2008-2009 interview trail

i've gotten 2 pm&r interviews so far... one at sinai/maryland and the other at u of washington...

has anyone else been hearing from other places?!?!

md2009, Check this forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=562787

thanks!

TUFTS: ok, i guess i'll get this one started. i had my first interview, tufts, over the weekend. the day started at 7:30 (ugh) but getting there on time wasn't really that necessary, since the first hour or so was just breakfast and chatting with residents. the PD and chairman just gave a quick shpiel each (no powerpoints here), and then the interviews got started at about 8:30 or 8:45. each applicant had four interviews (one of which was with residents, and more of a q&a than a real interview). i interviewed with two attendings (one adult rehab, one peds) plus the program director, and it was more or less relaxed, low key. one attending asked me to talk about a specific patient, which i wasn't prepared for (oops, should have known that would happen) but i somehow managed to pull out a really good patient on the spot. the only real problem with the day was that certain interviewers got very behind, so applicants were often waiting a long time, or they would have already gone into their next interview when an interviewer who was running behind would come looking for them. then we ate lunch and went on a tour and were done by about 1. another problem with the day was that we didn't really see anything on the tour, since first of all, the location of the interviews is not really a major site for the rehab program, and secondly, it was a saturday and all of the clinics were closed. the take home point i got from the day was that tufts wants to make you a "good general physiatrist" in the words of the PD. it doesn't seem to be a really academic program, and most residents don't have a lot of specific things that drew them to the program. one had gone to tufts for med school and wanted to stay in boston, another one said that tufts wasn't his first choice but he didn't get into columbia... but nonetheless they seem fairly satisfied with the program.

i can't believe i'm the only one who's posted here so far. where is everyone, and why aren't you all sharing your interview experiences too? i guess i'll put more of them once others decide to do the same.

I'm surprised as well, there was a lot of good info from last year's group. This info was hugely helpful for me during my trail.

I think one of the reasons nobody is posting is that they haven't actually had interviews yet at many places. I've only had one so far... and I will post as soon as I can get some reliable internet access...

I'm definitely in too.... My interview trail begins Dec. 8th.... So I'll do my best to start sharing info soon after that...

We've GOT to get this more active though!!! Share your interview experiences here paaawwwweeeease!!!! (thank you Taus and Myodana). 🙂

interviewed there a few weeks ago... pd was super nice, very resident friendly and supportive. residents seemed very happy and barely had anything bad to say at all about the program... 3 interviews including with the pd.

overall good experience. seemed like a very relaxed environment.

i have 6 interviews in the next 2 weeks... ill update as well once they are done

There are some inaccuracies in the description of the Sinai program. Call averages out to q8 however since it is done based on preferences and requests a resident can be on call twice in one week and then not on call for a week or more-again depending on the residents' requests. Basically a block is 7 to 8 weeks and residents have an average of 6 calls ( 5-7 calls not q5-7) during that time. The more seniority you have the less weekends you do. Seniors do not take call on Saturday and do only a few sundays (if any) over the year.

Late admissions occur maybe twice a month and no one stays until 8-9PM. After 6PM the late admission is done by the on call resident, this rarely occurs. For instance I am a PGY4 and have never done a late admission for someone else. Someone did do one for me last year though. It often doesn't even occur once during a block!
Signout starts at 4PM and most people have signed out by 5PM on any given day. Further, the admissions office prefers not to have late admissions so often if an admission is going to arrive late it is rescheduled for the morning. Residents come in between 7:30-8 AM every morning. 7AM occurs about twice during a 7-8 week block for meetings.

3 years ago when I started, call was really tough and there were nights that I didn't sleep. That is no longer the case as we now cover 50 patients. Most nights I get at least 6 hours sometimes even 7 or 8 hours. I never sleep post call because I never need to sleep.
All of this information is only about Sinai where you do 4 inpt blocks, 2 MSK blocks and 1 float block.

At Elmhurst residents come in at 8 and leave around 4:30PM with any admission after 4:30 generally being done by the on call resident. Call there is extremely boring so people go to the gym, rent movies and invite friends over. There you generally get 7-8 hours of sleep.

At the Bronx Va where you spend 4 blocks ( approx 71/2-8 months) you do not take call at all. It is purely an outpt rotation which starts around 8:30AM and ends around 4:30. Also on elective which is 2 blocks (approx 4 months) there is no call at all. So you have a total of approx 1 year call free.

The former program director left to be Chairperson at LIJ/Northshore.

The Sinai program is a great program and is strong in all disciplines. While we may not have inpt peds- our attendings have strong fellowship connections and one of our residents just got offered multiple peds fellowship and accepted one at John Hopkins (one of the best peds fellowships).

I've been on the road for a few weeks now, but here's my chance to contribute. Overall, I've had very favorable impressions of all the programs at which I have interviewed.

Spaulding / Harvard
The day started with a program overview by Dr. Zafonte, and was followed by 6 interviews (20 min each), very structured, though did go a bit over. Everyone was very friendly and no pimping during interviews. This was followed by a tour of Spaulding and a nice lunch with the residents, who were all very friendly and happy to be at the program.

Here are the details I collected:
This program takes 6 residents. Department chair is Dr. Ross Zafonte and residency program director is Dr. Kevin O'Connor. Didactics rotate on a 10 month repeating lecture series. Rotations are completed at Spaulding, Mass Gen, Brigham and Women's, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital (all Parners Healthcare hospitals). Further rotations are completed at non-partners hospitals: Children's hospital, Hebrew Rehabilitaiton Center for Aged, VA in both West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, and the New Enlgand Baptist Hospital.

Residents are on call q6 during PGY-2, PGY-3 you have ~20x on call and also take 2nd call where you assist the on-call resident with admissions for a few hours on Fri/Sat. No call during PGY-4 year. You'll have 2 months of neurology at MGH where you are on call q4d.

Other random information: The PM&R department works with the Patriots. Spaulding is the largest rehab hospital in the country. 4 weeks vacation + sick time. Travel and conference allowances. Tues mornings completely protected from 7am - 1pm for didactics. There is also a research program to help with the required research - submit 2 abstracts and a publication over the course of 3 years. Friday morning there are ground rounds/chairman rounds. Anatomy 1 week per year - prosections are already down for you. They have a formal board review. Considered to be a very dynamic program on the PM&R forefront. Residents say they sleep about 3-4hrs overnight when on call, but its not always that bad.

Both Jefferson and Temple interview on Wednesdays, so can't catch both within a few days of each other - harder if coming from out of town. Also, if you are a resident at any of the Philly programs, you get to participate in the inter-city courses, which include orthotics/gait, prosthetics and electrodiagnosis. Additionally, all PGY-3 and PGY-4s get to partake in a neuroanatomy review course in the fall, which is run by Dr. Schneck at Temple.

I was very impressed with both Temple and TJ and can't say that I know which program I would rank over the other. Temple is more well known for TBI and TJ more so for SCI. Temple/Moss are located more on the edge of the city while TJ/Magee are more in center city. Quality education at both places.

Temple

I actually accidently left my program folder in Philly, thus the main information I can tell you about is off the top of my head. I believe that they take about ten residents/year.

The interview day begins at Temple, where a couple of the chiefs meet those who are interviewing and then they drove us all to Moss Rehab in their cars. Moss is a decent drive from Temple, probably about 15-20 minutes. We had breakfast at Moss and watched the morning lecture, which was given by one of the PGY-4's. The residents were very friendly and got along well with each other - a lot of joking, etc. going on and great camraderie. Then we each had one interview at Moss and got a tour of the facility, which was very nice and recently redone. Moss has a model TBI system.

Following all of this, we were returned to Temple where we had lunch and were given a program overview by Dr. Ian Maitin, program director. We each interviewed at some point with Dr. Maitin and 1 additional faculty. So overall, 3 interviews, 1 with Moss affiliated person and rest assoc with Temple.

If you are interested in Peds, their peds doc, Dr. Weinick, does a lot of work with Shriner's hospital, and travels internationally annually.

Overall, a very young faculty who are very positive and seem like they would be fun to work with. There is a great deal of commuting, and residents do live everywhere from Philly to Delaware and New Jersey. However, they do seem to be a close knit group. Sorry I don't have more details, trying to get my folder of info back from a friend. 🙂

Thomas Jefferson
Interview day starts at Magee. I ended up being a little late, as did several others, because though the instructions said to show up between 830 - 9am, they started at 830am. The beginning of the day was a bit strange, as several Magee administrators were speaking extensively about ethics and the importance of spending enough time with patients and discharging them correctly, etc. It almost felt like we were being reprimanded for doing something wrong. It was actually a bit uncomfortable. Things got much better from that point onwards.

Dr. Formal, the program director, arrived after this and gave us an overview of the program. Research is not required, but of course encouraged. Magee has a SCI model system. You actually do 4months of spinal cord injury inpatient at Magee. Rotations are at Thomas Jefferson in Center City, Magee Rehab, Bryn Mawr Rehab, A.I. duPont Institute (Children's hospital in Delaware) and Moss Rehab. There are 4 months of electives - 2 are considered 'senior advisory time'. Was warned that there might be less electives in the future.

After the program overview, there were 3 interviews. Mine were with 2 residents and 1 new faculty member who had just graduated residency. So didn't get to interact with any longer term faculty/attendings, which was a bit disappointing. After these interviews, got a tour of Magee with 2 PGY-2s, who were very upbeat and you could tell that they enjoyed being at Thomas Jefferson. They raved and raved about how awesome Dr. Formal is in supporting them and stated over and over that he is an amazing resident advocate.

Curriculum: rotates every 18 months. Didactics alternate between Magee and Thomas Jefferson. Residents are responsible for dissection and presentation of anatomy each fall. Residents run the board review courses. The department defrays costs for travel expenses to conferences.

After the tour, we went to lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant, and quite a few residents showed up. Here, I got the impression that the residents got along quite well, and they were fun to interact with throughout the meal. Overall, a great program and I think you would be very well prepared following residency.

I was actually very impressed with this program, but didn't really like Charlotte. Apparently it is one of the most liveable cities in America, but I guess I'm looking for something unliveable.... 🙄

Program sprung for free hotel room in very nice hotel - my bed was SO comfortable! 🙂 Also nice meal the evening before interview at an Italian restaurant. Residents picked us up for dinner. Shuttle takes you to interview and back to hotel afterwards. Day started with program overview by Dr. Vu Nguyen, who was very friendly and gave a nice and thorough presentation. Followed by 3 interviews, all with faculty. Afterwards had lunch with residents and then tour of the Main hospital with the Levine Children's Hospital. We were done pretty early - at least by 2pm.

There are quite a few hospitals assoc with Carolinas Rehabilitation, but residents don't rotate at all of them. There is Carolinas Rehab Main (where you do rotate through TBI (model system), SCI, cancer, ortho/amputee, tons of outpatient clinics. Peds is done at Levine Children's Hospital, which is essentially part of the main rehab hospital - the peds area is very new and state of the art. Rotations also take place at Carolinas Rehab at Mercy (stroke and ortho/amputee - 39 bed facility). Other facilities - Mount Holly Stroke and Gen Rehab (no rotations here), Stanly Regional Medical Center/CMC-Northeast - likely won't rotate here, some buildings on hold to be built due to financial issues, and Carolinas Rehab Museum facility - not sure if residents rotate here, but think they do.

Take 4 residents each year.

Rotation schedule:
PGY-2: 3 months SCI, 3 months TBI, 2 months Stroke, 2 months EMG, 1 month each of consults, occ med/ P&O

PGY-3: 2 months each: peds, MSK, EMG, clinic; 1 month each: consults, cancer/ortho/amp, elective, jr supervisory

PGY-4: 2 months each: EMG, clinic, elevtive, 1 month each: cardiopulm/subacute/urology, consults, pain/palliative med, MSK/Ortho, Sports/Rheum, Sr. Selective/Admin

Didactics: 18 month rotating schedule, anatomy yearly where ortho does dissections and PM&R reviews and practices injections, EKG training, Biostats during PGY-3

Required conference time: didactics 3 hrs/week, PM&R conferences 1 hr/wk, CME: 2 hr/month, CMC conferences: 1-2hrs/month

Program offers 5 d/yar to go to courses and free time to present at national meetings (in addition to vacation). Annual workshops in: NVCI (non-violent crisis intervention), Cultural competency, faituge/imparment, MSK, Modality fair, P&O.

Annual golf tournament for disabled and annual "Cycle to the Sea" - residents get time off to volunteer.

EMG - usually get ~260, learn nerve/motor point blocks, botox/joint/epidural/SI injections. State of the are simulation center where you can practice joint injections on every joint in the body.

Emphasize research, but publications not required.

Annual SAE, AANEM (EMG exam) and mock orals yearly
Annual team building retreat, residency working retreat and community rehab series

Call Policy:
PGY-2: 4-5x per month (in house for first month then can do call from home)
PGY-3: ave 3-4x per month
PGY-4: avg 2x per month (no weekends)
when on call, cover main hospital and peds (except weekends) as well as Mount Holly and Mercy....

Tons and tons of benefits - apparently one of the best benefit packages in the country

Vacation: 14d each year, extra 7d for use in either PGY-3 or 4. 5 extra days off at christmas/holiday break. 5 d off for education/conference. Seniors can leave campus after graduation party.

Michigan

Flew into DTW and rented a car (got it on hotwire, was less expensive then taking the airport shuttle to Ann Arbor and back the next day). Stayed at Red Roof Inn - not glamorous, but spent less than $50.

Dinner the evening before with residents - an impressive amt showed up. All very friendly and 'sold' Ann Arbor pretty well to me. Ann Arbor overall is a very nice and impressive college town. Buildings everywhere are over the top and beautiful - facilities top notch.

Interview day took place at the Burlington Center (325 E Eisenhower in Ann Arbor), which is where much of the outpt clinics take place for the residents. Program takes 6 residents. Day starts with brief overview by Tammie (residency coordinator) and breakfast, followed by 3 interviews - all faculty, then lunch. Afterwards, resident drives group to Michigan for tour and then back to Burlington center for brief tour. Were free to leave by 3pm.

Most rotations are at U. Mich affiliated hospitals, which are located around Ann Arbor - only rotate at 2 other sites.

2 months Peds - 5 current Peds PM&R attendings and plan to add 1 more - exposure is mostly inpatient. Dr. Nelson (Peds PM&R attending) goes to camp every year for kids on ventilators and also volunteers internationally annually.

Research is required with 2 scheduled research months.
Ventilator exposure and training.
2? months of electives.

Call isn't too bad and completely done 18 months into the program (1/2 way through PGY-3 year). Call is at home, but must live within 25 minutes.

Weakness in program: sports medicine. Also, no exposure to acupuncture, but past residents have flown to courses to get training.

Tons of procedures for residents, attendings even give priorities to residents over fellows at times. Easily get 200+ EMG, though 1st month is study and observation.

Yearly SAE exam.
Most residents married (all but 2), they try to get together once/month.

Didactics are spread out through out the week. Residents present 18 total (1 each throughout the year).

Have an anatomy course where cadavers are dissected for them

Must pay fee to house officer's association

At least 23d off + bday + many holidays

Definitely use MSK US, have Lokomat, etc.

Have 'Jeopardy' months where you cover those who are on vacation, and when there is time, work with disciplines in which you are more interested.

Resident Lecture series takes place on Mondays (730-830am) and Thurs (845 - 1045 am); Grand rounds take place Thurs AM (730 - 830am).

There is a continuity clinic that begins during PGY-3 and lasts through completion of residency. Lots of autonomy for this clinic.

That's all I can recall at this time. 🙂 Overall, great vibe from program, really seems top notch, residents were great and extemely friendly, faculty appear supportive and appreciative of residents.

Columbia/Cornell

Very impressive interview day. Began at NYPH with continental breakfast and program overview with Dr. Nancy Strauss (residency program director). There are 6 clinical sites. I'll share info about them below. After the overview, there is a tour of the Weill Cornell Center at NYPH and of housing (nice!). Following this is lunch and 6 interviews. Lasted alllll afternoon. I think I left a bit after 5pm.

Where the rotation sites are located:
At New York Presbyterian - Columbia University Medical Center, there are 16 beds with 2 residents. Here, you will do inpatient, outpatient (MDA, brace (P&O), Peds, etc), consults (neurological/neurosurgical, cardiopulm, orthopedic, and med/surg), and EMG.

At NYPH - Weill Cornell Medical Center - inpatient (22 beds, 3 residents), outpatient, burn, consults (similar to those at columbia univ med center)

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - work with Dr. Custodio (Mayo trained) and Dr. Stubblefield. Mainly outpt, some inpt consult, lots of EMG

Hospital for Special surgery - #1 hospital for ortho & rheum, here work is all outpatient - MSK, cutting edge procedure, work with Dr. Greg Lutz

Burke Rehab Hospital: spend 1 1/2 months here, free standing rehab hospital in White Plains, Westchester - shuttle bus from Cornell, training here is more so by neurologists, get TBI and SCI specific

Blythedale Children's Hospital - in Vallhalla, Westchester - free standing rehab hospital for kids (even have on site school for the kids)

Didactics: Thursday 8-10 at Cornell, Friday 8-10 at Columbia

EMG is spread out over 3 years at several diff locations
Research is not? required, but facilitated

The subsidized housing is very nice, not expensive for new york, and all buildings are connected underground to the Weill Cornell Center.

For rotations elsewhere, can get shuttle from Weill Cornell Center to any of the other rotation sites. Only 1-2 residents have cars.

Of note, NYPH is the #6 hospital in the country.

Call is in house though since when on call at Cornell, your housing is right there, you are basically taking call from home.

There is no spec anatomy course, but there is something that is available if desired. There are no electives.

Think they take about 8 residents. Most were from the NY/NJ area.

Kessler

The first email I was sent stated that the interview day started at 830am, however, and email was sent out the evening before the interviewing moving the time up to 8am. I didn't check my email that evening, thus I arrived quite late. Moral of the story - check your email up to the last minute, check your spam box, show up early.

To get there, you have to rent a car if you don't have one. Well, you can take a taxi, but I think it ended up being less expensive for me to rent (I was staying in Manhattan) through Hertz. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get from where I was staying in Manhattan to Kessler in West Orange.

Anyways, long story short, it was all worth it. 🙂 Day started with a program overview by program director, Dr. Susan Garstang, who is great. She's upbeat and really strives to keep Kessler up to the great standards of which it has long been known. Dr. DeLisa is the department chairman and Dr. Kirshblum is the associate residency program director. After the overview, there were 4 interviews, all with attendings, and everyone got to interview with Dr. Garstang. We then toured the facilities and had lunch with the residents, who were actually pretty quiet. They seemed happy overall. After lunch, we all went home - drove my rental car back to manhattan and made it in one piece! 👍

The program has 5 major affiliations: UMDNJ, Kessler, Mountainside hospital, VA NJ Health care system, Children's Specialized hospital.

UMDNJ: level 1 trauma center, TBI & SCI consults, clinics in general PM&R, amputee, and TBI

Doctor's Office Center: Outpt office cmplx on NJMS campus - MSK outpt practice with extensive hands-on teaching, joint injections and fluoroscopically-guided spine injections

Kessler: Freestanding rehab hospitals with 3 locations, inpatient (CVA, TBI, SCI), outpatient

VA New Jersey:
Lyons VA: inpatient subacute consults, outpt clinics
East Orange VA: EMG/NCS, inpt consults, outpt clinics, cardiac rehab, chronic SCI

Children's specialized hospital: residents involved in outpt services: spasticity management, gait & prosthetic clinics and EMGs

Mountainside hospital: inpatient consults: subacute/SNF consults; outpt sports medicine, pain clinic, EMGs, radiology, wound clinc

Vacation: 4 weeks, plus bday & 2 float holidays, plus 9 official university holidays. Book money: $450/year

On-call:
Kessler West: tiered based on level (more as PGY-2, less as PGY-4, but still have call as PGY-4)
Children's specialized hospital: when here, have call 1x/week, in New Brunswick
VA: beeper call to 10pm

Curriculum:
Core didactic lecture series: repeats 2x during residency, 4hrs Wed mornings, time protected
Orientation course: 3 wks
Research course: 6 weeks
Friday didactics: protected morning once a month - Grand Rounds: invited outside speaker, EMG case of the month, Journal club
Workshops: anatomy w/prosected cadavers, MSK physical exam skills, joint injection techniques, electrodiagnostic skills
Special courses: P&O, career search course, admin/practice mgt, professionalism/ethics
PM&R board review course (free for Kessler PGY-4) - costs ~$1,300 for anyone else

Electrodiagnostic training:
PGY-2 participate in formal curriculum during 1st year to learn basic skills, taught by PGY-3 and PGY-4
Formal workshop in December, monthly EMG case discussion, daily lectures at VA

Research: required
Review paper for R1 year
Project culminating in abstract for R3s
Research support - mentors, protected research time, paid conference time for presenters

Evaluations: OSCE, multiple evals throughout year, quarterly module exams, SAEs

Residents have received multiple awards over the years.

100% board pass rate for past 17 years, consistently in top 10% in nation.

Fellowships:
Clinical: Peds, SCI, MSK/pain, TBI, stroke
Research: NIDRR, NIH, etc

the area is expensive to live in, residents are fairly spread out - some live in Manhattan but most live in NJ.

for in house call, get to leave by 8am the following day.

Residents said that they got solid exposure to MSK US, accupuncture, etc.

No outside electives

There is no cap on overnight admissions, but on call resident doesn't have to do full H&P overnight.

Peds all outpt, but when on call, cover inpt floor (get ~3 months peds)

Residents couldn't come up with a program weakness except for commuting - you definitely have to have a car.

Overall, a very impressive program.

If you want information on Kansas, U Missouri in Columbia, Mayo and/or Emory, feel free to contact me. All solid programs, but have to go get some other things done today and don't have time to write up anymore!

Good luck to everyone!

evajaclynn



Impressive. Strong work.

Thanks! 😀

This is mostly accurate. There is actually 1 block (6-7 weeks) of elective in the PGY-4 year. Memorial Sloan Kettering is one of my favorite rotations led by Dr. Stubblefield (boarded in internal medicine and PM&R from NYPH), Dr. Custodio who did both of his residency and electrodiagnostics fellowship training in Mayo, and Dr. Sokolof (Spaulding, Kessler Sports/Spine). We have a new department chair in Dr. Stein as well.

I have been very pleased with my experience thus far. Please let me know if you should have any questions regarding our program. I'll be more than happy to help. 😀

evajaclynn said:

Columbia/Cornell

Very impressive interview day. Began at NYPH with continental breakfast and program overview with Dr. Nancy Strauss (residency program director). There are 6 clinical sites. I'll share info about them below. After the overview, there is a tour of the Weill Cornell Center at NYPH and of housing (nice!). Following this is lunch and 6 interviews. Lasted alllll afternoon. I think I left a bit after 5pm.

Where the rotation sites are located:
At New York Presbyterian - Columbia University Medical Center, there are 16 beds with 2 residents. Here, you will do inpatient, outpatient (MDA, brace (P&O), Peds, etc), consults (neurological/neurosurgical, cardiopulm, orthopedic, and med/surg), and EMG.

At NYPH - Weill Cornell Medical Center - inpatient (22 beds, 3 residents), outpatient, burn, consults (similar to those at columbia univ med center)

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - work with Dr. Custodio (Mayo trained) and Dr. Stubblefield. Mainly outpt, some inpt consult, lots of EMG

Hospital for Special surgery - #1 hospital for ortho & rheum, here work is all outpatient - MSK, cutting edge procedure, work with Dr. Greg Lutz

Burke Rehab Hospital: spend 1 1/2 months here, free standing rehab hospital in White Plains, Westchester - shuttle bus from Cornell, training here is more so by neurologists, get TBI and SCI specific

Blythedale Children's Hospital - in Vallhalla, Westchester - free standing rehab hospital for kids (even have on site school for the kids)

Didactics: Thursday 8-10 at Cornell, Friday 8-10 at Columbia

EMG is spread out over 3 years at several diff locations
Research is not? required, but facilitated

The subsidized housing is very nice, not expensive for new york, and all buildings are connected underground to the Weill Cornell Center.

For rotations elsewhere, can get shuttle from Weill Cornell Center to any of the other rotation sites. Only 1-2 residents have cars.

Of note, NYPH is the #6 hospital in the country.

Call is in house though since when on call at Cornell, your housing is right there, you are basically taking call from home.

There is no spec anatomy course, but there is something that is available if desired. There are no electives.

Think they take about 8 residents. Most were from the NY/NJ area.

Click to expand...

any pimping during the 6 interviews at cornell?

Re: pimping

I have pimped on interviews before. I don't always, but sometimes I do ask residents questions

My reasoning is that the thing I found the most insulting when I was a medical student interviewing is when the interviewer clearly had no idea who I was, and didn't particularly care to find out. It made me feel like a very generic candidate, and I didn't particularly want to go to a program that wanted a generic canidate- I wanted to go to a program that wanted me specifically

There are some benefits to pimping from an interviewers perspective:
- Break the monotony- by the time I've interviewed some candidates, they've had over 20 interviews (considering they have multiple interviews at each site). It is very hard to be engaged in a real conversation when you are repeating the same thing you've said 20 times before. So rather than asking someone whether they are a good leader, for example, I try to give specific scenarios that I've encountered that are tricky leadership situatiions, and ask how they would handle that situation. I don't know that it helps, but it seems like it helps distinguish those candidates who have a real leadership skill set
- We are judging you- the main criticism I've heard re: pimping is that people don't like to feel judged. To me, that is silly- you are being interviewed- OF COURSE you are being judged. By pimping, you make that explicit

I think pimping on interviews should be judged the same way pimping in clinic or rounds should be:

Bad Pimping- pimping with intention of belittling someone. That serves no real purpose

Good pimping- pimping with the intention of gauging the level of a trainees knowledge base, to make sure that you are teaching at an appropriate level, and to tailor the educational experience so it is optimized for the resident.]

Not everyone feels the same way, which I understand. But looking back to when I was a medical student, I personally appreciated the interviewers who were invested enough in me as a candidate that they challenged me and took the time to find out more about me.

Just my 2 cents as an interviewer

> Btw.. If I had known that you were on faculty at your current program I would have applied there. I just found out a few weeks ago. Congratulations.

Thanks. That's very flattering, and appreciated.

I'll use that as an opportunity for a shameless plug- I am now on faculty at the U of Pittsburgh. I think it's an amazing place- very glad I joined the group here. There is such a strong and dynamic faculty here, and I think an ideal training environment for a resident. The quality of the faculty who have either joined in the past few years, or will be joining, is incredibly strong.

What you don't understand though is people who interview are drawn from a pool of potential attendings, residents, and sometimes retired doctors. You get told to go in on Jan 15, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. to interview someone. The applicant files are kept in a different building. Even if I desperately wanted to get to know all the applicants - which I don't - I don't have time during the day to leave my work to go read applicants files. I come in for the interview and I'm handed the applicant's file right then and there.

At the end of the day, nobody gives a **** if in the summer of 2002 you played golf at your father's country club all day or you once did a presentation on "Alcohol the day after - the true cure for hangovers?" at a community college in Alabama. The applications that come in just have pages and pages of junk, even from "smart" people with 240+ board scores.

Rest assured though, the applicants files are all reviewed by 2-3 doctors on days separate from the interview days, and then again when rank time comes up. On the interview day though it really doesn't make that much of a difference.

re: interviewers not having read the application beforehand

I've been on both ends of this. I try to come in early on the day of interviews to read all the applications beforehand, but I've had to do a few interviews without having read things beforehand

I think the most important thing is, as an interviewee, that the interviewer is TRYING to get a read on who you are. Having read the interview packet beforehand is only part of that process.

In my opinion, in the 10-30 minutes, the interview should be a process where the medical student and interviewer are legitimately trying to feel each other out and determine whether the medical student is a good fit for the program. This sometimes doesn't happen for a few reasons:
1. The interviewer doesn't really give a crap
2. The medical student doesn't really give a crap (as an interviewer, this is REALLY aggravating)
3. The interviewer spends the whole time trying to sell the program, and doesn't really engage the medical student
4. The medical student spends the whole time trying to sell themself, and doesn't really engage the interviewer

As an interesting note, the best candidates also tend to be the best interviewees. They know they are strong candidates, know that their records speak for themselves, and therefore can relax and engage the interviewer. Those are fun.

The other thing I would remind medical school applicants (as others have before)- while it is true that you have made a large investment to be interviewed- application costs, travel, hotel, time away from rotations- the interviewers also are making a sacrifice to interview.

Even the ones who are seemingly are jerks have pulled away from other responsibilities to be there for the interview. And sometimes they are dealing with some serious stuff that has nothing to do with your interview (patients crashing, grant deadlines, etc).

Also, even when we have the best of intentions, it can be challenging for us to remember the details of the 6 medical student dossiers we read that morning (is this the medical student or volunteered in Ghana, or the one presented at the AAPMR meeting last year?)

I'd love to hear more interview trail stories/impressions if any of you have the time to post. I'm an MS3 eagerly awaiting application season next year🙂

Hey everyone, it's so sad no one is posting this year! If you don't have time to post your interview day, I'd really like to see what people thought of the programs they interviewed at. And what the word on street is about my program.

I'm a resident at hopkins (and new). One of my goals is to make this program much much better as we still are small and things change here quickly. For the better from my experience so far.

But i want to know hwat people are saying and thinking!

Whether it be a hopkins interviews or elsewhere!

thanks
RuNnR

A suggestion:

For this and future interview trail threads - perhaps those who are skittish could forward their interview experiences/program reviews to one of our mods, who could subsequently post them anonymously. Current residents could still respond to inaccuracies, or support/defend their program, either anonymously or not. It would be a shame if future applicants aren't able to get the lowdown on some places.

or create a new account

Alright, alright...I'll do my best. Though I do feel that it is time for someone else to contribute - I know that a lot of you out there are just perusing these forums and gleaning tons of great information without contributing anything - I'm on to you!!! 🙂

Seattle

I thought I should write about Seattle because some of what I'd seen posted in the past is definitely not true. I'd say that from my interview impressions, this is a very non-malignant program. The residents were extremely friendly and all seemed very enthusiastic about the program.

The day started at 730 am with a welcome by the chief residents. They showed us a nice powerpoint presentation that they'd put together, which was set to music (similar to what was done at RIC). Following was an introduction from Dr. Peter Esselman, who is the new program chairman (has been for about a year now). He was very friendly and spoke about the training and teaching programs within the UW PM&R program. Following this we heard from the residency program director, Dr. Teresa Massagli, whom all the residents simply raved about. They warned that she can be a little difficult to interview with, as she gets straight to the point and its hard to tell what she's thinking, however, when I interviewed her, I found her to be friendly and pleasant - I really enjoyed our conversation, and I was her last interview of the day. Anyways....

The day is then split into morning and afternoon interviews - those with afternoon interviews go on a great tour given by the chief residents. They showed us around UW, then drove us all around Seattle, to all the different neighborhoods, past the VA as well, and even let us stop at a scenic overlook to take pics of the city. 🙂 This was a great tour, as it allowed us to really get a feel for the city. The tour culminated after 90 minutes at Harborview, where we met up with the rest of the interviewees and had a nice boxed lunch.

The afternoon involved 3 interviews, all with faculty, and one with Dr. Massagli, who spent 20 minutes with each interviewee. Day ended around 315pm or so.

The residents invited the interviewees out for dinner and drinks later that evening and a ton of residents showed up. We had a great time, and they seemed like a close knit group.

Seattle itself was beautiful, but very cloudy during my trip - saw no signs of sun in 4 days, which is typical for winter. However, it does not get that cold in Seattle and I was able to walk around outside all day long in early January, which was nice. It was pretty rainy, but residents of Seattle tend to be too cool for umbrellas, so wear a raincoat if you want to blend in. 🙂 The summers are supposed to be incredibly beautiful, with sunshine lasting up to 16 hrs/day.


So here is some of the information that I garnered about the UW PM&R program:

This year they are taking 8 residents - 3 categorical and 4 advanced.

Following is the breakdown for their categorical intern year (which is modified yearly): 6 months Internal Medicine, 2 months ER, 1 month inpatient Rehab, rest outpt: 1 month Ortho clinic, 1 month Geriatrics, 1 month Neuro consults and outpt, 1 month pain clinics outpt. Dr. Massagli has asked to switch to 1 month of ER with 1 selective of either Rheum, ID, or Endocrine, so that may happen in the near future.

For the PM&R program - there are 4 practice sites - the VA, Harborview, UW medical center and the Children's hospital. Dr. Esselman stated that UW gets more NIH grants than any PM&R dept in the country.

Here's the breakdown of the sites:
UW: 17-20 bed unit, take care of patients with SCI, TBI, stroke, stem cell transplant, cancer, MS, MD and post-polio

Harborview: 29 beds, take care of pts with SCI, TBI, stroke, amputation and burns, this is the only level 1 trauma center in the region - there is a big vascular service with lots of SAH and AVM

VA: 34-38 bed SCI unit and 10-12 bed Gen Rehab Unit - take care of cardiac rehab, SCI, TBI, amputees, stroke, MS, MSK and polytrauma

Children's - 6 - 12 bed unit; they are recruiting a new head of rehab here - take care of TBI, CP, MD, SCI, congenital defects/limb defects, developmental disorders - sepnd 2-3months on Peds

It was said previously that UW was weak in MSK, but they have vastly changed this. They have recruited 5 PM&R MSK docs to Harborview and have added a MSK fellowship, have recruited 3 PM&R MSK docs to UW and 1 more to the Seattle VA. So there are a total of 9 MSK docs and there is a 2 month MSK rotation.

Selected residents will do a 1 month research rotation during their PGY-4 year. Research is not required, but a scholarly project is required. You have 3 options with this project: presentation at a national meeting, or present an annual research day a case report/case series/database report project, etc, OR give a lecture that the attendings evaluate. I don't know how easy it is to just do a lecture rather than the other 2 options.

Residents get 1 elective month.

Spend 5-6 months on EMG, I think. There had been reported that there are a lot of months on consults, however during those months there are a lot of clinics that the residents get involved in as well as time spent on EMGs.

There is no continuity clinic for residents.

Other random details:

Get well over 200 EMGs/year - only EMGs actually performed are counted.
EMG didactics take place during PGY-3.
You are trained in EMGs by both neurologists and PM&R docs.

Targeted education directed towards year in residency - meaning that the PGY-2s get different lectures than PGY-3s and so on.

There is a great board review course that is given free to PGY-4s.
For AAPMR conference - the cost is covered for residents that are presenting and all PGY-4s go to the conference free.

Call schedule: 6 weeks as a PGY-2, 4 weeks as PGY-3, 2 weeks as PGY-2

There are quite a bit of quizzes and exams - for example, you take kinesiology with the PT students and get the same quizzes and tests that they get.

There is also a requirement that you must be observed doing 8 different physical exams each year and these must be signed off by faculty.

There are didactics in MSK, P&O, Kinesiology & Biomechanics, Electrodiagnosis & Neurophysiology, Psych/Neuropsych, Communication disorders, and Practice Management. There is also a research seminar.

The 1st 6 wks of PGY-2, residents are given an intro to PM&R lecture series.

There is an anatomy course with didactics and dissection.

I think that's all I have for now. Really liked the program a lot. Feel free to PM me with questions. Apologize in advance for any inaccuracies, but this is verbatim what I was told throughout my interview day!

rehab_sports_dr said:

re: interviewers not having read the application beforehand

I've been on both ends of this. I try to come in early on the day of interviews to read all the applications beforehand, but I've had to do a few interviews without having read things beforehand

I think the most important thing is, as an interviewee, that the interviewer is TRYING to get a read on who you are. Having read the interview packet beforehand is only part of that process.

In my opinion, in the 10-30 minutes, the interview should be a process where the medical student and interviewer are legitimately trying to feel each other out and determine whether the medical student is a good fit for the program. This sometimes doesn't happen for a few reasons:
1. The interviewer doesn't really give a crap
2. The medical student doesn't really give a crap (as an interviewer, this is REALLY aggravating)
3. The interviewer spends the whole time trying to sell the program, and doesn't really engage the medical student
4. The medical student spends the whole time trying to sell themself, and doesn't really engage the interviewer

As an interesting note, the best candidates also tend to be the best interviewees. They know they are strong candidates, know that their records speak for themselves, and therefore can relax and engage the interviewer. Those are fun.

The other thing I would remind medical school applicants (as others have before)- while it is true that you have made a large investment to be interviewed- application costs, travel, hotel, time away from rotations- the interviewers also are making a sacrifice to interview.

Even the ones who are seemingly are jerks have pulled away from other responsibilities to be there for the interview. And sometimes they are dealing with some serious stuff that has nothing to do with your interview (patients crashing, grant deadlines, etc).

Also, even when we have the best of intentions, it can be challenging for us to remember the details of the 6 medical student dossiers we read that morning (is this the medical student or volunteered in Ghana, or the one presented at the AAPMR meeting last year?)

Click to expand...

I would have to agree with nearly everything you posted. Here's my opinion. I have done a LOT of interviews, both medical specialties, and in the business world. I was not always the best candidate, but go the jobs.

In my opinion and others (from feedback) I gave good interviews.
Why? I originally came from a business background and did a lot of interviews in that field. Preparation is very important. Use the plane trip to prepare. Brush up on your P M & R. Try to think of answers to common questions of course. Have good answers for your weaknesses without making excuses. Don't make excuses, they hurt you more than help.
The key to doing a good interview is to relax (but, always be professional), be yourself (if they don't like the real you, do you really want to be there anyway?, well maybe you do), and engage. Show your enthusiasm, even if it is a place you think you will rank last. You may be surprised. You may end up liking the place more than you thought, or needing the place because you aren't as strong of a candidate as you may think. MATCH day can be a big surprise for many people. I had many friends that ended up matching at places they didn't think they had a shot at, and not matching at places they thought were a shoe in for, and dropping down on their list. Show respect, and that you feel privileged to be at that institution. That has gone a long, long way for me.

I have also interviewed interns in the past, and unfortunately, you sometimes get told about it at the last minute, or don't have the ability to look over their files. So, you end up having to do it at the interview. This isn't ideal, but don't always blame the interviewer.

Pimping. I think the true definition of pimping is when you do it to somewhat belittle the applicant. Now, asking a fair medical question is another story. You should expect that at times. They often times are not looking at your exact medical knowledge, but how you go about tackling the problem, or how you deal with the problem teamwork wise, or doctor-patient interaction in the case of PM & R. I very rarely have had any unfair questions at interviews.

Where is everybody this year? Is the interest in PM & R finally waning, or do we just have a lot of mooches now 😉

😴Mooches.

Hey, I'm trying! 🙂 The NRMP ranking system opened today, but it'll be awhile till I've completely made up my mind!

I haven't posted information on a few programs that I mentioned previously, as well as Denver and RIC. So if you want any info about any of these programs, just let me know. I was very impressed by both RIC and Denver. And, after 14 PM&R interviews, I am completely beat. I would possibly do it differently (interview at less programs) if I could do it again, however I really wasn't sure what to expect when I initially applied.

However, I think its nice to have an 'insiders' look on so many different programs, and I do not regret going to any of the programs that I interviewed at, and am very impressed, for a variety of reasons, by all of them.

At this point, I think I am going to have a very difficult time ranking these programs, so I'll now solicit advice from anyone who cares to offer it. Please PM me with any helpful information, especially because I have NOT been a mooch! I am not really hindered by location, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

Due to popular demand.....Mayo

I thought Mayo was absolutely spectacular and very deserving of a top 5 spot in PM&R. Only downside that I can see is that Rochester is a pretty quiet & cold little town. And you obviously work a bit harder than in some programs, but I think that is standard for the top programs. As for the cold weather, the majority of the buildings downtown and connected by indoor walkways, both above and underground. The town has also worked hard to promote performing arts and things to do. They also have an amazing gym (the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center) for residents and staff to work out in. 🙂 Oh - and its true what they've said about the dress code. Men must wear suits with ties every day. For females its a bit more lax, and people were definitely trying to push the dress code while we were there. One of the residents mentioned that there are 'dress code police' and I think she was somewhat serious. Also - attendings are called 'consultants' at Mayo. While at Mayo, I learned that a lot of things are done 'the Mayo way', which is not a bad thing, but just something to take into account.

For program specs, they take 8 residents total - 6 advanced and 2 categorical.

Didactics (copied from their website): There are clinical conferences and case presentations presented by physical medicine and rehabilitation consultants, residents, or guest faculty where attendance is required. Journal club meets once a month. You will be assigned to approximately one article per year, but journal club attendance is required. There is a comprehensive introductory curriculum and a research training curriculum.
A comprehensive anatomy course with prosected cadavers paired with a musculoskeletal exam course providing hands-on training and observation of joint and spine examination skills.

Resident didactic sessions that focus on the biomechanics; pathophysiological basis of tissue healing and repair; the use of different modalities; and disorders of bones, joints, nerves and muscles.
A two-month clinical neurophysiology course integrated into the EMG rotation.

Course work in the related specialty fields of neurology, psychiatry, orthopedics and rheumatology. A week-long prosthetic/orthotic course.

For call:
Generally, you will be on call every fourth night and every third weekend while you are assigned to an inpatient rehabilitation service. During the remaining months of your residency, you will cover a weekend consult service approximately once a semester.

Research: required with 4-6wks protected time

Peds: 2 months total, both inpt/outpt
I honestly don't remember specifics on how many months were spent on other rotations, just that I felt that there was a good balance between inpt/outpt and different areas of training.

Great training in MSK ultrasound (one of the only programs I know of that does this so indepth with the residents)

For conferences: Mayo pays for 1 trip whether or not presenting and all trips presenting

Funds: $200 book allowance to purchase either Braddom or DeLisa in addition to tons of books (TONS)

Moonlighting allowed when not on inpatient

There is an international health program if you're into that kinda thing. 🙂

Mayo is a TBI model system program.

You'll spend 6 months on EMG training and they have the best EMG training lab that I've seen.

You get 2 months of electives, but they must be within the Mayo system.

Mayo also has a Multidisciplinary Simulation Center, which I thought was cool.

Prelim Year
3 months General Inpt IM
1 month Inpt Cards
1 month CCU
1 month Inpt Onc
1 month MICU
1 month Neuro
1 month IM Specialty
2 months ER/Float/Vacation
1 month Elective/Vacation
Can take 3 wks vacation/yr in 3 7 day blocks
www.mayo.edu/msgme/preinternalmed-rch.html

For details on interview day:
We had dinner the evening before with lots of residents at a nice Italian restaurant. Then interview day started at 730am with a very nice overview by the Department Chair, Dr. Kathryn Stolp and the Program Director, Dr. Brian Grogg. Dr. Stolp really impressed me because not only had she memorized all of our names, but details from all of our personal statements. So during her intro, she'd call out our names and the things she knew we were interested in. It made me feel more at home and was a nice touch. This was followed by 4 interviews and then a lunch with the residents. Following this was the longest walking tour I have ever been on. Mayo has absolutely amazing facilities, but my feet were killing me by the end of the tour. I think it lasted between 90 min to 2 hrs. But I don't know what they would have cut out and it was fun to get to see everything.

I definitely think that this is a program worth checking out and that it would be even more competitive if the location was a bit more desirable (and weather: -32F windchill today). It is my humble opinion that you would definitely come out of this program with a fantastic PM&R education.

Though I will continue to post here, this is just a quick reminder that SDN has it's own interview feedback system at http://more.studentdoctor.net/residency.php

Feel free to check that one out or to contribute there as well!

evajaclynn said:

Hey, I'm trying! 🙂 The NRMP ranking system opened today, but it'll be awhile till I've completely made up my mind!

I haven't posted information on a few programs that I mentioned previously, as well as Denver and RIC. So if you want any info about any of these programs, just let me know. I was very impressed by both RIC and Denver. And, after 14 PM&R interviews, I am completely beat. I would possibly do it differently (interview at less programs) if I could do it again, however I really wasn't sure what to expect when I initially applied.

However, I think its nice to have an 'insiders' look on so many different programs, and I do not regret going to any of the programs that I interviewed at, and am very impressed, for a variety of reasons, by all of them.

At this point, I think I am going to have a very difficult time ranking these programs, so I'll now solicit advice from anyone who cares to offer it. Please PM me with any helpful information, especially because I have NOT been a mooch! I am not really hindered by location, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

Click to expand...

You and your beagle have done a great job this season, Evajaclynn! Internet high five!

I, not being a mooch, will help out this year's sad excuse of an interview thread. The details for the programs will be more about broad structure and feel and less about numbers.


UCLA/VAGLAHS

Program takes 8 residents a year. Split about 50/50 inpt/outpt, though in reality it's more outpt oriented. Go to the West LA VA in the morning where you sit with the other candidates. You get a small breakfast and meet with Dr. Pham, the program director, and a few of the PGY-2's. Get a slide show overviewing the program. For those looking into sports (as I am), you get a 6 week rotation in sports, and you can volunteer to be a physician for a sports team. It was made clear that this is a serious commitment; if you don't show up, a team doesn't play, per California law. Can call the Orthopedist who does sports if you have questions, and we were told he is nice and open to that.

Overall you rotate through 6 sites, including the Sepulveda VA, Rancho, and Cedars Sinai. The call schedule at these places is unreal: At Cedars you take call once/3 weeks, and that's the MOST taxing of all the sites. At the west LA VA you take call for 1 week over a 3 month block. In a couple of locations (Sepulveda and UCLA) there is no call.

Didactics are a mix of lectures from the faculty and resident delivered lectures. Dr. Pham was very enthusiastic about this, though the residents were less so. Some even questioned why they had lectures repeating 3 times. Overall they felt it was more productive just to read on their own. One PGY-4, when asked how they had a 100% pass rate for the boards since '03 if they didn't like their didactics, said "I don't really know. Somehow we all pass."

Did interviews with Dr. Pham (who was awesome and really looks out for her residents), Dr. Pangarkar (Pain Fellow who stayed on at UCLA), and Dr. Wang (current pain fellow). All three were nonmalignant, just looking to get to know you and how you got interested in PM&R. Dr. Pangarkar is super laid back and really cool. Dr. Wang as a fellow admitted that he didn't know a lot about the program since he was a resident out east, so it seems odd to have him be an interviewer, since you know he'll ask, "Do you have any questions for me?"

You get breaks scheduled into your morning between interviews, where you can hang out in a conference room, or go to a clinic, where they know that applicants will come. And no, there is no risk of being sent to see a patient. After interviews you get lunch with the residents in their break room. Overall it was a mixed bag. Talked to two PGY-4's who were, to be honest, a little odd. One wasn't even looking to talk to me. The other said he only came because of the location. He freely admitted that the packets we received, with the morning slide show detailing the program structure, wasn't there when he applied. He also noted that there was a lack of in-clinic teaching, and you were pretty much expected to carry the load, day 1 of every rotation.

Overall I would say the location, call schedule, and MSK exposure are the biggest draws. Dr. Pham noted that by the time this match class comes into the program they planned on incorporating MSK ultrasound into the didactics, which is something they do for the UCLA med students. The PGY-2's that I met were pretty cool, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves. One PGY-2 did note that despite what we are told, it is not advisable to "rock the boat". The VA system is pretty set on its ways of operating, and Dr. Scremin the Chair is the one that makes the calls on the patient load the residents see. Whereas in the past there was time for attendings to teach in clinic and go over patients PE findings, now there is no such time for that, and that seemed to be prevalent in every location. One of the aforementioned PGY-4's readily admitted that "this is no UW". Not meaning to bash the program, since I really want to love it, but this is something that otherwise would never come to the light of day.


I will post the other 5 installments of my interview experience (Mayo, Mizzou, KU, MCV/VCU, UTHSCSA) later. If anyone has any questions about UCLA or any of the other 5 programs feel free to PM me.

Ludicolo said:

A suggestion:

For this and future interview trail threads - perhaps those who are skittish could forward their interview experiences/program reviews to one of our mods, who could subsequently post them anonymously. Current residents could still respond to inaccuracies, or support/defend their program, either anonymously or not. It would be a shame if future applicants aren't able to get the lowdown on some places.

Click to expand...

evajaclynn said:

Though I will continue to post here, this is just a quick reminder that SDN has it's own interview feedback system at http://more.studentdoctor.net/residency.php

Feel free to check that one out or to contribute there as well!

Click to expand...

DOctorJay said:

or create a new account

Click to expand...

These are excellent suggestions of alternatives. One question though...if you create a new account, is there a way someone can trace a list of progs you interview with vs what you post under a new name? I'm sure they cant see where else you interview, nor would this be very accurate, but just wondering...

Has anyone interviewed at Utah yet? I would be curious to hear your opinion.

Taus said:

Over the last few years I compiled word files w/ all the feedback from this forum on the programs that I knew I'd be applying to. Hopefully this will be helpful for some people. They are attached below. I will be posting my own feedback after the match this year and take myself out of "mooch" status.


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THANK YOU!!!

From a MSII who is trying to be PROACTIVE....I'll hopefully try to remember to pay it forward!