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2011 Rank List Help
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what are you looking for in a program, and what are you looking for outside of work?
if you haven't done so, make a list of priorities. start with the basics: location vs program. if you can't rank your list above by location (or would rather rank by program), think about what you want in a program. people are going to either rant or rave about their programs, but you've had the opportunity to see them for yourself and hopefully ask questions.
if you want a semi-objective way to assess the true strengths/weaknesses of a program, look at their ACGME review. see which areas these programs are strong/weak, and see if those areas matter to you. then make your list accordingly.
also, minus two points for name originality. 😡
Hi everyone,
Quick question in regard to ranking. My top choice has both advanced and categorical positions (Thus #1 and #2 on my ROL). Now my #2 program is bumped to #3 and everything else is bumped down a rank #. So does my #2 program now view me as having them in the #3 slot (and so on with the other programs), when really they are #2 in my book. Does this reduce my chances in ranking into programs down my list if I do no match in my #1?
Thanks.
RB
Quick question in regard to ranking. My top choice has both advanced and categorical positions (Thus #1 and #2 on my ROL). Now my #2 program is bumped to #3 and everything else is bumped down a rank #. So does my #2 program now view me as having them in the #3 slot (and so on with the other programs), when really they are #2 in my book. Does this reduce my chances in ranking into programs down my list if I do no match in my #1?
Thanks.
RB
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read the nmrp guide on how the rank works. where you rank a program doesnt affect your "chances" of matching except for the fact that you might get a place ranked higher on your list. you could rank programs you didnt interview at 1-10, and rank your number 1 at spot 11, and it wouldnt change things.
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Programs NEVER know what your final rank is.
2 rules to help us not think about strategy too much:
1. Putting a program higher on your list can only INCREASE your chances of matching there, but does NOT affect your chance of matching at any school below that
2. Putting advanced over categorical, or vice-versa, does NOT affect your chances of matching at that program overall, but increases the likelihood that you get the track you want.
I'm in the same boat as you, with some programs with 3-4 tracks. It seems odd to put your #10 program as your 20th+ rank
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Wow knew I wasn't creative enough to come up with that name on my own... oh well 🙂
Either way, location is def. important, but not willing to go to crappy program because of it. I think some of the most important things for me are resident/resident relationships and relationships with attendings. Would like to be in an environment where I would feel comfortable going to my attendings with anything. Obviously, I want to come out of the program being strong in all the areas of anesthesia, but feel most of those programs on my list are able to provide me that.
Thanks for the advice on looking at their ACGME review...
Either way, location is def. important, but not willing to go to crappy program because of it. I think some of the most important things for me are resident/resident relationships and relationships with attendings. Would like to be in an environment where I would feel comfortable going to my attendings with anything. Obviously, I want to come out of the program being strong in all the areas of anesthesia, but feel most of those programs on my list are able to provide me that.
Thanks for the advice on looking at their ACGME review...
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that was one of my concerns when i was looking. i'm at UW, and am very happy with my choice. i don't know about the other programs you listed. the chair and program coordinator here are both very very pro-resident. there aren't 'malignant' attendings; there are a few that are more difficult to get along with, but they're few and far between. PM me if you have other ?'s about uw.
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Don't know anything about some of the programs on your list, based some of these programs on locations...
UCSD (don't know much but awesome location)
UWash (super strong in almost every aspect, I loved it there)
NYU (heard only great things)
Sinai (also heard great things)
Pitt (great transplant)
Hopkins (great name/reputation and heard program is getting only better)
UVa (heard it was strong from previous med student that went there)
Cornell (?)
MCW (?)
Case (?)
Baylor (?)
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Location is important--but how much did you get out and enjoy "location" in med school?
I would think more about the environment you are going to be in for 80 hours per week.
You want to go to a good program, with solid didactics (not just one hour per week), attendings who are enthused to teach (not just sitting in the lunch room watching TV), not in the midst of upheaval, faculty that have trained broadly across the country, are there faculty who have done fellowships, does the program have fellowships, has the program lost fellowship certification (this will tell you a lot), are the surgeons good and nontoxic, has the program lost residents, fellows or attendings for any reason over the past few years...these kinds of things will tell you more about what is going on. If you suspect you aren't get the real answers from the anesthesia folks, ask the surgical folks there the scuttle on the anesthesia program.
I would think more about the environment you are going to be in for 80 hours per week.
You want to go to a good program, with solid didactics (not just one hour per week), attendings who are enthused to teach (not just sitting in the lunch room watching TV), not in the midst of upheaval, faculty that have trained broadly across the country, are there faculty who have done fellowships, does the program have fellowships, has the program lost fellowship certification (this will tell you a lot), are the surgeons good and nontoxic, has the program lost residents, fellows or attendings for any reason over the past few years...these kinds of things will tell you more about what is going on. If you suspect you aren't get the real answers from the anesthesia folks, ask the surgical folks there the scuttle on the anesthesia program.
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Can anyone give me some advice with my top 2? I literally can't make a decision 😱 Penn State Hershey or University of New Mexico. I am a US IMG. I am married and my parents live in Albuquerque where I grew up.
Thanks
Thanks
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Anyone care to share their thoughts on the following programs?
Utah
U of AZ
New Mexico
Oklahoma
U of Kansas (kansas city)
Nebraska
Kentucky
Ohio State
CCF
Without taking location or extracurricular activities into consideration (ie, I don't care about skiing, nightlife, good elementary schools etc), how would you guys rank these programs based on the following criteria?
quality of education
pro-resident reputation
decent work hours
resident satisfaction
best chances of matching into a fellowship
good program reputation in regards to future job prospects
Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the feedback on Kentucky.
Can anyone comment on these programs?
U of AZ
New Mexico
Oklahoma
U of Kansas (kansas city)
Nebraska
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Um...what?
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I didn't interview at Baylor (just UT Houston), so this is all 2nd hand, but what I heard from a student who goes there who told me she doesn't want to stay is that it's a department and a school in transition. The hospital is financially unstable and the department currently lacks direction. She said she just thought it was a bad time to be there. Couple that w/ it's a school that supports CRNAs a lot and a place where CRNAs have a lot of power, doesn't have the moonlighting benefits of other texas schools, nickle and dimes you for other stuff like parking and the like, it just knocked it down for me a bit. All that said, you still rotate at a lot of the same hospitals as UT houston and i'm sure the training is solid, i just want a little more stability in my residency program.
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As well as Utah, anyone?
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I didn't interview at Baylor (just UT Houston), so this is all 2nd hand, but what I heard from a student who goes there who told me she doesn't want to stay is that it's a department and a school in transition. The hospital is financially unstable and the department currently lacks direction. She said she just thought it was a bad time to be there. Couple that w/ it's a school that supports CRNAs a lot and a place where CRNAs have a lot of power, doesn't have the moonlighting benefits of other texas schools, nickle and dimes you for other stuff like parking and the like, it just knocked it down for me a bit. All that said, you still rotate at a lot of the same hospitals as UT houston and i'm sure the training is solid, i just want a little more stability in my residency program.
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I have definitely heard about the financial situation at Baylor. That said, I think I was reassured during my interview that the department would not be affected even if the school was. Hopefully, they didn't lie to me. I actually don't mind no moonlighting; I really value free time, especially since the vacay time period is so short (downside of any texas school). I was also told that CRNAs get the shotty cases after residents have been assigned the best cases. Again, hopefully they're not lying to me. This whole process is difficult for me because I feel like I can get duped in so many ways during a short 24 hour interaction. So I guess I'll defer my decisions to my gut instincts. Thanks for the input.
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Anybody? Time is ticking.......😱
What about this scenario, CCF vs. KU Kansas city vs. U of AZ?
edit: I saw the above coments about baylor and SRNA's. I suppose one of the potential downsides to KU could be their SRNA program, I believe CCF has SRNA's too, but I can't remember off the top of my head.
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One thing that was kind of a turn off about Utah was that the PD seemed a bit full of himself, perhaps even arrogant. I've talked to a couple of other applicants that caught the same vibe. What was your take on him? Other than that it seemed like a decent program.
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I really liked the program in Tucson. It was the only interview trip I brought my wife to, and unfortunately she hated the Arizona desert. If it weren't for that, I'd be ranking it quite close to the top of my ROL. Happy residents, great clinical exposure, good moonlighting, and sun 300+ days of the year.
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Yikes, time is running out and I'm still trying to decide between OHSU, Hopkins, and Michigan. Not really concerned about location, just trying to rank on resident happiness, residency/job placement after graduation, and just overall quality of program. Would really appreciate your opinions! 🙂
Ultimately, location plays a role in happiness.
Job placement could also help if you have an area in the country you want to end up.
But overall, I would go:
1. OHSU in terms of a mix of everything.
2. Michigan or JHU - Very large alumni bases, just based on location you like more.
U of AZ- On my list for sure just based on the weather. I loved the arid climate after living in Houston for so long it would be a welcome change. I don't remember the moonlighting specifically, only that it was available. The dinner the night before was really fun but if I remember correctly the guys that were the most outgoing and frankly hilarious were both CA-3s. Certainly everyone wasn't there so there are probably lots of great people in the program. Everyone I interviewed with seemed very reasonable and definitely no dealbreaker personalities. The only downside I saw was that it's an advanced program only, so if you would rather match categorical it would be a problem.
OU- This was my first interview so I was pretty impressed by the whole idea of moonlighting and after a few more interviews I realized that there are LOTS of programs with moonlighting. The best thing about them was IMHO the intern year. It was in a private hospital in OKC that basically the OU Anesthesiology and Radiology interns staff at night as the "House Officer", run codes and whatever else. They said the private attendings there like to teach but don't require much input from you so it's similar to a 4th year in some ways. They seemed to love it. Again, I didn't meet any dealbreaking personalities and I thought the PD was really cool and a big resident advocate. The chairwoman is famous since she's a former CRNA and went back to med school, etc. and the rest is history. The downside some may see is OKC itself. The bricktown area is up and coming I suppose. I have a couple friends from undergrad who just moved there and they seem to be satisfied with the social scene. High in my rank list.
KU- I was pleasantly surprised by Kansas City. Best dinner for sure. I had a Kansas City strip and the interns were buying shots for everyone on my side of the table. I had a blast. The interview itself was fine. Similar themes here, no dealbreakers, reasonable personalities, etc. The negatives were that they have no moonlighting and the intern year is straight medicine. Maybe that's not a problem for some people but I considered anes/surg not anes/IM so a straight medicine year sounds just completely awful to me and since I have some kids I am going to LOVE moonlighting. I think the excuse that no moonlighting gives you more free time to "focus on your reading/family/self..." is crap. Moonlighting is optional so whoever wants it can take it and if you need some touchy feely me time you can have it and leave the moonlighting to the people who want/need it. That said, KU is still on my list since I had so much fun and liked KC.
Just my thoughts.
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Would love some last minute help with my list!
Stony Brook
Penn State
Miami Jackson
Case Metro
Stony Brook
Penn State
Miami Jackson
Case Metro
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Fairly easy:
1. UPenn- Great name, great location, 3 weekends off a month, can get anywhere from here, plus get to work at CHOP for peds which is best in the country
2. UCLA- Biggest name in Southern Cali, CHLA etc.
3. Mt. Sinai- Great PD
4. UCSD- Good location, average clinical.
5. USC- Only because of location now
6. Tufts
7. GW
8. Georgetown
You have to be joking with this list....Penn below NYU, USC, Sinai, UCSD???
USC has a SRNA program, that by itself moves it low. Penn has great affiliations which no one else has. NYU is ok because of salary but other then tat below average teaching and still doesn't help in city versus Sinai moonlighting.
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Our anesthesia simulation chief came from University of New Mexico, he had only good things to say about the program. He is the man with the golden touch, he was program director at Pitt before UNM, and thus he brought the high quality didactics and simulation to NM and our med school as well. Being close to family in Alb.,NM will be a great thing to have as well. Anesthesia residency is tough, so it's good to be in a place where you will be happy for several years.
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i'm sorry, not everyone wants to go to penn over new york or sunny cali. i'm also biased because i know four people at my home program who interviewed at and didn't rank Penn.
Not the point. You let your bias of your location preference get in the way. Give a list fine, but give reasoning. If you have not seen a program state so don't just give lists which is arbitrary. The point is to give information. Yes a message board you get only a person's opinion and no one will base lists off that, but you need to give some reasoning so at least it can help a person think about positives/negatives to come up with their ultimate list.
Additionally, Penn interviews about 150 for 24 spots. They are also filling every year. That is a very good ratio of Interview to seats for the candidate.
Either way not saying your list is wrong, for you it may be the best if you had those choices, but feedback more then just lists is what helps people here.
What do you guys from Cali think about Cedars-Sinai? I'm not from the west coast and that was the only interview I went to. It seems like a good place w/ good chair/pd. Also which one would you put higher of these 2 jersey programs: St. Barnabas vs. UMDNJ
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Exciting time guys. I was there one short year ago and still remember the nerves and excitement. Enjoy...your life will be mind-numbingly boring soon enough when you are an intern.
By the way get ready for one long ass month of waiting.
By the way get ready for one long ass month of waiting.
I would take NM off your list. New PD who is not liked. Got rid of their main pain doc, so lost their pain fellows and had to ship them off to the pacific NW in the middle of their training (probably better for them). There is a lot of unhappiness there.
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what do you guys think of:
Cornell
MGH
Hopkins
UW-Seattle
Yale
UCSF
Cornell
MGH
Hopkins
UW-Seattle
Yale
UCSF
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Anyone else get a loveletter from Penn state? Trying to see if they send em to everyone.
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Wise words from attending on this forum
Reminder to everyone:
Don't believe everything that you read on here. SDN is the best source of info out there but match time is very stressful to everyone and unfortunately there are always going to be users that post not-so-truthful information (trolls) during this time of year - which may or not be disguised.
Almost everyone matches and almost everyones situation works out OK. Rank where your gut tells you to go, not based on some email correspondence or phone call, etc.
I didn't hear a single thing from anywhere I interviewed yet still matched where I wanted to be.
Caveat emptor!
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Interviewed at many of these when I was a MS4:
1. MGH - birthplace of general anesthesia, awesome chair. gobs of funding for pet research projects. nice attendings. if you're a baller rank this place first
2. Hopkins - fantastic cases, home of halsted. I liked the institution, but not sure that Baltimore would be a great place to live/work/commute
3. UCSF - a great choice if you're planning to practice in california. personally wasn't impressed by the new chair, and thought that the department is in decline after losing dr. miller
4. Yale - Liked the chair, seemed like a resident-friendly program. Offers the opportunity to work with Barash. ICU is supposed to be great (per report).
5. Cornell - Offers subsidized housing for residents. Generally considered to offer less clinical / research / didactic rigor than Columbia. Nice hospital, though
6. UW-Seattle; didn't interview here. Haven't heard much about this hospital, but Virginia Mason Medical Center has a stronger national reputation, especially when it comes to regional anesthesia.
[youtube]lETDdgFexFo[/youtube]
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Got one
Would agree for the most part.
I would have put
1. MGH- As stated above
2. UCSF- Really loved the program and really just a wonderful location being in California.
3. Yale- Good Chair residents seemed happy and more of a group then JHU
4. JHU- stated above, but location itself moved it down a bit
5. UW- Closed claims project based out of here, strong national reputation then Virginia Mason for sure. Hard to get a great feel as don't see a ton of residents during interview day
6. Cornell- I did not interview.
