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Looks like interview season is going to be getting into full swing in the next few weeks. So I suppose now would be a decent time to start an interview experiences thread, as a fellow SDNer suggested to me recently. So let's use this thread to share anything interview related: stuff about the program, impressions, interactions with residents, logistical info about the interview day(s), etc. our friend wrote such great info about Nebraska, I thought I'd copy and paste it here to start this thread off. i know these types of threads have been useful to me in the past, so let's help both this year's applicants and future applicants by sharing some useful information in this thread.
Also, I did my interview at my home program, but the day was so different than what an external applicant would experience it's not worth posting. I knew all my interviewers already, so it just wasn't like what anyone else will experience. However if anyone is going to be interviewing here and has questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Ok, so this is ygradisil's (sp? - sorry, mate!) very thorough post about UNMC:
I interviewed there last week, and I thought Id post some of what I learned there. This is pretty long, but it was a useful way for me to record what Id learned. It reads kind of stiff because I tried to stay objective.
The interview basics- 1 night lodging was provided at the downtown Hilton, I had dinner at an upscale brew pub the night before (and managed to restrict myself to only 2 of their delicious pints of stout) with their junior chief (3rd year) and their post-sophomore fellow.
The interview day began at 8 am with their daily didactic session. This varies in format from day to day- sometimes its a lecture, sometimes they cut a brain, but at least once a week its an unknown conference, which was what was happening on my day. The standard format is to receive a lecture on a group of entities on Monday/Tuesday, and then see related unknowns later in the week. The didactic is routinely attended by all the residents, and more than one mentioned that this common learning experience helped establish team learning and esprit de corps. Prior to the 8-9 am session, theres also a 7:30-8:00 am informal interesting cases scope session run by the residents, for the residents, at the residents.
I then met with Dr. Lele, the program director, who moved into the job a little over a year ago, and made many changes (generally described as for the better by residents) in the program. He attends the daily didactic and frequently chimes in with questions and comments. He also runs another interesting cases scope session at 4:30-5:00 pm.
For the rest of the day I spent half-hour sessions with seven other attendings, representing AP and CP evenly. They generally represented the strengths of their program as 1) strong Hemepath 2) busy and diverse transplant center (they trans everything except lung) 3) strong cytogenetics 4) Good CP with PhDs running chemistry (which has a tandem mass spec machine, which I guess is state of the art) and microbiology (UNMC is the state public health lab, so they get tons of micro cases, and have a level III biohazard suite). From 11:30-1 I ate lunch with four residents.
AP schedule is based on a 3-4 day rotation. On Day 1 they gross, Day 2 the residents look at the cases in the morning, then start sign out at 1 pm. Day 3 is a second day of sign out, and Day 4 is conditional on the post-sophomore fellow being on service, and is designated a float day, wherein the resident finishes pending cases, helps cover frozens and helps if gross is piling up. The residents uniformly described the 3-4 day rotation as relaxed and very conducive to learning. On their gross day, they rarely find themselves staying later than 6, and are usually done by 5 pm. Signout is also relaxed, as the residents feel they have enough time to preview the cases, and are usually done signing out by 5.
Call is divided evenly among the residents and is assigned by the day, so a resident expects to be on call 1:11 days, and covers 4 weekends/year. First year residents divide up the four major holidays. While on call, the resident stays to cover late frozens, usually until about 7. Generally call involves the transplant service, with lots of frozens of liver parenchyma. Blood bank call is handled only by the resident(s) that are currently on the blood bank rotation, and apparently most of those questions are covered by the staff and medical director. So, 1:11 days, and residents expect to get called about 50% of the time, usually for about an hour. Weekend call covers the autopsy service.
They process about 28,000 specimens/year, including bone marrows, and not including outside consults. Their derm specimens are signed out in-house by two dermpaths. Residents can follow a skin case and sign out with them, but the residents I talked to said they needed/planned on doing a derm elective. Theres a strong pediatric path group in town, about 2 miles from UNMC, that is the only routine outside elective site (other elective sites are, of course, allowed. One resident is currently doing something in Sweden for a month.)
Starting salary for PGY-1 is 46K this year. Additional benefits not listed on Frieda are $5/day allowance for lunch, $1,000/year for books/educational travel, one free trip to a conference/four years, and a free trip whenever youre presenting something. Residents get their own desks, scopes (older Olympus and Nikon at the moment, but $$ is approved for four new scopes/year, which will filter down through the ranks), and computers.
The residents/fellows and some techs gather socially about once a month, and a few times per year an attending hosts a party.
Residents describe Omaha as an affordable city (especially housing- the Omaha Chamber of Commerce states that the median home sale price in 2005 was $138,000, vs. $216,000 for the national average at that time.), with low traffic and crime.
Also, I did my interview at my home program, but the day was so different than what an external applicant would experience it's not worth posting. I knew all my interviewers already, so it just wasn't like what anyone else will experience. However if anyone is going to be interviewing here and has questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Ok, so this is ygradisil's (sp? - sorry, mate!) very thorough post about UNMC:
I interviewed there last week, and I thought Id post some of what I learned there. This is pretty long, but it was a useful way for me to record what Id learned. It reads kind of stiff because I tried to stay objective.
The interview basics- 1 night lodging was provided at the downtown Hilton, I had dinner at an upscale brew pub the night before (and managed to restrict myself to only 2 of their delicious pints of stout) with their junior chief (3rd year) and their post-sophomore fellow.
The interview day began at 8 am with their daily didactic session. This varies in format from day to day- sometimes its a lecture, sometimes they cut a brain, but at least once a week its an unknown conference, which was what was happening on my day. The standard format is to receive a lecture on a group of entities on Monday/Tuesday, and then see related unknowns later in the week. The didactic is routinely attended by all the residents, and more than one mentioned that this common learning experience helped establish team learning and esprit de corps. Prior to the 8-9 am session, theres also a 7:30-8:00 am informal interesting cases scope session run by the residents, for the residents, at the residents.
I then met with Dr. Lele, the program director, who moved into the job a little over a year ago, and made many changes (generally described as for the better by residents) in the program. He attends the daily didactic and frequently chimes in with questions and comments. He also runs another interesting cases scope session at 4:30-5:00 pm.
For the rest of the day I spent half-hour sessions with seven other attendings, representing AP and CP evenly. They generally represented the strengths of their program as 1) strong Hemepath 2) busy and diverse transplant center (they trans everything except lung) 3) strong cytogenetics 4) Good CP with PhDs running chemistry (which has a tandem mass spec machine, which I guess is state of the art) and microbiology (UNMC is the state public health lab, so they get tons of micro cases, and have a level III biohazard suite). From 11:30-1 I ate lunch with four residents.
AP schedule is based on a 3-4 day rotation. On Day 1 they gross, Day 2 the residents look at the cases in the morning, then start sign out at 1 pm. Day 3 is a second day of sign out, and Day 4 is conditional on the post-sophomore fellow being on service, and is designated a float day, wherein the resident finishes pending cases, helps cover frozens and helps if gross is piling up. The residents uniformly described the 3-4 day rotation as relaxed and very conducive to learning. On their gross day, they rarely find themselves staying later than 6, and are usually done by 5 pm. Signout is also relaxed, as the residents feel they have enough time to preview the cases, and are usually done signing out by 5.
Call is divided evenly among the residents and is assigned by the day, so a resident expects to be on call 1:11 days, and covers 4 weekends/year. First year residents divide up the four major holidays. While on call, the resident stays to cover late frozens, usually until about 7. Generally call involves the transplant service, with lots of frozens of liver parenchyma. Blood bank call is handled only by the resident(s) that are currently on the blood bank rotation, and apparently most of those questions are covered by the staff and medical director. So, 1:11 days, and residents expect to get called about 50% of the time, usually for about an hour. Weekend call covers the autopsy service.
They process about 28,000 specimens/year, including bone marrows, and not including outside consults. Their derm specimens are signed out in-house by two dermpaths. Residents can follow a skin case and sign out with them, but the residents I talked to said they needed/planned on doing a derm elective. Theres a strong pediatric path group in town, about 2 miles from UNMC, that is the only routine outside elective site (other elective sites are, of course, allowed. One resident is currently doing something in Sweden for a month.)
Starting salary for PGY-1 is 46K this year. Additional benefits not listed on Frieda are $5/day allowance for lunch, $1,000/year for books/educational travel, one free trip to a conference/four years, and a free trip whenever youre presenting something. Residents get their own desks, scopes (older Olympus and Nikon at the moment, but $$ is approved for four new scopes/year, which will filter down through the ranks), and computers.
The residents/fellows and some techs gather socially about once a month, and a few times per year an attending hosts a party.
Residents describe Omaha as an affordable city (especially housing- the Omaha Chamber of Commerce states that the median home sale price in 2005 was $138,000, vs. $216,000 for the national average at that time.), with low traffic and crime.
