overall it seemed like a great program, with outstanding residents. Ann Arbor was a lot nicer place than I expected and reminded me of college towns on the east/west coast, albeit a lot colder. The PD is very nice and friendly. I will rank them highly and recommend them.
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you'll like it. its def. a top program with great teaching and great fellowships. def. not top tier (mgh, etc.) but in the tier or two below that. you can't go wrong with michigan.
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]Im a 2nd year resident at UM. I can answer your questions. There is a post in the interview impressions thread that is overall accurate. I disagree with last post, I think we are TOP TIER all the way!!!.
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Agree with above. It's a top tier program.
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i went to med school at michigan, and it is a great place. it's a huge academic medical center in a small midwestern college town. fellowship placement is strong. here is the fellowship match list. i had to leave michigan for personal reasons (spouse's work prospects were limited in ann arbor)
careweb, i miss you! no illegible notes or scanned in records. like in that cheesy 80's song, you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone
as far as rep, i think it is one tier below mgh/hopkins/ucsf/brigham.
go blue!
careweb, i miss you! no illegible notes or scanned in records. like in that cheesy 80's song, you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone
as far as rep, i think it is one tier below mgh/hopkins/ucsf/brigham.
go blue!
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has anyone else heard that this program is pretty malignant?
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i wouldn't describe the program as malignant. intense, yes. you will work hard and be busy at michgan. but i believe it is a supportive environment, in terms of faculty, the program director, and other residents.
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Not anymore. It used to be pretty malignant many years ago. Kind of like Duke it's suffering from an old rep.
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Michigan's interview day was extremely well organized and thorough - probably one of the friendliest overall among all the interviews I've attended. Every one of the program directors personally met with each of us, shook our hands and chatted with us; each gave a presentation about various aspects of the program. I was definitely impressed by the program's leadership.
Some of the positives I gleaned from the interview day: The hospital is beautiful, efficient and a very well respected Midwestern tertiary care center. The all-electronic Careweb recordkeeping system is fantastic, the best EMR I have seen among all my interviews. I loved the residents and chiefs, all of whom appeared very happy and smart - a diverse and friendly bunch (the chief residents seem not only super intelligent but also were genuinely approachable - each came up to me afterwards and introduced themselves and spoke about the program). The other thing is the diversity of the clinical experiences - as a tertiary care center they see everything from zebras and all sorts of complex medical issues to the VA-type "bread and butter" medicine. You can request rotations from among a huge list of specialty and subspecialties and outpatient clinic experiences. And finally, research opportunities are also diverse if you're into that kind of thing.
Negatives: For me, the negatives center on location. The cold weather and short days really, really wore on me after a while. I am a natural warm weather, sun-loving type of person and cannot take the dreary days of winter. I know that as a resident you spend most of your time inside, so this may not be as huge an issue to others as it is for me. Ann Arbor is a fantastic college town and has a lot of spirit and culture - however, it's a bit too small and congested for my taste. As for the program itself, one potential negative is that you might not get to see as much of the indigent, "I've-never-been-to-see-a-doctor-ever-and-this-is-my-first-visit", undiagnosed population as you might elsewhere. Most patients already come in with prior diagnoses and neatly kept electronic records of all their problems. Of course, this could be a huge plus too depending on how you see it. As for the patient diversity issue, having rotated in the medicine department, I can definitely say you *do* see a good share of poor and underserved patients (even homeless) - definitely not as much as county, but they are there. (There is also more ethnic diversity, at least in Ann Arbor, than you would think - MI is home to the nation's largest % of Middle Eastern immigrants; there's also a large South & Southeast Asian, German and African population as well). Finally, the obesity rate is sky high in Michigan so you'll have to get used to treating very very obese patients all the time.
As for the malignancy issue: The program, from my experiences rotating in the medicine department and interview day, definitely does not appear to be malignant. On rotations in four different departments, residents told me they had considered a wide range of programs and felt Michigan "took the best care of its people" overall. From what I saw on the wards, there were nights where residents worked really hard and didn't sleep; other days, i.e. pre-call and short-call, where they were out by 2 or 3 pm. Almost always residents were out by noon (even earlier) on post-call days. There are both time and number caps per resident for new admissions so you essentially stop admitting at MN as an intern. The attendings on my rotations were always great teachers, committed to resident quality of life, very approachable (one specifically told us the first day of our ICU rotation: "Call me any time something serious happens on a patient - it doesn't matter what time it is, you can always ask for help." ) I think the program has more of an "east-coast" feel but is nevertheless friendly and not as stuffy as it could be.
As far as reputation, obviously the fellowship match is strong - I think it's a top tier but a notch below BWH/UCSF/JHU (probably suffers from location). GI and geriatrics are strong, as is public health - FWIW U of M is one of the 4 or 5 programs across the country to have the RWJ scholars program.
Hope that helped. Any other questions feel free to PM me...
Some of the positives I gleaned from the interview day: The hospital is beautiful, efficient and a very well respected Midwestern tertiary care center. The all-electronic Careweb recordkeeping system is fantastic, the best EMR I have seen among all my interviews. I loved the residents and chiefs, all of whom appeared very happy and smart - a diverse and friendly bunch (the chief residents seem not only super intelligent but also were genuinely approachable - each came up to me afterwards and introduced themselves and spoke about the program). The other thing is the diversity of the clinical experiences - as a tertiary care center they see everything from zebras and all sorts of complex medical issues to the VA-type "bread and butter" medicine. You can request rotations from among a huge list of specialty and subspecialties and outpatient clinic experiences. And finally, research opportunities are also diverse if you're into that kind of thing.
Negatives: For me, the negatives center on location. The cold weather and short days really, really wore on me after a while. I am a natural warm weather, sun-loving type of person and cannot take the dreary days of winter. I know that as a resident you spend most of your time inside, so this may not be as huge an issue to others as it is for me. Ann Arbor is a fantastic college town and has a lot of spirit and culture - however, it's a bit too small and congested for my taste. As for the program itself, one potential negative is that you might not get to see as much of the indigent, "I've-never-been-to-see-a-doctor-ever-and-this-is-my-first-visit", undiagnosed population as you might elsewhere. Most patients already come in with prior diagnoses and neatly kept electronic records of all their problems. Of course, this could be a huge plus too depending on how you see it. As for the patient diversity issue, having rotated in the medicine department, I can definitely say you *do* see a good share of poor and underserved patients (even homeless) - definitely not as much as county, but they are there. (There is also more ethnic diversity, at least in Ann Arbor, than you would think - MI is home to the nation's largest % of Middle Eastern immigrants; there's also a large South & Southeast Asian, German and African population as well). Finally, the obesity rate is sky high in Michigan so you'll have to get used to treating very very obese patients all the time.
As for the malignancy issue: The program, from my experiences rotating in the medicine department and interview day, definitely does not appear to be malignant. On rotations in four different departments, residents told me they had considered a wide range of programs and felt Michigan "took the best care of its people" overall. From what I saw on the wards, there were nights where residents worked really hard and didn't sleep; other days, i.e. pre-call and short-call, where they were out by 2 or 3 pm. Almost always residents were out by noon (even earlier) on post-call days. There are both time and number caps per resident for new admissions so you essentially stop admitting at MN as an intern. The attendings on my rotations were always great teachers, committed to resident quality of life, very approachable (one specifically told us the first day of our ICU rotation: "Call me any time something serious happens on a patient - it doesn't matter what time it is, you can always ask for help." ) I think the program has more of an "east-coast" feel but is nevertheless friendly and not as stuffy as it could be.
As far as reputation, obviously the fellowship match is strong - I think it's a top tier but a notch below BWH/UCSF/JHU (probably suffers from location). GI and geriatrics are strong, as is public health - FWIW U of M is one of the 4 or 5 programs across the country to have the RWJ scholars program.
Hope that helped. Any other questions feel free to PM me...
