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Applicant Summary:
Step 1: 240s, Step 2: 260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
Inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha: Yes
Medical school region:
Anything else that made you more competitive: Good mix of research, teaching experience, a lot of outreach/community service
Main Considerations in Creating this ROL: Location near friends/family, fit with the residents, diversity of patient population, ideally a good mix of county and tertiary care sites.
1) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros- Really warm and friendly faculty, had a ton of fun getting to know the residents at the post-interview dinner. Probably the coolest and friendliest residents in the county. Love the mix of training sites at UCLA and Olive view. Tons of elective time, and many opportunities to travel. Location close to family and friends.
Cons- 12s all 4 years, long commute between sites, less exposure to trauma than some of the other programs on my list.
2) Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros- Great county hospital with really high acuity and accomplished faculty with a big focus on teaching. 8 hour shifts with teaching rounds during sign out sounds. Location close to family and friends.
Cons - Lack of exposure to a tertiary care center, and the fact that the residents, while really nice, didn't seem very interested in meeting the applicants for the most part. Very little time in the ED during intern year, and didn't feel like the 4th year adds much value to your education.
3) John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros- Another great county hospital with really high acuity. Patients here are extremely sick. The diversity in patient pathology is insane, and you'll surely see anything and everything here. The residency leadership team and the faculty I met on the interview were really warm and welcoming, and there's an obvious dedication to teaching. 8 hours all 4 years. Chicago.
Cons - Only a couple residents showed up to the pre-interview dinner. Lack of exposure to tertiary care center, very little time in the ED during intern year, 3 floor months during intern year (although the HIV/Infectious disease month sounds like a great opportunity to see some rare pathology and get practice doing LPs). Peds experience seems weak here, and I don't like how the trauma is set up in blocks in years 2, 3, and 4. Strict graduated responsibility, although that allows you to have more autonomy with the patients that you do see in any given year.
4) University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros - My favorite program when looking at the program by itself. Commitment to forging leaders is evident. Great progression of responsibility here, get to fly in helicopters, supervisory role in 4th year with a ton of teaching opportunities. Some of the friendliest residents and definitely the most welcoming faculty I encountered on the trail. Integrated peds at one of the best pediatric EM programs in the county. The training here is the most well-rounded with opportunities for excellent clinical training in a hybrid county/tertiary care center environment, teaching and leadership opportunities, research opportunities, and great exposure to every aspect of the field of EM. 6.5 months of elective time. In my opinion, the best and most well-rounded program in the county.
Cons - biggest con is the location. Concerned that maybe the diversity in patient population isn't as great as the other programs on my list.
5) Denver Health
Nothing else to add about this program that hasn't already been said. Amazing training, well-deserved reputation. Just really far from home, and I'm not really into skiing.
6) Washington University St. Louis/Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Pros - the most underrated program in the country in my opinion. This program has it all: it is the safety net hospital for St. Louis and an academic powerhouse. Insane trauma exposure. Interns get to participate in the resus bay. Awesome residency leadership team. Really cool residents. A ton of great research coming out of this program. Great emphasis on teaching you to be an educator, a lot of elective time, and reportedly ~100% first choice job placement for graduates. I truly believe this program will be regarded as one of the best programs in the country in the next few years.
Cons - location is not the best, and like Cincinnati, I'm also concerned that the patient population here isn't very diverse.
7) Vanderbilt University
Again, nothing to really add about this program that hasn't already been said. Well-deserved reputation, amazing teaching, warmest faculty on the interview trail.
8) Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros - the optional 4th year is amazing. It really allows you to set yourself up well for an academic job, having a year of experience as an academic attending under your belt when it's time to apply for jobs. Really sick patients; people seem to think that there's a huge lack of underserved patients/acuity at this hospital -- it's just not true. ED always gets first crack at procedures when it comes to things like ortho reductions, etc. Had the most fun with these residents at the dinner than at any other interview. Really cool, yet smart and accomplished people. Residency leadership team is great. Very well-rounded program. Great location.
Cons - ton of different sites can be annoying, and it seems like you might need a car...having a car is really hard and inconvenient in Boston. COL sucks.
9) Henry Ford Hospital
Pros - best program in Michigan in my opinion. Among the earliest EM residency programs (1976) with an alumni base all over the country, with a great presence on both coasts. One of the few programs in the country where EM completely runs the show on trauma, all the time. Great mix of county/tertiary care patient population, being in Detroit, with a ton of trauma and really sick patients. Henry Ford is also a huge transplant and referral center, so great exposure to tertiary care patients as well (LVADs, cancer patients, transplant patients, etc.). EM very well respected in the hospital. Ton of research opportunities, huge critical care emphasis, with 5 total ICU months (6 if you choose to do NeuroICU as an intern for your Neurosciences block). One of the best 3 year programs in the country.
Cons - Detroit isn't the best place to live, but definitely not as bad as people think. Some of the faculty who interviewed me weren't the friendliest. Didn't get along with some of the 3rd years, but the 1st and 2nd years were awesome.
10) Hennepin County Medical Center
Not much to add that hasn't already been said. Amazing program with well-deserved reputation. Just not my people here. Minnesota is a freezer.
11) Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Pros- really efficient 3 year program. My favorite PD of the trail...so warm and welcoming, and clearly a huge resident advocate. The rest of the residency leadership team were great as well. Awesome residents with a huge showing at the pre-interview dinner. Take advantage of their location in DC with opportunities for health policy work...and they pay for you to get a masters of public policy at Georgetown if you choose to do the health policy fellowship. Great mix of county population at Washington hospital center and tertiary care at Georgetown hospital. Really felt like I fit in here. Great exposure to peds EM. Washington DC is an awesome city.
Cons- mentors didn't feel like the clinical training was on the same pedigree as the programs above it on my list. Otherwise no real cons.
12) University of Michigan
Pros- Some of the nicest faculty I met. Exposure to academic, community, and county. Residents were pretty cool as well. Ann Arbor is an awesome little city. Among the best programs for those interested in critical care or research (reportedly #1 in NIH funding for Emergency Departments), and this is an academic powerhouse that will set you up well for endeavors such administration, education, etc with their professional development tracks. Great name in and out of EM.
Cons - consult galore at the University site. Good balance with having 40% of your shifts at the community site, but to my understanding, you only get 1 EM month per year at the county site...I want more county.
13) Johns Hopkins Hospital
Pros - the name alone is a huge pro... Great use of the 4th year, especially for those interested in fellowship/academics. Really cool residents. Unlimited resources. Tertiary/quaternary care facility but at the same time get the indigent population of Baltimore. Great research opportunities. Awesome PD. Saw Hopkins grads as faculty at many of the programs I interviewed at, so seem to be relatively sought after for academic jobs.
Cons - I just did not vibe with the faculty who interviewed me. Seemed almost snooty to me. I've heard from multiple sources that EM is not well-respected in the hospital. Some of the interns were very open about being tired and burned out.
14) University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pros- great mix of patient population at the different sites. Excellent EMS. Really cool and fun intern class. Excellent reputation in and out of EM (but especially in EM). Tons of research opportunities if you want it. Very efficient 3 year program. Really friendly residency leadership team.
Cons- Pittsburgh is really gloomy. Not really into EMS. Do a ton of shifts, and some of the residents were open about being burned out. This was one of those programs where something just didn't feel right but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Invited to interview, but declined: Carolinas Medical Center, Maricopa, Temple, Jacobi/Montefiore, Brown, Yale, Ohio State, Case Western (MetroHealth), Regions, Jackson Memorial, Mayo Clinic, MCW, University of Wisconsin, UT southwestern
Rejected by: Highland, UCSF, Stanford, USC/LAC, Baylor, BUMC, Duke, North Carolina, Emory, Icahn Mt. Sinai, NYU, Indy, HAEMR MGH/BWH, Northwestern, UChicago, UCSD, Maryland
