2014/2015 PM&R Interview Experiences Thread

RehabDoc2015 · Oct 15, 2014

2014/2015 PM&R Interview Experiences Thread - Let's get it started!

Review interview days + post useful info for other applicants.

Template

Program:

# of Applicants:

Interview day structure:

# of interviews + w/who?:

Residents:

Programs directors:

Fellowships offered:

Call schedule:

Best Features:

Any negatives:

Anything else:

Life316 · Oct 15, 2014

RehabDoc2015 · Oct 15, 2014

Life316 said:
Thanks to everyone that contributes!

Links to prior years interview feedback/ program reviews:

Also, SDN's official (and anonymous) interview feedback section is another great place to post and read others experiences. http://more.studentdoctor.net/schools/programs - See more at: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2012-2013-pm-r-interview-trail.963024/#sthash.M2ue1bit.dpuf

Wow you are so on it!!

RehabDoc2015 · Oct 15, 2014

I'll start!

Program: Jefferson

# of Applicants: 12

Interview day structure: 8am-2pm
First interviews started at 8:40 for some people before the presentations about the program were finished which caught me a little off guard. Those folks got the presentation after their interviews but I though that wasn't ideal. 3 Interviews in a row followed by tour of Magee Rehab. Then applicants bussed over to Jefferson rehab floor for a tour. Then lunch at nice restaurant with specialty sandwiches.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 total. 2 faculty, 1 resident. I think everyone interviewed with the PD or associate PD who is soon taking over as the PD.

Residents: Seemed genuinely happy. They were very friendly, easygoing and nice, very forthcoming, which was refreshing. Seemed to be a lot of resident gatherings and a lot of interaction between classes. Very chill environment.

Programs directors: I hate to say so but the current PD is kind of odd, asked a bunch of the classic interview questions that are pretty painful to answer. I don't think he had looked at my app. The (associate?) PD Dr. Mallow seemed great, young and very laid back. He will be taking over soon as PD. They seemed to want the residents to be happy.

Fellowships offered:They presented this but I couldn't find it in the packet. I think all non accredited.

Call schedule: 5 days a month (including 2 weekend days month) as 2nd year. 3 days/month as 3rd year. 1 day/month 4th year. All in house at either Jeff or Magee. Residents said they usually get to sleep some. 2 admission cap. Residents round and write notes when they are post call but can leave around 11am.

Best Features: Laid back vibe. Awesome vacation benefits, the best I've heard of: 20 days + 5 education days, can be taken ANY time, any amount of days at a time. Great teaching, clearly this is a priority here. Anatomy course w/ cadavers. Lots of fellowship opportunities. World renowned faculty. Lots of opportunities to teach medical students. Free parking at Magee.

Any negatives: Call rooms not great. No other dedicated resident space. No parking at Jefferson. PGY2 very inpatient heavy. 10/12 months. PAPER NOTES. They said transition to full EMR in 2016. Weak US training per residents. Heavy call schedule as mentioned. I think 1 month elective during 3rd year and 4th year.

Anything else: Protected time during didactics. New research requirement. Presentations about the program and tours felt rushed.

CHAGEO · Nov 5, 2014

Thank you so much for posting. This thread is very helpful. Anyone had an interview at UT Southwestern Dallas Texas?

RehabDoc2015 · Nov 6, 2014

Program: Temple

# of Applicants: 10ish

Interview day structure: 7 - 3pm, drive to Moss in the am, sit through grand rounds, some getting pulled out for interviews during that. Tour of Moss, then back to Jefferson, tour, break for lunch (in breakroom, nothing fancy), more interviews after lunch - like 2:00-3pm, that was kinda rough after already being there are all day.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 - PD, 2 other faculty members for me, some interviewed with chief resident

Residents: Big program, nice, funny, residents, seemed happy, seemed to have great rapport with faculty, very laid back overall, all chiefs are men, some macho energy going on (not bad at all but noticeable to me.)

Programs directors: Dr. Maitin, very personable guy

Fellowships offered: I forget right now, pretty sure they have multiple. Their website is not great, couldn't find this info right now. I think they are especially strong in TBI if I am not mistaken.

Call schedule: Kinda heavy, especially 2nd year. I think q6, in house but covering multiple hospitals at one time, residents said they occasionally have to drive between sites overnight which seems kinda brutal. I believe no call 4th year.

Best Features: Strong program, good teaching, good anatomy program shared with the other philly schools, friendly attendings and residents, laid back teaching environment. Moss is a well respected rehab + their rotations start at 8am. (I am not a morning person!)

Any negatives: Lots of driving, Moss is like 35 min from philly w/o traffic, most residents live in Philly. Also, this program felt a little more hardcore than the others I've seen so far. The residents basically said as much. I think the residents get great training as a result, and maybe can handle more, but not as warm fuzzy supportive as I've felt at other programs. Again, a bit of a macho energy. I'm sure others would like this, not a great fit for me personality wise. Also, like the website feeling really old school I got the feeling that there were some things that could use some updating at the program. Resident spaces were kinda drab. 1 elective block only during 3rd and 4th year. 2nd year basically all inpatient.

Anything else: Good/Standard for PM&R 3 weeks vacation, + conference time if you're presenting + modest book and conference money

frankpuss · Nov 10, 2014

Program: UT San Antonio

# of Applicants: 8

Interview day structure: 8-12 with a lunch form 12-1

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 interviews ...30 minutes each. Two with faculty and one with resident

Residents:8 residents in each class. some in relastionships some not. some kids some naught. At dinner everyone seemed pleased about the program. Some own houses, some rent. Some live close, some not.

Programs directors: Dr. Walsh and Dr. Dumitru

Fellowships offered: non that i am aware of directly attached with PMR. but there is pain affiliated with the anesthesiology residency.

Call schedule: "PGY2 and PGY 3 resident cover the IP rehab units when the overnight resident is not on service. this averages about 1-3 call nights per month. PGY2 residents cover the IP rehab units while on acute rehab medicine rotation. the acute rehab medicine rotation is monday to thursday night not to exceees 18 days per academic year. PGY3 and PGY4 residents provide back up call assistance from home

General thoughts: University Hospital and VA (where most of residency is spent) are attached to one another. Intern year is spent in the VA. Very little traveling to outside clinics/hospitals. Program(though the VA) has one of 5 polytrauma centers in the United States. Dr. Michelle Trbovich did fellowship in spine at Stanford and helps run polytrauma center.

EMGs; learning from the master Dr. Dumitru. Trained on the EMG machine he uses, have to seek out other EMG machines on your own (though they have it in the department)

Limited access to physicians lounge for food. limited food vouchers at hospital cafeterias. Expenses paid to attend national conferences during 3rd and fourth year. $2500 worth of books is purchased for each resident during 1st year. Free parking at medical center facilities.

research: One research project during residency. May be review article, small case series, case report or original research. . Apparently would be able to piggy back on current research projects and write your own grants.

Didactic: minimal in intern year. Sounds like they are trying to change from a 4 year rotation of diabetics to a 3 year rotation.

Moonlighting: It is allowed, but doesn't seem like many residents do it.

Before this year Intern year had been split between PGY1 and PGY2. This is no longer the case and intern year is more traditional.

Other thoughts: Make sure to have a list of questions going into the interview. I wish I would have asked what the residents thought needed the most work/improvement. There seems to be many changes made in the past 2 years. which the residents seem to think for the better. 1st year attached sounds like a great way to do prelim year . In addition to 4 months of traditional medicine months interns have a couple of months of ortho, neuro, rheumotology, geriatrics all specialities that deal with PMR

RehabDoc2015 · Nov 11, 2014

Program: UWashington

# of Applicants: 12

Interview day structure: 7:30 - 3:30pm, intro talk in the morning, short tour of UW, then the group split, some had tour of Harborview hospital and Seattle all morning, some had interviews all morning, then lunch together, then reverse of what happened in the morning

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 - PD, Former PD, 1 other Attending

Residents: Nice residents, very outdoorsy, very happy, many with families and dogs, seemed like a supportive environment

Program director: Dr. Barr, fairly new to this position, seemed very nice. Chair, Dr. Esselman, also seemed like a very down to earth, laid back guy .

Fellowships offered: Acgme Sports, SCI, Peds, (pain through anesthesia)

Call schedule: Interesting way of doing call. Done in 4-5 day blocks of home call. 12x/year PGY 2, 7x/year PGY 3, 5x/year.

Best Features: City of Seattle is awesome! Great reputation. Strong program, good teaching. Lots of big name faculty. Lots of research money. Best board review course in the country, or so I've heard.

Any negatives: Only 1 elective block total. No dedicated research time. Program is weaker than others on procedures. Seemed to be less interested in outpatient training. Older facilities. Parking costs big $ like in most big cities.

Anything else: Inpatient rotations are all mixed patient wise, no dedicated TBI/Stroke/SCI etc. I like that but different than I have seen elsewhere. Attendings also work in all specialties and lead mixed services. Good/Standard for PM&R 3 weeks vacation, paid conference time + modest book and conference money. Most residents go on to fellowships. Program didn't seem particularly innovative to me to be honest. Chair was like "Well they tell me we're number 1 and so I guess we'll take it". I appreciated this kind of laid back approach but I wasn't super impressed with the program overall.

RehabDoc2015 · Nov 11, 2014

Program: Pitt

# of Applicants: 8ish

Interview day structure: 7:15 - 2:30pm, Intro talks in the morning from Chair, PD, Chiefs, then interviews, then tour of Pittsburgh, then lunch at a fantastic restaurant from 1pm - 2:30pm

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 - PD, Chief Resident, 1 other attending

Residents: Very nice and friendly, seemed like a close knit group

Program director: Dr. Helkowski, seemed very nice. Chair, Dr. Boninger is a powerhouse, very passionate.

Fellowships offered: Acgme Sports, SCI, TBI, Peds, (pain through anesthesia)

Call schedule: Home call approximately 1x weekly, covering 2 sites at a time if I'm not mistaken, I was told it is pretty rare to have to come in.

Best Features: I really liked the lay out of their rotation schedule, it's on their website. 4 months electives, + dedicated research month. Program has made changes to the schedule based on resident feedback. Great reputation. Very strong program, good teaching. Lots of research money. Like I mentioned the chair is a powerhouse, really champions the department. I think if this program were in cooler city it could be #1. (No offense Pittsburgh!) Cost of living is low on the plus side. Also, 3 weeks vacation + extra week over Christmas or new years for all which is awesome.

Any negatives: No parking close by. City of Pittsburgh is not bad but obviously not Boston or Seattle, not a lot of green space.

Anything else: Most residents go on to fellowships. Residents were super friendly with the hospital staff, on a first name basis with just about everybody. I liked the vibe here.

Life316 · Nov 19, 2014

Didn't take notes, feel free to add on
Program: Penn

# of Applicants: 18

Interview day structure: 8:00 - 2:00pm, intro talk in the morning, interviews, lunch, tours of Penn Rittenhouse

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 - Chair, Attending, Resident

Residents: Nice residents, None with children

Program director: Dr. Lenrow, Chair, Dr. Dillingham

Fellowships offered:

Call schedule: Top Heavy

Best Features: Good name, lots of hospitals, Nice location, categorical option

Any negatives: Still Developing Rehab Reputation

Anything else: Bowling night was fun with residents and interviewees,, lunch was good, didn't take any notes

RehabDoc2015 · Nov 21, 2014

Emory

Applicants: 12

7:30-4pm (half the group am interviews and pm tour, and vise versa), dinner night before

Interviews 4 or 5, depending, all attendings including PD, 30 minutes each, got asked some tough questions but all the interveiwers were all very nice

PD: Dr. Monfared, kind of serious guy but very nice.

Fellowships in Sports, Pain (through anesthesia), Peds

Call: Heavy call schedule as PGY2, less as PGY 3, no call PGY4. In house call. I got the impression can be hard sometimes.

Residents: Residents seemed smart and nice, maybe a little more serious than some places, several with kids.

Pros: Strong program, lots of procedures (esp spine injections), stronger than any other I’ve seen for this, very good teaching, very good fellowship matching, free parking, lots of free meals, Sheppard Center (residents spend 6 months there overall, they are a model SCI system). No dedicated EMG months ,for me this is a plus(for others might be a negative), EMGs are spread out, residents said no one has trouble meeting their numbers. I really liked all the people I interviewed with, felt more laid back than others this season. Exposure to regenerative medicine (PRP, Prolo, which is rare)

Cons: 1 measly elective during fourth year. I got the strong feeling that residents were used as a labor force for a lot of residency and education was kind of secondary to that sometimes – this was the reason they gave for only having 1 elective month, that it was a cost issue. They mentioned the sports and spine practice paying for residents to come there, not sure if this is he case everywhere but this is the first time I got this feeling. We didn’t tour Emory hospital, not sure why.

Other: 2 month nursing home consult rotation, hadn’t seen this elsewhere. (this also made me wonder if the residency was making money off this, hate to say). 3 weeks vacation, paid conference time if you are presenting. No personal days that they mentioned. All the residents I talked to owned their homes which I thought was interesting. Research requirement -“Residents much be involved in research at all times”, not sure exactly what that means.

UMiami:

12 applicants

Interview Day: 7am – 1/1:30pm, dinner night before, ALSO – Ladies, wear flats - the tour was a ton of walking

PD: Dr. Sherman, founded program 10 years ago

Interviews: 3 attendings for 20-30 minutes, including PD. 2 of my interviewers were flipping through my application while I was there, I am almost positive they hadn’t read it, asked me no questions about my application or interests, only like ‘why Miami?’ Relaxed interviews.

Call : PGY 2 30 calls, PGY 3 20 calls, PGY 4 10 calls, all overnight cross covering home call if you live within 10 miles, census is a about 40 pts total so you don’t get a ton of calls. Round and write notes on the weekends, then go home.

Residents: Very chill and happy. I got the impression they were living the good life! I forgot to ask if any of the residents have kids.

Pros: MIA is pretty sweet obviously. The residents emphasized that the program is really laid back, have lots early days as PGY 3 and 4. Anatomy and US courses. Seemed like residents got good procedural experience at the VA. About to build new rehab hospital to be opened hopefully in 2016.. 2 months electives as PGY4, 2 months of research rotations as PGY 3 where you have held day clinics and get out at noon every day. Book and food stipend each $1200 /year I believe. Model TBI and SCI ,very strong in SCI program, Jackson is a big level 1 trauma center. Only 1 site is driving distance from the rest, otherwise things are walkable. Census on inpt services is never above 12 if I remember correctly. Very diverse patient population.

Cons: Currently most of the facilities are pretty drab. I’m sure the new hospital will be totally different. The residents noted Peds as a weakness. High cost of living.Resident said didactics were relatively weak, they also still have to write all their notes on didactic days. I felt like the program and PD and PD weren’t exactly trying to be innovative and definitely couldn’t compete with some of the bigger names I’ve seen. BUT it’s Miami so I had a good feeling at the end of the day.

Other things: 4 weeks vacation. Spend 12 months at the VA over 3 years doing mostly outpatient. Residents mentioned that it is a good fit for more independent leaners, not as structures as many programs. A Residents about 50/50 into fellowships. Huge campus. Parking is pretty cheap. Conference money for PGY 4s only if they are presenting, no money for others.

MedStar / NRH / Georgetown

12 people

Interview day: 7:30am – 2pm, all interviews before lunch, awesome breakfast!

Interviews: Three 40 min interviews, 1 with chief, 1 with attending, 1 with non physician admin ( 40 minutes each felt sooo long – please make them shorter in the future if anyone is reading this!), plus 15 minutes with PD. Interviewers asked some really tough questions, had definitely looked at my application. No dinner the night before.

PD Dr Whitehair. Very passionate guy, has an amazing vision for the residency, meets with all the residents weekly, obviously very involved

Call: mix of short call (til 10) and overnight in house call, I think about 50 total calls as PGY2, then less PGY 3 and much less PGY 4

Residents: Residents seemed very happy, pretty relaxewd. I forgot to ask if any had kids.

Pros: Awesome teaching, MedStar is a beautiful facility (all inpatient rotations are done there which I really liked, only negative about the place is that patients share rooms), best schedule I’ve seen anywhere– even second year is 2 months inpatient, 1 month outpt the whole year, 4 months electives, lots of core rotations I haven’t seen anywhere else (rheum, QI month, 2 weeks of rads, etc), opportunity to do 6 months research at NIH in place of other rotations/electives, obvious focus on education (residents education clearly prioritized over other things), continuity clinic every week, program makes changes based on feedback, very forward thinking and tech savvy PD, very cool 3 month EMG experience at Walter Reed, I loved DC. Nice resident lounge. Diverse patient population.

Cons: No dedicated anatomy course –I think this was the only thing I didn’t like! I’m trying to think of something else….oh only $400 for the year in food money.

Other: I was so so impressed by this program, it really blew me away which I was really not expecting. I think the max inpatient service was 14 patients. Medstar is freestanding but with bridge to acute care hospital.

Spaulding:

10 applicants

Interview Day : 8am – 2:30pm, all interviews before lunch, five 20 or 30 minute interviews back to back, no breaks, felt kind of intense, good questions though, the interviewers had definitely read my application and had specific questions which was nice. No dinner the night before.

PD: Dr. O’Connor, very funny laid back guy, takes the residents’ pagers during didactics, obviously cares a lot about residents, great presentation about the program

Residents: Smart, Nice, a few with kids

Pros: Gorgeous brand new facility. Great teaching and didactics, great rotation schedule, not as heavily front loaded inpatient PGY 2 as a lot of places, 4 weeks vacation, conference time and money every year, book money. Program seemed really supportive of its residents and what they wanted to do. Nice resident room. Several sites but mostly at Spaulding Charletsown. Continuity clinic. Lots of fancy new technology, gait lab, etc. Harvard so everyone has their fancy pants on. Gave us a nice portfolio to keep. You could smell the $$$ at this place ha.

Cons: In a part of Boston that is difficult to get to. Some services can have up to 20 patients. Felt more high stress than other programs. So, it is Harvard – some of the residents seemed great but some seemed like serious overachievers, more on the serious side, not so laid back as elsewhere. The chair is a powerhouse but I really didn’t care for his into speech, came off as very snobby. No free parking. Not the most diverse patient population.

Fellowships : I have to look at my notes, they offer a bunch

Call: I really like the call system, mix of short call ( I think til 8pm, take admissions after 5pm) and overnight in house call/cross covering. I think 1x/week overnight and 2 weekend days/month as PGY2, less as PGY3 and PGY4.

Other: Totally free standing rehab, nothing even close by. Most residents do fellowships, all at impressive places. 2 month Neuro rotation at MGH, residents said this was super tough but a good learning experience. 3 model systems: SCI, TBI, Burn. Only 1 month Peds.

Life316 · Nov 21, 2014

Will update later

sloh · Nov 21, 2014

RehabDoc2015 said:
Emory

Applicants: 12

7:30-4pm (half the group am interviews and pm tour, and vise versa), dinner night before

Interviews 4 or 5, depending, all attendings including PD, 30 minutes each, got asked some tough questions but all the interveiwers were all very nice

PD: Dr. Monfared, kind of serious guy but very nice.

Fellowships in Sports, Pain (through anesthesia), Peds

Call: Heavy call schedule as PGY2, less as PGY 3, no call PGY4. In house call. I got the impression can be hard sometimes.

Residents: Residents seemed smart and nice, maybe a little more serious than some places, several with kids.

Pros: Strong program, lots of procedures (esp spine injections), stronger than any other I’ve seen for this, very good teaching, very good fellowship matching, free parking, lots of free meals, Sheppard Center (residents spend 6 months there overall, they are a model SCI system). No dedicated EMG months ,for me this is a plus(for others might be a negative), EMGs are spread out, residents said no one has trouble meeting their numbers. I really liked all the people I interviewed with, felt more laid back than others this season. Exposure to regenerative medicine (PRP, Prolo, which is rare)

Cons: 1 measly elective during fourth year. I got the strong feeling that residents were used as a labor force for a lot of residency and education was kind of secondary to that sometimes – this was the reason they gave for only having 1 elective month, that it was a cost issue. They mentioned the sports and spine practice paying for residents to come there, not sure if this is he case everywhere but this is the first time I got this feeling. We didn’t tour Emory hospital, not sure why.

Other: 2 month nursing home consult rotation, hadn’t seen this elsewhere. (this also made me wonder if the residency was making money off this, hate to say). 3 weeks vacation, paid conference time if you are presenting. No personal days that they mentioned. All the residents I talked to owned their homes which I thought was interesting. Research requirement -“Residents much be involved in research at all times”, not sure exactly what that means.

UMiami:

12 applicants

Interview Day: 7am – 1/1:30pm, dinner night before, ALSO – Ladies, wear flats - the tour was a ton of walking

PD: Dr. Sherman, founded program 10 years ago

Interviews: 3 attendings for 20-30 minutes, including PD. 2 of my interviewers were flipping through my application while I was there, I am almost positive they hadn’t read it, asked me no questions about my application or interests, only like ‘why Miami?’ Relaxed interviews.

Call : PGY 2 30 calls, PGY 3 20 calls, PGY 4 10 calls, all overnight cross covering home call if you live within 10 miles, census is a about 40 pts total so you don’t get a ton of calls. Round and write notes on the weekends, then go home.

Residents: Very chill and happy. I got the impression they were living the good life! I forgot to ask if any of the residents have kids.

Pros: MIA is pretty sweet obviously. The residents emphasized that the program is really laid back, have lots early days as PGY 3 and 4. Anatomy and US courses. Seemed like residents got good procedural experience at the VA. About to build new rehab hospital to be opened hopefully in 2016.. 2 months electives as PGY4, 2 months of research rotations as PGY 3 where you have held day clinics and get out at noon every day. Book and food stipend each $1200 /year I believe. Model TBI and SCI ,very strong in SCI program, Jackson is a big level 1 trauma center. Only 1 site is driving distance from the rest, otherwise things are walkable. Census on inpt services is never above 12 if I remember correctly. Very diverse patient population.

Cons: Currently most of the facilities are pretty drab. I’m sure the new hospital will be totally different. The residents noted Peds as a weakness. High cost of living.Resident said didactics were relatively weak, they also still have to write all their notes on didactic days. I felt like the program and PD and PD weren’t exactly trying to be innovative and definitely couldn’t compete with some of the bigger names I’ve seen. BUT it’s Miami so I had a good feeling at the end of the day.

Other things: 4 weeks vacation. Spend 12 months at the VA over 3 years doing mostly outpatient. Residents mentioned that it is a good fit for more independent leaners, not as structures as many programs. A Residents about 50/50 into fellowships. Huge campus. Parking is pretty cheap. Conference money for PGY 4s only if they are presenting, no money for others.

MedStar / NRH / Georgetown

12 people

Interview day: 7:30am – 2pm, all interviews before lunch, awesome breakfast!

Interviews: Three 40 min interviews, 1 with chief, 1 with attending, 1 with non physician admin ( 40 minutes each felt sooo long – please make them shorter in the future if anyone is reading this!), plus 15 minutes with PD. Interviewers asked some really tough questions, had definitely looked at my application. No dinner the night before.

PD Dr Whitehair. Very passionate guy, has an amazing vision for the residency, meets with all the residents weekly, obviously very involved

Call: mix of short call (til 10) and overnight in house call, I think about 50 total calls as PGY2, then less PGY 3 and much less PGY 4

Residents: Residents seemed very happy, pretty relaxewd. I forgot to ask if any had kids.

Pros: Awesome teaching, MedStar is a beautiful facility (all inpatient rotations are done there which I really liked, only negative about the place is that patients share rooms), best schedule I’ve seen anywhere– even second year is 2 months inpatient, 1 month outpt the whole year, 4 months electives, lots of core rotations I haven’t seen anywhere else (rheum, QI month, 2 weeks of rads, etc), opportunity to do 6 months research at NIH in place of other rotations/electives, obvious focus on education (residents education clearly prioritized over other things), continuity clinic every week, program makes changes based on feedback, very forward thinking and tech savvy PD, very cool 3 month EMG experience at Walter Reed, I loved DC. Nice resident lounge. Diverse patient population.

Cons: No dedicated anatomy course –I think this was the only thing I didn’t like! I’m trying to think of something else….oh only $400 for the year in food money.

Other: I was so so impressed by this program, it really blew me away which I was really not expecting. I think the max inpatient service was 14 patients. Medstar is freestanding but with bridge to acute care hospital.

Spaulding:

10 applicants

Interview Day : 8am – 2:30pm, all interviews before lunch, five 20 or 30 minute interviews back to back, no breaks, felt kind of intense, good questions though, the interviewers had definitely read my application and had specific questions which was nice. No dinner the night before.

PD: Dr. O’Connor, very funny laid back guy, takes the residents’ pagers during didactics, obviously cares a lot about residents, great presentation about the program

Residents: Smart, Nice, a few with kids

Pros: Gorgeous brand new facility. Great teaching and didactics, great rotation schedule, not as heavily front loaded inpatient PGY 2 as a lot of places, 4 weeks vacation, conference time and money every year, book money. Program seemed really supportive of its residents and what they wanted to do. Nice resident room. Several sites but mostly at Spaulding Charletsown. Continuity clinic. Lots of fancy new technology, gait lab, etc. Harvard so everyone has their fancy pants on. Gave us a nice portfolio to keep. You could smell the $$$ at this place ha.

Cons: In a part of Boston that is difficult to get to. Some services can have up to 20 patients. Felt more high stress than other programs. So, it is Harvard – some of the residents seemed great but some seemed like serious overachievers, more on the serious side, not so laid back as elsewhere. The chair is a powerhouse but I really didn’t care for his into speech, came off as very snobby. No free parking. Not the most diverse patient population.

Fellowships : I have to look at my notes, they offer a bunch

Call: I really like the call system, mix of short call ( I think til 8pm, take admissions after 5pm) and overnight in house call/cross covering. I think 1x/week overnight and 2 weekend days/month as PGY2, less as PGY3 and PGY4.

Other: Totally free standing rehab, nothing even close by. Most residents do fellowships, all at impressive places. 2 month Neuro rotation at MGH, residents said this was super tough but a good learning experience. 3 model systems: SCI, TBI, Burn. Only 1 month Peds.

I've interviewed at temple, jefferson, JFK, utah so far and I have to say....Georgetown/Medstar NRH blew me away

twocentnews · Nov 26, 2014

For UPenn, how many positions are there and how many are categorical versus advanced? Thanks!

Life316 · Nov 26, 2014

4C 2P

burndtjamb · Dec 3, 2014

Program: Marianjoy

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: 8-12 with a lunch form 12:30-1:30

# of interviews + w/who?: 2 Interviews. One with the Program director, one with one of the Chief resident

Residents:5 residents in each class. Most live all over the area. Some live in the city and commute in. It sounds like light rail/train stops fairly close to the hospital. The Wheaton area is nice and would be the most central to live.

Programs directors: This is going to change. The current PD is retiring 2016.

Fellowships offered:

Call schedule:

General thoughts:

will finish later...

Thethrillofit · Dec 3, 2014

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've found this thread and similar ones from the past extremely helpful so I hope I an help some of you out too!

Program: Upstate

# Applicants: 6

Interview day structure: pre-interview dinner 7pm-9pm at PF Chang’s in Carousel Mall (food was covered by the program, alcoholic drinks were not). There were 5 residents who came, a mix of PGY 2-4. The next day we started at 8am with a 15 min introduction from Dr. Weber (PD/Chairman). Then we started interviews while talking to residents during the downtime. By 12pm we were all done and started eating lunch (sandwiches, salad, wraps, potato salad, chips, soda). Then we ended the day with a tour of the University Hospital, the VA across the street and the activities center/library that they share with the medical school. Day ended around 1:30pm

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 interviews (Dr. Weber and Dr. Turk together- they are married, Dr. Ward, Dr. Kanter). All were very laid back and personable. No pimping. One question I got that I had to think about a little was, “what have you learned from your patients?” but otherwise normal questions.

Residents: All the residents were very friendly. Seems like they get along well and hang out outside of work. Good mix of single vs in a relationship.

Programs directors: Dr. Weber seemed like a nice guy. Didn’t get the feeling that he was super receptive to residents or that he was doing anything crazy innovative with the program but definitely approachable and friendly.

Didactics: Noon lecture at University Hospital 4x/week given by both attendings and residents. Video-conferencing if you are at St. Camilus. Lunch provided every Fri.

Fellowships offered: Pain (anesthesia run but guaranteed to take at least 1 PM&R resident per year). Usually take in-house PM&R resident if they apply for it.

Call schedule: In house call either Sun-Thurs or Fri-Sun. Split evenly between PGY 2, 3, 4s which I haven’t heard of at other programs. Ends up being about 1x/month. Residents said they hardly have to come in during call and are able to get sleep. If they have any questions, attendings are more than willing to pick up their phones even in the middle of the night to help you out. PGY 2s don’t have call during the first month so that they can transition easier into the program.

Best Features: Strong in SCI and Peds. The VA is brand new and looks great. Attendings that I met were very approachable. They also have continuity clinic, which is 1 afternoon per week where they see pts that they have discharged from their service.

Any negatives: It’s cold. Winters are from Nov-April but they do a very good job of cleaning the road and residents say they never have issues driving around. Residents admitted that they are weaker in MSK but are trying to build that up by hiring attendings that are trained in sports. Also, days are from 6:30am-5 or 6pm which is the earliest I’ve heard so far for coming in. However, residents say there is a lot of downtime during the day to read. They carry around 10-12 pts each when they are at the university. Vacations are 15 days/year and are supposed to be taken during your elective.

Rotations: PGY2 is half inpt, half outpt. 2 months of electives during PGY 3 and 2 more during PGY 4. Dedicated peds and MSK/spine rotations. University Hospital, St. Camilus, VA, locations.

Anything else: Cost of living is great. Can rent a really nice apt for ~700 or buy a house for ~$150,000. Skiing ½ hour away, finger lakes 1 hour away for lake adventures or wine tastings, WEGMANS and they just opened a Trader Joes! Gym membership at the activities center shared with the med students for $150 that includes a pool, weight room, few machines, basketball and volleyball courts. Able to participate in intramurals. Residents use EPIC EMR system. They have an anatomy course that is 2 weeks each year where they go to the anatomy lab and practice injections/US/anatomy on cadavers that are prosected.

Program: MetroHealth

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: pre-interview dinner 6:30-8:30 at Aladdin’s was very casual. Only 2 residents came but both were very friendly and informative. Interview day started at 8am. Breakfast (coffee, bagels, yogurt) provided while they showed a video about their functional electrical stimulation research. Interviews lasted from 9 until ~11:30. Only 1 resident showed up to talk to us during the downtime, which felt a little weird. Lunch (Panera’s salad and sandwiches) was provided and more residents came to grab lunch and talk to us for about an hour. Then we went on a tour of the Rehab facility. Day was done by 1pm.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 interviews, lasting 30 min on the dot each. You interview with Dr. Clark (PD), Dr. Chae (chairman) and 2 faculty members. No pimping questions. Lots of talking about what you are looking for in a program and describing what MetroHelath has to offer.

Residents: Equal mix of male and female as well as married vs. single. Lots of IMGs and DO’s represented. Residents readily help each other out and said that they hang out outside of the hospital. Felt like I didn't get the best sense of how they interacted because we didn't see most of them except during lunch time.

Programs directors: PD has been with the program for a while and seems to be receptive to resident feedback. He was approachable and dedicated to teaching. Chairman was super enthusiastic about the program and PM&R as a specialty. He seemed genuinely interested in progressing the field. Both PD and Chairman seemed very invested in the residents. I was extremely impressed with their passion and vision after interviewing with them.

Fellowships offered: 1 SCI position. They are taking an in-house resident for next year. Seems like 50% go to fellowship and 50% find jobs after graduation.

Didactics: Protected lecture time Thursdays 9-12 as well as noon lectures that include resident run Journal club. Lectures are 90% attending run. No dedicated board review but they have a 90% pass rate.

Locations: MetroHealth Standalone Rehab facility, VA, rotations through Cleveland Clinic and children’s hospital all within 20 min drive of each other.

Call schedule: In-house call with nice call room. 4x/month PGY2 including a weekend and coverage of holidays, 2x/month PGY3, no call PGY4. You only cover MetroHealth (35-40 beds) and a lot of the time you can get 5-6 hours of sleep. The next day, the latest you leave is 12 noon but can usually go home much earlier if you finish rounds/notes. If you’re on call on the weekend, you do admissions and answer pages but attendings do all the notes.

Best Features: LOTS of research support. Residents are required to do full IRB research project (case presentations don’t count). Program pays for residents to present posters and go to AAPM&R during PGY4. Seems like you get a very good broad education with various rotations and a good mix of inpt and outpt.

Any negatives: No anatomy cadaver but they do have anatomy lectures throughout the year. City of Cleveland seemed quiet but cost of living is very affordable. 2 bedroom full house can be rented for under 1200/month.

Rotations: 11 months of inpatient PGY2 with 1 month outpatient. By PGY4, mostly outpatient. Continuity clinic 1x/week which is mostly MSK patients. 2 electives during PGY3 and 1 in PGY4. Days start around 7:30 for rounding and end at 5-5:30.

Anything else ($$, vacation, area…): 3 categorical positions and 3 advanced per year. Categorical PGY1 year seems pretty IM heavy (8 months) + SICU + ortho elective + PM&R inpt month. 20 vacation days can be taken during any rotation, 6 holidays off unless you’re on call. Meal cards with ~$50/month given to PGY2 &3. They use EPIC EMR that’s accessible remotely.

Thethrillofit · Dec 19, 2014

Rochester

# of Applicants: 6

Interview day structure: 1pm-5pm. Program coordinator gave us a little background about the area (she grew up in Rochester). Dr. Poduri (PD/Chair) gave us a 1 hour ppt presentation about the program highlights. Then we started interviews with lots of breaks in between. Snacks and water were provided. Tour was weird. It was one on one with the program coordinator who showed us the Strong facility. It was a very short tour (5 min?) and then we sat down and she asked me a few interview-type questions one on one. Kind of unexpected and strange. We were done by 5pm sharp. Didn't meet any residents during the interview day.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 interviews; Dr. Poduri and 3 attendings. Most were laid back but one of the attendings had a more structured, less laid back approach (the neuropsychologist). She asked very typical interview questions, interview felt kind of stiff.

Residents: dinner with 3 residents was good. They were all very friendly and got along well. One student asked the resident what he thought about the program and he responded with “it’s….OK” and wasn’t joking. That threw me off a little.

Programs directors: Dr. Poduri seems wonderful. She seems completely invested in the residents and makes them her top priority. Trying to get their feet in the new neuro and peds programs that are opening at Strong soon. She is probably the best thing about this program.

Fellowships offered: pain under anesthesia.

Didactics: 4 hours/week protected lecture time. PD seems to be very geared towards teaching and promoting residents to teach. They are able to teach lectures at the medical school and also give lectures to their fellow residents. Dedicated board review time. Anatomy cadaver course.

Call schedule: In-house call covering either Strong or Unity. 1x/week + 1 full weekend a month PGY2. Gets less during PGY3 & 4.

Best Features: Dr. Poduri is a great advocate for the residents and makes sure that they get a well-rounded education.

Any negatives: felt weird about the program coordinator interview. Hard intern year admitted by multiple residents (program is categorical only). No electives during intern year.

Rotations: good mix of inpt and outpt. Mostly outpatient for PGY 3 & 4. Dedicated peds exposure.

Anything else ($$, vacation, area…): 3 cat/year. 4 weeks vacation must be taken in 1 full week preferred during outpatient rotations. During 3rd and 4th year, 1 of those 4 weeks is for conferences ($1000 given). $300/year for books. No moonlighting. Veryyy low cost of living.

Stony Brook

# of Applicants: 9

Interview day structure: started the day with an introduction ppt by Dr. Stickevers (PD) for about ½ an hour. Breakfast was bagels, juice and coffee. Interviews started around 10 until 11:30. No residents came to talk with us during the down time. Chief resident came to talk to us for about ½ an hour after our interviews and then took us on a tour of St. Charles Hospital. Lunch was sandwiches, wraps + soda. Then Dr. Stickevers gave us a 1.5 hour long lecture. Residents came for the lecture but we had no interaction with them. During the lecture, Dr. Stickevers asked the candidates multiple pimping questions but didn’t put anyone on the spot specifically. If no one knew the answer she would just say it, so it wasn't high pressured.

# of interviews + w/who?: 2 interviews (Dr. Stickevers + chief resident OR an attending). Very, very laid back. Didn’t really ask any real questions, just asked if I had any questions for them. Dr. Stickevers went through my application during my interview and read me all of my LORs. Seems like they are looking for people who have a geographical tie to the area and want to stay (LI or NY).

Residents: Only interacted with the chief resident who was very honest about the program. Said there is good teamwork with the residents inside of the hospital (people willing to help each other out). Didn’t get a sense that they hung out all the time outside of the hospital but chief said they were all definitely friendly towards one another.

Programs directors: I thought Dr. Stickevers’ interactive lecture was very well presented, seems like a very good teacher. I have heard that some people get a weird vibe from her but I liked her a lot. I thought she was straightforward, very professional and very invested in the residency program.

Fellowships offered: EMG fellowship under neurology at Stony Brook is available. Not sure if they often take PM&R residents or not.

Didactics: Mon and Thurs 1:30-4:30 protected time. Interactive lectures given by attendings and occasionally residents. Didactic course is repeated 3x during the program. Residents are quizzed during the year.

Call schedule: In house call at St. Charles, 5pm-7pm (PAs cover overnight). Home call q3 at the VA with no admissions on nights or weekends. 6 calls/mo PGY2, 5 calls PGY3, 4 calls/mo + no weekends PGY4.

Best Features: US guided injection training by MSK radiologist, all of their outpt is at the VA, only program where residents can perform muscle biopsies, they have dedicated peds rotations, very strong history of sending residents to great pain fellowships. In fact, it seemed that most residents who went on to fellowships did pain (vs. only 1 who went to Sports in the past few years). PA’s cover the floors overnight.

Any negatives: VA is 40 minutes from St. Charles. You’ll have to drive to St. Charles for lectures if you’re rotating at the VA. Carry 15 patients when you are on floors which is almost double what I’ve heard at other places. Sounds like it’s manageable though.

Anything else ($$, vacation, area…): 3 residents/year. Great package including textbooks, 4 weeks vacation + 7 days for conferences if you present + Kessler board review course (paid for) that isn’t counted against vacation. Housing in port jeff is much cheaper than the city. ~700 to share a house or ~1200 to rent a studio. EPIC EMR, can be accessed remotely. 2 months electives PGY3 must be in house. 2 months electives PGY4 can be anywhere in the country or even international.

JFK

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: Started at 8:30 am with breakfast (fruit, bagels, coffee). Dr. Cuccurullo gave us a ppt presentation about the program and then we started interviews. Given lunch (looked like regular hot cafeteria food) where a mix of PGY2-4s came to speak with us. Then we took a tour of the JFK rehab facility.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 interviews (Dr. Cuccurullo, attending and chief resident) lasting ~20min each. All very laid back and friendly. No pimping questions. General strengths/weaknesses, where do you see yourself in 10 years, PM&R exposure questions.

Residents: Smaller class size (4/year). They were all down to earth and seemed to get along well with each other. All seemed very happy being at JFK. Spoke extremely highly of Dr. Cuccurullo.

Programs directors: Dr. Cuccurullo was very approachable and friendly. She is totally invested in the education of her residents. Takes time to mentor each resident one on one and goes out of her way to support residents for post-graduation plans. Said she wants to keep the program small so that she can give attention to individual residents.

Fellowships offered: Pain through anesthesia, TBI

Didactics: Protected lecture time every Tuesday. Looks like they teach for the boards, which I liked. They have a very structured didactic schedule where residents participate in teaching board material. They go through the material 3x during their residency.

Locations: Most rotations are through JFK rehab. Farthest they go is Kessler (~30-45 min away) for 1 month of SCI during PGY3 year.

Call schedule: Home call q7 days where you are covering JFK rehab beds (~75 beds). You get paid to do notes and admissions whenever you have weekend calls (Fri night to Mon morning).

Best Features: This program is very geared towards the residents. Besides having lots of support from the PD, residents go through workshops in the beginning to prepare them for covering floors, they have mock oral exams every 3 months, a billing and coding course… I think the residents come out of the program very competent and well prepared for whatever track they going into after residency. Lots of perks such as 3 free meals a day, free parking, get paid to work weekend calls, if they don’t use all their vacation days they get paid for the remaining unused days. Attendings write notes for residents on lecture days.

Any negatives: No VA exposure. PGY2 year seems to be pretty heavy but not worse than most big NJ/NYC programs. PGY2 is all inpatient, round at 8am and can get admissions as late as 6:30/7. However, they have a cap on admissions (3 admission cap for regular floors, 2 for brain trauma unit). Residents typically hold 15 pts. JFK doesn’t use an EMR system so they write up all their notes on word documents.

Rotations: Dedicated peds and cardiac rehab months. Each rotation is 3 months long. During the last 2 weeks of each rotation, residents are evaluated on their H&P skills pertaining to the service and given constructive feedback. JFK is known to be very strong in TBI. They admitted they lack in SCI exposure, but make up for it during the Kessler SCI rotation where they do mostly outpatient work.

Anything else ($$, vacation, area…): 3 months of electives during 4th year, one of which can be done at an outside institution. $1000 if presenting a poster during a national meeting. Facilities look brand new. They have a simulated small town that includes a grocery store, car, sidewalks with different types of pavement, bedroom and kitchen, etc. that was really cool. 50% residents go into fellowships, 50% go into academics/practice. Seems like they like students that have done a rotation there but if you haven't, they encourage doing a second look before the middle of January if interested in the program. Overall, got a great feeling from the program and will likely rank it high.

June11 · Dec 19, 2014

Hi Everyone,

Just about wrapped up most of my interviews. I've applied mostly to East coast because I'm from there and hoping to stay around the area. Here are a few places I've been to.

Program: UPenn

# of Applicants: ~20. Biggest interview day I’ve been to.

Interview day structure: 8am-230pm. Typical introduction into interviews, lunch and then tour of the main rehab facility. There was a bowling social the night before the interview.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 total – 2 faculty and 1 resident

Size: 4 cat and 2 adv/yr

Residents: Seemed very happy and easygoing.

Programs directors: Dr. Lenrow. Didn’t interact with him much, but the residents said they really liked him.

Call schedule: PGY-2 3-4 calls/mo, PGY-3: 3-4 calls/mo, no weekends, PGY-4: 1-2 call/mo, no weekends. Call at Penn is inhouse. Call at PAH and VAMC are home call and the residents rarely have to show up. Overall, the residents said that the calls weren't bad at all and the rare codes are usually taken care of before the rehab resident even gets there.

Positives: Built in intern year for the categoricals seemed quite cushy. Penn name carries weight. Collaboration with other Philly programs. Located in a nice neighborhood of Philly. The main rotation sites are all close to each other and within walking distance, so if you live in the area, you don’t need to drive. Philly has decent public transportation and it’s is a very large city with plenty of things to do.

Negatives: Cost of living is expensive around the area where the hospitals are located. I think there was one site that was pretty far away, but the residents were provided a very nice housing while they were rotating there. Parking in Philly is expensive and hard to find.

Anything else: Liked this program a lot more than I thought I would. Temple and Jefferson are the two traditionally well-known rehab programs in Philly, but I got an impression that Penn is also a strong program with a solid infrastructure and relatively nice schedule.

Program: Jefferson

# of Applicants: 12

Interview day structure: 8am-2pm. Introduction, interviews, tours, and then lunch.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 total interviews. 2 faculty, 1 resident.

Size: 8 adv/yr

Residents: Happy, friendly group of residents. Seems like a common trend in rehab.

Programs directors: Dr. Marino, with Dr. Mallow in process of becoming the new PD. Both seemed nice.

Call schedule: All in-house. 5/mo as PGY2, 3/mo as PGY3, 1/mo as PGY4

Positives: Resident oriented. I could tell that the faculty really wants the residents to get the best training possible from the program. Great reputation in rehab as several faculties from other programs I’ve met all seemed to hold this program at a very high regard. Excellent fellowship placements. The facilities are located in a nice part of Philly, fairly close to Penn.

Negatives: In-house calls with busier than average call schedule. Facilities are not the newest. Like with Penn above, parking in Philly is difficult and expensive. Currently partially using EMR with paper charts, but will be full EMR system by the time this year’s applicants start as PGY2 (I think they said Epic).

Anything else: This seemed like a great program that focuses on resident education and well-being. Philly is a very cool city and apparently the 5th largest in the country.

Program: Spaulding

# of Applicants: ~10

Interview day structure: 8am-2pm

# of interviews + w/who?: 5 total interviews. 4 with faculty and 1 with resident

Size: 7 adv/yr

Residents: Nice and pleasant. Some of the PGY2’s did seem a little tired. Agree with RehabDoc above that the atmosphere here didn’t seem quite as laid back as in other programs.

Programs directors: Dr. O’Connor. Funny guy and seems supportive of residents.

Call schedule: Everything is in-house except at the VA. I think it was 4/mo during PGY2, ~2-3/mo during PGY3, wasn't entirely clear about PGY4

Positives: Very nice new rehab hospital. Great job/fellowship placements. Supportive environment for the residents. Being a part of Partners Healthcare, the facilities are highly efficient and there is a lot of money in the system. Harvard name. Boston seemed like a nice city with plenty of things to do.

Negatives: Pretty much all residents said that the 2 months at MGH neuro with q4 calls were awful in terms of schedule/lifestyle. However, they said that it was a good learning experience. Boston is about as expensive as you can get without mentioning NYC. Traffic around the rehab hospital can be terrible. Overall came off as a bit elitist, which I'm not a fan of.

Anything else: Starting from the chairman’s introductory speech, the program seemed the most intense one out of the programs I’ve been to. Certainly sounded like you will work very hard here. I think they have 4 months of neuro (2 during PGY2, 2 during PGY4), which seems too much, but if you have a lot of interest in stroke, it’s probably helpful. The program is research heavy, which can be a plus or a minus depending on your preferences.

Program: Carolinas

# of Applicants: 8

Interview day structure: 715am-4pm. Dinner event the night before. The interview day felt drawn out a little with a research tour at the end that took over an hour.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 total interviews. All with faculty.

Size: 5 adv/yr

Residents: Very laid back and one of the happiest looking group of residents.

Programs directors: Dr. Nguyen. Gave an excellent presentation about the program. The residents said that he has a tendency to come off as quite intense during the interviews, but in reality, he’s very friendly and laid back.

Call schedule: In-house call for the first 3 months, and then home call for the rest of the residency. After PGY2, the residents never work during the weekends.

Positives: Carolinas Medical Center is the 2nd largest public healthcare system in the country. The program has a ton of money and thanks to that, the residents get really nice benefits. The residents emphasized how nice their lifestyle is at this program during the dinner and seemed genuinely happy.

Charlotte is a great city with reasonable cost of living.

Negatives: Covering ~200 beds while on call. That’s more than just about any program I’ve been to, but the residents did say that it was actually quite manageable.

Anything else: Very impressed by the program overall. CMC seemed like an extremely polished program where you get excellent training while having a nice life outside of work.

I'll post reviews of a few more programs later on because I'm falling asleep. Out of those I haven't posted about yet, I loved JFK and NRH/Georgetown. NRH in particular was amazing.

RehabDoc2015 · Dec 21, 2014

June11 said:
I'll post reviews of a few more programs later on because I'm falling asleep. Out of those I haven't posted about yet, I loved JFK and NRH/Georgetown. NRH in particular was amazing.

Awesome thanks so much for posting!

I have my last four or five to review still, that is coming, but I am done 🙂

j4pac · Dec 21, 2014

Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread.

It is incredibly difficult to gauge the high points of programs by looking at websites...because every program wants to be well-balanced and to speak highly of itself. But every program has its nuances and the only way you can discover those nuances is through interviewing and/or quality reviews like the above.

It is reasonable to hold your reviews until after the match...but don't forget to do it. It really is helpful to future prospective PM&R applicants.

sloh · Dec 21, 2014

j4pac said:
Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread.

It is incredibly difficult to gauge the high points of programs by looking at websites...because every program wants to be well-balanced and to speak highly of itself. But every program has its nuances and the only way you can discover those nuances is through interviewing and/or quality reviews like the above.

It is reasonable to hold your reviews until after the match...but don't forget to do it. It really is helpful to future prospective PM&R applicants.

x2 this forum has been such a godsend and i couldn't be more grateful for the contributions over the years

TheSnackrifice · Jan 17, 2015

I was looking for more info on programs I applied to for my rank list, thought it was a little hypocritical since I haven’t contributed to the thread at all. So here it goes!

I think a little info about me is really important since different people look for different things in residency: DO student, weak board scores and no med school research (but I some prosthetic stuff undergrad), applied broadly to see what would stick. I’m leaning towards pediatric rehab, but I would like exposure to everything before I make a life decision. Resident cohesiveness and program/faculty support are very important for me since I will be moving to wherever without knowing anyone or having any family there. I’m putting categorical programs first. The more interviews I did, the less I cared about the academic/didactic side since all the programs are accredited, they all fulfill that requirement. Call schedule was also not important since it wouldn’t affect my decision at all

I’m going to skip the fellowship part since there’s a list here: http://www.physiatry.org/?page=fellowship_programs

In order of my likely rank list:

Program: U of Cincinnati (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: overview, interviews, lunch, tour

# of interviews + w/who?: 4, 3 faculty and PD

Residents: Incredibly happy. Only two per year but all of them ranked the program #1 and were ecstatic to be there. Not all of them want to do peds either!

Programs directors: Awesome. The most important thing is being personable and showing interest in the program. She’s a pediatric rehab doc herself

Call schedule: 1 week home call for PGY1 every 3 weeks. PGY3 is 2 home call weekends per month. PGY4 is no call

Best Features: Very tightly knit program. Everyone was happy to be there. Strong(est?) pediatric rehab. Livable city and best of all, there is a Chipotle on the ground floor of the PM&R academic building

Any negatives: There are only two spots and the cost of living is a little high in the city

Program: UTSA (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 6

Interview day structure: 8AM start with a little program overview, interviews, tour, lunch

# of interviews + w/who?: 3, PD, faculty and chief. BRING QUESTIONS TO ASK THE PD since that’s the entire interview

Residents: 8 per year. All get along and were happy with their choice. Some married and some not

Programs directors: Very intense about educating residents. He wrote the book on EMGs

Call schedule: PGY2 is 1 weekend per month. PGY3 cover Fridays. PGY4 cover what is left. There’s a night float otherwise

Best Features: Bigger program that is very cohesive with each other and a livable city

Any negatives: ~100 people interviewed for 8 spots, traffic sucks, some of the services seemed to have a smaller patient load.

Program: U of Minnesota (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: Info about program, long ass tour of University then VA by taking the city metro, lunch, interviews

# of interviews + w/who?: 5, PD, 2 faculty and 2 chiefs

Residents: Happy with their choice of program, but do not seem to hangout outside of the hospital. A majority are married. Obviously class dependent, but still.

Programs directors: New director is a younger guy that is really enthusiastic about teaching and listening to the resident’s feedback

Call schedule: Don’t know, sorry

Best Features: Gillette is a specialty pediatric center with peds rehab fellowship. Awesome city to live in. All the faculty are happy to be there. VA is gorgeous. High tech prosthetics and easy access to engineers

Any negatives: High cost of living. Of the didactics I attended, I thought that they were a little on the weaker side.

Anything else: I auditioned here in peds rehab

Program: U of Kentucky (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 6, but it was the last day of interviews for them and they usually have 8

Interview day structure: Program overview, interviews or tour pending what group you are in, then lunch, then switch

# of interviews + w/who?: 4. PD, 3 faculty

Residents: Very happy with their decision and with the living area. Felt well prepared for whatever fellowship or job that they wanted. All expressed that the internship year is very difficult. Don’t hang out outside of the hospital setting

Programs directors: One of my favorites. Has been in PM&R for a long time and has been director for 20+ years. Invites for interview people based on their desire to be a physiatrist

Call schedule: Seems like a lot, but it’s home call

Best Features: Experienced faculty, low cost of living, lots of research if you want it, brand new gorgeous facilities, didactic test 4x a year to keep you on top of the material

Any negatives: Toughest intern year I’ve seen, most of the residents don’t hang out

Program: U of Rochester (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: 1 hour presentation by PD, interviews, I can’t remember if there was lunch or not but I don’t think there was

# of interviews + w/who?: 5. PD, 2 faculty, 1 psychotherapist, and the program coordinator but it’s disguised as a tour of the facilities then she sits you down and asks you questions. It was really weird

Residents: Happy with their choice, but definitely do not hang out outside of hospital. It was not the top choice for any of the residents that I talked to

Programs directors: Has been a PMR doc for longer than anyone I met period. Heavily invested in resident education and maintaining high standards.

Call schedule: don’t know

Best Features: 100% board pass rate, PD is willing to modify your blocks to fit your interests i.e. more peds rotations for me. Cheap cost of living. Higher pay

Any negatives: The whole program felt really stiff and stuffy. Rochester isn’t the greatest of places to live as far as fun. Apparently parking is a big problem at the hospital

Program: U of Arkansas (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: Interviews, lunch, tour, interviews

# of interviews + w/who?: 5. PD, 2 faculty in AM. Chair, chief in PM

Residents: Very fun and happy residents. Easy going and happy with their decision. First choice for many.

Programs directors: New PD is very young, but former PD is still the chair. I’m not sure how the program is going to change, but the new PD is very invested in the program

Call schedule: approximately every 12 days in house call regardless of year

Best Features: Residents are awesome and Arkansas Children’s hospital is great, cheap cost of living

Any negatives: Program seems to be in the growing phase right now and the didactics are a little on the weaker side

Anything else: I auditioned here

Program: Thomas Jefferson (Advanced)

# of Applicants: 12

Interview day structure: small program overview, then half do interviews and other have get more program info. Switch. Tour then lunch

# of interviews + w/who?: 3. PD, faculty, resident

Residents: very happy to be there and all hangout outside of hospital, even hitting happy hour every Wednesday

Programs directors: New director is fairly young and energetic. Invested in improving the program and listening to resident feedback

Call schedule: PGY2; 5/month plus 2 weekends. PGY3: 3/month plus 1 weekend. PGY4:1/month

Best Features: Very academic, very cohesive, nice part of Philly

Any negatives: Expense of living, still use hand written notes!

Program: JFK in NJ (Advanced)

# of Applicants: 4

Interview day structure: Program overview, interviews, lunch, tour

# of interviews + w/who?: 3. PD, faculty, chief

Residents: All were very well prepared for what they want to do after residency. All matched to desired fellowship or job. Top choice for majority of residents

Programs directors: She wrote the review book for PM&R boards. ‘Nuff said

Call schedule: Dunno

Best Features: Very well structured program that produces very good residents. Lots of board review things and as much research as you want. Higher pay

Any negatives: Too much hand holding and not enough autonomy? I’m not a big fan of the area

Program: Indiana University (Advanced)

# of Applicants: 5

Interview day structure: Program overview, interviews, personal tour of Indianapolis in PD’s minivan which was awesome, lunch

# of interviews + w/who?: 2. PD and faculty

Residents: They were all very happy with their decision, but ALL of them said they do not hang out with the other residents outside of the hospital. Most are married with kids

Programs directors: Very cool PD. Was very upfront with me about the weak area in pediatrics and if the program was the right fit for me

Call schedule: PGY2: every 6 days. PGY3&4: about 2x a month

Best Features: PD is awesome and approachable, independent rehab facility, very cool city to live in, very well balanced program

Any negatives: Weak peds and residents were cohesive but do not see each other outside of residency

Program: Wayne State Oakwood (Categorical)

# of Applicants: 10

Interview day structure: Worst interview day I had by far. “Start” at 10AM with small presentation, interviews were scheduled throughout the day with many breaks in between interviews. It fell really far behind and was modified to accommodate flights. I even missed an interview with the PD since he had to leave. Done around 5PM with a lot of down time in between

# of interviews + w/who?: 4-5 depending if you were lucky I guess. PD, 3 faculty (one interview was 2 faculty at the same time), one interview with a PA and the program coordinator, one interview with both chiefs

Residents: Very cool and personable residents that were a tight knit bunch. Most were local to the area.

Programs directors: I didn’t get to meet the head PD, but the associate PD was ok. Put down the other Wayne State program which I thought was tasteless to say the least

Call schedule: PGY2: a week of home call every 4 weeks PGY3: weekend call every 4 weeks PGY4: 3x per year

Best Features: Cool residents, OMT monthly if you’re into that, residents hang out outside the hospital frequently

Any negatives: Young program that was growing, but I felt lack direction of how it wants to grow. OBGYN (which I really dislike) required for DOs due to lame Michigan laws. Horrible interview day left a bad impression. Area was ok since it was a suburb of Detroit

Program: UAB (Advanced)

# of Applicants: 8

Interview day structure: Overview, interviews, lunch, tour. Some of the faculty didn’t read my application before the interview which is a personal pet peeve of mine

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 I think? It was a long time ago. PD, 2 faculty

Residents: Very friendly and personable and got their first choice fellowship spots. Most ranked it #1

Programs directors: I didn’t get along the greatest with the PD, so I’ll just leave it at that

Call schedule: PGY2: 5/month and 2 weekends plus holidays PGY3: 2-3/month PGY4: 0

Best Features: Lots of electives 4th year, I thought the area was nice

Any negatives: Kinda felt like a Southern frat while I was there. I was the only one not from the South during the interview.

Not going to rank:
Program: Wayne State RIM (Advanced)

# of Applicants: 4

Interview day structure: Overview, interview, tour

# of interviews + w/who?: 5. PD, 2 faculty, 2 chiefs

Residents: Got a weird feeling from all the residents I met. Can’t quite describe exactly why though

Programs directors: I thought the PD was a little abrasive. Not a person I would like to work with

Call schedule: don’t know

Best Features: Great hospital system

Any negatives: One of those interviews where the further the day went, the more I didn’t want to be there. Strange feeling from the residents and PD, not a great area to live in. Definitely not for me

Kissmyabjj · Jan 20, 2015

I got the same feeling at RIM. Just doesn't seem like a very enjoyable place to work.

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 5, 2015

Hey guys, long time no talk! I hope you are all done with interviews and relaxing somewhere!

Question - I have heard about people in other specialties being contacted by program directors like 'we really want you', 'you're ranked to match', etc. Has this been happening to people in PM&R? I have not heard from anywhere and I was just wondering if others had and if I should make anything out of it.

ps-We should start a rank list thread, too!

j4pac · Feb 5, 2015

RehabDoc2015 said:
Hey guys, long time no talk! I hope you are all done with interviews and relaxing somewhere!

Question - I have heard about people in other specialties being contacted by program directors like 'we really want you', 'you're ranked to match', etc. Has this been happening to people in PM&R? I have not heard from anywhere and I was just wondering if others had and if I should make anything out of it.

ps-We should start a rank list thread, too!

I've been told by a few programs that they would rank me highly, while at the interview. Never got a number. I don't know if that is just talk...but I am honestly treating it as such. I have not received ANY post-interview feedback. I believe that most programs avoid contact with applicants post-interview in hopes of avoiding an NRMP match violation...which is very understandable.

Considering that I have had a number of people tell me "hi J4pac!" while I have been on the trail...it probably wouldn't be the smartest thing for me to post my reviews or rank order just yet. 🙂

runfastnow · Feb 5, 2015

Ditto j4pac. I heard some nice remarks about my competitiveness and such during some interviews and a few places I followed up with echoed their nice remarks about my competitiveness, but none of these mythical "love letters" that my school says you may get. I'm waiting as well before writing any reviews or putting up my rank list, but will post match day so they'll hopefully help someone else out down the road.

colourmebadd · Feb 6, 2015

I've just had PDs and chiefs email to say they think I'd be a good fit and say to feel free to ask any questions I have -- nothing too personal, nothing that's gonna inflate my ego or bump them up on my ROL.

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 6, 2015

Ok thanks guys! I understand about not wanting to post your lists. I'm still working mine out but I think I will post.

colourmebadd · Feb 6, 2015

RehabDoc2015 said:
Ok thanks guys! I understand about not wanting to post your lists. I'm still working mine out but I think I will post.

I'm far from inconspicuous and will be posting mine before Match day (likely before ROLs are due), but I gotta wait to talk things over with my SO.

ED50 · Feb 6, 2015

Hey all, I plan on posing in the interview experiences thread and ROL thread in a few weeks. I have found these pages extremely useful in the past and plan on paying it forward. Just gonna wait until I know I matched 😀 hopefully more will contribute to the future applicants lurking these forums 🙂

rehabjt · Feb 7, 2015

I got an email from a PD saying that I was "ranked high to match" or something like that, but it was actually from a program that I wasn't planning on ranking. Sooo, it was kind of awkward. And I also got a hand-written note from the chair at another program, but it was just saying that it's a great place to train, etc. Nothing about my rank.

colourmebadd · Feb 7, 2015

rehabjt said:
I got an email from a PD saying that I was "ranked high to match" or something like that, but it was actually from a program that I wasn't planning on ranking. Sooo, it was kind of awkward. And I also got a hand-written note from the chair at another program, but it was just saying that it's a great place to train, etc. Nothing about my rank.

Haha. Got that one too. That bumped them up in my ROL -- from last to second to last.

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 7, 2015

rehabjt said:
I got an email from a PD saying that I was "ranked high to match" or something like that, but it was actually from a program that I wasn't planning on ranking. Sooo, it was kind of awkward. And I also got a hand-written note from the chair at another program, but it was just saying that it's a great place to train, etc. Nothing about my rank.

That's interesting and funny. The only email I got was from a chief resident and just saying we think you're a strong candidate but that program was also near the bottom of my list. Seems like this phenomenon is much less common in PM&R than other specialties. I have some friends going into psych and PDs are legit calling non stop on the phone to try to recruit them.

Are people not ranking some programs? I interviewed at 12 places and am planning to rank all 12, even though I would be less than thrilled to drop below #8 on my list I am just scared of not matching.

I'm having a big conflict about how to rank my top 4 programs, two are super competitive top tier programs that both have lots of things I really liked but are way more intense, not the best fit personality wise with the residents or the programs. The other 2 are very mid tier programs, both with things I liked a lot, not necessarily better schedule wise but just felt like a better vibe for me overall. I am having a really hard time letting go of the 'I could train at X' feeling, I know pm&r is a small field and people put a ton of weight into where you do your training. It's hard to not go for one of the top programs, I do think I have a good shot at getting a spot but I don't want to be unhappy during residency, obviously, and I know I would work a lot harder at those two programs and my quality of life would be less. I worked my ass off in med school and I can't say that it brought me joy! Anyone else in the same boat or want to comment?

colourmebadd · Feb 7, 2015

RehabDoc2015 said:
That's interesting and funny. The only email I got was from a chief resident and just saying we think you're a strong candidate but that program was also near the bottom of my list. Seems like this phenomenon is much less common in PM&R than other specialties. I have some friends going into psych and PDs are legit calling non stop on the phone to try to recruit them.

Are people not ranking some programs? I interviewed at 12 places and am planning to rank all 12, even though I would be less than thrilled to drop below #8 on my list I am just scared of not matching.

I'm having a big conflict about how to rank my top 4 programs, two are super competitive top tier programs that both have lots of things I really liked but are way more intense, not the best fit personality wise with the residents or the programs. The other 2 are very mid tier programs, both with things I liked a lot, not necessarily better schedule wise but just felt like a better vibe for me overall. I am having a really hard time letting go of the 'I could train at X' feeling, I know pm&r is a small field and people put a ton of weight into where you do your training. It's hard to not go for one of the top programs, I do think I have a good shot at getting a spot but I don't want to be unhappy during residency, obviously, and I know I would work a lot harder at those two programs and my quality of life would be less. I worked my ass off in med school and I can't say that it brought me joy! Anyone else in the same boat or want to comment?

I'm thankful I don't have to deal with recruitment phone calls -- that just puts you on the spot and makes it uncomfortable for everyone. I am not replying to any hand written/typed mailed letters or emails. I don't have any residual questions for programs/chiefs and I have my ROL set in my mind. I think they are subtly trying to gauge my interest without actually committing a match violation.

To your question: I think I want to go somewhere that I know the previous graduates are making waves and can open doors for me -- both directly through networking and indirectly by making a name for the program. At the end of the day, it's 3-4 years. I wouldn't choose being miserable day in and day out (not getting along with attendings, being outcast from co-residents) at the "top" program(s) in favor of rewarding experience daily at a "lesser" program, BUT I also don't think I'd be miserable at any program I'm ranking -- there are 2 that I am not ranking for that exact reason.

Remember we're going into PM&R, not IM/Peds and certainly not any surgical specialty, so we inherently won't have it all that bad. In the grand scheme of things, even the 'toughest' PM&R program is not that bad. [In all fairness, I should disclose that I'm almost certainly doing surgery prelim, so I'm really not fazed by schedules.]

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 7, 2015

colourmebadd said:
I'm thankful I don't have to deal with recruitment phone calls -- that just puts you on the spot and makes it uncomfortable for everyone. I am not replying to any hand written/typed mailed letters or emails. I don't have any residual questions for programs/chiefs and I have my ROL set in my mind. I think they are subtly trying to gauge my interest without actually committing a match violation.

To your question: I think I want to go somewhere that I know the previous graduates are making waves and can open doors for me -- both directly through networking and indirectly by making a name for the program. At the end of the day, it's 3-4 years. I wouldn't choose being miserable day in and day out (not getting along with attendings, being outcast from co-residents) at the "top" program(s) in favor of rewarding experience daily at a "lesser" program, BUT I also don't think I'd be miserable at any program I'm ranking -- there are 2 that I am not ranking for that exact reason.

Remember we're going into PM&R, not IM/Peds and certainly not any surgical specialty, so we inherently won't have it all that bad. In the grand scheme of things, even the 'toughest' PM&R program is not that bad. [In all fairness, I should disclose that I'm almost certainly doing surgery prelim, so I'm really not fazed by schedules.]

Thanks for your thoughts!

coffeetime75 · Feb 7, 2015

RehabDoc2015 said:
That's interesting and funny. The only email I got was from a chief resident and just saying we think you're a strong candidate but that program was also near the bottom of my list. Seems like this phenomenon is much less common in PM&R than other specialties. I have some friends going into psych and PDs are legit calling non stop on the phone to try to recruit them.

Are people not ranking some programs? I interviewed at 12 places and am planning to rank all 12, even though I would be less than thrilled to drop below #8 on my list I am just scared of not matching.

I'm having a big conflict about how to rank my top 4 programs, two are super competitive top tier programs that both have lots of things I really liked but are way more intense, not the best fit personality wise with the residents or the programs. The other 2 are very mid tier programs, both with things I liked a lot, not necessarily better schedule wise but just felt like a better vibe for me overall. I am having a really hard time letting go of the 'I could train at X' feeling, I know pm&r is a small field and people put a ton of weight into where you do your training. It's hard to not go for one of the top programs, I do think I have a good shot at getting a spot but I don't want to be unhappy during residency, obviously, and I know I would work a lot harder at those two programs and my quality of life would be less. I worked my ass off in med school and I can't say that it brought me joy! Anyone else in the same boat or want to comment?

I can definitely relate to what you're going through. I chose to go on 11 interviews after receiving 20 or so. I intend on ranking all of them. However, like you, I'm not crazy about my last couple.

There were a couple of places in particular with excellent reputations (i.e.: "super 6") that I did not feel would be a suitable fit for me, so I've decided to rank them in the lower half of my list. On the other hand, one place with an average reputations for PM&R really impressed me and is currently my #2 rank. I happen to love the city it's located in and felt like I'd fit in well with the current residents. However, similar to your situation, I constantly find myself saying "But I could train at ... instead" and this is what's driving me insane.

Ultimately, if you are going to be unhappy in any of the programs, that should take precedence over its apparent reputation. The beauty of getting to visit the programs during interviews is that you can form your own impressions about each individual place. We need to take what others say with a grain of salt and decide for ourselves which program suits us best.

hashtag · Feb 7, 2015

As someone who went through the process last year I'd like to offer my two cents: there's no way to control who your cohort is going to be- just because you get great vibes from THIS year's residents does not guarantee the same fit next year. The CULTURE of the institution however can sometimes be felt on interview day and if you feel that it would be a poor fit as an institution /overall program, that is a legitimate concern. In terms of location, it is a bigger factor than many are willing to admit, and I chose to be near family and that is what differentiated my no 1 from no 2. All told, my mindset at rank time was to be happy and to be able to see myself at any of my top three-five, and as a matter of fact, on Match a Day I was much less stressed for it. Either way, good luck to everyone and I hope everyone here Matches well this year!

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 7, 2015

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input a lot. Rank order list thread has officially started if anyone else is feeling bold!

Gooner66 · Feb 8, 2015

I also went through this process just last year, and remember feeling the same uncertainty many people seem to be expressing about their final rank list. One piece of advice I found particularly helpful from an RIC resident; he stressed to me that the mythical "super 6", or those programs commonly referred to as "top tier" on this forum and elsewhere, can actually be kind of misleading. It is important to keep in mind that the reputation of those programs is largely historical, and is based heavily on very subjective "rankings" of the rehabilitation hospital itself. That's an important distinction, because it is not a ranking of the actual residency-experience itself. Those rankings are simply a subjective ranking obtained by mail-out ballots to PM&R docs. This predictably results in the larger hospital/ residency class = higher score in the rankings.

This is not to disparage those programs, which are most certainly high quality, but to highlight the fact that lesser-known/ smaller programs can get easily overlooked. Despite your own impressions, it can be difficult to overcome the thought that one program is not "supposed to be" as strong as another. I ran into this while deciding on my own rank list, as I honestly liked my interviews at two lesser known programs significantly better than some of the traditional powers. I just couldn't rationalize how I could rank a "worse" program over the more well known ones, until I had that conversation with the RIC resident. The actual quality of the residency experience can be difficult to ascertain, and is really what interview season should be about. How to go about doing that deserves a whole thread of its own, but I would pay special attention to the following;
1. who's in charge - what direction are they taking the program in? Are they looking to innovate, trying to improve? Are they new and full of energy, or older and possibly more resistant to change? Did you get along with them? 2. resident experience - try to have some frank discussions about their experiences. Get one or two emails and actually use them to ask follow up questions and dig a little deeper. You'd be surprised at how honest/ insightful people will be after you get beyond the initial "meet and greet" phase. What kind of fellowships/ jobs are they getting post-residency? 3. word of mouth - people get a sense for programs on the up and up and those that may have stagnated. The research/quality of residents, etc from a place becomes common knowledge among the PM&R community, so tap into that knowledge when possible. 4. your gut/ interview day experience. Don't discount how you felt about a place on interview day. Did you get along with the people, did you like the facilities, did you enjoy the city, etc. This is a critical component, and really should hold some serious weight when it comes time to submitting that rank list.

Early in the process, I was focused on trying to get into the best residency possible, which meant I was focused on those big names we all know. During interviews, I got a little confused because those programs I thought were my targets didn't click with me like I was hoping. Only when I realized the "best" program was something entirely personal did the decision become easy. I ended up ranking the smaller, lesser known program higher and matched there. I am very happy with how everything worked out... Good luck to everybody this year! I hope you all discover the "best" place for you! (sorry for the novel...)

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 8, 2015

Gooner66 said:
I also went through this process just last year, and remember feeling the same uncertainty many people seem to be expressing about their final rank list. One piece of advice I found particularly helpful from an RIC resident; he stressed to me that the mythical "super 6", or those programs commonly referred to as "top tier" on this forum and elsewhere, can actually be kind of misleading. It is important to keep in mind that the reputation of those programs is largely historical, and is based heavily on very subjective "rankings" of the rehabilitation hospital itself. That's an important distinction, because it is not a ranking of the actual residency-experience itself. Those rankings are simply a subjective ranking obtained by mail-out ballots to PM&R docs. This predictably results in the larger hospital/ residency class = higher score in the rankings.

This is not to disparage those programs, which are most certainly high quality, but to highlight the fact that lesser-known/ smaller programs can get easily overlooked. Despite your own impressions, it can be difficult to overcome the thought that one program is not "supposed to be" as strong as another. I ran into this while deciding on my own rank list, as I honestly liked my interviews at two lesser known programs significantly better than some of the traditional powers. I just couldn't rationalize how I could rank a "worse" program over the more well known ones, until I had that conversation with the RIC resident. The actual quality of the residency experience can be difficult to ascertain, and is really what interview season should be about. How to go about doing that deserves a whole thread of its own, but I would pay special attention to the following;
1. who's in charge - what direction are they taking the program in? Are they looking to innovate, trying to improve? Are they new and full of energy, or older and possibly more resistant to change? Did you get along with them? 2. resident experience - try to have some frank discussions about their experiences. Get one or two emails and actually use them to ask follow up questions and dig a little deeper. You'd be surprised at how honest/ insightful people will be after you get beyond the initial "meet and greet" phase. What kind of fellowships/ jobs are they getting post-residency? 3. word of mouth - people get a sense for programs on the up and up and those that may have stagnated. The research/quality of residents, etc from a place becomes common knowledge among the PM&R community, so tap into that knowledge when possible. 4. your gut/ interview day experience. Don't discount how you felt about a place on interview day. Did you get along with the people, did you like the facilities, did you enjoy the city, etc. This is a critical component, and really should hold some serious weight when it comes time to submitting that rank list.

Early in the process, I was focused on trying to get into the best residency possible, which meant I was focused on those big names we all know. During interviews, I got a little confused because those programs I thought were my targets didn't click with me like I was hoping. Only when I realized the "best" program was something entirely personal did the decision become easy. I ended up ranking the smaller, lesser known program first and matched there. I am very happy with how everything worked out... Good luck to everybody this year! I hope you all discover the "best" place for you! (sorry for the novel...)

Thanks so much, this is really insightful and we appreciate your input. I have to say I agree with you!

j4pac · Feb 26, 2015

For the record, I ranked all of the interviews I attended, so I didn't dislike any of them.

About myself. I'm a DO with average grades, slightly above average COMLEX, no USMLE, some research (most of which is self-directed). I performed an Internal Medicine internship, did very well. I am a primary care physician for a Navy squadron. A significant part of my clinic is sports med. I would put my ability and knowledge base of sports medicine against any applicant on the trail. I have a very strong specialty LOR from a world renown Physiatrist, who is a close mentor.

I applied to 48 programs including Walter Reed. Walter Reed again didn't open a slot for a Navy applicant, so the writing is on the wall that I am civilian bound. I received 16 invitations. I have young children and my wife is a resident. No question that raising children has been more difficult than internship and medical school. My wife had a PICU rotation in December which prevented me from attending 6 interviews. Bummer.

The qualities that I found most important were: Outpatient exposure, fit, and location. I used program prestige and inpatient exposure as a tie-breaker.

Program: Mayo Clinic

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Over 1000/80

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (6 MD, 3 DO, 1 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner the night before with four residents. Laid back and residents were very helpful. They seemed bright but also humble. Morning started with meeting two PCs (awesome ladies) and presentations by the chair and program director. The presentation was primarily about the patient center ethos of Mayo. Pretty impressive stuff. The rest of the morning, the group was split into two groups. One group interviewed, while the other went on a tour. The tour looked at all of the primary facilities of Mayo, including an awesome gym which is open at a small price to staff. The facilities are absolutely top notch. All of the facilities with exception of the primary adult inpatient unit is connected by an underground walkway. A shuttle gets you over to the other site, only about 10 minutes away. You do have to go into the bitter cold for about 30 seconds…and it is cold. Next we sat down and ate lunch with many residents…again very humble and helpful. Those who participated in the tour the first half of the day perform interviews after lunch. After that the day's done.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 (PD, 2 staff members); all knew my file.

Size: 8/year (2 categorical, 6 advanced)

Residents: Bright and humble. All loved their program and feel like it is the best program in the country. About a quarter of residents have families. Most want to go on to fellowship.

Programs director: Easy-going guy. Mayo rotates every leadership position after 7-8 years…and he will be there at least through 2017.

Call schedule: About once per week PGY2-3.

Call details: All home call. Must live within 20 minutes, which isn’t bad in Rochester. Nurses call at 9:30PM while on call with a list of orders after they round. Unbelievable setup that should take place in every program in the country.

Area: Rochester, MN is essentially Mayo Clinic. It’s not a tiny town but it definitely caters to Mayo. There are nice bars and restaurants in town. Decent entertainment. Good cost of living, good schools, good for families. BITTER COLD winters. You can do electives in Jacksonville, FL and Scottsdale, AZ. Many use this strategy for the winter.

Positives: You may not be able to do better for outpatient medicine. The facilities are top notch. The staff is top notch. Elite patient center and team ethos. Very good inpatient exposure with pathology you are unlikely to see many other places. Elite reputation. Research opportunities and funding is almost endless…and there are processes in place which makes the legwork for research much easier. Only program in country that you can sit for the EMG boards after completing residency. Great anatomy series. Weekly continuity clinic. PGY-4s serve as senior residents on the inpatient rotations.

Negatives: No burn rehab, though it can be setup as elective. No VA hospital…if that matters to you. No stand alone rehab facility…if that matters to you. Strict formal dress code, with the exception of being on home-call. I'm a LECOM grad and a living Barney Stinson...I love suits.

Anything else: There is a Mentor program in place to ensure you are on the right track. There is also research tutorial classes.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Don’t work hard…don’t work as a team…don’t get along with support staff”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant who wants an elite outpatient exposure and are considering fellowship.

Program: Univ of Wisconsin

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/35

# of Applicants at interview: 4 (2 MD, 2 DO)

Interview day structure: LOL. Dinner with staff, chair, and ALL residents…at a Pub. Awesome Pub with great microbrewery…and all staff, residents, and applicants were openly drinking (but not getting smashed). You want to talk about awesome, down-to-earth people. Wow. Day opened with breakfast while taking part in grand rounds. Very good presentations…very good staff feedback. Next we were given an informal presentation by PD. She spoke about new free-standing rehab facility which will be very nice on the other end of town (about 20 minutes). Next we had interviews. Then we had lunch, again with 100% resident turnout. Last we were given a tour of the current facilities.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, Chair, 2 staff members). All knew my file very well and were excited to meet me. The Chair is an awesome guy. I chatted with him about 30 minutes at the social the night before, so it made for an incredibly casual interview. One of the staff members was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is a medical historian who does peds rehab, and has an interest in astrophysics. All of the interviewers were incredibly easy to relate.

Size: 3/year. All advanced.

Residents: Definitely the types of guys/gals I could see myself hanging out with. Best camaraderie of any program on my trail. They loved their program and their city.

Programs director: More reserved than many of the other staff members, but definitely cared about her program and residents.

Call schedule: PGY2- 8/month; PGY3- 6/month; PGY4- 3/month

Call details: Home call. Residents rarely get called. Has state of the art Epic EMR (Madison is home to Epic).

Area: Madison regularly ranks as one of the nicest cities in the country. It is beautiful, at an isthmus of two large lakes. Clean, safe, tons of entertainment/food/culture. Good cost of living. Great city of singles and families. Very walkable, pet-friendly.

Positives: The people…no question. Attendings treat residents as colleagues. PD dedicated to education. Great outpatient/procedural exposure. Excellent Peds exposure (3 month Peds rotation, and another 3 months at “CMC” which is Peds heavy).

Negatives: Just getting started with MSK ultrasound. No vent patients…if that is your thing. Inpatient exposure isn’t great…with a fairly light patient load. No board review (students do well nonetheless). Average outpatient facilities.

Anything else: New stand-alone rehab facility may present challenges. Only time will tell whether this will make the program better or worse. The staff and PD believe that it will be for the better, and they are dedicated to improvement. PD ensured us that it will remain home call with the new facility.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Not team players”. Chair notes that they offer fewer interview invites than most but that they are the most sure about “fit” with the people they invite…so they rarely get issues.

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for an incredibly supportive and fun work environment with a focus on outpatient rehab.

Program: Louisville

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/75

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (4 MD, 4 DO, 2 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner night before with residents. Very small, close nit group. Personalities varied by resident, but they were all helpful, down-to-earth, and humble. Interview day started with presentation by PD. Then interviewed; benign. Then had lunch while watching grand rounds. It was honestly the best grand rounds I have ever seen. They are performing field-changing studies on the topic of spinal cord injury. Incredibly passionate staff who feel they are all there for a purpose. I was almost brought to tears by the video of their outcomes…it was THAT good. Finished the day on a cloud touring Frazier rehab. It is a stand-alone rehab facility. I liked the layout of the building. The facilities were nice but didn’t blow me away…but certainly strong enough.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, two staff, and chief resident). All knew my file well, and were excited to be interviewing me.

Size: 2/year; all advanced. (PD is looking to expand to 4/year but needs funding).

Residents: Down-to-earth and helpful. Felt they had a strong well-rounded program.

Programs director: Very passionate and charismatic guy. He and I really hit it off. I could definitely see myself working under him, happily.

Call schedule: PGY2/3- One week straight every month. PGY4- no call.

Call details: Home call. Due to the small number of residents, it does present a challenge for coverage. Residents note that it is rare that they have to go in, but when they do, it does make for long days/week.

Area: Downtown Louisville within walking distance to great restaurants and entertainment. Louisville is an incredibly underrated city. Lots to do for those with or without families. Low cost of living. Good public schools in suburbs. There are hills and the city is on a river, so it has some natural beauty.

Positives: Weekly continuity clinic. Strong outpatient program. Strong SCI (model system). Staff is very supportive and love their jobs. 1:1 staff to resident ratio at all times.

Negatives: Small, so it doesn’t have the reputation of many larger programs. MSK ultrasound is not standard curriculum but they are trying to work it in, as it is being requested by more residents.

Anything else: May be the hidden gem of PM&R.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Inability to work as a team…pull your own weight”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for strong SCI or outpatient exposure with a supportive staff.

Program: Thomas Jefferson

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Didn’t get details, sorry.

# of Applicants at interview: 12 (6 MD, 6 DO, 0 IMG)

Interview day structure: No dinner the night before. Showed up early morning of interview and was able to participate in board prep; Q&A based. I thought that it was pretty cool. The PC was disorganized (I gave her a mulligan considering it was opening day). We started a lecture about the program…and they stopped midway to take half of the candidates away for interviewing. I started an interview, and was pulled out of the room after about 5 minutes because the PC put me with the wrong interviewer. Got tour of Magee and TJ after interviews. Both were ok facilities but like the city, weren’t beautiful. Had an excellent lunch with residents.

# of interviews + w/who?: Two staff and one resident (no PD…probably due to it being disorganized…lame). Resident knew my profile; the two interviewers did not. One staff member gave typical stock questions, the other asked difficult question (which was fine with me…showed that he was at least interested in the process)

Size: 7/year; all advanced

Residents: Friendly. They were very appreciative of their education and loved their attendings. I felt a decent connection, but not a great personality fit. All of the residents I met weren’t married.

Programs directors: New incoming PD. He is young and motivated. He spent a good amount of time explaining how the program was previously placed on probation because the previous PD wasn’t great at book keeping (though very respected) as an attending). Ensured that they are completely accredited with a great education.

Call schedule: PGY2- 5 days/month; PGY3- 3 days/month; PGY4- 1 day/month

Call details: In house call; only take call at TJ and Magee. 2 admission cap/night. Typically 5PM-11AM. You get post-call day off. You get to sleep now and then on call…but less so at Magee (free standing hospital)

Area: City Center Philly. One of the nicest areas of town with significant historical importance, great culture, and restaurants. With all that said, it is still Philly…and therefore is dirty and rough. It is a challenge to find good suburban areas within 30 minutes that are affordable with available housing.

Positives: Strong education. Strong faculty. Strong didactics. Lots of fellowship opportunities.

Negatives: Call room sucked. Split between paper and EMR note-taking. Fairly heavy in-house call. No VA hospital.

Anything else: Inpatient strength is SCI. MSK exposure is strong, but Ultrasound is limited.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Residents expecting to be coddled”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Philadelphians or single applicants looking for a very strong well-rounded program.

Program: Baylor COM/UTH (two programs with shared curriculum)

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Didn’t get details, sorry.

# of Applicants at interview: 12 (8 MD, 3 DO, 1 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner the night before with two residents. Both stated that the program was difficult but that it was worth it. Showed up early and TIRR was locked until right before the interview day started. We all kind of huddled together to chat (and stay warm). Day opened with good lecture from the two PDs about the program. The rest of the morning was split into two groups. One group interviewed in the morning. The other went on a tour of TIRR and all of the major supporting hospitals. IT IS ENORMOUS. Wear shoes that are comfortable or your feet will hate you by the end of the day. I also recommend bringing water on the tour…I was the only one that did…everyone else regretted it.

# of interviews + w/who?: PD (either program), staff (the other program), and chief resident. Good questions asked from all interviewers. All knew my profile which was nice after TJ.

Size: 8 at Baylor COM, 4 at UTH. All advanced.

Residents: Very bright. Many appeared tired. Not many of them were very fun people. You could tell that they were good residents but not necessarily the type of people I would hangout with. Residents were not “happy”…but appreciative of education. A few of the residents had completed another residency.

Programs directors: Very young and charismatic. Both appear to be guys you would want to have a beer with…much more so than most the residents under them (based on my limited time with the residents).

Call schedule: PGY2-3- 5-6 nights/month. PGY4- 3 nights/month.

Call details: Complicated. TIRR (6 months) has in-house call. The other sites have home-call. Call is from 5PM-7AM.

Area: Medical center is one of the nicer areas of Houston. Not a fan of the flat terrain and poor air quality. Has good restaurants and has a pretty good nightlife (caters to Rice University and Houston Univ). Traffic is pretty bad. You have to be within 30 min drive time, which eliminates most of the good suburbs. The medical center area is expensive.

Positives: ELITE inpatient experience. Improving outpatient exposure. TIRR takes patients that VERY few are willing to take. You are essentially an IM resident doing rehab. Residents are NO QUESTION well-trained to enter inpatient practice when leaving this program. You really may not be able to do better. Incredibly strong reputation and alumni size, which opens doors.

Negatives: Absolutely enormous. Some will be enamored by it…I see it as an inconvenience. You have to have a different badge to get into different buildings. You have different call schedules to keep up with. The residents at this program are WORKED. They are tired. Rough call.

Anything else: Residents get a good education and the Baylor name is strong…but you really have to do a cost benefit analysis with this program.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Unwilling to put in the work”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Applicants who had difficulty deciding between IM and PM&R as a residency, those who are gunning for fellowships, and those who want to work in an academic inpatient PM&R setting.

Program: SUNY Stony Brook

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/50

# of Applicants at interview: 8 (2 MD, 6 DO, 0 IMG)

Interview day structure: No dinner night before. Met with PC in the morning in a conference room. PD gave presentation on program, definitely was trying to sell her program over other NY programs. She made the statement that she doesn’t have any children, so she treats her residents like her family. She also stated that she was not going anywhere for a long time. Interviews then started. It was a bit disorganized. The PD’s interview times varied significantly, so there was a lot of waiting in the room with other applicants. PC was nice and helpful. After interviews got done we were given a tour by the chief resident. Facilities were mediocre…nothing special at all. After the tour we ate lunch with the PC (no residents/staff). Immediately after the PD gave a lecture with all residents in attendance. Note that the residents got there right on time so there was absolutely ZERO amount of time to talk to residents. The lecture took over two hours, and immediately afterword the residents left. The only resident I was able to speak with was the chief resident, who was smug and over speaking to applicants. The time would have been spent allowing us to meet residents.

# of interviews + w/who?: 2 (PD and either chief resident or staff member). PD read my application packet aloud and then commented on it. She even read my LORs aloud…which I had never heard before. She then made casual conversation. Benign experience. I got the chief resident as my other interviewer. He told me lots about the PD including that not all residents get along with her.

Size: 3 year. All advanced.

Residents: Good question. I only met one…the chief. This is a HUGE red flag in my book. The chief did note that residents typically didn’t get together much.

Programs director: This is the most PD-centric program that I have seen on the trail. She seemed nice enough but she also may have the personality that you love or hate. She does seem invested in her residents, but maybe to a fault.

Call schedule: PGY2- 6 nights/month; PGY3- 5 nights/month; PGY4- 3 nights/month (no weekends)

Call details: Only cover at St. Charles Hospital. Absolutely CAKE call schedule…5PM-7PM. Easiest call schedule I have come across.

Area: Long Island NY. Nice suburban area. Limited cultural events, restaurants, and entertainment. Expensive. You get paid pretty well…but after considering taxes and cost of living…Stony Brook was the worst paying of all the programs on my trail. Traffic can be bad. It is about an hour and a half from NYC…optimistically. Northport VA, which is one of the affiliates, is about 40 minutes south of the other hospitals.

Positives: CAKE call schedule. Program prides itself on MSK. You get MSK Ultrasound with MSK Radiologist. Good didactic schedule. Free board review at Kessler. Only program which you will be trained to perform muscle biopsies.

Negatives: Mediocre inpatient exposure. No SCI service. Incredibly PD-centric. The PD does practically all didactics. If you don’t get along with the PD, and apparently some don’t, your life will SUCK. Why the heck did I only meet one resident from the program? Is this program trying to hide something? Probably not, but you need to form your own opinion.

Anything else: Incredibly DO friendly program…specifically NYCOM friendly. Eight of nine residents are DO, and five of nine are from NYCOM.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Lazy and Not a team player”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: NYCOM applicants who want to do a Pain fellowship.

Program: Indiana

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Sorry, didn’t ask

# of Applicants at interview: 7 (5 MD, 2 DO, 0 IMG)

Interview day structure: Q&A with multiple residents in the AM while eating some of the best donuts that I have ever eaten. Presentation given by PD about programs. Interviews mid-morning. After got a tour of RHI by resident. It is a very nice, clean stand alone rehab facility. The best call room on my trail…easily. Then the PD drove us around Indianapolis given us a tour of the city. It is a very clean and nice city. It honestly looked like a clean version of Philly. We did a tour of the Neuroscience Center which is brand new and absolutely gorgeous. Probably the nicest building that I came across next to Mayo on my trail. We finished the day eating lunch at a nice lake-side restaurant a few miles from RHI. The residents were all very down-to-earth and honest. About three quarters of the residents either had close ties to the area or felt it was a good place for their families.

# of interviews + w/who?: 2 (PD, staff member). Both knew my file and had good questions.

Size: 3/year (10 total). A fourth resident is accepted every third year. All advanced.

Residents: Down to earth; approachable. Good camaraderie. About half had families with multiple children.

Programs director: Quite possibly the nicest and most approachable PD on my tour. He is very proud of his program and city, and he did a fantastic job of selling it. Him giving a tour could have been weird…but it absolutely wasn’t.

Call schedule: PGY2- 5/month, PGY3- 3/month, PGY4-1-2/month.

Call details: All call done covering at RHI. Weekends- 5pm-7am. Weekdays- 5pm-11am. About two admissions per day. RHI usually has a census of about 60 patients. You perform 2 H&Ps while on call, and the rest are abbreviated notes. EMR. Usually get 4-6 hours of sleep.

Area: Outer circle of West Indy. Good suburbs within 15-20 minutes. About 25 minutes from downtown. Good public schools, minimal traffic, safe, clean for a large city. People are incredibly nice in Indianapolis.

Positives: Well rounded with good outpatient exposure. Excellent down-to-earth PD, staff, and residents. Excellent facilities.

Negatives: No fellowships offered. Weaker peds exposure, though this may be changing with incoming staff. Residents complained about having to follow-up on ward duties after didactics. No board review (pass rate 100% over the past 5 years nonetheless). No much amputee care.

Anything else: Most residents go on to private practice. There have been fellowship-matched residents, but most chose not to. Many residents note that they didn’t need fellowship because of the strong procedural experience at this program.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Dishonesty…inexperience with call”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Hoosiers, or applicants with families, looking for a strong well-rounded experience but not necessarily looking to fellowship.

Program: UTSW Dallas

# of total Applicants/interviewed: 400/90

# of Applicants at interview: 4 (2 MD, 2 DO, 0 IMG)

Interview day structure: Excellent dinner the night before with about 6 residents. Chatted for the first hour or so with the PC, who is clearly a big part of the program. We then had the new chairwoman (current AAPMR president) explain to us her vision for the program. She hopes to put it on par and exceeding Baylor/UTH. She seems very dedicated to the program. Lots of talk about the new Parkland hospital, which will be state of the art and opening before we arrive. We had a presentation by PC about the program. She clearly is invested in her students and knows her stuff. Her residents love her. We then had interviews. We then had lunch with practically all of the residents. Most were very down to earth, some were more guarded. Not bad considering that the program has 24 residents. We didn’t get a tour, which was disappointing. I understand that a new building is being erected, but the other ones will still be in use by PM&R. The afternoon was a blur. The PC was eventually asked about the prior lawsuit against Parkland. Without getting into details (though the details are available to the public, and you can email the PC if you need to know the details of the case)…the case is closed. I came away confidant that it was a bizarre isolated incident involving a disgruntled ex-employee.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 (PD, staff member, chief resident). All knew my file.

Size: 8/year (all advanced, but may be converting to categorical)

Residents: Mostly down to earth and laid back. A few a bit awkward…no red flags for me.

Programs director: A bit stern. Tough to get a good read on him.

Call schedule: PGY2/3- 2-3/month, PGY4- no call

Call details: All overnight call covering Parkland & UTSW. This could change when the new Parkland opens which is further away from UTSW. Weekends- 8AM-8PM. Weekdays- 5PM-11AM. Typically has a few admission overnight. Pretty busy service. Usually sleep about 4 hours per night.

Area: North Dallas. About 20-30 minutes from great suburbs with a lower cost of living. Also within 20 minutes to downtown/uptown which has great restaurants and entertainment. Very desert-like, flat without much green. Very good local public schools.

Positives: Well rounded. Large academic center. New beautiful facilities…??? Excellent call schedule. Large alumni helps with networking. Multiple Fellowships- TBI, SCI, Pain.

Negatives: Limited MSK Ultrasound per residents. No Sports Med doc on staff. PC may rub people the wrong way (sometimes inappropriately chatty). No stand alone rehab facility...if that matters to you.

Anything else: I didn’t have a great feel for this program. I really wanted to love the program due to its size, resources, location…but just couldn’t. Program anticipates converting all of its advanced spots to categorical spots…as soon as this year.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Lazy…those who want to be spoonfed”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Singled or married applicants who want a well-rounded experience and may be looking for a fellowship.

Program: JFK

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Sorry, didn’t ask.

# of Applicants at interview: 6 (3 MD, 3 DO, 0 IMG)

Interview day structure: No dinner the night before. Best presentation of trail given by PD. Very clearly explained curriculum, accreditation, boards, PAE, what fellowships and employers look for, etc. I wish I would have had the presentation before I went on any interviews. Next interviews. Then lunch with residents (5 in total). Last we took a tour of JFK, which had mediocre facilities.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 (PD, staff member (Dr. Brown), Chief Resident). Very laid back interview environment. All three knew my file well.

Size: 4/year; all advanced

Residents: Friendly and appeared to get along. First year is nothing both wards, so you could see a pretty big difference between the PGY2s and PGY3/4s. The PGY2 were more tired…which is understandable. All of the residents appreciated their education and vouched for Dr. Cuccurrulo being extraordinary. Most residents lived within 20 minutes of JFK in the Edison area, due to home call restrictions. One resident pushed the limits living in Jersey city which is 30-35 min, and another lived in midtown Manhattan but rented a hotel on his call days (this strategy would be incredibly expensive). About 50% fellowship, 50% employment. PD has been known to help negotiate contracts.

Programs director: Dr. Cuccurrulo, the primary author of the board review book, is a very impressive person and a leader in the field. She is incredibly well respected by everyone in the field, and it goes a long way in getting Fellowship and employment. She is incredibly dedicated to her students. She notes that she has the capability of expanding program to having more residents, but won’t because it would take away from her ability to do the little things for her residents. She believes that her program produces nothing but exceptional clinicians because the curriculum and staff won’t allow any different. There is constant testing of resident knowledge. PAE and board scores are rarely any lower than high 80 percentile. That with Dr. Cuccurrulo help with hooking up her students…it is rare for her residents to not get what they want. I honestly was starstruck during my interview with her...I'm a fan.

Call schedule: PGY2- typically 2 week days, and 1 complete weekend (Sat and Sun) per month. PGY3- typically 2 week days/month, no weekends. PGY4- no call.

Call details: Home call. 5PM-8AM. On non-weekend days, typically go in about once every 2-3 months. Get calls about 4-5 times per night. Weekends could be difficult if it is busy because you are essentially working four days straight due to no post-call day. No weekends, except when on call. On weekends you round and write notes on printed templates…very abbreviated. Cap of 3 admissions while on call.

Area: Residential, suburban area. Limited local restaurants, entertainment, and natural beauty. About an hour from NYC and does have access by train. Safe area with good schools. Cost of living is relatively high, not as high as NYC, but just below NYC and Boston in regards to COL.

Positives: Excellent board scores. Excellent fellowship and employment matching. Very stable program with previous 10-year accreditation with commendation (rare). 1:1 attending/resident. Residents are taught billing which is a huge employment plus. Resident do extremely well on PAE which is the evaluation that fellowships and employers will request (not your boards).

Negatives: No gait lab. Fewer research opportunities than many. Facilities are mediocre. No stand alone rehab facility, if that matters to you.

Anything else: 3 months elective (2 in house, 1 outside). Ability to work at football games and perform sports physicals for extra pay. You get paid for weekend call, including admissions (typically make an extra $300 per month).

Who’s a poor fit?: “Resident not sold on PM&R”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: From NY/NJ or married applicant looking for an elite teaching environment with a supportive staff.

Honorable mention:
Kansas- I cancelled on the program last moment to attend my Mayo interview. The PC was incredibly understanding and was nice enough to call me to see if we could work out any other times (all of which I had other obligations) and also to give me advice about the competitiveness of the trail this season. If she was that helpful to some random applicant, I am sure that she would go above and beyond for her residents. Incredibly professional.

Tufts- I would hate to bash a program...but they cost me $600, so I guess that I am entitled. I was accepted for an interview, and as the time was approaching for my interview I purchased non-refundable plane tickets (I live in BFN...and spent about $8K this cycle...who can afford refundable ones?). A couple weeks before my interview the PC emails me informing me that the spot I was confirmed for FOR WEEKS was already filled. I was like...WTF? I asked her why I was the person who was bumped...and not someone else. No answer. A compromise was made and the plan was for me to fly into Boston (arriving at noon) and interviewing in the afternoon. So essentially, I would have to fly with my suit and and run to my interview. I don't know who was at fault but it put a horrible taste in my mouth and I ended up eating the $600 and cancelling my interview.

RehabDoc2015 · Feb 26, 2015

j4pac said:
I'm only listing my top 3. I'll list my other reviews if I match this cycle. For the record, I ranked all of the interviews I attended, so I didn't dislike any of them.

About myself. I'm a DO with average grades, slightly above average COMLEX, no USMLE, some research (most of which is self-directed). I performed an Internal Medicine internship, did very well. I am a primary care physician for a Navy squadron. A significant part of my clinic is sports med. I would put my ability and knowledge base of sports medicine against any applicant on the trail. I have a very strong specialty LOR from a world renown Physiatrist, who is a close mentor.

I applied to 48 programs including Walter Reed. Walter Reed again didn't open a slot for a Navy applicant, so the writing is on the wall that I am civilian bound. I received 16 invitations. I have young children and my wife is a resident. No question that raising children has been more difficult than internship and medical school. My wife had a PICU rotation in December which prevented me from attending 6 interviews. Bummer.

The qualities that I found most important were: Outpatient exposure, fit, and location. I used program prestige and inpatient exposure as a tie-breaker.

I really hope you get one of your top choices, j4pac, you deserve it!

Program: Mayo Clinic

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Over 1000/80

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (6 MD, 3 DO, 1 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner the night before with four residents. Laid back and residents were very helpful. They seemed bright but also humble. Morning started with meeting two PCs (awesome ladies) and presentations by the chair and program director. The presentation was primarily about the patient center ethos of Mayo. Pretty impressive stuff. The rest of the morning, the group was split into two groups. One group interviewed, while the other went on a tour. The tour looked at all of the primary facilities of Mayo, including an awesome gym which is open at a small price to staff. The facilities are absolutely top notch. All of the facilities with exception of the primary adult inpatient unit is connected by an underground walkway. A shuttle gets you over to the other site, only about 10 minutes away. You do have to go into the bitter cold for about 30 seconds…and it is cold. Next we sat down and ate lunch with many residents…again very humble and helpful. Those who participated in the tour the first half of the day perform interviews after lunch. After that the day's done.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 (PD, 2 staff members); all knew my file.

Size: 8/year (2 categorical, 6 advanced)

Residents: Bright and humble. All loved their program and feel like it is the best program in the country. About a quarter of residents have families. Most want to go on to fellowship.

Programs director: Easy-going guy. Mayo rotates every leadership position after 7-8 years…and he will be there at least through 2017.

Call schedule: About once per week PGY2-3.

Call details: All home call. Must live within 20 minutes, which isn’t bad in Rochester. Nurses call at 9:30PM while on call with a list of orders after they round. Unbelievable setup that should take place in every program in the country.

Area: Rochester, MN is essentially Mayo Clinic. It’s not a tiny town but it definitely caters to Mayo. There are nice bars and restaurants in town. Decent entertainment. Good cost of living, good schools, good for families. BITTER COLD winters. You can do electives in Jacksonville, FL and Scottsdale, AZ. Many use this strategy for the winter.

Positives: You may not be able to do better for outpatient medicine. The facilities are top notch. The staff is top notch. Elite patient center and team ethos. Very good inpatient exposure with pathology you are unlikely to see many other places. Elite reputation. Research opportunities and funding is almost endless…and there are processes in place which makes the legwork for research much easier. Only program in country that you can sit for the EMG boards after completing residency. Great anatomy series. Weekly continuity clinic. PGY-4s serve as senior residents on the inpatient rotations.

Negatives: No burn rehab, though it can be setup as elective. No VA hospital…if that matters to you. No stand alone rehab facility…if that matters to you.

Anything else: There is a Mentor program in place to ensure you are on the right track. There is also research tutorial classes.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Don’t work hard…don’t work as a team…don’t get along with support staff”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant who wants an elite outpatient exposure and are considering fellowship.

Program: Univ of Wisconsin

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/35

# of Applicants at interview: 4 (2 MD, 2 DO)

Interview day structure: LOL. Dinner with staff, chair, and ALL residents…at a Pub. Awesome Pub with great microbrewery…and all staff, residents, and applicants were openly drinking (but not getting smashed). You want to talk about awesome, down-to-earth people. Wow. Day opened with breakfast while taking part in grand rounds. Very good presentations…very good staff feedback. Next we were given an informal presentation by PD. She spoke about new free-standing rehab facility which will be very nice on the other end of town (about 20 minutes). Next we had interviews. Then we had lunch, again with 100% resident turnout. Last we were given a tour of the current facilities.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, Chair, 2 staff members). All knew my file very well and were excited to meet me. The Chair is an awesome guy. I chatted with him about 30 minutes at the social the night before, so it made for an incredibly casual interview. One of the staff members was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is a medical historian who does peds rehab, and has an interest in astrophysics. All of the interviewers were incredibly easy to relate.

Size: 3/year. All advanced.

Residents: Definitely the types of guys/gals I could see myself hanging out with. Best camaraderie of any program on my trail. They loved their program and their city.

Programs director: More reserved than many of the other staff members, but definitely cared about her program and residents.

Call schedule: PGY2- 8/month; PGY3- 6/month; PGY4- 3/month

Call details: Home call. Residents rarely get called. Has state of the art Epic EMR (Madison is home to Epic).

Area: Madison regularly ranks as one of the nicest cities in the country. It is beautiful, at an isthmus of two large lakes. Clean, safe, tons of entertainment/food/culture. Good cost of living. Great city of singles and families. Very walkable, pet-friendly.

Positives: The people…no question. Attendings treat residents as colleagues. PD dedicated to education. Great outpatient/procedural exposure. Excellent Peds exposure (3 month Peds rotation, and another 3 months at “CMC” which is Peds heavy).

Negatives: Just getting started with MSK ultrasound. No vent patients…if that is your thing. Inpatient exposure isn’t great…with a fairly light patient load. No board review (students do well nonetheless). Average outpatient facilities.

Anything else: New stand-alone rehab facility may present challenges. Only time will tell whether this will make the program better or worse. The staff and PD believe that it will be for the better, and they are dedicated to improvement. PD ensured us that it will remain home call with the new facility.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Not team players”. Chair notes that they offer fewer interview invites than most but that they are the most sure about “fit” with the people they invite…so they rarely get issues.

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for an incredibly supportive and fun work environment with a focus on outpatient rehab.

Program: Louisville

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/75

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (4 MD, 4 DO, 2 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner night before with residents. Very small, close nit group. Personalities varied by resident, but they were all helpful, down-to-earth, and humble. Interview day started with presentation by PD. Then interviewed; benign. Then had lunch while watching grand rounds. It was honestly the best grand rounds I have ever seen. They are performing field-changing studies on the topic of spinal cord injury. Incredibly passionate staff who feel they are all there for a purpose. I was almost brought to tears by the video of their outcomes…it was THAT good. Finished the day on a cloud touring Frazier rehab. It is a stand-alone rehab facility. I liked the layout of the building. The facilities were nice but didn’t blow me away…but certainly strong enough.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, two staff, and chief resident). All knew my file well, and were excited to be interviewing me.

Size: 2/year; all advanced. (PD is looking to expand to 4/year but needs funding).

Residents: Down-to-earth and helpful. Felt they had a strong well-rounded program.

Programs director: Very passionate and charismatic guy. He and I really hit it off. I could definitely see myself working under him, happily.

Call schedule: PGY2/3- One week straight every month. PGY4- no call.

Call details: Home call. Due to the small number of residents, it does present a challenge for coverage. Residents note that it is rare that they have to go in, but when they do, it does make for long days/week.

Area: Downtown Louisville within walking distance to great restaurants and entertainment. Louisville is an incredibly underrated city. Lots to do for those with or without families. Low cost of living. Good public schools in suburbs. There are hills and the city is on a river, so it has some natural beauty.

Positives: Weekly continuity clinic. Strong outpatient program. Strong SCI (model system). Staff is very supportive and love their jobs. 1:1 staff to resident ratio at all times.

Negatives: Small, so it doesn’t have the reputation of many larger programs. MSK ultrasound is not standard curriculum but they are trying to work it in, as it is being requested by more residents.

Anything else: May be the hidden gem of PM&R.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Inability to work as a team…pull your own weight”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for strong SCI or outpatient exposure with a supportive staff.

colourmebadd · Mar 2, 2015

j4pac said:
I'm only listing my top 3. I'll list my other reviews if I match this cycle. For the record, I ranked all of the interviews I attended, so I didn't dislike any of them.

About myself. I'm a DO with average grades, slightly above average COMLEX, no USMLE, some research (most of which is self-directed). I performed an Internal Medicine internship, did very well. I am a primary care physician for a Navy squadron. A significant part of my clinic is sports med. I would put my ability and knowledge base of sports medicine against any applicant on the trail. I have a very strong specialty LOR from a world renown Physiatrist, who is a close mentor.

I applied to 48 programs including Walter Reed. Walter Reed again didn't open a slot for a Navy applicant, so the writing is on the wall that I am civilian bound. I received 16 invitations. I have young children and my wife is a resident. No question that raising children has been more difficult than internship and medical school. My wife had a PICU rotation in December which prevented me from attending 6 interviews. Bummer.

The qualities that I found most important were: Outpatient exposure, fit, and location. I used program prestige and inpatient exposure as a tie-breaker.

Program: Mayo Clinic

# of total Applicants/interviewed: Over 1000/80

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (6 MD, 3 DO, 1 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner the night before with four residents. Laid back and residents were very helpful. They seemed bright but also humble. Morning started with meeting two PCs (awesome ladies) and presentations by the chair and program director. The presentation was primarily about the patient center ethos of Mayo. Pretty impressive stuff. The rest of the morning, the group was split into two groups. One group interviewed, while the other went on a tour. The tour looked at all of the primary facilities of Mayo, including an awesome gym which is open at a small price to staff. The facilities are absolutely top notch. All of the facilities with exception of the primary adult inpatient unit is connected by an underground walkway. A shuttle gets you over to the other site, only about 10 minutes away. You do have to go into the bitter cold for about 30 seconds…and it is cold. Next we sat down and ate lunch with many residents…again very humble and helpful. Those who participated in the tour the first half of the day perform interviews after lunch. After that the day's done.

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 (PD, 2 staff members); all knew my file.

Size: 8/year (2 categorical, 6 advanced)

Residents: Bright and humble. All loved their program and feel like it is the best program in the country. About a quarter of residents have families. Most want to go on to fellowship.

Programs director: Easy-going guy. Mayo rotates every leadership position after 7-8 years…and he will be there at least through 2017.

Call schedule: About once per week PGY2-3.

Call details: All home call. Must live within 20 minutes, which isn’t bad in Rochester. Nurses call at 9:30PM while on call with a list of orders after they round. Unbelievable setup that should take place in every program in the country.

Area: Rochester, MN is essentially Mayo Clinic. It’s not a tiny town but it definitely caters to Mayo. There are nice bars and restaurants in town. Decent entertainment. Good cost of living, good schools, good for families. BITTER COLD winters. You can do electives in Jacksonville, FL and Scottsdale, AZ. Many use this strategy for the winter.

Positives: You may not be able to do better for outpatient medicine. The facilities are top notch. The staff is top notch. Elite patient center and team ethos. Very good inpatient exposure with pathology you are unlikely to see many other places. Elite reputation. Research opportunities and funding is almost endless…and there are processes in place which makes the legwork for research much easier. Only program in country that you can sit for the EMG boards after completing residency. Great anatomy series. Weekly continuity clinic. PGY-4s serve as senior residents on the inpatient rotations.

Negatives: No burn rehab, though it can be setup as elective. No VA hospital…if that matters to you. No stand alone rehab facility…if that matters to you.

Anything else: There is a Mentor program in place to ensure you are on the right track. There is also research tutorial classes.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Don’t work hard…don’t work as a team…don’t get along with support staff”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant who wants an elite outpatient exposure and are considering fellowship.

Program: Univ of Wisconsin

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/35

# of Applicants at interview: 4 (2 MD, 2 DO)

Interview day structure: LOL. Dinner with staff, chair, and ALL residents…at a Pub. Awesome Pub with great microbrewery…and all staff, residents, and applicants were openly drinking (but not getting smashed). You want to talk about awesome, down-to-earth people. Wow. Day opened with breakfast while taking part in grand rounds. Very good presentations…very good staff feedback. Next we were given an informal presentation by PD. She spoke about new free-standing rehab facility which will be very nice on the other end of town (about 20 minutes). Next we had interviews. Then we had lunch, again with 100% resident turnout. Last we were given a tour of the current facilities.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, Chair, 2 staff members). All knew my file very well and were excited to meet me. The Chair is an awesome guy. I chatted with him about 30 minutes at the social the night before, so it made for an incredibly casual interview. One of the staff members was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is a medical historian who does peds rehab, and has an interest in astrophysics. All of the interviewers were incredibly easy to relate.

Size: 3/year. All advanced.

Residents: Definitely the types of guys/gals I could see myself hanging out with. Best camaraderie of any program on my trail. They loved their program and their city.

Programs director: More reserved than many of the other staff members, but definitely cared about her program and residents.

Call schedule: PGY2- 8/month; PGY3- 6/month; PGY4- 3/month

Call details: Home call. Residents rarely get called. Has state of the art Epic EMR (Madison is home to Epic).

Area: Madison regularly ranks as one of the nicest cities in the country. It is beautiful, at an isthmus of two large lakes. Clean, safe, tons of entertainment/food/culture. Good cost of living. Great city of singles and families. Very walkable, pet-friendly.

Positives: The people…no question. Attendings treat residents as colleagues. PD dedicated to education. Great outpatient/procedural exposure. Excellent Peds exposure (3 month Peds rotation, and another 3 months at “CMC” which is Peds heavy).

Negatives: Just getting started with MSK ultrasound. No vent patients…if that is your thing. Inpatient exposure isn’t great…with a fairly light patient load. No board review (students do well nonetheless). Average outpatient facilities.

Anything else: New stand-alone rehab facility may present challenges. Only time will tell whether this will make the program better or worse. The staff and PD believe that it will be for the better, and they are dedicated to improvement. PD ensured us that it will remain home call with the new facility.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Not team players”. Chair notes that they offer fewer interview invites than most but that they are the most sure about “fit” with the people they invite…so they rarely get issues.

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for an incredibly supportive and fun work environment with a focus on outpatient rehab.

Program: Louisville

# of total Applicants/interviewed: ~300/75

# of Applicants at interview: 10 (4 MD, 4 DO, 2 IMG)

Interview day structure: Dinner night before with residents. Very small, close nit group. Personalities varied by resident, but they were all helpful, down-to-earth, and humble. Interview day started with presentation by PD. Then interviewed; benign. Then had lunch while watching grand rounds. It was honestly the best grand rounds I have ever seen. They are performing field-changing studies on the topic of spinal cord injury. Incredibly passionate staff who feel they are all there for a purpose. I was almost brought to tears by the video of their outcomes…it was THAT good. Finished the day on a cloud touring Frazier rehab. It is a stand-alone rehab facility. I liked the layout of the building. The facilities were nice but didn’t blow me away…but certainly strong enough.

# of interviews + w/who?: 4 (PD, two staff, and chief resident). All knew my file well, and were excited to be interviewing me.

Size: 2/year; all advanced. (PD is looking to expand to 4/year but needs funding).

Residents: Down-to-earth and helpful. Felt they had a strong well-rounded program.

Programs director: Very passionate and charismatic guy. He and I really hit it off. I could definitely see myself working under him, happily.

Call schedule: PGY2/3- One week straight every month. PGY4- no call.

Call details: Home call. Due to the small number of residents, it does present a challenge for coverage. Residents note that it is rare that they have to go in, but when they do, it does make for long days/week.

Area: Downtown Louisville within walking distance to great restaurants and entertainment. Louisville is an incredibly underrated city. Lots to do for those with or without families. Low cost of living. Good public schools in suburbs. There are hills and the city is on a river, so it has some natural beauty.

Positives: Weekly continuity clinic. Strong outpatient program. Strong SCI (model system). Staff is very supportive and love their jobs. 1:1 staff to resident ratio at all times.

Negatives: Small, so it doesn’t have the reputation of many larger programs. MSK ultrasound is not standard curriculum but they are trying to work it in, as it is being requested by more residents.

Anything else: May be the hidden gem of PM&R.

Who’s a poor fit?: “Inability to work as a team…pull your own weight”

Who’s a tailor-made fit: Single or married applicant looking for strong SCI or outpatient exposure with a supportive staff.

Super in depth and I'm sure everyone will appreciate your details. Just curious where you got info about # of applicants/interviewed -- directly from program directors?

j4pac · Mar 2, 2015

colourmebadd said:
Super in depth and I'm sure everyone will appreciate your details. Just curious where you got info about # of applicants/interviewed -- directly from program directors?

I ask the program coordinators. They are very willing to give those details. I didn't get face time with all of the PCs...so I wasn't able to get that information from all of them (as you will see if I am able to post all of my reviews after March 16).

colourmebadd · Mar 2, 2015

j4pac said:
I ask the program coordinators. They are very willing to give those details. I didn't get face time with all of the PCs...so I wasn't able to get that information from all of them (as you will see if I am able to post all of my reviews after March 16).

That's awesome. Not something I thought about until after when I was figuring out my chances at getting into a certain program haha. Definitely helpful information, thanks!

j4pac · Mar 2, 2015

colourmebadd said:
That's awesome. Not something I thought about until after when I was figuring out my chances at getting into a certain program haha. Definitely helpful information, thanks!

No problem. According to my calculations...U of L may be the most difficult program to match in the country. To have over 70 applicants for two spots is about a 2-3% match rate. No question that Dr. Kaelin is pushing for 4 residents per class and asked for it...but again didn't get the funding. He told me that he will have me highly ranked...but in the back of my mind I am thinking..."that would sound better coming from a program with a better match rate". I could be within his top 20% and still not sniff being matched to his program. We shall see.

colourmebadd · Mar 2, 2015

yeah, that info can go both ways, but the way I figured is not everyone is going to want to go to the same program, so everything will work out in the end....

Want2Bdoc · Apr 7, 2015

Loyola

# of Applicants: 7

Interview day structure: ~8:30a to 3pm. Continental breakfast, overview of program, tour, lunch, afternoon interviews

# of interviews + w/who?: 3 ~20-30min each. PD, attending, chief resident

Residents: they take 3/yr. only really interacted with 1

Programs directors: great vibe, fun guy. Got the impression he works well with the residents and really listens to what they want.

Fellowships offered: none

Call schedule: home call 4p-8a but go in for weekend rounds at Hines. Call is front loaded as usual, PGY2=1weekend/mo, 3-4 week nights/mo. All residents do 1holiday/yr.

Best Features: sounds like good P&O conference, good integration of other specialties (Neuro, orthodox, rheum). All rotations nearby so you don't have to commute much.

Any negatives: weak in TBI & somewhat weak in SCI. Electives need to be at Loyola or Hines VA

Anything else:
There's a good amount of time spent at the VA & the resident indicated it's slower there so good for teaching time, but you need to do more outside reading to make up for the gap.
Some residents commute from Chicago, I think it was ~45min drive. There were reasonably priced & safe areas with about a 15min commute.

Want2Bdoc · Apr 7, 2015

Stony Brook

# of Applicants: 9

Interview day structure: going off memory here...hung out in conference room with PC most of the time & were called out for interviews. Lunch (sandwiches) then tour of St. Charles Rehab hospital, back to the conference room for resident didactics then done. 9a-3p

# of interviews + w/who?: 2, 15-20min. PD & attending or chief resident

Residents: Interacted with just one

Programs directors: pretty direct, she reads your LORs & comments on them during your interview.

Fellowships offered: EMG/neuromuscular disease

Call schedule: @Northport VA home call every Q3,
@St Charles 5p-7a from home
PGY2 6/mo
PGY3 5/mo
PGY 4 4/mo & no weekends

Best Features: 2 mo flexible rotation can be done anywhere. Board review course (Kessler) not counted toward vacation time. Strong in TBI.

Any negatives: weak in SCI.

Anything else:
Didactic lectures-12 mo rotating (cover topics 3x over training)
Rotations are 8wks long each
3 mock written & 3 mock oral exams per year

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