[2018-2019] Emergency Medicine Rank Order List Thread

[surely]

Per SDN tradition, here is this year's Rank Order List (ROL) thread. There two ways in which you may participate:

1. By using your SDN account and directly replying to this thread
2. By using the anonymous Google Form created for this thread. No SDN or email account required. (Note: Some newer programs may be missing from this form. If that's the case, just write the name of the program in the free text bar.)

Last year, I cross-posted ROLs from the spreadsheet to the thread. I wish I had time to stay on top of that this year, but #internlife being what it is, it would be great if someone could take on that duty so that the info is available both on SDN (and will therefore show up in SDN searches) and the spreadsheet.

Format:

• EM applicants have a tough time gauging how competitive they are. The more information this year's applicants provide when posting their ROL, the better idea future applicants have of their chances. Ideally, approximate Step scores, EM rotation grades, AOA status, SVI score (though the SVI consensus seems to be "who cares"), etc. It especially helps if you include the names of places you turned down interviews from and the places who rejected/silent rejected you. If you don't feel comfortable providing some of this information, it's fine, but any details are appreciated. If you're reading this, chances are you benefited in some way from the information on SDN from previous years, and now is your chance to pay it forward. If you prefer to post that information after Match Day, you can always send the information to me and I'll edit the post, or you can quote the post and add it yourself.
• Include a description of your thinking process/priorities you considered to create your rank order list (i.e., 3- vs. 4-year program, community vs. county, location, reputation, residents/faculty, work hours, etc.). This is tremendously important for future applicants as they are trying to determine which programs they are applying to.
• List the programs you are ranking in their respective numerical order, providing a brief summary of cons/pros you considered for each
• Please include shift length and number of shifts per month. Sadly, not many people posted that info on the IV Impressions spreadsheet, and that's one of the most useful pieces of information for next year's applicants.

Best of luck to everyone, and happy (early) New Year!
__________________________


Helpful links:

• 2018-2019 Spreadsheet with Applicant Stats and IV Invite information
• 2017-2018 Spreadsheet with Applicant Stats and IV Invite information
• 2017-2018 ROL thread
• 2016-2017 ROL thread
• 2015-2016 ROL thread

Ideal submission example from 2016's thread:

Posted anonymously via Google Form.
Applicant Summary:
Step 1: 250, Step 2: 272
EM rotations: H/H
Medical school region: West Coast
Anything else that made you more competitive: Step scores, clinical grades (one HP 3rd year, the rest H's), strong SLOE from a respected program

Main Considerations in Creating this ROL:
1. Perceived fit with residents & faculty
2. Job prospects - breadth & depth of alumni network
3. Breadth of clinical experience - academic, county, community
4. Location
5. Critical care prospects - EM/CCM faculty, fellowship placement of recent grads

Of note: 1 = 2, > 3 >> 4 or 5. We make so many arbitrary distinctions in this process, based on such small snapshots we experience from each program, going into it with concrete criteria for judging programs can be very helpful. I want an academic experience where I can carve out a niche, with the possibility of doing whatever (fellowship, academic or good community gig), wherever, after I graduate.

1) Denver Health
Pros - felt very at home at the resident dinner and enjoyed the faculty I met, the breadth of clinical experiences is excellent with DH covering the county and UC covering the academic side, I really vibe with the "learn by experience/trial by fire" attitude, strong history and thus a huge alumni network (especially in the west), the program has an attitude of constant improvement, strong commitment to graduated responsibility, Denver has all the outdoor opportunities I'm into on the weekends, several EMCCM faculty on staff, although some might count the medicine floor month as a big downer, it's very useful to have an IM month already in place without taking out any elective time (since it's part of the ABIM CCM fellowship prereqs), recently has placed a few residents in fellowship programs I'm very interested in, one of the few places where I already have friends in the area

Cons - not as much elective time as some of the other 4 years

2) Cincinnati
Pros - fit very well with the faculty and residents, surprisingly diverse clinical settings (UC serves as a county type population, with an academic flair), department chair is an integral piece of the department and not a distant admin figure, unparalleled financial resources, room to carve out a CCM track with interest from new PD, several EMCCM faculty, PD transition will allow Stettler more time to work clinically (residents I spoke to were stoked about this prospect), ownership of the SRU in third year, graduated responsibility, Air Care shifts allow for excellent autonomy in critical care situations early in your training, oldest program in the country = huge alumni network replete with PD's/chairs/faculty in every geographic region, more elective time (6.5 mo) than any other program, program-wide commitment to continual improvement, COL in Cincinnati is a big improvement from my current spot and the recreational opportunities are not as bad as I initially thought

Cons - even being optimistic, Cinci as a city is not great, EM is the big dawg in the hospital, the resident population is not as diverse as some of the other programs I visited

3) Stanford
Pros - fit really well with the faculty and residents, probably the most welcoming interview experience I had, great academic support for research, critical care track through pathway programs, strong EMCCM faculty on staff, good diversity of clinical experience with SC Valley giving a high volume experience, would be able to live near friends, the bay is dope (rich of social opportunities), strong off service rotations, true commitment to resident wellness rather than bull**** lip service of some other programs, shiny new ED coming soon, for what that's worth.

Cons - the bay is expensive AF (COL, traffic), sites are far apart, newer program, although this could be overcome by the power of the name for some

4) Brown
Pros: total dark horse for me, felt very at home at the interview dinner, excellent diversity of faculty (in both background and medical interests), surprisingly large catchment with the volume per resident to match, strong diversity of sites without long commutes, graduated responsibility, critical care alley run by PGY2/3, awesome PD who is committed to her residents beyond the hospital, strong critical care experience, new EMCCM faculty, many residents involved in leadership of national organizations with lots of support from admin, improved US program with frequent reviews on Qpath, a lot of interesting resources (ED specific MRI, cath lab in ED, etc.), Newport ED rotation sounds dope, good amount of NIH money

Cons: Providence is not my jam

5) Indiana
Pros - awesome amount of critical care time for a 3 year, peds experience, diversity of clinical experiences, strong history and thus a huge alumni network, solid CCM faculty, academic track with CCM focus, chill residents overall, impressed with the size and diversity of faculty, very relatable PD, great new county hospital (gotta admit, I loved the roof top garden), all sites are high volume, large program for a 3 year (60 residents), strong emphasis on residents' ownership of the program

Cons - didn't quite fit, less time for ABIM prereqs if that's the way I wanted to go, Indy is less than ideal as a location for my interests

6) Wash U
Pros - strong critical care curriculum, great research opportunities (especially in critical care), several EMCCM faculty in the program and have fellowships in ABA/ABEM and ABIM/ABEM tracks, good patient mix of the affluent & inner city, supportive ancillary staff per the residents, ambitious program from the top down, cheap COL in STL, accessible hospital in a much nicer neighborhood than I expected, I appreciated the focus on training residents to teach, PD was very relatable, interested in innovation and a total badass; seemed genuinely interested in recruiting like-minded individuals to the program, strength of off-service rotations was a theme of the interview day.

Cons - less established program and thus smaller alumni network than others on my list, slightly worried about the status of EM at the institution (a division as of 2016), and getting pushed aside on off-service months, some suggestion at the interview that the residents are work averse, kind of luke-warm on faculty I met, limited community exposure, EM is a division (didn't delve into this on interview day).

7) U Michigan
Pros - UM may be THE place for EMCCM and the prospect of rotating through EC3 is enticing, plenty of EMCCM faculty and professional development tracks would be great prep for fellowship, in house ABA and ABIM pathway fellowships, huge amount of research opportunities, excellent off-service rotations, diverse experience with Flint/UM/Joe's, apparently great access to food at Joe's even during off site months, 4 weeks vacation sounds nice

Cons - Ann Arbor is not an ideal locale socially or topographically, I didn't quite fit with the residents and faculty as much as I wanted to, EM does not own airway at all times at all sites, I'm slightly worried that UM may be a bit too academic (but lots of time at SJMH could compensate for this).

8) MGH/BWH (HAEMR)
Pros - undeniable academic power, strong off service rotations, potentially learning from some of the most accomplished academic clinicians around, residents were surprisingly pretty chill, Boston was a bustling & interesting city, many opportunities for "something else", Brigham has a strong CCM fellowship

Cons - focus on extra stuff seems to be the main focus rather than training (as the PD put it) "badass docs", Boston (COL), exposure to community is limited, peds is done in blocks, the feel of MGH was very strange for me - the hospital is like a massive, impersonal machine, with a bunch of solo services, the fourth year allows for more time to take advantage of the "something else" activities but doesn't add much clinically .

9) University of Washington
Pros - Great diversity of clinical experience with maybe the best balance of county/academic/community of any program I went to, great CCM fellowship that is friendly to EM-trained folks, EMCCM faculty on staff, I did not expect to love Seattle as much as I did but am stoked on the city, love Harborview and their mission as an institution, strong critical care curriculum, faculty are from all over the country in terms of residency training, PD is one of the friendliest around.

Cons - newer program with a less established presence in the hospital, remains a division as of 2016 with several quirks (surgery rotates as primary docs through the trauma side of the department, EM does not own trauma, anesthesia does trauma airways), didn't vibe with a lot of the faculty/residents, low social capital in the hospital, several rotations where residents are reportedly scutted out hard (especially ortho).

10) Pittsburgh
Pros - strong & reputable critical care experience with their own CCM department, varied clinical experience with Presby & Mercy, Pittsburgh is much cooler than I anticipated, have some good friends in the area, RLT is responsive to resident feedback, new revamped curriculum sounds promising, COL in Pitt is solid.

Cons - didn't fit with the residents I met; at the interview dinner a couple residents spoke poorly of other EM programs and that really turned me off, I didn't vibe with the RLT and my interview with the PD was my least favorite of the whole season, only one month of elective time in a 3 year program makes it near impossible to get into CCM via the ABIM/ABEM pathway (unless it's Pitt's program, as a PGY3 was reportedly granted a spot in the E17 fellowship class), the RLT was unable espouse a vision for the future of the program, Pitt's presence in the western US is not as strong as other programs on my list.

11) Vanderbilt
Pros - really liked the residents I met at the dinner, undeniably solid educational environment, Nashville is a happening place with a lot of young people & solid night life, serious clout from Slovis in job search, reportedly solid peds experience, lots of critical care time for a 3 year, incoming PD was very welcoming and seemed to be supportive of creating a CCM fellowship track.

Cons - didn’t vibe with Slovis or Wrenn, program is overly focused on didactics for my taste - every answer on interview day went back to "teaching" and I'm more of a learn by doing kind of guy, no EMCCM faculty (although they are reportedly recruiting from UM?), likely transition in next couple years with Slovis retiring, don't own trauma in the ED, Vandy grads don't have the geographical spread that other shops have.

12) Utah
Pros - Salt Lake City, invested PD, Salt Lake City, ortho rotation on the mountain, Salt Lake City, overall residents were pretty chill.

Cons - honestly would have cancelled this one if I could've since two weeks into interview season I knew that I wouldn't want to be here, alas it was too late to cancel politely... I didn’t really fit with the residents, relatively new program, limited critical care exposure and no senior MICU time, only two months of elective, residents are oriented towards the place rather than the program (which is totally understandable, just not what I'm looking for culturally), only place I didn't interview with the PD, limited diversity of SLC, EM is a division, don't own trauma at the U, lack of a unified vision going forward from the program leadership, limited track record of fellowship placement compared to other shops I liked.

Other:
Invited to interview - Christiana, Cook County, Emory, Hennepin, Highland, Maine Med, New Mexico, Northwestern, OHSU, U Conneticut

Waitlisted - LAC/USC, UCSF-SFGH

Rejected - Maryland [really bummed about this one], Carolinas, UCLA-Harbor

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[TrashPanda13]

Posted anonymously via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: Left blank
EM Rotations: Left blank
AOA: Left blank
Med School Region: Left blank
Anything else that made you more competitive: Left blank

Main considerations in making this ROL: Left blank

1) Indiana University School of Medicine
Methodist/Eskenazi/Riley offer different practice environments and great pathology. Operationally, these hospitals run extremely well, and the residency is similarly efficient. ICU is 1 on 1 with an attending intern year, so you become procedurally skilled very quickly. The staff are young, enthusiastic and excellent educators. The reputation is great and IU is probably regarded as one of the best 3 year programs. The network is tremendous with 500+ graduates well placed throughout the country. Regenstreif institute does cool and interesting things to innovate and you can get in on that as a resident. The city is really fun and affordable, but can be unsafe.

2) Brown University
Strong academic program with great community experience. Huge catchment area. Very sick patients with great pathology. Although I consider a 4th year unecessary, this program is well-structured with heavy emphasis on trauma PGY-2 and critical care PGY-3. You get a scribe on your critical care shift. Providence is really cool with amazing restaurants and good culture, but this is a tough place to live due to cost, high property taxes, traffic, bad roads, limited housing; typical of everywhere in New England basically.

3) University of Michigan
N/A

4) Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
Strong hospital. Great culture. Tons of resources, from pharmacy to social work. Good teaching and friendly residents and staff. Really affordable and growing city. They consult too much and too quickly for my liking.

5) HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital
Really great community hospital with all the resources of an academic institution but a more county patient population. The hospital is run extremely well. The staff and residents are super tight, which I like. St. Paul and Minneapolis are really amazing places to live, despite the cold. Job placement is primarily within the region, which might be a limitation for the Region's brand when job hunting.

6) Ohio State University Medical Center
7) Yale New Haven Medical Center
8) Louisiana State University - New Orleans
9) Emory University School of Medicine
10) John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County


Note from @TrashPanda13: To anyone who would like to contribute or change anything, you can also PM me your ROL or any other information that was left off your submission on the spreadsheet. Your anonymity will be maintained.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted anonymously via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: Left blank
EM Rotations: Left blank
AOA: Left blank
Med School Region: Left blank
Anything else that made you more competitive: Left blank

Main considerations in making this ROL: Location, fit

1) Ohio State University Medical Center
2) University of Chicago
3) McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
4) Hennepin County Medical Center
5) John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
6) Indiana University
7) William Beaumont
8) Western Michigan
9) Brown University

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted anonymously via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: Left blank
EM Rotations: Left blank
AOA: Left blank
Med School Region: Left blank
Anything else that made you more competitive: Left blank

Main considerations in making this ROL: Overall feeling, new vs. established program. Overall Chance as a re-applicant. 3 yr over 4 year

1) Ohio Valley Medical Center/East Ohio Regional Hospital (West Virginia)
Pros: Well established, wilderness med electives
Cons: Meditech EHR, Cramped ED, old facilities

2) Oak Hill Hospital/HCA West Florida
Meditech EHR, New program but PD seems motivated to do well, 3 yr program

3) Merit Health Wesley (Mississippi)
Home program. 4 yr with 0 chance of credit for TY year, Great didactics, close to home. new PD is from old Charity in NO.

4) Norman Regional Health System (Oklahoma)
#1 in AOA match. Just recieved ACGME but hasn't changed over.
Good didactics, heavy EMS component. Residents consistently compete at ACOEP and ACEP. Rotate through 3 campuses

Note from @TrashPanda13: Life as a re-applicant has got to be tough. Really rooting for you!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted anonymously via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: Left blank
EM Rotations: Left blank
AOA: Left blank
Med School Region: Left blank
Anything else that made you more competitive: Left blank

Main considerations in making this ROL: Overall strength of training, location, fit, reputation.

1) Cook County
Great pathology, high volume, simply amazing training. Probably one of the best job placements I've seen. Chicago, county, 8 hour shifts. Residents were great. Don't like the 2 floor months though, graduated responsibility seems like it might suck for the first 2 years, but everyone keeps saying, trust the process

2) Harbor-UCLA
Great location, pathology, and quality of training. Well-established program. See it all here. Some of the residents I met weren't my favorite, but it's worth it for this program.

3) Hennepin County
Some of the strongest residents I've seen, probably the best ultrasound training. Don't like the location, but the residents were pretty great

4) Northwestern
Really great academic program, great mix of patient population, and excellent academics placement. Great leadership

5) Denver Health
Can't seeing any program having better training than here. But man are they overworked.

6) University of Cincinnati
Probably the best program in terms of curriculum, pretty great pathology as well. My favorite program overall in terms of curriculum, but don't like the location

7) Jacobi/Montefiore-Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Insane volume, excellent training, but don't think I could do all 12s for 4 years. Also not a fan of the Bronx, and feel that NYC would be difficult to live in, especially when taking into account cost of living.

8) NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
Loved the academic focus of this county program. The alumni are doing some pretty amazing things. But the trauma volume is low, and once again, don't love NYC.

9) LAC+USC
Thought this was going to be in my top 3 going into the interview, but just didn't vibe with the people I met. I'm sure there are some pretty great people I met, but was just turned off. Otherwise, amazing training, great location, and legendary program. Would def be a badass coming out of here. But 4 years, mostly 12s.

10) Brown University
Great academic program, pretty phenomenal training, especially ICU training. US training here is phenomenal. Just really didn't like the location, and don't think I'd be happy there.

11) Detroit Receiving Hospital
Among my favorite residents were at this program. A mentor told me to apply here because of the quality of training, seems pretty well-balanced at the different sites of rotations. Pretty great pathology, just wasn't a fan of Detroit.

12) Johns Hopkins Hospital
Put this last because I really just didn't vibe with the people. I think if you want an academic program that can fund whatever endeavors you want to try, then this is the program for you. They see some pretty great pathology too. Just got a very snooty vibe from then, and was immediately turned off. Also not a fan of Baltimore. Great program, just wasn't for me.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Yes!!! I love this thread every year!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted anonymously via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: Left blank
EM Rotations: Left blank
AOA: Left blank
Med School Region: Left blank
Anything else that made you more competitive: Left blank

Main considerations in making this ROL: Strong clinical training, ample opportunity to pursue additional clinical interests, not getting worked to death, chill residents and faculty, blend of academic/community/county training.

1) Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: Checks all of my boxes. Great clinical training across three different sites: academic, community, and county. Stanford "name," most important not for the "prestige" but for the essentially unlimited Stanford resources that affords as well as alumni network. Off-service rotations with equally incredibly strong residency programs for great learning. Significant critical care exposure. PD was absolute BOMB! Loved all the residents and faculty, every one seemed cool, mellow not overly happy like they were faking (which I've seen and is obnoxious). Beautiful California.
Cons: COL. Not as much county exposure as I'd like. Only 3 weeks of vacation. 4 years, and a new 4 year program at that.

2) Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Clinical training par excellence at Man's greatest hospital and the Brigham. Working alongside big names in EM. Resources and opportunities afforded by HAHVAHD. I love Boston.
Cons: 4 years. Boston is cold. COL.

3) Vanderbilt
Pros: 3 years. Storied program. Huge focus on teaching. Slovis is the man.
Cons: In the south. Got a whiff of "our s*** don't stink" here. Resting on their laurels?

4) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: 50/50 academic/county split, sweet. in LA, awesome. Chill as **** residents and faculty. Love socal more than norcal. Good CCM exposure.
Cons: Traffic f***ing blows! 12 hour shifts, come on man killing me.

5) UCSF - San Francisco General Hospital
Pros: Another solid county academic split. UCSF name. SF is dope. Tox!
Cons: SF is expensive as hell. Traffic not ideal. Newish program.

6) Harbor/UCLA
Pros: Socal. On the beach. Harbor is a big name in EM. Solid county experience.
Cons: Too county for me.

7) LAC+USC
Pros: Legendary program and training. Strong social justice emphasis. Hit it off with residents and faculty.
Cons: The ultimate county program, but way too county. Essentially no resources for me. Not a great part of LA.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 250s/270s
EM Rotations: H/H
AOA: Yes
Med School Region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: Both SLOEs top 10%, extensive scribe experience, leadership in national EM organizations

Main considerations in making this ROL: Location, fit, emphasis on clinical experience, especially in the community, but with opportunity for research

1) University of Massachusetts
Pros: Graduates come out solid. High volume, sick patients. Close to family and friends. Community rotation is amazing and in a brand new ED. One of the "biggest bang for your buck" 3-year programs in the country.
Cons: Worcester (less of a con for me and while it is an up-and-coming city, no one picks this program for Worcester). Residents are overworked and it shows, but I expect a constant grind if I choose a 3-year program. Intern class only has one female (a fluke compared to other years and hopefully this won't be the case this year). Lacking a strong integration of FOAMed (my particular interest).

2) Brown University
Pros: High volume, strong diversity of patients. I'm a RI native so the location is perfect for me. Lots of opportunities to explore specific interests. Reputation is pretty good, and the resources are outstanding. Definite opportunities to get involved with FOAMed.
Cons: Limited community experience (though plenty of elective time to make up for that), 4 year program in which I didn't feel convinced the 4th year is necessary, PD was a little off-putting to me, and while I did like the residents, I also felt a bit of an airier attitude here (where AOA membership, Step scores were emphasize), and I'd prefer a group that's focused more on grit than numbers.

3) Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: My favorite interview dinner--got a long well with both the residents and attendings and definitely feel that I would fit in there. The optional 4th year is unparalleled and something I believe more programs should offer. Opportunities in FOAM.
Cons: COL of Boston, and preference to live in central Mass or RI. Lower volume. Having to travel to a bunch of sites to get community experience.

4) Boston Medical Center
Pros: Pretty similar patient population as well as mix of clinical experience and research as Brown.
Cons: I'd much rather live in Providence than Boston, and if I am living in Boston, I'd rather have the optional 4th year at BIDMC.

5) University of Vermont
Pros: Loved essentially everything about this program. Location/outdoorsy lifestyle, the people (attendings, nurses, techs who I met at the dinner since there are no residents), ability to shape your own experience since it's a brand new program. One of the faculty approached me with a specific potential project based on my interests which I found pretty impressive. Option to do trauma at Christiana.
Cons: Brand new program. While I loved everything about this place, it's too much of a gamble for me to rank higher when there's so much unknown about the future. Low volume ED.

6) Maine Medical Center
Pros: Similar to UVM in terms of lifestyle/location but naturally more established. Unopposed in ortho/ophtho.
Cons: Not as academic as I would like. PD was a little off-putting. Low-ish volume.

7) St Louis University School of Medicine
Pros: Sick patients, good trauma. Brand new hospital being built right now, will probably be pretty sweet. St. Louis is a decent city.
Cons: Almost no opportunities for research. Almost no one ends up in fellowships. Most graduates stay in MO/IL and I don't want to do that.

8) Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Tons of resources and time to pursue an additional interest.
Cons: Did not vibe with these people AT ALL. Very uppity, residents talked about work amongst themselves at the dinner. Very anti-community medicine. Info session had to constantly remind us that you do indeed get clinical training (as opposed to just time to pursue other interests). I'm doing residency to be the strongest EM doc I can, not to start a business or something else in my spare time during residency. This is the only program at which I would be truly unhappy.

Other:
Programs applied to: Yale, University of Connecticut, George Washington, Northwestern, Advocate Christ, Cook County, University of Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center, Baystate Medical Center, HAEMR at Brigham and Womens' and Mass General, HAEMR at Beth Israel Deaconess, Maine Medical Center, St. Louis University, Dartmouth, Maimonides, Mt. Sinai, Brown, University of Vermont, Georgetown, University of Maryland, New York Presbyterian, Montefiore/Jacobi, New York University

Declined interviews: Yale, University of Connecticut, George Washington, Northwestern, Advocate Christ, Cook County, Baystate Medical Center, Dartmouth, Maimonides, Mt. Sinai

Withdrew before hearing back from: Georgetown, University of Maryland, New York Presbyterian, Montefiore/Jacobi, New York University

Rejected by: N/A

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 260s/260s
EM Rotations: H/H/H
AOA: Yes
Med School Region: California
Anything else that made you more competitive: GHHS, research stuff, leadership stuff

Main considerations in making this ROL: Staying in California, academic environment, opportunity, happy residents, prestige

1) Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: Academic as hell! Plus almost a near equal amount of community exposure, and a smattering of county experience. Stanford money and resources and benefits. Big time global health and wilderness med scene. Chill residents. Cool PD and faculty.
Cons: expensive. vacation seems odds. intern year mostly off-service.

2) UCSF - San Francisco General Hospital
Pros: noice academic/county split. UCSF name and opportunities. toxicology. gelled with residents big time. The city rocks.
Cons: newish EM program, even more expensive than Stanny.

3) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: another nice academic/county split. tons of elective time. socal nice and warm. doing cool stuff with med-ed.
Cons: traffic and commute to OV sounds miserable. 12 hour shifts.

4) Harbor/UCLA
Pros: coolest residents on the trail. on the beach. quintessential EM experience. brilliant work-life balance.
Cons: hugely Spanish speaking population. limited resources. immensely county.

5) Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: legendary EM program. Almost entirely unopposed residency, means EM is big dog in the house! quite a few cool research projects and initiatives underway
Cons: immensely county. limited resources. East bay is not my favorite spot.

6) LAC+USC
Pros: The ultimate EM program. Unparalleled training. Massive and mythical alumni network.
Cons: Super county. Basically no resources. Big time social justice mission didn't resonate with me. Work way too hard, especially compared to Harbor.

7) Denver Health
Pros: Another "legendary" program and equally impressive alumni network. Skiing.
Cons: Similar to LAC, seem to work way too hard.

8) Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Academics. Opportunity. Ron Walls! Johnny Kim!
Cons: Boston = cold AND expensive? so many programs in Boston competing. Too academic?

9) Northwestern University
Pros: Solid academic program with decent exposure to other practice environments. Good opportunity.
Cons: Chicago not my cup of tea, traffic, cold.

10) Vanderbilt University
Pros: Slovis, academics, teaching. Only 3 years!
Cons: TN and the south, yuck!!!

11) Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: solid 3 year program. big name.
Cons: NC and the south, yuck!!!

 

[doggydog]

Posted via Google Form.

10) Vanderbilt University
Pros: Slovis, academics, teaching. Only 3 years!
Cons: TN and the south, yuck!!!

11) Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: solid 3 year program. big name.
Cons: NC and the south, yuck!!!

I remember being surprised on my interview days in southern states that they were in the south, too.

Nice job wasting everyone’s time there.

 

[SamtheWise]

Same thing different year.

LAC and Denver are great programs but the residents seem unhappy [who in their right mind would want to work that hard - NOT ME]

The opportunities at Cinci are amazing but I'm not sold on the city itself [Ohio is the definition of flyover and at the end of the day after all my talk of critical care fellowships and world class training I just want to be close to skiing or the coast]

Carolinas seems nice [it's 3 years and high on the doximity rankings so I guess I'll rank it 5th?]

Hennepin has a strong reputation [3 years? County?? Sign me up]

Stanford has lots of resources and is up and coming [sure it's not a well respected program. YET. But the interview day powerpoint really sold me on the totally unnecessary recent increase from 3 to 4 years]

Harvard Affiliated EM Residency has a strong academic vibe and lots of opportunities [Literally the only thing special about this program is the fact that it's affiliated with Harvard, but that's enough for me!]

 

[Rekt]

The previous ROL threads are shaming our year big time. These are some weak ass lists. If you're going to contribute, please add more information on pros/cons.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

It's early. And many people wait until after programs certify their lists before they'll post theirs, out of some paranoia that somehow they will be outed by a program who will then retaliate about something that is said.

 

[enalli]

It's early. And many people wait until after programs certify their lists before they'll post theirs, out of some paranoia that somehow they will be outed by a program who will then retaliate about something that is said.

Didn't this exact scenario happen about two years ago, though?

 

[LaceyMD]

Didn't this exact scenario happen about two years ago, though?

It did, although I believe that all went down after rank lists were submitted, so the student being "outted" didn't actually change her place on that program's rank list, although I'm sure it was upsetting for her (and gave that particular program some bad SDN PR). And I think that's pretty rare, I don't recall it ever happening any other years, at least not publicly...I personally won't be submitting my rank list until closer to the deadline, but that's more out of taking all the time possible to make my decisions than it is out of paranoia.

The previous ROL threads are shaming our year big time. These are some weak ass lists. If you're going to contribute, please add more information on pros/cons.

This sort of complaint, on the other hand, seems to happen every year...the first bunch of lists that get submitted are, for some reason, light on details. If this is like previous years, the more robust lists will come in later in January/February. Many of us haven't even finished our interviews yet!

Personally, I'm just waiting for someone to submit the "nerdy" rank list of the year...although topping the Tolkien and Star Wars lists of years past will be tough!

 

[GonnaBeADoc2222]

Same thing different year.

LAC and Denver are great programs but the residents seem unhappy [who in their right mind would want to work that hard - NOT ME]

The opportunities at Cinci are amazing but I'm not sold on the city itself [Ohio is the definition of flyover and at the end of the day after all my talk of critical care fellowships and world class training I just want to be close to skiing or the coast]

Carolinas seems nice [it's 3 years and high on the doximity rankings so I guess I'll rank it 5th?]

Hennepin has a strong reputation [3 years? County?? Sign me up]

Stanford has lots of resources and is up and coming [sure it's not a well respected program. YET. But the interview day powerpoint really sold me on the totally unnecessary recent increase from 3 to 4 years]

Harvard Affiliated EM Residency has a strong academic vibe and lots of opportunities [Literally the only thing special about this program is the fact that it's affiliated with Harvard, but that's enough for me!]

hahaha so true

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Didn't this exact scenario happen about two years ago, though?

Well, I didn't say the paranoia wasn't justified! Haha. Yes it did happen where some PD came on here and identified a student and bad mouthed them about their opinion of their program. It was absurd. I'm not sure how they even knew who the student was. I'll say what I said back then. I hope this doesn't prevent students from posting their lists. I doubt many residency admins are reading SDN anyways. Although I do, and I appreciate when my program gets named on a list regardless because I like the feedback and hope no one who rotated/interviewed at my place would ever be discouraged from posting their list because I post here.

 

[TheComebacKid]

Same thing different year.

LAC and Denver are great programs but the residents seem unhappy [who in their right mind would want to work that hard - NOT ME]

The opportunities at Cinci are amazing but I'm not sold on the city itself [Ohio is the definition of flyover and at the end of the day after all my talk of critical care fellowships and world class training I just want to be close to skiing or the coast]

Carolinas seems nice [it's 3 years and high on the doximity rankings so I guess I'll rank it 5th?]

Hennepin has a strong reputation [3 years? County?? Sign me up]

Stanford has lots of resources and is up and coming [sure it's not a well respected program. YET. But the interview day powerpoint really sold me on the totally unnecessary recent increase from 3 to 4 years]

Harvard Affiliated EM Residency has a strong academic vibe and lots of opportunities [Literally the only thing special about this program is the fact that it's affiliated with Harvard, but that's enough for me!]

You forgot one important point:
Vanderbilt: SLOVIS.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 240s/260s
EM Rotations: H/H/H
AOA: Yes
Med School Region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: Top SLOEs, decent research

Main considerations in making this ROL: Perceived quality of training, location, reputation, and large alumni base. Disclaimer: I am of the mindset that County programs offer the best training. Just my opinion.

1) LAC/USC
Pros: Phenomenal training, great camaraderie among the residents, and in Southern California. Really high volume, residents learn to see A TON of patients. Some huge names in education. HUGE alumni base, which at the end of the day, will be huge for getting the job you want. Really vibe with the social mission. Rotated here and felt like I saw it all. A ton of autonomy. Great didactics. High trauma volume.
Cons: 4 years for some, but I don't mind that. Mostly 12 hour shifts, which I don't like. Most of the faculty seem inbred, and I'd like there to be a little more variety in training methods.

2) Cook County
Rotated here, and had a really tough time choosing between here and my number 1, and felt like they were really similar in so many aspects.
Pros: Another really high volume quintessential county program. Also felt like I saw a ton of bread and butter, and some really rare 3rd world stuff and some really insane pathology. Residents also learn to see a really high number of patients. Most of the attendings I worked with were extremely chill and amazing teachers. Residents were the best I've seen. Love Chicago. All 8 hour shifts. Also crazy amount of autonomy. Faculty trained at a ton of places. Great didactics. Did a couple trauma shifts, and they see a crazy high trauma volume.
Cons: While I love Chicago, I enjoy LA more. 2 general floor months sounds terrible. Trauma not integrated. More graduated responsibility than some other programs.

3) Denver Health
Pros: incredible training, high volume, really county but also a good mix of academics. Has trained many leaders in the field. Amazing reputation. Loved the residents I met.
Cons: Didn't vibe that well with some of the faculty. Heard from some U of Colorado students that the malignant rumors are true.

4) Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: Another program with amazing training, in southern California, no 12 hour shifts. Right on the beach. Amazing faculty who are doing some great things
Cons: didn't vibe as well with the residents. Otherwise, not many other cons, it's a pretty comprehensive program.

5) Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: phenomenal training, really county, but with an academic vibe. Super nice residents who are really strong. Great reputation. Bay area. Excellent ultrasound experience.
Cons: didn't vibe with some of the faculty. Bay area is crazy expensive.

6) Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Pros: crazy high volume, place is a madhouse. Academic/county combo. Excellent training
Cons: Don't like the bronx, an alumnus of the program I'm close to told me the burn out rate there is really high. 4 years, all 12 hours shifts.

7) SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
Pros: love the mission. Amazing pathology and volume. One of the quintessential county programs. Brooklyn. Great trauma. More of an academic focus than I thought.
Cons: 4 years, 12 hour shifts, some of the most scutwork I've seen

8) University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: Amazing teachers, big focus on creating leaders in EM. Really well thought out curriculum. Everyone was really friendly. Huge alumni. Excellent helicopter experience.
Cons: not county enough for me, don't like Cincinnati

9) Sinai-Grace Hospital
Pros: really high trauma volume, and they do all the procedures in trauma. Great pathology. EM runs everything.
Cons: Detroit, doesn't have the reputation it deserves.

10) Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Pros: my favorite PD. Close residents. Felt at home at Washington Hospital Center. Love DC.
Cons: mentors didn't think this program had the same caliber of training as some of the others on my list.

11) Henry Ford Hospital
Pros: heavy ICU emphasis, heavy academic/teaching focus. Seems like a cool academic/community/county mix. Good funding for research.
Cons: didn't vibe with some of the residents, PD seemed really stern. Not quite county enough for me.

12) Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: Crazy high number of procedures, really amazing patient mix, all at one hospital. Super high trauma. Great community/countyish training.
Cons: Just outside of Chicago. Not quite county enough for me.

13) Hennepin County
Pros: really strong training, strong academic focus of this county program, really strong ultrasound experience. Completely run the traumas.
Cons: didn't vibe well with most of the people here. Don't like Minneapolis.

14) HAEMR at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: 3 year, optional 4th, loved the people, some pretty big academic faculty. A lot of resources
Cons: definitely not county enough for me, not my kind of patient population, didn't feel like volume was high enough.

15) University of Michigan
Pros: great mix of 3 sites, ton of research funding, really great teachers, great mix of pathology. Great training.
Cons: too academic for me, not nearly county enough for me. Realized I would have preferred to spend 90% of my time at Hurley instead of the university site.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 210s/230s
EM Rotations: H/H/
AOA: No
Med School Region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: Masters, 10yrs research and EMS experience

Main considerations in making this ROL: Strong peds exposure. Dedication to clinical teaching and research related to social determinants of health; Track record of matching into CC fellowships; Opportunities for flexible away rotations; IM/EM option...was looking for 4yr programs primarily

1) Boston Medical Center
Pros: Good mix of academics and commitment to public health issues; Lots of research opportunities, 5 electives - 4 of which can be away, SICU rotation; lots of trauma.
Cons: Not an IM/EM program, no burn unit

2) Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: Phenomenal teaching from staff and residents; lots of violence intervention work and research; interesting pathologies; MICU at Kaiser; good fellowship match; love the SF area.
Cons: Questionable off-service rotations, not directly affiliated with a university, not IM/EM; high COL

3) University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros: IM/EM, lovely residents, good exposure to many pathologies, get to learn TEE from the guy who invented it, love Chicago, there's a whole section on social determinants of health at the school, IM director is amazing
Cons: You're at a bunch of different hospitals, electives are a little tough to get going

4) Christiana Care Health Services
Pros: Felt like I clicked w/the faculty and residents; they have IM/EM, have a huge catchment area so they see really interesting stuff; opportunities for research and policy;
Cons: Delaware. Just wasn't feeling it. No actual university attached, though they do put out a lot of research. Fairly homogenous population in terms of race/ethnicity.

5) Hennepin County
6) Ohio State University Medical Center
7) University of Arizona
8) Henry Ford Hospital
9) Louisiana State University - New Orleans
10) University of Virginia Health System
11) Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
12) SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
13) Case Western Reserve University/University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center
14) Akron General Medical Center
15) Baystate Medical Center
16) Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Rejections:
UofMD, Northwestern, UWash, Metro, UofChicago

 

[Rekt]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 210s/230s
EM Rotations: H/H/
AOA: No
Med School Region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: Masters, 10yrs research and EMS experience

Main considerations in making this ROL: Strong peds exposure. Dedication to clinical teaching and research related to social determinants of health; Track record of matching into CC fellowships; Opportunities for flexible away rotations; IM/EM option...was looking for 4yr programs primarily

1) Boston Medical Center
Pros: Good mix of academics and commitment to public health issues; Lots of research opportunities, 5 electives - 4 of which can be away, SICU rotation; lots of trauma.
Cons: Not an IM/EM program, no burn unit

2) Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: Phenomenal teaching from staff and residents; lots of violence intervention work and research; interesting pathologies; MICU at Kaiser; good fellowship match; love the SF area.
Cons: Questionable off-service rotations, not directly affiliated with a university, not IM/EM; high COL

3) University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros: IM/EM, lovely residents, good exposure to many pathologies, get to learn TEE from the guy who invented it, love Chicago, there's a whole section on social determinants of health at the school, IM director is amazing
Cons: You're at a bunch of different hospitals, electives are a little tough to get going

4) Christiana Care Health Services
Pros: Felt like I clicked w/the faculty and residents; they have IM/EM, have a huge catchment area so they see really interesting stuff; opportunities for research and policy;
Cons: Delaware. Just wasn't feeling it. No actual university attached, though they do put out a lot of research. Fairly homogenous population in terms of race/ethnicity.

5) Hennepin County
6) Ohio State University Medical Center
7) University of Arizona
8) Henry Ford Hospital
9) Louisiana State University - New Orleans
10) University of Virginia Health System
11) Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
12) SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
13) Case Western Reserve University/University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center
14) Akron General Medical Center
15) Baystate Medical Center
16) Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Rejections:
UofMD, Northwestern, UWash, Metro, UofChicago

I find this really hard to believe.

 

[r-e-l-a-x]

why? It's not mine but just wondering. if they got two top 10% sloe's and are coming from a decent school that will open lots of doors despite the step scores

 

[alpinism]

Assuming they have strong SLOEs its certainly possible.

Besides Highland none of the other programs are super competitive.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

I find this really hard to believe.

They got honors on both their EM rotations. So if that translated into two top 10 sloes, or a top 10 and a top 1/3, I'm not surprised at all by the number of interviews or where they interviewed.

 

[SamtheWise]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 210s/230s
EM Rotations: H/H/
AOA: No
Med School Region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: Masters, 10yrs research and EMS experience

Main considerations in making this ROL: Strong peds exposure. Dedication to clinical teaching and research related to social determinants of health; Track record of matching into CC fellowships; Opportunities for flexible away rotations; IM/EM option...was looking for 4yr programs primarily

1) Boston Medical Center
Pros: Good mix of academics and commitment to public health issues; Lots of research opportunities, 5 electives - 4 of which can be away, SICU rotation; lots of trauma.
Cons: Not an IM/EM program, no burn unit

2) Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: Phenomenal teaching from staff and residents; lots of violence intervention work and research; interesting pathologies; MICU at Kaiser; good fellowship match; love the SF area.
Cons: Questionable off-service rotations, not directly affiliated with a university, not IM/EM; high COL

3) University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros: IM/EM, lovely residents, good exposure to many pathologies, get to learn TEE from the guy who invented it, love Chicago, there's a whole section on social determinants of health at the school, IM director is amazing
Cons: You're at a bunch of different hospitals, electives are a little tough to get going

4) Christiana Care Health Services
Pros: Felt like I clicked w/the faculty and residents; they have IM/EM, have a huge catchment area so they see really interesting stuff; opportunities for research and policy;
Cons: Delaware. Just wasn't feeling it. No actual university attached, though they do put out a lot of research. Fairly homogenous population in terms of race/ethnicity.

5) Hennepin County
6) Ohio State University Medical Center
7) University of Arizona
8) Henry Ford Hospital
9) Louisiana State University - New Orleans
10) University of Virginia Health System
11) Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
12) SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
13) Case Western Reserve University/University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center
14) Akron General Medical Center
15) Baystate Medical Center
16) Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Rejections:
UofMD, Northwestern, UWash, Metro, UofChicago

I'm a nosy jerk but I wanna know why you ranked your bottom programs so low, I think that's almost more helpful to other people. Like we get it, BMC and Highlands are great programs, but I think it would be great to know why Ohio State University and Baystate medical center are ranked low, especially because we have a million rank lists talking about how wonderful the top county programs are, but we will get very few discussing these programs.

 

[TrashPanda13]

I'm a nosy jerk but I wanna know why you ranked your bottom programs so low, I think that's almost more helpful to other people. Like we get it, BMC and Highlands are great programs, but I think it would be great to know why Ohio State University and Baystate medical center are ranked low, especially because we have a million rank lists talking about how wonderful the top county programs are, but we will get very few discussing these programs.

Unfortunately, I have no idea who submitted that list, but if that individual sees this post and decides to provide additional information, I'll gladly update the post. I agree that it would be very helpful for applicants to describe some of these programs that aren't on everyone's list. Hopefully, some people will see this request provide more information on programs that aren't seen as frequently in these threads. I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated by all.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 210s/250s
EM Rotations: H/H
AOA: No
Med School Region: Northeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: Non-trad with significant leadership, community service, QI projects

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Mostly fit and intuitive feels on interview day. Want to train at a place that will allow me to explore my varied interests in EM to potentially narrow down a future fellowship and career. Also program efforts towards wellness, family feel of program, and first-hand accounts of program supporting residents' family pursuits/family life during residency. Made sure to give SO a significant say in rankings, which has its pros and cons but I know in the end a happy spouse will mean a lot. Prefer Epic, orientation month to get adjusted, longitudinal peds, PICU rotation, longitudinal EMS, and elective time. Only applied to 3-year programs.

1) Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
PROS:
-Great feels, enjoyed PD and faculty
-Academic/community split
-Great residents, felt like my people
-Orientation month
-Epic
-Longitudinal peds (2-3 shifts/month)
-Same hospital for children, PICU rotation
-Longitudinal EMS, fellowship in the works
-EM has all airways, switches as trauma lead
-3 months electives, 1 month ICU selective
-PLUS 1 month PGY3 selective for EMS

CONS:
-Tox elective is at Regions
-4 hours monthly SIM (20% of curriculum taught via SIM)
-A little inbred
-Little penetrating trauma
-Having pts with such good access to care seemed like it could spoil you

SHIFTS: All years: 19-21 shifts, 9 hours (8 hrs pt care + 1 hr admin)

2) HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital
PROS:
-Good feels
-Academic/county split
-Level 1 adult and peds hospital
-Strong EMS, EMS fellowship, event med w/ Vikings, Wild, & State Fair
-Epic
-Burn center
-Family friendly
-Awesome residents
-Wellness important, lactation room in dept.
-Very transparent program: given large binder with resident feedback

CONS:
-Orientation only 2.5 weeks
-Only 1 month elective time
-2 weeks with hospitalist service
-Semi-integrated peds, but not completely longitudinal
-Per 1 resident, U/S curriculum could be a little more structured
-No mention of SIMs or SIM center and no tour of it- could also be a positive

SHIFTS: 9 hr shifts intern year (8 hrs pt care + 1 hr handoff); 8 hr shifts PGY2-3
Work 45 hrs/week on EM rotation PGY1, 48 hrs PGY2, 45 hrs PGY3

3) Hennepin County Medical Center
PROS:
-Good feels, great faculty, strong reputation
-County, second oldest program in country
-Graduated responsibility
-Epic
-Strong (but limited) EMS, serve as flight physician PGY3
-EMS track and fellowship
-Tox, amazing hyperbarics
-Strong ultrasound
-Reboa, Ecmo, TEE in codes
-EM runs all codes, procedures, airways
-Laid back residents
-Strong research

CONS:
-2 week orientation, starts early
-Only 6 weeks elective time
-Work very hard
-Most EMS opportunities seem more for fellows than residents
-6 wk neurosurg rotation with q3 28h call
-Weak peds: not longitudinal, no PICU rotation

SHIFTS: 17-21/20/19 8+1 hrs.

4) Medical College of Wisconsin
PROS:
-Good feels
-Academic/county
-Orientation month
-Graduated responsibility
-Epic
-Strong EMS: longitudinal flight (2 shifts/mo PGY3 year)
-Great trauma relationship: PGY3s switch trauma lead/procedures
-PGY2s have all airways
-Longitudinal peds starting PGY2
-VA shifts, community shifts
-Good residents, very competent
-Toxicology

CONS:
-6 week SICU rotation PGY2
-2 wks peds inpatient intern year
-Only 1 month elective time PGY3
-Most grads go into community
-Worst interview planning/communication on interview trail

SHIFTS: 20/18/16 8.5 hr shifts

5) University of Nebraska Medical Center
PROS:
-Good feels – loved outgoing program coordinator
-Orientation month
-Academic/community split
-Epic
-Cool town, traffic isn’t bad, affordable COL
-Awesome laid-back residents, Great faculty
-Longitudinal peds, PICU rotation
-EMS rotation as PGY1 (with ENT/Eye)
-Longitudinal flight opportunities
-EMS fellowship coming (likely 20/21)
-Disaster medicine/DoD WMD research
-Ebola prepared, Toxicology
-Hyperbarics, amazing new SIM center
-Good relationship with trauma surg

CONS:
-Nebraska
-Meh ED
-11 hour shifts intern year
-Not a lot of females
-Unknown new APD
-Some teaching shifts with seniors
-Only 1 month elective time
-Patient population not diverse
-Not that many traumas
-Pay $30/month for parking
-Only 2 residents showed for lunch

SHIFTS: PGY1: 16-20 shifts, 11 hrs; PGY2: 17-22 shifts, 9 hrs; PGY3: 15-20 shifts, 9 hrs

6) Ohio State University Medical Center
PROS:
-Good feels- enjoyed PD and APDs
-Orientation month
-Epic
-Beautiful hospital and campus
-Nice city, slightly low COL
-Enjoyed residents, strong faculty
-Longitudinal peds
-Longitudinal EMS track and fellowship
-Hyperbarics, burn center
-Toxicology at Central Ohio Poison Control
-Flipped classroom didactics
-Good relationship with trauma surg: share level 2s/3s & airways depending on day
-2 months elective time
-Hawaii month rotation
-Resident wellness important: endowment
-Free parking

CONS:
-EMS track might be a little weak
-Low salary, no meal stipend
-Hard to get peds airways- taken by fellows
-A fellow applicant's rental car got broken into and items stolen the night of our dinner downtown

SHIFTS: PGY1: 20 shifts, 10 hrs; PGY2: 19 shifts, 9 hrs; PGY3: 18 shifts, 9 hrs
(Work 10 hour shifts at OSU East no matter the year.)

7) West Virginia University
PROS:
-Good feels- supportive PD
-Orientation month
-Academic/community/rural
-Epic
-Friendly, funny residents, great turnout
-Great food (2 nights of dinners)
-Great faculty, first-name basis
-Beautiful area, outdoor activities, low COL
-Longitudinal peds
-Strong u/s curriculum (3 machines/pod)
-Longitudinal EMS (8 hrs EMS q EM month), flight med
-New resident vehicle in the works
-Pursuing EMS fellowship in next few yrs
-Event medicine opportunities

CONS:
-Dismal peds ED area
-Homogenous population
-A lot of young, inbred faculty
-Unsure about toxicology

SHIFTS: PGY1: 18 shifts + 8 hrs dedicated u/s and nurse shadowing; PGY2: 19 shifts; PGY3: 18 shifts
All shifts 8 hours

8) University of North Carolina
PROS:
-Good feels- Amazing PD, coordinator (this was my #1 program until SO vetoed)
-2-3 week orientation
-Community/academic (both Level 1)
-Epic
-Favorite group of faculty, first-name basis
-Strong female leadership
-Beautiful area to live, good weather
-Friendly, laid-back residents, hang out
-Burn center
-Longitudinal peds
- EM has all airways, including peds
-Fly with WakeMed
-Strong ICU, 1:1 with attending
-Good relationship with trauma surg

CONS:
-Commute, but can live in middle
-12 hour shifts intern year at UNC and some PGY2 year
-Intern year shifts sound like a lot
-Nearly all residents were late to dinner & not large turn-out
-No toxicology
-Not the best benefits: pay $400/year for parking and small meal stipend

SHIFTS:
PGY1: 21 shifts (UNC: 12 hrs, Wake: 9-10 hrs; 1 full weekend off);
PGY2: 19 shifts (UNC: 8 hr weekdays, 12 hr weekends; Wake: 9/10 hrs; 1 full weekend of);
PGY3: 17 shifts (same as PGY2 but 2 full weekends off)

10) University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics
PROS:
-Mostly good feels
-Academic/community split
-3 week orientation
-Graduated responsibility
-Epic
-Strong EMS, serve as flight physician PGY3
-EMS track and fellowship
-Event medicine- the children's hospital wave is amazing
-Longitudinal peds
-Nice ED with natural light
-Burn center, hyperbaric chamber
-Family friendly
-3 months elective time

CONS:
-Weird PD, some odd residents
-Majority of residents from Iowa
-Rural medicine focus
-Work in clinic when on trauma/ortho services
-All males in leadership with few female faculty
-Per interim flight director, PGY3s only shadow flight crew, contrary to what website claims

SHIFTS:
PGY1: 18-19 shifts; PGY2-3: 17-18 shifts
9 hrs: 8 hrs pt care + 1 hour admin.

11) Indiana University School of Medicine
PROS:
-Orientation month
-Academic/county blend (beautiful county hospital)
-Epic at IU
-Strong reputation, large alumni network
-Diverse patient population
-Residents get along well, inc. families
-3 Level 1 trauma centers- daily surges
-Staff directly with faculty
-EMS mini track and fellowship
-Ebola prepared
-Event medicine (Indy speedway, Colts)
-Toxicology rotations
-Strong ICU experience (1:1 w/ attending)
-Longitudinal peds (~2 shifts/EM month) WITH dedicated peds blocks
-3 months elective time
-Strong relationship with trauma surg
-EM manages all airways
-Low COL
-Emphasis on wellness, monthly socials

CONS:
-Mixed interview feels
-Cerner at Eskenazi
-Intimidating- bit of imposter syndrome came in here
-No community rotations, but can do an elective
-ICU heavy
-Trauma surg manages high-acuity trauma
-Leadership male heavy
-PD had a poker face, but reportedly nice outside of interview
-Need to take initiative to study/learn on own

SHIFTS: PGY1: 19-21 shifts; PGY2: 17-19; PGY3: 15-17 (All 9 hour shifts)

12) St. Luke's University Health Network
PROS:
-Good feels, 1 of favorite PDs
-Orientation month
-Epic
-Longitudinal EMS
-Nice facilities
-Very friendly, happy residents
- Largest hospital-based EMS in state
-EMS fellowship starting soon
-EM manages all airways in ED, traumas, & floor codes
-Longitudinal peds
-Strong trauma relationship- EM runs most traumas: blunt & penetrating
-Wellness important
-Low COL, LINC support for SO
-2.5 elective months

CONS:
-Solely community
-Bethlehem
-No dedicated peds hospital on campus
-No home PICU, but building in next 2 years
-Only a little PICU done in Philly with peds rotation at St. Chris
-Competing with Lehigh Valley
-No dedicated u/s rotation
-Didn’t see SIM center, but admittedly a weakness of program
-No pods- have to track down faculty
-Only 5 months EM in PGY2 year
- Uptodate not provided, but reimbursable with education funds.

SHIFTS: Didn't write down

13) Advocate Christ Medical Center
PROS:
-Good feels- enjoyed PD and APDs
-Orientation month
-Community/academic with county feel
-EPIC next year
-Beautiful hospital
-Longitudinal peds, PICU rotation
-EM runs peds traumas
-Fun residents who enjoy their pets
-Great faculty, first-name basis
-Many female residents & faculty
-3 months elective time
-10 U/S fellowship trained faculty
-7 EM/CC intensivists
-Longitudinal EMS with PGY2 rotation
-Toxicology
-Sick & diverse patients/pathology
-Good relationship with trauma surgery
-High volume of traumas: 2/3 blunt & 1/3 penetrating
-Wellness is important

CONS:
-No flight opportunities, no EMS fellowship
-Non-graduated responsibility
-3 weeks peds floor
-Only peds level 2 trauma center
-Was encouraged to contact a faculty member with similar interests, but they never responded
-Not sure about separated trauma and no trauma airways (taken by surgery)
-At least 30 min commute whether you choose to live in the city or suburbs
-ED pretty crowded with lots of hallway beds in use
-Coordinator didn’t introduce herself or interact with us

SHIFTS:
Shifts really 8.5 hrs pt care with 1.5 hours handoff/admin
PGY1: 18 shifts, 10 hours; PGY2-3: 17 shifts, 10 hours

13) REDACTED
14) REDACTED

15) Henry Ford Hospital
PROS:
-Orientation month
-Academic/county blend, strong reputation
-Epic
-Graduated responsibility
-Strong trauma: 3,000 resus/yr
-Seniors run traumas/juniors do procedures
-Integrated peds starting PGY2
-PICU rotation
-Strong critical care
-3 months electives PGY3
-4 wks vacation annually
-Hawaii elective PGY3
-Detroit felt more revitalized than I imagined

CONS:
-Meh feels
-Only 3 seniors showed up to dinner & only a few seniors at lunch – felt like a red flag that we never saw a single PGY1/2 and such a small dinner turnout
-Semi-weak peds
-Weak EMS
-Inpatient nephro month
-Plastics month reportedly has bad hours
-OB not a good rotation per residents
-Small, all curtained-ED, 2 small trauma rooms (hard to believe they do so many resuscitations in these 2 tiny rooms)

SHIFTS:
18-22 shifts/month (~21 shifts for each year)- no reduction
10 hr shifts, but stop picking up patients after 8 hrs

16) Western Michigan University
PROS:
-Great coordinator
-Epic at one hospital
-Reportedly large volume hospitals, close together
-Longitudinal peds
-Burn center
-U/S shift each ED month
-Longitudinal EMS with EMS response vehicle (MSU-1) and 1-2 EMS shifts/mo
-Flight opportunities starting PGY2
-ED has all airways in traumas
-Strong ICU: residents run an all-EM staffed ICU
-Happy residents, have families
-EM reportedly respected within hospital
-Good relationship with surgery & ortho
-Cheap COL

CONS:
-Pretty frustrated on interview day- lasted way too long and not an efficient use of everyone's time. Our tour guides had us sit down for an hour in the hospital to waste time and we were still done with the tour earlier than we should have been. When waiting to interview, you can go a whole hour sitting in the conference room until it is your time to meet someone. The free hotel night they offer was canceled out by having to buy a second night as there were no flights I could catch out of Kalamazoo in the evening after being released
-Kalamazoo
-Both hospitals & town dead on interview day (ICU floor was even closed down)- hard to believe they have a 160,000 census
-Seems like most grads go community
-ICU heavy (5.5 mos intern year; 9 mos total for program)
-No ECMO, no transplant pts
-Meh social/meh residents - all fried food at social and lunch
-Weak U/S, Cerner at one hospital
-Odd dynamic between chair and PD
-Large program, witnessed 2 residents meet at social for the first time
-Chair put down one of my interests in EM
-Only 1.5 months elective time
-Super small airport

SHIFTS:
PGY1: 20 shifts; PGY2: 19 shifts; PGY3: 18 shifts
8 hour shifts with 1 hr overlap, but turnover is soft so essentially 10’s. ICU shifts are 12 hrs.

Additional comments: I hope this encourages future applicants. I thought my Step 1 score was an end-all, but with my unique non-trad CV and my significant Step 2 improvement, I did much better interview season than I could have imagined. I was glad to discover EM PDs take your overall application into account rather than just your numbers. I would also encourage applicants to apply to programs they are really interested in, even if they don't have the Step 1 score EMRAMatch says the program requires. Some will still review applicants without this hard score and grant interviews (as it happened for me at OHSU).

Side note: contrary to what I thought going into residency, I was pleasantly surprised on the interview trail to encounter several females who were either pregnant or had given birth during training with little to no impact on their residency length. Some programs even offer maternity/paternity leave and one of the above programs allowed its resident to create her own "newborn elective" where she set learning objectives based on caring for her newborn at home.

Programs applied to: All are listed
Declined to interview: Georgetown, Albany, Buffalo, UMass, Vidant/East Carolina, Carilion/Virginia Tech, Geisinger, Wright State, Univ IL Peoria, St John Hospital, University Hospital Columbia (MO), Allegheny, Reading
Unranked programs: Ranked all
Withdrew from: Maine Medical, Truman Medical, Univ Nevada, Thomas Jefferson, Univ of Vermont, Medical College of GA, Palmetto Health, Baystate, Temple, MUSC, Utah, Case Western
Ghosted from: Univ of Toledo, Christiana, Spectrum Health, Wake Forest, UVA, VCU;
Never got off waitlist: UPMC and University of WI


Note from @TrashPanda13: Congratulations on a great application season despite the low-ish Step 1 score. Gotta be a little difficult having your SO veto your original #1. Thanks for providing shifts as I'm sure some folks will really appreciate it.

*Not sure if ranks 13 and 14 were truly redacted or if there was just some error in the submission/conversion process. I left them as redacted because that's what the submission has.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google Form.

Applicant Summary:
Board scores: 240s/250s
EM Grades: Honors/Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med School Region: East coast
Main considerations in creating this ROL: fit fit fit

1) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: 3 years, super cool residents, CHEAP city. 1 hospital site, mix of everything. great faculty/pedigree and future match.
Cons: seem inbred, work a **** ton

2) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: 3 years, SLOVIS, sweet city. Broadway street. great education and teaching
Cons: trauma run weird, PD kinda eh

3) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: great training, best in country imo, skiing, love the new PD
Cons: will never get out of the hospital

4) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: really felt my fit here, people and training phenomenal
Cons: don't like Chicago

5) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Pros: awesome residents, love the 2 sites, training phenomenal, big class size
Cons: infrastrucure issues, PD leaving

6) CA -- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco General Hospital
Pros: dual site county/academic, SF is cool, PD was cool
Cons: COL!!!!!

7) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: just like denver, GOAT training site, awesome people
Cons: cinci is not a fun city imo

8) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: awesome chairs, NAME, cool residents
Cons: idk if u get trained that well, lack of community

9) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: 3 years, great county/academic exposure, cool residents, big class
Cons: dont like city

10) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: legendary name, residents seem badA$$$$
Cons: don't like city, 4 years, floor months ew

11) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: another legend!!, awesome faculty, awesome residents
Cons: COL!!, lack of academic, small faculty size

12) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: super cool 3+1 format, PD was cool seemed like he knows his ****, residents awesome, fun mixer
Cons: overshadowed by other havhad? lack of trauma?

13) MA -- Boston Medical Center
Pros: best program in boston IMO, loved residents, no doubt will come out badass, social mission
Cons: 4 years seem brutal training there, shift intense, no moonlighting, some infrastrucure issues

14) MI -- University of Michigan
Pros: cool spot, like the ED ICU
Cons: so much commuting F that, MI is cold

15) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: legend program, loved it, 8 hours shifts, beach
cons: i hate LA, COL!

16) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: amazing program, county/academic loved it
Cons: hate LA, COL!

Declined interview invite: NYU, Kings county, Pitt, Jacobi, Brown, Penn, Yale, WashU, Maricopa
Rejected by: UChicago, Northwestern, LAC, Emory, Maryland, Hennepin

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Med School region: West coast

Main considerations in making this ROL: Looking for a county program in a cool city, really dislike 12 hours shifts

1) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: legendary name. STRONG residents, amazing training. Love Chicago, big county program with 8 hour shifts. Burn unit rotation. Good community site exposure. Great sim and didactics. Love the college system, really allows you to develop your niche. Big alumni base, chill attendings. Grads get any job all over the country. Ton of autonomy (maybe too much). Social mission.
Cons: floor months. Not a lot of residents go into fellowship (but they say that those who do match really well).

2) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: legendary name, really strong residents, amazing training. No 12 hour shifts. Academic/County mix. Love Denver and Colorado, but not as big a city as I would like. Grads get any job they want all over the country. Great fellowship placement.
Cons: ton of shifts, some rough attendings.

3) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Pros: legendary name, also excellent residents. Really county. Great educators. Love LA. Social mission. Grads get any job/fellowship they want. Excellent procedural experience. Ton of autonomy. Biggest alumni base.
Cons: 12 hour shifts, or else would have been in my top 2

4) MA -- Boston Medical Center
Pros: County program with great academic base. Great educators. Love the social mission. Loved the residents. Boston is a cool city.
Cons: didn't vibe with some of the people.

5) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: very county, legendary name, extremely smart residents and attendings. No 12 hour shifts.
Cons: quirky people, bay area expensive, and don't love Oakland.

6) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: residents get a TON of procedures. Great mix of pathology at one site. LOVED the residents and attendings. Great fit for me here. Chicago
Cons: A little outside the city of Chicago, so there would be a commute.

7) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: County, no 12 hour shifts, love LA, excellent pathology at one site. Excellent training, really strong residents. Live on the beach.
Cons: didn't vibe with some residents.

8) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Pros: Grady is INSANE. Cool residents. Great educators. County with great academic backing.
Cons: residents work really hard, don't love Atlanta.

9) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: academic/county mix, great resources. Excellent educators.
Cons: too academic for my liking.

10) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: incredible training experience, best thought out curriculum. Training LEADERS. Default county and really academic. Ton of money. Love the attendings.
Cons: Cincinnati, residents were really nice, but not my people

11) MO -- Washington University St. Louis/Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Pros: another academic powerhouse with county patient population as well. Great mix of anything you might want at this program. Excellent trauma experience.
Cons: St. Louis not my favorite.

12) NY -- Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Pros: big city, love NYC, great training, great people. Huge residency class, awesome residents.
Cons: 12 hours, ton of shifts, burnout here is real.

13) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: excellent education and training. Liked Nashville a lot more than I thought I would. really great 3 year academic program.
Cons: too academic for me, residents and faculty really nice but not my people.

14) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: county (with money), EM run everything in trauma, excellent ultrasound, excellent reputation. Great alumni base, incredible training.
Cons: Don't like Minneapolis, didn't like the people.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 220s/240s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Really good SLOEs, LOTS of extra-curricular involvement (multiple leadership roles on campus, student government, committees, volunteering, etc.)

Main considerations in making this ROL: Proximity to family is MOST important followed closely by fit with residents/faculty, possibility to pursue academics/ maybe fellowship?, did not apply to programs on the coast (no family there).
It was really difficult to put these in a specific order, and I truly would be happy at all of these, and I'd be over the moon at any of the top 5-6.

1) KS -- University of Kansas School of Medicine
Pros: Blossoming program at a strong academic institution, good facilities, got along REALLY well with the residents, has a few established fellowships and is continuing to grow. It's my #1 because it's the best fit for my family.
Cons: Not the strongest academic program with whom I interviewed

2) TX -- TX A&M Scott & White Memorial Hospital
Pros: Dr. Drigalla is the most amazing PD I met on the entire trail. Really, I loved all of the leadership and *most* of the residents.
Cons: Interns work 12s (PGY-2s and 3s work 9s); Temple, TX; more community focused

3) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: Established program, county hospital, great trauma, good resources for research, like the idea of the "Pit Boss" role, I loved that the tour spent lots of time in the ED, got along well with the leadership and residents
Cons: MN winters

4) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: I love EVERYTHING about this program and really wanted it it to be #1 going into the interviews. The resources, the tracks, the ability to get involved in ANY field of EM, etc.
Cons: No family in the area. Had a good interview day, no bad interactions with anyone but didn't "click" as well as I did at other places

5) MO -- Truman Medical Center/University of MO Kansas City
Pros: Established county program, strong female leadership, got along well with the faculty, close to family
Cons: Hard to explain, but for such an established program I expected more. Residents kept comparing/ talking down other programs in the area

6) IA -- University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics
Pros: Loved the residents, lots of recent fellowship matches, housed at a strong academic institution, great opportunities for event/sports medicine
Cons: Newer program, not as much trauma in Iowa City

7) MN -- HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital
Pros: The nicest residents I met on the trail!, very open about all details on the program, very service oriented/ community focused
Cons: No orientation month, weird schedules (they do like 3.5 week blocks?), not as strong academics as some

8) TX -- University of Texas Houston
Pros: Great trauma/ truly a lot of sick patients; got along REALLY well with the leadership and chief residents
Cons: My partner doesn't want to live in Houston, otherwise this would have been a lot higher on my list. There was more of party atmosphere among the residents

9) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: Loved the leadership I met (especially the PD), good mix of county/ academic, social justice-minded, strong reputation -> wanted to like this program more as I have family in the area
Cons: Residents seemed really overworked and some were very arrogant, the interview dinner was basically a college house party which is not my scene (for professional events anyway)

10) MN -- Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
Pros: The leadership was young and obviously passionate about the program, I got along with them well, housed at such a strong academic institution, matched residents in fellowships
Cons: Rochester, MN

11) NE -- University of Nebraska Medical Center
Pros: Leadership was enthusiastic, freedom to explore interests
Cons: No family near by, newer program, did not "click" with the leadership/residents as well (no red flags, we just didn't click), got a weird vibe from the nursing staff when we toured the ED

Anything to add: Good luck to my colleagues in the Match and future classes reading this. I promise, it will be fine!
Applied to: Kansas, U Missouri Kansas City (Truman), U of Iowa, U of Texas Dell (Austin), San Antonia, Denver Health, JPS, UT Southwestern, U of Nebraska, U of Utah, U of Arkansas, U of Tennessee, Cook County, Vanderbilt, Wash U/ Barnes-J, Saint Loius U, U of Illinois- Peoria, CHRISTUS Health, Southern Illinois, Hennepin Count, Health Partners/ Regions, Mayo, U of Missouri, U of Kentucky, Louisville, U of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Indiana, Texas A&M Scott & White Memorial, Michigan State, Baylor College of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, U of Wisconsin, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Rush, U of Illinois- Chicago, Michigan State U, U of Texas at Houston, Detroit Receiving, Detroit Sinai Grace, Case Western,
Declined interview invite: Medical College of Wisconsin, U of Tennessee, Arkansas, U of Illinois Peoria, Michigan State, U of Louisville, U of Illinois Chicago, Kentucky, Henry Ford, CHRISTUS Corpus Christi
Attended interview at: Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Truman (UMKC), Scott & White/ Texas A & M, UT Houston, Denver Health, Mayo, Regions/Health Partners, Hennepin County, Southern Illinois, U of Oklahoma College of Medicine Tulsa, U of Missouri - Columbia
Withdrew prior to hearing back from: Rush, U of Wisconsin, Case Western, Cook County, Wayne State (Detroit Receiving), Detroit Wayne State (Sinai Grace), U of Michigan, Integris
Rejected by: Northwestern, Georgetown, U of Texas Austin, Washington University, Utah, U of Chicago, St. Louis U, Medical U of South Carolina

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: GHHS, Interesting personal story with lots of compliments on my personal statement, Honored all clerkships, Don't know my SLOE ranks but they were mentioned as strong in every interview, normal human

Main considerations in creating this ROL: GUT, personal fit with people, training style, happiness, location, 3 year programs only, community experience, COL, moonlighting

1) NC -- University of North Carolina
Pros:
- Only place I got the warm and fuzzies
- Love the triangle
- Really enjoyed the faculty and knowing they have some huge names is cool
- PD was badass and my type of person
- Great community training at WakeMed
- Good peds experience
- Laid back residents
- Loved the UNC system/philosophy. People seemed to truly care there
- Good COL

Cons:
- Some concern about acuity/procedures but after asking questions now feel fine about it
- food/parking/benefits all not amazing
- frequent 12s as an intern stink but will be worth it with 1 weekend off/month and 2 wknds as PGY3

Overall: Just felt so right here. Objectively, not perfect and maybe not the strongest in any single category (besides community training), but when I sit and think it's what keeps popping up in my mind (GUT).

2) FL -- Orlando Regional Medical Center
Pros:
- Happiest, closest-knit, most proud residents on the trail
- Overall best training of anywhere I went. Have a very efficient curriculum, great peds experience, plenty of procedures
- Orlando better than I thought, decent COL
- Residents have a great reputation in the hospital
- Really made you feel wanted from the PD to the office staff

Cons:
- Weird transition from paper charting
- Not really a con but a point I want to make: I do question the validity of the "tri-brid" model. It's an academic hospital who serves a county population (with academic resources) in an ED that is staffed by a independent democratic group. I don't think this is the same as a true academic/community/county experience... idk though.

Overall: If I see ORMC on match day I will be thrilled. On paper, it's my favorite program, but it's #2 in my heart lol

3) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros:
- My type of people (more on that later)
- Third years were super confident and badass
- Good interactions with the faculty even if the PD was a little.. serious
- Work hard in a good way
- Good Peds
- Moonlighting very convenient
- Community style training
- I'd like to live in Chicago for a few years
- I like the dirty old EDs with curtains and hallway beds. It's my zone.

Cons:
- Chicago COL
- A *slight* pretentious vibe
- Commute 30 mins daily at a minimum in **** Chicago traffic

Overall: Was my number 1 for a very long time. Feel like these people were most like me and this place trains badasses. However, I'm a little on the serious side for an EM person and I don't know if it's the best thing for me to be completely surrounded by people like that. Would be happy to train here.

4) WI -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Pros:
- Love Milwaukee
- Great, balanced training at a nice hospital - acuity + peds + county population + community experience
- Really fun resident group
- Good benefits especially considering cost of living
- Lots of autonomy
- Generally nice people

Cons:
- I love Milwaukee but the 6 month winter suuucks and I can't see myself settling down near there

Overall: Solid all-around program that met all of my criteria. Just liked my top 3 better. I'd be very happy to end up here.

5) IL -- University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros:
- Residents were really cool for the most part
- Faculty happy and interviewers were truly interested in me as a person
- Love that you can live in the city no problem
- Like the 4 sites and the varied experiences
- Feel like i'd be happy here

Cons:
- Worry about procedural experience/acuity
- Peds not as strong as my top 4
- I like 4 sites but switching hospitals would take getting used to
- A couple negative resident interactions
- The whole state of Illinois funding and budget stuff
- COL

Overall: Good program with a few things that are awesome but a few big holes, but I had a good gut feeling about it anyway.

6) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros:
- Amazing reputation
- Unlimited professional opportunities
- Great great ICU training, no nonsense curriculum, solid clinical experience
- Indy COL is awesome, residents live in amazing spots
- Close to family
- For a few reason would allow me a financial head start

Cons:
- With the exception of 1 the interviews were very impersonal
- Residents were nice but not exactly my people
- Didn't leave feeling awesome
- Not much community training

Overall: My hardest program to rank because the heart didn't love it but the practicality of it (reputation-wise as well as financially) made a lot of sense.

7) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros:
- Awesome place: facilities, community, faculty
- PD was so badass
- Resident diversity unmatched, felt like they truly cared
- Cool flight opportunities but they are changing
- Can live in the city with a pretty short commute
- Solid training

Cons:
- Weren't my people
- Like I said earlier, I'm a little bit of a dingy ED and facilities kinda person and UofChicago is definitely not that
- Little too academic for me

Overall: Not a bad word to say about this place. These people were seriously awesome and caring. I just didn't feel like it was personally my fit.

8) Redacted

9) VA -- Eastern Virginia Medical School
Pros:
- Had so much fun at the resident dinner. Laughed the whole time
- Very few weaknesses in the program similar to MCW
- COL isn't bad
- Solid community training

Cons:
- Didn't love the area
- A few weird resident interactions
- Sorta old school white dude kinda faculty

Overall: Good program. Feel like residents come out strong. Again, just wasn't exactly my fit and was surprisingly one of my least favorite locations

10) Medical University of South Carolina
Pros:
- Beautiful location, best on my list
- nice residents
- best work-life balance of anywhere I went

Cons:
- Everything else is just okay: faculty interactions, training overall, moonlighting, money. Just nothing really stood out.
- One super negative interaction between our intern tour guide and a nurse which was really off-putting

Overall: Another really hard one to rank because I'd be HAPPY to open the envelope and know I was going to live in Charleston for 3 years, but the training just wasn't there for me

11) Redacted

12) TN -- University of Tennessee - Nashville
Pros:
- Good, new program
- PD is really well-connected and a cool guy
- Residents down to earth
- Great community training
- Interviewers interested in me as a person

Cons:
- Worry about acuity/procedures
- Basically, training community docs, which I think I want but don't wanna be in box
- Area is too sleepy for me despite being close to Nashville

Overall: If I knew I wanted to live near there and knew I wanted to practice community medicine then this would be a great place. I think it will continue to get better. Good program though.

13) IL -- Loyola Medicine
Pros:
- PD is awesome, honest, and insightful
- Like a mix in style of advocate and UIC
- Well-established institution

Cons:
- Brand spanking new
- Some faculty were odd
- Don't wanna live in that part of Chicago

Overall: Will be great soon, but just not wanting to be the guinea pig. I really have guilt about this one because Dr. Snow was sooo insightful and open, but I couldn't let that affect my rank.

14) Redacted

Anything else to add: Good luck to my classmates!

Sorry for redacting programs. I really wanted to go ahead and post this because as an M3 I used this sheet a lot to help pick my away rotations and I wanted to repay that favor. I just had to try and remain anonymous while doing so.

Advice for future applicants: apply smart, apply on time, get those letters in, be real in your PS. Work your ass off on your aways, put yourself out there geographically, and be normal/personable. Don't be afraid to send LOIs as early as Late-October to places where you have an interest and see that others have received interviews - I did a couple times and it worked for me.

Applied to (41 total): UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, Loma Linda, Desert Regional, U of Arizona, U of Arizona South, Maricopa, Vegas, Utah, New Mexico, John Peter smith, UT Austin, UAB, Orlando Health, Jacksonville, Emory, MUSC, Greenville, UNC, Wake Forest, Carolinas, Eastern Virginia, U of Virginia, UT Nashville, UT Chattanooga, Kentucky, University of Pittsburgh medical center, Indiana, Peoria, U of Chicago, UIC, Advocate, Cook County, Medical College of Wisconsin, U of Wisconsin, Loyola, 3 redacted
Declined interview invite: UC Irvine, UC davis, UC san diego, UC riverside, Loma Linda, U of Arizona South, Maricopa, vegas, utah, UNM, JPS, UT austin, UAB, Jacksonville, Greenville South carolina, Wake Forest, U of Virginia, Kentucky, UPMC, Peoria, Wisconsin
Attended interview at: the 11 on the list and 3 redacted
Withdrew prior to hearing back from: None
Rejections: Emory, Carolinas (only one that hurt)
Forever Waitlisted: Desert Regional, U of Arizona, UT Chattanooga, Cook County

 

[SamtheWise]

Cons: Not an IM/EM program, no burn unit

PROS:
-Good feels
-Academic/county split
-Level 1 adult and peds hospital
-Strong EMS, EMS fellowship, event med w/ Vikings, Wild, & State Fair
-Epic
-Burn center

burn center

Burn center

-Burn center

Burn unit rotation.

Lol at all the people acting like a burn unit rotation is a pro. Clearly you've never stepped foot in a burn ICU.

Everything I learned in the Burn unit could be taught in a 20 minute lecture: give however much fluids your accepting burn surgeon says on the phone, you don't really need to intubate people just for having soot near their face, keep the patient warm, and if you tube someone and they have high plats and a thorax burn you should perform an escharotomy. There. Done.

 

[deleted547339]

Lol at all the people acting like a burn unit rotation is a pro. Clearly you've never stepped foot in a burn ICU.

Everything I learned in the Burn unit could be taught in a 20 minute lecture: give however much fluids your accepting burn surgeon says on the phone, you don't really need to intubate people just for having soot near their face, keep the patient warm, and if you tube someone and they have high plats and a thorax burn you should perform an escharotomy. There. Done.

Don’t forget
1) the smell and
2) I hope I never get burned.

 

[WildcatS11]

Lol at all the people acting like a burn unit rotation is a pro. Clearly you've never stepped foot in a burn ICU.

Everything I learned in the Burn unit could be taught in a 20 minute lecture: give however much fluids your accepting burn surgeon says on the phone, you don't really need to intubate people just for having soot near their face, keep the patient warm, and if you tube someone and they have high plats and a thorax burn you should perform an escharotomy. There. Done.

I have to second this. A burn rotation will be one of the more unpleasant and least educational rotations you are forced to do.

 

[CajunMedic]

Updated from my spreadsheet post, can't message @TrashPanda13 for some reason

Applicant Summary:
Board Scores: 524/545/PE-Pass (all first time)
EM Rotations: H/H/H/HP/H (2 in OMS-3, 3 in OMS-4)
AOA: Nope
Med School Region: Deep South DO
Anything else that made you more competitive: Long-Time EMS Background, multiple conference and poster presentations, pertinent research

Main considerations in making this ROL: Overall feeling, new vs. established program. Overall Chance as a re-applicant. 3 yr over 4 year

ACGME:
1) Ohio Valley Medical Center/East Ohio Regional Hospital (West Virginia)
Pros: Well established, wilderness med electives
Cons: Meditech EHR, Cramped ED, old facilities

2) Oak Hill Hospital/HCA West Florida
Pros: 3 yr program
Cons: no moonlighting allowed, Meditech EHR, New program but PD seems motivated to do well

3) Merit Health Wesley (Mississippi)
Home program.
Pros: Great didactics, close to home. new PD is from old Charity in NO, good facilities; all the free food, drink, snacks, and Monster Energy you could ask for
Cons: 4 yr with no chance of any credit for TY year,

AOA:
1) Norman Regional Health System (Oklahoma)
Pros: Good didactics, heavy EMS component. Residents consistently compete at ACOEP and ACEP. Rotate through 3 campuses. I auditioned there and didn't match there last year, but they interviewed me again.
Cons: 4 year program, Meditech EHR.

Note from @TrashPanda13: Life as a re-applicant has got to be tough. Really rooting for you!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s/250s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: National EM leadership

Main considerations in making this ROL: County, Fit, Location, 3>>>>4year, Opportunities for SO, prefer to be in a bigger city, less important but critical care and hospice/palliative opportunities

1) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: County, love the Twin Cities, love the people and feel like I could fit in well here, rotated here and planned on it being my number 1, nothing changed during interview season. Amazing training with a well known name in EM, fellowship plans should be well supported, Great environment for jobs for SO.
Cons: Graduated responsibility

2) OH -- Case Western Reserve University/Metro Health Medical Center
Pros: The combo of training at Metro + Cleveland Clinic would be awesome. County hospital for metro, plenty of trauma and procedures, long history for the program and large alumni base, fellowship opportunities, a lot of critical care in the curriculum
Cons: Just prefer Twin Cities over Cleveland, overall gut feeling puts Hennepin over it

3) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: County, lots of critical care time, palliative opportunities, well known name in EM
Cons: Opportunities for SO may be limited? other than that this program is incredible. I prefer Cleveland over Indy though.

4) TX -- John Peter Smith Health Network
Pros: I really enjoyed my whole interview experience with this program, benefits are great, autonomy early and often, county hospital, the other residencies missing from the hospital make for some unique learning opportunities and the EM residents are highly respected in the hospital. Overall I could really see myself fitting in and being happy here and the training fits my learning style really well.
Cons: Newer program, farthest from family, smaller alumni base

5) MI -- Wayne State University Detroit Receiving Hospital
Pros: County program, great faculty, long history of the program with a large alumni base
Cons: Detroit (kind of), I just prefer the other cities above it. Receiving will be great training, would still be happy to end up there, heard trauma can be a bit dicey here with the relationship with trauma surgery, but residents denied there being any issues.

6) WI -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Pros: The hybrid training would be a great experience, the faculty are awesome and supportive, great teaching, great relationship with other departments, great benefits and COL, plenty of opportunities to develop a niche, strong support from the med school
Cons: More academic, less county than I would prefer, but I still love the program. I'm originally from the area and feel like a change of scenery is what I want right now. Job opps for SO are limited

7) MI -- St John Hospital & Medical Center
Pros: Loved the people here, residents were down to earth and easy to get along with, could definitely see myself working with them
Cons: I would prefer to be at DRH if I end up in Detroit, but I would still be happy if I ended up here

8) NE -- University of Nebraska Medical Center
Pros: I love the faculty and people here, this could easily be higher on my list (like top 5), but planning to move with SO which makes job opps for her an important factor and Omaha just doesn't have much.
Cons: Location, job opps for SO, more academic, not much county

9) MI -- Spectrum Health Grand Rapids/Michigan State University
Pros: Wellness is huge here, faculty were awesome, residents were laid back and happy, great benefits, GR is pretty sweet, craft beer scene is huge
Cons: Academic/community hybrid, not much county vibe, just not exactly what I'm looking for, but I would still be happy to train here

10) MI -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
Pros: Faculty are great, lot of transplants from Cincy/Indy, multiple tracks for different endeavors, excellent support from the med school, great EMS opps,
Cons: I really don't enjoy Kalamazoo much, I would prefer to be in Grand Rapids if I'm gonna be in west Michigan, Community/Academic, not much county

11) IL -- Southern Illinois University
Pros: Faculty were awesome and easy to talk to, easy to get along with. APD is a bit different, but still an awesome guy to chat with. Early and often autonomy.
Cons: Location is a big negative for me, opportunities for SO, community type of training, Newer program

12) OH -- Doctors Hospital-Ohio Health
Pros: Really liked the residents/people at the program, easy to get a long with
Cons: 4 year program, location isn't my vibe, more of a community program

Anything to add? I used a general rule of thumb of trying to imagine reading each program on match day. Far and above, my reaction to Hennepin remained the same and is the one that feels the best for me. After that, I feel really good about Metro, Indy, JSP, and DRH. Then I just feel good, minimal disappointment about MCW, St. John, UNMC, and Spectrum. I feel the least excited and actually disappointed (but know I'll be fine) with WMU, SIU, and Doctors.

Applied to: Advocate Christ, Highland, St John, Baylor, Beaumont, Case Western - MetroHealth, Case Western - University, Central Michigan, Cook County, Maricopa, Denver, Detroit Receiving, Sinai Grace, Doctors Hospital, Regions, Hennepin, Henry Ford, Indiana, John Peter Smith, Medical College of WI, Mercy St Vincent, PResence Resurrection, Rush, Southern Ilinois, Sparrow/MSU, Spectrum/MSU, St Louis, University of Illinois at Chicago, Peoria, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, UMKC-Truman, Nebraska, UT-Memphis, UT-Murfreesboro, Toledo, Wisconsin, UPMC-Pittsburgh, Western Michigan
Declined interview invite: Sparrow/MSU, Peoria, UMKC-Truman, Mercy St. Vincent Toledo
Interviewed at: See above.
Withdrew prior to hearing back from: N/A
Rejected: Highland, Denver, Rush, Case Western-University Hospitals, Regions, Henry Ford, St Louis, UT-Memphis, UT-Murfreesboro, Wisconsin, UPMC.
Silence - Baylor, Beaumont, Central Michigan, Cook County, Maricopa, Sinai Grace, Presence Resurrection, UIC, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Toledo, Iowa.

Waitlist - Michigan

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form
Applicant summary
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/Honors/Pass (P/F only)
AOA: Yes
Med school region: Southeast

1) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York
pro: NIH funding, prestige, NYC
con: PD is leaving, ED is overwhelming in volume, 25 class size is very large

2) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
pro: service oriented, had diversity recruitment dinner
con: the patients are in rough shape

3) DC -- George Washington University
pro: DC, event medicine opportunities
Con: department chair lacks person skills, old and out of touch

4) CT -- Yale New Haven Medical Center
pro: free iphone, great benefits, good academia
con: new haven isn't as nice

5) KS -- University of Kansas School of Medicine
pro: vibed well with interviewers
con: PD is an awkward fella, residents hated on the location during dinner

6) RI -- Brown University
pro: ivy league name
con: residency leadership too focused on what I can offer their program (my scores, my publications, my additional degrees) vs what they can offer to help me, was kind of unprofessional when talking about another interviewee from my med school and basically saying I was a better candidate (others had similar experience as me)

7) DE -- Christiana Care Health Services
pro: none
con: new PD is not as well known as Levine, DE sucks, lack of diversity, one resident was outwardly hostile to my questions during the social


Applied to: 30+

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form
Applicant summary
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Southwest

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Feel, location, reputation

1) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: They seem high caliber, great schedule, academic with lots of teaching. Ultra friendly faculty especially the APD with the beard. 3yrs and proud of it. Nash-Vegas
Cons: PD wasn't the most enthusiastic but seemed nice

2) CA -- University of California Davis
Pros: love sunny Sacramento, huge catchment with an academic and rural vibe. Relaxed residents. PD was the man
Cons: underrated

3) AZ -- Maricopa Medical Center
Pros: copa pride! AZ is nice. 3yrs and proud about it. County heavy.
Cons: not the most fun city outdoors wise

4) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Pros: great county/academic combo, new program paving a modern path, loved both the PD and chief. Loved the residents
Cons: 4yr, Seattle is cloudy

5) CA -- University of California San Diego
Pros: San Diego is heaven on earth. Chill residents, hyperbarics, county academic combo
Cons: underrated, 4yrs, is this high caliber? (what is high caliber)

6) OR -- Oregon Health and Science University
Pros: favorite PD, happy relaxed residents, Portland is the bomb, good rep and ohsu connections
Cons: Portland is cloudy, everyone questions the acuity of patients?

7) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: They all seem really smart, very dedicated to em, county academic combo, city is great
Cons: the overworked factor is very real, not sure why this antiquated mantra of working so hard is still with them. Can't blame someone for getting mad at you if they haven't seen their wife in a week

8) CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: super well respected, smart people, liked the residents
Cons: South Bay is silly in terms of col and lack of fun. Too academic not enough em autonomy

9) CA -- University of California Irvine Medical Center
10) LA -- Louisiana State University - New Orleans

Note from @TrashPanda13: Surprised this person doesn't like the outdoor scene of Phoenix. They're entitled to their own opinion, but I think there's a ton of awesome hiking in the area. I spent a lot of time in the Superstition Mountains (Flatiron Peak, Weaver's Needle, Hieroglyphics Trail) instead of studying. If you're looking for skiing or snow, you have to go to Flagstaff for that.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Med School Region: West coast
Anything that made you more competitive: IM sports, research, ran student clinic, marathon running

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Happiness, balance, training, location. I will extract 100% of the information from something well taught when I am in a positive environment over high volume repetition or any negative atmosphere

1) NY -- Mount Sinai St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
pros: happiest candid residents i saw on the trail, close with faculty, NYC Manhattan, young invested leadership, 3 years with great rep, best personal fit
negative: nyc expensive, less trauma

2) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
pros: good shift schedule with lots of on shift teaching opportunities, warm weather, close residents
negative: 4 years, long commutes

3) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
pros: 3 years, great benefits, good residency cohesion
negative: not a big fan of the location, less vacation time

4) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
pros: good rep, bay area is cool
negative: 4 years, vibe with residents off

5) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
positive: good rep, ideal location near family
negative: overworked residents, 4 years, long commute

6) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
positive: close to home, good rep
negative: 4 years, long commute, not as reputable as other programs in the vicinity

7) CA -- University of California Irvine Medical Center
positive: happy residents, good camaraderie with faculty, beautiful location, 3 years,
negative: small residency class, 1 month of elective, long commutes

8) CO -- Denver Health
positive: denver rep, cool location lots of outdoor activities
negative: reputation of residents, leaving circadian cycle

9) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York
pros: reputation, manhattan, training
negative: unhappy residents with main hospital, 4 years, class size too big

10) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
pros: reputation, favorite location in manhattan
negative: bad pretentious vibe with certain faculty/residents

11) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
pros: harvard name, boston
negative: pretentious and not a good fit with atmosphere for me

12) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
pros: 3 years amazing training, great ultrasound, personally didn't mind location
negative: partner's least desired location for occupation otherwise would have been top 5 on my list

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Anything that made you more competitive: 2 top 10% SLOEs, Masters degree, extensive extracurriculars

Main considerations in creating this ROL: >4 yrs > 3 yrs. Placement into academic positions. Fellowship opportunities. Gut feel. Reputation. SOs job prospects.

1) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
I was smiling the entire time I was here. The PD is a mamma bear who is a little intimidating, but I feel like she would throw down for her residents. The pathology is unparalleled. The resources are top notch. The city is a perfect size for me, and has lots of trauma. Unique rotations. Best use of 4th year, with the FAST curriculum, so what would be 6 yrs (4 yrs plus a 2 yr fellowship) anywhere else, can be completed in 5 yrs with the FAST and a 1 yr fellowship here.

2) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
I still might switch and put this 1. Honestly cannot decide. Love everything about this program. The people were amazing, the curriculum top notch, the PD was the kind of powerhouse I want to work for. Near-ish to family.

3) RI -- Brown University
I felt the happiest during my interview day here. The PD was what really drew me into the program. The residents all seem to get along super well and hang out a lot. I really like the curriculum. I like that they are the only major hospital in the area so they get it all. 3rd year has great critical care exposure. Lots of fellowship opportunities. I like the tracks they have set up. Providence is a cute mid-sized city, and def not a con for me.

4) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
Their social medicine mission is unique and something I would love to be a part of. Spent lots of time talking about the community outreach they do. Bellevue is a resident run hospital. Peds seems a little weaker then I would like. Reputation is amazing. I love that they have opened the brooklyn location. Con is COL, like do I put my dog in a tiny studio?

5) MI -- University of Michigan
Lovedddd this program. Excellent focus on education, teaching, innovative conference. Mentorship is a huge strong point here. Ann Arbor is cute, but not my fav location. Didn't fully click with the people I met. Felt almost a little too academic, with the fact that they have to drive to flint for trauma, county exposure.

6) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Positives: Fellowship opportunities. Loved the APD I met. Strong mentorship program. Focus on resident wellness. Longitudinal career development opportunities. Didactic curriculum is set up in modules. Everything seems crazy organized. EMS experience is unreal. Seattle is the bomb. Perfect mix of county/university/community feel. Huge catchment area. 4th years get to do lots of teaching.
Negatives: disliked the department chair, she seemed like a researcher, not a clinician. New-er program, may still have turf wars.

7) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Top notch training. LOVED the family like feel and how much the residents seem to get along and hang out. Comfortable with academic options, even though 3 yr program. Indy is a cool city and close-ish to family, reasonable COL. No floor months, ICU months seem intense but good. 2/3rd year equivalent. All hospitals are in close proximity. New county hospital is beautiful. Get to spend time at Colts games, Indy 500.
Cons: ED only runs airway for trauma. 21 residents a year. 3 yrs.

8) NC -- University of North Carolina
I would seriously consider ranking this program SO much higher if it was 4yrs. Loved the PD here, I want to work under her. Curriculum makes good use of the time they have. Commute 45--ish minutes was not a con for me because I think it provides a great variety of experiences.

9) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
Great program and reputation, beautiful facilities. Didn't click with the residents at all. they didn't really make an effort to talk to us, and all sat at tables with each other instead. didn't connect with PD/APDs.

10) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Walked in thinking I would love this program, and walked away disappointed. I can't really pinpoint why - its just felt like they used to be cutting edge, but now everywhere else is catching up and now they don't have much else to make them super special. STAB rooms with EM running all traumas is pretty cool though. 3rd year Pit Boss roll is great, very similar to the 4th year of a lot of 4 yr residencies.

11) KY -- University of Kentucky
Possibly my favorite residents on the trail. Curriculum and training seems perfectly adequate, nothing super special stood out though. Use an antiquated EMR.

12) MN -- Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
Almost tooooo good. They have all the resources anyone could ever want. Very in-bred program, and I get the feeling they stay because they are so used to having every resources at their disposal so practicing anywhere else would be impossible.
Rochester is not the best city for SOs job.

13) MI -- Henry Ford Hospital
Left feeling totally indifferent, nothing special stood out to me about the program. Good ICU months. Peds experience felt weak. Heavily graded release of responsibility. Floor month on nephro floor.

14) MI -- Spectrum Health Grand Rapids/Michigan State University
Easily one of the best programs for people looking to be living in Michigan. Everyone felt friendly, down to earth, highly focused on wellness. Resident dinner was a little awkward, like I just didn't mesh with the residents, but they were all nice. Beautiful facilities. All at one location. Peds is integrated into each EM month so that 1/3 of shifts are peds. EM runs airway on all traumas. Grand Rapids is pretty cool.. PD, APD, PC who interviewed us are all seemingly highly invested in wellness and resident success. Strong tox. COL is very reasonable.
Negatives: only 10-20% of grads go on to fellowship. only 2 elective blocks. I personally don't like the way trauma is run, with a dedicated trauma team that EM only spends 2 months on.

15) WI -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Perfectly average program with beautiful facilities. Nothing stood out to me. Strongly disliked one of the residents I met at the dinner and during the interview day. Didn't click with the faculty.

16) Home Program
Love the people, just ready to leave the area.

Anything else to add? Still super unsure of my top 3 order.

Declined interview invite: Georgetown, George Washington, University of Virginia, Wright State, Case Western/Cleveland Clinic, Case Western/University Hospital, University of Massachusetts, Wayne State - Sinai Grace, University of Iowa, University of Illinois-Chicago, Presence Resurrection,

Interviews attended: All Ranked

Withdrew from: U Wisconsin, Thomas Jefferson, Temple, Christiana, Maimonides, St. Lukes -Roosevelt, Vanderbilt (WL), UMPC (WL),

Rejected by: Northwestern, U Chicago, Oregon Health and Science, Beth Israel HMC, U Maryland,

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/Honors/Honors
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: masters, interesting back story into medicine
Anything that made you less competitive: minimal/no research, DO student

Main considerations in creating this ROL: location, feel, opportunity for fellowship later on if i decide to go down that path

1) NJ -- Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Pros: Rotated here and loved it - attendings, residents, patients. trauma is at NJMS, but there's plenty that comes through the doors of NBI, just because of its location. The surrounding areas are beautiful, so you're not actually in newark. this would allow me to live with my SO. pathology is like any inner NYC place I've seen. great peds exposure due to the children's hospital. also would be super close to my family. 9s during the week, 12s weekends, gives you some time off on weekends
Cons: not best prestige (but has been around for a minute, so plenty of alum), lack of sim (heard its not a big deal cause you see everything/do everything in the ED, but feel like this is always whats said.

2) NY -- SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
Pros: huge name in EM. the interview day was incredible, probably one of my favorite. the dinner the night before had a great turnout and was a good experience. the training here would be second to none for east coast county exposure. real trauma within NY
Cons: 4 years, would be hard to live with SO. 12 hour shifts (not a huge con). lack of resources I think would get old me to me. Love idea of being a go getter for your patients, but was told it really can impede on learning and improving skills by having to do so much scut (to each their own though, some may love this).

3) NY -- Hofstra Northwell SOM at North Shore / LIJ
Pros: had a great interview day/dinner. i think rotating at both of the hospitals of LIJ and north shore would be two beneficial experiences. Cohen's childrens hospital gives ample pediatric exposure which I'm looking for. ample resources for my interests outside of EM.
Cons: need to live on long island or queens which is a pain for me trying to be with SO and family. LI and queens are basically only accessible by car (yes, you can by train but its a pain in the ass). 12 hour shifts. wish i rotated here to know more about it.

4) NJ -- Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Pros: big fan of the area, the hospital name would carry wherever. its not a big name in EM, but its a relatively big name in medicine. during the tour in the ED, the diversity of pathology was pretty spectacular (residents chimed in what they were working on). Living situation would be ideal for me.
Cons: about 2 residents showed up to the dinner, and then only talked amongst themselves. The same 2 then showed up to the interview day and didn't say much then. interviews were a little strange and off putting. I really wanted to love this one more, but just couldn't convince myself.

5) NY -- Maimonides Medical Center
Pros: loved the style of this program. its a intense 3 year program in the heart of brooklyn. the ED is always crazy busy (for better or for worse). a solid mix of 8/9s and 12s depending on the acuity of the shift. 2nd year running the resus i thought was solid, but interns and 3rd years chimed in whenever too. peds exposure is excellent with the children's hospital. locations is mediocre for me
Cons: residents didn't seem all that thrilled about being there. teaching lacks at times because of how truly busy the place is. having to use translation phones all the time would get annoying - again, some may enjoy this - i don't.

6) NY -- State University of New York - Stony Brook
Pros: resident dinner and interview day was sweet - really clicked with everyone. the hospital is gorgeous. the ED ICU is something that i really enjoyed the idea of. residents were all very open, and were straight forward with weaknesses and strengths. every program is gonna have some things to work on and thought it was cool that they weren't straight up 'everything is perfect' - much respect for that.
Cons: location is not ideal, central LI is pretty crummy to get to if you're not living there. would be higher if location was better for me cause i really liked this program.

7) NJ -- Hackensack University Medical Center
Pros: lots of energy felt from everyone during the interview day. great hospital in the geographical area i want to be in - meaning off service would be solid. ED sees a large volume due to proximity to NYC. Bergen county is a sweet area to live in - super expensive though. location is solid for me.
Cons: newish program, lack of procedures, weird vibe at times from some of the admin

8) NJ -- Morristown Memorial Hospital
Pros: an older EM program, with established alumni network. met docs from here throughout prior experiences that are doing really well for themselves. the hospital is gorgeous, people were lovely. favorite resident dinner of the trail.
Cons: got the sense that pathology can be limited, had a odd/bad interview experience that basically skewed the rest of the day.

9) NY -- Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center
Pros: another really good vibe from the interview day. easy to get to for family and SO. huge volume, knife/gun club.
Cons: living in the bronx would be rough, and then commuting everyday from manhattan or westchester would become taxiing but manageable. 4 years, 12 hours, burn out is real.

10) NY -- New York Methodist Hospital
11) NY -- New York-Presbyterian - Queens
12) PA -- St. Luke's University Health Network
13) PA -- Reading Health System
14) PA -- Wellspan York Hospital

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.
Applicant summary
Board scores: 250s/250s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med School region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Leadership roles

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Wanted to stay in the midwest but also wanted good training for academics. Low COL.

1) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: Loved this program. It really left me feeling warm and fuzzy. The PD was fantastic and the residents all seemed really happy. Incredible reputation.
Cons: 4 years, cincinnati

2) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: great academic reputation. Loved the 3+1 model. emphasis on resident wellness. nashville is awesome. Slovis.
Cons: none really other than far from family. maybe too much emphasis on out-of-ED learning.

3) MD -- University of Maryland
Pros: shock trauma. reputation. residents seemed cool. 3 years.
Cons: 12 hour shifts. Kept hearing on the interview trail that the residents were overworked but they seemed happy to me.

4) PA -- Temple University School of Medicine
Pros: great trauma experience, loved the PD and APD, reputation, 3 years
Cons: low patient diversity

5) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: big emphasis on academics, reputation, committed to diversity.
Cons: don't love chicago

6) OH -- Case Western Reserve University/Metro Health Medical Center
Pros: county/academic mix, 3 years, low COL
Cons: residents seemed overworked and unhappy. no dragon.

7) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University I really wanted to like this program more than I did. The leadership just seemed off to me.
Pros: reputation in academics
Cons: 4 years, chicago

8) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: reputation, icu experience seems badass, huge catchment area
Cons: indiana (home of mike pence), far from fam, interview day just seemed a little off (leadership asked really weird behavioral questions and didn't seem to have read my application)

9) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: excellent training, excellent beer.
Cons: the most overworked group of residents I met. 24 shifts/28 days. 8 hour shifts but they reported staying ~3-4 hours after shift to chart. social at a residents house reminded me of a frat party and some of the residents were extremely unprofessional.

10) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
Pros: academics, 3 years
Cons: did not like the leadership or the residents. At the social, a resident said some offensive remarks saying they didn't like anyone who came from where I grew up. Only a few residents at the social actually wanted to talk to applicants, the rest just hung out as a group by themselves at the bar drinking a ton and taking applicant drink tickets.

11) MI -- Wayne State University Detroit Receiving Hospital
Pros: great group of residents, reputation
Cons: detroit

12) DE -- Christiana Care Health Services
Pros: great community program, big catchment area
Cons: not super interested in going to a community program (want more academics/med school affiliation)

13) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: none
Cons: didn't have an interview social event, all the residents at lunch were also interviewing us so I didn't get to talk to any residents candidly. The program coordinator didn't send out a confirmation email so I had no idea where/when to go on interview day and had to crowd-source to reddit to find out.

Declined interview invite: JH, Brown, Einstein, Penn, Oregon, Cook, Henry Ford, Maine
Rejected by: Carolinas, Emory

 

[gamerEMdoc]

24 shifts/28 days

Wow!

 

[lucid_leprechaun]

Wow!

Agreed. That sounds like hell.

 

[gutonc]

Agreed. That sounds like hell.

Is the OP sure s/he didn't interview at the GS prelim program there?

 

[emthrowaway13579]

24 shifts in 28 days is an urban legend and has been confirmed to NOT be true by current residents.

 

[Rekt]

24 shifts in 28 days is an urban legend and has been confirmed to NOT be true by current residents.

Yeah, but he didn't confirm much better. 21-23 + 4days of didactics without dropping per PGY is still horrible.

 

[emthrowaway13579]

21-23 in 31 days, not 28 days, completely different from 24 in 28.

 

[doggydog]

Looooool.

Same **** different year.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary
Board scores: 260s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Med school region: Southwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Non-trad with experience having a job in healthcare prior to med school, EM-related publication

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Generally prefer location to be out West but relatively minor consideration, couples match, prefer county-type population with academic resources, wilderness medicine

1) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: Close to family, opportunities to do wilderness medicine, formerly worked with many of the faculty, good mix of county and academics, prestige, opportunities to work in area, autonomy, really liked the PD, proximity to Rocky Mountains for skiing and hiking
Cons: Rumors of residents being overworked extends beyond the emergency medicine program, slightly higher COL than some of my other options, 12-hour shifts at the community site

2) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: Awesome flight experience that promotes autonomy, familiarity with residents and faculty, SWAT and escort sounds sweet, prestige, COL, good mix of county and academic feel
Cons: Location is +/- since Cincinnati isn't everyone's cup of tea

3) CA -- University of California San Francisco/ Fresno
Pros: Procedural experience seems unmatched, tons of autonomy, really liked the residents, incredible trauma experience (most trauma in all of California), great opportunities to get involved with wilderness medicine (ParkMed program), proximity to Yosemite, increased access to jobs in California, county type population without the county type resources
Cons: Fresno itself doesn't have a lot going for it, but it's livable; sign outs at this program are dysfunctional at times

4) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: New trauma center looks sweet, international flight experience, reputation, PD is awesome, like the idea of working 12s on the weekend in exchange for a 3-day weekend later, county-type population without the county-type resources
Cons: Would probably prefer a 4-year program, but there's too many cool things about this program that I can't ignore. Location in Chicago is +/-. Nothing to do outdoors nearby, but great arts and entertainment. COL is too high for what you get

5)CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: Awesome wilderness med opportunities (Auerbach is here!), reputation, loved the PD, tons of $$$ to use for basically whatever you want
Cons: COL is insane but salary partially makes up for it, you rotate at a few sites that are not exactly close to each other, only 10% of shifts are at the county hospital in San Jose, which is easily the coolest place to work

6) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: Reputation, very county but they do a lot of clinical research which is more up my alley, really liked Minneapolis, COL, Rob Reardon, county population
Cons: 3-year program, wasn't super impressed by the PD, not much w/r/t wilderness med but the other stuff they have going on is pretty sweet, low resources

7) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: Residents were awesome and the program had a generally laid-back vibe which I appreciated, amazing trauma experience, community program but they publish a lot, reputation, really enjoyed interviewing here, proximity to good outdoors stuff
Cons: NC is pretty far from the rest of my world, looks like most residents tend to do community, 3-year program

8) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: Plenty of volume, COL, great alumni network, strong history, like the patient population

Cons: Not sure they really do all that much in terms of academics, seems to be a community program under the guise of a university, 3-years, Indy wouldn't be my favorite place to live

9) ME -- Maine Medical Center
Pros: Portland is really cool, tons of autonomy (felt like the Fresno of the East), really enjoyed my interview here, definitely an up-and-coming program that I think would be awesome to train at
Cons: Biggest con is my concern that I'd have trouble finding jobs outside of the region and it's really far from the rest of my world, largely white patient population, low penetrating trauma

10) MI -- University of Michigan
Pros: Program emphasizes building strong leaders, reputation is solid, really enjoyed my interview day aside from the van tour, lots of resources, ICU in the ED model is pretty neat
Cons: Biggest con is driving to Flint for county experience, patient population at U of M, not big on living in Ann Arbor, COL is higher than you'd expect for a smaller town in the Midwest

11) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: Tons of autonomy, county population with a lot of resources at a community hospital, tons of trauma
Cons: 3-year community program, most residents get jobs in Chicago and I don't want to stay, location is a bit too far south in Chicago to be convenient, not sure if having a single site is really a good thing

12) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Pros: Reputation, autonomy, really like the mission, great trauma experience
Cons: The 12-hour shifts kill it for me, too much Spanish, don't really want to live in LA, didn't really vibe with the residents here

13) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Pros: Seattle is awesome, good job opportunities within WA
Cons: Social mission of hospital is admirable but in my opinion makes it a subpar place to train, still fighting battles with other specialties, really disliked the PD, newer program, lots of BS off-service rotations

14) CA -- University of California Davis
Pros: Sacramento seems like a decent place to live
Cons: Location won't work well for couples match, not sure how much time the residents spend together, 3-year program

15) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Prestige, mentorship, connections to research
Cons: Really don't like the idea of living in Boston, MGH is not a county-like experience as advertised

16) MA -- University of Massachusetts
Pros: Great ultrasound, solid trauma experience
Cons: I liked this program a lot more than my ROL would indicate, the location just really drags it down for me

17) MI -- Henry Ford Hospital
Pros: COL
Cons: You have to own boarded patients, don't want to live in Detroit, nothing stood out to me about this program

18) DC -- Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Pros: Residents really get along well and there's a good atmosphere here, Washington Hospital Center is a solid county experience
Cons: Turned off by some of the faculty, location just wont work for us, GUH is not my style of ED (lots of worried well, kidney transplant transfers, low acuity)

Declined interview: Cook County, Brown, Temple, UTSW, UT Houston, Hopkins, UCSD, UC Irvine, Rush, UNM, Sinai Grace Detroit, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, NYP Queens, St. John (Detroit)

Rejected by: UCLA Harbor, UCLA Olive View, Highland, UCSF General, OHSU, Utah, Maricopa, U of Arizona, Northwestern, BMC, Emory, Wake, Christiana, UNC, Duke, UMD, SUNY Downstate, NYU, NY Presbyterian, HAEMR (Beth Israel), Mt. Sinai (NY), Pitt, Case Western (both programs), Louisville, Albert Einstein Jacobi,