Vanderbilt Residency Reviews

I have interviewed at 2 thus far.

MCG- Interview day is very relaxed. Day begins with brief power point presentation that goes over the salient points about the program. Then you have 4 interviews, 3 with faculty and 1 with a resident. All interviews were very laid back and conversational in nature. After that you have lunch with the residents, and finally a tour of the facilities. Strong points about the program: U/S experience (we have a fellowship and Dr. Blaivas is one of the founders of EM U/S), Relationships with other depts (attendings go to bat for their residents), 10 hr shifts, good camraderie of residents. Not so strong points: Augusta (smells bad alot of the time, not much to do), Not that much penetrating trauma (this might be a positive for some). This is my home institution, so if anyone has any specific questions feel free to PM me.

Vanderbilt- Another relaxing interview. Day begins with morning conference where you get to listen to Dr. Slovis of Dr. Wrenn lecture the residents from 8-9 AM. The lecture was EXCELLENT, and is done everyday in addition to the 5 hours of lecture required by the RRC. Teaching is what Vanderbilt prides itself on, and is definitely a huge benefit of the program. After that, you go to b'fast with Drs. Slovis and Wrenn where you get to ask q's and chit-chat. You have a total of 6 interviews (5 faculty and 1 resident). Most are laid back, with one being an actual "interview." The day is concluded by a tour of the facilities. Strong points: TEACHING, Drs. Slovis and Wrenn are nationally renowned educators, Trauma experience (EM residents do trauma intern year where surg residents don't do trauma until 2nd yr so when the EM's are on the trauma service their second year they know more than the 2nd yr surg residents), Nashville is inexpensive to live and has alot to offer, and their new ED is beautiful and totally electronic. Not so strong points: U/S experience is still being expanded, From what I heard they have a rough relationship w/ Cards (this is in the works though), and they have some issues with getting patients from the ED to the floor (bed availibility). I think that's it, if anyone has any q's PM me. Thanks

Guess I will post while my hand stops throbbing from Thank You cards...
This is a program that definantly has its own distinct flavor. The overwhelming theme in this program is education. Both of the PDs are pretty dedicated to teaching, and we sat in on an intern / med student lecture before interviews started. It was a great lecture taught by the PD, and you certainly get the feeling you will learn lots here. The faculty seem for the most part pretty young and enthusiastic, and they have the interesting dynamic that their cheif resident is actually a PGY4, sort of like a fellowship.

The ED is very nice and was built w/in the last year if I remember correctly. Every room is large with a monitor and flat screen TV. Their trauma bays are spacious and brand spanking new. Pedi hospital was beautiful and way cool, with murals on the walls, and apparently they have music concerts over there for the kids sometimes. Vandy medical center is very nice in general. There volume seemed appropriate, maybe a little on the slow side. Acuity was high, with a 25% admit rate (and a lot of unit admits from that 25%). Trauma seems to be more than adequete, with a strong EMS / flight aspect (since they have a fellowship in EMS).

Nashville is a really cool place if you have never been. Many a white collar city mixed with the artist type, so sort of a cool dynamic. Housing is reasonable, and cost of living is very good, though a bit higher than most southeastern cities.

In all, I would say that this program is only for people that have an interest in learning the minutia of emergency medicine. If you prefer the county environment with a lot of autonomy and maybe not as much "academic" feel to it then this is not for you. However, if you do like lecture and a strong emphasis on traditional education, you will fall in love with this program, because they probably do it better then anybody.

First I must say that I agree with EVERYTHING ElZorro had to say about Vandy. It is EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION. The residents are really nice (good southern hospitality) and they genuinely love where they are. As with every other program I've been to "it was my number one" was pretty rampant when talking about ranking. The free-standing children's hospital was a definite +++: who doesn't like seeing children ONLY in a peds ED and adults ONLY in the adult ED?!! Research is not very strong, and there was no mention of a required "scholarly project." Which could be a + or - for some of you (definitely a plus for me). I'm sure most of you have at least heard about how the interview is so different in that they don't ask you anything about your file but it's simply a "what do you want to know about me" kind of thing. That throws some people off, but as my first interview, it was definitely quite refreshing. Okay, okay, PM me if you want to know more about them....
Now on to the main topic - Louisville. I can't say I've seen many posts on here about this school. So not sure who will really care about this post.
Interview day: started late with an hour-long + presentation by the chair herself. She's relatively new into the position and has a lot of great ideas on the way she wants her program to be and where she sees it going. There was interview "tag teaming" where you have a faculty and resident together, however, because some residents and/or faculty like to talk more than the allotted time, the interviews were ran in tandem by the end of the day. I remember specifically Dr. Vicario (who may or may not be the program director - it says he is on the website, but his actual position was never confirmed during the entire day) was pretty malignant (more than what I was used to) by grilling me on my application and trying to put words in my mouth. I'm not kidding. "So since you live in X, you would naturally want to match at Y and not here, right?" What is that?!! Aren't YOU trying to sell your program to ME?!! So anywho, they definitely pride themselves on being the second EM program in the nation, flaunt that they don't fly (risks outweight benefits to them), and are quick to tell you average board scores and how honored we should be that we were granted an interview with them "as it is very hard to even get your foot in the door."
Wow, this is getting long so I'll cut down to the pros and cons
Pros:
- LOTS of autonomy. If any word would sum up the program, that would be it.
- It is "resident run," where the residents certainly have a HUGE say in how their education is going to be. Any suggestions made by the residents are taken seriously.
- There is a didactic orientation month with minimal ED shifts, which I find is not that unusual these days. It may be more unusual if you DON'T have this month. Apparently the residents have *great* bonding time with lots of mention of beer and beer.
- GREAT shift time. Apparent good spread with 8-10 (can't remember which one) hour shifts during the week and 12 hours shifts on the weekend. Interns only work about 18 shifts/month on average. And it progressively declines from there (R2s about 17 and R3s 14-16).
- Pretty decent curriculum in that you really don't have much off-service after intern year. Peds anesthesia is only 2 weeks and you have a month of MICU in R2 year. Other than that, you're either doing EM, an elective or on vacation. That's SUPER sweet.
- There are 2 or 3 (can't remember) chief residents who are R3s. Nice you wouldn't have to stay an extra year for this position if this is a goal of yours.
- Separate peds hospital - so again, kiddies seen in peds ED, adults in adult ED.
Cons:
- Medicine floor is still an off-service rotation here. Yuck.
- No real diversity in residents. All from mainly one region (southern or KY specifically). Can't really blame this on the program, but if it were REALLY strong, perhaps people would be willing to leave their midwest/northeast/northwest comfort zone to come here?!! Not sure. Perhaps they got the same question from Dr. Vicario as I did - that REALLY turned me off.
- MC trauma are farming accidents.
Pro or Con:
- No mandatory flights. Yes, you can try to fly optionally (didn't ask if it would replace a shift or not! I can still email....), but if this is very important to you, you may not like this program very much.
- Location. They say they're "northern" but KY is backwards enough to truly be considered the south. In the same vein, they pride themselves on having lots of undeveloped land to "play" with: good parks, hiking, etc. So lots of outdoor activity if you want it. Great place apparently for singles and couples.
- Trauma EVERY DAY. One resident mentioned he did not care for trauma by the time he finished because you get SO MUCH of it. So this could be good or bad for some of you. You have your main patients in the 20+ bed area, but then you abandon all when the traumas come in and the nurses run everything while ALL of you are gone. You are supervised (by upper levels)as an R1 but you're pretty much running it all by yourself as an R2. One 4 bed trauma bay coined "Room 9."

So in totality, it was a great day besides the one interviewer. Lots of perks, but not really loving the location. No pro football or basketball team (who doesn't like cheering for the home team?!!), but U of L gets LOTS of love (as you could imagine). Won't rank them high, but hopefully this will help someone else....
PM me for more questions.

Residents: Some of the friendliest and most collegial residents of all the programs I interviewed at. All I saw were happy, enjoyed each others company on shifts and in a social setting. Seem very intelligent and full of energy. Even the off service people seem really friendly towards the ED residents.

Faculty: The two big names that most people know are Slovis and Wrenn who do an amazing job teaching didactic lectures to the medical students and also residents. The faculty are very into teaching on the whole. Most are dual certified in something or did a chief year and love to teach residents. Many have interests in different things like International health or EMS as well. The Peds attendings are very impressive as well.

Facilities: The facilities are almost brand new. 2005 the ED was finished and pretty much doubled in size. The computer system is state of the art and they have an electronic white board for keeping track of patients. There is a PACS system and an attending radiologist in the ED area to read all films immediately. They have 2 dedicated CT scanners. 4 very nice trauma rooms. The whole hospital is very impressive. The peds ED as well is brand new and is huge. Very impressive facilities overall. There is a problem with boarding patients. Sometimes can back up in the ED. They are building a new ICU tower. The computer system is great and the residents don't waste time dictating or doing lots of paperwork.

Curriculum: 3 year program. Very heavy time in the ED and also into critical care ICU months and trauma. 21 months of ED. 2 selective months. 4 ICU months and a bunch of trauma experience. Heavy EMS exposure too and helicopter experience being more integrated into the curriculum. Friendly off service and strong off service rotations. International program strong. Opportunity for DMAT, USR, Swat. 8 hour shifts as upper level. Peds integrated and very very strong here.

City: Nashville offers a lot. Music, night life, outdoors activities, sports teams.

Cons: Only at one facility for majority of curriculum a plus or minus whether you want that. Back up in ED at times with boarders like many places.

Overall: Excellent program. Lots of opportunities for whatever niche you like in EM (EMS, international, research). Many fellowships too. I think the people are the best asset, attendings very into resident education and residents very happy and learning and doing a lot. I really like the curriculum focus on ED and ICU. The city and strong off service rotations simply round out the greatness of this program. This program is much more than what many people read about it being a place where they teach didactics the best in the nation - but they do seem to do that too.

I am curious if any current Vandy resident can comment on moonlighting. Is it allowed? And if so, when can you start and what opportunities are available? Sorry, I can't seem to remember from my interview what was said about this. Thanks.

Moonlighting is allowed. Internal moonlighting as a PGY-2 in Team Triage (easy money, identify and triage sick patients and put in lab/radiology orders for those in the waiting room) and the B-pod (fast track role). External moonlighting as a PGY-3 wherever you want. Have to have TN license and DEA# to moonlight, and cannot violate work hours or miss conferences.

2008 EM Reviews said:

I am curious if any current Vandy resident can comment on moonlighting. Is it allowed? And if so, when can you start and what opportunities are available? Sorry, I can't seem to remember from my interview what was said about this. Thanks.

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All my thoughts about Vanderbilt can be summed up in one word...*tssssss*...hotness (and yes the sound effects are warranted.)

A-mazing program. From what I could gleen from the residents and from the lecture we sat in the morning of the interview, the chair of the dept is intimately and energetically involved in education and has surrounded the program with similarly like-minded individuals. Aside from the many opportunities it offers in many areas of EM, it has a great deal of perks - nice facilities, concierge service (for running errands that you might not have time to do as a resident) and the residents are treated very well. According to the chair and PD the EM residents are very well respected and have a partnership with trauma (read: no turf battles). Additionally being situated in Nashville seems to provide a great pt. population despite being a mid-sized city. (Lots of pathology b/c Vandy is the major hosp. in town, and great diversity because of their refugee status and because of the music industry.) Some drawbacks might be that it is a strongly academic institution so if you have no interest in that, it might not fit you. Definitely a great place to train with cool people and abundant resources. My personal opinion as an applicant, so I'm not sure how much *insight* I can give on the program. But I was incredibly impressed.

Also the EMR in the adult ED is fantastic! Probably the best system I've seen on the trail. Currently the peds ED still uses a mix of paper and electronic charting, but will be converting to a fully electronic one like the adult ED soon. It has a great and easy to navigate interface, combining PACS, lab data, orders, old documents and the ED H&P all on one dynamic system. The ED H&P seems to be a good mix of a T system and a good ol' hand written H&P - combining the speed and efficiency of a T sheet and the accuracy and completeness of a long-hand H and P. I've seen similar grease boards, but none where you can access all pt info through the grease board itself and will alert you when important results return (for example the system automatically scans for key words like PNA in rad results and on the grease board a little icon pops up that immediately tells you something's up).



Can you tell?...I love this program. It'll be difficult to finalize my ROL though...there are some really great programs out there, but Vanderbilt is tough to beat.

Note: Posted on behalf of a user wishing to remain anonymous. - DocB

Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: I am a fourth year medical student who interviewed at this program

Residents: This program has 11 residents per year, and residents come from all over the country. There seems like a good mix between single and married. The residents seem genuinely happy and really seem to like each other. They state that the often go out in groups when people are available to take advantage of Nashville’s many hot spots.

Curriculum: This is a 3 year program with 19.5 total ED months. There are both IM and Peds ward months. Peds experience is as an immersive month as R1 and several shifts/ED month as an R2 or R3. There are 4 total ICU months and one total month in a community ED. There are two elective months. One thing that is unique about this program is that on top of didactics there are morning lectures on topics relevant to emergency medicine that are given either by the chief or the program director. This may be a positive or negative depending on your views of lectures, but it is a huge time commitment taken on by the residency leadership to help improve resident education.

Residency Leadership: The chair and program director take pride in the fact they have been at Vandy since the program’s inception. The residents state they are among the most approachable people in the program (although both have very different personalities.) They are constantly trying to improve the program and continue to grow without decreasing the focus on resident education and teaching.

Facilities: Residents split most shifts between Vanderbilt University Hospital and Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital. Between the two they have a total patient census of 100,000. UH sees about 55,000 people and is the only level 1 trauma center servicing all of central TN and several areas in bordering states. As such, the see a good amount of varied trauma since they are the only trauma center within about 120 miles. The facilities are very nice. One of the things stressed was the electronic medical record which is very easy to use and makes people’s jobs much easier. The children’s hospital sees about 45,000 people and is a level 1 trauma center. The children’s hospital has become so popular residents don’t see many kids on UH shifts. As such R2s and R3s do several shifts each ED month to keep up peds experience. There is also one month at Sumner/Gallatin, a community ED about 30 miles away that sees about 32,000 patients per year. This was added when residents voiced concern about lack of community experience out of the Vandy setting.

Benefits/Salary: The residents were very happy with their salary/benefits. Salary ranges from 45,660-48,912 from R1-R3. The university picks up life and disability insurance and resident shares cost of health/dental/vision (though the prices are cheap ($50-75/mo for everything.))

Moonlighting: There is internal moonlighting as of now, but this seems to be in flux and the area where residents often worked is changing. That being said, the leadership seems to have no problems with moonlighting as long as the resident maintains their responsibilities.

Location: Nashville is a medium sized city with a huge number of things to do. The residents also made sure to stress that it’s not all country music either. One resident stated that there were times she would actually look for a place that DIDN’T have live music. Areas around the hospital are a little more expensive (being a trendy area right next to the university) but there is also plenty of affordable housing further out. Traffic is apparently bad at times, but I didn’t notice it much when I was there.

Overall: This is a great program with a great reputation. They seem to focus more on education and they have a high percentage of residents going into academics or fellowships. At the same time, they have more than enough patients and trauma (per resident) to work anywhere after graduation. I loved this program. I still have a few interviews that I am excited about, but I have a feeling this one will be hard to beat.

Vanderbilt - Very impressive program that emphasizes teaching, PD and chair teach for one hour in ED every morning for those rotating in the ED, Dr. Wren seemed like an incredibly thoughtful and caring PD, residents were very friendly and many of them showed up to dinner the night before, ED is on the campus of Vanderbilt, all shifts are 10 hrs, Nashville has lots of restaurants, bars, and music venues, some traffic close around the hospital as the university and hospital are close together, no flying

Here are some quick facts about programs from last year of interviewing. I tried to be non-biased as possible, but sometimes I threw in some subjective comments. Hope this helps.

FYI, some things may have changed at programs so be sure to ask.

Christiana - 3 years, 12 EM residents/year (+3 EM/IM and 2 EM/FM), 9 hr shifts with 1 hr overlap, 40 hr/wk as intern, 1 mo of night shifts with minimal night shifts on other ED months, >110k volume at main hospital with 72 beds, ~200k combined volume, 5 hrs lecture/week, daily morning conference, monthly animal lab, 1 month orientation, dedicated CT and radiology dept, OR in the ER, $200 mil expansion of Wilmington hospital by 2011, EM gets airway AND procedures in trauma, no anesthesia residents to intubate, no ortho/ENT/NS/optho residents either, fellowships in admin/EMS/US, 6 U/S machines with great U/S faculty, $49k as R1, 6 mo of ICU rotations over 1st two years, interns work >1/2 shifts at Wilmington, no floor months, no state sales tax, 30-45 min to Philly, 1 hr to Baltimore, 2 hours to DC/NY, 90 min to Atlantic City, moonlighting available

Hennepin - 3 years, 11 residents (+2 EM/IM)/yr, 9 hr shifts, >100k volume, very little floor months but surgery heavy, 2 mo neurosurgery as R2, believer in "graduated responsibility" (AKA delayed gratification) so that as R1 you don't have many duties but by R3 you are running the dept, "pitboss" as R3 with no note responsibility, free food, 4 stabilization rooms with U/S mounted on each bay, airways only as R3, 12 U/S machines total which are directly linked to PACS, U/S tech hired to teach residents, EM on ALL traumas and surgery as consult, 1 mo community experience, OB/gyn involves inpt and outpt care, EMR (Epic), sim lab integrated into curriculum, great EMS relationship, 1 wk hospital orientation and 2 wk EM orientation, hyperbaric chamber

Brown – 4 years, 12 residents/yr, >100k volume, brand new ED with cath lab, 2 CT scanners, 72 beds with 6 crit care beds, awesome sim lab 1 day/mo, no boarding in the ED (is that possible?), strong peds EM program, large amount of trauma since they are the only show in town from New Haven to Boston, strong U/S program with fellowship available, 4.5 mo electives, trauma surg without scut work, conferences supposed to have more small group discussion this upcoming year, 20-22 shifts/mo, 9 hr shifts with 1 hr overlap, great international EM, 75 full-time facult, $50k salary as intern

Yale – 4 years, 12 residents/yr, 1 full month orientation, stong U/S program, 12 hour shifts, 18-20/mo as intern, 6 mo crticial care over residency, tox month at NYU Bellvue, 2 hours sim lab per month, 6 mo elective time, $51k as intern

USC – 4 years, 17 residents/yr, 12 hour shifts, 20? shift/mo, top-notch U/S program with over 20 machines, 12 resus bays, tons of procedures, EM has ALL hospital codes, work in the underground jail ED, excellent teaching with tons of videos uploaded every month, attendings doen’t write notes so that have more time to teach, observation unit run by attendings and NPs, new hospital with good facilities, no EMR using all paper notes but plans to upgrade

Highland – 4 years, 10 residents/yr, one month EM orientation, awesome U/S training with 2 U/S fellows, county program, great salary, uses EMR, ski cabin in Tahoe that residents share, one month off per year, 3 informal teaching session in the ED per day, free food all the time, no OBS unit so you must admit all low risk chest pain, rotate though many hospitals (Kaiser, UCSF, Children’s, SFGH), ortho rotation includes time in OR, great tox month at SFGH, weaker IM program can be frustrating

Carolinas - 3 years, 14 residents/yr, >100k volume, very nice hospital, only 1 hospital to rotate through, labs results broadcast to free PDA, didactics daily with free lunch and protected on off-service rotations, fellowships in tox/EMS/US/peds/research, large amount of off-service rotations but I was reassured that they are important, $45k/yr as intern, no EMR but orders by computer coming soon, no orientation month, 4.5 resus bays, no direct medical school affiliation, residents go to SAEM 2nd year and ACEP 3rd year

UMass - 3 years, 12 residents/yr, no medicine floor months but lots of ICU, 10 hr shifts, 20-22 shifts/mo, 5 u/s trained attendings and 8 toxicologists, volume 80-90K and growing, 200+ million dollar ED, new CT scanner, located in worcester (pronounced wooster), helicopter medicine - one month in PGY1 with a 2 or 3 running the show (the bird never flies without a resident) but can be grounded often in winter, every U/S is recorded and Q/A'd by U/S doc, likely elimination of PGY3 elective to Hawaii with free housing/car, 45-60 min from boston, plenty of trauma with all procedures/airway being done by EM residents, residents can moonlight in the ICU starting 2nd yr, 5 hours weekly of didactics, computer tracking system with labs/rads results but orders/vitals/nursing notes/MD notes are all paper and then scanned into computer that you can pull up later if needed.

Vanderbilt – 3 years, 12 residents/yr (increased by 1 this year), no floor months, 1 hr lecture each morning by PD or chair of EM, 1 month orientation with reduced ED shifts and great teaching, awesome EMR, >100,000 combined volume of main hospital and children’s, teaching by U/S fellowship trained EM physician, >3k level 1 traumas/yr, video review for each trauma, 2 BS toxicologists, ED radiology 24 hrs/day, emergency cardiologist in ED, 6 wks community ED, moonlighting allowed, 2 CT scanner, 4 active trauma bays, 10 hr shifts as R1, great sim lab with 1 day/mo, Keeping Up! (EBM review website) run by attendings, $49k as R1, fellowships for EMS/international health/peds, no anesthesia residents/attg necessary for PSA, tons of airway devices, evals p every shift/month/6mo, great EMS relationship

This is a couples' match list...if it were just me, my list would likely look pretty different. Some programs would have been higher on the list (especially Cinci), but Vandy definitely would still have been my #1.

I interviewed at 18 programs, and ranked all 18. This ROL is obviously just my (and my fiance's) opinion- no offense to anyone is intended. It was really helpful for me to look through ROLs from past years, so I thought I should reciprocate by posting mine.

I felt so fortunate to get to interview at these programs and honestly thought each of them had notable strengths. The couples match certainly complicates things (and requires LOTS of negotiation) but luckily I feel like I would be happy at a lot of these places.

Let me know if you have any questions about my list or the programs I visited. I'm happy to give my advice/thoughts to next year's applicants too- just message me!

1) Vandy: I am absolutely in love with this program. Love the faculty, love the Chair and PD, love the residents. It's one of the most resident-centric programs I have seen, with the best teaching in the country. Very busy ED with so many critical care patients. Tons of trauma because of huge cachement area; great relationship with trauma surg. Curriculum extremely well thought-out, including no floor months. Residents are very close and are amazing people. Very diverse patient population (tertiary care, uninsured/underinsured, bread and butter EM, peds, immigrants). Nashville is a really fun city, great COL, easy to live right by the hospital. Grads go anywhere in the country they want. This program has everything I want.

2) UCLA-Olive View: Truly amazing PD who has the residents over to his incredible house (and he was the medical director for the show ER- I thought that was pretty cool), and distinguished faculty. Well thought-out integration of county and tertiary care experience. Ronald Reagan is an incredible facility, and Olive View is a nice little hospital that has a new ED opening this April. Program curriculum is "front-heavy" (easier 3rd and 4th years), which I liked. Intern year is getting much better every year- there will be 6 months of EM during intern year 2011-2012 and fewer medicine/surgery ward months. PD described the program as a "liberal arts EM program," which I thought was an apt description and a pretty neat concept. Amazing international opportunities and a lot of elective time. My Spanish is mediocre at best, and that seems pretty essential (especially at Olive View). Trauma not as extensive as at other LA area programs. COL high and lots of commuting in nasty LA traffic.

3) UNC: Residents were very happy and welcoming. I really liked the dual hospital system. I went back to do a second look and shadowed at both hospitals, which only served to increase my enthusiasm about their way of training. Of course, it does result in a lot of commuting but the traffic isn't bad so that didn't bother me. Amazing PD who is an outstanding teacher and very supportive of the residents. Program produces very well-trained EPs who also have satisfying personal lives. I love the location and the COL. Great moonlighting opportunities. Medicine and surgery ward months intern year (but at WakeMed so relatively laid-back). Not as much trauma as some other programs. Duke is obviously nearby so there is some division of patient populations, but I felt that was made up for by the WakeMed experience.

4) Highland: This is a well-known program that I felt lived up to its strong reputation. Faculty and residents are all very laid-back and fun. Strong family feel. A lot of the faculty trained at Highland (which may be a negative), but of course they stayed on faculty because they love it so much there. GI rounds TID seem like a great idea. Not an "official" Level 1 trauma center but there is none in the county, so serves as the de facto trauma center and see a lot of trauma. Not a stroke center, so do a month of neuro at UCSF. Amazing U/S experience. Peds is not integrated (no peds beds in HGH). Highest salary I saw on the trail (because they are unionized). Tahoe ski cabin sounds like fun. Sounds like they have everything worked out in regard to UCSF's EM program, but still made me a tiny tiny bit nervous.

5) BIDMC: The 3+1 (Junior attending year) is an amazing opportunity that I was very excited about. The curriculum is very well thought-out with a clear graduated responsibility. Rotate through 5 "affiliate" hospitals (community sites), which seems like a good experience to see how different systems work. Amazing EMR. Peds not integrated. Trauma pretty good but obviously there are a lot of hospitals (including four Level 1 trauma centers) in Boston. Relatively new program (10ish years) but has established itself extremely well. Had a great feeling about this program on the interview day and it was initially higher on my list; in the end, I decided that Boston is not at all ideal for me and that's what pushed it down the list a bit.

6) LA County: Another program that was initially much higher on my list. I was in awe of this program during the entire interview day. Very sick patients and a lot of trauma, in which EM has a huge role (they do essentially all procedures). EM also manages airways during codes on the floors (which at most other places is done by anesthesia or MICU)- I thought that was cool. Residents were really fun people and amazingly impressive. Work 12s all four years (except on peds). Facilities are amazing but very much divided up into pods. Not as many academic opportunities as a lot of other programs I looked at. This place, in my opinion, provides the best clinical training in the county but wasn't the best fit for my career aspirations and personal life once I got over the "sexiness" of the amazing clinical experience. Location also not ideal for me personally.

7) Wake Forest: I love this place. PD and Chair were both very enthusiastic. Very well-established (30 years old) program with a long history of producing great EPs. Residents were very family-oriented. Very busy ED, which pleasantly surprised me. Loved the city (can get an amazing house for very little money) but it did feel a bit isolated.

8) Emory: So many faculty, and a lot of them are really well known in EM. Increasing focus on research- get a lot of NIH funding. Grady is Grady- tons of trauma (only Level 1 in Atlanta). Hugely busy, exciting ED. Patient population at Grady not very diverse- primarily African American. ED divided into red (surgery/trauma) and blue (medical) pods. Residents were very diverse and most were single. Atlanta is amazing but of course the traffic sucks and it's relatively expensive. I expected to like the program more than I did, but I got a weird vibe on interview day. It was probably just me, though!

9) Indianapolis: LOVED this program but in the end the location just wasn't going to work well. Residents were incredible- really sociable, welcoming, and proud of their program. Outstanding clinical experience, with time split between Wishard (county) and Methodist (tertiary care). Residents have a huge role in their program (49% ownership) which I thought was amazing. Very much a team attitude. In ICUs, work one-on-one with CC-trained EM faculty- so a great experience. Residents were more regional than I had expected for a nationally well-known program.

10) BWH/MGH: Strong academic program. Well-known faculty and lots of research opportunities. Felt like this was a great place to jump-start a career in academics. Lots of elective time. Program grads are highly recruited and go wherever they want after training. From talking to the residents, seems like they do fewer procedures than most other programs I looked at. Also, medicine and surgery ward months. Residents said they felt a bit "looked down on" by other residency programs at the hospitals, for what that's worth. I'm not a fan of Boston.

11) UAB: Their PD is awesome. Very responsive program leadership. The residents are pretty Southern and a lot of them have kids. Great lifestyle. Do LOTS of moonlighting. 10-year old program but feels like it's been around longer (that's a good thing). Birmingham was a very pleasant surprise. Great physical set-up of the ED. Very impressed by the program but realized as interview season progressed that I wanted a place that produces more academicians.

12) Wash U: Very busy ED. Great elective opportunities. Strong off-service rotations, but lots of ward stuff 1st year. Division status (I asked about this and the program leadership said it's not an issue). Didn't really care for St. Louis.

13) Cincinnati: LOVED this program- would have been among my top few programs, but my fiancé really disliked it for his specialty. Oh well.

14) UVA: Very nice program leadership, good reputation. Relatively low volume (although also smaller class so it works out.) Not much trauma. I didn't really click with the residents. City was too small and isolated for me. Great program but not a good fit for me.

15) Michigan: Awesome program. Love the PD. Survival Flight sounds great, as does the trauma experience in Flint. I didn't really click with the residents. The main problem for me was the location. I just don't think I could tolerate those winters- I almost crashed my car about 5 times just while I was up there interviewing.

16) Duke: I thought the PD was incredible and the faculty were very impressive. Residents were nice but seemed pretty guy-dominated. The program seems to be still fighting some battles. Wasn't a good fit for me.

17) Louisville: Had a really weird interview day, in my opinion. I found the group interviews to be awkward. Relatively low volume ED but lots of trauma. Not what I was looking for, but it had a lot to offer.

18) Harbor: This one was a surprise. Very well known program with great pathology and amazing faculty, but not a good fit for me. I personally don't want to have to deal with the transition from 3 to 4 years and the move to a new physical ED. I greatly preferred USC-LAC, but that's obviously just me and it's good that not everyone loves the same program!

Previous years' ROL threads were a great help to me when I decided where to interview, so here's my part this year.

My list would also be much different were it not for 1) a spouse in the picture and 2) my interest in international EM, so take it with a grain of salt and to echo SuziQ, feel free to PM me with questions regarding any of the programs I interviewed at. Honestly, I'd be thrilled to land anywhere on my list.

1. Vandy Pros: INCREDIBLE faculty, residents, unparalleled teaching, the PD and chair are a dynamic duo that are very involved in resident education. Busy, busy university ED where you see ALL the trauma in a large catchment area, plus all the weird tertiary stuff, and your bread and butter. Great international opportunities with the Guyana residency, New Zealand, ect. Off service rotations are great, peds shifts are mixed into your regular ED months, residents are happy, 10 hr shifts with 1 hr built-in overlap, COL is incredibly low, Nashville has a great live music scene. Cons: Less diversity (in both staff and patient population), you're in a smaller southern city (+/-). Caveat: I rotated here, so I'm bias in that I'd already spent a month getting to know and love the people. But honestly, couldn't find a better program on the interview trail.

2. Brown Pros: this was the program that snuck up on me. I even considered canceling the interview. Like Vandy, a university program with a large single hospital program with a huge catchment area, very busy ED. Happy residents, warm faculty, great peds experience, strong support for international work and opportunities (currently setting up a training program in Nicaragua), 9 hrs shifts all 4 years, Providence has surprisingly low COL for the northeast and is a great little town with amazing food and recreational opportunities. Cons: It's in Rhode Island, 4 yrs > 3yrs.

3. New Mexico Pros: another single-hospital system with a huge catchment area (which I like for the reasons above), incredibly nice PD, down to earth faculty, happy happy residents, strong commitment to underserved care with a large indigent community, great international/wilderness opportunities, one of the best programs for critical care exposure, great reputation, large Spanish-speaking population, only 4 months of call all 3 yrs of residency, 9 hr shifts with 1 hr built-in overlap, you have skiing and hiking less than an hour away. Cons: the city's economy somewhat depressed, less job opportunities for spouse (this program would be my #1 or #2 if not for this), less ethnically diverse.

4. Highland Pros: well-respected program, hard-core county training, in a beautiful part of the country. Great service commitment, residents are happy, strong pedi exposure at CHO, tox at SFGH, 8 hr shifts. Cons: the faculty are quirky (+/-) and somewhat inbred, very weird interviews, draw your own labs as PGY1, ED itself felt a little small, not a Level 1, the cafeteria food (yes, that's picky).

5. OHSU Pros: old, well-respected program with happy residents in a beautiful part of the country, diverse hospital exposure (university, VA, community), faculty very supportive of residents, 1:1 with attending as PGY2.10 hr shifts PGY1, 8 hr shifts PGY 2-3. Cons: low-volume primary ED, only 1 mo elective time, have to drive a lot.

6. Stanford Pros: Dynamic faculty, content residents, 3 hospital system with exposure to university (Stanford), community (Kaiser) and county (Valley), an AMAZING amount of resources for anything you could possibly be interested in, great fellowships, great international and wilderness opportunities, beautiful part of the country to live,time for research/scholarly project built into rotation schedule. Cons: COL (highest of anywhere I interviewed-this was huge for me), low-volume at primary ED (Stanford) which is where you spend 1/3-1/2 of your time, intern year spent with a lot of off-service rotations (including medicine and surgery wards and NICU time), 12 hr shifts, "country club" feel (the catered lunch comes to mind).

7. Carolinas Pros: incredible community program with great training, I loved the PD and faculty I met, residents are very tight and social, 1 hr conferences daily instead of a 5 hr block, single-hospital system, great U/S experience, starting an international fellowship, great COL. Cons: I thought Vandy was a better fit for me when it comes to Southern programs, their int'l focus is in Tanzania (my interest is Latin America), medicine and peds wards months, Charlotte, a very "proud" program.

8. USC Pros: Incredible faculty and residents who obviously enjoy working at LAC, probably the most amazing county training out there (certainly busiest ED in the country). Great diversity in both staff and patients, huge volume ED that probably sees some of the craziest trauma and pathology, residents run their own "pods" and jail ED, commitment to indigent care, in SoCal. Cons: 12 hr shifts all 4 years, maybe a little too autonomous for my taste, can only do international rotations on your vacation time, LA is not my favorite city.

9. BWH Pros: amazing resources for international EM, great U/S program, friendly, well-connected faculty, great opportunities for research and an interesting mix of pathology, shifts are a mix of 8,9, and 12 hrs. Cons: residents were the geekiest bunch of the trail (but seemed very happy!), greater focus on research, Mass Gen's ED felt very cramped, COL in Boston, 4>3 yrs.

10. Emory Pros: great service commitment, huge county program that is also academic, diverse residents and patients, busy ED. Cons: the number of patients I saw in hallway beds!, not as much international support, very county feeling, strange interview.

11. Harbor UCLA Pros: amazing country program in LA, great training, well-respected, good autonomy. Cons: not much international support, LA.

12. Baylor Pros: amazing county hospital with incredible pathology and young, enthusiastic faculty. Shifts 8's on weekdays, 12's on weekends. Cons: too new of a residency program.

13. Duke Pros: Dynamic PD, good mix of faculty, happy residents, time for scholarly track, COL. Cons: not very diverse, Durham, still young residency program, hard PGY1 year with lots of off service rotations, not as many intl opportunities.

Thought I should chip in since I know I read these threads incessantly last year. I added in a bit about my overall thoughts on each program, in case anyone finds that helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have questions and I'll try to at least give my personal insight (which was mostly gleaned from a 1 day interview so it for what it is!).I didn't go to all the interviews I was offered, but I ranked all the places I interviewed and honestly feel I'd be happy at any of them. Yay for EM.

1. Vanderbilt: Loved this program. Had everything I was looking for in terms of having great people, tremendous leadership, great academic/research opportunities, nice city with good COL. Overall the hospital is super supportive of resident education, good benefits, etc. SO liked it too, so it was a fairly easy choice.

2. U of AZ: This was a strong #1 for me until I went to Vandy (which was my last interview). Totally loved the residents, wanted to go out for drinks with the rockin' PD, and Tucson in December was awesome. Great research and terrific curriculum, too. In the end, though, it's far from family and didn't outshine anything Vandy could offer so being a direct flight from family won out.

3. Maine: Totally loved this program, too. Fantastic residents, great hospital, fabulous location. I've spent a lot of time in Maine so this place felt great to me. Thing is, they have no NIH funded research, and since it's important to me to have mentors with NIH grants, etc, I decided I had to pass this one up. I do hope to get back there later in my career, though, and if Match Day brings me there now I'll still be really happy.

4. Carolinas: Great, well established program that has been turning out fantastic EPs for a long time. I liked the new PD a lot on a personal level, although it felt like she's still working out her vision for the direction of the program from here. I don't think that really takes away how great the program is, necessarily, but the leadership at other programs pushed them above this one for me. Again, I think I could be very happy here.

5. UMass: Again, another very well established, very strong program where I could be very happy. I absolutely loved the PD here and it's clear that he puts the education/health/happiness of his residents at the top of his to-do list every day. Worcester is really a drab, post-industrial city with horrendous winter weather, though, and SO was pretty dead set against moving there. So down it went.

6. Utah: I rotated here and really enjoyed my month. Really fun people, good focus on education, could not really be in a nicer location. In the end it was also far from family, and it's a young program that still seemed to be finding its place in the overall hospital scene. I know some residents in other departments at the U and it seems from their experiences that there's an overtone of 'residents are here to work' instead of 'residents are here to learn.' I figured out on the interview trail that this distinction was important to me. I don't think that was true in EM there at all, but you do have to do your off-service rotations. This could be off, it just seemed that some of the other programs I saw had a bit more to offer me in the end. Despite that, I would be more than happy to train there, and I'm sure I'd get a great education, if that's how things go.

7. Georgetown: Dr. Love (the PD here) was actually the one who drew my attention to the point mentioned above, that you want to go somewhere that you're not just a cog in the wheel of the hospital but that your education is primary. He has such a well-defined, clear vision for his program. It was really inspiring. I'd be really happy to train here, in theory, but the logistics were just not going to work for me. COL was way too high, you have to drive to locations that aren't near one another in crazy DC traffic, etc. I was kind of bummed I couldn't easily make this one work for us. We'll figure it out if match brings us there, but it'll be a challenge.

8. UVA: I definitely loved Charlottesville and the residents I met. I went here after I was at G'town and I wanted to take that program and move it to Charlottesville. The PD here is new and just wasn't a great salesman. I don't doubt they have a great program, but he did a lot of handwaving and literally saying 'blah blah blah' during his PPT and I felt like I didn't get a sense at all of what he was offering. That said, I'm sure I would be happy here and I certainly loved the scribes program.

9. Rochester: Definitely a strong program, nice people, good COL, strong research, but SO wouldn't budge on location.

That's all she wrote. Bring on 3/17!!

Would be thrilled at any of my top 5, especially top 3. Kind of wondering if I should have ranked Vanderbilt higher in retrospect. I was extremely impressed by that place (they pretty much have it all!) but just didn't feel like I could legitimately pick Nashville over LA or Boston...oh well, too late now! And I really do love LA, not so sure about the south. Why can't Vanderbilt be in a bigger city?!? Anyway, we will see what happens on Match Day.

1- LAC/USC: +top-notch clinical experience, +tons of procedures, +very hands-on, +autonomy, +work in jail ED, +residents a lot of fun, +EM is top program in hospital, +brand new enormous ED, +/-tons of Spanish speaking patients, +intern year months alternate ED and offservice, -pods isolated (i.e. in one shift, only work in resuscitation area), +ED residents get all ED procedures except thoracotomies, -all 12 hour shifts all 4 years, -attendings are reportedly hit or miss in terms of availability, +love LA (and family in area), -not that many opportunities for research

2- BWH/MGH: +tons of amazing, cutting-edge research (affiliation w/ MIT, so tons of biomedical technology), +supportive environment, +big names in EM, +/-two pretty diverse clinical sites (trauma, more county-style at MGH and lots of cancer/gyn/superspecialized stuff at BWH), +great didactics, +strong reputation, +other top residency programs at the hospitals, -floor months, -Boston is a little oversaturated in terms of hospitals so not your "typical" EM experience, +Boston, -tons of PAs in the EDs, -not nearly as much trauma as my #1 and #3, +spouse prefers Boston

3- Vanderbilt: -NOT a county program but +they get all the trauma in Nashville (lots of penetrating), +outstanding program leadership, +incredible didactics, +residents exceptionally happy, +great reputation, +really really sick patients in busy ED, +no floor months and lots of ICU experience, +/- nearly all at one site (exception- community EM months), +get tons of procedures, +trauma time is ICU only, +/- Nashville (seems like very nice city, good COL and weather, but not as exciting as LA or Boston), +strong and integrated peds EM experience, strong EMS

4- UCLA/Harbor: +getting a nice new ED in 2013ish, +residents live by the beach, +plenty of autonomy but attendings are available and involved, +county experience but big name, +great reputation, +very appreciative patients, -transitioning from 3 to 4 years, +trauma, +LA (lived there before- love it), +changing/improving didactics, -not as intense a clinical experience as USC.

5- Cincinnati: +Love the flight program, +/-pretty intense residency, +great reputation, +faculty are great, +1st/4th year mentorship, -not ideal place to live, +/- nearly all at one site (exception- community EM months), -might kind of suck to get pulled out of your shifts to fly

6- Maryland: +Shock Trauma is incredible (but -separate trauma months), great program leadership, residents happy and friendly, +no floor months, -Baltimore, -Hopkins interaction seems a little odd

7- Indiana: +great county and academic experience, +Methodist and Wishard very close together, +friendly residents, +well-known program, +huge patient volumes at the two hospitals combined, -Indianapolis is kind of blah, -ready to get out of Midwest, -liked Cinci a bit better when comparing Midwestern programs

8- Maricopa: +location (family in area), +autonomy, +residents very nice, +program leadership impressive, -facilities, - offservice rotations, -other residencies in the hospital

9- Carolinas: +great atmosphere, +great reputation, -floor months (medicine and peds, I think), -not as much trauma and medically sick patients as my top choices, -honestly thought Vanderbilt was a stronger program when comparing Southern programs

10- Bellevue: +autonomy, +great reputation, +lots of ICU time, -peds experience, -trauma experience, -cost of living (decided NYC is not for me)


Plus a few others...

Posted anonymously on behalf of a student that interviewed there.

Vanderbilt Review

Pre-Interview Social: Dinner with the residents was at Bosco’s, a microbrewery near campus. It was very casual with appetizers, dinner, and dessert. There is one single dinner on Thursday night that is attended by people who already interviewed on Thursday and also those who will be interviewing on Friday. I am guessing that about half of the residents showed up, all years. They seem extremely happy with their program overall and were very friendly and willing to answer questions. Several of them brought their spouses and one also brought his kids.

Interview Day: We started at 7:45 in the conference room in the EM department. First, there was a lecture by Dr. Slovis, who is the department chair. He is very big on education, and his talk was entertaining and had everyone laughing. The Vandy med students who are on their EM rotation and a few residents attended the lecture too, but he only pimps the current students and residents, not the applicants! Afterward, he and the PD took us to breakfast, talked to us about the program, and answered questions. Then we had interviews, lunch with a few of the residents, and a slideshow about the didactics, things to do in Nashville, rotations, etc. After the tour, the chairman came back to see if we had any questions, and we were done by 2:30.

There were five interviews each lasting 15 minutes, plus one 15 minute break which I think was because one of the interviewers couldn’t come. (There were six interviewers listed on the schedule.) I interviewed with a resident, the PD, the associate PD, the department chairman, and the medical student clerkship director. All of the interviews were pretty relaxed. I was asked why EM, what region of the country I was hoping to end up in, what do I do for fun, what was a good book I read recently, and to tell more about one of the activities I listed on ERAS. Everyone also asked me what questions I had, so make sure you’re prepared to ask questions!

Curriculum: Vandy is a three year program. The residents work 19 x 10s as PGY1s, 18 x 10s as PGY2s, and 18 x 10s as PGY3s. The hospitals include VUHS, the Vanderbilt children’s hospital (on the same campus as VUHS), the VA (also on the Vandy campus), and Sumner, which is the community hospital site. During EM months, the residents do some shifts at the children’s hospital and the VA to get longitudinal exposure. There are two three-week blocks spent at Sumner during the second and third years. The first rotation for all residents is an orientation month that is heavily didactic with a few six hour shifts thrown in. The idea is for the new interns to have a chance to ease into the system, review all of the basic EM things that they need to know to hit the ground running, and get to know one another. Residents from all three years were very positive about the orientation block experience and saw it as one of the strengths of their curriculum.

One thing they focused on quite a bit was the ICU training. There is a total of 6.5 months of ICU time, which is higher than many other programs. There are no floor months and no dedicated peds EM month. The residents and chairman also emphasized international medicine. They have a bunch of international rotation sites that you can go to for your elective time with financial support from the program. They rotate through all the usual EM subspecialties. There are three toxicologists plus the Tennessee Poison Control Center at Vandy. They have dedicated EMS shifts as well as an EMS month, with flying on the helicopter optional. For US, they have specialized faculty who work with residents one-on-one to teach them US during their anesthesia/US month, and they said you do enough US that you could certified if you want. Vandy used to not have much in the way of research, but there are now several faculty who have K and R01 grants. You don’t have to do research there, but it’s plentiful if you want it. Since VUHS is the only adult and children’s trauma I centers for a 150 mile radius in any direction, they get a lot of trauma exposure. There are two months of elective time which are very flexible and just have to be approved by Dr. Wrenn.

Didactics: Everyone who talked to us, both residents and faculty, kept emphasizing how amazing the teaching is at Vandy. Several of the residents said they chose this program because of how great the didactics are. The lectures are short (maybe 40 minutes each) and very high-yield with the basic things you need to know. Since Dr. Slovis teaches a lot of them, I’m sure they’re very memorable too! They have weekly readings and quizzes that are meant to help keep you on track with your reading. There are also monthly journal clubs where they read maybe half a dozen papers in 1.5 hours. Didactic time is protected on all rotations except ICU.

Benefits: Vacation is three weeks per year, plus five days off at either Christmas or New Years. The residents said that the chiefs try to accommodate any requests for time off by moving shifts around. They try to schedule the same shifts together (so for example, you do a few overnights in a row before getting a day or two off). They get $200/yr for educational benefits plus the Rivers review book. One interesting thing that I’ve never heard of other programs doing is that their chiefs stay an extra year (so they are PGY4s), kind of like what a lot of IM programs do.

Administration: The chairman and PD are very dedicated to the program and supportive of the residents. They see educating residents and students as their primary purpose, and all of the faculty are expected to prioritize teaching as well. There isn’t a dedicated teaching block, but they work with residents to help them learn to teach. I’ve already mentioned the orientation month. Each resident also selects a faculty mentor halfway through their PGY1 year.

Nashville: I love Nashville as a city. Cost of living is very reasonable. The area around the hospital is nice, and a lot of residents and students live nearby within walking distance of the hospital. There is a great music scene (which includes country music but not just country music) and good restaurants. If you like outdoorsy things, there are a lot of parks and the mountains are an hour or two away. It looks like running is popular, because I saw tons of people running in the area around the medical center while I was there.

Summary: I can’t think of anything substantial not to like about this program. Vandy seems to have it all: great didactics, lots of fellowships (all the major ones except for tox), good research opportunities, lots of opportunities for residents to teach (and even a competition where the med students who are rotating on EM vote for the best R2 and R3 teachers each month), nice people, residents who are ridiculously happy, good variety of patients, no floor months, located in a nice area of a nice city, good benefits (and no state income tax, which matters now that I’m going to have an income!), great electives, a really user-friendly and nice EMR system, and moderate weather. The facilities are pretty nice, with a separate emergency psych section that is run by psychiatry. You do ACLS and other certifications during the orientation month if you need to, which gives you a chance to bond with your classmates and also means you don’t have to pay for it. The orientation month sounds like a kinder, gentler way to be broken into residency as opposed to some programs where you might be starting in the ICU on July 1! I got the impression that resident wellness is a major priority with the administration, and the residents seem to be a cohesive and friendly group. As nice as everything else is, what really sold this program to me is the people.

When I asked residents what they saw as the downside, most didn’t have anything substantial to say either. A couple thought there might not be enough time spent rotating at other sites besides VUHS. But personally, I see that as a strength, because I don’t want to waste my free time driving all over the place to five or six different far-flung rotation sites. There are three hospitals on the Vandy campus (VUHS, children’s hospital, and VA), so it’s not like they don’t get any variety there, and they also get six weeks total at the Sumner community EM site.

Overall, I loved this program, and I would be ecstatic to train there.

I interviewed at this program and was quite impressed with this program. The residents I met were happy and enthusiastic. The PD and Chair were AWESOME! Tons of pathology and great education. Nashville, TN is a cool laid back city with lots of things to do. EMS was structured and Ultrasound is great and the residents admit the faculty is awesome and very helpful. All the residents raved about their didactic experience and state the faculty give great lectures. Dr Slovis is an awesome lecturer and got to hear him at ACEP a year ago. A lot of ICU time and no floor month was a plus for me. Overall I ranked this program in my top 5!

Posted anonymously on behalf of a student who interviewed there:

*****

I applied in the south east area. Top quarter of my class, 254 step 2, Honors in EM x3, 2 away 1 home, Couple of publications. Sent out like30 apps. Only interviewed at 3 year programs.

My top 4 programs (in alphabetical order):

UAB
Pros: Outstanding program, outstanding reputation. The guys that write harrison’s internal medicine txt are from UAB. Great research support. Used to be a 4 year program, only been a 3 year program for a few years. The program director is a huge highlight. Resident advocate. My favorite interview on the trail. Resident centered program. Best moonlighting opportunities I encountered. They have internal moonlight at an urgent care type facility for so-so pay. Also have external moonlighting where you are paired up with more experienced physician and cover 2 physician EDs. A majority of the residents moonlight at least some. ED is brand new and state of the art. New children’s hospital/ED opening this year. 10 residents.
Pros/Cons: Birmingham.

Carolinas-
Pros: Outstanding program. Long history and great reputation in the field. Top of the top researchers in EM. Jeff Klein for instance is THE pulmonary embolism guy. Program directory is absolutely awesome. One of my favorite interviews of the trail. I just read one of her chapters in Rosen’s actually. They treat their residents amazingly. Great benefits. One of the best cities to live in period. Cool patient population, you get both underserved and the private type patients in the same ED. 12 residents per year.
Cons: No external moonlighting, although they do have internal moonlighting that pays so-so. No medical school affiliation (although I think they are working on this). I wasn’t a big fan of the ER, Kind of seemed cramped and older.

Emory
Pros: Again, outstanding program, great reputation in the field. Tons of top people have trained at emory. New trauma area is super nice. Lots of freedom as a resident. High patient volume. High acuity. Clinically, arguably the #1 program in the southeast. The research here is on another level. The CDC is located there in Atl and has large ties with the EM department.
Pro/con: Giant program 21 residents. Grady. I think it would be awesome to work there. Tons of action. Lower socioeconomic patient population. Atlanta is a pro/con, either you like it or you don’t .
Cons: No one moonlights there. Apparently it is allowed, but just no one does it for some reason. I asked about it and they had maybe 1-2 third years that do any moonlighting at all. They don’t do integrated Peds shifts, this is the only program on the list that does full Peds months exclusively with no year round type of experience. I felt that the program was less resident centered and more research/attending centered.

Vanderbilt
Pros: Outstanding program, outstanding reputation. Best resident education I encountered on the trail. Wrenn and Slovis are on a plane of their own. World renowned lecturers/educators. Resident centered program. Great moonlighting opportunities (external only I believe), most of the residents did some moonlighting. Ed and Childrens ED both have excellent layout and look nice. Great reputation in the area, with wide patient diversity and high acuity. Good relationship with trauma dept. Nashville is an awesome city with tons to do. 12 residents.
Pro/con: Medical record isn’t one of the big professional ones, it is one that was created in house. Seems good, with all the features you would expect/need.
Con: no real cons to the program.

Program Overview: I doubt I can say anything about Vandy that hasn’t already been said, but you hear that this program is impressive and it certainly holds true to that reputation. All of the residents and faculty were super chill and fun to be around they preach a lot about being a family and a tight community and are the first to admit that it sounds cheezy as hell, but seems to be really true. People weren’t even just close with their own year but the other years as well. Big points for them included their teaching and Solvis really sells this as a major point. Other pros include food, parking, great benefits, a whole department to help your SO find a job, great orientation month and assigned mentor family that has a PGY1,2,3 and attending that meet every 6 months. Feedback appears to be taken very seriously here and they listed multiple changes they had implemented recently for me (trauma hours, peds fellows sealing cases etc.).


Curriculum: 3 year program. No floor months. Has orientation month and a first year resident typically works 19-20 shifts, usually between 8-9 hours. Peds is longitudinal and a just a normal part of your ED months. Attendings in the peds ED can vary between just EM trained, peds fellows and peds trained. Trauma is run by surgery but they really stress the close relationship and trauma seems like one of the hardest months of the residency with 14 hour days and having to be there at 5am. Definitely see a lot of traumas as they have an extensive area of service, a robust life flight program and great EMS training as well that leads to Vandy being a leader in the tristate area and attracting more than your usual knife and gun but also tracker rollovers and pet bull injuries. Have a unique offer to stay on a 4th year as a chief which gets paid half an attending salary but works half the shifts and does 4-6 days of admin like stuff. Chiefs said a lot of people also work community during this time so it’s great to help you decide which you’d rather go into and this year almost guarantees a job. No floor months only ICU 1st and 3rd year and you run the team as a 3rd year. Have basically every fellowship but EMS is particularly strong and they have a lot of options for flight med and even flight moonlighting. Community is particularly stressed at the VA and at Sumner where they do 4 weeks total. Some people opt for more with their elective time in Austrilia etc. This place has the money to let you do anything. Internal moonlighting as a PGY-2 in Team Triage (easy money, identify and triage sick patients and put in lab/radiology orders for those in the waiting room) and the B-pod (fast track role). External moonlighting as a PGY-3 wherever you want.

Interview Day: 7 interviews total with Solvis, PD and APDs being guaranteed. One 3rd year resident and 1 chief. All 15 minutes all casual. Entire day was very low key and people generally seemed excited to talk about the program. Solvis gives a little 15 minute teaching session to show you what they’re all about and I’ll admit it’s a pretty good sell. Was done by about 2:30pm.

Facilities: The ED itself still looks very new and just got epic. Most of the time every patient has their own room but they stated that sometimes hallway beds are used. Peds hospital is also super nice (has taco bell, ben and jerrys, subway and Pizza hut!) with famous singers playing often and 5 new floors being built. Yearly meal allowance of 800$ residents say they don’t spend it all. Parking is free for residents.

Overall: Great program that's never going to have trouble recruiting people. Definitely a place big on didactic and ensuring you walk out of their residency knowing the field of EM extremely well and able to teach others. I'd say one of the if not the most academic 3 year program out there and certainly worth a look. Being in Nashville certainly isn't a negative either.