2014 Rank Order List

[lovetruth]

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Hey Everyone!

Now that the deadline has passed (1 week ago!), it is time to begin this thread for future PM&R generations! The past years ROL definitely helped me out this past year and if it helped you (or you used it), please lets PAY IT FORWARD 🙂.

Here are my top Programs:

Ohio State University:

Pros =
1. Great all rounded experience (inpatient and out patient)
2. Excellent supportive program director (he meets with the residents frequently and regularly and REALLY cares; he thoroughly impressed me on my interview by knowing me VERY well. This makes me believe that he cares enough to choose residents that are sincerely motivated, hard working and who are passionate about the field, as he is, which are exactly the type of people I love to be surrounded by and be friends with).
3. I know that I can go into general PM&R and be happy after this program, however, if I want to go into a subspecialty, I have a strong feeling I will get the research opportunities and funding to network to get a fellowship. If you present a research poster, I believe they pay for your trip to AAPM&R.
4. I feel that I would fit in very well with the type of residents that would go here. My gut instinct is that I would be the happiest here.

Cons =
1. Not too many fellowships here, but then again, I am not looking for a place with every single fellowship, I am looking for a STRONG foundation in PM&R, which OSU WILL give me, from there on, I can get a fellowship if I choose to pursue one.
2. Cold during winter (minor issue, however, I would not let location didcate my education 🙂.

UCLA

Pros =
1. Best personality fit for me
2. Apparently education is strong and at the same time everyone is relaxed and care about balance, strong didactics (if I recall correctly, you get a block of protected lecture time on one day added to daily lectures at each of your rotation sites (well almost each). I love the didactic educational structure!
3. Great balance between work and play.

Cons =
1. Maybe too much emphasis on pain, but that is a pro as well 🙂. If I choose pain as a fellowship, however, I want to make sure its because I am passionate about it, not because I am surrounded by it, if that makes sense.
2. Cost of living
3. Lots of driving

UTSW Dallas:

Pros =
1. Great diversity of experience, lots of procedure experience
2. Lots of ability to conduct research
3. Lots of benefits provided to residents (lots and lots of books and a great salary compared to cost of living!)
4. Lots of fellowships (but as I said that is not my main priority).

Cons =
1. Not my best personality fit, but I would still get along GREAT with the people here (by the way, my "personality fit" criteria is based on my gut feeling and intuition)
2. Maybe too much emphasis on Outpatient, but when I asked this question on my interview, apparently inpatient experience is good as well.

Carolinas:

Pros =
1. One on one with attending who gives lectures one on one to residents on top of daily didactics.
2. Business of medicine covered (very important).
3. Good deal in terms of benefits!
4. Warm weather

Cons =
1. My personality would not fit in here as much as it would in my top 2.
2. I felt that the residents had a bit too much freedom (of coarse that is a pro for many). I prefer more structure.

 

[lovetruth]

Below is the Rank List of Cheetamorf:

So I didn't see a Rank Order List Thread, so I'll just post mine here. I found these very helpful in the past and wanted to pay it forward. If someone does make a ROL thread, please add this to that. Hopefully this prompts some other people to put their ROL out.


Gotta Have It (in no particular order)

University of Washington (Seattle)

Program seems really strong in all aspects. They used to be more known for their inpatient rehab, but hired on a bunch of sports & spine doctors a few years ago who seem really great. They emphasize teaching and have 2 days of lectures a week, with certain courses which are specific to what year you are in residency so that you get a really great education. I think they have like a 97% board pass rate over the last 20-30 years, which is really impressive. Have 3 model systems + lots of exposure to MS. While a lot of people were doing sports and spine fellowships this year, they get people into all kinds of great fellowships and you can do whatever you want. I love Seattle and have family nearby, although I am worried that the constant gray would get to me if I had to live there the whole time. Its also very dog-friendly, which I like.


Harvard Spaulding

Very strong program with faculty that are really fun people to talk with. I enjoyed chatting with all the people and thought they would be great to work with. They are committed to constantly revamping and making the program better, which I saw as a huge asset. However, if you don't like the constant change, this program is not a good place for you. The program also seemed to really focus on research, with residents who weren't even that interested in research going on to publish things (also have 3 model systems). I think they make it very easy to complete research and as someone who wants to do academics, this was an advantage for me. You also rotate through MGH, Brigham & Women's which residents say have amazing well trained faculty. All people graduating this year were going into different fields, so you can do whatever you want. One thing that worried me was how much procedural experience you would get, as you deal with patients who can afford to go to Harvard to get treated. Boston is a great city where I had visited several times previously. Also, the new building is probably the nicest rehab hospital in the country, although I almost wish they had their old location because the new hospital isn't near the T. Also I wish Boston was more dog-friendly.


RIC

A perennial power, RIC is very strong with their education. To my surprise, it also has the most elective time (6 months) that I saw from any place. Residents were very cool, and I felt that I would get along with them. The lecturer I saw kinda threw something together last minute and it was still amazing, so I know the residents get great teaching. Despite being a big program (11-12 residents/year), it felt small. People get amazing fellowships in whatever they want and with the new building research will be even easier. The biggest problem I saw was that it was fully frontloaded with inpatient, so if you wanted to check out some of the outpatient stuff, you wouldn't get to do it till you were an R3, and you wouldn’t get to review your inpatient stuff as an R4. The biggest surprise for me was its location; its right in the coolest part of Chicago off of Michigan Ave by the Navy Pier. Also, all hospitals you rotate through are within a few mile radius. While its freezing cold in Chicago for most of the year, I'd be willing to bear it for the education and because I could have a 5 minute commute living across the street from the hospital. +dog-friendly


Love It (no particular order)

Kessler - Rutgers

Program trains great physiatrists, well respected in the community, and residents seem to get great fellowships. I like how they allow residents to kind of build their own schedule in order of senority, so that you get more electives as time goes on, but you still finish all your core electives. Residents absolutely rock the boards, and you get exposed to everything (Kessler is a major referral center from all of NYC and New Jersey). Although everyone was super nice, I had a little trouble figuring out the culture of the place. It seemed like the residents were a full smorgasboard of personalities (from super introverted to super extroverted), which could work really well, but I wasn’t sure if I would fit in. The biggest downside of the program is the fact that its in New Jersey and requires a lot of driving. My fiance and I both aren’t fans of New Jersey (or NYC for that matter), otherwise this would have definitely been in my “Gotta have it” section.


Jefferson

This program was the biggest surprise for me on the interview trail. I didn’t really know much about the program until I arrived in Philly, and I was really impressed. The program is very dedicated to education, even taking pagers from residents during didactics. Its no wonder they have a 100% board pass rate over the past few years. Additionally, they seem to have a great anatomy course, emg training with two masters, and even an MSK ultrasound block 1:1 with a MSK radiologist. It seems like Jefferson has connections with many of the hospitals in Philly, so you not only get to rotate at Jefferson and Magee (big name for SCI), but you also go to places like Moss (Temple PM&R) and Rothman (big name ortho place). Surprisingly, I thought Philly was actually a really cool city (and much more affordable than others + dog friendly). With Jefferson and Magee being right in Center City, you can live in the coolest part of the city and enjoy a tiny commute for most of your training.


Like it (again, no particular order)

Stanford

This program is in the Bay Area, where I’m originally from and where I’d like to end up with work, so that was a big bonus. The program seems to have done a lot in recent years to really improve it. Residents get to rotate at the Palo Alto Va and Santa Clara Valley for inpatient. Santa Clara Valley has a rehabilitation trauma center and no neurosurgery residents, so residents become very adept at handling acute issues there. Palo Alto VA is a beautiful VA, one of the few polytrauma centers, and has great exposure to chronic SCI. The program has hired a bunch of new attendings, who were all really great and have done a lot to improve the program. While historically better for inpatient, they have made some improvements recently with outpatient exposure and this has improved it greatly. I honestly think they have one of the best, if not the best, Spine fellowship, as Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Smuck are amazing and teach a ton. The biggest drawback for me was procedural experience. It seemed like residents had to push hard to do procedures, and their EMG numbers were among the lowest I saw. Also, because the Bay Area is so spread apart, the different sites are really far away which means a bunch of driving.

UPMC (Pitt)

This program is clearly trying to become one of the “super six,” and I would not be surprised if it becomes one of them in the future. They have a huge research budget, plenty of variety in clinical sites without competition, and strong teaching. Residents seem like they have a lot of fun and they can go into whatever they would like to. Getting procedures, emg's, etc. don't seem to be a problem. They also seem to want to continually change to become better. They have probably the most supportive chair I have ever seen, so I think the PM&R dept. will keep on growing for years to come. For me the biggest drawback was that its in Pittsburgh (I didn’t think I would like the city that much, although it is incredibly cheap that I considered ranking it higher and living like a king) and most of residents in recent years all seemed to be doing fellowships/working nearby Pittsburgh. This might be because the residents really love the program or the city, and don’t want to leave, but I couldn’t be sure.


Temple

A great program in Philly, it h as good training and seems to make great doctors. I thought these residents were the coolest I met, and thought I would really get along with them. One of the great things about Moss Rehab is that it functions as a stand alone rehab center, but is connected to a hospital. Because of this, as a rehab doc, you can really handle acute medical conditions that otherwise wouldn’t occur in a normal stand alone rehab hospital. I even heard of residents putting in central lines (albeit, a rare occurrance). The teaching seems great, and they really stress the alumni network. I know this network is the real deal, because one of my research PI’s who used to work at Temple in another dept. offered to make a call for me if I was going to rank Temple higher. Their outpatient rotations are cool, because they have an area of focus, but you rotate at a bunch of different sites to get broad exposure. The biggest downside is its location. Moss (where you do most of your rotations) is outside the city center, and would mean at least 1/2 an hour of driving each way. While Moss is in a nice suburban area, I didn’t get the feeling that many residents lived nearby it.


Georgetown NRH (National Rehab)

Dr. Whitehair seems like a great PD who really presents the program honestly. It seems like former administration let things fall through and the program degraded to the point where it was eventually under probation. However, Dr. Whitehair has completely revamped the program and I think it would be a great place to train. Everyone in the program was really nice & approachable. New innovations in education are emphasized, with little quizzes, resident directed learning, and interesting rotations (eg where you get to work with the prosthetist and PT’s to really learn how to properly direct them). This could be a downside, as it seems like residents lecture as much as attendings do. Research opportunities seem abound, with a ton of residents going to present at AAP or AAPM&R. You get a lot of elective time, and the residents seem to have success with getting good fellowships. DC is a great city, and it would be amazing for my fiance’s job opportunities. Unfortunately, the hospital is not terribly easy to access by the metro and its not in the area of DC I would live in. Despite this, I think that the program is strong and I would be happy to go there.


Honorable mention: I was looking for a well rounded program with both good inpatient and outpatient exposure. Even though I think I want to do outpatient, I could see myself flipping during residency and becoming an inpatient doc. If you know that you want to do outpatient, then I strongly recommend you check out the following -

Columbia Cornell NYP (Sports & Spine)
LSU (Pain)
UCLA (Pain or non-fellowship outpatient).


All these programs seem to have better schedules (less time on call), fantastic outpatient training (at LSU you can do an intern year which is 1/2 pain management), really, happy residents, and great locations. However, I felt that their inpatient training was weaker than other programs. While I only met the C&C people on interview day, I can say from interactions with attendings at LSU and UCLA over a longer period that they have some of the nicest people out there. If I was 100% sure on doing outpatient, these would have ended up being some of my top choices.


Places that weren’t for me
(I mean no offense to these programs, these are just the impressions I got and they might be totally wrong. These programs just didn't feel right for me, personally. I only write these down because I wanted this kind of information when I was looking at places. I think residents coming from these programs all have more than adequate training)

Tufts - PD rubbed me the wrong way. The program felt too small, and because of that, residents are on call very often. I felt like I only connected with some of the residents. While I love Boston, you don’t actually spend that much time working in Boston proper, and instead drive to sites surrounding Boston.
NYU - Heard about residents working ridiculous hours (to like 1 am on a non-call day). That is fine, but then I feel that their board pass rate should have been better from all the extra training. Also, I heard from someone rotating there that several residents seemed overworked and depressed. Like I said earlier, I’m not a huge fan of NYC, and the program felt like it was too big.
Baylor/UTH - just felt too big for me. While the residents all seemed to like Houston, I didn't think it was for me. I would prefer to get rid of my car, take public transit, and be cold than to be hot/humid and driving all the time. Also, I really struggled getting an honest impression of the program from some of the residents. It seemed like some were just trying to sell me, so I couldn't tell what negatives/red flags were present. The program also felt like it was a little too inpatient focused for me, whereas I wanted a more balanced place. However, I think the residents who graduate are certainly well trained and do well.

 

[Gooner66]

Glad to see this was started! I hope more people contribute, as this was one of the few online resources I found that was current and helpful. I'll post my general thoughts on programs I ranked in alphabetical order.

Carolinas: Awesome location, cool residents, good vibes overall. Not the most impressive facilities from what I saw, but I would be happy here.

Colorado: A major darkhorse for me. Not a lot on this program here on SDN. Was the smallest program I saw at 4 per year which is not ideal for me, but I absolutely loved everything else. The hospital was beautiful with a new VA opening soon right on site. The residents were happy, and told me about a ski cabin they all went in on and use on weekends. The call schedule was very generous. I also love the emphasis on health/wellness in the state as a whole, as there was an awesome workout facility on site serving healthy food, offering yoga, etc... I like that kind of environment. Wasn't planning on it, but ended up ranking this highly at the end of the day.

Cornell/ Columbia: Good msk/ outpt training. Dr. Visco is awesome. I have lots of questions about being in New York for residency. Traffic, stress-level, money, etc... I love the city and would enjoy being here, but I'm not so sure being here for residency would compare to being here later in life when I would have more opportunity to enjoy it.

Kessler: The first program interviewed at, kinda tough to remember details. Great reputation, great fellowship placement. I liked it overall, but it has a few things that don't particularly trip my trigger. It definitely has more inpt focus, with a more substantial call schedule. I also am kinda turned off by paper charting... what's with that!? Medicine is entering a new era, and I'd rather be on the cutting edge. May not be a huge deal to some people, but just bugs me. Liked the location ok though, as most live right by NYC with a short car trip out to kessler.

Mayo: Not a whole lot to add here. Loved the program. Fantastic training, great people, what' s not to love? Well, being in Rochester for 3 years I guess... I know, I know, it's just 3 years vs the rest of your career, but can't help but wonder what happens if it turns out you miss being in a more city-like environment. Not gonna lie though, I'd be thrilled to train here if it were in the north pole.

Northwestern/ RIC: I wanted to love it more, as it is a great location for me personally. Just felt a little outdated as a program, with a very old-school approach to call, didactics, etc... I would also be training right in the middle of their big opening of the new facility in 2016/17, which could be good or bad. A big transition like that usually requires a period to iron out the kinks, and I'd be right in the middle of that process. Still, tremendous resources and a reputation that can't be beat.

Pitt: Just awesome. I've read about it many times, but I feel like it's a place with an eye on where things are headed, which is exactly what I'm looking for. Top PD, great research opportunities, cutting-edge/ progressive place, and good vibes on top of it. Decent cost of living in Pittsburgh, but you still get the hustle and bustle of city life. Residents were fun, and all seemed to genuinely love it there. I'd be super pumped to be there, and never thought I would've said that about Pittsburgh before this process started.

Tufts: Not my favorite, so I'll keep it short and sweet. Pretty painful interview day.

UCLA: Another program I was hoping to love, as I have lived in LA previously and would love to go back. It was solid, but not my favorite interview day. Saw the VA which was ok, but other than that it was a pretty quick snapshot of the program. Wish I had been able to see more. Still, ranked it pretty high based on solid outpatient rep. The residents seemed cool, although they did express being less than thrilled about the prices they paid in rent. Some inconveniences associated with being in LA along with the good: traffic, spread out locations, general cost etc... but you get to be in LA, which is awesome. I have a general outpt/ msk interest at this point and love the west coast, so I do think it'd be a good fit if I ended up out here.

That's it! Hope those rambling, semi-incoherent thoughts are helpful for someone, and that others follow suit and post their thoughts. Let's get this thread going people, it's entertaining reading if nothing else!

 

[SeaSalt]

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[lejeunesage]

First, I'll reiterate the point above about applying to lots of PGY-1 spots and doing so early. Surgery was not an option for me, so early on I applied to 30 spots (20 prelim and 10 TY). Invitations were slow to come in, so I waited, and waited, and waited... and in late October I applied to another 20 programs. Out of all these, I got only 4 interviews. Mine may be an extreme case, but I was by no means alone on the interview trail.

So, in the end, I ended up ranking categorical spots first. My list would have looked different had I had more PGY-1 spots.

In any case, here were my favorite programs:

Colorado:
Pros: Excellent didactics, very light call (see my post Interview Trail post), lots of hands-on opportunities for injections and EMGs. Denver is a place to live. Great cost of living. Gorgeous facilities. Opportunity to moonlight doing disability exams. Friendly attendings. Collegial atmosphere. Max of 12 patients on inpatient.

Cons: Only 4 residents/year. No categorical option. No electives.

Mayo:
Pros: Best place in the universe if you like MSK US or MSK in general. Awesome didactics. Way ahead of literally every other place I visited. Lots of opportunities to publish. Lots of money to present at conferences. Ample elective time. Solid EMG training. Solid neurology training. Easy to land good fellowships. 7 residents/ year. Free parking (apparently, this is really hard to come by in downtown Rochester). 2 categorical spots. Prelim year doesn't seem to heavy on paper. Opportunities for international away electives! You function as a junior attending by the time you're a 4th year.

Cons: It's cold as @#%*! If you're from a big city, you're probably not going to like Rochester, MN. Inpatient may be a bit de-emphasized.

OSU:
Pros: EMG training. Great didactics. Very solid inpatient and outpatient experience. Best moonlighting gig in the history of moonlighting: can make $120/hr doing chart reviews for workman's comp or something. Columbus has a lot going for it and the cost of living is great. What's not to like? 6 residents/year. 2 categorical spots. Prelim year doesn't seem too heavy on paper.

Cons: Parking a is bit expensive... other than that, I really can't think of a single negative. If you want to do all outpatient, it might not be the place for you, though, since it has more inpatient months than any other program I visited.

Case Western/Metrohealth
I did not expect to have such positive feelings about this program - I really ought to have ranked it first, but I couldn't get over the Mayo name.

Pros: Beautiful stand-alone facility. Exciting research going on. Very well-rounded program. Unpretentious, relaxed, likable residents. Dr. John Chae is one of my favorite people I met on the interview trail. Very light call. There are some very nice, low COL suburbs around Cleveland. 6 residents/year. 3 categorical spots. In-house call (I consider this is a positive, since you get the next day off after rounding). Solid continuity clinic experience, best I came across, IMO.

Cons: No moonlighting(unless you can convince the PD that 1. You need the money and 2. It won't affect your performance - in other words, no moonlighting). Categorical year is REALLY inpatient heavy. I think you get 8 months of inpt IM, 1 month of outpatient elective, 1 month of Neuro, 1 month of ER, and ortho.

Pitt/UPMC
Hard to wrong with this program.

Pros: Most exciting research in the country. Growing department flush with cash. Excellent research opportunities. Everyone is in love with Dr. Boninger. Great fellowship placement. Well-rounded. Moonlighting doing H&Ps at local psych hospital for $65/hr. Also, I think you get an extra week off around Xmas/New year's, but don't quote me on this. Lots of things to do in Pittsburgh.

Cons: I really don't know. For me, I just wasn't that excited about living in Pittsburgh. It's a cross between a Midwestern city and a Northeastern city, cheap enough to make you feel that you're still in the Midwest, but the driving, with its narrow streets and tortuous roads, is enough of a pain in the ass to make you feel that you're in the NE.

Harvard/Spaulding
Really impressive. On par with Mayo... almost.

Pros: Excellent didactics, really gorgeous hospital, probably the nicest, although Colorado comes close. Great research opportunities.

Cons: No moonlighting.

Okay, bear with me. I've lived in the Midwest for too long, so I'm spoiled. I have certain expectations of any city where I will live that are not negotiable. Among these, the most prominent are affordable housing and short commutes (the longest commute I'll tolerate is 20 mins), in both of which Boston is sorely lacking. Obviously lots of people think that Boston is great enough that the trade-off is worth it. It wasn't the case of me. If I wanted to live near the hospital, my rent would have been exorbitant (say $2k for a studio). And if I wanted a tolerable rent, I'd have had to tolerate a long commute (say 40 mins) and/or a roommate. That killed Harvard for me. But if you're from the East or West coast, you should really give this program a solid look. It has everything you're looking for and more.

U of Virginia
If you like MSK or sports, do yourself a favor and check out this place.

Pros: Great MSK experience. Great didactics. Dr. Geoffrey Smith (Mayo grad) was actually allowed access to the Mayo curriculum. 2 categorical spots. Charlottesville is a cute, artsy, college town. Think Ann Arbor, MI on a small scale. Affordable COL. You can drive anywhere in about 10 mins. Very nice facilities with subsidized parking (the subsidy is equal to the cost of parking the first year and GREATER than the cost of parking in subsequent years). BEST PRELIM YEAR ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. If you're looking for a cush categorical spot this is it!!! Dr. Jenkins is a really nice individual (probably my favorite attending of this interview cycle). If you like Running Medicine, Dr. Wilder is the god of the field. They have the nicest gait lab I saw on the trail. 4 months of elective time!

Cons: Only 4 residents/year. Call is a bit heavier than elsewhere (not heavy... it's PM&R, after all; it's just heavier than at my other fave programs). Probably not your best bet if you want to do inpatient... although you could make it work with elective time.

Also, there's required sports coverage, which is a plus if you like that and a negative if it's not your thing. In then end, the program dropped a couple of notches for me because of this.

U of Michigan:
Pros: Ann Arbor is a wonderful place to live. Well-rounded program. Innovative call: you have a fixed number of call days (60 or so?) and you do about 40 of them in your PGY-2 year and the rest in the first half of 3rd year. Great fellowship placement. BEST BENEFITS ANYWHERE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. There is a House Officer Union and they really hook you up. 4 weeks of vacation + 9 paid holidays + high salary (Few residents seemed to bother moonlighting) + a lump sum cash bonus (around $4k every November... for savings or whatever). If your S/O is a resident at U of M, they'll arrange for your vacations to match. Very cohesive atmosphere among the residents. Very approachable attendings. You really can't go wrong.

Cons: MSK US training is a work in progress. No categorical spot. You have to pay about $60/month for parking... but you get so much money that you probably won't feel it.

The main reason I didn't rank it high/highest is because of the lack of a categorical option. Hopefully, they'll have one in the years to come.


I didn't add actual ranks because it would have required me to separate categorical from non-categorical and honestly, I'd be really happy at any of the programs I mentioned here.



I'll quickly mention one last place: Penn. It was actually a pretty good program. The main negative is that the categorical year seemed a bit surgery-heavy. What killed it was the same thing that killed Boston: I didn't realize how much I wasn't made for the NE until I got there.
Okay, another quick rant: some people think it's great to be able to give up your car. Well, I like my car. Public transportation is one of those things that I support in theory but that I can't stand in practice... I mean, I cook almost every day, how would I go grocery shopping? Take the bus? I read a post like this and I think, are you freaking kidding me?

Other places that didn't make it high on my list were Loma Linda (mentioned the word "faith" a few times too many on interview day), Indiana (I actually really liked Indianapolis... but the inpatient was a bit too heavy for me), and Thomas Jefferson U (part of if was Philly, part of it was the fact that it just didn't feel like it was my home. I knew within 5 mins that I didn't want to go there).

Hope this helps.

 

[castalmond]

Threads from past years have been helpful to me, so I will contribute my list. Feel free to PM with any questions.

Rank list 2014:
1. Stanford
2. UPenn
3. Harvard
4. UWash
5. UPMC
6. RIC
7. UTSW
8. OSU

There were several more that I ranked, but these were my top 8.

Criteria: location, fellowship match rate, research opportunity, prestige - in that order.

Many of the programs that I have listed offer similar training - great inpatient/outpatient experience, procedural exposure, research opportunity. Residency is 75% what you make of it. After talking with the PD at my home school, it really comes down to personal preference. For me, it was location and proximity to family - I didn't feel there was a measurable difference in the fellowship match rate between any of my top 6.

--will add more later--

 

[canibuyavowel]

Like castalmond above, I'm happy to answer questions via PM. I posted quite a bit in the interview trail thread, so check there for more detailed info about why I liked these places. Mostly came down to focus on inpatient+ size+good feels.

ROL 2014:
1.UW
2. RIC
3. Emory
4. BCM/UT
5. Sinai NYC
6. Pitt
7. OSU
8. Penn
9. Kessler
10. Temple


Good luck to everyone this week! Three days!

 

[ours]

/

 

[lilybriscoe]

just added my rank list but need to work on my descriptions of the programs... hold on! I hit submit before I was ready 🙂

 

[lilybriscoe]

I love reading these reviews and loved them last year, too. I also really enjoyed getting to meet so many of you at the interviews and I am anxiously awaiting finding out who my future co-residents will be. I need to add the small amount of background about myself that I live in Denmark (so now a few of you know who I am) and am an MD, PhD- graduated from MCW in 2006; PhD University of Copenhagen. Matchedd into Ophtho at my first choice way back then, completed Transitonal Year at a great program- got pregnant the week before ophtho started- had to leave that "great" program, which ended up being a huge blessing since I learned subsequently about PM&R (which doesn't exist in Denmark, by the way, and my plan is to start a PM&R residency here in DK when I am done with training).

Ok- so being in every way untraditional (I'm 34 (gasp!), I ended up interviewing everywhere I was invited except one (which I actually didn't intend to apply to: Long Island Jewish -oops!)

So, as stated, I graduated from MCW in 2006 and had good grades and board scores but received NO interview invitation from MCW. Granted I never did a rotation in PM&R there; it just seemed a bit harsh. There can't be many applicants out there who didn't get an interview at their own school, but ended up matching,are there? I am thinking I got so many West Coast interviews since that is where my American letter was from (had two others from Denmark) and because of my interest in ultra running/endurance sports medicine (still kind of a West Coast thing, I think)

Moving on to my rank list (I only applied to programs with advanced positions since I have done my intern year):

Top 4 in alphabetical:

Stanford: Most impressive program I visited. Especially in terms of sports medicine. Did not like the housing prices, did not like the fact that everything was so spread out and lots of driving would be involved. Did not like the fact that the hematologist marked was saturated and my husband could find no job prospects. It's Stanford, though!

UC Davis advanced (I do research with Marty Hoffman (attnding there) on ultramarathon associated visual impairment so he was the one who wrote my letter of rec; being kind of foreign/already graduated, I never actually DID a rotation in PM&R). This ranking was based on my research with Dr. Hoffman, my husband's job and family in the area. Also they have a sports medicine fellowship and I really like the peds exposure here. Finally, it is close to Lake Tahoe. Also I love the fact that they cover and do research with the Western States 100 mile run. Only 3 residents/year (one advanced). Training very centrally-located, which is nice!

UC Irvine: just a great feeling. Lots of research opportunities, which fits with my background. Chief resident Kentaro shares my interest in ultramarathon medicine and research, which was great (we had met covering the Western States race). They have excellent msk exposure. Fantastic weather, a whole month dedicated to research, an away elective. Just seemed more flexible than other programs in a lot of ways.

Utah only ONE advanced spot! The high rank was based on my interest in sports medicine, the running trails in the mountains, the cool residents, the didactics, the hot yoga studio overlooking the mountains, and my hematologist husband being offered a job there. This program also had training basically all in one area (at the foot of the mountains!), but did have the impression there was A LOT of work for just 3 residents/year with the largest cachement area in the whole country.


------ the above programs were the ones I really wanted and I strongly considered whether or not I should rank the following (staying is Denmark and doing ortho is my back-up plan):

Johns Hopkins: cool program, though the interview day was a bit scattered and residents didn't seem super happy (and we only got to talk with three). Great research and fellowhips opportunites. I would have considered it highly had it not been in Baltimore! Very cool and interesting attendings, I should add.

University of Kansas: just seems like a fledgling program (even though it was one of the very first in the US!), though with nice, enthusiastic people. I could not get over the feeling that people there are trying to impress and be something they are not. Perhaps this goes along with the fact that Kansas City is the hipster capital of the US (nice stat they presented during the interview) - and not much sports exposure. BUT cool PD, cool residency coordinator. I just wasn't confident enough about it to rank it higher. Basically everyone there is new, which could be good or bad!

University of Minnesota: hmmm. My sister lives in Minneapolis. I really wanted to like it. It was okay, but no sports exposure at all and not a great history for matching residents into competitive fellowships. Also the PD is leaving this year. Seemed a bit risky and - in typical Minnesotan style- the interviewers asked tough, soul-searching questions. (I interviewed for ophtho there as well and it was the same way!!). I honestly do believe this program is improving, though, so it wouldn't be a bad place do train.

-------- the remaining programs, I interviewed at but didn't rank:

UPMC: I did not like how the hospital system had taken over the whole city and people in Pittsburgh were forced to get their care there and that they just kept accumulating more and more money (whoever heard of programs for the unisured rather than awe-inspiring buildings and robotic research?!). The residents did not strike me as super happy. The city did not do anything for me. Weird how a few little things can really affect your opinion because I see a lot of people on this forum loved the program.

EVMS: this program is probably going to disintegrate unless a miracle happens. Super nice facilities and people, just caught up in a program that might not be long for this world (everyone seems to be leaving and there are major holes in their training compared with other programs). Also, Norfolk does not have a great feel (feels dangerous and fenced in). Virginia Beach seemed nice, though, and had some really pretty natural areas, but that is not where most of the training is.

I have to thank everyone for their honest appraisals of the programs here. It's a great specialty and I will agree with what a lot of other people have said that your residency experience will be much more dependent on you and your attitude more than the program you match to. Overall, I was quite impressed by the quality of the programs and breadth of knowledge one can gain over just three years.

Good luck everyone! I guess y'all know if you matched or not now (and maybe where if you managed to sneak into the NRMP HTML before they fixed it ;-))