All my interviews were very laid back and I felt that they were trying to sell their program to me...
Mayo - Rochester
A+ Primo program, nice people, many successfully go into fellowships, many are interested in pain. Top place to learn EMG. Con: It was so cold I thought I was going to die after being outside for 10 minutes. If I were a resident there I would probibly offer to work extra and try to take in-house call because theres nothing else to do.
UW - Seattle
Excellent program, nice area, residents were amazingly smart (I don't know how, but they just oozed intellect...) Many do top fellowships. Less emphasis on pain. Many of grads go into academics and become program directors- this is not what I want for myself so its a CON. Parking and driving is a pain and expensive for residents.
UC Davis - Sacramento
Very nice program and nice residents, strength is msk, sports and peds. Good mix of inpt / outpt 50/50. Most grads work for Kaiser.
San Antonio -
Top notch program, grads get into top pain fellowships, low cost of housing, opportunities to make extra money on the side / moonlight. Training is excellent. Dr D's interview was the ONLY one that I felt intimidated by in all of the interview trail. He demands that you ask GOOD questions, not stupid ones and your questions propel the interview. I think I was sweating. Con:?
Baylor Dallas
I felt that the residents were babied way too much and do not learn autonomy. Even in their last year they still run all decisions by the attending. In my brief time there it seemed like the residents were more like 3rd year medical students who collected data from patients and staff and then called the attending for a decision- even in their last year. The residents can take vacation any time they want and are not missed when they are gone... Much like 3rd year medical students. The majority of the residents are DO's
UT south western
I didn't get to meet any of the residents because their clinic went long- Had a nice lunch with the PC and applicants though. It seemed that the residents are neglected and have too much autonomy early on. Which may lead to forming bad habits regarding patient care. Lots of FMG's
UC Irvine
Program is in a very nice and expensive location, residents are more interested in chicks than their training. Good mix of locations to rotate thru. For some reason I don't think I could get hired if I went there.
VA UCLA
One of the strongest of the California programs. VA based, but not a lot of time is spent at a VA. Many well planned outside rotations make this program well rounded. Very good pain fellowship is nearby. Con: Lots of driving and LA traffic makes getting around a major pain.
Loma Linda, Ca
Excellent program, medium size. Attendings are very good at their specialties and love to teach. This is the only program where I felt that the doctors truly practice whole person care in the sense that they care for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the patient. This needs to be implemented in more programs throughout the country. Dr Strum is doing an excellent job running the TBI and SCI services. He teaches the residents to reason thru problems and guides them through the thought process. Dr Brandstater is legendary in the field of PM&R and sharpens the EMG skills of the residents. Con: EMG is clustered in a 6 month interval, it might be nice if it were more spread out so the residents could see more pathology and reflect on things a bit more. Semi-weak outpatient, but they are currently building a rehab center so that will change. The Loma Linda name is well known throughout southern california and the grads get jobs and fellowships easily.
I interviewed at a majority of these programs 7 years ago and I've got to say that the reviews have stayed remarkably consistent. Here are things that I wish I would have placed more emphasize upon when selecting a program:
1) Elective time -- You need at least 4 months; preferably six.
2) Department/Institution relationships -- Physiatry is very broad. If you want to do a rheum rotation, or an ortho spine rotation, or a even just something out of left field, can they accomodate you?
3) Teaching and training philosophy -- The goal of residency is to make you competent and INDEPENDENT. If you're not running a service as a senior and instead still functioning as a "resi-tern" you're being done a disservice.
4) Think "Napolean Dynamite:" Employers like physiatrists with *SKILLS* not just knowledge. Injection skills, EMG skills, Industrial medicine/occ med skills, admin medical skills, presentational skills, etc.
5) Structured didactics. Bedside teaching should be the icing on the cake, not the primary educational vehicle. The days of Oslerian medicine are over. Everything we know about adult learning points to high quality, interactive, didactics as the most efficient way to assimilate new knowledge.
Be wary of programs that emphasize *YOUR* need to be a "self-motivated" learner. If you ever hear the word "spoon-feed" from a residency during an interview, drop them to the bottom your list. By virtue of your completion of college, medical school, and internship you are "self-motivated." What you need now is a high yield, dense education of sufficient depth and breadth about a complex field of medicine.
6) Intensive anatomy/kinesiology reviews. Every PM&R program should do a musculoskeletal/neuromuscular cadaver dissection. Face it, in medical school you didn't know what the hell you were looking at. To go back through the cadaver again in a focused manner is what will make you an outstanding physiatrist.
7) EMG training with both neurologists and physiatrists. There are conceptual differences in the way both specialties approach EDX. There is value in learning the best of both approaches.
