Submitted anonymously via Google Form.
DO student
COMLEX Level 1/Level 2 -- 550s/580s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors/High Pass
Inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha: No
Medical school region: Southwest
Anything else that made you more competitive?:
ED Scribe experience, started a few organizations at school
Four strong SLOEs, with honors from each that didn't give honors to many, and high pass from one with really great remarks regardless (mentioned several times during the interview trail)
Main Considerations in Creating this ROL: Gut feeling, resident / attending interaction and happiness, ability to make a lasting impression / difference at the program, what type of learning may suit my style best, possible connections/plans for future endeavors
1) GA -- WellStar Kennestone
Pros
-Fifth busiest ED in the nation at volume of 150k/yr, 84 beds in the ED, with plans to have 166 beds in new ED in 2020
-Many faculty are Emory trained or were former Emory faculty, including PD and APDs
-Part of Wellstar, huge non-profit and expanding hospital system in the greater Atlanta area, still growing = lots of $$$, lots of opportunity in the future
-"Concierge" Program whose details you can look up yourself
-Built-In Toxicology rotation
-First year IM residents seemed very happy with their experiences, said they had as many research opportunities as they wanted if they looked for them (no interaction with EM residents, since, well, there weren't any)
-Faculty all had different personalities and different approaches but all meshed together really well
-Atlanta
Cons
-Brand new program that was interviewing for inaugural class (Would much rather be first class of a brand new program than the next three or four classes tho)
-IM rotation (may see this as a pro/con?)
-Could use some more ICU rotations, but would have to sacrifice some others
-COL may be higher than others
Saw this program as something that will become "world-class" in the near future. An applicant like me probably wouldn't have a shot in ten years from now, so ranked it number one to potentially have a shot at it from the ground floor. I felt like I wanted to make a difference and a lasting impression after being at a residency, so I couldn't think of a better place than this.
Also, hard to argue with Atlanta food/culture, with lots of already-made connections in the Southwest area from medical school
2) GA -- Medical College of Georgia
Pros
-Huge university, established program that has one of the very first EM physicians ever as faculty
-Large US focus, including winning/placing in Sono-Games
-Huge catchment area = lots of path, lots of acuity, lots of trauma
-Unique "niche" concept: they want to make you into the kind of doctor you want to be. Pediatrics, Wilderness, Ultrasound, and more -- tactical medicine even?
-Residents overall seemed very happy with the program, relationships, ability to make change
Cons
-Augusta isn't ideal for me, though AMAZING if you are a huge outdoorsman
-For some reason just didn't seem to have as great of a feeling from the interview as I did with some others, but personal preference/experience
3) PA -- St. Luke's University Health Network
Pros
Greatest Strength: Great resident and attending happiness and interaction, definitely the number one point of this program. Huge family, and it seemed like EM had a lot of respect hospital-wide
-Residents seemed to be able to make their own paths; if they had any good ideas, faculty would try to implement (Resident-run own Wilderness Medicine Conference)
-Attendings and PD very willing to listen, help, etc.
-Lots of ICU, with many faculty actually surgical critical care trained at St. Luke's very own fellowship
Cons
-Low volume (55k/yr), which can or can't mean a lot depending on who you are. Residents and attendings all had the same doc-box and could talk and discuss cases with each other, which could make up for having to sit on patients for a while
-No dedicated pediatric ED/ICU (they say that 20% of their visits are pediatrics overall though)
-No dedicated US month (they say that they do so much US that they don't need it)
-Bethlehem is +/-
-Competes with Lehigh Valley directly (same catchment area), but seemed to get a decent amount of acuity/trauma regardless
-Didactics could use a little work, seemed to be something they're working on though
4) PA -- Lehigh Valley Health Network
Pros
Greatest Strength: Come out VERY well-trained with lots of knowledge, very self-sufficient in having the ability to be a life-long learner.
-Well-known along the East Coast, older program, with the most blunt trauma in the state and pretty wide variety of acuity
-Variety of faculty, with everyone bringing something different to the table
-Fourth years (especially chiefs) were badass; probably the most knowledgable residents I've worked with, and all very likable and personable
-Large academic center but with a county feel
-ICU fellowship incoming, Toxicology fellowship now present, with strong toxicology on staff and lots of ICU time (EM residents run ICU at Muhlenberg)
-Pediatric ED and ICU with built-in peds time all together
-LOTS of big-name speakers come visit for grand rounds
Cons
-Four years, but reasonable ED time with only 9-hour shifts
-Awesome fourth-year residents and chiefs leaving next year; incoming fourth years (current third years) were overall not nearly as cool, some very off-putting (though, the current second years aka incoming third years were pretty cool overall)
-On that note, some residents seemed pretty tired, but overall people were content residency
-Some may say (and have said) that there might be too much of a focus on didactics, but again, I feel that this is what makes this program particularly strong
-May have to defer some decision making to consultants depending on the day
Neutral
-EM residents on regular EM months don't respond to all traumas (ED is huge, lots of ED residents on at one time, so only the ED residents on trauma month respond to the trauma); this is a +/- depending on who you are
-Huge residency with 50+ residents, may get lost in the crowd
-Two different hospitals
-Faculty seemed to have lots of connections, so good for those who want to pursue academics/fellowship
Overall, I feel like coming here would make even the average Joe a superstar in terms of EM, and definitely better than most in terms of nuance and the small things---but not for lack of hard work (though, definitely not excessively "overworked" per se). May not be the place for you if you just want to get in, get out, and be "good enough" to practice the standard of care.
5) PA -- Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center
Pros
-Huge catchment area
-Faculty are all very passionate, excited; super chill, personable, and overall had the feeling that everyone was really happy
-Variety of unique pathology/trauma due to its unique area
-Definitely a rural/county feel, but also leaning towards the academic side, with some pretty good facilities and newer equipment
-Residents overall seemed very happy with their education
-Coolest APD evarrrr*******; but honestly, we on this forum know how dedicated he is to education
^^probably greatest strength? LOL, that, along with the rest of the faculty being awesome too
Cons
-Johnstown, PA is pretty small/rural and about 1.5-2 hours outside of Pittsburgh
-When compared to other programs, a little less diversity in terms of faculty training; many stayed in Conemaugh (which could be more of a neutral/good thing, depending on how you look at it)
Neutral
-Talks of getting EM to run its own ICU
-On that note, decent amount of ICU
I've seen it said a number of times, and I would agree: this program is 10/10 except for the area depending on who you are. Anyone who matches here would be lucky.
6) NY -- Orange Regional Medical Center
Pros
-HUGE and brand new facilities, constantly expanding
-Director of education/medical director/big-boss-man is awesome, involved, wants the best for the EM residency... so lots of support there
-Pretty large catchment area
-Faculty seemed to be willing to take on suggestions/ideas regarding changes for future
Cons
-Middletown, NY -- average-ish COL for kind of a middle-of-nowhere type place, though really close to NYC
-Residents seemed to imply that they all worked constantly despite being overall content/happy with not a lot of outside life?
-Newer program
-Has its own pediatric ED but no dedicated pediatric EM physician, so have to do off-service rotations... think this will probably change in the future once the facility becomes
Neutral
-Young/passionate faculty; may not have as much experience in academics but all seemed very excited to teach
7) FL -- Mount Sinai Medical Center/Miami
Pros
-Pretty large variety of faculty in terms of training, ideals, practice styles
-Miami Beach!
-Department Chair is President of AAEM; very firm, but very smart, and will make you a better doctor. Probably has good connections for whatever a doc might plan for the future
-Trauma at Ryder
-Clerkship Director, Dr. Boge, is an American Hero (seriously)
-Residents all seemed actually very happy, very willing to teach, got along well with each other
Cons
-Miami Beach COL
-Current ED seems a bit small to take care of the volume that they have, with long turnover times--not at the fault of residents or attenings; building new ED next year though
-No trauma on regular EM months, if it matters
-Procedure numbers seemed a little low, but hard to know
8) CA -- Desert Regional Medical Center
Pros
-Large volume for its ED size, with lots of trauma as well
-Palm Springs!
-Unique AIDS population (maybe a con?)
-Residents were overall pretty chill and mostly content, though some seemed burned out
-High procedure numbers
Cons
-Newer program
-Most of the faculty were from the same residency program, so overall had the same practice style
9) NJ -- Inspira Health System
Pros
-Busy ED
-Residents pretty nice, smart, chill and had no real complaints
Cons
-Newer program
-Vineland, NJ has nothing; most residents lived in Glassboro
10) Marietta, OH - Ohio Valley Medical Center
Pros
-Residents learn by doing
-Residents were actually pretty awesome, overall pretty happy
Cons
-Self-taught learning; no ICU attendings, only hospitals, and thus the residents run the ICU
-Older ED with older equipment, only 17 beds? (not counting hallway)
Anything else to add?
I'm very grateful for my interviews and ROL. Programs 1-5 actually switched places many times in my head, with each one holding each spot (including #1) at least once.
Not exactly the UCLA, Highland, Beth Israel, etc. ROL that you might usually see, but my bet is that many of the residents from any of those programs above can give any contender a run for their money (no offense!!)
On that note, I didn't have a step... huge mistake. Long story short, I didn't have the motivation at the time, largely due to school issues and timing, but in the end it was my decision.
Many stated along the rotation/interview trail stated my app may have had many more looks from some big name programs had I had a decent step score, since the rest of my app was strong. SO TAKE YOUR STEP 1 DO STUDENTS.
Declined: lots
Programs whose interviews you attended: only a few more than the above
