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Guys, let’s starting posting these. These might be helpful as we start to make decisions.
Yale
Location: Very convenient location between NYC and Boston. Easy to reach by car, bus, or Amtrak. New Haven isn’t for the faint of heart, but there are nice pockets in the surrounding area.
Facilities/Technology: Fairly new cancer cancer center and impressive satellite network including Norwich, CT and New London, CT (which is a beautiful little city).
Research: 9-12 months protected time. Dr. Decker the PD seemed to be very supportive of cultivating each resident’s interests. Have the option to use some of this time for away clinical rotations if desired.
Faculty: Fairly large program with 20+ clinical faculty across the sites. The leadership in Dr. Glazer, Wilson, and Decker was tremendously supportive of innovation. The residents did not seem concerned that the residency program was passed from Dr. Wilson to Dr. Decker - they suggested that even more impressive changes were around the corner.
Residents: 17 residents, though it seems this is increasing to match the number of faculty. Very collegial group. Several residents with families. Strong emphasis on work life balance. There is also a medical physics residency which adds to the number of trainees around. The program will pay for you to go to ASTRO if even if you aren’t presenting.
Clinical: The residents seen somewhat overworked, but generally happy. Most scut work had been long eliminated from the program, though one resident commented that patient scheduling was an issue though a minor one. The residents seemed to enjoy having flexibility to rotate at Yale satellites for case diversity. Very cool that each resident has an academic day to get caught up, ahead, or moving on research. The didactics seemed wonderful and a mix of faculty and resident led talks. Great EMR and excellent support staff.
Interview Day: Dr. Wilson was highly personable and I really enjoyed my chat with him. He really knew each resident’s professional and personal interests inside out. Interviews were about 20 min or so.
Overall Impression: Probably the most awesome program I interviewed at. I was initially hesitant to visit given its location but previous applicants and SDN reviews (yay!) swayed my thinking. I’m really glad I went. If you want the most well rounded program anywhere, you can probably justify this is a top choice. New Haven is not NYC or Boston geographically, but both can be had with quick travel.
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Columbia
Location: Very convenient location in NYC - in Washington Heights. You can get there using the A and C subway lines meaning you can practically live anywhere in West Manhattan and be there in <45 min. A few of the residents also live in Cornell housing and for them there is a free shuttle that runs every hour back and forth (total commute 30 min each way).
Facilities/Technology: 4 linacs, HDR, and a Gamma Knife. Most rotations take place at Columbia, minimizing the need to travel in the city.
Research: 6 months. You can extend this another 6 months with a grant, but you don’t get protected time to do so. Most of the research seemed to be lab based in the Center for Radiobiology Research (CRR) although the department is trying to build collaboration with others in the medical school and other schools on campus.
Faculty: 6 clinical faculty.
Residents: 6 residents. Taking one resident in 2014 (next year 2). The residents were really cool and tight nit at the night-before event though maybe somewhat disgruntled and I couldn’t get straight answers to my questions. I became weary because another applicant asked about why residents have recently been transferring to other Rad Onc programs and didn’t get a straight answer. Apparently one resident transferred in 2011 and another before the start of this year because of ACGME problems.
Clinical: They were on probation from 2008 to 2011 and several other applicants mentioned they were in trouble with the ACGME again because the residents complained about a number of issues, including an unwillingness to improve the program after probation was lifted. However, the residents said Dr. Chao (the PD) is not supportive of them and doesn’t listen to their feedback. You need to be self motivated to succeed in the program. Residents cover two attendings, sometimes three. They have a high level of scut because the ancillary staff at Columbia is unionized and can refuse to do anything. My roommate rotated and interviewed at Columbia last year and walked away with a lot similar impressions (and didn’t rank it).
Interview Day: Dr. Chao is also the chair and it was a fairly brief interview (1-2 minutes). A few questions about where I grew up and any ties to NYC. He mostly just stared at me and didn’t really want to chat it up. I interviewed with all the clinical faculty, 2 research faculty, 2 physicists I think. Most of the other interviews were about 10 minutes. I asked one interviewer about the recent ACGME investigation and was told all was resolved. When I pressed about the issues, she changed the topic.
Overall Impression: Despite my preconceived notions, I decided to visit because Columbia is a great med school and the dept was just renovated, but the Rad Onc residency apparently has had a terminal illness for 10+ years. One of the chief residents told my roommate they’d never take a job at the program because the faculty are also unhappy. Afterwards, I checked out SDN, spoke to residents at other programs, and ultimately decided not to rank it.
Yale
Location: Very convenient location between NYC and Boston. Easy to reach by car, bus, or Amtrak. New Haven isn’t for the faint of heart, but there are nice pockets in the surrounding area.
Facilities/Technology: Fairly new cancer cancer center and impressive satellite network including Norwich, CT and New London, CT (which is a beautiful little city).
Research: 9-12 months protected time. Dr. Decker the PD seemed to be very supportive of cultivating each resident’s interests. Have the option to use some of this time for away clinical rotations if desired.
Faculty: Fairly large program with 20+ clinical faculty across the sites. The leadership in Dr. Glazer, Wilson, and Decker was tremendously supportive of innovation. The residents did not seem concerned that the residency program was passed from Dr. Wilson to Dr. Decker - they suggested that even more impressive changes were around the corner.
Residents: 17 residents, though it seems this is increasing to match the number of faculty. Very collegial group. Several residents with families. Strong emphasis on work life balance. There is also a medical physics residency which adds to the number of trainees around. The program will pay for you to go to ASTRO if even if you aren’t presenting.
Clinical: The residents seen somewhat overworked, but generally happy. Most scut work had been long eliminated from the program, though one resident commented that patient scheduling was an issue though a minor one. The residents seemed to enjoy having flexibility to rotate at Yale satellites for case diversity. Very cool that each resident has an academic day to get caught up, ahead, or moving on research. The didactics seemed wonderful and a mix of faculty and resident led talks. Great EMR and excellent support staff.
Interview Day: Dr. Wilson was highly personable and I really enjoyed my chat with him. He really knew each resident’s professional and personal interests inside out. Interviews were about 20 min or so.
Overall Impression: Probably the most awesome program I interviewed at. I was initially hesitant to visit given its location but previous applicants and SDN reviews (yay!) swayed my thinking. I’m really glad I went. If you want the most well rounded program anywhere, you can probably justify this is a top choice. New Haven is not NYC or Boston geographically, but both can be had with quick travel.
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Columbia
Location: Very convenient location in NYC - in Washington Heights. You can get there using the A and C subway lines meaning you can practically live anywhere in West Manhattan and be there in <45 min. A few of the residents also live in Cornell housing and for them there is a free shuttle that runs every hour back and forth (total commute 30 min each way).
Facilities/Technology: 4 linacs, HDR, and a Gamma Knife. Most rotations take place at Columbia, minimizing the need to travel in the city.
Research: 6 months. You can extend this another 6 months with a grant, but you don’t get protected time to do so. Most of the research seemed to be lab based in the Center for Radiobiology Research (CRR) although the department is trying to build collaboration with others in the medical school and other schools on campus.
Faculty: 6 clinical faculty.
Residents: 6 residents. Taking one resident in 2014 (next year 2). The residents were really cool and tight nit at the night-before event though maybe somewhat disgruntled and I couldn’t get straight answers to my questions. I became weary because another applicant asked about why residents have recently been transferring to other Rad Onc programs and didn’t get a straight answer. Apparently one resident transferred in 2011 and another before the start of this year because of ACGME problems.
Clinical: They were on probation from 2008 to 2011 and several other applicants mentioned they were in trouble with the ACGME again because the residents complained about a number of issues, including an unwillingness to improve the program after probation was lifted. However, the residents said Dr. Chao (the PD) is not supportive of them and doesn’t listen to their feedback. You need to be self motivated to succeed in the program. Residents cover two attendings, sometimes three. They have a high level of scut because the ancillary staff at Columbia is unionized and can refuse to do anything. My roommate rotated and interviewed at Columbia last year and walked away with a lot similar impressions (and didn’t rank it).
Interview Day: Dr. Chao is also the chair and it was a fairly brief interview (1-2 minutes). A few questions about where I grew up and any ties to NYC. He mostly just stared at me and didn’t really want to chat it up. I interviewed with all the clinical faculty, 2 research faculty, 2 physicists I think. Most of the other interviews were about 10 minutes. I asked one interviewer about the recent ACGME investigation and was told all was resolved. When I pressed about the issues, she changed the topic.
Overall Impression: Despite my preconceived notions, I decided to visit because Columbia is a great med school and the dept was just renovated, but the Rad Onc residency apparently has had a terminal illness for 10+ years. One of the chief residents told my roommate they’d never take a job at the program because the faculty are also unhappy. Afterwards, I checked out SDN, spoke to residents at other programs, and ultimately decided not to rank it.
