Interview stories: 2006-2007

that last comment is very misleading. i know you were trying to illustrate numbers, but, 100 patients who are stable at hospital x vs. 50 unstable ICU like patients isn't comparable. secondly, kessler has a significant number less than that number. it is interesting to see all those different hospital figures.

With the merger of Kessler East & West, the total number of beds have increased from 78 to 130. This change is new. Whether or not these are 130 'sick' patients is a question I cannot answer. The good news is that the resident will have a hospitalist & attending on-call as a backup.

Jefferson/Magee is also in the process of adding a hospitalist to the staff to help out, PD said at my interview.

rehabilitator said:

I did a lot of research in the past but i told one of the interviewers that research will not be my focus during residency. my interviewer then proceeded to lecture me on the importance of research for the next 10 minutes....awkward.

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Oops... Be PC during interviews and residency. After you're done you can be yourself again.

Also, the patients at mount sinai are much sicker than average rehab patients, they can take that risk since they're connected to the main MS hospital. When you're on call overnight, you have to cover 100 patients, and you're very busy since many patients are not really all that medically stable.

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That sounds miserable. I've heard about that type of atmosphere in New York. Not just for PM&R, but medicine in general. During my residency I was at a hospital with alot of busy surgical services, so lots of recent CABG patients, malfunctioning VP shunts, strokes in evolution, etc. Still, there was a limit and checks on the abuse of the acute rehab service. All other things being equal, I would choose a program that has less overnight call.

IMHO, if you're going to be doing all that you may as well be getting double boarded in IM. Otherwise, what's the point? Internship should be 1 year, not 2-3.

The interview day is completely at the Cornell site...for a clear set of reasons: prettier, closer to housing, etc.

The day is long with 6 interviews(all attendings)...after lunch. Plus, I had the joy of having one of the residents ask if I had any questions then proceed to sideline interview me before I got my coat off. "why PM&R" "have you done any research" "what other programs are you interviewing with" "what do you see yourself doing"...it goes on. Residents seemed happy but I did not get to meet that many. The interviews were generally pleasant and made me like the program more. I could easily see myself working with almost everyone I spoke with.

Strengths of this program are Cancer rehab at Sloan-Kettering with one of the nicest attendings ever (Dr. Custudio) and the opportunity to rotate at Hospital for special surgery (for all you S&S lovers), nice subsidized housing on the upper east side, rehabilitation Burn unit at cornell site, some great faculty members
Cons: no elective time (outside or in), travel to westchester for 2 sites, Columbia rotations are not as 'pretty' as the ones at cornell, at least 9 months spent on 'general' in-patient units, redundancy

I think the Cornell/Columbia program is a very good option if you want to stay in nyc and live in their housing. It is a great option if you want to work with particular faculty member(s) or go into cancer, msk, s&s. I am tempted to rank them fairly high because I really liked the faculty that I met. I'm not too sure if I like the curriculum, but what do I know...I'm still just a med student. PM me if you have questions.

This program gave me the 'warm fuzzies'. Two interviews in-between tours of TIRR and the VA. Lunch and happy hour with the residents.

Affordable city with nice weather at least 9 months out of the year. Faculty are personable. Residents are great! You need a car for Houston but not necessarily for your daily work commute.
PGY2- home call
PGY3- in-house call at TIRR for 6 months which is sometimes miserable and most of the time it's tough

Comparatively inpatient heavy (18 months). Faculty actively making changes to increase MSK & outpatient experience. Two fairly new interventional faculty added. Taking only 10 this year in order to maximize outpatient experience availibility for residents. No salary or malpractice coverage if you take an outside elective.

just will add my thoughts... i had a fabulous experience at mcw, much better than i was expecting. the PD stopped by the informal reception the night before just to say hi, and then he left. i felt like the residents were very natural and honest with their answers. they seem genuinely happy and i got a real sense of family there.

interview day consisted of a brief overview provided by PD and chair, three interviews with three attendings, all friendly, get-to-know-you type. actually, one of the attendings spent the whole time trying to sell the program to me. 🙂 this program seems to be making great strides. you will get a concrete foundation in general rehab, with a bit extra SCI, which could be a plus or minus given your interest. they do have a mandatory research requirement, but it seems that residents get a ton of support and assistance with their projects. call is taken from home a week at a time and is pretty light. residents usually get the fellowships they want. they also have a physical exam course during their pgy-2 year, which i thought was great. only negative i could pump out of them was that they were weak with burn rehab. you will tour all facilities.

overall, i thought the program was great. very very strong camaraderie amongst the residents. married or single, they all hang out together. very happy residents. you get exposure to a lot of different experiences, VA, spine center, children's hospital, etc. downsides... extra SCI module, very little burn rehab, and milwaukee?! i'm a big city person. 😛

more interviews to come...

Do people still want to hear about interviews, or are most of you through with them? Here's a brief summary of the interview day. I did a rotation here and totally loved it. PM me if you want more info.

Day begins at 8 am, a leisurely breakfast with the seniors, interviews with a chief, with the PD, Dr. Gittler, and a panel interview with three attendings. All are pleasant interviews. The panel interview might seem a little intimidating because of the setup, but it's really not bad at all. After the interviews, you get a tour of the facilities with a PGY-2, and then you're taken to University of Chicago for lunch in their outpatient building with a PGY-2, 3, and attending. The whole day is very laid back.

I could go on and on about how this program is terrific, but I'll spare you... unless you're interested, then PM me. I'll just say the comaraderie amongst the residents is the strongest I have seen, and it's genuine. No one has to tell you that the residents get along super well, because it's obvious from just observing them.

Location is probably the biggest negative, because it is definitely not the safest part of Chicago. The facilities are a bit older than what I've seen at most programs (if that matters to you), but they also have the hugest call room complete with a mini-kitchen. 😀

I won't beat a dead horse. I think there's fantastic information about this program on here already. One thing that does concern me is their system for taking call. They do it based on points. Saturdays are worth more than week day calls. I wasn't able to get a clear explanation about how it worked, and just in conversation, it came out that the distribution of points was very unequal (eg one resident had 150 pts and another one only had 100 pts).

Since it came up:

Weekday = 1
Friday = 1.5
Saturday = 2.5
Sunday = 2

The total number of points per rotation is calculated, and divided so that points are distributed equally within each PGY class, and each more senior class loses 2 points in the schedule.
e.g., PGY-2 13.5, PGY-3 11.5, PGY-2 9.5.
In addition, there is effort made to ensure that everyone (within a class) has the same number of Saturday, Sundays, Thursdays in a given rotation.

Yes, sometimes it is unequal. For example one PGY-2 may have 14 points, while another has 13.5.
Hard to see where "...one resident had 150 points, and another had only 100."

> Kessler - ~125

When I was a resident at Kessler, we covered 85 beds on call. That may change in the future with the expansion of Kessler West, but as far as I know, they are still at 85 beds

slugdoc said:

Since it came up:

Weekday = 1
Friday = 1.5
Saturday = 2.5
Sunday = 2

The total number of points per rotation is calculated, and divided so that points are distributed equally within each PGY class, and each more senior class loses 2 points in the schedule.
e.g., PGY-2 13.5, PGY-3 11.5, PGY-2 9.5.
In addition, there is effort made to ensure that everyone (within a class) has the same number of Saturday, Sundays, Thursdays in a given rotation.

Yes, sometimes it is unequal. For example one PGY-2 may have 14 points, while another has 13.5.
Hard to see where "...one resident had 150 points, and another had only 100."

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Thank you! I must have misheard.

please don't forget to add your interview experiences. There are plenty we haven't heard about this year and I really appreciate opinions other than my own 🙂 .

kaizen said:

please don't forget to add your interview experiences. There are plenty we haven't heard about this year and I really appreciate opinions other than my own 🙂 .

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I think that in the end, we tend to get the warm fuzzies for about 3-5 places and very little separates them... There has been only one interview I didnt like, which i wont mention at this point, but I had a program director tell me something about myself that was inconsistent with my records....
anyway,

loved kessler jfk temple Uof M and baylor... those arent in any order btw, thats still being decided by what I affectionately call a brain. Other programs where I interviewed i mostly liked.

I think that every program has its little (imho) negatives and positives including issues such as home call vs in house call. I tend to prefer in house, but thats just me, other things people seem to look at is how much of this or that you do.... I think that the future of rehab lies in knowing a lot about all the subspecialties of rehab, and choosing one to specialize in, and general rehab docs becoming a bit rarer in the same way that a lot of people in internal medicine want to specialize but there are a good deal of IM GP's out there....matter of personal preference....

So as long as a program gives you exposure, the ball is in your court...we are big boys and girls now.
As far as happy residents and unhappy residents, I would say just to be careful not to confuse tired with unhappy.
These three or four years are where we get to learn as much about out job as possible... so just like every MSI at every school complains about something or other, I think every program has its strengths and weaknesses, it all depends on the candidate making the decision. One programs strength for one candidate is a weakness for another one.

if you have specific questions about my experiences 👍 feel free to pm me.
everyone

😍 hugs and kisses, dancerMD. Does anybody else want some love? Post a program review. You know you wanna...
😉

San antionio was a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to like them, but I did. For beginners, they give you $200 for airfare and free hotel, transportation is provided as well. I believe they are the only program that reimburse you for travel.

they're a 4 year categorical program, you actually do 6 months of rehab as an intern, which makes your intern year much less aweful. the downside to that is that you have to do some med/surg rotations as a 2nd year. you also have to cover 2 months of SICU, the worst rotation per residents. you have call only has pgy1 and 2, yr 3 and 4 has no call or weekends. call is Q5-6 i think...

The program is very balanced and structured, this means very little elective time. They actually have more outpatient months than inpatient, and that's definitely the program's strength. The chair is pain certified, and this year the residents did well with their pain/spine fellowships, 2 out of 6 got into san antonio's anethesia pain fellowship. they also have VERY strong EMG training, no surprise since the famouse Dr. Dimitru is there. the average # i was told was almost 400, and residents all feel extremely confident with doing EMG's after graduation. Dr. Walsh and Dr. King are all supposed to be very renowned per residents, all 3 of the above metioned attending interviewed me. (i feel so special...)

san antonio has a strong protected didactics schedule, including an anatomy dissection module. they also have gait lab, prosthetic/orthotics in house, some exciting research going on here. research is required for graduation. most of the sites are close by, the only major rotation not in the mega complex is warm springs (private hospital) i think, and that's only 5 minutes of driving.

inpatient services are very busy, calls are busy as well; residents usually get a couple of hours of sleep though. the chair even admits that they are one of the busiest programs in the country. However, I met many of the residents, and they ALL are very happy despite long hours of inpatient. Outpatient training is very solid. some attendings can be intimidating if you don't know your stuff well, residents usually don't mind it and it encourages them to study independently as well. residents even get to do some interventional procedures during residency, not just observing like in most programs.

Overall, san antonio is a busy but excellent program. I don't think many people consider it first tier like baylor in houston, but it should definitely be looked at, especially since they reimburse you for travel. The atmosphere was also good, the residents get along and hang out after work, they're a happy bunch.

I had this interview a while back, so i'll share some general impressions rather than specifics, since surprisingly no one posted a review for them in a while.

Overall I think this program is excellent, definitely could compete with Mount Sinai or Cornell/columbia in NYC, and light years ahead of St. Vincent of course. The program has been known to be malignant in the past, but since Dr. Moroz took over a lot has been improved. they cut their inpatient bed from 100 to 50, this means that call is now much better, and they have more outpatient rotations. this is also alarming as well, i'm a little worried about such dramatic cut in just one year. still, i'm delighted for the lower work load of course! 😉 the ancillary service is supposed to be better now too, and the PD is bragging about how they will even have a blood culture team in the future (this is standard in my hospital, but apparently it's not in NYC).

Other good things are good salary due to resident union, tons of free books including Braddom, and program supports conference attendence, i think. PD is responsive to resident comments, such as changing EMG now to pgy3, etc.

Anways, i don't remember much more details. Overall it's an excellent program, although not as prestigious as the old days when they were top notch. I'm pretty sure Mount Sinai is the strongest in NYC right now due to model SCI and TBI, but NYU is not far behind along with Cornell/columbia. If you want to stay in NYC, you should definitely look into NYC.

on a side note, st. vincent was a dump. very small program, housing no longer dirt cheap. female predominant residents (may be because of easy hours), many are pregnant, which according to residents will likely change soon, since PD is not happy about so many residents on maternaty leave soon. I can't imagine that they'll be prepared after graduation, at least not compared to other 3 manhatan programs, although somehow their residents get into good pain/interventional fellowships.... they claimed their program was laid back, but seems simply apathetic to me. They didn't even provide breakfast or lunch!! 😡

kaizen said:

😍 hugs and kisses, dancerMD. Does anybody else want some love? Post a program review. You know you wanna...
😉

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hey kaizen, now show me some love!
😀 😀

btw, i love dancerMD too, she must be hot!!


Anyone wants to share some cali program reviews??? I'm sure Kaizen will give you his/her love...

In response to the request for Cali Program reviews...

I didn't interview in Northern Cali, so I can only comment on the 3 Southern Cali programs.

UCI Irvine...5 residents/year...I spent a month doing an elective here. Everybody was really nice...but the program left alot to be desired in terms of educational quality. More than once I got the line "if you want to do well here you'll have to be a motivated resident and do alot of outside reading". They still get quality residents because of the competitiveness of Southern California programs.

Loma Linda...4 residents/year...I only interviewed here. Overall seemed like a solid program, but the location left alot to be desired...about 1 1/2 hours out of LA. Also, it is a Seventh Day Adventist institution and religion seemed like it played a big role. No meat orcaffiene in the cafeteria. I have to say I really liked the way the program looked on paper but that's all I can contribute.

And finally...my first true love and where I'll be spending the next three years...

UCLA/West LA VA Multicampus program!!!....8 residents/year. The program is, simply, superb. You rotate at UCLA, Cedars Sinai, West LA VA, Sepulveda VA, Daniel Freeman Hospital, and LA Childrens Hospital. The multitude of locations means ALOT of variety in educational settings. Also, despite some rumors, Rancho Los Amigos is still available as an elective for interested residents. This program is one of only about 20% of PM&R residencies that has FULL 5 YEAR ACCREDIDATION. Also, the program houses one of less than 10 PM&R based Pain Management fellowships that takes 4 fellows per year (usually 1-2 from in-house residents if interested). Lastly, this program is in arguably the best location in the entire nation. 70-80 degree weather, sunshine, and palm trees swaying in a light ocean breeze year round.

I know UCLA consistently fills up there spots in their top 15 picks. They are HIGHLY SELECTIVE...last year they only interviewed 50 applicants for 8 spots...so if you score an interview...you have great odds at landing a spot (compared to programs that interview 10:1). I know RIC interviews 120 for their 12 spots. I also spent a month rotating at RIC and while undisputedly a PM&R powerhouse, it didn't have the family feel of the UCLA program. While I was a med student there, residents would get together on weekends for pick-up games of basketball. The attendings are AWESOME. Dr. Pham (the program director for both the residency and the pain fellowship) is always improving the program and is highly attentive to the residents. Dr. Fish is a pain guru and co-author of PM&R pocketpedia and loves to teach. Dr. Pangarkar manages inpatient pain and is great at conducting frequent spontaneous chalk-talks.

Anyhow, I know I'm biased towards UCLA but it was my #1 choice after interviewing at 15 top PM&R programs across the country. I hope this helps. Best of luck to all of you!!! 🙂

thx rehability for posting thoughts about so. cal.

I agree with most of your assesments, I just want to add my 2 cents about ucla. The attendings are young and great to work with, but they're mostly not well known yet since they are young. I think the main reason that hold ucla back is the fact that most of their rotation is based in the VA. while the attendings do a good job of making the best out of what's available, we all know that you can't make a horse out of a donkey. So. cal has great weather indeed, but the training sites are fvery ar from each other and the traffic is horrific (freeway = parking lot). In fact ucla won't be that attractive other than to people with strong cali ties. I do agree that it is the strongest of the 3 in southern california despite traffic and the VA, and it is definitely more competitive to get into than most other top programs largely due to its location like rehability said. all the med students that left cali are all dying to get back, and ucla would likely be their top choice in Cali. I know that inviting 50 interviewees sounds like a small number, but if you add the 50-100 students that have rotated through the various ucla sites this year and got exit interviews, the odds are actually much lower. in fact, it is very unlikely to match there if you didn't rotate through ucla. to make matters worse this year, there are 4 ucla students that's going into pmr this year when there usually isn't any; dr. pham was ecstatic about that. so good luck to those of you that didn't rotate through there, i sure have my fingers crossed. I rotated through westwood va and got an exit interview, but i'm curious to know how their official interview day was this year...also, I didn't go to stanford's interview (i regret it), but i'm still curious about their program if anyone wants to share.

Tufts

I add names of PMR dRs so you can google them. then I am just talking about different points. I had this organized into weak/strength but it become to relative so points are there. so i deleted that part so i wouldn't bias it!

My interviews(all laid back):

Dr. Harry Webster is the temporary chair and is AWESOME. He really gives a hoot about the program and changing things for the better. His main thing is peds pmr. very interested in people and will ask you about your background and personality.

Dr. Jason Frankel is inpt and outpt at NE sinai. Great guy and easy to get along with. Seems very supportive. He likes to ask about outside interests and leadership questions. make sure you know what a leader is, the qualities, and why you will be a good one.

Dr. Foo - VA SCI. he just asks about you/your background. not much to say. pretty upfront. he's chinese and i had trouble reading him. but was very honest about the program and all the boston programs and what I should know. i'll add that info below.

The PD - Joseph Hanak - is relatively new as PD & I did NOT interview with him. He seems a people person but he did NOT intro himself to those who didn't get to interview with him. He gave a speil during lunch but in answering some questions, seemed pissed off/defensive. He is a peds specialist and is "fantastic" per the older residents and "i have nothing good to say" by the younger residents. But he is the best educator in the program. you only spend 4months with him training so whether you hate him or love him, you don't spend much time iwth him. however, the 2s haven't worked iwth him yet so i guess once you work with him/have more face time, he's a great guy. so basically don't let him put you off at the interview. he's just not as open as some people are.

interviewing 35 - 40 for 3 spots & you rotate @ 4 hospitals. this won't change and not b/c of the PD. Most residents want more BUT this is a financial issue - not enough money.

Only 2 weeks of electives. why? Tufts funds 1 resident while outside rotations fund the other 2. So the argument these outsiders give is "if we fund these guys to work here all year long, they will work here and no where else." so the PD is strapped. Residents use this time to interview for fellowships and jobs.

No sports medicine/no athletic exposure. The response I got from this was "boston is big and has a ton of ops, if you work hard, you can find it and have enough free time to do it." (ok......who wants to work in free time? i want to work out and explore boston and study.)

18 months inpatient with inpt call and postcall day off. 1x/week

didactics all in 4 hrs each Wed at NEMC 8a - noon & protected. the chiefs organize the didactics. so this varies. sometimes mediocre. SO it depends on the residents and how organized they are and how much effort they put into it. (so analyze those pgy2s!!)

driving to sites. BUT you drive out of city so no traffic. if you live in suburbs, i cannot say the same. Live in cambridge, it's 30 min to each site by car.

A little rigid in terms of changing things......well, ok it's rigid. what you see is what you get. unless the PD really busts some balls somewhere, you are doing 18 mon inpt at Woburn & only site with inhouse call. all else is home call. More overnight call than some other programs.

Relatively easy program. Postcall days off, work days usually have 2 hour lunch breaks, and leave by mid afternoon usually. Weekends pretty much free. this is from older resident. but he also said he did feel confident practicing as a GENERAL physiatrist upon leaving. One of the chiefs just got a pain fellowship at emory (actually he found out the day we interviewed). but most go into private practice. Tufts gets you ready for private practice. since no electives, you are working.

not much spine IV experience. i think you get some. PD said not a big deal b/c his philosophy of a residency is to train a general physiatrist. You go to a fellowship to learn that info. You aren't in residency to do fellowship work b/c a fellowship would be too easy/not worth it. I cannot remember what else he said but he did make a good point. BUT BUT BUT they are getting and IV spine guy. he's hired now. so that will prolly change.

Tufts is in downtown Boston - basically on line of theater district and chinatown. (almost perfect really for boston lovers) The T goes right to Tufts. You can live downtown boston (if you can afford it but really there are ways to do it. i've lived in boston and so did my sister. this IS swingable unless you have a family and only one that works. you'll be out in suburbs). walk everywhere and to work while at Tufts. NEMC = Tufts. But you won't rotate here until mid pgy 2 year so will be in suburbs until then.

able to moonlight...i THINKk pgy2 year...it's about $60/hr and some do do it. YOu'll do 12 hr shifts usually so can make 12*60 in a day......good for families or have hugh debts.

all the residents are great and fun and easy to get along with and go out sometimes. the nonmarried ones i mean. very diverse bunch. it's great.

You rotate with Harvard and BU residents at the VA so get to see other peeps and network and whatever you feel like.

I don't have exact schedule but know that the first 18 months are oncall and inpt and rest is outpt, emgs, ect.

Changes: cirriculum is always different b/c Ch.Rez. run so this could be hit or miss. New IV spine doc.

patient pop is very diverse. interpreters all over. lots of chinese pts since near chinatown.

specialty: now it SEEMED to me that they have a better peds exposure training. BUT i do NOT know this. and talking to otehr doctors, this is something we as interviewees will not know. so ask your PMR mentors or ask in interviews what the top peds programs are if this is yoru interest. it's not mine so i don't know. but webster was awesome....

No vent patients so if SCI is your interest, i wouldn't come here.

Book allowance is like 400/year. parking is freaking ridiculous. you can get a pass for like 100/month at NEMC. i was surprised! Or it's $10/day for didactics when you are rotating outside of boston. I cannot remember how to get around that but email me ifyou care and i'll try to find out.

no one has left.

now this is last point is something that bothered me about Tufts. No one is there b/c it's Tufts. No one is proud of or has any really enthusiasm for the program. Reasons for being there ranged from "it's in boston and my wife is here" to "i wanted to do spine but i should have done anesthesia." No one said it was a number one choice however, no one said (who was truly there for PMR) they wish they didnt rank it. They are all very happy and have a good time. So it's not miserable or a malignant place by any means.

ok! feel free to contact me about this program. and post comments on points you disagree with/enlighten me.

Ok peeps. I know this is not a GREAT program. And if I had to be in Boston, I'd go Harvard, Tufts, and then BU. BUT there are so good things about this program so don't be upset if this is were you end up!

3 interviews with CR, PD, and another Dr. GREAT interviews. Very supportive system.

PD is steve williams. this guy is very resident friendly and is big on meeting with them (1xeach month!) and making BU better and changing whatever he needs too. he had an external review of the program and is working to make it better. he told me there were things he wanted to be better in his residency so he knows what he wants to do to make the residents better physiatrists. very personable and motivated to make you the best you can be despite what he's got to work with. (sound familiar?)

ok. so onto it!

Changes in the program are likely for reasons stated above.

18 month inpt with inhouse call. No call last 18 months. (no inhouse i mean)
Model SCI and TBI systems.
3 mon of elective and can go anywhere in WORLD

didactics on tuesday 8a - noon. all = mandatory. Per some BU residents and even outside residents, this SEEMED weak in the sense that the PD and BU attendings are the only ones to teach and some aren't very good. I guess as some other programs have probs with as well. but no one raved about didactics so...........

You get exposure to ALL aspects including sports, peds, transitional care, subacute care. there is kind of a lot of subacut and trans care. they are basically the same. that was what the PD said he is working to change now. the CR said they'd like 3 of those months/1 rotation to be something else. i forgot what but NOT subacute care. So, it may change by 2008. hopefully.

BU residents get paid the most out of anywhere....even in cali. pgy2 is over 52,000. 4 weeks of vacation. SAE every Jan. If you get over 60%, the BU dpet will pay for the written part of your boards!

residents relations good per one resident's opinion. take 4/year. one left in first week of pgy2 year b/c his calling was to be a teacher, not a doctor.

PD is working on hiring an IV spine dr. for 2007

In house call - 18 patients in BMC rehab unit only. nurses on that floor are awesome and you hardly get called. good reading time. in house medicine team to call.

driving. to quincy is about 20 min south of boston. longest commute is sports medicine rotation at peabody and is about 35 - 45 min drive. If you live near 93N and take 95N, 35 min. downtown livers, around 45 min. To Bedford VA is 30 - 35 from boston. WEst roxbury VA(subacute rehab inpt) is about 25 min from BMC and children's is 12 min from BMC.

BMC is on line of roxbury in south boston. bad area BUT not as bad as schwab by any means. not an attractive area. BUT BMC has a great cafeteria and food and coffee place/starbuck and DDonuts so don't need to leave for lunch or bring one.

Grads --> i still need to find out about other graduates but I didnt' put a star next to what they do after so that means they got what they wanted. but let's clarify WHAT this means. (right?) so the CR is from puerto rico adn really nice. he got a spine fellowship at lousiville. i have to ask about hte others but most do private practice.

The PD pays for the keesler board review course your pgy4 year.

faculty chooses chief resident.

NO vent pts....

call is q5 pgy 2 year....i haven't worked to get the schedule b/c it's not grueling so who cares?

computer system - you can write orders from home b/c hte computer program can be installed on yours. so home call is home call.

residents don't really socialize as a group. but your in boston, who cares!

call room -- ok this call room is next to the freakin' surgery and medicine intern's call room and you can hear the rooms somewhat.....yeah. so thats a big deal to me! so bring earplugs!!

I really didn't get a good feel for the program overall. I would need opinions of other residents and doctors. Please if anyone has anything to add, do it!!

8 interviews that are 20 min/each. They were all fine but I didn't realize how tired I was until the next day while flying to UVA....blah.

PD - schaufele. went to harvard for residency. he is AWE-SOME. Very resident freindly, very motivated to make Emory a top 5 program up there with RIC. He noted how they are adding to shepherd so it'll be 60 beds instead of.....maybe 30 now. And they just got a ton of freakin' money so big changes will occur in the next 10 years or so.

There is NO chairman here. (NOTE: there is not a chair at any of the Boston programs) I was told that this wouldn't affect me or training. but many others said this DOES really affect you. So, I need to get more info on this. if anyone has it, POST IT!!

OK, so you interview with PD, 2 attendings, 2 residents, and the resideny coord. who is awesome. miki dejean. you just talk/hang out with her. no interview. but it is one. you know what i mean.

anyhoo, Pgy2 year is all inpt. here is an example of one resident's years:

pgy2 - SCI @ shepherd 4 mon, TBI 2 mon, Geriatrics @ WW 2 mon, gen rehab 2 mon, and stroke 2 mon

pgy3 - consults 2 mon, Pain 2 mon, VA 2 mon, cards/respire 2 mon, peds 2 mon, sci @ sheperd 2 mon

pgy4 - VA 2 mon, elective 2 mon, spine 2mon, VA 2 mon, sports 2 mon

every1 does SAME rotations, just different orders.

Emory seems GREAT for outpt and MSK and sports. The SCI guy is baylor trained and super nice (bowman). There is online business module training (cool deal). didactics are protected fridays 7a - 10a. great performance on boards. essentiall everyone passes.

call = inhouse pgy 2 and 3 years. q6 pgy2 and q10 pgy3 inhouse call. then when you are on SCI at sheperd, you can q 3 home call. attendings are very availble and helpful per i hear.

nice laidback environment. everyone's super happy. a few there that didnt' rank emory # 1 but it was 2 or 3. they had ranked places like ohio state first.

mutiple sites and atlanta traffic SUCKS!!!!! 6 rotate sites in atlanta. very close by though. i think you only have to use highway to get to peds....

2 elective months only to be done at emory. no wehre else
NO burn rehab.
NO P&O time. (that sucks)
15 vacation days
12 sick days
books get 900/year
you get all yoru procedures and more injections than other programs. very hands on.

FREE parking.

Atlanta to me is a commuter's hell city. It's hot as hell (well, maybe hell is hotter) and humid during the summer. that is a big downer if you don't like grueling hot summers. but winter is sweet. unless you like snow and skiiing.

Atlanta is dangerous. BUT emory is in a nice area and near the med school too/college so you are in a lil area of atlanta and don't much leave it unless you want to go out.

INpt = outpt, lots of athletes/runners, and people bike to work. I would NOT do this b/c atlanta is NOT a bike friendly city.

please add more!! please email me iwth questions and post!!

overall impression: i really liked it. I could do emory. BUT I hate the south heat. really i do......so anyway. I have a doctor/mentor who is keesler and baylor trained say, "this is NOT a good program." and it makes me confused. I don't want to go to a bad program. but but you know, he is biased and i need a level head. I don't know why it's not. I had feeling it was good. the people there ranked it # 1. it wasn't some back up.

god i hate atlanta. =)

Boy was this program and Charlottesville a pleasant surprise. Char'ville is smaller but has most of what a city has without all the junk (crime, overt pollution, traffic). UVA college, business, med, law schools are there. a new hospital and new rehab facilities in HealthSouth system. THis is a 50/50 healthsouth/UVA relationship. So, you work in the HS system. One site. Good b/c no commute, free parking at your works door, easy to get too.

Problems with that: you only see how HS does things and one way of doing things. Space limits. There are moves for more space b/c they "fight" with UVA's other outpt specialities for space. THey need more space but it seems are not getting it. of course there are politics and money involved. so not sure what is happening or what will happen. but they have a small space. ANd not much diversity.

Since it's in a nice area, you aren't getting much trauma - multiple major anyway, no gunshot wounds, and get more run of the mill lamies. I wouldn't expect to be solid/great in inpatient coming here. now outpt is another story.

okay so interviews:
3 - 1 with PD and then 2 attendings.

PD is great too. Dr. Kerrigan is harvard trained and actually started that program. now she is UVA to build it up. she's really into gait and has the gait lab at UVA. into running also. working on shoe designs and things of that nature.

Dr Bryant does the orientation. very informative. i didn't interview with her.

Dr susan miller - her inpt unit is only 6 beds. and she just graduated from UVA in 2006 and they hired her to work there. residents say she's great b/c she just took her boards and always quizes them on board questions. for me personally, 6 beds is not a great inpt experience at all. and i'd rather have an expert or someone iwth years of experience to teach me. so i saw this as a big weakness. and her interview she didnt ask any questions. the floor is open to you to ask questions. so i didn't get a good feel for her at all.

dr gypson - just came from san francisco. he's great and easy to talk too. he asks great behavioral questions and gets to know you.

you get 3 mon of electives AND 3 months of research.....separate so 6 mon.
all home call
NO vent pts
2 new attendings
have mentoring
conferences encouraged for every pgy year
most people stay in south/UVA it seemed to me
PD listens to residents/very friendly

pgy2 year is q6 home call and all inpt
3 mon general rehab with 6 beds
3 mon SCI
3 mon neurorehab
3 mon ortho/joint replacemt
get to attend the national academy meeting

pgy3 year is q10 homecall and no saturdays
3 mon consults at UVA
3 mon outpt - rhuem, P&O and mandatory to attend sporting events
3 months in EMG and outpt SCI (100 EMGS at this point) - residents get a
TON of emgs. no worries in hitting your #s
1 mon pain manage
1 mon outpt ortho
1 mon geriatrics and cardio pulm (2 wks each)

pgy4 no wkend call, 35 call days total homecall
3 mon emg/botox
3 mon reserach and 1day/wk of IV spine
3 mon elective and can leave UVA. not international though
2 mon inpt and outpt peds
1 occupational medicine


So you see, great outpt program. I'd say if outpt was your thing hands down and you've done and seen all inpt, this is a great program. Dr. Wilder is Baylor trained and is the "running guru". UVA does all intown running events. ortho does baseball and football. UVa the rest. You get your procedures and are set for practice.

BUt remember, sometimes what you don't know cna hurt you! IF you come here and love inpt or change your mind, you're kind of screwed. I have talked to a few drs who went to RIC and baylor and some of the reasons they choose against specific programs that are great in ONE area is that you NEVER know what you'll be doing. One guy was a powerlifter and wanted to to outpt. then he did TBI at Keesler and that was it. he was sold.

so be careful....

BUT that being said, I really liked UVA. very laid back. i don't see it as a front runner......unless i missed something. but it's a great outpt program from what I gathered.

again, email me! post opinions and comments!!

there are old posts on this program. Go and read those too. I'll put my thoughts, notes, and what I gathered from residents already there, and from one who is pgy1 going to be at stanford this june/july. oh, i never give names of residents of who said what so please don't ask! =)

Interview is same all day process. 3 MDs and CR at Palo Alto. 1 MD and 1 CR at San Jose. Good day to meet other interviewees as well if you drive together and since you have time to hang out.

Schedule/rotations are different for everyone and is based on need. Your inpt/outpt split can be 40/60, 50/50, 60/40. You have no say. but one resident said if you fight hard enough and have another willing to switch, it proly can be done. not sure about that. it is luck of the draw though.

examples of different resident schedules (taking 6 this year):
pgy2 - valley 6 months, VA 6 mon
pgy2 - VA 3 mon, valley 9 mon
pgy2 -VA 6 mon, st mary's in san fran 3 mon, valley 3 mon
pgy2 - valley 6 mon, VA 3 mon, and stanford consults 3 mon

so it varies BIG time. As do the rest of your years here. you go by where you are needed. not by your choice. outpt starts pgy3 year BUT you can have 18 mons of inpt before you see outpt. here are some pgy 3 schedules:

1. VA ward 3 mon, VMC clinic 3 mon, st.marys 3 mon, stanford spine 3mon
2. stmary's gen rehab 3mon, stanford consults/clinic 3 mon, VA MSK 3 mon, VAlley EMGs/wards 3 mon
3. st mary's gen rehab 3 mon, stanford wards 3mon, valley outpt/TBI 3 mon, VA clinic

not everyone gets EMGs pgy3 year and only can get in pgy4 year....
since i've gotten this thing going, here are pgy4 yr examples:
1. valley clinic, VA MSK, St mary's gen rehab, stanford sports
2. stanford spine, VA SCI, stanford consults/clinic, valley emg/wards

You don't get sports AND spine. Just one or the other. and your emg experience can be really late....

the PD was not at the interview. from what i gather some like her but understand she is NOT personable. she has been there for 15 years and ain't leaving. she is stanford trained so to me she is inbred and will make ZERO changes to the program (lil stubborn). She does not listen or talk to residents. Like Tufts, what you see is what you get. One resident has been there 2 years and hasn't met with her once. Another resident works with her some, and said that even though her social skills are weak, she is smart as hell and has taken the stanford program from nothing to a force to be reckon with. and has done great things. I think Stanford could be GREAT but the PD seems to be the one holding it back. The attitude I got from everyone was that "we are stanford. you get great training." there wasn't ANY talk of weaknesses and how improving the program is coming about or will. nowo THAT is a weakness. Stanford is NOT RIC or baylor or keesler. aNd education is ever changing and to act like you are great b/c of your name is really unfortunate.

The Valley (inpatient and 50 - 75% of pgy2 yr) is horrible from what 4 residents I talked to. There is a lot more work than learning. and a lot of bearucracy b/c the guy who runs the place has been there for like 20 years and is an A- hole. bigtime. everyone hates him. but he is retiring this year so everyone has high hopes. No one likes the valley and it's hard and rough. BUT pgy 2 year at most places is hard and rough and is all inpt so.............but you are free labor and a workhorse at the valley. One resident told me on TBI he was there in the AM until 9PM everynight on TBI.......everyday almost for 3months. LOTS of paperwork. and many said it's just the climate/environment that sucks at the valley. but maybe with the new guy things will change?

Residents have trouble getting all the EMGs. You have to work hard to get them all.

No specific time with P&O.....or with PT/OT/ST. learn as you go.

Rumor: all residents are unhappy. NO! This is NOT true. I think also that some people would like to smash stanford. NOT all residents are unhappy. The unhappy ones I talked to etiher 1) were at the Valley, 2) expected PMR to be easy and it did NOT match their expectations, 3) one is just an unhappy person anyway, and 4) were at the Valley. The valley is no cake walk peeps. IF you go in realizing that you will work but will get great training, you'll be fine.

Rumor: one resident left stanford! Yeah, this is true but WHY? this person always wanted to do peds. in the 4th year of med school was convinced to do peds PMR. started pgy 2 year and hated adult medicine. but this person finished out pgy2 year so call wouldn't be fu#%'d the whole year and went to peds. so it's a rumor they left stanford b/c of the PMR program.

didactics are strong. 18mon cycle repeat. wed 7 - 9:30am and mandatory.
residents get evaled but do NO evals themselves.....

cost of living sucks. they give you $1,000 moving expense and it's about 47,000/year but.......most try to live out side of palo alto (although some live there) in places bn sanjose and paloalto such as cupertino, mountainview, redwood. you also get $ 1000/year for books, gas, ect. you will be driving and it's cali so gas is expensive. One resident gave me a good example: she does research at stanford, lives in outside town (forgot which), and works at the valley in San Jose. She can rack up to 87 miles on her car in one day.

grads all stay in cali for the most part. but get what they want.

can moonlight but really don't. too much work in the program as is.

NO electives. NOT going to change.
If you get lucky this can be a balanced program. 50/50. if not, well, you'll be doing 60inpt and 40 outpt.....

I had talked to someone not in the program but on their way. they are intern now and had rotated at stanford - the valley specifically.

This person said that his experience was that the Valley wasn't an unfriendly place and everyone worked hard but was happy and it was fun. they were all having a great time. (I personally did NOT meet any of these residents. and have ONE other interviewee friend who got the same impression I got about Valley.) So talk to AS many residents in the program that you can!! There is GREAT teaching and resources. (I concur.) I bet the teaching here is the bomb. aNd it's like hopkins, you have access to best medicine and other specialities in the world.

Why are peeps up in the air/ have a negative view/nuetral position of stanford?

This person also thought that the negative/neutral position peeps have of stanford may be b/c of the US NEWS and of propogation of "word of mouth" by other people during the interview trail (rumors). Does it mean they didn't know too much about the programs structure? (well, maybe. they give it to you at the interview. And I just put the structure above so you can decide for yourself.)

Another excuse/reason for the outside view was this: "Many of the residents graduate and stay in Cali because they choose to...they'll continue fellowships in the West Coast for the most part. Therefore, unless residents/attendings from the East Coast and Midwest go out there....how would they know about the quality of the program or the residents. Stanford doesn't advertise the bells and whistles of their program, because they consistently get quality residents from all over the country. They do what they do well....which is train you to be an all around strong clinician in PM&R. If you want to pursue research, the resources and the support is there at the University."

Yeah, but baylor is in houston, keesler NJ, RIC chicago, WashU in seattle. I personally think that argument doesn't hold.

In the end, it's a personal decision. I know! But some people DO go for names. and yes, the few residents I talked to, said they went b/c of hte name and great training. Name ******? Well, not sure. but as much as I liked stanford, I DO think they hide behind the name.

you experience model TBI and SCI systems (but some of the top programs don't have model systems. so know what it means.), a county hospital, a university hospital, and a VA setting. so great overall multiple training site exposure.

So go with your heart!!

email me quesitons and post and give me your opinions!!!

rehabilitator said:

hey kaizen, now show me some love!
😀 😀

btw, i love dancerMD too, she must be hot!!


Anyone wants to share some cali program reviews??? I'm sure Kaizen will give you his/her love...

Click to expand...

Okie doke: Love for all!

And dancerMD is hot....

RuNnR gets a special shout-out for being as long-winded as me 🙂

Just to add from above....
18 mon inpt and 12 outpt
each rotation is a lil over 2 months.

pgy 2 year is all inpt and hardest. All at Schwab. You get one float rotation.
Up to 12 hours at work when you first start. but as you get more efficient, you get out earlier....so about 8 - 9 hour days.

pgy3 year you start to do consults at Univ. of Chicago (20-30 min South of schwab) and working in subacute at Weiss (20-30 min North of schwab with 23 beds). Also do MSK and Pain.

pgy4....3 weeks of PO at RIC, 3 weeksof pain, 1 mon elective is one rotation. then peds 1 mon, elective 1 month, EMGs, consults, and subacute/SNF (you act as junior attending on this inpt rotation).

RIC just told schwab they can no longer send their residents to NU. THis is political. So you will be doing EMGs in outpt setting with docs around town.

Call: if you are oncall any holiday, you get one compensatory day off.
Inhouse call at schwab. pgy2 is q10 (3x/month), pgy3 is q15 (2x/month), and pgy4 q30 (1x/month). there are 90-100 beds. need ACLS. there are practice codes all the time so even if you think you'll forget, you won't. you get practice the whole time you are there! At Weiss, it's home call.

3 hours monday for didactics. Mondays are bad in the fall b/c didatics are
1p - 4p, then you go get yo stuff straight, and then head ot Univ. of chicago (20 - 30 min away remember) for anatomy from 5 p - 7p. MOndays in fall are long days.

GREAT patient diversity. I mean you see it all here. Gunshots, multiple major trauma, ect. chicago has a super diverse patient pop. yes, it's in a dangerous area BUT you don't live near schwab (unless you want to end up in the unit yourself). AND the police officers can escort you to your car at night. YOu need street smarts like ANY city. don't leave valuables in your car, don't wear expensive jewelry, don't be showy with your crap basically. you work in schwab, not in the park across the street. just don't plan to run there after work. go back into city to a gym. there are 24 hour gyms open.

electives can be international!
there is a mentor system.
Grads are everywhere - national wise and school wise. RIC fellowships as well.

Residents have GREAT camaderie and are so nice. everyone loves schwab and ones i asked ranked it #1. they are very happy and feel comfortable enough to run any inpt unit. or do outpt. but this program is very different from RIC. you get to know everyone. everyone gets along. train at many sites so have a better well rounded experience in terms of HOW things are done differently and see many diverse patietns in different settings. Can go anywhere for electives. felt more homey.

they have vent pts.

for boards, there is no formal review but gittler the PD who is AWESOME, does SAE board Qs at didactics and she writes some also! She also stages mock oral boards. you guys WILL be ready.

There is a GREAT support system and the attendings are very easy to talk to and get along with/work with. down to earth. great learning environment. they all care about you and your learning as much as you can. didnt' get this feel at every program i went to.

Most residents are married with kids. I personally would not raise a child in chicago downtown. their public school system sucks and has for a long time. it's a lot of commute for any residency on top of study and a higher cost of living. but people do it. so ask residents about where they live and the schools their kids are in.....

you get $ 150/year for books, which isn't anything really.....

resident call room and work space is great. i'll add weights to it if i go. =)

I talked to a guy who did his residency at schwab and now is in fellowship at RIC and here's what he said in comparison to RIC:

schwab: not as strong in research, driving to sites, westside of chicago sucks

good things at schwab: GREAT PD Gittler, strong academics, happy residents, great relationships with attendings/great mentor system, flexible schedule (at RIC you cannot go anywhere else for elective time).

that's all i have extra in my notes.

I am a resident at RIC, and just wanted to make a correction to the above. At RIC you can go elsewhere for electives, but 2 conditions have to be met. First, it has to be something that is not "routinely" offered through McGaw Medical Center, second, if you are going to be doing procedures, McGaw must approve the liability insurance, or the place you go must provide liability insurance for you. Otherwise, it is called an "observership", which you are aloud to do a month as "observership".


NF

thanks normalforce for clearing that up.

2 interview days both saturdays. 64 interviews for 5 spots.

3 interviews and these were a little more intense than others I had been on. what do i mean? Well, the questions were "harder" and definitely required much thought if you want to impress. Overall attitude is not "we are hopkins. come here it's great." but was "yes, we are hopkins but here are what we are improving and how. And our goal is to be a leader in PMR/a top program." They are so ambitious and very big on getting future leaders but are NO means cocky but very humble. I really liked this place/interview.

PD - Krabak. the most laid back, chill PD i've met. we had a night out at red star bar the night b4 the interview. he is great. easy to talk to. resident advocate/friendly, ect. big Msk/sports med guy.

chairman is Palmar. from what I heard, hardly anyone likes him and he is a bottom liner. Not resident friendly. I didnt' interview with him but i hear that part of things went well.

4 rotation sites: johns hopkins hospital (only 14 beds right now. JH is expanding & acknowledge it's a problem. And it won't be done by our time), bayview (geriatrics & burn), Good Samaritan (all of your pgy2 inpt year with 54 beds), and kennedy krieger (peds), and various outpt sites.

PGY2
9 mon at Good Sam - SCI, stroke, cancer, transplants, amps, ortho
2mon in outpt clinic - MSK
1 mon elective (international can be done)

PGY3
6 mon inpt (peds, geriatrics, burn, cardiopulm)
6mon outpt (pain, MSK, sports med)
1 mon elective

PGY4
9 mon outpt - MSK, EMGs, sports
2 mon inpt - TBI
1 mon elective

Yes --> Vent pts
2/3 electives HAVE to be taken at ACGME accredit program. one can be international.

4 hours didactics with comprehensive 18 mon cycle.
Each individual rotation place has lectures on sports, peds, and gen rehab.
All residents take a P&O course at RIC!(pgy3), a MSK exam course & EMG.
Board Review course paid for - 10 days at keesler

Residents seem to have a great camaderie. No one regrets coming or has anything really negative to say. They work hard pgy2 year. You don't get EMG until your pgy4 year. some saw this as a negative. i'm not sure to be honest......

Call schedules:
pgy2 --> inpt 1x/wk
pgy3&4 --> 6 weeks total of home call for main campus each year. PLUS, additional 19-21 of INhouse calls at Good Sam. 1/2 of 3rd year inhouse calls are weekends and 1/2 are non wkends. If you are CHIEF, you don't do as many inhouse calls in 4th year due to other obligations. All calls can be switched.

Nice call room/old patient room with hopkins e system so you can do orders and stuff. also fridge, cable, shower. (and a bed, duh)

Also at Good Sam there is a sweet gym, SO you can run and workout and whatever there. It's paid for by program. (gym in house = big plus for me!)

No book allowance but one of the attendings actually buys books for aLL residents out of her own pocket. so NOT an issue.

Free healthcare/no premiums (UVA is the same), good Rx plan, conference fees paid for, all courses mentioned above paid for, ect.

float covers anyone who canot come in/sick/vacation.

finally little (or maybe big to you) shortcoming:
Attendings cannot always help out a ton. They are pretty taxed to the max b/c they have inpt services, have to maintain oupt, and have to produce research as well. So it can be hectic, especially pgy2 year. So advice is -- do a MEDICINE prelim year first of all. and you should know you HAVE to be PROactive and work hard. BUT you learn a ton..........

So Baltimore....here I go. I'll be a little detailed b/c some people said they couldn't live in baltimore. (so i'm not sure why they came to the interview unless they discovered it a few days before the interview.)

It's a mini boston. Harbor town with rich history. Tons to do on the harbor, great seafood/crabs. Fells Point is like a big bar area with shopping. There are bad pockets of the city, but lots of history! (washington lived in mt vernon where there's a cool monument & museums. cobblestone streets in some places). Downtown is easy to learn b/c it's not huge. Cost of living is great. Well, I'm comparing to Boston, san fran, and chicago. but i went through the realestate in papers. I really enjoyed it b/c I only need a car to drive to work. downtown is where i'd live and everything is downtown!! YOu can walk to both stadiums - Ravens and Orioles. And DC is 1 hour away, philly like 1.5, and NYC is 2.5 hours. I checked international flights between jan 5 - feb 25. It's only $98 to fly to boston. the international airport is a super additive also. You can fly to london for $ 180! It's like 300 to fly to frankfurt, berlin, amsterdamn. i mean, you canot beat that! BUT BUT BUT, it's not a "singles town" like chitown or beantown. But for 3 years, it's super. There are places to go out. I heard a 1 - 2 people from california say they couldn't live there. One guy in the program is from Cali, he hates Baltimore, but can deal with it. I have heard a ton of different opinions. SO Baltimore is a city that has a wide range of opinions and is a city that YOU need to stay in for a few days and run around and see it. You can make your own conclusion....

But I would NOT go out at night alone. It's really like any city - you need street smarts. Watch your back, being wise in how you carry yourself, what you carry, keep your head up, ect.

I will be at Baylor on Jan 12, Univ. Cali Davis Jan 13, and Ohio State Jan 30 so I'll review my thoughts on those later!

comments, emails, posts, please!

RuNnR said:

thanks normalforce for clearing that up.

2 interview days both saturdays. 64 interviews for 5 spots.

3 interviews and these were a little more intense than others I had been on. what do i mean? Well, the questions were "harder" and definitely required much thought if you want to impress. Overall attitude is not "we are hopkins. come here it's great." but was "yes, we are hopkins but here are what we are improving and how. And our goal is to be a leader in PMR/a top program." They are so ambitious and very big on getting future leaders but are NO means cocky but very humble. I really liked this place/interview.

PD - Krabak. the most laid back, chill PD i've met. we had a night out at red star bar the night b4 the interview. he is great. easy to talk to. resident advocate/friendly, ect. big Msk/sports med guy.

chairman is Palmar. from what I heard, hardly anyone likes him and he is a bottom liner. Not resident friendly. I didnt' interview with him but i hear that part of things went well.

4 rotation sites: johns hopkins hospital (only 14 beds right now. JH is expanding & acknowledge it's a problem. And it won't be done by our time), bayview (geriatrics & burn), Good Samaritan (all of your pgy2 inpt year with 54 beds), and kennedy krieger (peds), and various outpt sites.

PGY2
9 mon at Good Sam - SCI, stroke, cancer, transplants, amps, ortho
2mon in outpt clinic - MSK
1 mon elective (international can be done)

PGY3
6 mon inpt (peds, geriatrics, burn, cardiopulm)
6mon outpt (pain, MSK, sports med)
1 mon elective

PGY4
9 mon outpt - MSK, EMGs, sports
2 mon inpt - TBI
1 mon elective

Yes --> Vent pts
2/3 electives HAVE to be taken at ACGME accredit program. one can be international.

4 hours didactics with comprehensive 18 mon cycle.
Each individual rotation place has lectures on sports, peds, and gen rehab.
All residents take a P&O course at RIC!(pgy3), a MSK exam course & EMG.
Board Review course paid for - 10 days at keesler

Residents seem to have a great camaderie. No one regrets coming or has anything really negative to say. They work hard pgy2 year. You don't get EMG until your pgy4 year. some saw this as a negative. i'm not sure to be honest......

Call schedules:
pgy2 --> inpt 1x/wk
pgy3&4 --> 6 weeks total of home call for main campus each year. PLUS, additional 19-21 of INhouse calls at Good Sam. 1/2 of 3rd year inhouse calls are weekends and 1/2 are non wkends. If you are CHIEF, you don't do as many inhouse calls in 4th year due to other obligations. All calls can be switched.

Nice call room/old patient room with hopkins e system so you can do orders and stuff. also fridge, cable, shower. (and a bed, duh)

Also at Good Sam there is a sweet gym, SO you can run and workout and whatever there. It's paid for by program. (gym in house = big plus for me!)

No book allowance but one of the attendings actually buys books for aLL residents out of her own pocket. so NOT an issue.

Free healthcare/no premiums (UVA is the same), good Rx plan, conference fees paid for, all courses mentioned above paid for, ect.

float covers anyone who canot come in/sick/vacation.

finally little (or maybe big to you) shortcoming:
Attendings cannot always help out a ton. They are pretty taxed to the max b/c they have inpt services, have to maintain oupt, and have to produce research as well. So it can be hectic, especially pgy2 year. So advice is -- do a MEDICINE prelim year first of all. and you should know you HAVE to be PROactive and work hard. BUT you learn a ton..........

So Baltimore....here I go. I'll be a little detailed b/c some people said they couldn't live in baltimore. (so i'm not sure why they came to the interview unless they discovered it a few days before the interview.)

It's a mini boston. Harbor town with rich history. Tons to do on the harbor, great seafood/crabs. Fells Point is like a big bar area with shopping. There are bad pockets of the city, but lots of history! (washington lived in mt vernon where there's a cool monument & museums. cobblestone streets in some places). Downtown is easy to learn b/c it's not huge. Cost of living is great. Well, I'm comparing to Boston, san fran, and chicago. but i went through the realestate in papers. I really enjoyed it b/c I only need a car to drive to work. downtown is where i'd live and everything is downtown!! YOu can walk to both stadiums - Ravens and Orioles. And DC is 1 hour away, philly like 1.5, and NYC is 2.5 hours. I checked international flights between jan 5 - feb 25. It's only $98 to fly to boston. the international airport is a super additive also. You can fly to london for $ 180! It's like 300 to fly to frankfurt, berlin, amsterdamn. i mean, you canot beat that! BUT BUT BUT, it's not a "singles town" like chitown or beantown. But for 3 years, it's super. There are places to go out. I heard a 1 - 2 people from california say they couldn't live there. One guy in the program is from Cali, he hates Baltimore, but can deal with it. I have heard a ton of different opinions. SO Baltimore is a city that has a wide range of opinions and is a city that YOU need to stay in for a few days and run around and see it. You can make your own conclusion....

But I would NOT go out at night alone. It's really like any city - you need street smarts. Watch your back, being wise in how you carry yourself, what you carry, keep your head up, ect.

I will be at Baylor on Jan 12, Univ. Cali Davis Jan 13, and Ohio State Jan 30 so I'll review my thoughts on those later!

comments, emails, posts, please!

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Thanks for your very informative and personable reviews. Even though I am an intern already matched, I have enjoyed reading your impressions of the programs as I never had a chance to visit some of the programs you've interviewed at. I highly recommend seeing as many programs as possible if you have the time and money as there is much to learn even if you don't end up ranking a certain program.

In regards to the Hopkins program, I had a few comments/questions although they are based on my medical student rotation last year and information from last year's interview.

-I recall PGY-2's working in the small inpatient ward for general rehab in JHH as well as at Good Sam for the other inpatient R2 rotations. Have they moved away from that? While it was a small unit, the opportunity to coordinate rehab efforts for some of the most complex patients in the hospital while working with some of the top clinicians in various fields seemed to be an interesting challenge with potential for much intellectual stimulation although not always immediately rehab-oriented.

-When I left last year, Dr. Krabak had mentioned arranging a PGY3 rotation for EMG exposure due to residents in the far past having difficulty fulfilling their EMG requirements. It seemed like they were making steps to increase EMG exposure earlier in their residency training including introductory EMG lectures as well as some outpatient experience with EMG's during the PGY2 year. I don't know if they made progress with this over the past year, but it seemed to be something Dr. Krabak wanted to rectify.

-I worked with Dr. Palmer a few times in clinic and listened to him speak early in the academic year to the residents (I believe this was the first full academic year for him after assuming chairman responsibilities of the program). My impression was a dedicated program chair who wanted to infuse more research as well as elevate the status of the PM&R department in relation to the other departments at Hopkins. He did have an eccentric sense of humor, but in my clinic exposure with him, he seemed very energetic about teaching. He definitely has a different feel from Dr. DeLateur (who is amazing in her own regard), but he did feel like a program chair "who would go to bat for you". I honestly don't know if that has panned out any differently, but I'd like to hear any other comments on this.

-As I was interested in the program when I rotated there, I asked multiple times if the PM&R services were resident-dependent and got the answer that it wasn't. Attendings definitely were quite busy running between different hospitals, but I felt they were for the most part very supportive of residents and most were enthusiastic about teaching even in the busy environment. However, PGY2's that I intially saw during their first month of their R2 year seemed to be much more settled when I met them half a year later during interviews. Despite the hard work, they all seemed to bond a great deal. (I noticed a great deal of free happy hour/dinners sponsored by drug reps which really showcased some great Baltimore locales for eating/drinking!)

-I lived in Baltimore for undergrad, but had never experienced living in the medical center area until my summer month rotation. Baltimore doesn't feel any more dangerous than parts of NY, Philly, or even LA and the cost of living is a bit more affordable as well. B-more always felt like the "hub" in terms of being close to many other desirable locations from D.C. to Philly to NY to Boston. Transportation via air/rail/bus in and out of the city also seemed to be quite numerous which helped as a student.

-Bottom line for me when I was applying to Hopkins was that it was a hungry program with a fairly new program director and program chair... one year ago. I didn't feel the "ego" of Hopkins being brought up as I felt while interviewing at certain other PM&R programs. While research was widely advertised, I was unsure as to how much of it was neuropsych-oriented as quite a bit of their research efforts seemed coordinated in this direction versus research in other areas of PM&R. (I don't doubt there are plentiful resources for residents who are interested research of any kind though)

-However, these are my impressions from a year ago (I apologize if there is any misleading or inaccurate information, but I am hoping to provide any useful food for thought) and so I am curious as to how much has progressed in this time.

P.S. I know the resident from California and even if he may not enjoy being in Baltimore, he sure enjoys all the crab cakes he can eat there!

axm397 said:

For example, our EMG course features Dr. Kimura from Japan, Dr. Dillingham from MCW, Dr. Herbison from Jefferson, Dr. Geiringer from Wayne State, etc. etc. http://www.ric.org/education/

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I got the announcement in the mail yesterday; Dr. Kimura literally wrote the book on EMG (although if you're starting I would just start with the Board Review book and then hit Kimura or Demitriu). Dr. Kimura gave some great lectures at AAPMR.

melancholy said:

Thanks for your very informative and personable reviews. Even though I am an intern already matched, I have enjoyed reading your impressions of the programs as I never had a chance to visit some of the programs you've interviewed at. I highly recommend seeing as many programs as possible if you have the time and money as there is much to learn even if you don't end up ranking a certain program.

In regards to the Hopkins program, I had a few comments/questions although they are based on my medical student rotation last year and information from last year's interview.

-I recall PGY-2's working in the small inpatient ward for general rehab in JHH as well as at Good Sam for the other inpatient R2 rotations. Have they moved away from that? While it was a small unit, the opportunity to coordinate rehab efforts for some of the most complex patients in the hospital while working with some of the top clinicians in various fields seemed to be an interesting challenge with potential for much intellectual stimulation although not always immediately rehab-oriented.

yes, still 14 beds at JHH. This was addressed and the plan is to expand. not sure about good sam. didn't ask but i didn't know! The rotations seemed the same from last year.

-When I left last year, Dr. Krabak had mentioned arranging a PGY3 rotation for EMG exposure due to residents in the far past having difficulty fulfilling their EMG requirements. It seemed like they were making steps to increase EMG exposure earlier in their residency training including introductory EMG lectures as well as some outpatient experience with EMG's during the PGY2 year. I don't know if they made progress with this over the past year, but it seemed to be something Dr. Krabak wanted to rectify.

I need to find out about this, thanks. but one of the other interviewees said he didn't like the fact that the expousure wasn't until 4th year. so assume not changed but i'll ask.

-I worked with Dr. Palmer a few times in clinic and listened to him speak early in the academic year to the residents (I believe this was the first full academic year for him after assuming chairman responsibilities of the program). My impression was a dedicated program chair who wanted to infuse more research as well as elevate the status of the PM&R department in relation to the other departments at Hopkins. He did have an eccentric sense of humor, but in my clinic exposure with him, he seemed very energetic about teaching. He definitely has a different feel from Dr. DeLateur (who is amazing in her own regard), but he did feel like a program chair "who would go to bat for you". I honestly don't know if that has panned out any differently, but I'd like to hear any other comments on this.

well, it proly varies. so he proly is nice to some. I don't know. this is hearsay. I think some of the tension derives from his position and medical/business making decisions. but don't know complete story but that what you see is not always what you get. he has had time to get people to know him........so maybe not as great as seemed?? not sure!

-As I was interested in the program when I rotated there, I asked multiple times if the PM&R services were resident-dependent and got the answer that it wasn't. Attendings definitely were quite busy running between different hospitals, but I felt they were for the most part very supportive of residents and most were enthusiastic about teaching even in the busy environment. However, PGY2's that I intially saw during their first month of their R2 year seemed to be much more settled when I met them half a year later during interviews. Despite the hard work, they all seemed to bond a great deal. (I noticed a great deal of free happy hour/dinners sponsored by drug reps which really showcased some great Baltimore locales for eating/drinking!)

oh yeah, i heard they were supportive but just super busy. so you can be both! =) Yeah, I agree about the residents.

-Bottom line for me when I was applying to Hopkins was that it was a hungry program with a fairly new program director and program chair... one year ago. I didn't feel the "ego" of Hopkins being brought up as I felt while interviewing at certain other PM&R programs. While research was widely advertised, I was unsure as to how much of it was neuropsych-oriented as quite a bit of their research efforts seemed coordinated in this direction versus research in other areas of PM&R. (I don't doubt there are plentiful resources for residents who are interested research of any kind though)

this is big for me too. very humble. very professional.

P.S. I know the resident from California and even if he may not enjoy being in Baltimore, he sure enjoys all the crab cakes he can eat there!

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hahaha. thatz so true.

I just wanted to add my two cents to the review RuNnR gave. I don’t think anyone will find it hard to believe that I can’t add much new information regarding the specifics of the program as that review was very thorough. So I will just add some comments about the impressions I got while there.

-In terms of inpatient/outpatient balance I agree that it seems extremely variable and based on luck of the draw. They told us that it is 50/50 but that's because one person will be 60/40 and the other 40/60. One resident even told me his PGY4 year was 70% inpatient and he was planning on doing outpatient for a career. Needless to say he was not very happy about that.

-EMG: chances are you WILL NOT get 200 unless you really go out of your way to seek them out.

-Didactics: q18 months. Everyone said they are very strong.

- Rotating at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is tough. It is a typical county hospital with all of the paperwork/social issues etc. that make such settings so difficult at times. Although I don't think that's so much an issue as the "oppressive" atmosphere that has been present there for such a long time. Seeing as how you can possibly spend the majority of your PGY2 year there, that is something to consider. One unique aspect of rotating there is that you are responsible for the care of acute SCI patients from the time they arrive all the way through rehab. As far as I know this is the only program where this occurs. Some might argue that that is not necessarily a good thing as it is unlikely that you will use that training in a typical Rehab job….but the department feels that it’s beneficial. I was also told that the horrible atmosphere there was due to leadership and that with one particular person leaving, things might improve. I have to say that that is a big maybe. When I interviewed there, I asked one faculty member specifically what would change and the answer I got was “probably nothing” in terms of how things are set up. So the changes, if made, will likely be due to personality differences rather than any changes in the training. I guess that’s not surprising when you consider that the previous leadership was there for approx. 15-20 years! Change is likely to occur slowly.

- Another strength is the Palo Alto VA. I am not exaggerating when I say it is nicer than most private hospitals I have been to. It is one of 4 major centers in the US with a polytrauma rehab unit for soldiers returning from the Middle East.

- Electives: This is a glaring weakness in my opinion. There is no real elective time. You can do either sports or spine but not both and you can’t do away electives. There are lots of opportunities for exposure to Division I sports if that’s what you want to do. According to the residents I talked to, the lack of away electives hasn’t been as big of an issue as you might think when it comes to residents getting fellowships etc. because the Stanford name will open doors for you. That brings me to my next point.

-General Atmosphere: I really felt like they threw the Stanford name at us a lot throughout the day. “Because it’s Stanford” was a surprisingly common first response when I asked why residents had chosen the program. That kind of turned me off. The second most common response was “I wanted to live in this area and it is the only program”. Don’t get me wrong, there are some strong points about the program (TBI/SCI model systems), which is more than some programs can say. But most (definitely not all) of the residents did not seem very happy and none mentioned any particular part of the training as reasons for ranking it highly. Most hesitated before answering whether they were happy or not. I got a lot of “it’s not bad” responses as well. There were some who said they were happy. Overall I was disappointed with my experience. I agree with RuNnR that a lot of it might be due to the PD. I interviewed with her and would agree that she isn’t the warmest person, but she certainly wasn’t rude. I interviewed for a Prelim medicine spot at Stanford and the experiences were like night and day. The medicine department felt so bright and alive and the PD made you feel like if you came to Stanford, the world would be at your fingertips. That’s the environment I was hoping to encounter in the PM&R dept. There are SO MANY resources available at Stanford that I felt it was almost a shame that the PM&R department felt so relatively stagnant. It isn’t that there is no research coming out of the department, but more that the general atmosphere of intellectual discovery and exploration was not there. Much is probably due to the personalities in the program leadership, but maybe part of it is because it is a subdivision of the Orthopaedics Dept., and I heard a rumor that they were in pretty dire straights a few years ago, so maybe it’s an issue of not having as much funding as other departments….I don’t know, that is pure speculation on my part.

Anyway, my point is certainly not to bash the program, and I don’t think it is a bad program at all (one faculty member said it was probably top 20 in his opinion). I think there is a lot of potential and with the changes at Valley, maybe the overall atmosphere will improve. And, of course, this is one person’s opinion and is based on one day spent at the program so take all of this with a grain of salt. We all view programs through different lenses. It’s always best to check things out for yourself anyway. Feel free to challenge anything I have said or ask me any other questions.

I agree with the above comments concerning NYU. I had this one a while ago too, but this is what I can add.

Rotations are three months long. You rotate through Rusk, Bellevue (county-based), Manhattan VA, Brooklyn VA, and Orthopedic Institute-Hospital for Joint Diseases.

Most difficult part of program according to a few of the residents, is your time at Bellevue. One of the residents had a lot of stories to share about his experiences there, but there was also a resident who said he liked working there. Experience/workload will probably change at Bellevue though as they are adding another resident there.

If I recall correctly, when at Rusk, you don't rotate through every service. There are three (medically complex, stroke, msk), but you only rotate through two.

Almost all hospitals that you rotate through is within walking distance of each other, except for VA Brooklyn which is half outpatient clinic and half consult service. Residents say it's a pretty light rotation. You learn a lot and get out early.

They do have subsidized housing, but it's not guaranteed for everyone. I was told it is easier to get if you're coming from out of state. $1200 for studio and someone was able to get a 1 bedroom for $1500.

I thought the faculty I met were extremely friendly and excited to teach. Two of the panelists that interviewed me said they did wish there was more time in the schedule to teach.

Residents don't seem to have much trouble with finding a fellowship. There are 8 going into pain/interventional and 1 SCI.

There are 13 in a class. Composition varies, but it's about 50:50 single:married for the pgy-2 class. Those who like to go out go out together, but the class is big enough so that you don't have to be super tight with everyone.

They provide a lot of educational leave and offer lots of courses. For PGY-2 & 3, you get 1 week of educational leave. 2 wks for PGY-4.

No research requirement, but it is encouraged. They pay for you to go to conferences to present. They also encourage their residents to take leadership roles in organizations and will financially support that as well.

I really liked this program, because they were very honest about everything. One of the residents I talked to was obviously exhausted from the day, but even with the heavy workload at times, claimed to be happy. Although it might not be the perfect program, it seems like it has everything you need to get a solid training experience. They're very upfront about their program and don't try to hide anything.

Oh yeah, call room... it's like a converted bathroom or something so you sleep next to a curtain with a toilet on the other side. Very clean though.

axm397 said:

For example, our EMG course features Dr. Kimura from Japan, Dr. Dillingham from MCW, Dr. Herbison from Jefferson, Dr. Geiringer from Wayne State, etc. etc. http://www.ric.org/education/

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Not a fan of Dr. Herbison or the "East Coast" thing he's got going.

I attended the RIC EMG course last year. During Dr. Herbison's lecture someone's phone went off. He took the guys phone, removed the battery and threw it across the room👎

Funny thing was, the owner of the phone was an older physician (i.e. over 50).

My though at the time: "Dude, were Physiatrists, chill out".

I had this interview a long time ago, and I'm sure kaizen had a fabulous review at that time, so I'm not going to spend too much time on this one. I will just say that it is a great program with top notch didactics, abounding research opportunities, some of the highest board scores in the country, and residents that get whatever fellowships they want. Delisa is a little scary, but the PD Dr. Garstang is awesome and a huge resident advocate. A certain percentage of her time is dedicated to spending time with residents. Personally, I hated New Jersey and never want to go back, but the program is definitely worth checking out.

DancerMD is bringing sexy baack😱 (I had to say it)

UW is a great program. One of my absolute favorites. I'll add details later but I just wanted to post something new about it on this forum.

Old weakness: MSK didactics - taken care of as a 2 years course on MSK. Still don't really get to hang out with the seahawks, supersonics though :-(

Always an issue: Seattle weather, dreary and clouded 6 months out of the year. More consult months than I want (6-8). Parking fees suck. Housing is relatively expensive.

Otherwise...well...GREAT.

Details:
8 per year, 3 are categorical
Inpatient 12-13 months
Peds 2 months
MSK 2-4 months
EMG 4 months (plus some time when on consults)
Amputee 2 months
Consults 6-8 months (can be offset by 'research' rotation)
Elective 1 month

Strong Didactics via well-developed curriculum incl. practice management (graduate level courses)
Seemingly close-knit residents
Model SCI, TBI & Burn
4 major sites plus private practices
Home Call for a few days at a time (PGY2-6 weeks, PGY3-4 weeks, PGY4-2 weeks)
Fellowship placement seems to be mostly local (good or bad thing)
Tons of research opportunities

The interview day here was a little different that my others. It was an afternoon interview, so I didn't have to be there until 1:00 pm, which was nice because I flew in in the morning (luckily no snowstorms the day I went...actually it was 60 degrees and sunny!) The day consisted of a brief presentation by the PD and 4 interviews. There was no tour (the interview day was in the brand new hospital, and the pm&r department hadn't moved over yet) and no time with residents other than 1 resident interview. There was a dinner following, where there were a few residents. Surprisingly, I had my hardest interviews here, and this seemed to be the case of most people there. There was one woman with a long list of "hard questions," including many ethical questions.

4 PGY2 spots.

5 year accredidation.

The university of colorado is located outside of Denver in Aurora (basically in the middle of no where). It is a brand new state of the art medical campus that currently houses the university of colorado hospital and the center for advanced medicine (outpatient clinics). The children's hospital is currently under construction, and the VA will also be moving there. The residents travel to multiple different sites, including the university of colorado hospital and clinic, the children's hospital, denver health medical center, denver VA medical center, craig hospital, swedish medical center, and north valley rehabilitation hospital.

Didactics cycle every 18 months. Lectures are wednesday evenings and thursday mornings, and include an introductory summer lecture series, a grand round series, a physical medicine series, core modules, and seminars.

Rotations are 3 months long. PGY2 includes general rehab service (burn, transplant, brain tumor) at university of coloado hospital (10 bed inpatient rehab unit), trauma rehab (polytrauma, polyfracture, TBI) at denver health medical center (12-14 bed inpatient unit), general rehab service (amputees and more) at the denver VA medical center, and community rehab service (post joint replacement, stroke, amputee) at swedish medical center. PGY3 includes peds rehab at the children's hospital (great peds experience with 4 peds physiatrists and a fellowship), outpatient clinics, consults, and general rehab at the denver VA medical center, TBI at north valley rehab hospital, and consults, outpatient clinics, and cardiopulmonary rehab at the university of colorago hospital. PGY4 includes spine and sports rotation at the spine center at the university of colorado hospital, electrodiagnositc rotation at denver health medical center, SCI at craig hospital, and one month elective (taken during university of colorado spine and sports rotation). Electives need to be within the university of colorado system.

Each resident must be involved in a research project during their residency. A formal research curriculum module is taught every year.

All call is from home. Residents are responsible for "core call," covering the university, VA, and denver health hospitals. This involves rounding and home call on the assigned weeks, which works out to be 5-7 weekends/year. Residents are also responsible for "Swedish call," during which residents are required to round on assigned saturdays (3-6/year).

The residents all seemed very happy. Most of them are married, some with children. There is an annual ski trip!

Kaizen, you know all this is for you! 😀

6 PGY2 spots.

Spaulding is one of the largest freestanding rehabilitation hospitals in the US, located near mass general in boston. The units are designed to be homogenous by diagnosis.

The core didactic curriculum includes a 15-month repeating lecture series, including anatomy, kinesiology, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, cancer rehab, nerve and muscle disorders, msk and sports medicine, occupational medicine, electrodiagnosis, SCI, TBI, stroke, peds rehab, geriatrics, o/p, physical modalities, and the business aspects of a pm&r practice. There are also patient care conferences, one-on-one didactics with attending physicians, grand rounds, weekly chief's rounds with the department chair, weekly morning report with the PD, and a monthly journal club. The residents also serve as member on the editorial board of the surveillance journal "Rehab in Review," a harvard based publication which is nationally distributed.

Lots of research required. Resident must submit at least 2 papers/posters to a pm&r scientific meeting. In addition, residents are required to submit for publication at least one paper to a peer reviewed journal.

Call in in-house at spaulding. PGY2 is ~q6 (~5 calls/month- 4 weeknights and on weekend 24 hour period). PGY3 is ~20/year. PGY4 is no call.

Rotations are 1-2 months in length. Rotations during PGY2 and PGY3 include amputee, cardiac, EMG, motion analysis, neurology, outpatient, peds rehab, pulmonary, SCI, spine center, stroke, and TBI. PGY4 is completely electives/selectives/research!

I agree that this is a good program that will probably continue to get stronger. The residents said that they definitely think that their training as well as the harvard name will take them far.

I don't know that this program has ever been written up, but it has a lot to offer, and they are actively working to make it better.

The interview day was quite nice, with both breakfast and lunch at on campus restaurants with residents. The day consisted of a breif overview of the program and then 3 faculty interviews and 2 resident interviews.

Minnesota has a rich history in rehab medicine, being the second research and training center in the country to be established (first was at NYU).

2 PGY1 spots and 2 PGY2 spots this year. One categorical does a TY at hennepin county medical center and the other does a TY at the VA.

There are no year specific rotations. Rather, 12 3 month rotations are done over the course of 3 years. One year is spent on inpatient rehab wards and 2 years are spent in outpatient settings.

Residents are required to do a major journal artical, paper, or poster presentation at a major meeting. The department pays to attend conferences if paper/poster is accepted.

Training is at 5 sites, including the university of minnesota, hennepin county medical center, the minneapolis VA medical center, regions hospital (private hospital but functions as ramsey county hospital...that's the home of st. paul, the other half of the twin cities), and gillette chidren's hospital (awesome children's rehab hospital that is actually a floor at regions).

Call is from home 7-10 days/month (taken by the week) all 3 years. Round with staff on weekends/holidays.

Board pass rate is similar to national average.

Most of the residents are married, some with children (not surprising for minnesota!)

Pros: The PD Dr. Dykstra is awesome. He is also a world leader in botox...he'll shoot botox into anything, so lots of opportunities if you are interested in this. Also very strong in peds rehab. Gillette has 4 peds physiatrists and an ACGME accredited fellowship. They really listen to residents and implement change to try and improve the program. Residents all seemed very happy.

Cons: Not really any elective time. The winters...I usually tell people they're not that bad, but I can't really say that today, as it is currently 4 degrees! 😱

Only one more interview to go...University of Washington, which I'm anxious to see after kaizen's review!

I thought I'd chime in on one you all haven't covered yet... thanks for all of the previous posts. I would have contributed, but you're all too quick for me!

Sample schedule
PGY II year (all at UMH): 2 mos General, 2 mos Neuro, 2 mos SCI, 2 mos Peds, 1 mo outpt clinic, 1 mo Med consult, 1 mo jeopardy, 1 mo spine (outpt)

PGY III year (all at UMH): 3 mos EMG, 2 mos research, 2 mos Trauma consults, 1 mo spine (outpt), 1/2 mo Rheum clinics, 1/2 mo Peds clinics, 1 mo Med/Ortho consult (outpatient), 1 mo Neuro/Surg consult (outpatient), 1 mo jeopardy

PGYIV year: 2 mos St. Joseph Mercy Hosp Rehab, 2 mos VA/EMG/Outpt clinics (outpt), and the following at UMH: 2 mos O&P/Vasc consult (outpt), 1 mo outpt clinic, 2 mos elective, 1 mo Neuro consult, 2 mos EMG/Inpt Senior

Sites: University of Michigan Hospital including C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, St. Joe's (Private/Community) in Ypsilanti, Chelsea Hospital (Private/Community) in Chelsea, Burlington Center Outpt Clinics, and Orthotics & Prosthetics Clinic.

Continuity Clinic: PGYIII's and IV's have 1/2 day each week in their own UMH clinic while on every rotation. Outpatient clinics are on the south side of Ann Arbor at Burlington Center, not too far from the hospital, but not exactly walkable.

Didactics/Lecture Series: Resident lectures on Mondays 7:30-8:30am and Thursdays 8:45-10:45am led by PM&R Faculty, Residents, and other UMH faculty. These are held at UMH or Burlington Center.
Grand Rounds: Thursdays 7:30-8:30am led by Faculty and Residents, include M&M (PGY IV's) and Journal Club (PGY II's).

Call: Home Call - I actually don't remember the exact frequency 😕, but it's not weekly call like some home call programs. (Maybe someone can help me out with the details) Like most places, call is variable depending on the patients, your comfort level, and the person placing the call... knowing that there are those with black clouds hovering, some calls can be rough, but many have said that they've had "call-free" call nights. As with most other programs, call becomes less frequent as you make your way through the years.

House Officers Association: They respresent all residents at UofM, around since 1971, negotiating on behalf of house staff , sponsoring events, providing support, educational programs, etc. This is a nationally recognized association with a significant "voice" within the UMH. For all of their wonderful services, dues are required. I believe this is less than $200 per year, but don't quote me on that.

Other random stuff: 6 residents per year. Patient population is diverse. You'll see anything here. It's a Level I Pediatric and Adult Trauma Center and Burn Center that sees about 1450 patients per year. SCI service is a Model SCI System with vent beds (2 as of now, maybe increasing to 4?). You've also got great back-up in that there are experts in all specialties surrounding you at UMH. This is a great place for research whether you're interested or not. All residents do a presentation as PGY III's and IV's for Annual Ted Cole Day (there are awards and everything), and like many places, they have an excellent turnout at the annual PM&R meetings, having travel expenses covered (to a limit) when presenting. There is currently a Pain Fellowship, SCI Fellowship, and Research Fellowship. I believe that the UofM Family Medicine Residency program has a Sports Medicine Fellowship, but I'm not sure that's open to PM&R grads 😕 (haven't looked into whether all SM Fellowships are now required to take PM&R applications). Previous residents and faculty are everywhere. I almost guarantee you've run into someone with ties to UofM along your interview trail. The Michigan connection, like many other names in PM&R, can definitely help with placement in fellowships or practice. Drs. Spires, Miller, Hurvitz, and Leonard are a very bright and supportive group to have on your side.

Pros/Cons: I guess that for some the city of Ann Arbor isn't ideal, it's a University town, with limited public transportation (the bus system is "ok"), really delicious restaurant selection, great football in the fall, hockey in the fall/winter, and any other sport you like to play or watch. The train to Chicago is only about 4.5 hrs (without delays), Detroit's less than an hour away for those who like the casinos, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Lions, Tigers, Bears are in Chicago, and who can leave out the Pistons and the Redwings. Ann Arbor itself has much to offer your cultural whims, with museums, theater, and music to boot. For example, the Blind Pig has been a staple small music venue for decades (big name bands before and after they make it big). As with any University town, bars are around every corner, and vary from your typical college bar with a younger patron base to slightly more mature martini bars, cigar bars, and Irish pubs on Main Street.

OK, I'm sure I've missed a bunch, so feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

laugh qd said:

I thought I'd chime in on one you all haven't covered yet... thanks for all of the previous posts. I would have contributed, but you're all too quick for me!

Click to expand...

Please post all of your impressions. The more opinions about a place that we can gather, the more accurate of a picture future readers will get. Plus, I personally gain alot by reading other people's impressions of places I've been. I've been surprised.

University of Missouri-Columbia (Rusk)

What a fantastic surprise this program was! This is a joint venture between private and University of Missouri (90/10) which means the Rusk facility is a beautiful free-standing "private" hospital, but the attendings are UNIVERSITY employed, so there's no "bottom line" like at some other purely private PMR progs (Louisville. PM me with ?s). However, you see the private side of medicine, so similar to UVa, you become educated on "real life" medicine. Major bonus for post residency practice. The teaching is taken seriously, again, because the docs are employees of the university.

Dr. Conway, PD, seemed great. He has a respectable air about him, yet is very approachable and close to all the residents, who spoke highly of him. The Chair Dr. Worsowicz is a top gun, well connected, in charge of all outpt. @ U Missouri and has strong influence with ortho and other depts there. Is fun loving. Half of grads go into private, half to fellowship (most recently Emory, UW). There are one-on-one rotating didactics Friday mornings. The facility houses 60 beds. Because it is free-standing, the nurses are specialized (not just rotating through as sometimes happens with university-attached hospitals) which means they hook you up (great teachers, and less late night bogus calls, etc.) There are 2 internists who manage medicine issues. This is great no matter which way you look at it: You can get as involved as you want with medical issues. Some told me they manage a lot of medicine, others only did INRs, etc. Is a BLS (not ACLS) facility, for better or worse, which means someone codes, they get shuttled to the University Hospital.

Housing is cheap. $130K for 3 bd new home, nice neighborhoods, family friendly. I've been all over the country, nothing holds a candle to the real estate here. Biggest bang for your buck. Columbia is a fantastic city. About 100,000 and is a college town and thus benefits from the arts and culture that comes with university. Endless trails for biking, walks. I interviewed in October, which was beautiful. Changing colors, lots of trees, also open spaces. I heard that "PM&R is the secret in medicine, and Rusk is the secret in PM&R". After interviewing several places (RIC, Mayo, UVa, UNC, OSU, Colorado, UMich) I can see why some may feel this.

Pros: Joint venture private facility with university employed attendings. Residents were great. Smart, easy to get along with. Columbia boasts fine arts, great restaurants, inexpensive real estate, trails. Seems to me that Columbia attracts married residents b/c of its family friendly nature, yet singles probably wouldn't have far to go to find a good time given the median age of 27 and thousands of college students.

Cons: Rusk is not (yet?) a landmark on the map of PM&R progs. It no doubt has great potential, though, and may be a hot spot in years to come. Columbia, in spite of its beauty, college town feel, great real estate, etc, is in the middle of nowhere. 2.5 hr from St Louis to the East in 2.5 from KC to the West.

As you might sense, Rusk, its staff and residents and the city of Columbia are impressive. It will be hard to decide where this ranks with the likes of Mayo, UMich, OSU, Utah, Colorado, etc.

RIC
Big name, of course, but a lot behind the name. The attendings I've worked with are not only knowledgeable, but quite friendly, too. I never felt intimidated or unwelcome. The residents seemed honest about workload and content with the program. In house call can't be sugar-coated, and I appreciated their not doing so. Obviously excellent preparation for entering the PM&R world, whether it be in fellowship, new attending, academics, or private practice. Dr. Sliwa was warm and kind along with Dr. Whittington and Dr. Joseph... a pleasant surprise and very laid back interviews.

Schwab
Another great Chicago program, often overlooked because of close proximity to RIC. Dr. Gittler is as great as everyone says. She might qualify as a resident "superfan." Listening to residents talk about the atmosphere, which has a lot to do with Dr. Gittler's influence, they not only feel supprted, but as though their needs are anticipated. Great work environment, seemingly good working relationship between residents. I've done plently of rotations at Schwab's neighber hopsital Mt Sinai, which gets a lot of criticism. The neighborhood isn't a place I would recommend kids set up a lemonade stand during the day, or take an evening stroll, but having said that, I've had my car broken into 3 times (once while in a garage) on the north side (the "nicer" side of town) and never had a problem or felt uncomfortable getting to or from the hospital at Schwab/Sinai. Street smarts can go a long way! Overall, a great rehab experience in an even greater city.

Loyola
Although the size of this program is different from the others I've interviewed at, they seem to have found a nice niche even in the Chicago market. Being non-resident dependent, this allows for more flexibility and education throughout the three years.

Mayo
This one was a while ago, but I was notably impressed with their not-at-all-snobbiness, beign that they are Mayo. The residents were very down-to-earth, no big lies about how much they hang out after work. They are realistic in pointing out the pros and cons to living in the Rochester area. I did hear that there was sushi available now. Funny story, typical of the midwest, a neighbor of a recent PM&R graduate was on my flight from Minneap. to Roch. and offered to drive me to the hotel. She had nothing but great things to say about the kind of people Mayo and PM&R attract, which she had no reason to fib. The hospital was beautiful, the attendings super friendly and enthusiastic about teaching. Another great program, just get over the Rochester thing... you can buy a really nice house!

Spaulding
Boston was easy to travel to, yet not having been on the east coast in a while, there's definitely a difference between "east coast nice" and "midwest nice," which resulting in bad directions from the T to the hotel, no indication that the hotel restaurant would be closed, frankly wrong directions to Spaulding, and a run-on sentence that would make my 7th grade English teacher cringe. Once at Spaulding, the interim chair Dr. Stein visited to introduce himself and answer questions, which was an unscheduled, but very nice gesture. On that note the search for a new chair is in the hiring process. The chiefs were honest about the significance this could have, but I was very reassured that the residents were consulted in terms of what they were looking for in a chair and what was important to them. The chiefs are involved in this process, which speaks to how they respect the resident staff and value their opinions. Other than this, much of the pertinent info has been commented on... yet another program I was impressed with!

Colorado
Interview day was great, I got in before the crazy storms this winter. They were very informative in the presentation and paperwork. Points of note were the distance residents cover between Swedish, Craig, Denver Health, Childrens, and University Hospitals. Residents pretty much work one on one with attendings, which is the benefit of this system. Atmosphere is quite encouraging, solid teaching, and the truly nice residents you would expect at a program in Colorado. Another thing to mention is the move to the Fitzsimmons campus in Aurora. To put this in perspective, it takes me longer to commute from the north side to the south side of chicago than it does to get from downtown Denver to the new University Hospital campus in Aurora. The facilities will be amazing... and it's always nice to walk into work when it's aesthetically pleasing, at least it matters to me.

Helpful? 😳

Mayo seemed like the “Daddy of ‘em all” as we cowboys like to say. It was big, it was beautiful, it was Mayo. There are 45 beds, avg pt load 6-10 on inpt. You have a Sr. Resident with you. More of a teamwork approach, which I loved. Residents help each other out, if overloaded, Sr. resident helps decompress. Felt that it was teamwork here, from teaching to scutwork to hanging out. They even refer to attendings as “consultants”, thus seeming to shift primary responsibility to the residents. With vents, you can do as much/little as you wish. For better or for worse, you do “quite a bit of medicine”, as you are the primary doc (in contrast to Missouri, where there are staffed internists to take the brunt of medical issues if needed). I was surprised that males must wear suits every day (one guy was sporting a suit with Crocs! Awesome!) Jr. residents boasted that they have a lot of autonomy, yet have excellent staff and Sr. residents upon which to fall back. Mayo symbol is 3 shields: Education, Clinical care and Research, all of which are stressed. There are 2 gyms on the Mayo campus. This place (all facilities at Mayo) is 11 million sq feet, 2x size of Mall of America. Huge, impressive. PGY3 you get 6 straight months of EMG! First 2 months are classroom, you learn the textbook EMG then perform it over the next 4 months. Board pass rate is 96/100% over past 10 years.

Free underground parking. It’s so cold, some residents bragged how they never have to step foot outdoors (they have a garage from which they drive to Mayo, and from there use the labyrinth of tunnels to get around). To prevent codes, a RRT (rapid response team) assesses patients and moves to ICU if needed. There is a large work station (closed off!) for residents. SOAP, Orders, HP, DC Summary all electronic. Can access pt notes from home.

Homes, 4 bed 2 bath, mid 160’s, Very NICE! Trails galore, people seem very kind. Rochester, like Columbia MO, was a pleasant surprise. Often you hear how cold and small and boring it is. True, it was the coldest place I have EVER been, but small and boring, not so. It’s pushing 100,000 residents, and has all you could wish for: Outback, Strip malls, Wal Mart, nice Italian…okay, so no sushi bars. But the Twin Cities are a rock-throw to the north for all your big-city needs.

Excellent nurses, average tenure 10 years, so they teach you a ton. Home call, very reasonable.

Pros: The Mayo name and the fantastic training. EMGs GALORE. The facilities are truly amazing: marbled walls, blown glass, grand piano. Everything is done first-class, the Mayo way. It seems the training is first class as well. Young, dynamic attendings. Approachability of staff, high volume/diversity of pts.

Cons: Wearing coat and tie every day, smaller town than many like, COLD.

Agree with kaizen...great program...

3 PGY1 & 6 PGY2 spots.

5 year accredidation.

Rotations: PGY1- 13 4 week rotations including internal medicine (24 weeks), ER (8 weeks), inpatient rehab, ortho clinic, geriatrics, neurology, pain. PGY2- 9 months inpatient rehab and 3 months outpatient/consults. PGY3 & PGY4- 2-3 months inpatient rehab, 4 months MSK, 6 months outpatient/consults/EMG, 2 months peds rehab, 4 months EMG, 1-3 months cardiac rehab, 2 months amputee, 1 month elective/research.

Rotations at University of Washington Medical Center (385 bed tertiary care center, 20 rehab beds), Harborview Medical Center (313 bed level 1 trauma center, 26 rehab beds), VA Medical Center (12-16 rehab beds, 34 SCI beds), Children's Hospital & Medical Center (12 rehab beds), and private practices.

Great didactics on Monday and Thusday mornings, with class specific faculty taught lectures. Classes include intro to PM&R, MSK medicine & modalities, principles of orthotic use in rehab, advanced clinical kinesiology & biomechanics, electrodiagnosis & clinical neurophysiology, clinical MSK medicine, rehab psychology & neuropsychology, medical aspects of vocational counseling, communication disorders in rehab medicine, principles of prosthetic use in rehab, and practice management seminar. Most of these classes have tests at the end. The PGY3s and PGy4s take SAEs and there is a board review course for PGY4s. Conferences include MSK conference, grand rounds/department seminar, EMG conference, case-based multidisciplinary conference, research seminar, and journal club.

97% first time pass rate for oral and written boards.

Research requirement with 3 options: complete additional coursework in instructional methods and prepare and deliver a lecture to the department, prepare a manuscript on a case report or case series that is accepted for national presentation and submitted to a journal, or complete a more formal research project.

Pay for all PGY4s to go to annual meeting as well as anyone who is presenting.

Overall a very strong program with nice close-knit residents.