University of Maryland Residency Reviews

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Thanks,

I agree that Maryland had one of the most impressive training curriculums that I had seen. I thought Dr. Mattu was excellent in his presentation and could see he was very pro-resident and a big asset to the program.

Of the 29 faculty, I met with 7 of them and will PM you with Q's
-The faculty do hold impressive positions and advanced training (ABEM Oral board Examiners, Writers of Review courses, many Full-time professors, trained forensics, critical care, RDMS, Tox, more)

-Risk management training with MD/JD's
-Procedure labs with cadaveurs to practice techniques
-Reading curriculum with Journal Review articles
-Peds training at CNMC in DC :D
-Geriatric curriculum, rads and ECG conferences
-Excellent Anesthesiology rotation with some 80 intubations a month:D
-Residents with 1st author pubs
-Residents have 1st dibs on the fellowships
-Paid off-campus electives
-7-year RRC Accreditation !!
-Many resident-faculty recreational activities (crab feast, orioles game, match party, etc)
-4 Trauma rotations at Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center:D

More can be added...

Members don't see this ad.
 
University of Maryland

Residents: 10 categorical residents per year, plus a few EM/IM and EM/Peds residents, making it a large group. The social event was well attended, and the residents appear to sincerely be good friends. They have many spontaneous social nights, as well as planned events (wing night with the nurses, half-price burger nights at another bar, etc). Most seem to live in Canton or Federal Hill – two cool neighborhoods with lots of young professionals. They are a mix of married and single, a small amount with kids. Maryland was first choice for everyone I met. The combined program people add a cool dynamic – the relationship between EM, IM and Peds seems very strong here since many of them are a part of more than one department.

Faculty: An obvious strength. The PD, Dr. Mattu, was one of the coolest I’ve met on the trail, and clearly a resident advocate. They have had multiple attendings win ACEP teaching awards over the last 5 years, and also boast the AAEM president-elect, 2 MD/JD’s that teach risk management, 2 MD/MBA’s that teach business and administration, and the Vice Dean of the medical school. Residents report a first-name basis with everyone, and faculty arranges outings such as sailing and the crab feast. There is a strong emphasis on teaching here, and the mission statement clearly indicates the desire to train leaders in the field.

Hospital:
Most time is spent at the University of Maryland Medical Center, but residents also spend a lot of time at Shock Trauma, the VA, and Mercy Hospital. The VA looks like one of the nicer ones I’ve seen, and has the typical VA patient population. Mercy is a solid urban community hospital downtown.

University of Maryland: 800+ bed tertiary academic center with the usual bells and whistles. The ED is only a few years old, and is a very nice modern facility – 55 (mostly glass door private) rooms, computerized tracking and ordering (paper T-sheets for charting), a fast track, a Peds section, and on site radiology. The patient population is mostly county/urban. The hospital itself has been upgraded recently with the addition of a pretty new addition – massive glass atrium and lobby, and new ICUs. Around the campus, there are many new buildings going up, including a new student center with a state of the art gym to be offered to residents very cheap (construction just started).

Shock Trauma Center: While actually totally connected to the main hospital, it is technically a freestanding, separate entity – basically a Level Zero trauma center. The building has a helipad, an ambulance bay, about 8 big semi-modern trauma bays; it’s own on site radiology, an adjacent operating room and a SICU area upstairs. Yes, they wear pink scrubs. Yes, they really do see that much trauma – 7,000 or so activations annually. Obviously the set up brings a lot of experience, and also a melting pot of residents from many programs. However, the biggest asset to me seems to be the trauma anesthesia month.

Ancillary Stuff: Good at Maryland and Mercy, not so good at the VA.

Admitting/Documentation: No problems with admitting. Paper T-sheets are used in the ED.

Curriculum: 3-year curriculum with a decent amount of Peds and (obviously) a lot of trauma exposure. All interns do their first month in the ED as part of orientation. A total of 4 months is spent at Shock Trauma – one as an intern, a really awesome Trauma Anesthesia month as a PGY2 (nothing but airway on every trauma patient, all the time – average between 60-80 intubations for the month, that are basically all RSI and tough airways), and 2 months as a senior. Interns do a regular anesthesia month throwing tubes in the OR, and seniors do a Peds Anesthesia month to practice on kids (lots of NT tubes) – this place probably has the best airway training imaginable. No floor medicine. Mostly 12 hours shifts; PGY1s do 18, PGY2s do 17, PGY3s do 16 hour shifts. There are two elective months in third year, and they are starting a senior Ped ED month, where the EM PGY3 will run the Peds ED, overseeing everyone including the Peds residents.

Didactics/Research: I never really care about didactics, but this place is special – they have an amazing and unique didactic course. For 8mo they read only journal articles – no text book learning, and nothing is over 1 year old. Then for 4mo leading up to the in-service they do written board reviews. This obviously takes a lot of effort on behalf of the faculty, and I think it’s awesome. They also do cadaver labs for airway (as well as occasional Sims), using human cadavers to practice tough airways, thoracotomies, etc. The faculty has a lot of productive researchers, and many fellowships; EMS, trauma/critical care, hyperbarics, research, sports medicine (in conjunction with FM), ultrasound, international EM, and a new fellowship/chief year devoted to faculty development. This new fellowship essentially allows a few residents to do the BIDMC-thing – add a 4th year as the chief and have protecting time for teaching and research.

City: Ah, Charm City. Baltimore has a well-deserved reputation as being a bit rough around the edges, and there are clearly some bad areas here (“The Wire” is not really that far off). However, there are some great neighborhoods, and if you know where to go it can be a really fun, manageable city. The Inner Harbor is full of tourists, Fells Point, Canton, and Federal Hill are full of bars, restaurants, and the young professionals that flock to them, Hampden is full of hardcore locals with that wicked Baltimore accent, Little Italy and Greektown are exactly what they sound like, etc…Cost of living is not too bad. There are some nicer suburban areas around, and more expensive places that sit between Baltimore and DC. There is water at your doorstep, and beaches a couple hours away. Also, there’s a great ballpark with a bad team. Additionally, Mrs. UE has some good connections here.

Extras: Salary starts at $44,000, which is manageable in Baltimore. All residents get a PDA and free parking. Membership to the societies and a couple of board reviews are free. Interns go to SAEM, and seniors go to ACEP. Moonlighting is allowed, but doesn’t seem to be common.

Negatives: Very few. Baltimore itself is probably a big one for many people. There’s a lack of Peds Trauma exposure (based on the EMS system, most goes to Hopkins). For what it’s worth, there may be a sort of lack of patient diversity – seems like you pretty much only see inner city patients.

Overall: Fabulous program that is well respected for good reason but still continuing to improve itself. The residents are happy and cohesive, the faculty is top-notch, the curriculum (especially the airway management training and the true evidenced-based didactics) is well designed, and the entire program is geared towards teaching those who want to become leaders in EM. I’m thoroughly impressed.
 
I have avoided peeking at the others to provide my own unbiased take. This is my last review (yay!) so I am trying to make it good.

University of Maryland Emergency Medicine

Residents: 14 residents in the intern class, coming from everywhere in the country. MD was everyone's first choice. About half were married, some with kids. They have a great sense of humor and seem to love each other alot. The first month of thes residency is spent together in the ED and in orientation so this enhances bonding. The resident's get great jobs and fellowships.

Faculty: Lots of greats, here. This is an award-winning faculty with lots of power all over the university. In particular, Dr. Mattu is very well respected and won PD of the year in 2006. He stresses leadership development and has worked very hard on the curriculum to TEACH you how to be a leader. He also regularly surveys his recent grads to see what they would have liked to see more or less of during residency, and modifies the program accordingly. He is very kind and down to earth. Dr. Browne, the chairman, is very generous in terms of funding multiple parties and is well-liked.

Hospital: Training occurs primarily at the University of Maryland, with trauma experience at the famous Maryland Shock-Trauma.

University of Maryland - an academic center with about 40 beds and 15 peds for a separate ED). When I visited, it wasn't packed (some empty rooms, no people in the hall beds), but it gets 50K visits per yr with 20% acuity. Documentation is via T-sheets. It is NOT a peds trauma center. The ED is very nice and modern looking.

Shock - Trauma - All traumas screened by the trauma line come through here. 14 trauma bays with its own OR, CT scan, and blood bank that receive a crazy amount of adult traumas. You start running traumas as an intern, and often EM comprises the majority of the shock-trauma teacm. People also come from all over to rotate on shock trauma. Since many were stealing the cool scrubs that said "shock trauma center", they changed the label to "STC" and made the scrubs a see-through pink color :smuggrin:.
You also rotate at mercy, which uses dictated records.

Ancillary Stuff: As with many places, great ancillary services, you won't have to do any wheeling people around, starting IVs, or making your own phone calls. They say the RNs have a good relationship with the residents and are on a first name basis. In fact, on first Tuesdays the RNs, residents, and faculty all go out for buffalo wings at the local pub.

Admitting: To medicine at least. I think UE knows.

Curriculum: There are NO floor months, mainly ICU and ED. In addition to the shock-truma rotation, you do trauma anesthesiology, trauma radiology, and trauma US (all what they sound like). Seniors will run the whole adult ED and peds ED on separate rotations like a junior attending. Ped EM rotations are also being sprinkled throughout the 3rd year to ensure you're fresh on kids when you leave. Hours are 18 12hr shifts as an intern and 14-17 12 hr shifts as an attending (per Dr. Mattu, many employers prefer this).

Didactics: WOW!!! This is the best didactics I have ever seen!!!
No textbook, all reading is cutting edge review articles. Core curriculum includes cases, tox, peds, rads, ekg, but also geriatric EM, critical care, risk management, and joint EM/IM and EM/Peds conferences since they have both combos available. There are also procedure labs with lots of fresh cadavers along with sim. Maybe the best features are the professional development (including job hunting, finances, leadership courses, conflict management, and wellness) and board review series (Nov-Feb is dedicated board review didactics). All this has lead to a higher than average board pass rate, as well as a number of excellent grads who kick butt in academics.

Research/Fellowships: Strong clinical and one basic science/translational researcher. They stress that many of their faculty are devoted more to teaching than research, however. No research requirment, though 30-40% of residents end up doing original research for their scholarly project. Residents get first dibs on fellowships, which include EMS, critical care/truma, hyperbarics, and research. International opportunities in honduras, S. Africa, Mayalsia, India, Bali, Malaysia, and China, etc, abound.

Perks: Lots of parties! An orientation crab feast, Orioles game (they don't staff any games, tho), sailing competition, December holiday party, spring lobster feast, and 1st Tuesday wing nights are only some of the ED-sponsored activities. All interns get a PDA, EM textbook, and all memberships, and seniors go to ACEP. You can moonlight with a few provisos but few choose to do so.

City: Baltimore is a mid-sized town "with the charm of the North and the efficiency of the South", as I was told by a resident. On my way in, I saw a bench that said, "Baltimore: the greatest city in America" (a trauma surgeon appended that statement with "for trauma" :laugh:. Seriously, it's no New York and will probably be the murder capital of the world again but it boasts a decent cost of living, good seafood, adn the waterfront.

Negatives: Some residents complained that they have to call consultants for many things a community doc wouldn't have to and have to fight for reductions, etc with ortho. There is also little structure to the anesthesia rotation (you just show up and wander around begging), and your US scans don't count (you have to have rads repeat them).

Overall: A program with an outstanding reputation, innovative curriculum, wonderful faculty, and a winning personality in a medium-sized city that keeps the trauma coming. I was extremely impressed by this program and would be happy to train here.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Disclaimer: I did a rotation here, so this review will be a bit more detailed than my other reviews.

Overview:
A 3 year academic program located in Baltimore, Maryland. You do 5 total months of ICU and 3 months of trauma at the world-famous Shock Trauma Center, a 2 months of total elective time. There are no medicine or peds floor months. Of note, trauma is a separate entity (and location) from the main ED, so you'll see very little trauma during your regular ED months. There are 11 residents per year (15 total including the other combined programs).

Residents: All of the residents I met were extremely friendly and welcoming during my month there. They all seemed very happy with their choice (#1 for pretty much all of the residents I met). I thought that their senior residents seemed extremely competent, confident, and not tired or burnt out. Working with them was great, and they all seemed to get along well together (not only with their own class but also amongst the other classes).

Interview Day: The day started at around 8:00am with light breakfast and coffee. This was followed by an hour long overview of the program by the PD. The impression I got from his talk was that their mission is to train future leaders in academic emergency medicine. After the talk, there were interviews with 3 faculty member, each lasting about 20 minutes. All were low-stress and pretty standard. This was followed by lunch with some of the residents and a tour of the ED and Shock Trauma. The day was done by 1:30pm.

Faculty: Nationally recognized faculty who all seem committed to teaching and medical education, some having won national teaching awards. Their faculty have advanced training in such areas as research, toxicology, critical care, ultrasound, JDs, and MPHs. The vast majority of faculty I worked with were very friendly and definitely took the time to teach during each shift. They definitely wanted you to come up with an assessment and plan and see your patients through to the end. Definitely a great bunch of attendings.

Curriculum: 3 year program with no medicine or peds floor months. The specifics of their curriculum can be found on their website.

Some highlights:
- 3 months of trauma at Shock Trauma (one month each year)
- 1 month of trauma anesthesiology at aforementioned Shock Trauma
- EMS and Toxicology experience
- Pediatric anesthesiology and ultrasound
- 2 months of elective time in third year (which include ultrasound, research, international EM, etc.)

Peds experience seems pretty strong with 4 total months of peds ED (2 in each of year one and two), a month of PICU (third year) and a month of peds anesthesiology and ultrasound (third year).

As I mentioned, trauma is physically separated from the main ED so you'll see your trauma at Shock and not in the ED. So, I guess this setup would be something to think about if you prefer a program where the traumas come in to the ED. However, training at such a high-volume mega trauma center like Shock Trauma (even if for "only" 3 months) should be more than enough to prepare your for life after residency.

Ultrasound experience seemed really strong here during my rotation. I used the machine a lot during my shifts, ranging from placing difficult peripheral lines, scanning abscesses, RUQ scans, transabdominal scans, central line placement. There is also an ultrasound fellowship here.

Didactics as per 5 hours a week. They use a combination of formal lectures by both faculty and residents, case-based presentations, small group sessions, cadaver labs, procedure labs, simulation sessions, medicolegal lectures, monthly journal clubs, joint conferences with other services, and faculty development courses. Of note, they do not read textbooks here; instead they read the most recent review/journal articles and are there really up to date on the latest evidence-based medicine. Having attending their didactics/labs/simulations while I was rotating there, I can honestly tell you that the teaching is top-notch. The EKG review lectures given by the PD were all extremely informative, high-yield, and well taught.

I should take this time to mention the emphasis on teaching at this institution... not only by the faculty but also by the residents. Third year residents basically take on the role of a junior attending, staffing patients with interns and handling teaching responsibilities with the interns (and med students) as well. You are also responsible for department flow as a third year. As a second year, you work some shifts as a "swing" resident where you are responsible for staffing patients with and teaching medical students. This place is definitely big on teaching. Another thing I noticed is that all of your rotations as resident are high-yield and EM-relevant.

Shifts are 12 hours long, but I don't remember the specific number of shifts worked per month. Maybe 16 or 17 a month... not sure.

Facilities: The ED at the Maryland Medical Center is on the bigger side and modern. I think there are a total of 50 or so treatment beds, mostly private. There are 4 resus bays. Although Maryland is an academic institution, its location gives you exposure to an inner city/urban patient population (and all of the problems that come along with it... IVDU, non-compliant patients, difficult patients, sick patients with no PMD, etc.). The ED sees over 50,000 patients per year. At Maryland, charting is done by T-sheets with orders, lab results, and medical records computerized. Ancillary staff here were excellent.

I didn't do any shifts at Shock Trauma during my rotation, but I "visited" the place for about an hour during one of my shifts. Shock Trauma is basically a free-standing Level I trauma center with about 20 trauma bays and dedicated operating rooms and CT scanners. They see over 7000 traumas per year, with a good amount of penetrating trauma (hey, it's Baltimore, right?). During my hour "visit", 3 traumas rolled in (but they were all blunt trauma). With the high volume of traumas seen here, you definitely will be running some of them as the ED resident on the trauma team.

Community experience is gained at Mercy medical center, which I am not familiar with. However, I think everything there is electronic (charting, orders, labs, etc.).

Location: Baltimore, Maryland. Please see my review on Hopkins for an overview of the city. In short, there are some good places and bad (really bad) places. There seems like enough stuff to do to keep you occupied for 3 years, and you are in close proximity to other northeast cities.

opb's final thoughts: I had an awesome experience rotating here. I thought the teaching was top-notch and the didactics were extremely strong. This is an academic institution with a good amount of patient volume, so if you're looking for a super-high volume (>100k), county, crazy experience then this probably won't fit the bill. Also, 12 hour shifts may be a turn-off for some people. However, if you're looking for a very, very strong 3 year academic program with an emphasis on teaching and graduated responsibility, then you need look no further. Plus, you get to work at Shock Trauma.
 

iwakuni_doc

Emergency-a-Go-Go
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2003
Messages
173
Reaction score
0
I've completed all of my interviews & would be more than happy to share my opinions on the following programs:

Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard - awesome facility & equipment, very academic, optional 4th year as research/junior attending position. Residents are a very friendly & laid-back crew, and they seem genuinely happy. Faculty seemed nice & eager to teach, occasional tendency to throw the HARVARD name around but not bad. Program director was a little dry during interview & presentation, but that's kind of his way per the residents - assistant program director is very engaging & friendly.

Duke - as mentioned previously in other threads, the program director is a very strong plus. The faculty are very young, energetic, & eager to teach - a lot of diverse interests are available. The Duke hospital is beautiful & huge, but the ED is about average in terms of layout & size. They've renovated the psych section & supposedly plans are in place to build a new ED in the vaguely distant future. Off-service rotations - YOU'RE WEARING THE SHORT INTERN COAT...not to mention white pants on the surgery services! To me this is an extremely unnecessary addition to internship - the year's tough enough without the added humiliation of short coats & white pants. Attire aside, the off-service rotations are reportedly very good. Current residents seemed happy, but a fairly eclectic group of personalities - couldn't get a good grip on the group as a whole. I think it'll be a great program in 5-6 years.

Hopkins - Program director & coordinator were the two biggest positives for this program. Although my interview day was cut short due to inclement weather & I may have gotten a slightly skewed perception - it seemed to me that the program was very much about the "This is Hopkins...you should come because it is Hopkins" idea. This is not based on anything concretely said, but just my overall gut-feeling.

Maine - a very nice little ED, good facility/equipment. Residents seemed like a good group, very happy with their program & decision. Department Chair & Program Director are great - one of the biggest draws to this place. Dynamic young faculty mixed with some emergency doc's with 20+ years there who still love to teach. Portland's a great little town & the pay is the best of any place I've been. Only concern is if it's too small...

Maricopa - the only true "county" program I interviewed at, recently got a funding bill passed to provide for the next 20yrs worth of funding. Program director is great, they just hired the new chair of the dept - one of the editors for Tintinalli's. Residents seemed great & very happy. Good housing market. The only non-East coast program I applied & interviewed at.

Maryland - awesome facility/equipment, new ED, Shock Trauma, very academic/political. Chair & Program director are great. Very impressed with their academics & career development. Residents seemed very happy, personable & capable - current president of EMRA is there & interviewing applicants along with the faculty. Baltimore is fun city, quite a few rough areas but also several great areas - Inner Harbor, Fell's Point, Federal Hill, etc. The only knock that I could possibly come up with is that it's all 12-hr shift over all 3yrs...pros & cons to that, more hours but fewer shifts. I did a second look here & had a great shift in the ED - high acuity but also good bedside teaching, both from ED staff & consulting services.

UMASS - as mentioned by an earlier reviewer, it is a very busy & overcrowded ED (kinda similar to Maricopa in that aspect) although they are building a new ED to be completed in spring/summer of 2005 (start of our 2nd year). Great lifeflight program - not optional. Big on disaster/international medicine. Faculty were great, chairman has been there 20yrs - very stable & established program. Program coordinator is awesome. Very pro-military group, several reservists in the faculty & residents. Rotate at a couple other community hospitals in Worcester - taken there on tour...nice facility. Several nice perks: proximity to Boston yet reasonable housing market, good pay, state-sponsored 401K, free tuition at UMASS for spouse/children.

UVA - great facility/equipment, awesome college town environment. Chair is active in dept - was working shift in ED during my visit. Program director & coordinator were both very personable & seemed genuinely caring. Faculty was nice mix of young & experienced. Residents were happy & laid-back. Definitely the community-program feel, although it's in a large university hospital. Nice chest-pain center in the ED

I think any of these 8 will give me a good experience & training, and I plan on ranking them all. However, my top 5 are clearly Maryland, Maine, UVA, UMASS, Beth Israel Deaconess - order yet to be determined.
 
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...
 
Since it's been about 4 years since the last review, can a resident or recent graduate of University of Maryland give an update? Specifically, can you comment on the following:

  • Number and length of shifts per month for each PGY year

  • Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, will I only see trauma during concentrated blocks of training or throughout my entire residency experience in the ED?

  • Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?

  • Based on the curriculum on the official website, there are 5 site-locations (UMMC, Baltimore VA, Mercy Medical, Children's National), the farthest being Children's National (37.2 miles from UMMC). Are there any other off-site locations other than the ones listed? Is there any commuting between these locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)? How much time is spent at the distant locations? I'm looking for programs with minimal commuting.

  • Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?

  • How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).

  • Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?
Thank you!
 
Since it's been about 4 years since the last review, can a resident or recent graduate of University of Maryland give an update? Specifically, can you comment on the following
You have a lot of questions, but as a recent grad, I will try to answer them.

Number and length of shifts per month for each PGY year
Shifts in the UMMC are strings of 12s, 18/month for interns, going down to 16/month for Pgy-3s. Other sites will have different patterns - at Mercy you have 8s and more shifts/month, etc.

Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, will I only see trauma during concentrated blocks of training or throughout my entire residency experience in the ED?
At UMMC, the two sides of the ED are supposed to have roughly equal acuity. They are developing a dedicated critical care area with critical care/resus shifts for residents. The majority of the trauma experience is through STC, though the occasional stabbing or GSW will come in through the UMMC ED. The usual falls and low velocity MVCs will come in anywhere you rotate.

At Mercy there are some changes in acuity based on where you are assigned. At CNMC, they have dedicated high and low acuity.

Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?
When at UMMC and other sites, you'll see whatever comes in the door. All procedures are your's.

At STC, the team members cycle through round-robin style, leading the trauma resus in turns. (I was leading the team as an intern) You can assign or do whatever procedures the patient needs or as the situation dictates. I often gave away lines and chest tubes because there were more than enough to go around. At other institutions, I heard about the trauma team wisking the patient away to the OR to do thoras and other procedures there. But at STC, you are the team, so you can follow the patient to the OR and do the procedures yourself.

You'll also lead the team (acting fellow) and run the TRU as a pgy-3. It was probably my favorite rotation of residency. One day we had 38 trauma alerts (there was a string of shootings in the Western that summer). I think we had 2-3 thoras and 2 crics that month, and a dozen or so lines and CTs.

Anesthesia does the intubations at STC, but we rotate on that service too. Folks routinely get triple digits of intubations during that month. They also do a lot of concious sedations with ortho that month.

We also have the luxury of a quarterly cadaver lab, where you have time to examine the structures and learn all of these critical procedures at your own pace.

Based on the curriculum on the official website, there are 5 site-locations (UMMC, Baltimore VA, Mercy Medical, Children's National), the farthest being Children's National (37.2 miles from UMMC). Are there any other off-site locations other than the ones listed? Is there any commuting between these locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)? How much time is spent at the distant locations? I'm looking for programs with minimal commuting.
You do a rotation at Upper Chesapeake. You can do elective rotations in a bunch of community EDs.

There's a month in intern and junior resident years at CNMC. A month at Upper Chesapeake.

Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?
At UMMC, we have t-sheets, but that should change to EPIC by the time the next intern class comes in. Other places have dictations.

How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).
I didn't do any of that. A few were sick enough I thought they might code so I went with them to the scanner - does that count?

Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?
There's about 30-40% married folks, and half of those have kids. Flexible leave for pregnant residents and those with newborns. About one-two people/year has a child.

The other 60% are single and frequently go on outings together (group dinners, vacations, ski trips, etc).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Anyone who has interviewed here know how stressful the interviews are? Bizarre questions or laid back?
 
Anyone who has interviewed here know how stressful the interviews are? Bizarre questions or laid back?
So you have 3 interviews I believe (4 for EM/IM so I may be slightly off). 1 is totally blinded to your application (knows nothing about you). One is with the PD. The EM ones were pretty chill, no really weird questions. The PD is very laid back and is more there to answer your questions. For EM/IM, you also interview with that PD and a chief, these were a little more intense (why do a 5 year program blah blah).

For me; the blind was the most laid back. We hit it off and ended up talking for like 30 mins (normally they're <20). Overall, it was about what I had expected. Not as laid back as my home institution but not as obscene as I've heard like ortho interviews are.

Hope that helps
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Long time lurker, posting on alternate account in order to remain anonymous. These threads greatly helped me and as such I am paying it forward. Good luck for future medical students. I won't go into the curriculum details or specifics since those are mostly readily available on their websites, but rather I made a long pro/con detail list along my interview trail and I will highlight my thoughts from that list.

Pro: felt baltimore was cleaner than i expected, fun and livable, happy residents, good work life balance, employable anywhere after graduation, excellent training, fun and educational didactics taught by the faculty, great career development + mentors, southwest airlines hub, lots of funding for conferences and research, relaxed interview day, fun dinner the night before (but ran out of food and beverages), beautiful facilities

Con: baltimore is expensive (although not as expensive as NYC or DC, something they said a lot during the day), felt like they worked long shifts, felt like bad blood between hopkins and maryland and for both programs was off-putting that they bad mouthed their peers across the street, shock trauma is awesome but felt like trauma is not as integrated in your career


Overall impressions
Gut feeling:9/10
Facilities/resources: 10/10
Location: 7/10
Didactics: 10/10
Prestige: 10/10
Research: 10/10
Shift/hours/wellness: 5/10
 
Top