[2018-2019] Emergency Medicine Rank Order List Thread

[TrashPanda13]

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Applicant summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Pass (P/F only)/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Former military. PhD.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Fit and culture. Strength of program. Location.

1) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
The clinical training is superb. The faculty are top notch. 3 sites. Integrated pediatrics. 1:1 ICU exposure as an intern. Rapid progression to senior ED resident. Forged in fire. Tactical EMS. EM is arguably top dog at Indy. Indianapolis is awesome.

2) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Clinical training is as good as it gets. Amazing social mission. Faculty and residents are top notch. 4th year well justified. Job/fellowship placement is outrageous. Great facilities. EM residents are top dog. COUNTY. Chicago is a really great city.

3) MN -- HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital
Great clinical training. Tight-knit group of people. Strong mission. Only in-house residency.

4) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Great training and mission. County/Academic blend. GRADY.

5) CT -- Yale New Haven Medical Center
Too academic but strong clinical training. Loved the PD and other faculty. Can be innovative here.

6) RI -- Brown University
Really great clinical training. Interesting opportunities. 5 sites. Great group of residents and faculty. Wasn't super impressed with the support staff and the interactions I observed regarding admissions.

7) MI -- University of Michigan
Loved the program. The city is not a good fit. I feel like offers the best clinical training among the academic powerhouses.

8) LA -- Louisiana State University - New Orleans
Loved the city. The program is not a good fit.

9) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
Way too academic for my taste. Research is easy, being a masterful clinician is not. I feel like it's backwards here.

Decline interview: BMC, Cooper

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[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s 250s
EM rotation grades: Pass (P/F only)/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: haha. no

Main considerations in creating this ROL:
1. Location location location. I purposely chose to not apply to programs in large cities. KC and Minneapolis were exceptions. I must be close to my significant other
2. I prefer programs that are not resident ran. I do not want to act like an attending all the time during my final year as a resident. I need to be able to have my own patient cohort
3. Work-life Balance
4. Program Director's educational philosophy
5. Opportunity to pursue fellowship, but prefer a less academic residency
6. 3 year >>>>>> 4 year

1) MA -- Baystate Medical Center
Pros:
-Only place with warm and fuzzies.
-Can live with husband.
-Got along with the first and second year residents - they my people.
-Interviewers engaged in great discussions about why happiness is important, education fellowship, and life. Impressed with the PD and his decisions regarding education.
-Decent salary
-Large and newer ED. Everything is practically done at one hospital site. In-house EM peds.
-No floor months.
-Ultrasound heavy!
Treats graduates well evident by job placement and fellowships. 4 weeks vacation
Cons:
-Springfield is a s***hole, but i would not be living in town.
-Not a fan of the department chair and his singular focus on research.
-Ophthalmology rotation first year.

2) CT -- University of Connecticut
Pros:
-Hands down the most chill pre-interview social.
-Closest to my husband
-I really enjoyed the areas outside of Hartford to live in.
-Absolutely loved the ultrasound director and the future of the butterfly at UConn.
-Dr. Price was a f***ing boss. She was the most comfortable interview of the season and I appreciated easy it was to speak with her
-Simulation and Case conference seemed to be one of the more organized out of my interviews
-Sizable education stipend
Cons:
-PD was a little weird, but not as much as expected.
-The department chair was a little pushy with his very awkward 'behavioral questions.'
-WHY DO I HAVE TO ROTATE AT SO MANY HOSPITALS?!
-Large program
-Focused too much on sim during interview and presentation
-Not a fan of the mini-fellowship ****
T-oo many 1 weeks blocks and not enough time for just ED during 3rd year
-Only three weeks vacation

3) MA -- University of Massachusetts
Pros:
-Best clinical training that I would receive
-Able to live with husband
-Best schedule that does not waste time out of the ED
-Obs unit is ED ran and can moonlight there
-Less time for conference because PD would take into account independent study
-Hawaii!!!
-They are trying to expand the residency which could lessen the workload
-A lot of prior comments were about how tired and unfriendly residents were during the social. I was pretty sick on this interview and the residents seemed chipper and even invited us to continue drinking afterwards.
Cons:
-I connected more with the seniors and chiefs more than the interns.
-They work way too damn much
-Honestly, I did not like the PD during the downtime because he singularly focused on one applicant with a military history. I felt ignored.
-While i would not be living in Worcester, not my favorite city

4) CT -- Yale New Haven Medical Center I rotated here. I was not a fan of the senior residents. I felt a better connection with the 1st/2nd years.

Pros:
-I know the system due to subi.
-Strong faculty
-Most diverse collection of faculty and residents
-I could devise any research. Forefront of a lot of new treatments (suboxone)
-Love the in-house clinical coordinators
-Best ultrasound curriculum and clinical use that I have seen.
Cons:
-4 years
-Way too academic. I could not stomach the consults for that long.
-3rd and 4th years primarily act like attendings
-Every ED has a boarding problem, but it is a special problem at Yale
-Did not like that the first years were primarily scheduled on the lower acuity side
-While Bridgeport seems to be the hidden gem, it is frustrating that you can only spend a limited time there and it is pretty far away especially if you do not live in New Haven or South of New Haven

5) NH -- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Pros:
-Small! I go to a smaller med school and like smaller programs
-Love the location (I hate the heat).
-I enjoyed the combination of being a tertiary medical center while simultaneously acting like the county option
-Actually felt like the flying shifts were going to be useful. Not as good as WMich
-I like how Shock Trauma is split into two four week rotations
-Quite interested in their leadership preventive medicine residency
-Residents find desirable community and fellowship opportunities
-Enjoyed interactions with ultrasound director, APDs and the PD
-I am not worried about the volume. There are only 6 residents!
-No floor months
Cons:
-Cannot live with husband, but close by at least
-The hospital was a little grandiose and academic for my feel
-Expensive living despite being more rural
-Have to rotate at four different sites
-Didn’t click with a couple of the interns very well
-Not sold on the college town vibe

6) MI -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
Pros:
-Strongest critical care (EM ran ICU), would be solid in taking care of any patient
-Actual responsibility for EMS and flight
-No floor months, plenty of ED time
-Solid conference and sim education
-Solid opportunity for community gigs throughout country
Cons: Not near husband
Very large program
Kalamazoo was not my jam
Ultrasound is still coming around
Few fellowship opportunities

7) PA -- Penn State Health Milton S Hershey
Pros:
-Probably one of the stronger peds experience in my ROL
-Looking forward to rotating at Harrisburg
-Event medicine for concerts and football
-Dr. Kalantari was solid and I loved how she was changing conferences
-Dr. Rudnitsky is my hero. She was very open during the interview.
-Solid ICU experience and no floor months
Cons:
-I hated Hershey. Not close to husband
-I was only able to really connect with the senior residents during the social and tour, so I do not have an opinion on residents I will work with.
-Full ortho block first year
-Not sold on Surgical Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit rotation
-Ultrasound lagging behind
-I really did not like Hershey

8) MO -- University of Missouri Columbia School of Medicine
I really wish this was close to my husband. It is further down on my rank list due to that fact.

Pros:
-Loved the area
-Jammed the best with these residents
-Clicked with the PD
-Extra elective time
-Pretty large catchment area
-Four weeks vacay
-Best gym ever and new ED
Cons:
Specialty clinics – I would rather not
Peds floor time
Low volume to resident ratio
Appeared to be lower acuity

9) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Rotated here. I enjoyed it, but it just is not close enough to be husband.

Pros:
-It is freaking Hennepin!
-Best support for ED, research is off the charts
-Ultrasound is top notch and the faculty are renowned for so many different specialties
-I like the mantra of the ED physicians – we will try to do everything on our own
-High acuity
-Clicked with many of the residents and faculty
Cons:
-Far away from husband
-Graduated responsibility
-I do not like the role of pit boss. I would like to help the attending run the pod and then also see plenty of my own patients
-Very weak peds
-Practically no moonlighting when talking with residents
-6 weeks neurosurg
-Specialty clinics

10) MO -- Truman Medical Center/University of MO Kansas City
Pros:
-High acuity
-KC is dope
-Historical program
-Residents were chill

Cons:
-Not close to husband
-Floor month
-Ortho rotation included outpatient

11) TN -- University of Tennessee - Nashville
Pros:
-Loved the community feel
-1:1 Or 1:2 attending to resident ratio
-Beautiful area
-Very intrigued by their event medicine elective
-Not a lot of pointless off-service rotations
Cons:
-Didactics obviously a weakness
-I did not click with the PD. I couldn’t quite get his [sic]
-Travel to Chattanooga and Knoxville for peds and trauma
-Lower salary than comparisons
-No in-house sim center

12) OK -- University of Oklahoma College of Medicine/Tulsa
13) OH -- Memorial Health System Program

Applied to: Albany Medical Center Program Brown University Program Carilion Clinic-Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Program Carolinas Medical Center Program Central Michigan University College of Medicine Program Charleston Area Medical Center Program Duke University Hospital Program Geisinger Health System Program Genesys Regional Medical Center Program Grand Strand Regional Medical Center Program Greenville Health System/University of South Carolina Program HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital Program Hennepin County Medical Center Program Kent Hospital Program Lehigh Valley Health Network/University of South Florida College of Medicine Program Maine Medical Center Program Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Program Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Rochester) Program Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals Program University of South Carolina Program Memorial Health System Program Mountain State Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institutions, Inc. (MSOPTI) (Ohio Valley Medical Center) Program Oregon Health & Science University Program Palmetto Health/University of South Carolina School of Medicine Program Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center Program Reading Hospital Program Sparrow Hospital/Michigan State University Program Spectrum Health/Michigan State University Program St Elizabeth Boardman Hospital Program St Luke's Hospital Program SUNY Upstate Medical University Program UMMS-Baystate Program Unity Health-White County Medical Center Program University at Buffalo Program University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Program University of Connecticut Program University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Program University of Kansas School of Medicine Program University of Kentucky College of Medicine Program University of Louisville School of Medicine Program University of Massachusetts Program University of Michigan Health System Program University of Missouri-Columbia Program University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine Program University of Nebraska Medical Center Program University of New Mexico School of Medicine Program University of North Carolina Hospitals Program University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine (Tulsa) Program University of Rochester Program University of Tennessee College of Medicine at Chattanooga Program University of Tennessee College of Medicine at Memphis Program University of Tennessee College of Medicine at Murfreesboro Program University of Utah Program University of Vermont Medical Center Program University of Virginia Medical Center Program University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Program UPMC Medical Education (Pittsburgh) Program Vanderbilt University Medical Center Program Vidant Medical Center/East Carolina University Program Wake Forest University School of Medicine Program West Virginia University Program Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine Program Yale-New Haven Medical Center Program

Declined interview: none

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form

Applicant summary
Board scores: 260s/270s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Pass/High Pass
AOA: Yes
Med school region: Southeast
Anything that made you more competitive: Not particularly

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Location by far (sports teams, outdoorsy stuff, and a good airport), 3 >> 4, fit with residents

1) UT -- University of Utah Hospital & Clinics
hipster feel to the place, huge on outdoor activities and wellness, teaching about finances, awesome wilderness med, ortho month on the mountain, big hands on experience at IMC, PD was awesome, training probably isn't as great (still very good) as some other programs but I really just want to live close to the mountains

2) PA -- Temple University School of Medicine
awesome city, knife and gun club, county population at a big academic center, PD was awesome, quality improvement projects, Psych at Episcopal, good support and lots of procedures, circadian shifts could be a +/- but they sold it well, probably the best training of anywhere I interviewed at and I love Philly, said they can get you a job with their connections anywhere but San Diego, it'd be number 1 if it was closer to more outdoorsy stuff

3) FL -- Orlando Regional Medical Center
floor month, paper charts (moving to an EMR in a year or 2), and 12s as an intern are kind of weird but they sold it well actually, never stay late to chart, tons of perks - free parking, food, insurance, etc, I loved the city way more than I expected to, best interview dinner on the trail, huge turnout, really connected with my interviewers and the residents, really well trained and can get a job almost anywhere although most stay close because they say they love the area, I'd be pretty pumped to see this on match day tbh

4) TX -- UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
not heavy on US, huge patient load, move the meat instead of procedures sometimes, state of the art hospital, awesome residents, 2 months in New Zealand all expenses paid, big burn center, huge EMS and tox exposure, separate psych and OB ED is a bit odd, 3 wks vaca, $200/month moonlighting halfway through 2nd year, I have lots of friends in Dallas and I know I would be trained well here but I kind of want to move a little farther away from home, also seems like they have more issues with other residency programs given how big UTSW is

5) LA -- Louisiana State University - New Orleans
really liked the residents, nice ass hospital, big on community involvement, I love Nola, legit one of the best cities in the country although I'd gain a bunch of weight for sure, honestly would be a contender for number 1 if it was 3 years instead of 4, they do have plenty of elective time that last year although I'd rather just do a 1 yr fellowship

6) AZ -- University of Arizona
Tucson is an awesome city, not really looking to live in a college town again though, really clicked with the residents and most of the attendings, wouldn't be mad to end up here at all

7) TX -- University of Texas Houston
heavy trauma center, vice chief program, awesome PD, really good moonlighting, no tox, good US teaching, quality assurance projects, big on Peds, well funded research, I have a lot of friends in Houston and it's a fun town but I really hate the traffic, also feel like it's a little top heavy on trauma

8) FL -- Jackson Memorial Hospital
lots of perks (I think they're unionized), half county and private, up and coming program, didn't get trauma airways which was kind of weird (anesthesia does), not sure if Miami is my vibe for more than a couple days, expensive af, hard to beat all that sunshine though

9) OH -- Case Western Reserve University/Metro Health Medical Center
I like the city a lot more than I expected to tbh, program seemed very well run and I'm sure that I'd be well trained, at the end of the day I think I'm just too soft for midwestern winters though

10) VA -- Eastern Virginia Medical School
Seem like they work a lot, but avg number of shifts, everyone was pretty cool, drink a lot of beer, affordable and close to the beach, nice perks at the hospital, rotate through virginia beach and a rural site, more to do in town than I would have thought, internal moonlighting at a small hospital for 85/hr, I liked the program but just didn't feel like I clicked here, I'd prefer a bigger city with more sports team

11) CO -- Denver Health
I wasn't cut out to work those hrs for 4 years, I'm more of a work smarter, not harder, type of guy

12) AL -- University of Alabama
great program, I'm just looking to move farther away from home

Anything else to add? honestly feel like I'd be pretty damn happy at any of my top 10, got mediocre SLOEs from both of my aways but I think my STEP scores and other things (all honors, AOA, etc) kind of saved my ass, I initially was dead set on moving out west and didn't apply broadly enough until I found out my SLOEs might not help me out any, then I added a bunch of programs

Applied to: Advocate Christ Alabama Alameda Arizona Arkansas Austin Carolinas Case Western Charleston Chicago Corpus Christi Denver Desert Regional Eastern Virginia Emory FSU Georgetown Harvard - Beth Isreal Hennepin Henry Ford Indiana Jacksonville JPS Kaiser - SD Kentucky Louisville LSU - Baton Rouge LSU - New Orleans Maine Maricopa Maryland Memphis Miami Milwaukee Mt Sinai - St Lukes New Mexico Oregon Orlando Ohio St Rush St Louis Temple Thomas Jefferson UAB UC - Davis UC - Irvine UCLA - Harbor UCLA - Olive View UCSD UCSF UMKC UNLV USC USF UT Houston Utah UTSW Vanderbilt VCU Vermont Washington

Declined interview: Jacksonville, Baton Rouge, Corpus Christi, Henry Ford, Ohio St
Ranked: all those I ranked
Withdrew from: several after I hit 12 that I liked and felt comfortable
Rejected by: quite a damn few including all of California

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google from

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 220s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Anything that made you more competitive: Interesting work experience, publications. Meaningful community outreach. Strong MSPE/comments on rotations.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: These were hard to figure out but what it came down to was: proximity to family, multiple sites (do not know if I'm gung ho destined for community vs. academics vs. county etc), fit. Don't care as much about 4 vs. 3 years. Do want some research opportunities. Ability to afford a house in the area, EMS opportunities and IHS rotations are a big plus

1) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: I honestly just loved this program. Great fit and social mission, ability to do meaningful research and outreach, sky's the limit with this program. Not to mention unparalleled clinical training. Kaiser affiliation.
Cons: EM is the powerhouse here so some small concern about off service rotations. Less EMS but it seems like Highland has the connections to find a mentor for this without issue. Biggest con is that I want this program so bad and there are like 6 spots for non-rotators so I'm likely breaking my own heart by putting it first.

2) CA -- University of California San Diego
Pros: Great fit, loved the faculty and residents. I like the variety of sites. Residents seemed really happy. Their flight is unbelievable, esp for someone interested in EMS.
Cons: People talk about the trauma and there's merit to that, but I just had a good feeling that the residents were trustworthy when they said they feel more than competent in their ability to manage traumas. Haven't really doubted it since.

3) CA -- University of California Davis
Pros: Strong 3 year CA program, close to home and family. Great pathology and research opportunities. Loved the PD and faculty. Somewhat affordable part of Northern CA. Kaiser affiliation.
Cons: didn't get the same butterflies here as other programs mostly because I didn't get a good sense of the residents due to low turnout but partner really would prefer this area to other CA options below.

4) CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: really liked this program/residents/faculty. I like research but am not sure how academic I want to be in the future, so I like the academic strength + the variety of sites that includes county (as opposed to other more academic places I interviewed). Abundance of opportunities/funding from the name. Felt similar to HAEMR MGH/BWH but is much closer to home.
Cons: Not sure how much the clinical training issues are overblown but that's not something I'd want to worry about. Wish it had more time at county. Realistically liked it better than Davis but the COL (despite the great salary) makes my partner nervous because I've got a heck of a lot of loans.

5) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Hard to choose between UCLA OV and USC for 5/6. Loved both for different reasons
Pros: Loved my interview day here, multiple sites, nice balance between academic and county with some community too. Abundant resources.
Cons: Just not sure I want to live in LA, but it's close enough to home that it's not totally ruled out

6) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Hard to choose between UCLA OV and USC for 5/6. Loved both for different reasons
Pros: unreal clinical training, absolute powerhouse in the community. Absolutely adored the program leadership.
Cons: in LA. Only reason UCLA OV might ultimately edge it out is that there isn't much room for career exploration in the curriculum and I know that I need that.

7) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: really clicked with this program on interview day, was impressed by its opportunities but felt like it wasn't snobby or pretentious like I'd previously heard/expected. Seemed like people genuinely were in the academic portion to help people and the opportunities to do so are insane. Have family here. Far from home but no limits on career opportunities after.
Cons: questionable pathology. Far/cold. Not sure how much the clinical training issues are overblown but that's not something I'd want to worry about. Admittedly not focused on creating community physicians though there is a site.

8) TX -- University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Pros: A program I wasn't expecting to like but ended up absolutely loving. One of the best "fits" with faculty on the trail. Seemed like the curriculum is well put together and they are committed to getting residents to where they want to be. Love Austin, partner would love to move there. Could buy a house. Fellowship matches to CA.
Cons: 6-7 years old and all that comes with that. USACS has people in an uproar on this spreadsheet but seems overblown as compared to true HCAs. Overall biggest concern is that without a large alumni base I'd have difficulty getting jobs on West Coast after if I don't do fellowship. All that being said, if I open the envelope on match day and see UT Austin, I'd be thrilled.

9) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: Spent some time at my #1 for awhile because I had so much fun with the residents and felt at home with the faculty. Clinically excellent with great pathology, 3 years, have family in the area.
Cons: far/cold bumped it out of the top slots, but moreso than that I'm worried it's only at 1 site and I know I need exposure to more sites to see where I want to end up in the future.

10) AZ -- University of Arizona College of Medicine at South Campus
Pros: 3 year, great pathology, dirt cheap place to live. Residents were awesome. Loved the medical Spanish emphasis and clear social mission. Outdoorsy as hell.
Cons: Jobs would be hard for spouse. Hot as hell. Faculty were super nice but had some questionable near-match violation q's while there (seemed like innocent mistakes but still odd).

11) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
Pros: Spent some time in the top 3. I know this program gets some **** on this spreadsheet but I thought it was fantastic. No concerns about the pathology/trauma and love the academic opportunities there. Unlimited opportunities in general. Faculty and residents were absolutely awesome. Could by house. Excellent use of 4th year.
Cons: Would be higher if not for location/partner really would prefer not to live there (though honestly I'd be fine there).

12) CA -- University of California Irvine Medical Center
Pros: Solid 3 year program with nice residents. Makes you a community badass, see a ton of patients. Close ish to home, beautiful area
Cons: Not a SoCal person. Didn't click there but have nothing wrong with it. Had a weird interaction with the PD. I'd be fine here but not super stoked on it.

13) AZ -- University of Arizona
Pros: Solid 3 year program with great residents. Same pros as South campus but with less medical spanish emphasis.
Cons: Didn't vibe as much with faculty here. Like above, I'd be fine here but not super stoked on it.

14) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Pros: Excellent program with great academic/county mix. Close ish to home.
Cons: Not sure if I vibed with program or want to pay the prices in Seattle, despite it being beautiful.

15) DC -- Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Pros: Solid 3 year program in a city I love. Great residents and loved the PD.
Cons: one weird APD interview but really nothing bad to say about this program. There are just programs I feel more strongly about. Far/cold but not as much as some of the other options.

16) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: Babcock, 3 year, flight, family in the area.
Cons: Super weird interviews besides Babcock, didn't click with residents (though there were all really nice). One interviewer made me really uncomfortable with some of the comments during our brief encounter. Far/cold. Honestly thought this program would be perfect for me on paper but it just goes to show that fit + practical considerations matter.

17) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: loved PD and most all of the faculty I meant. Super family focused. Great job placement. Really liked the residents but didn't click
Cons: zero click with mission. at all.

Anything else to add: You can recover from a meh step 1 score by working really hard during third year. Did not expect to get AOA or that high of a CK score so I applied to way too many programs in hindsight. Don't know what SLOEs are but I suspect top 1/3.

Didn't know what I was looking for, spouse didn't make explicit preferences known until later, you learn a lot about what you want from a program while on the interview trail itself. Really thing about what you want before you apply if you can.

Declined interview invite: OHSU, JPS, UTSW, Houston, UNM, Utah, UNC, Sunrise, UNLV, GW, Denver, Cook, Harbor (got a last minute invite I just couldn't make)

Rejected by: Vanderbilt, Rush. Ghosted by the others

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Not sold on Surgical Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit rotation

I can’t speak for the residency program at Hershey, I went to medical school there, but the residency was just starting when I left. But my training program did an away SICU rotation at Hershey in our second year of residency, it wasnt terrible hours for us, and it was a great experience. Tons of procedures.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Submitted via DM.

Applicant Summary:
Board scores: 270s/270s
EM rotation grades: High pass/Honors
AOA: yes
Anything else that made you more competitive: GHHS, lots of extracurriculars, med school awards

Main considerations in creating this ROL: badass clinical training, county or de facto county, location, exposure to Spanish speaking patients, fit?

1) UCLA-Harbor
Pros: legendary program, teaching shifts, super county, sunny SoCal, bunch of Spanish, free food
Cons: no dragon, recently switched to 4 years, no electives abroad

2) Vanderbilt
Pros: SLOVIS, EDUCATION, 3+1
Cons: not a fan of the south but loved Nashville, so not really a con

3) UCLA Olive View
Pros: academic/county split, EMRAP opportunities, more money than Harbor, sunny SoCal, bunch of Spanish
Cons: 12s!!!!, long commutes to multiple sites, OV not trauma center and RR mostly blunt

4) Cincinnati
Pros: legendary program, strong flight experience w/ “paid elective time,” SWAT team, presidential detail, just felt super inspired on IV day
Cons: Cincinnati is midwest and also essentially northern Kentucky (double ouch), if I wasn’t trying to break out of the Midwest this would be 1 or 2

5) Maricopa
Pros: super county, lots of Spanish, great night schedule, 3 months of electives in 3 years, awesome PD, chief resident lifts, love phoenix, beautiful women in Scottsdale, just felt like great fit almost wish I would drop to this program
Cons: academic resources could be stronger (but getting there with Creighton), reputation not as great as some of these other places, but that’s mostly my ego talking, Scottsdale women out of my league

6) Carolinas
Pros: academic/county/community all at one site, rain money down on residents, 3 months of electives in 3 years, patient population more diverse than I thought with more Hispanics
Cons: in the south and didn’t vibe with Charlotte like Nashville, felt like residents are expected to carry the weight on off service rotations

7) Northwestern
Pros: GREAT leadership and academic job placement, bunch of resources, great investment in chair, EM is respected in hospital despite it being an ivory tower, Chicago is cool?
Cons: 10ish months of ICU and 3 months of electives in a 4 year program seems cruel, I’m only like 60% committed to academics, get the sense they ship you to Cook and Gary bc main site is lacking in trauma, Chicago is COLD

8) Hennepin
Pros: legendary program, too many ultrasounds to count, TEE, innovative and unparalleled clinical training, research powerhouse
Cons: Minneapolis is a tundra, didn’t hit it off with the PD, only 1.5 months of electives

*only thing keeping this behind NW however is the name and Minneapolis vs Chicago, could still make the leap before 2/20*

9) University of Washington
Pros: academic/county split, HUGE catchment area, lots of trauma, crazy flight experience, LOVE Seattle, probably great training overall
Cons: Seattle got too expensive too recently, had negative interaction w/ PD, don’t like how they do elective, rumors of turf wars seem true

10) HAEMR B&W/MGH
Pros: Harvard, great resources and network (and ego trip), probably spectacular off service rotations, more Spanish than I thought, did I mention it’s Harvard?
Cons: Boston is overpriced, worried about pushback from the big dogs of the hospital, not enough bread and butter EM, too formal of a culture for me (every interviewer wore a suit??), would feel out of place among a bunch of ivy league grads

11) WashU
Pros: de facto county, GREAT trauma, WashU one of best hospitals in the country, Awesome PD, bunch of elective time
Cons: Saint Louis for four years is my biggest hangup, bugs me that they’re a division and not a department, underrated name in EM (but once again this is mostly my ego talking)

*really think I should bump them up so somebody please convince me

12) UCSD
Pros: location location location, de facto county, lots of Spanish being on border w/ Mexico, great academic resources, flight and hyperbarics, el centro seems cool
Cons: segregated trauma which probably doesn’t work in SD the way it does at Cook or UMD, too little time at El Centro despite it being the residents favorite

13) OHSU
Pros: vibed with the people, focus on MedEd, good community exposure, community peds, rural med in Astoria, LOVED Portland
Cons: concerns about trauma and acuity like everyone else, solid but nothing stands out, short on elective time

14) UTSW:
Pros: county, lots of Spanish, BEST preinterview dinner, free vacation to New Zealand
Cons: culture of residents wasn’t academic enough for me, don’t like trauma setup, worried about rumors of over consulting and low procedural volume

15) UPMC
Pros: great reputation and training, jeep is cool experience
Cons: a little corny how hard they tried to sell the jeeps, Pittsburgh is super depressing and the last place I would want to be overworked (rumors seem true), short on elective time, bugs me that anesthesia steals trauma airways at Presby


Anything else to add? Will post more detailed reviews after 2/20, was paranoid about being ID’d

Declined: Penn State, UT Houston, University of Arizona South Campus, UNLV, Temple, Mercy Saint Vincent’s, Cook County, UC Davis, University of Maryland, Jackson Memorial

Rejected: Denver, LA County/USC, Alameda/Highland, Emory, Beth Israel, UCSF Fresno (silent and the one that hurt the most)

Withdrew: Baylor, University of Arizona Main Campus, UC Irvine

 

[TheComebacKid]

Submitted via DM.

5) Maricopa
Pros: super county, lots of Spanish, great night schedule, 3 months of electives in 3 years, awesome PD, chief resident lifts, love phoenix, beautiful women in Scottsdale, just felt like great fit almost wish I would drop to this program
Cons: academic resources could be stronger (but getting there with Creighton), reputation not as great as some of these other places, but that’s mostly my ego talking, Scottsdale women out of my league

This. This is why I keep coming back to this thread. Pure comedy.

 

[doggydog]

That most recent rank list was just every stereotype of all of the top programs brought together on one rank list.

 

[Rekt]

That most recent rank list was just every stereotype of all of the top programs brought together on one rank list.

I wish he wasn't rejected by Denver so it could be ranked last because they work too hard.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Southwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Good extracurriculars, well rounded app without any red flags academics.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: I wanted county > academics. Location is also important as I only applied to locations where my SO could obtain a job. Military advancement was a factor for me which led me to rank some programs higher than others. After that it came down to feel. To be honest, I would happy at any of the programs outside of my bottom two.

1) AZ -- Maricopa Medical Center
Pros: I love Phoenix as a city and the southwest in general. Maricopa is a classic county program and sees an underserved population which is important to me. I really clicked with the whole "forging your own path" speech by Dr. Epter. I liked the residents, they seemed incredibly happy. Also lots of cool opportunities internationally and in the rural community. +1 for burn ICU rotation (I know a lot of people see this as a con and you get your ass worked off, but I wanted a burn rotation.) Also liked that they had a toxicology rotation. Overall, I was impressed with my interview day at Maricopa and would be happy to match there.
Cons: I worry about the amount of trauma Maricopa truly gets given that there are a buttload of trauma centers surrounding them. Also, I think the overall acuity might be lower than other places I've interviewed as their admission rate is something in the 20's. Lastly, the Phoenix heat is brutal May-September.

2) AZ -- University of Arizona
Pros: One of the programs where I felt like I really liked EVERYBODY. The residents here are super nice, super laid back. I felt like I clicked with every faculty member I interviewed with. I really enjoyed the fact that they did the "speed dating" resident interviews. It gave me a really good opportunity to get to know everyone. They have a lot of cool international opportunities, rural medicine opportunities, medical spanish rotations. There are also military related opportunities in the area. Strong pediatrics. Cheap cost of living and surrounded by mountains.
Cons: I don't like Tucson that much as a city in comparison to Phoenix. I felt like the way Banner was brought up during the interview day was awkward and weird.

3) MO -- Truman Medical Center/University of MO Kansas City
Pros: County center/gun and knife club. Good trauma exposure. I had a friend that did his EM residency here and loved it (he now works at a single coverage ED.) International opportunities in Thailand. Residents seemed happy. I had a really hard time not ranking them over Tucson, but I believe the blizzard ruined KC for my SO. I think Kansas City has really started to flourish over the past several years and like the area. Also sort of close to family.
Cons: I don't like the graduated responsibility and would rather just be thrown into the fray. The residents that I interacted with on interview day had off-putting personalities (maybe they were tired, idk.)

4) TX -- University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine at San Antonio
Pros: By far my favorite program director on the trail. Seems to really care about his residents in regards to success and wellness (rather than just lip service.) Lots of opportunity to work with the local Army base. One of my favorite attendings graduated from here and is a bad ass. Residents seemed happy. Low cost of living. Close enough to border to see interesting pathology.
Cons: Got the sense they were not super involved during traumas. I don't mind the heat that much but add humidity and it's not a fun time.

5) KS -- University of Kansas School of Medicine
Pros: Got along great with the residents. Really liked all of the faculty and how the interview day was incredibly laid back. Hospital has a buttload of resources and they see some medically complex patients there. High admission rate (something like 40%?) Lots of opportunities in event medicine if that's your thing. Beautiful facilities. Pretty close to my family, but not too close.
Cons: Resident admitted that they are not very involved in traumas. I was concerned that they may be consult heavy. My dad might murder me if I start rooting for the Jayhawks. Essentially no international opportunities, your community rotation is all the way out in Lawrence (yuck.)

6) TX -- UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
Pros: Prestige is one of the biggest pros for UTSW. Not necessarily for the EM program, but they ride on the coattails of surgery and IM. Huge patient volume. Felt like as a resident at Parkland you really learn how to move the meat. Also, the residents were some of the most fun, honest, and down to earth people I had met on the trail. You can go to New Zealand all expenses paid!
Cons: I had one interview that left a bad taste in my mouth and dropped the program a few spots. Felt like even though the residents were chill, everyone else was incredibly stuffy. Hospital was a maze. Didn't like that they take an entire patient population (prego women) and corner them off in a part of the ED that OB works in and you only rotate in once. Heard that their trauma service is basically the ED resident working as a scribe and that you don't get good trauma experience until rotating out in fort worth.

7) FL -- University of Florida - Gainesville
Pros: Don't have a lot to say in the pros column because I lost my notes, but remember having a good interview experience or I wouldn't have put them at #7. Really liked the residents here and really liked Dr. Beattie. I actually felt like I would fit in really well at this program and would not be upset if I ultimately matched here.
Cons: Gainesville. The fact I can't remember why I liked them lol

8) FL -- University of South Florida
Pros: Really felt like the program director had implemented some positive changes and was open to the incorporation of resident feedback. Some of the chillest residents were from this interview day. PD was focusing on some research about TEE during CPR that sounded pretty cool (and I don't even like research.) The facilities were really nice and it's cool how their hospital is essentially on an island. Tampa was a really neat city.
Cons: Tampa is relatively expensive compared to the rest of my list. Not a lot in regards to international opportunities currently (but I know they're being implemented in the future.) Don't believe they get a lot in regards to trauma.

8) MI -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
Pros: Super friendly residents, very honest about strengths and weaknesses of the program. I actually didn't mind Kalamazoo as a town (but I'm more of a country bumpkin.) Low cost of living. Good patient volume with opportunities to work in two types of settings. Lots of EMS opportunity if that's your thing.
Cons: Limited trauma experience. The idea of learning procedures on live pigs still freaks me out. I don't particularly like snow or cold.

9) MI -- Spectrum Health Grand Rapids/Michigan State University
Pros: Beautiful facilities (by far the nicest hospital I toured) with a super swanky cafeteria. If you like beer, you're in luck because there's like 40 breweries. Grand Rapids actually seemed like a pretty cool city. Concierge Service available to the residents.
Cons: Didn't click with the residents. Don't like the snow/cold. Didn't feel like Grand Rapids sees enough trauma for my taste.

10) NV -- UNLV (University Medical Center)
Pros: County all the way. Definitely some of the strongest residents I saw on the trail. I rotated here and saw incredibly sick patients. Felt like you could graduate from here and be a kick ass physician.
Cons: To clarify why they are so low on my list: my fiance would have an incredibly hard time finding a job in Vegas. That is the only reason it is as low as it is. I would otherwise not mind going here. Other cons include no women in their intern and PGY-2 class. The residents seemed burned out. Felt like their didactics were middle of the road. No moonlighting.

11) FL -- FSU Sarasota
Pros: there are NO other residency programs to compete with. This means you get essentially all of the procedures you want. No night shifts your first year. PD seemed to be experienced when it came to running residencies.
Cons: No Rosh Review (was told "it's not the best way to learn.") Instead expected to read Titinalli's in full annually. No plan for asynchronous learning. No plan for incorporating resident feedback. Sarasota was a weird town. Pediatrics will have to be done in Tampa (I think, I might be mixing up towns.) ED seemed dead during tour.

12) FL -- UCF-Gainesville/HCA North Florida at North Florida Regional Hospital
Pros: The program director is really nice! She seems to really want to improve the program and make it better with time. Got cool sunglasses in my swag bag.
Cons: The city of Gainesville. On the tour they accidentally took us into a room where a patient had died. Residents seemed unhappy, but maybe they were just sick of interviews. Very little pediatrics exposure due to UF being nearby which means you have to do peds in Orlando (which is better than before when they used to go to Georgia.) Seemed like they had minimal trauma exposure. Also, they use Meditech for their EMR which gave me a headache just seeing it on screen.

Declined invite: Sunrise Health Las Vegas, Medical College of Georgia, WellStar Kennestone, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, Aventura, Mount Sinai Miami, CHRISTUS,
Attended interview: Every program on the list above
Withdrew prior to hearing from: Brandon Regional Hospital, University of Florida- Ocala, Jackson Memorial, Kendall Regional,
Rejected by: Medical University South Carolina, University of Wisconsin, Carolinas Medical Center, Maine Medical Center, HealthPartners St. Paul, Vanderbilt, Hennepin, Denver Health, University of Washington, Utah, University of New Mexico, UT Austin, Emory

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 240s/250s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: meaningful EC, lot of social outreach, research, CRUSHED my SVI (24 lmao-jk i don't think any program gives a **** about this)

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Location, Fit, Academic opportunities, work/life balance, clinical training, job placement, cool cities

1) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: Chicago, love the city. Have lot of friends/family here. 8's. I think it's a pro the old PD is leaving, i like the interim PD's. Seem like they're very strong residents, and get a lot of trauma. Career opportunities seem very good post graduation.
Cons: 4 years, intern year lot of off service, floor months, 4th year not very useful?, graduated learning (although idc as much), PD uncertainty for next year

2) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: Very well regarded, great county program, 8's, curriculum seems cool, 2 months off PGY1 year, get some rotations at UCSF, strong peds?, faculty seem cool, had a great time at social. Seem like V good job placement post grad, academic opportunities still good.
Cons: Don't have much friends/family in Bay area, some residents I didn't really talk to as much/tried talking to me, small # of faculty, lack of academic exposure? maybe too county? Super small hospital? Weak off service?

3) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
Pros: Like the PD a lot, I like NYC, I love their social mission. Lot of cool faculty I interviewed with on interview day. Residents seem pretty cool, very strong commitment to helping the population. Morning report was cool. Good academic commitment and county exposure, hybrid program. Multiple sites. Have family in the area.
Cons: 12's, expensive, lack of trauma? (Hopefully Brooklyn site helps), Newish PD? all the extra **** that comes with being in NYC and working in a NYC hospital

4) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: Hybrid program, liked the PD, faculty were very warm. Chair was great, social was amazing at chair's house. Residents seemed super nice. Everyone seemed super happy, which was cool to see (I guess if everyone is happy, i'll be happy there?)
Cons: 12's, commute sucks, OV not trauma center, with other 2 big dog county programs in LA might have weaker training?

5) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Harvard name, chairs were great, unlimited resources. THE premier academic name in medicine. Would have unlimited job opportunities in academics for me post grad, lot of connections/networking. Residents seemed fairly normal (although all super accomplished).
Cons: Not biggest fan of boston, too accademic?, lack of trauma?, not best clinical training? too many holes to jump through because both sites are so academic/consults to call? Not sure, just didn't feel super comfortable ranking in top 3 (when i got interview i thought this was going to be #1)

6) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: By far friendliest group of people i've ever seen, everything from pre interview to interview day to post was amazing. 2 nights free hotel??? best hospitality i've seen ever. Felt like i was going to be taken care of amazingly. Social was great, all these residents were so god damn nice it was unreal. Name is amazing in EM, BREED leaders. Interview day was amazing, they sold me unreal. Training seems amazing.
Cons: seems like they work a lot, PD very nice but didn't vibe with her as much. I really hate the location...honestly I think best training in country/best job placement. Really would have ranked top 3 (maybe 1?) if I didn't care about location so much+lack of diversity. People/residents were at very different stage of life than I am

7) MA -- Boston Medical Center
Pros: Love the social mission. They are THE county program of Boston. Really proud about it and are dedicated people. Training seems great, residents seemed cool. Still academic opportunities it seemed, good peds. Had a really great time at the social.
Cons: Didn't really vibe with PD, less resources/opportunities than MGH/BW, felt like I would get more career advacement at MGH/BW (which may or may not be true)

8) CA -- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco General Hospital
Pros: Hybrid, love it. Very academic, General super county. PD was cool. For some reason didn't really vibe well on interview day? Had a very offputting interview with one of the faculty, left a very bitter taste in my mouth (otherwise was super excited when I got this IV). Overshadowed by Highland?
Cons: Residents seemed very close, but didn't really vibe with them as much. SF is cool, honestly would rather be in SF than East bay (location wise) but highland>>

9) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York
Pros: Man what a social. Residents were so fun, so friendly, really felt like a family. Honestly I felt like I would fit in perfectly here. IV day was great, really clicked with all my interviewers and PD was amazing (prob my fav on the trail).
Cons: Not a fan of commute, Elmhurst is super cool but so far away. I dont wanna be on subway all day. Was really bummed when PD left (honestly dropped them a lot on my list because of that) otherwise might have been top 5. Overshadowed by NYU?

10) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: 3 years, super cool +1 curriculum. PD was super stoic but seemed like a great no nonsense guy. Residents were pretty cool, social was fun
Cons: Seems like not enough trauma in Boston to go around to them? Harvard name, but affiliation seems weaker than MGH/BW?

11) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: Super academic loved it. Residents seemed cool. 3 years, great academic/teaching opportunities.
Cons: Lack of diversity, seems like stemmed from top down. PD didn't click with her at all. Trauma seems like it's run weird? (although V efficient). Not the biggest fan of nashville. I had this IV very early, too south for me.

12) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: 3 years, residents seemed smart/cool. 1 hospital site, cheap city, vibed with PD a lot. Felt too community for me
Cons: DIversity, not biggest fan of city, hospital otherwise (other than ED and ortho?) seem weak off service, residents seem at diff stage of life than I am.

13) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: God I love the new PD. What a sweetheart. Hopefully her push for wellness makes a bigger impact in shift schedule. NOT MALIGNANT AT ALL (def urban rumor). WOrk their asses off, but no one is put down (or at least that I saw). SOcial was pretty fun, but didn't really have any meaningful convos with residents.
Cons: Honestly hate the location. Far from home, not into skiiing. who knows how much they work (super unclear about it). I know I would be trained amazingly here and can do whatever I want after, but I don't believe it's worth that much grind for 4 years.

14) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: Amazing training, 3 years, amazing sites, wow. Really strong clinically, can't ask for much more. Felt too community for me
Cons: Hate the location, residents SUPER friendly (but again not at same stage of life as me), lack of diversity.

15) RI -- Brown University
Pros: PD was awesome (idk what this brown hate is but not valid). Faculty seemed great, training seemed awesome. Hella academic, social was fun
Cons: Not a fan of location, didn't love it enough to rank super high.

16) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: GREAT residents, super cool, super fun. I love chicago. Felt too community for me
Cons: nothing against this program, just felt like not the best for accomplishing my career goals/academics after. Would be excited to match here, amazing program (but would cry b/c god i hope 15 programs don't hate me lol)

17) MI -- University of Michigan
Pros: AA seems like a cool city? Cheap. I like the ED ICU
Cons: Had a very bad interview experience with one of the interviewers here (honestly wouldn't have been top 5-10 anyway with location)

Anything else to add? Went into application cycle not expecting much tbh (thought I'd get maybe 3-4 "top" interviews?) Very very pleasantly surprised (and thankful), I thought board scores/lack of AOA/not being from a harvard/penn/stanford med school would hold me back. No idea how admissions committee works..... I got every single East coast interview (no ties), but not all the midwest ones I wanted (V sad about it--had lot of ties and honestly would have loved to end up here/rank high), and somehow Cali interviews?? (0 ties whatsoever). In retrospect I DEF over-applied, but sucks cuz had no Idea how my SLOES are (but i'm guessing/heard all very good so top 1/3, top 10%). Application process is def very hit or miss. I sympathize with friends who have higher board scores but haven't gotten any "top" interviews because of questionable SLOES. SLOES are honestly the most important thing in this cycle, I wish i paid more attention during applying for aways I didn't really plan mine out smartly (and applied super duper late). Turned down interviews as soon as possible.

Did get phone calls from a few of my ranked programs. Did not sway rankings more than 1-2 spots (nothing that went to top of my list that wasn't on top of my list already). Wish everyone the best of luck!!

Declined interview: Harbor (logistically), Penn, Yale, NYP, Jacobi, Kings County, SLR, Mayo, Pitt, UTSW, WashU, Udub, UNC, UIC, Rush, Loyola, GW, Georgetown, Christiana, OHSU, Maricopa
Attended interview: All listed
Withdrew prior to hearing back from: None
Rejected by: Hennepin, Stanford, Emory, Maryland, Northwestern, Uchicago, LAC-USC

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Pass (P/F only)/High Pass/Pass
AOA: No
Med school region: Northwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Probably nothing, just your run of the mill average applicant. Perhaps having a unique story before med school which was brought at most of my interviews.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: 3 > 4 year, proximity to family, COL, community > academic >>>>> county, committed faculty, resident comradery, input of SO.

1) OK -- University of Oklahoma College of Medicine/Tulsa
Pros: Rotated here so really got a chance to get to know residents/faculty. Residents got along great and were wonderful mentors. Faculty was amazing, had great relationships with students/residents. Great ultrasound training. Affordable COL. Awesome work-life balance.Tulsa just opened their $500 million public park; perfect for my young family.
Cons: Never had the chance to rotate at their trauma center so unsure of what kind of trauma experience I will get. 12 hour shifts but only 16 during intern year.

2) SC -- Palmetto Health Richland
Pros: Hours bank. PD has great vision for program and really cares about residents well-being. Good work-life balance. Columbia is fun, affordable city. Mix of 9 and 12 hour shifts.
Cons: Level 1 with every residency under the sun. Lots of procedures get stolen. Residents told me they felt weak on reductions because ortho takes most of them. Further from family.

3) SC -- Grand Strand Medical Center
Pros: Most amazing location ever! Newly renovated ED. Nice hospital facilities. Residents really get along and hang out outside of work. Plenty of procedures and learning to be had as they are mostly unopposed.
Cons: new program, only 2 classes so far. Concerns about it being ran by HCA. Interview felt more like a corporate job. Further from family.

4) LA -- Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge
Pros: great facility and ED. PD and faculty were awesome to talk to on interview day. Baton Rouge is a cool town, lots of outdoor activities to get into. D1 football (even if it is SEC). Residents were very happy to be there. New Orleans in about an hour away, NFL! ED totally unopposed from other specialties. Vast alumni network.
Cons: Far from family.

5) PA -- Penn State Health Milton S Hershey
Pros: Best facility I've seen, Ivory tower for sure! Vast alumni network. Highest salary and very cheap COL.
Cons: Hershey is a small town, housing hard to find. Weirdest interview day, got strange vibes from faculty. Didn't get any face time with PD or APD so unsure of where the program direction is heading. All the other residencies so lots of skills/procedures shared or stolen.

6) CA -- Kaweah Delta Health Care District
Pros: Very cheap COL compared to the rest of California. Unopposed residency. Gang central so ED gets lot of penetrating trauma. Rural location so there's a lot of under-served sick people coming through. PD and faculty were amazing! Residents were extremely cool. Health insurance is completely free, program pays all health premiums so nothing comes out of paycheck (huge pro for my young family).
Cons: It would be pretty hard to live in California for 3 years. As much as I like the program it is the state that really deters me. I mean, it's like the worst place ever...... seriously.

7) AR- Unity Health
Pros: I like the program for being a newer, former AOA recently switched to ACGME. PD and faculty were forthright with their answers addressing being a new program. Only 6 residents/class (I think) so you get much 1:1 time with faculty. ED was quiet when I went through but the facility was very nice. Residents didn't have any trouble meeting ACGME requirements for graduation. Close to family and extremely affordable.
Cons: Very, very rural. Very religious area. Not sure I want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere like that.

8) OH -- Memorial Health System Program
Pros: Newer PD with great vision for future training. Adequate hospital facility. Unopposed ED. Residents seemed happy. Felt like I could get good training here.
Cons: Again, a little too rural for me. Hard to find housing. Far from family. Very sleepy ED.

9) CA -- Kern Medical
Pros: 8 Hour shifts, time flies when you're there and the shift ends as quickly as it began. Amazing trauma experience. Sim lab was kind of cool. Moonlighting at Kern ED so no having to travel 100 miles out of town to some rural 6 bed ED.
Cons: ED could use a face lift, it's in serious shambles. 4 year program. 4th year residents seemed miserable. Majority of faculty acted like they didn't care about teaching. Worst didactics ever, mostly resident ran, very little faculty input. As a non-spanish speaker I'd spend 45% of my time on language line (I know in southern CA this is par for the course but it's really not my cup of tea). Living in California is a nightmare, especially Bakersfield.

Anything else to add: First program I rotated with never actually gave my school a grade so who knows what it was. I know I passed and received a SLOE from them (albeit probably a bottom to mid 1/3rd). I ranked every NRMP participating interview I had. I had one AOA interview that reserved all their spots for NMS so I didn't rank them. I'm pretty sure I never broke the top 1/3rd rank on any of my SLOE's and that being the main reason why I didn't get very many interviews. For future applicants, don't sweat small stuff like 3rd year clinical grades and extracurriculars. SLOE's mean everything! My meager interview list is a direct effect of me having some poor SLOE's.

Applied to: Albany medical center, Campbell University, Cape Fear, Texas A&M, Comanche County, Conemaugh, Crozer Chester, Dartmouth, Desert Regional, Florida Hospital Medical Center, Greenville Health System, Integris, JPS, Kingman Regional, LSU NO BR & Shreveport, Maricopa, McGovern, North Florida Regional, OK State, Orlando Regional, St. Elizabeth Boardman, Scott & White, Kent hospital, both Univ of Arizona's, Univ of Central Florida, Univ of Florida-Jacksonville, Univ of Kentucky, Univ of Louisville, Univ of Maryland, UT-Memphis, UT-San Antonio, UT Southwestern, UPMC Hamot, VCU, Wellspan York, Wright State.
Declined interview: None; beggars can't be choosers.
Interviewed at: All of the above ranked. None
Rejected: UT-Austin, Cincinnati, UT-Nashville, Vanderbilt, Doctors Hospital, New Mexico, Oregon Health Sciences, Baystate, Vidant, St Louis Univ, Wake Forrest, Univ of Missouri.
Permanent Waitlist: Univ of Arkansas, Baylor, Eastern Virginia,

Note from @TrashPanda13: Really? California as the worst place? I mean, Mississippi is still out there..... I'm just kidding. I know California isn't for everyone. Thanks for sharing a list that has programs that aren't as commonly discussed!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA/SSP: Yes
Med school region: Southeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: x3 Top 10 SLOEs, a small national leadership position in EM, won an international award for an EM related thing (don't want to get too specific), med ed curriculum development, EM experience prior to med school, a few presentations in different EM related areas

*I'm a DO* So I'm not sure how that is going to play into where I match. All these programs assured me it won't matter but the DO bias is real.

Main considerations in creating this ROL:
1. Obviously fit. I wanted to train with people I felt could be my friends over the next 3-4 years.
2. Location. I'm super gay and I am not spending another 3-4 years in the middle of nowhere without my people. I also would like to stop moving, and wouldn't mind staying near where I match.
3. I would prefer to train at a county institution, also preferably one that is more resident led.
4. Not sure if I want to do academics vs. community - I want a program that will leave me prepared to do both
5. 3 = 4 years. I'm willing to do 4 years for a better location

1) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Comments: WOW. I was honestly blown away that I received this interview. It's been a dream of mine to train here. I feel that the residents are very passionate about the community that they serve. I really felt that I fit in with the residents as well and had some really great conversations at the social. These definitely could be my people.
Pros: - Has the training and autonomy that I want while still providing graduated responsibility
- The didactic experience seems incredible and multiple friends who rotated here echoed that statement.
- The gays
- The alumni network should help to secure a job in Cali if I wanted to stay
- Can't really say anything new about this program that hasn't already been said
- the residents can now travel internationally for electives which has been an issue in the past
Cons:
- 12 hour shifts, although this might be changing with the addition of 2 new residents in the upcoming class
- Spanish. Would have to relearn it and that would be a pain.
- The pay is so low that first year residents apparently qualify for low income housing in LA
- Like most 4 year programs, seems like poor moonlighting opps

2) TX -- University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Comments: This program was the biggest surprise for me. Walked into the interview with plans for this to be on the bottom third of my list. Walked out with it at #2. The PD did an excellent job at selling the program. Not as county as I would want, but still felt that the residents were very well trained.
Pros: - Even though there is 1:1 attending coverage I felt that there was still autonomy at the program. Residents run their own pods, and they added in a newer pod run by seniors where there isn't an attending strictly covering that pod.
- Location. Very LGBTQ friendly city. I have multiple friends there
- Good pay, would be more than enough to survive in Austin
- Ability to do some of my med ed interests at the medical school
- Felt that I fit in great with the residents
- excellent shift schedule, 9 hour shifts, not insane like LA
Cons:
-It's still a newer program, so I feel that there are still kinks to work out (although PD did seem very receptive to curriculum changes and gave several examples)
- idk how I feel about the CMG presence, although the residents didn't give the impression it was a problem
-didn't get a good idea of how trauma is run, got several different answers
-The austin job market sucks, and I don't know how easily you can get a job there.

3) CO -- Denver Health
Comments: Was also surprised to receive an invite here. Originally this was lower on my rank list, but it has crept up the more I think about it. I didn't drink the Kool-Aid that their model is the only way to train - but I was still very impressed with the residents. Felt that I vibed well with them. Had an excellent experience with the PD and really admire the badass women in EM. She is definitely one of them.
Pros: - Great training in a location that is very LGBTQ friendly
- They truly back up their diversity commitments.
- The autonomy is unreal. Their "pullback" shifts second year seem amazing
- Everything to be said about this program has been said. "academic county blend, it's a powerhouse, blah blah blah"
Cons:
- Their resident social wasn't all that great. I fit in with the residents but it was just kind of a house party.
- They are overworked and their scheduling is honestly dumb. This is the one thing that might make me change where they are on my rank list
- How can they talk about resident wellness with a shift schedule like that.
- Denver job market sucks and i might not stay in in CO after residency
- A resident remarked that they felt weak on ortho and that 4th years will sometimes do an extra ortho elective because of it
- They work so much they don't often moonlight

4) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Comments: I have been eying this program for a while. It checks all of the boxes for me. ATL is probably one of the most LGBTQ friendly cities in the south. Dr. White is also one of my favorite PDs.
Pros:
-Great clinical training in a 3 year county environment with the academic resources of Emory. Multiple residents talked about their niches and how well supported they were
- the acuity here is on par with my expectations, especially on the medical side
- great benefits and even more amazing moonlighting opportunities in house
- great shift scheduling. 8 hour shifts. Residents seemed very happy
- I could add "bless your heart" to my already extensive list of sassy things I say.
Cons:
-Autonomy. Got the impression that residents weren't afforded a lot or as much as they wanted.
- Although they have their own trauma ED, trauma surgery still runs a lot of the show and I wasn't really into that. Also not the biggest fan of segregated trauma exposure and would prefer it integrated with medical. Also they don't sit with the surgery team in the trauma ED and that seemed odd to me.
- medicine floor month in a 3 year program is not ideal
- Not the best turnout at the resident social so it was very hard to see how well I fit. The residents I did meet were great though

5) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
Comments: Probably the most academic place that I interviewed at. I had a wonderful experience here. I did not get the impression that their clinical experience would suffer because of the reputation of other programs in the hospital. Their didactic session that we attended was phenomenal. My favorite on the trail maybe. This is ranked higher than the next few solely because of location.
Pros:
-Although not a county institution , still a very county population
-Was assured there was plenty of trauma and acuity. Residents seemed to love their community rotations and I was glad to see strong community rotations at such an academic name
-FAST program I feel would serve me well if I wanted to stay in academics
-I enjoy baltimore as a city, there is a decent LGBTQ presence there
- My parents would finally be proud of me for going somewhere that had name recognition
Cons:
-Still work pretty hard for a 4 year program
- I didn't like the lay out of the ED.
- Didn't click with all of the residents super well on interview day. Felt a little too brainy for me
- Didn't interview with anyone in program leadership so I didn't get a good feel for how I stood as an applicant
- FAST program is also a negative because part of me is way too ADD to complete a year long project

6) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Comments: This program would honestly be higher on my list had it not been for the location. Minneapolis is queer friendly but there weren't a lot of LGBTQ people in the area. Gay friends who lived there echoed that complaint. Went on a date with someone while I was there and he took me to a TGI Friday's (aka they were trashy). At least he paid though. Program wise I loved it.
Pros:
-I really hit it off with the residents, maybe a little too outdoorsy for my taste but they know how to have fun
- My PD interview went great, also first PD I met with purple hair.
- The best 3 year program on my list in terms of trauma, autonomy, and county patients.
- Dr. Smith gave me and another applicant a tour of the ED and he's ridiculously funny. We showed him how to send the animal emojis of him talking on the iphoneX and he started sending EKG interpretations to colleagues that way. A very memorable experience
- Everyone always knows about the cool **** they do in resus. It's a pro but I don't need to say it again
- I want to be a badass, this is another program that will do that
- Residents seemed like a very close group of people. I want that with my class
Cons:
-The polar vortex will strike again and I'm not going to be found frozen outside after a long night shift.
- Again, maybe not the LGBTQ population I'm looking for in a location
- Graduated responsibility is fine w me, but they take it to an extreme. No airway until year 3? Why?? Apparently first years only go into the stab room and are involved after they finish their MICU month.
- Didn't seem like they were too keen on hiring grads without fellowships, seemed odd to me
- a medicine month in a 3 year program is a waste. I don't want to calculate a FeNa ever again

7) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Comments: Another great program in a ****ty location for me. The residents were great and anyone training here is going to be a bad ass.
Pros:
-They throw you to the wolves. Really felt that you learned by doing at Indy
- Their ICU experience is one of the best around. However, it seems like a trial by fire. Definitely a positive regardless of how hard you will work
- Cheap and affordable living with great moonlighting
- I've worked with indy grads and have been impressed.
- One of the first residencies that spoke about wellness that I actually got the impression they meant it
Cons:
-They don't have the trauma exposure I want. Surgery still runs it, and the residents said they really only do airway. Not a big fan of the "we own the airway" mantra, as I don't feel that it prepares you well for trauma out in the community - that is just my opinion though and from working in the community w ****ty trauma surgeons and EM doctors who had to do all the work in trauma activations
-The location really caused this to go lower on my list.

8) IL -- Rush University Medical Center
Pros: Felt confident that they had a really great curriculum and setup even for a new program was told that I would be able to pursue some of the med ed interests I have which was awesome. Chicago would be a great city for me to live in.

Cons: Close to zero trauma at their primary site. The residents do 3 months at Mt. Sinai in the community which they see a lot of trauma. They also do three months of trauma at Cook, but they all universally said that they disliked it and hardly did any procedures. Also apparently on MICU most of the procedures goes to the fellows, which didn't make much sense to me because historically that is why EM does ICU months. Didn't hit it off with some of the residents.

9) Virginia Commonwealth University
Pros: Had an amazing conversation with the PD instead of any of the normal interview stuff about being queer in medicine. Really vibed with him on some of our shared experiences. VCU has an amazing curriculum and I felt i would be well trained and would see a lot. Their acuity seems insane,. Loved their resus bay. Good shift scheduling, great oppurtinities for moonlighting. Richmond is actually a super good location.
Cons: I just really don't vibe with the "airway only" exposure to trauma. On the tour, the resident kept explaining that "that's just how it is at an academic institution" when he would talk about losing procedures to ortho and trauma. I didn't like that, I want as much involvement with patient care as possible. Also they do exclusively VL for their intubations. I want to at least feel extremely competent with DL before relying on technology. Their residents were also a little bit difficult to talk to at the social and mostly just talked to each other about cases they had had that day in the department. Maybe not as great of a fit as the other places. Just didn't get the vibe I wanted from the residents.

10) DC -- George Washington University
Pros: Main pro for me was location. DC is gay AF. Also really vibed with most of the faculty I interviewed with. They had me interview with an APD who has the same med ed niche as me and we vibed incredibly hard. I really enjoyed the PD as well and felt that I would enjoy working with her. GWU really has a lot of great academic resources that I would enjoy. The residents were all incredibly friendly and diverse as well.
Cons: I did not feel that their fourth year added any value to their program. I'm okay with a four year program, but only if I gain something from it. Their ED was also very cramped. Felt that it was very consult heavy. ALSO ANESTHESIA DOES TRAUMA AIRWAY. This was a huge negative for me. The seniors apparently can do the airways if they ask, but that is a huge red flag for me. COL in DC also sucks.


11) IL -- Loyola Medicine
Pros: Dr. Snow is absolutely a delight and felt that he was a genuine resident advocate who will turn this program into something great. Attendings seemed very passionate about starting this program
Cons: Another airway only program. Not sure that I want to be in the first class of only 6 residents. Wold probably get pretty lonely. Also don't want to live in the chicago suburbs so the commute from where I would want to live would suck. I got an interesting vibe from some of the faculty. Not sure I would vibe well. This will be an amazing program for sure, I wish it was just a few years in.

12) NY -- Hofstra Northwell SOM at North Shore / LIJ
Pros: Well established NY program that I think trains excellent clinicians. I rotated here and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the program leadership. The PD is eccentric in the right way and was a delight to work with, on top of being very clinically strong. Their pay is the best in the country and they also provide subsidized housing.Northshore is a level 1 trauma center but sees mostly blunt, so they send their residents to shock for a month. LJ does not see a lot of trauma but still gets very medically sick patients. Didactics were fairly strong and they do a cadaver lab I think once per quarter that was very fun.
Cons: I would rank this program higher but I realized 2 NY auditions in that I did not want to live/practice medicine in NY. Just not for me. Also had a very negative interaction with an attending that soured part of my experience there. I also don't like how they had their critical care/resus beds staffed at North shore where only the PGY3 on the critical care shift sees the most sick medical/trauma patients in the department.

13) PA -- Albert Einstein Medical Center
Pros: Rotated here. Liked the program, but disliked philly. 4 year well established program with a strong emphasis on critical care. The patients at Einstein are pretty sick, and this is about as county as it gets. The clerkship director is awesome, is hilarious, and fun to work with. Had a decent amount of autonomy on shift as a student. Their 4th years were rockstars.
Cons: Philly. was not my city. Also felt that their graduated responsibility was a little too strict here and would leave me feeling impatient. The residents constantly complained about their new shift structure to me/in front of me. One of them also highlighted that he felt he wished he went somewhere with more elective time. The only audition I went on where residents complained to me about their program almost every shift and that left a strong taste in my mouth.

14) TX -- CHRISTUS Health / Texas A&M
Pros: Great training at an unopposed residency. They do it all/see it all/ come out of residency very well trained. I also worked with docs who trained here and they are GOOD.
Cons: Corpus sucks. Worst location for me by far. I could not imagine being stuck their for three years. No LGBT community at all.

Anything else to add: I'm a DO so we will see on match day how this all turns out. That being said, for other DO applicants out there for next cycle, don't hesitate to apply for your reach/dream programs. A good portion of my list were places I originally wasn't going to apply to because I felt that I wouldn't stand a chance as a DO.

Good luck everyone!

Applied to: 53 in total
Declined interview: FSU Sarasota, MCG, Grand Strand, St Lukes Roosevelt NYC, Queens, ORMC, UIC, Baystate, Uconn, Wellstar, UT san Antonio,
Rejected by: UChicago, UMaryland, UTSW (sour about this one), UF Jacksonville, Advocate Christ, UNLV, UAB, MUSC, Allegheny (got rejected twice lol), Brookdale, MetroHealth Cleveland, Cook, Drexel, Jefferson, Lincoln, NYU, Maimo, MCW, Jacobi, NY metro, SUNY downstate, Texas A&M Scott/White, Louisville, UMich, USF, Vermont,

Note from @TrashPanda13: As a fellow DO, congratulations on a stong list. Well-deserved. Also chuckled at the TGIF bit.

 

[r-e-l-a-x]

wow, really well thought out list there. thanks!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Honors/High Pass/High Pass
AOA: No
Med school region: Northeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: The way I grew up is pretty unusual, but I'm going to keep it a little vague. Didn't grow up in the US, have some pretty intense life experiences, and speak three languages fluently. Attended and won some national pitch competitions, started a business while in med school, non-trad, lots of EMT experience.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Trying to move to NYC, don't judge me. Otherwise, paid a lot of attention to how I got along with residents & attendings. Prefer county, don't really care either way about academic. Subsidized resident housing is a plus. Also, my #1 and #2 are bound to flip back and forth a few more times between now and Feb. 20.

1) NY -- SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
Pros: Legendary program, county, Brooklyn. Even though the PD has a reputation for being a little cold, I felt like we hit it off. Program actually cares about diversity.
Cons: No resident housing, didn’t really get a sense of “fit” in the short time I was there (which makes me a little nervous).

2) NY -- Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Pros: Busy, don’t get bored, lots of trauma but also lots of medical patients. Fair amount of autonomy, I rotated here so I know I vibe well with residents and attendings. 4 years--leave the program ready to take on anything. Subsidized resident housing. 4 weeks of vacation. Not pressured to move patients.
Cons: Residents work HARD. Live in the Bronx. Not really integrated with EMS. Weiler is super annoying, but you work here minimally.

Comments: Honestly, really want to rank it #1 except I don’t want to live in the bronx.

3) NY -- Mount Sinai St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
Pros: I seemed to vibe really well with the residents and attendings here. Love how seriously they seem to take wellness while still providing good clinical training. Location is unbeatable with guaranteed resident housing. Three year program. 4 weeks of vacation. EMS ride-alongs.
Cons: Lack of trauma. 3 year program (yes, it’s a pro and a con for me).

Comments: Was #1 on my list for a long time, but ultimately decided to place Jacobi and Kings because of lack of trauma. I know people say trauma is not that important blah blah blah, but at this point in my training, I disagree. I need the muscle memory and the repetition, the experience managing a full ER with trauma notes perpetually interrupting you. I may be totally wrong. We'll see.

4) CA -- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco General Hospital
Pros: Bay area, vibed with the residents, had the best lunch on the interview trail. Everyone was laid back and it seemed like there was a really good mix of patients coming through the ED, 4 weeks of vacation. SF is kind of magic.
Cons: Sooo far from my home country (in Europe). Adds like 10 hours of travel to an already long trip and most of my family is still there. That kind of sucks. Also, COL.

5) PA -- Temple University School of Medicine
Pros: Great training, diverse pathology, established program. This was one of my last few interviews and programs started blending together... Nothing really jumped out at me, either positively or negatively.
Cons: Going through a divorce and trying to get out of Philly if possible.

6) MA -- Boston Medical Center
Pros: County program with the resources of a community hospital. Felt like the residents were really strong here. Fast-paced. A lot of support for personal projects/research. Good vibe.
Cons: Boston is too ****ing cold and that’s all I have to say.

7) NY -- Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center
Pros: County, NYC, lots of patients, good training blah blah blah. Residency class seems fairly diverse.
Cons: PD is deeply unpleasant and totally turned me off from the program, but I want to be in NYC, so idk. Also, you’re in South Bronx, but close to UWS. When they asked why I wanted to be at Lincoln and what did I even know about the Bronx, I mentioned that I had rotated at Jacobi. One of the interviewers started spiraling and went through all the ways they are better than Jacobi. When I told Kings County I rotated at Jacobi, everyone smiled and said, oh yeah, we consider ourselves sister programs. Final note, our lunch was a dry slice of turkey with frozen peas and carrots and mashed potatoes on a styrofoam plate. Wouldn't have cared if the interviewers hadn't been so aggressive, but this added insult to injury.

Comments: Now that I have this all typed out... why am I ranking them so high. NYC, I guess. And I'm trying not to let two people's interviewing style + a ****ty lunch decide my career. Wow ranking is hard.

8) NC -- University of North Carolina
Pros: Rotated here, really loved being at Wake Med. Got to emergently intubate twice here as a 4th year. IT’S WARM. I have a lot of friends here and it’s very close to what family I do have in the US, so would have good support. +EMS integration.
Cons: Many of the attendings are Good Ol Boys. The two ERs are definitely less hectic than Jacobi, which was a little boring to me. At the same time, gives you more time as a resident to write your notes. Aaand even though you have less patients, they tend to have a higher acuity. DECISIONS, DECISIONS.

9) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: Harvard name. I know this is superficial, but I can't help it. This is one of my many character flaws; others include obsessively watching 6 seasons of Vanderpump Rules. Cool IT integration, lots of people interested in tech and EM.
Cons: The residents were nice, but I just didn’t fit in with them. Lots of pressure to move patients at every level. They were *very* proud of their efficiency, which is great, I guess, but made me worry about teaching opportunity on shift.

Comments: I was sort of shocked that they invited me. I have no history of attending Ivy Leagues, and no one in my family does either. I am just not really someone that "Harvard" (-even a Harvard-affiliated institution) would typically be interested in... it was especially obvious to me when I saw all the other applicants who name-dropped where all their other interviews were and what their test scores were and other bland details from their resumes. My test scores are dependably average. My MCAT, Step 1 and Step 2 are within 1 point of average for whatever I wanted to do. Not bad, but not exciting. So I went into this interview with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. So keep that in mind when reading my pros and cons and take this one with a grain of salt.

10) NV -- UNLV
Pros: Contract for Burning Man lol. Live in the desert, close to lots of national parks. Excited at the prospect of living somewhere totally different from what I'm used to. My friend was a resident here and *said* he enjoyed it. I don't fully believe him.
Cons: Residents seemed miserable here. PD was SO WEIRD. The only two women in the program are graduating.

11) PA -- Albert Einstein Medical Center
Pros: Rotated here and you definitely get the county experience. Got along with the residents well enough. Faculty is involved with tactical medicine, event medicine, and EMS, but they don’t have a fellowship at the moment. PD seems to really care about the residents.
Cons: See note about Philly above. Wasn’t super impressed by the faculty. Hated Pod D (fast track) and the # of shifts you had there.

12) SC -- Medical University of South Carolina
Pros: So warm all the time, you can live on a HOUSEBOAT, PD gave me good vibes.
Cons: Just not a culturally diverse place.

13) OR -- Oregon Health and Science University
Pros: Loved the PD, Oregon is beautiful, you take an air tram to get to work, the facilities are beautiful.
Cons: This is the place I vibed least with the residents. Didn’t seem very busy or very acute/diverse in pathology. Also not very culturally diverse.

Comments: It's not on the bottom of my list because I didn't like it. Just was clear to me that it's not a great fit.

Anything else to add? I applied to too many programs because I submitted my application a few days later than everyone else and because my SVI score is trash. I heard some other applicants talking about how many programs they applied to and so I went back and DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF PROGRAMS I APPLIED TO. In hindsight, wish I had stuck with 30 programs bc I clearly got a little frantic with which programs I applied to. Second of all, I declined a lot of interviews (including Emory) because they were in places my spouse decided she didn't want to move to. We are now separating, so I do regret some of the interviews I declined, but am still overall pretty happy.

Applied to: Albert Einstein Healthcare (PA), Allegheny, BIDMC, BMC, Brookdale, Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brown University, Christiana, Cooper, Creighton/Maricopa, Denver Health, Desert Regional, Drexel, Duke, EVMS, Emory, George Washington, Hennepin, Mount Sinai, St. Luke's/Roosevelt, Indiana University, Jefferson Health Northeast, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Kendall Regional, Lincoln, Louisiana State, Maimonides, Maine Medical Center, HAEMR, Medical College of Wisconsin, MUSC, Georgetown-Washington, Montefiore/Jacobi, NY Med (Metropolitan), New York Presbyterian, New York University School of Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist, OHSU, St. Barnabas, St. Louis, Stanford, Sunrise, SUNY - downstate/Kings County, Temple, UCLA/Olive View, U of Arizona, UC San Diego, UCSF - Fresno, UCSF - SFGH, UNLV, Univ of NM, UNC, LAC+USC, Univ of Tennessee - Memphis (why? idk), Univ of Texas at Austin, Univ of Utah, Univ of Virginia, Univ of Washington, UPenn, UPMC, Vanderbilt, VCU, Wake Forest, Wyckoff Heights

Declined invite: EVMS, Allegheny, Univ of Tennessee - Memphis, Louisiana State, Brookdale, Drexel, Wake Forest, Emory, Maine Medical, New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn, Univ of New Mexico

Attended interview: SUNY - downstate, Jacobi/Montefiore, SLR, UCSF - SFGH, Temple, BMC, BIDMC, Lincoln, MUSC, UNLV, UNC, Albert Einstein, OHSU

Withdrew prior to hearing back from: Brooklyn Hospital Center, Cooper, Indiana, Kendall Regional, Medical College of Wisconsin, St. Louis, Univ of Arizona, Univ of Texas at Austin, Univ of Utah, Univ of Virginia

Rejected: HAEMR, St. Louis, UPMC, Brown, Stanford, Denver Health, Hennepin, MedStar, Kaiser Permanente, UPenn,

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 220s/250s
EM rotation grades: Honors/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: East coast
Anything else that made you more competitive: lots of leadership positions and prior work experience?

Main considerations in creating this ROL: geography, fit, only applied to 3 year programs in cheaper cities

1) NY -- University of Rochester
Pros: loved the interview day, liked the people, the acuity seemed good without being in a major metro city;
Cons: weather/climate

2) MN -- HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital
Pros: the people were awesome and i thoroughly enjoyed my interactions with both residents and faculty;
Cons: no orientation month and LOTS of night /overnight shifts and don't love the weather but you can survive whatever for 3 years

3) DE -- Christiana Care Health Services
Pros: my favorite interactions with residents, and love the faculty, good reputation;
Cons: DE (feels like a depressing place to move to)

4) SC -- Greenville Health System
Pros: brand new program but really enjoyed my interview there, would be happy to move to the city and seemed like good acuity for the size of the city (higher than i would have expected)
Cons: new program, feels risky, lower wages

5) TN -- University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga
Pros: love the city, the residents seemed quite competent and comfortable, interviews were great
Cons: the program coordinator (both via email and in person not impressed), some overnights seemed understaffed with mention of one attg and res with 50+ patients

6) WV -- West Virginia University
Pros: awesome faculty and liked the community rotations, great US both equipment and education
Cons: wouldn't enjoy living there (good outdoors access but depressing feeling city)

7) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
Pros: I liked the proximity of all training sites, good peds exposure, i had great interviews / interactions with residents, Hawaii! ;
Cons: more academic than i'd like, lower wages and higher shift numbers

8) MA -- University of Massachusetts
Pros: seemed like great training absolutely
Cons: did not enjoy any of my interviews, the faculty were either awkward or stuffy and certainly didn't enjoy the PD, the city was not for me

9) CT -- University of Connecticut
felt just like UMass honestly, they put a lot of focus on sim which really isn't a big enough part of my training for me to put a lot of importance in it

10) NH -- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Pros: I enjoyed the interviews, the residents at the dinner were certainly very tired and not super energetic
Cons: didn't like the need to move for trauma training and the town is just too small

11) NC -- East Carolina University/Vidant Medical Center
my least favorite interview experience, and the town had very little going on so had to go to the bottom

Declined invite: U Oklahoma, U Arkansas, U Jacksonville, U Nebraska
Interviewed at: all ranked
Withdrew prior to hearing from: none
Rejected: OHSU, UNM, MMC, UW Madison, UI, Albany, UNC, UV, Vanderbilt, UT Nashville, Emory

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary:
Board scores: 250s/270s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Med school region: Northeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: DO applicant*, Lots of EM experience outside of med school, Multiple EM publications

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Mostly geographic, went off of "feel" during interviews after that

1) DE -- Christiana Care Health Services
Largely unopposed residency, HUGE volume overall and tons of trauma, really got along with the residents during interview, familiar with Delaware so not a huge adjustment to living there

2) NJ -- Cooper Hospital
Again tons of volume, trauma center is top in region, rotated here and it was favorite EM rotation

3) PA -- Temple University School of Medicine
Great reputation in EM, very strong County feel, NE philly has tons of penetrating trauma, residents are badass, large alumni base

4) MD -- University of Maryland
Very academic, work extremely hard, Shock trauma is a big draw, unsure about baltimore living

5) PA -- Thomas Jefferson University
Unlimited resources, faculty are some of the leaders in the field, fellowship and job prospects post residency seemed endless, not sure how much exposure to underserved/urban population they actually see

6) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
Very academic focus which isn't completely my style, living in nyc would be awesome for residency, really looking for more trauma exposure seemed like it might be limited here

7) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Reputation and training speak for themselves, unsure how open they are to DOs even though I was told it wasn't and issue, 4 vs 3, never lived on the west coast and would like to be closer to family

8) CO -- Denver Health
Really enjoyed the interview here and admired how much the residents seemed to really buy into the system. Again geography played a bigger role for me than training, also not an outdoorsy type which seems like another prerequisite to stay sane out in Denver. Feel like might be the best trained group but ultimately couldnt see myself spending 4 years here

9) PA -- Wellspan York Hospital
Some of the most impressive facilties I encountered on my trail. Huge volume, hospital has tons of money for resources. Think this program will be highly coveted in 10 yrs but not there yet. Also kind of in the middle of no where

10) PA -- Albert Einstein Medical Center
Real county feel, share a lot of same patients as Temple but with the added peds exposure. Schedule has improved from what the residents said but PD seemed insistent on keep the schedule as tough as possible (right of passage). Facilities seemed kinda run down

11) NY -- SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
Rockstar residents doing amazing things in the world of EM, true county experience, PD was very off puting, if gonna live in nyc would rather be in manhattan than brooklyn

12) NJ -- Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
13) NY -- Jacobi/Montefiore - Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Anything else to add: Never know how things will turn out being a DO, applied broadly and happy with interview invites but realistic about chances at more competitive programs.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Think this program will be highly coveted in 10 yrs but not there yet.

It's a 30 year old program? I doubt 10 more years will make it any different than it is now (or was 10 years ago).

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

It's a 30 year old program? I doubt 10 more years will make it any different than it is now (or was 10 years ago).

I've heard only great things about York from folks who don't/didn't rank it for the caveat the poster mentioned...ie middle of nowhere.

 

[doggydog]

I've heard only great things about York from folks who don't/didn't rank it for the caveat the poster mentioned...ie middle of nowhere.

Crazy how that's going to change in the next ten years.

 

[anon6134]

Crazy how that's going to change in the next ten years.

Global warming. Will be beachfront in 10 years

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Sick patient population and a lot of autonomy. I had great training there and never regretted ranking them at the top of my list. Lots of turnover in their faculty in the last few years which is concerning. Was a super stable faculty group for a very long time. Im not sure why so many have left.

 

[AlvinKamara]

Sick patient population and a lot of autonomy. I had great training there and never regretted ranking them at the top of my list. Lots of turnover in their faculty in the last few years which is concerning. Was a super stable faculty group for a very long time. Im not sure why so many have left.

I don’t mean this to be glib, but is there any hospital out there that doesn’t have a “sick patient population? If so I’d really like to practice there because every ED I’ve rotated at as a student and resident so far has been busy busy busy with plenty of sick people. I enjoy them as a learning opportunity but I’d love to work at a place where I can just chill out for a chunk of time during my shift.

 

[alpinism]

There's tons of rural and suburban EDs that only see 10-20K per year and where you can go hours without a new patient especially at night.

 

[AlvinKamara]

There's tons of rural and suburban EDs that only see 10-20K per year and where you can go hours without a new patient especially at night.

Yea but in the discussion regarding residency programs, I’d be hard pressed to find a hospital with an accredited residency that didn’t have a reasonably sick population. Hence why I find it odd as a “plus” for a program when it’s hardly difficult to find in a residency.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

I don’t mean this to be glib, but is there any hospital out there that doesn’t have a “sick patient population? If so I’d really like to practice there because every ED I’ve rotated at as a student and resident so far has been busy busy busy with plenty of sick people. I enjoy them as a learning opportunity but I’d love to work at a place where I can just chill out for a chunk of time during my shift.

Point taken, everywhere has sick people, its all relative. I guess it was a good mixture of really sick people with a ton of autonomy.

 

[Rekt]

I don’t mean this to be glib, but is there any hospital out there that doesn’t have a “sick patient population? If so I’d really like to practice there because every ED I’ve rotated at as a student and resident so far has been busy busy busy with plenty of sick people. I enjoy them as a learning opportunity but I’d love to work at a place where I can just chill out for a chunk of time during my shift.

University of Utah

 

[deleted547339]

I don’t mean this to be glib, but is there any hospital out there that doesn’t have a “sick patient population? If so I’d really like to practice there because every ED I’ve rotated at as a student and resident so far has been busy busy busy with plenty of sick people. I enjoy them as a learning opportunity but I’d love to work at a place where I can just chill out for a chunk of time during my shift.

There’s sick and then there’s sick. You ever taken care of a patient with a CD4 of 2 in fast track for their kaposi sarcoma, admitted an LVAD from a hallway bed of had a GSW to the chest in a 1mo post-op liver transplant?

But yes, any residency program is sick enough, some are that on steroids. And yes, there are plenty of not sick community ERs.

 

[doggydog]

There’s sick and then there’s sick. You ever taken care of a patient with a CD4 of 2 in fast track for their kaposi sarcoma, admitted an LVAD from a hallway bed of had a GSW to the chest in a 1mo post-op liver transplant?

Meh.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 250s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Medical school region: East coast

Main considerations in creating this ROL: location, badass training, people, job placement, and reputation. Only interviewed at programs in NYC, LA, Chicago, SF, and Miami. Don't care as much about minuscule details in curriculum...doesn't really matter at the end of the day.

1) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Chicago + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Rotated here. Really vibed with the people, love the social mission. Badass residents and attendings. It's got the training, reputation, and location I want while being only 8 hour shifts. Not a whiff of malignancy. Job placement literally in all desirable areas --> get those unadvertised great jobs. Don't care about the floor months, etc, none of that will matter at the end of the day.

2) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
LA + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Seems like most people stay in California though, and I want a more diverse spread of alumni. Good teaching. Love the social mission. Hate 12 hours, but the product coming out of here can't be beat.

3) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
NYC + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Again don't like 12 hour shifts. Otherwise, loved most of the people I met while rotating here. Excellent training

4) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
LA + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Similar to USC in my opinion, but without the 12 hour shifts. Just didn't like the people nearly as much.

5) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Bay area + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Don't love Oakland itself but glad I didn't cancel this interview because the training and people and job placement are phenomenal.

6) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Chicago + training + reputation (in my opinion) + good job placement (although not as wide as some of the other programs on my list). Simply awesome people all around. A little outside of Chicago but everyone lives in cool areas of Chicago

7) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York
NYC + training + reputation + great job placement. A little too academic for my liking but it's got a good mix of everything. Didn't like the people as much as much as NYU

8) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
LA + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Happy residents. Great teachers. Didn't like the 12 hour shifts, olive view seemed kinda wack and like nothing special. Too academic for my liking

9) CA -- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco General Hospital
SF + training + reputation + pretty good job placement. Like the split in the 2 different sites. UCSF too academic for me. Would prefer to be at general most of the time

10) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Great on paper, and nothing bad to say about this program. Some people I spoke to around Chicago, when comparing it to Cook County, said they were more cerebral, whereas County people were more cowboy...I prefer the cowboy product

11) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Chicago + training + reputation + awesome job placement. Too bougie. Didn't like the leadership

12) FL -- Jackson Memorial Hospital
Miami. Everything else not yet proven. But it is county, and seem like they see some great pathology and get solid training

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s/250s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Pass
AOA: Yes
Medical school region: Northeast
Anything that made you more competitive: A lot of research (publications and presentations) and leadership experiences

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Location close to family and good job prospects for SO, family friendly, fit with residents and faculty, exposure to pediatrics

1) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
Great location for me and SO. Dr. Regan seemed to be very supportive of her residents. One of my favorite PD's overall. Residents all seemed very nice, good mix of families. Loved the lecture structure (more for adult learners, interactive, etc). Strong pediatrics with a dedicated Peds ED and the peds trauma center for Baltimore. FAST program seems great because I'm leaning towards a fellowship after residency. Even if I decide not to pursue a fellowship, the residents said that the program makes the fourth year worth it.

Only con is that it's a four year program? But as I said, this was one of the only programs that I felt used the fourth year well.

2) NJ -- Cooper Hospital
Very close to family, not as great for my SO but still doable. 3 years. Loved the leadership and residents. The most fun pre-interview dinner I attended. ED gets first dibs on procedures. Dedicated Peds ED in the department and integrated shifts. Solid ultrasound training. I like the option of joining one of the established track to help create a niche in EM.

I don't really have a con. My top few came down to location. I would be totally happy training here.

3) DE -- Christiana Care Health Services
Again, close to family but not as great for my SO. Would definitely be able to buy a house. 3 years. Strong reputation in EM. 8 hour shifts. Relatively unopposed residency program. Tons of volume and super high acuity. Integrated peds shifts at DuPont. Since the faculty are all part of a SDG, residents learn a lot about the "business of medicine" and administration.

Don't have a ton of cons. Residents don't see the lower acuity patients. Lots of mid-levels may be a good thing or not? The residents seemed to like it. I didn't feel like I got to talk to many of the residents, but the people I spoke to were great. Again, I would be totally happy training here. Location was the deciding factor.

4) VA -- Virginia Commonwealth University
I loved Dr. Moll and the rest of the faculty and residents. They all seemed like good friends and expressed that they always felt like the program had their back. Very family friendly. Richmond is an amazing city where we would be able to buy a house during residency. 3 years. Excellent peds exposure with a dedicated Peds ED. Beautiful facilities. Off service rotations are very tailored to EM residents under Dr. Moll's direction.

Only con is the location. Far from family and SO's job. Would be my #1 if it was closer to family.

5) MA -- Boston Medical Center
Residents and leadership seemed great. Dinner was really fun. I love the social mission as I have a ton of experience working with underserved populations. Most of the trauma in Boston goes here. Solid Peds exposure with a dedicated Peds ED and shifts at Boston Children's. Residents went out of their way to talk to me about the family friendliness of the program.

Con: 4th year doesn't seem worth it. Boston is expensive and far from family and SO's job. A few strange interactions during the interview day

6) DC -- Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center
Great location for SO. Very cool experience working with very medically complex patients at Georgetown. Tons of bread and butter EM at WHC. 1:1 shifts. Amazing teaching. Faculty are all very approachable and work hard to foster a good working environment with consultants and ancillary staff. 3 years

Cons: None of the residents have children. DC traffic and high COL. Not a ton of trauma. From what I understood, EM residents only see traumas on Fridays/Saturdays at the main location.

7) PA -- Drexel University
Philadelphia, Close to family. I really liked the leadership, but it seems like there is a lot of uncertainty. NICU rotation is cool and not offered at many other 3 year programs. Lots of peds ED time. I didn't like that they have ultrasound techs teaching residents and not ultrasound trained EM docs. Didn't vibe with the residents as well as other places.

8) NJ -- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Very high acuity. Tons of trauma and residents have a lot of autonomy. Dedicated Peds ED. Newark is a pretty terrible city, so we would have to live in one of the nearby cities. Didn't vibe with the residents. Some interactions with the faculty were awkward. Fourth year doesn't seem to be worth it.

9) PA -- Thomas Jefferson University
Close to family. The new leadership seem amazing and dedicated to reworking the program. Weak ultrasound training. Recently lost their trauma block at Cooper, but were able to replace it with a new rotation. I'm sure there will be some more growing pains along the way though. Tons of commuting to different locations.

10) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
3+1 design is really cool. Solid reputation in EM. I know everyone loves the dinner, but I found it really difficult to talk to the residents because it was essentially a journal club. Didn't get to talk to too many people during the interview day either. Not as many families in the program. I had a few awkward interactions with faculty. Boston is expensive and far from family. Tons of commuting.

11) PA -- Penn State Health Milton S Hershey
Very strong curriculum. 3 years. Amazing peds exposure, by far my favorite program in terms of pediatrics. High acuity and tons of volume. The program coordinator was great. However, I did not vibe with the residents or faculty at all. I could not see myself living in Hershey.

12) MD -- University of Maryland
Great location. Strong reputation in EM. Lots of families in the program. Residents said they were just tired. I can't do 12 hour shifts (that almost always turn into 14 hours) for 3 years.

Applied to: 44 total
Declined interview: Hofstra Staten Island, Jacobi-Montefiore, Hackensack, Brookdale, Brooklyn Hospital Center, Hofstra LIJ, New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist, St. Johns Riverside, Stony Brook, SUNY Downstate, Crozer-Chester, University of Virginia
Interviewed at: All ranked
Withdrew prior to hearing from: None
Rejected:Mass Gen Brigham and Women's, Carolinas, Atlantic Health Morristown, Lincoln Medical Center, New York Presbyterian, Allegheny General, University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt (ghosted from a few)

 

[alpinism]

Yea but in the discussion regarding residency programs, I’d be hard pressed to find a hospital with an accredited residency that didn’t have a reasonably sick population. Hence why I find it odd as a “plus” for a program when it’s hardly difficult to find in a residency.

Depends on your definition of sick population.

Which of the examples below do you consider to be a sick patient?

Pt #1 awake and alert complaining of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting with severe hyperglycemia but otherwise normal labs and tolerating oral intake.

Pt #2 unresponsive covered in vomit and hyperventilating with severe DKA requiring intubation, vent management, and multiple medication drips.

You'll see patient #1 regularly at every residency but patient #2 is much rarer and you may only see a few per year at many residencies.

Every residency claims to see tons of "sick patients" but the the reality is that most hospitals only have 2-4% ICU admits if you look at the numbers. To further complicate matters many patients are transfers who have already been resuscitated and stabilized and others end up there for purely staffing or logistical reasons which means that overall on average most hospitals will see about 1% acutely ill or injured patients requiring ICU admission. Remember "sick patients" is a subjective term and can mean many different things.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Twice the RoLs on last year's thread at this time. I wonder if there are fewer users vs more paranoia?

 

[Rekt]

Twice the RoLs on last year's thread at this time. I wonder if there are fewer users vs more paranoia?

Multiple trolls and deleters with a couple serial killer personas pretty much destroyed all the traffic the sheet had.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Multiple trolls and deleters with a couple serial killer personas pretty much destroyed all the traffic the sheet had.

Does it make me sound like an old man when I say I really have no idea what the purpose of trolling is? Particularly in an environment that is at least theoretically created for mutual support? I haven't even looked at this year's thread (feels like it would be weird to do that as a resident) but last year's felt largely collegial.

 

[LaceyMD]

Does it make me sound like an old man when I say I really have no idea what the purpose of trolling is? Particularly in an environment that is at least theoretically created for mutual support? I haven't even looked at this year's thread (feels like it would be weird to do that as a resident) but last year's felt largely collegial.

No one really knows what the purpose of trolling is. I'm not sure the trolls know what the purpose of trolling is, honestly, other than that maybe they're bored and need a hobby. The SDN thread still feels fairly collegial. The chat tab on the spreadsheet, however, is out of control.

As far as rank lists, there seems to be increased paranoia over identifying yourself via your list and also somehow maybe influencing others to move programs higher up their lists based on what's on others' lists, thus increasing competition for certain programs (I don't understand that fear, but it's been expressed). If that's the case, hopefully there'll be a surge of ROLs submitted next week after the 2/20 deadline passes.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/High Pass/Pass
AOA: No
Med school region: Southwest

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Location

1) TX -- UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
2) TX -- University of Texas Houston
3) TX -- Baylor College of Medicine
4) TX -- John Peter Smith Health Network
5) TX -- University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine at San Antonio
6) FL -- University of Florida - Jacksonville
7) TX -- TX A&M Scott & White Memorial Hospital
8) MS -- University of Mississippi
9) TX -- Texas Tech Health Science Center/Paul L Foster School of Medicine
10) MI -- Sinai-Grace Hospital
11) MI -- Spectrum Health Grand Rapids/Michigan State University
12) TX -- CHRISTUS Health / Texas A&M
13) LA -- Louisiana State University - Shreveport
14) MI -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine

 

[AlgernonMed]

Sick patient population and a lot of autonomy. I had great training there and never regretted ranking them at the top of my list. Lots of turnover in their faculty in the last few years which is concerning. Was a super stable faculty group for a very long time. Im not sure why so many have left.

I think it's a combination of some faculty burnout/family demands and new/newer hospitals opening around the area offering BIG $$$$. When salaries offered elsewhere are essentially doubling, it's hard to keep the faculty around. Right now it seems like the transition to new leadership is going well, but all things new will have a bit of an adjustment period.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Med school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: Research, leadership positions in medical school, lots of service during medical school, all honors 3rd year, non-traditional with interesting jobs before medical school

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Priorities in rough order of importance were: clinical training (volume, acuity, diversity of patient population), location (prefer moving to bigger city, prefer west coast), resident and faculty personalities, ability to work with underserved populations/safety net hospital site, access to 24/7 fresh coffee at hospital, 4>3 for niche development

1) CA -- University of California San Francisco - San Francisco General Hospital
This is actually interchangeable with 2 right now, like actually, because I still haven't decided which to put 1, but wanted to write out this ROL to help with deciding.

Pros: SFGH seems like a great level of acuity and volume. You would never guess it was county if you just walked through, though...the tech in the place is cutting edge (this could be a pro or con if you're trying to practice in resource limited during/after residency). UCSF is supposedly extremely high volume as well and has true quaternary level patients. I'm very attracted to the 50:50 academic-county split. Residents seemed confident, easy to talk to, interesting and very diverse in terms of backgrounds. No huge egos despite it being UCSF, which was refreshing. Faculty were extremely nice and easy to talk to. The interview format was a bit rigid, but I don't feel passing judgement on that is a great way of determining where you belong for residency. San Francisco is absolutely beautiful and wouldn't require a car, which is a pro for me.

Off services are a pro-con. Pro = you get to learn from the best of the best in their field. Con = less autonomy for ED residents for procedures, etc.

Cons: Weaker network than some below this on my ROL, but I'm not convinced that's a problem, given where residents find jobs (IMO the network of the program leadership is what gets you your job...here their leadership come from places like Highland and Harbor). Will have to live with a roommate, no question. Less penetrating trauma than Harbor/Highland/USC, etc. Passing up better known entities in Harbor, Highland, USC, etc.

2) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: What can I say, it's Harbor. I won't even use the L word, but this place is legit (different L word). You will come out of here a badass. Extremely nice faculty. PD is very easy to talk to, and to-the-point, which I like. Living on the beach is a selling point for the program, but visiting Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo made me question how much I'd like that...that part of LA is pretty blah if you ask me. Wonderful patient population to learn from, would be able to really improve my Spanish.

Cons: Single-site county is great for learning most of EM like the back of your hand, but I do think there's something to be said for exposure to tertiary/quaternary care. This is not only because of the types of patients who come through major academic center EDs, but also because you need to learn how to admit said patients to different services. That soft skill is something that's learned IMO and is definitely not going to be developed here. No opportunities for international work at all.

3) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: This is just essentially Harbor but in Oakland as far as I can tell, but you can do international work. Not aware of any other major differences. Best social of the season (UCSF close 2nd).

Cons: Interviews were strange and somewhat off-putting. Trying to ignore that because the residents were super down-to-earth and fun, I could see myself fitting in here.

4) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Academic:county mix. Harvard name if I end up wanting to do anything non-clinical. Residents were great, easy to talk to, no ego problems. Faculty were hilarious and really nice to chat with during interviews.

Cons: Residents seemed tired, not super into selling the program. I read between the lines a bit, for better or worse. Boston, snow.

5) CA -- University of California San Diego
Pros: You certainly get your mix of sites here...what was it, 6? I think that's a good thing? Great faculty, had excellent conversations during all of my interviews. San Diego can't be beat for living IMO.

Cons: Volume seemed average. Multiple residents, unprompted, told me something along the lines of "you will come out prepared to handle traumas, but this is not a place where a lot of trauma happens." Another relayed that sometimes a resident will finish and feel a bit uncomfortable with pediatrics. I think there are a just a few holes in the training occasionally given the swip-swapping from sites constantly. This high because of SD living.

6) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Pros: Only graduates BAMFs. Incredible mission behind everything they do. Residents seemed very, very confident with the training they get. Often compared to Harbor in conversations, but I found the feel of the two places to be different enough that harbor ended up way higher on the list somehow. Living in east LA is a pro for me, Silver Lake, Echo Park would be great living.

Cons: 12s (although supposed to now be fewer of these), schedule just seemed grueling. Maybe too much autonomy for my taste. No tertiary experience.

7) CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: Nice mix of sites. I thought the residents seemed well-rounded and easy to talk to. Outstanding faculty. Meeting Dr. Gisondi briefly was great, too. Sarah Williams is AMAZING. Amazing global health opportunities. Stanford resources so could dip into research, start-ups, VC if time allowed or something non-clinical after training.

Cons: Palo Alto is Manhattan prices to live in an outdoor boutique mall. Their schedule is based on hours rather than shifts or something like that and seemed inconsistent. Not convinced the acuity is very high at any of their sites other than Valley, but they spend only 11% of their time there, unfortunately.

8) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: Outstanding network. They've produced countless EM leaders. Great training. Live on magnificent mile if ya want.

Cons: Didn't jive with residents. Interviewers were a bit cold. Chicago is fun but freezing.

9) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: Slovis, Hot Chicken, Alum Network. Great training and teaching. Residents were the nicest and easiest to talk to of many great groups that I encountered not the trail. Same goes for the faculty. This should probably be higher.

Cons: 3 years, don't love Nashville, this should probably be higher.

10) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: Outstanding training, safety net hospital. Residents were pretty impressive. Nice faculty, laid back. Makes BAMFs.

Cons: I don't know that I fit in great with the residents, this was also my last interview and I just felt burned out though.

11) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: Dr. Babcock is amazing. Period. Awesome new ED and new level 1 trauma designation. ATX? flight program sounds pretty slick - you fly stable patients in first class on commercial jets to locations all over the world, stay in said location for a day or two, then fly back first class and get paid. I'm positive these residents know their EM stuff well.

Cons: Residents a bit quirky. Can't deal with that commute to the south side every day. 3 years.

12) OR -- Oregon Health and Science University
Pros: Portland is nice enough, although I much prefer Seattle. Very old program with great leadership. They had a very nice conference at a brewery that was really outstanding I thought. Residents are very nice, easy-going, quirky as you might expect for Portland. It would be fun to live here and get a dog (which I think all the residents do here?) and become a great EM doc.

Cons: Not convinced that very much volume or high level trauma comes through those ED doors. Literally a hospital on a hill, so I don't feel like this would be a great place to do much work for underserved populations.

13) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Pros: 50:50 academic/county. Harborview seems potentially badass. The rotations up in Orcas Islands seem very formative. Living in Seattle would be nice?

Cons: Very off-putting interview with PD. Social dinner was not my thing, pretty awkward and quiet.


Anything else to add? For future applicants:
1) The interview season gets long, but it's fun, you're going to meet a bunch of your future colleagues and drink a lot.
2) Denying away rotations has absolutely zero to do with getting an interview at the program you denied. I even withdrew from 2 rotations after accepting and was able to interview at those places. My understanding is that the clerkship directors rarely have a role in resident selection.
3) Forget about exercising during the interview season. Just forget it.
4) I didn't take notes during the season and didn't have a spreadsheet/algorithm thing, I went based on gut with a running ROL throughout the season and I strongly endorse this strategy. An extra month of ICU or floor or whatever you're taking notes on doesn't matter.

Applied to: The above plus 30 others in the same regions. I withdrew from about 30 after getting away rotation grades back, step scores back and first 10 interviews.

Rejected by: UCLA Olive View/Ronald Reagan

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 260s/270s
EM rotation grades: Honors/High Pass/Honors
AOA: Yes
Medical school region: Northeast

Main considerations in creating this ROL:
1A) clinical training/exposure- To me, this meant county environment over others based on my rotation experiences and conversations with current residents. Found myself stratifying county over academic programs as interview season went on.
1B) Location- I prefer big, dense, walkable cities and/or California. I seem to have forgone any concern for cost of living when deciding on where to apply.

I don't care too much about elective time or global health experiences, would just like to leave residency as a rock solid clinician with as many doors open as possible regarding location, fellowship opportunities and practice environment. Sorry my notes are kind of disjointed, they are mostly selections from notes I took on interview day.

1) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Pros: The general mission of the program is exactly what I want. Program leadership very likable and practically giddy about their program and what they get to do for East LA. Really strong 4th year residents. Constantly taking you out of your element clinically as you gain experience. 4th years outstanding clinicians with the ability to control flow of all 5 EDs, the wards the CT scanner while fielding paramedic calls and running all trauma/medical codes in the resus bay. Jail ED, running codes for the hospital all add clinical exposure that I found really exciting. Great lecturers/grand rounds. Residents were a mix of personalities but all were likable and seemed to really love what they do.

Cons: Don't love LA, am much more drawn here for the program than the location. Don't mind 12s but seems like they work a lot overall. Graduated responsibility (no resus until PGY2)

2) CA -- Alameda Health System - Highland Hospital
Pros: super friendly, chill. liked the residents I met. liked the pd. overall emphasis on clinical training and underserved population was important to me. Was told attendings are very informal with residents, lots of give and take, not very hierarchical. I love SF/ Oakland. Fairly reasonable work hours. EM runs the hospital so unopposed in the ED and lots of opportunities to build up your skillset on off-service rotations. Highland graduates can do anything and everything all over the world. Most importantly they served burritos for lunch.
Cons: Not a lot of off service residents, pretty small class both in the ED and in the hospital.

3) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros:
County feel with more of a hands on faculty/teaching. Teaching delivered by faculty for a full hour before and after each shift, which I really like. small faculty group for such a big resident class. Attendings more involved in patient care. Huge range of pathology due to being an LA county hospital. Lots of weird "global diseases" like Chagas, malaria, etc. Really cool command center where the oncoming team gets signout on the patients and you get to learn a lot there. Plus built in lectures during sign out rounds. Don't care about lack of international electives.

Cons:
residents at dinner were kind of aloof and not that interested in talking to applicants. Not sure how sold I am on the south bay part of LA/ Long Beach

4) NY -- SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
Pros:
cool residents. diverse, social mission. sick people "clinical monsters". lots of autonomy, lots of trauma. academic side projects. seems like you can do anything from king's. Love Brooklyn. dedicated cct resus area. tons of penetrating trauma with good em autonomy. 140k/ year at Kings plus a ton of complicated medically sick patients in downstate ( lupus, transplants, cardiogenic shock).

Cons: Despite loving Brooklyn, a little worried about actually living there in terms of cost and living space. NYC nursing issues. Good starting salary but no housing or food stipends.

5) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros:
Strong county mission, autonomy and clinical experience. quintessential county population. high volume, low resource. 115k main adult Ed, add in separate trauma and peds ED it gets up to 140k. Feel that this residency would be a challenge but I would come out a great clinician with great job prospects and I would enjoy getting to know Chicago. Pretty reasonable work hours- all 8s around 20/28.

Cons:
Pretty strict graduated responsibility. Isolated trauma ED, would prefer a setup like Resus at USC or CCT at Kings. Very cold.

6) CA -- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center / Olive View UCLA Medical Center
Pros: Residents were happy, friendly people. Solid balance of training sites- zebras and whatnot at RR with bread and butter sick population up at Olive View. Few months at Antelope Valley sound like procedure heaven. Good benefits, lots of elective time/ international opportunities compared to 1-5 on my list. Planning on starting a new EM/CC fellowship.

Cons:
Didn't particularly gel with faculty. West LA is a little too upscale for me. OV not a trauma or receiving center. Commute was not terrible when I rotated but I can see it being an issue over 4 years.

7) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: Really like Chicago. Good emphasis on high acuity training sites to supplement main NW site (10 months ICU, Gary rotation, Cook Trauma). Teach leadership and communication formally, apparently leads to very good job opportunities. Good gamut of poor to wealthy and bread/butter to quaternary type patients at main site. Really liked the PD.

Cons: Big emphasis on admin which is not appealing to me. Questionable trauma/acuity at main site? Didn't click with residents that much.

8) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: Family feel of residents- they hang out all the time, seems like a fun crew. Feel of the program is an emphasis on clinical training. "You will be crushed with patients" were the parting words of the Chair. Seems like they really take you out of your comfort zone from a training perspective but have helpful faculty supporting you. Really good reputation in EM, get recruited heavily after residency despite only being 3 years. Best program in a pretty good hospital= tons of clout between specialties, but still good off service rotations. See everything under one roof, literally no off-site rotations. Good benefits

Cons:
Unfortunately don't love Charlotte. Residents regularly stay pretty late to chart. Only 2- 5 day blocks for vacation. I don't really mind putting in the extra hours for a 3 year program, but thats not a lot of vacation.

9) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: Great feel for this program, nice laid back residents. Intentionally understaffed BIDMC so you are pushed to see lots of patients. High acuity in a non-county way due to strong primary care of patient population. Very few urgent care type issues. Opportunity to spend a month in South Africa or NZ. Event training as moonlighting sounds really cool. 4th year offers incredible flexibility- can go straight into community or stay and work 22 hours /week and make 120K while getting an MPH at Harvard.

Cons: Lower volume, trauma not a strength of the program. Thought I would love Boston, but finding myself preferring places like Chicago.

10) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: very clinically oriented. training sounds unparalleled, but with experts in every field as well. massive clinical/ trauma experience is the main sell. old program, lots of alum, get a job anywhere after. The original knife and gun club. tons of trauma. run trauma side of Denver as pgy3 and run trauma resuscitation as pgy4.- reboa, tee, liberal use of thoracotomy. both sites are level 1 trauma. Would be happy to end up here if only for the clinical experience.

Cons: Residents seemed really tired. Somewhere around 22-23 shifts/28 day cycle, residents show up 30 mins early and sometimes stay up to 3 hours after to chart. Would prefer 12s if I'm gonna go to a workhorse program so I at least get some days off. Denver a little smaller than I'd like and I don't know anybody in the area.

11) CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: really liked the PD and chair. Like Stanford as an institution a lot. Like the idea of 3 distinct training sites. residents were friendly. program designed to set you up for a fruitful career in academic EM. Would be a great place to go if I were set on critical care (or other fellowship). Huge emphasis on wellness, tons of electives. Love the bay area.

Cons: After speaking with residents I think concerns about clinical exposure are at least warranted -with county site now 10% of rotations and questionable autonomy and pre differentiated patients at Palo Alto site. Peninsula/ South bay is more expensive than it has any reason to be.

12) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: Interview day emphasized mentorship- lots of teaching from top faculty and world experts in anything you could imagine. Mentors to help you find what you like and ample elective time to make use of that. Big network to put together dream academic career. MGH in particular sounds like they see some good pathology with pretty high volume and acuity.

Cons:
Residents were mostly nice, but some seemed miserable and others pretentious. In general concerned about amount of consulting and pre-differentiated patients at exclusively two ivory tower type places.

Anything else to add? Really happy and grateful to have this list. Looking forward to next year and finding out where all the cool people I met on the trail ended up!

Applied to: 35 total
Declined invite: UPMC, Cooper, UW, Jackson Memorial, UIC, NYP, UPenn, Kaiser SD, UCI, Mt. Sinai SLR, UC Davis
Rejected: Vanderbilt, Emory, U Chicago, Boston Medical Center, Mt. Sinai, UCSD, OHSU.
Ghosted from: UCSF (WL) UCSF-Fresno, Christ Advocate, NYU, Jacobi

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary
Board scores: 220s/240s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/Pass (P/F only)/Pass (P/F only)
AOA: No
Medical school region: Northeast
Anything that made you more competitive: Leadership things/medical school admin

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Fun cities where I would be happy living. Good fit with residents/general attitude of the program, and a solid quality of life (including cost of living). I didn’t care that much about 3 vs 4 year or county vs academic (slight preference towards county). For better or worse, I didn't really have any ties requiring me to be in any particular geographic region.

1) LA -- Louisiana State University - New Orleans
I honestly knew nothing about this program before interviewing there and I was blown away by how much I enjoyed both the program itself and the residents I met. New Orleans isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I find it endearing how everyone lets their freak flag fly there.

(+) Badass program. Only level 1 trauma center around and the ED runs it all. Amazing social missions and it genuinely appeared like everyone believed in these missions (the documentary Big Charity added to that). Super, super friendly residents and lots of interaction between residents and all of the staff. Fascinating patient population with interesting pathology. The ED/hospital itself is absolutely gorgeous since it’s so new. Residents were from all over the country and came across as incredibly smart. Many had ranked LSU higher than stereotypically “better” programs simply because they loved the program/New Orleans. LSU/Nola seems like kind of a niche program/area, and it really appeals to me to be in a residency program with other people on the same page. Also… interviews were business casual, they gave us beer koozies as swag, and we got amazing breakfast burritos… need I say more?

(-) Slightly worried about recognition outside of Louisiana since I don’t know if I would want to settle there permanently. Most people stay in the area after residency since they love it, but it’s unclear how this may affect job offers in other places. I’ve also heard one person say that they don’t know if the quality of pathology has gone down post-Katrina due to people not moving back. The PD cited a lack of research as the program’s main negative, but that’s really no big deal for me (and they just hired a research coordinator to help with this, I believe). My biggest negative is that I don’t really have any social/family support in the area and that it would be 4 years in this place of (currently) no social support.

2) NJ -- Cooper Hospital
(+) Just a well-rounded, kickass program. Camden brings in some good pathology and trauma, while also being right next to Philly (which I love). Residents and attendings are all fantastic. I have really never heard a negative word about the program from anyone I know who works there or has rotated there. This program would absolutely have been my #1 if LSU didn’t somehow creep in there. Also, this is the only 3 year program in my top 4 programs…

(-) Really none. Maybe just that they seem to select interviewees almost entirely from people who go to Cooper or have rotated through and that faculty there is a bit inbred. (I could be wrong about that, but that’s the impression I got)

3) DC -- George Washington University
I struggled a ton between this and Denver for the #3 spot… really switched back and forth up until the day before the list was due. Incredibly different programs for many different reasons. In the end I had to go with GW based entirely off of the reason that I just think I would be a happier person in DC (lots of social support in the city and I like the diversity of the city more than at Denver) and at a program that allows for more of a personal life.

(+) I vibed very well with the residents and attendings that I met. This is the one place I interviewed at where they specifically chose your interviewers based on your interests/background. They also really seemed genuine in wanting to help us figure out our paths as future EM colleagues - regardless of whether or not we ended up at GW. The PD (Dr. Roche) was by far one of my favorites from the trail. They also have some cool event medicine opportunities.

(-) I worry a tiny bit about the training in terms of the number of programs they are competing with. They were pretty open about not getting all that many ortho procedures or traumas. However, supposedly this has been changing due to 1) a new site (currently an elective, but should be a full rotation in a year or two) where they get to do lots of procedures (blanking on the name…) and 2) a neighboring ED shutting down recently that has led to a lot more people coming to GW. Another negative - a 4 year program.

4) CO -- Denver Health
I really didn’t know what to do with Denver. It’s obviously a legendary program and I may kick myself and always wonder “what if.” Oh well. I did some shadowing here to check out the “malignancy” and I did not witness any whatsoever. On the contrary, everyone was very happy and jovial. However, these residents work HARD and they *enjoy* working as hard as they do. Apparently leadership has suggested doing a small shift reduction and it’s actually the residents themselves who want to keep it at 24. That will just never be my mentality.

(+) Legendary program. Would open many doors. Great EMS opportunities. People were genuinely friendly and it did seem like a family there. Great teaching/leadership opportunities. New PD (Dr. Kaplan) is absolutely awesome - probably tied with my favorite from the trail.

(-) Worried I wouldn’t have time for a real life. I don’t mind working hard, but I don’t pride myself on it. My mason jar game may also be a little too weak to live in Denver. (and another 4 year program)

5) PA -- Drexel University
This was initially a ways farther down on my list, only because I didn’t feel I got to know much about the program during the interview day (as much as I appreciated the super short/efficient day). I ended up moving it up after doing a second look and talking to some former residents.

(+) Strong program history with a lot of recent good changes. Strong program within the institution with tons of critical care experience and some great pathology (mixed in with some good trauma). They have a lot of autonomy in how residents get to practice, but there is always an attending there to give advice and teach (unlike programs I’ve seen where it’s pure autonomy unless the resident ends up already in a hole). Mostly, Drexel would allow me to be at a 3 year program in Philly.

(-) I didn’t get any warm & fuzzies from this program. That doesn’t seem to be their style. Probation doesn't seem to be an issue anymore, but I still hear whispers of financial issues.

6) NY -- SUNY Downstate/Kings County Hospital
(+) Great program, friendly residents, and attendings seem to enjoy teaching.

(-) I’ve heard that pathology in Brooklyn is going downhill a bit due to gentrification, but this isn’t a problem unique to King’s/Brooklyn in general. Honestly, Brooklyn/NY just isn’t my jam (especially 4 years there). It’s an awesome program and I genuinely liked everyone there that I met.

7) PA -- Thomas Jefferson University
(+) I loved the leadership here so, so much. It was the most chill interview of the season. It also seems to have some cool opportunities with the bio-engineering thing. Plus, they hold the big event medicine contracts in Philly. 3 year program.

(-) I really, really wanted to rank this program higher, but I just felt that the pathology they see in comparison to the neighboring Philly programs was lacking. They also seemed to be in flux with a few of their rotation sites. Still, I would not at all be upset about ending up there.

8) NV - University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)
(+) Pretty cool program with a lot of unique opportunities (Burning Man, etc). Also some cool research opportunities due to the casinos. Las Vegas is amazinggg in terms of cost of living.
(-) Not sure if I’d love to live in Las Vegas, but eh it could be worse. The program is 98% dudes (however, I didn’t get the “bro-y” vibe people talked about… honestly, I thought they were a goofy, fun group of guys who were very engaging and enjoyable.) They work all 12s and, while I didn’t personally see it, have heard that they end up pretty fried.

9) FL -- Jackson Memorial Hospital
(+) This seems like an up and coming awesome program. I have a friend who rotated there and loved it. I definitely liked all the residents I met and the ED was busyyy.

(-) I would really rather visit Miami rather than live there. That plus the fact it’s a newish program knocked it down a few. It was also my last interview and I was just kinda over it all.

10) PA -- Albert Einstein Medical Center
(+) Good pathology with some nice, quirky residents. This was one of my first interviews, so I didn’t really know what was important enough to ask/keep track of at this point. I was initially pretty psyched about this program post-IV, but I forget what happened. It kind of inexplicably dropped as I kept interviewing.. probably due to interviewing at 3yr Philly programs.

(-) 4 years. I wasn’t convinced that morale was the greatest there. People didn’t seem unhappy, but there seemed to be an overall tired feel. Residents also didn’t make a huge effort to talk to us at the dinner.

11) NJ -- Morristown Memorial Hospital
(+) I have such a soft spot for this program. By far the happiest residents I met and the most fun social I went to. Steak and beer? So solid. The program itself appeared great and they seemed to be very strong in peds. Also some very nice subsidized housing right across the street (if you don’t have pets). Life seemed good for these residents.

(-) It felt too community for me. Also, it’s in New Jersey.

12) NY -- NYU/Bellevue Medical Center
(+) Amazing, brilliant faculty and lots of resources. Bellevue and Tisch provide a nice contrast and their newer Brooklyn site is great. Hoffman is awesome.

(-) I just didn’t vibe with the residents here. They seemed pretty stand-offish. I also am not a huge fan of Manhattan, so the COL isn’t worth it to me. All around it felt like a very poor fit for me, despite its name. Also, it’s 4 years.

13) NJ -- Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
(+) Another program that I have a large soft spot for. This was originally ranked very high for me, but it dropped (along with other Jersey schools) just due to geography. Lots of autonomy at this program and it is very resident-focused. Dr. Hinfey (PD) is the absolute man and is one of the kindest, most genuine PDs out there. The residents are also super chill.

(-) Other than my generally feelings of not really wanting to live in NJ, I had some concerns about all the mergers happening in NJ. Dr. Hinfey is such a huge part of this program for me that I didn’t want to risk him potentially not being there, however unlikely that may be. Awesome lesser talked about program, though.

14) NJ -- Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
(+) Again, nothing poor to say about this program except that it’s in NJ. The faculty are wonderful and most of them really enjoy teaching. Surprisingly great pathology comes through New Brunswick. Diverse and interesting cases, as well as some decent trauma. Their new trauma bay is also the most beautiful one that I have seen. PD (Dr. Wei) is great.

(-) New Jersey. I also couldn’t get a sense of whether residents are close with each other or not.

15) NJ -- St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center/New York Medical College
(+) It seems like a fine program. I’ve heard good things. It's just in New Jersey and I was really bored of interviews at that point.

(-) New Jersey. Nothing particularly stood out.

Applied to: Kaiser SD UCLA Olive View USC Highland UCLA Harbor UCSF UC Irvine UCSD Stanford Denver Health George Washington Georgetown Christiana Jackson Miami Jacksonville Orlando Emory Rush U Chicago Northwestern U of Illinois Chicago Cook County Presence Resurrection Louisiana State Boston University Harvard Brigham Harvard Beth Israel U of Missouri - Kansas City Washington Univeristy St. Louis Carolinas U of North Carolina St. Joseph's Hackensack Morristown Cooper NBI RWJMS NJMS UNLV Vegas Montefiore Jacobi Einstein NYMC Lincoln NY Presby Mt. Sinai NYU Brooklyn Hospital Mt Sinai St. Lukes NY Presby Brooklyn Maimonides SUNY Kings NY Presby Queens U of Oklahoma Tulsa Drexel Jefferson Einstein Upenn Temple Crozer-Chester Vanderbilt U of Texas Austin U of Washington
Declined interview: Brooklyn Hospital Jacksonville Lincoln Presence Resurrection Crozer-Chester U of Oklahoma Tulsa
Attended interview: Denver Health George Washington Jackson Miami LSU New Orleans St. Joseph's Morristown NBI RWJMS UNLV Vegas Jefferson NYU SUNY Kings Drexel Einstein Cooper
Rejected by: Kaiser SD UCLA Olive View USC Highland UCLA Harbor UC Irvine Georgetown Northwestern Boston University Harvard Beth Israel Carolinas U of North Carolina Montefiore Jacobi Einstein NY Presby Mt Sinai St. Lukes Upenn Temple Vanderbilt U of Texas Austin U Chicago Stanford UCSF Rush Washington Univeristy St. Louis Mt. Sinai

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/High Pass
AOA: No
Medical school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: nah

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Fit, want to be in midwest

1) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Rotated here. Loved it, great people/faculty. Lot of cons, hate floor months, resting on laurels, graduated learning, separate trauma.

2) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Rotated here. Great program, super high acuity. Far-ish from city, but loved it. Too community?

3) MI -- Wayne State University Detroit Receiving Hospital
Great program. Legendary name, heart of detroit. Lots of pathology. 3 years, cool residents.

4) MI -- Henry Ford Hospital
Rotated here. Loved it. Lot of pathology, great 3 year program, outside edge of detroit but pathology great. Not a fan of graduated curriculum

5) MI -- Sinai-Grace Hospital
autonomy to the max, in the middle of detroit. Lot of pathology and crazy **** here. You run the hospital/strongest residency. Felt like overshadowed by other Detroit programs

6) IL -- Rush University Medical Center
too new of a program for me tbh, cool u get to do stuff at cook. Kinks havn't been worked out yet IMO

7) IL -- Presence Resurrection Medical Center
not a fan of the PD, didnt really mesh with the residents. But in chicago nonetheless

8) MI -- St John Hospital & Medical Center
Detroit, good program. nothing negative to say. Maybe not as big of name in EM? overshadowed by other detroit programs

9) IL -- University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
not a fan of all the commuting to get to sites

10) MI -- William Beaumont Hospital
cool program, cool leadership. Lot of volume, but still in middle of suburbia and not where you want to train for EM

11) MI -- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
just wasn't feeling it here

12) MI -- Spectrum Health Grand Rapids/Michigan State University
like #11 wasn't feeling it here either

13) OH -- University of Toledo Medical Center
don't want to live in toledo lol

14) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
cool program but really didn't mesh with faculty/residents. Also a Michigan Alum so don't want to go to OSU

Withdrew prior to hearing from: none
Attended: all
Rejected by: Michigan, Uchicago, NW, Cinci+lot more

Note from @TrashPanda13: Legit reason for putting tOSU last. Rivalries are forever. Not a UM alum but have ties so Go Blue!

 

[TrashPanda13]

Posted via Google form.

Applicant summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Medical school region: East coast
Anything that made you more competitive? Research experience, several publications

***DO Applicant***

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Perceived quality of training, opportunities after graduation, people, location

1) MD -- University of Maryland
Pros: Super academic, world-renowned faculty, diverse training, unique fellowship opportunities, Shock Trauma, enjoyed my interview day
Cons: 12s at University Hospital, travel for some sites, heavy workload

2) PA -- St. Luke's University Health Network
Pros: EM well respected throughout hospital, no competition for procedures, great anesthesia experience, unique critical care fellowship, laid-back faculty and residents
Cons: Not a true academic center, +/- for location

3) NY -- State University of New York - Stony Brook
Pros: Who was that critical care doc they have?, world-renowned faculty, medical student teaching opportunities, ED-ICU, active research, super friendly faculty and residents
Cons: Poor relationship with trauma, location for some, high COL on LI (but salary compensates for this)

4) NJ -- Cooper Hospital
Pro: Great reputation, several fellowship opportunities, academic, great faculty, diverse patient population + trauma
Cons: +/- for location

5) NC -- Wake Forest University
Pros: Very academic, fellowship opportunities, great interactions with residents
Cons: +/- for location

6) PA -- Lehigh Valley Health Network
Pro: Residents seemed very solid, excellent hospital, active in research, new Tox fellowship
Cons: Some off-putting interactions on rotation, not a true academic center, +/- for location, 4 years

7) PA -- Thomas Jefferson University
Pros: Academic, established program, diverse faculty, diverse training experience, strong US department
Cons: Question acuity and exposure at TJU ED, new trauma experience at smaller hospital

8) PA -- Wellspan York Hospital
Pros: Established program, diverse faculty, US fellowship, new PD
Cons: Community hospital, few fellowships, didn't click with residents

9) NJ -- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Pros: Excellent PD and chair, several new fellowships, penetrating trauma, sick population
Cons: County-feel, +/- for location, 4 years

10) PA -- Penn State Health Milton S Hershey
Pros: Academic hospital, diverse faculty
Cons: Few fellowships, interviews felt like interrogation

11) PA -- Albert Einstein Medical Center
Pros: Senior residents seem to be solid, sick patient population, penetrating trauma, Philly Philly
Cons: County feel, not much elective time for 4 year program

12) NJ -- Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Pros: Diverse patient population, academic hospital, renovated ED
Cons: 12s, no community experience, few fellowships, interviews felt like interrogation, did not click at pre-interview dinner

13) PA -- Drexel University - Philadelphia
Pros: Diverse faculty, diverse curriculum, Philly Philly
Cons: Felt like residents didn't get along with some attendings, few fellowship opportunities, terrible relationship with trauma, no US faculty

14) NJ -- Hackensack University Medical Center
Pros: Large emphasis on wellness, +/- location
Cons: Community program, no fellowships, Level 2 trauma

Declined invite: Reading, Geisinger, SUNY Upstate, Grand Strand, University of Florida (late invite logistics), St. Joe's
Rejected by: Hennepin, Northwestern, UPenn, Temple, Johns Hopkins, Maine, Virginia Tech, Morristown

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 220s/240s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/High Pass/Honors
AOA: No
Medical school region: Midwest
Anything that made you more competitive: solid amount of background in EM prior to med school, some EM research with no pub, URM

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Fit with faculty and residents, happiness at location for SO

1) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Pros: People, salary/COL, 3yr, hybrid program (county/academic)
Cons: ATL would be new region (SO willing to move out here) so growing pains with being somewhere new

2) CA -- University of California San Diego
Pros: loved the people and location, love the amount of sites they have (5+) to get some well rounded training. Not worried about the trauma situation...if i wanted a lot of trauma exposure i'd go into trauma surg and I feel confident they provide enough exposure. SO would be happy here
Cons: 4 years, COL

3) TX -- University of Texas Houston
Pros: hit it off with faculty here and some residents. 3 years, great COL and SO loves texas (we hope to move here after residency anyways)
Cons: houston seems pretty sprawled out, some of the rotations seemed pretty long with hours, wellness didnt come off as a huge thing to me here but whatevs

4) MI -- University of Michigan
Pros: loved the faculty here, really bought into the mission and feel they have extensive resources for whatever i choose to pursue. SO loved ann arbor, great salary and other incentives.
Cons: 4 years, ann arbor winters, ICU heavy which is +/-

5) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: liked the leadership here, 3 years
Cons: outside of chi, maybe too community for my taste

6) IL -- Rush University Medical Center
Pros: rotation here, liked the leadership and residents and where the program is going
Cons: new program, no alumni, still has kinks to work out. the hospital ED was +/- with the exposure of patients i saw.

7) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: rotated here, love the people.
Cons: 4 years, did not like a lot of the curriculum, salary sucks compared to COL in chicago

8) WI -- Medical College of Wisconsin
Pros: 3 years, seemed like a solid place to train at.
Cons: t's wisconsin and outside milwaukee...nothing bad to say but nothing good to say about the program.

9) NV -- UNLV
Pros: +3 years, COL with salary is solid. vegas could be fun (SO has family in vegas)
Cons: residents were not my type of people, did not like PD whatsoever, would be more inclined to rank it higher if PD ended up taking position as chair of department. did not like the idea of working 12's. people seemed burnt out...overall not impressed but ranked higher than i wanted because of SO

10) IL -- University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros: Solid program, good faculty, strong alumni base
Cons:commuting all over chicago with the traffic sounds horrible.

11) IL -- University of Illinois College of Medicine/St. Francis Medical Center at Peoria
Pros: wonderful people, probably one of the most chill PD's i've talked to, COL great
Cons: location, alumni not really in places i want to be

12) IL -- Loyola Medicine
Pros: 3 year, decent salary, know chair of department and really like him
Cons: really did not like the PD, got bad vibes from him. New program, expected a lot more interview day and did not feel like it lived up to the expectations i had. 6 person program sounds terrible to me.

13) FL -- Kendall Regional Medical Center
Pros: new PD was someone i could see myself working with, 3 years, location
Cons: Salary sucked, really only interviewed because it was a video interview (so I could interview while i was traveling) but ended up liking the program more than i thought i would. nothing good or bad to say about the program

14) MI -- St John Hospital & Medical Center
Pros: decent people, seems like solid training.
Cons: not a name brand program. did not like the gross pointe area/my wife cringes at the thought of living in detroit.

Anything else to add? Definitely overapplied b/c of low step scores, then realized your step scores don't really matter. I withdrew from a lot of programs after my first ten or so invites. Weiiiiiird a** application process with no logic to it...good luck everyone!

Applied to: all on list +40 more
Declined invite: Wake forest, beaumont, SIU, Resurrection, el paso, UC riverside, allegheny and u pitt
Interviewed at: all ranked
Withdrew prior to hearing from: About 15 programs mostly on the east coast and florida
Rejected by: UMD, UNM, Utah, (silent rejection for maricopa and U of A), a handful more that I can't recall

 

[TrashPanda13]

***Note from @TrashPanda 13: This is an update to post #31. I left the original one up for comparison's sake.***

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Medical school region: Midwest
Anything else 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 - still

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

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.

Cons:
- Chicago COL
- A *slight* pretentious vibe and a little arrogant feel from some residents
- 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) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
* biggest jump from last list. It was tight before and my feelings that they were super impersonal has changed a little.
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.

5) 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 better. I'd be very happy to end up here.

6) 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.

7) SC -- 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. *Ended up deciding i'd rather be happy where I lived than some of the other factors.

8) 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 didn't love the location as much as I thought I would.

9) TX -- CHRISTUS Health / Texas A&M
Pros:
- Rotated here & absolutely loved it. If you wanna get hands-on and procedure heavy experience on an away then this is where you wanna be
- "Sick" gets thrown out everywhere you go, but this place has truly medically sick patients regularly with some good trauma (despite being level 2) thrown in. Plus, a population that is appreciative.
- Loved these people. I know I could be happy as a resident here.

Cons:
- So far from my family and not the best place for a single, young person.
- Almost all grads going into community, which is fine. I'm just not ready to limit my options.

Overall:
- If my goals/life were different this could be top 3. I love these people/this place. I am sad to be putting it here, but I just want to be happy with my location.

10) 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.

11) KY -- University of Louisville
Pros:
- My home program. 90% of my best friends, family are within a couple hours
- I get along so will with most of the residents
- Autonomy unmatched. Residents run the dpt and are absolutely ready for the real world on day 1
- Trauma is super strong

Cons:
- Ready to get away for a bit - most important
- I don't love the off-service experience we get at UofL
- Grass is always greener, probably
- I feel I saw a significantly lower proportion of medically sick patients here than my other two rotations

Overall:
- I didn't know I wanted to do EM coming into med school and the people/mentors within the dpt are who helped me figure that out. I'll always be grateful for that. I know I could train here and be very happy, but if I don't get away now I don't know if I ever will.

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
- *Reminded me a lot of Corpus

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
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) CA -- University of California San Francisco/ Fresno
Pros:
- Rotated here and loved my time
- Very busy dpt with a truly sick patient population and some really great trauma
- Dedicated to education and doing things the right way, no shortcuts
- 3rd and 4th year residents were confident and smart
- People were proud of the program

Cons:
- 4 years, big one for me. I purposefully rotated at a 4 year program to get a feel for the differences and it definitely helped me realize that, for myself, it was absolutely unnecessary
- Location. Far from family. Didn't enjoy California even the cities I visited while there. "Close to everything" - sure, but I'm not too interested in what that everything entails. I'm an outdoorsy person but more of a fishing and camping and less of a climbing and mountain biking type.
- Although I loved all the people. Generally just wasn't my style

Overall:
- This is really a strong program with some truly amazing and dedicated people who make it fun and enjoyable. I just don't see it as stronger than some of the programs in the MW/South who maybe get less recognition. Obviously, wasn't my fit.

Anything else to add?
Good luck to my classmates!
*sorry for annoyingly posting two lists, but wanted to give an update and add in places I rotated that may have IDed me before.

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.

***Feel free to message me on SDN (@tatum) if you have questions about the places I rotated or whatever else.***

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, Louisville, Corpus Christi, UCSF-Fresno
Declined 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
Interviewed at: all ranked
Withdrew prior to hearing from: none
Rejections: Emory, Carolinas (one that hurt)
Forever Waitlisted: Desert Regional, U of Arizona, UT Chattanooga, Cook County

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary
Board scores: 230s/240s
EM rotation grades: Pass/Honors/Honors
AOA: No
Medical school region: Southeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: multiple leadership roles

Main considerations in creating this ROL: fit (wanna be able to hang w co-residents), location (south-ish, want a city + outdoor activities), quality of training, wellness/balance (want good training without killing myself), want to do a fellowship

1) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: residents and faculty seemed really down-to-earth and well-rounded. historically great academic program that opens the door for fellowship/academic involvement in the south. clicked with the PD. slovis of course. liked that they record and review all their traumas to improve upon. love nashville.
Cons: possibly a little too academic. not sure if they get substantial experience with the underserved. almost felt like i was an outlier (i'm not from a big name med school, no 260s board score...)

2) AZ -- Maricopa Medical Center
Pros: the residents were really chill and funny, while also smart af. like the niche development thing. county experience. lots of outdoors activities in PHX. i'm from the south so the summer heat doesn't scare me.
Cons: ED is a little small. summer months supposedly a little slower. other trauma centers in area.

3) VA -- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
Pros: fit in well with the residents, can tell they do fun things and hangout. PD easy to talk to, seems like a real nice guy. facilities great. seems like a solid program w some neat rotations. longitudinal tracks.
Cons: wish there was hiking or skiing closer

4) UT -- University of Utah Hospital & Clinics
Pros: can't beat the location. SO loves it as well. really like the schedule/rotations they do-- combo of university hospital + community hospital.
Cons: worried about acuity/volume. prob not a lot of super sick pts with chronic conditions. didn't click as much with residents as at other places.

5) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Pros: great academic program w major county experience at Grady. residents and faculty both great. Loved PD.
Cons: just can't sell myself on atlanta. didn't seem like the residents actually hungout.

6) TX -- UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
Pros: clicked w the people, love Dallas
Cons: consult heavy, "move the meat," PD eh

7) TX -- University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Pros: the PD is amazing. residents seem fun. seems like they really focus on leadership development here. Austin would be a good time.
Cons: newer program. possibly lower volume compared to some of my others.

8) FL -- University of Florida - Gainesville
Pros: faculty and PD awesome. solid program. academic but fair share of very sick county-type patients.
Cons: gainesville. would be hard for SO to find a job.

9) FL -- Orlando Regional Medical Center
Pros: residents were SO happy. felt like I was in a grey's anatomy episode with how good-looking they all were. solid program. nice that all three hospitals are together.
Cons: 12 hr shifts. orlando-- i'm too old for disney.

10) FL -- University of South Florida
Pros: residents all really fun, hangout a ton. ultrasound curriculum strong. workout challenge with the PD.
Cons: just didn't feel it.

Withdrew prior to hearing back from: Duke
Rejected by: virginia tech, uc san diego, university of north carolina, carolinas medical center, all the chicago programs lol

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant summary
Board scores: 240s/260s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: No

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Geography played a bigger role than I anticipated, in the end it seemed like a lot of the programs were very similar. Went in thinking I wanted county, came out realizing I want academic center with resources to serve underrepresented patients. Also thought I wanted a 4 yr, now going for more 3yr. Strong female leadership is important to me.

1) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: My favorite PD on the trail. This program has it all for me, 3 year with resources to take care of an underserved population. The schedule with two 3-day weekends/month is great. Flight options are something I was looking for. Resident classes seem very thoughtfully diverse. Ideal location for me and partner. New LVL1 trauma center is a great set up.
Cons: Chicago traffic/COL but can't escape that.

2) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: Awesome residents, great training. Amazing amount of resources for a county place. EM is super strong here. Good geographically.
Cons: A lot of older faculty, would prefer a younger group. Don't like the lack of intubations until 3rd year, but clearly their training works.

3) NC -- University of North Carolina
Pros: Really liked the vice chair and PD here. The residents seemed to be really close. It would be nice to be warm. They seem to get great diversity of training with Wake. Easy place to live.
Cons: 12s as an intern and commute

4) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros:Everyone hates on this place but I really liked it. The residents seemed strong, and most importantly to me, seemed to be able to get jobs anywhere. I had great interviews with really cool people I'd love to work with.
Cons: Don't want to live in Boston

5) WI -- University of Wisconsin
Pros:I like the 3+1 here. Good location for me. Really liked the PD and residents. Great flight opportunities. Easy place to live.
Cons: worried about volume

6) GA -- Emory University School of Medicine
Pros:Awesome residents and PD. Would get great training here, would be fun to live in Atlanta.
Cons: worried it's not academic enough for what I'm looking for. I think the volume might be too high.

7) NM -- University of New Mexico
Pros: Hidden gem, sick patient population. Wouldn't mind living in the southwest.
Cons: undergoing leadership changes, residents seemed distant

8) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: probably favorite residents on the trail, would be awesome training.
Cons: very few resources

9) AZ -- Maricopa Medical Center
Pros: Awesome residents, great opportunity to learn Spanish
Cons: few resources, lower volume, HOT

10) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
Pros: I actually loved this program, and it would be higher if it worked better for SO. best use of 4th year on the trail. Awesome PD. Really great residents. They do a good job of showing you parts of Baltimore
Cons: doesn't work well geographically

11) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: Really liked this place on IV day. Obviously insane amount of resources.
Cons: concerns about volume/exposure at main site, don't want to commute all over to get experience. Don't want to do that much ICU. Don't feel like they use resources to actually impact underserved population that much.

12) CT -- Yale New Haven Medical Center
Pros: Again, loved this program. Would be higher if not for SO. Great residents, seemed to really focus on #wellness.
Cons: New Haven is so isolated with an airport with 1 gate

13) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: I like the 3+1
Cons: Just didn't vibe with this program. Still don't want to live in Boston

14) OH -- Ohio State University Medical Center
Pros: good academic program with solid didactics
Cons: got super weird vibes from residents. They were describing turf wars with APPs for procedures and some did not seem happy.

15) TN -- Vanderbilt University
Pros: Wanted to like this place. Obviously, academic powerhouse.
Cons: Didn't vibe with leadership at all.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

Applicant Summary
...
Definitely overapplied b/c of low step scores, then realized your step scores don't really matter. I withdrew from a lot of programs after my first ten or so invites. Weiiiiiird a** application process with no logic to it...good luck everyone!

Your step scores matter. They may not take priority over the quality of your SLOE, they will not be the sole factor, but they absolutely play a large role in your application success.

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 240s/240s
EM rotation grades: High Pass/Honors
AOA: Yes
Medical school region: Midwest

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Geography, tightness of residents, serving uninsured/underserved

1) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: Rotated here, loved it. A lot of these attendings take a pay cut to work there, shows how great of a program it is, excited about the potential change in PDs, pathology is incredible
Cons: 4 years, 2 months on the floor, resources at times are an issue

2) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: 3 years, double golden weekend/month, serve an uninsured population, PD is well liked
Cons: some of the residents were super chill but a couple were kinda of weird?

3) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: 3 years, love a chaotic ED, residents were pretty great, some of the attendings tailgate the bears
Cons: not the best commute, Christ still doesn't have a super international name attached to the program

4) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: Really was impressed by the CMO's talk, selling the residents on the 4th
Cons: Not sure about the patient population. Also not sure how I feel about a strong academic program vs county/community

5) IL -- University of Illinois Hospital - Chicago
Pros: Loved my rotation, fits pretty much everything i want in a residency
Cons: Not a fan of 4 different sites.

6) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: Obviously an amazing program and great city
Cons: Work way too much. Not sure how I feel about this circle of trust business

7) NY -- Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York
Pros: love the mix of academic and county. Seems they make living in NYC reasonable
Cons: SO not the biggest fan of NYC

8) MD -- Johns Hopkins Hospital
9) CT -- Yale New Haven Medical Center
10) FL -- Jackson Memorial Hospital
11) MI -- Henry Ford Hospital
12) NY -- New York Methodist Hospital

Anything else to add: Hell of ride, GL everyone
Declined: U wisconsin, Presence res., etc.
Rejected: LA county, alameda, ucsf, NYU, boston program's and a couple of others

 

[TrashPanda13]

Applicant Summary
Board scores: 220s/250s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Pass (P/F only)
AOA: No
Medical school region: Southeast
Anything else that made you more competitive: Not really.

Main considerations in creating this ROL: Couples matching so below is my "singles" rank list and differs a bit from what I ended up putting on NRMP (Sorry, program directors...). Didn't apply to 4-year programs. Didn't apply to ultra high COL areas (no CA/NY/Boston). Fit was the single most important thing to me, as was what I felt to be a humane shift schedule. Didn't really care about how much I got along with the residents unless they were outright weird, but I cared a fair amount about how much I vibed with the PD. Moonlighting was pretty important to me. Low COL was important to me. Urban patient populations + county-style were a plus.

1) VA -- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
This is my home program and I didn't find anything on the interview trail that would convince me to move. Dr. Moll is the best, and VCU is a great mix of urban patient population in an academic setting. Great moonlight opps, great place to live, 3 years of 18x10hrs shifts.

2) SC -- Palmetto Health Richland
I actually like Palmetto for a lot of the same reasons I liked VCU. Dr. Cook was awesome. Their shift schedule is very humane (though a lot of 12's early on in training). Great moonlighting opps. Columbia is a solid southern city with lots of nice places to live for very cheap. I liked the county-vibes that Palmetto had. Benefits were AMAZING and it's clear this group has a lot of money to throw around, which was a plus.

3) NE -- University of Nebraska Medical Center
What a surprise this was. Everyone on interview day was amazing from intern to program director. It's clear people are very happy here. Salary and benefits were really good, especially for Omaha, which is a great midwestern city. With the relocation of Creighton, UNMC now gets a lot of the more urban-omaha knife and gun club stuff, so they get exceptionally well rounded training now (see urban, rural, and wealthy all at the same hospital). Definitely still a little less poppin than the ones I listed above, and moonlighting was basically non-existent here which was tough for me.

4) OH -- Case Western Reserve University/University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center
Amazing faculty that has done a total 180 on their program in the past few years. This is a program on the up and up with THE most enthusiastic leadership team I found on the trail. They also recently got trauma center certification and are now stealing good cases away from MetroHealth at a pretty good clip. I felt that this was pretty on par with UNMC except that I'd rather live in Omaha than Cleveland, and the program was still working out a few bugs in the system, so to speak. Moonlighting was abysmal (something like $60/hr to work in the ICU. Pass.

5) FL -- University of Florida - Gainesville
Solid academic program with good name recognition. Dr. Beattie was a gem, and I could tell people were happy there. Honestly this is a program I'd be happy at, but just didn't really speak to me on interview day. Nothing really good or bad to say about it.

6) VA -- Eastern Virginia Medical School
This was a hard program for me to rank, because my couple's match interviewed here first and got asked some uncomfortable/borderline illegal questions (not EM) so it kind of biased me going in. With that said, I loved Dr. Knapp, and actually pretty much everyone else I met. Norfolk isn't my cup of tea, but also isn't the worst place in the world to live. Wouldn't be sad or happy to match here.

7) VA -- Carilion Clinic - Virginia Tech Carilion Emergency Medicine Residency
Roanoke was my favorite place to visit on the interview trail. If you are into the mountains, it's literally a perfect town. The residency seemed really strong, and the residents seemed like they liked their program a lot. With that said, I thought the salary and benefits were a little rough. I didn't vibe that well with the PD during the interview. I also felt like I'd miss the urban patient population a bit by going here.

8) TX -- John Peter Smith Health Network
Excellent county-style program. Actually most everything I wanted in a program objectively. The residents were happy and well trained. It seemed like wellness was actually taken seriously here. I didn't like how the interview day was structured. It very much seemed like it was designed to "score" me rather than get to know me as a person. I also am not a huge fan of Texas, which I figured out when I visited. Everything just seemed dead. I liked it a whole lot better than UTSW (lower on the rank list).

9) NC -- East Carolina University/Vidant Medical Center
Insane volume and pathology. Greenville is truly in the middle of nowhere. I like smaller cities, but even I have my limits. The PD was very polarizing but I loved his sense of humor, especially towards the ridiculousness of the process. Salary and moonlighting were on the lower ends. The residents didn't have access to dictation software/devices?

10) LA -- Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge
Seemed like a real knife and gun club with huge amount of resident autonomy. I jived with the PD. Moonlighting rates are insane in that part of the country. Baton Rouge was not my ideal city, and the traffic was surprisingly terrible for how spread out it was. I think a big negative was their lack of Ob/gyn exposure since their main hospitals basically sends out those cases (old school catholic hospital). That really dropped it hard for me.

11) VA -- University of Virginia Health System
Got along well with the PD and the faculty. Charlottesville is a nice city with a lot to do, but it's congested and relatively expensive for a the part of the country it's in. I think the biggest things that dropped it lower were lack of urban patient population, and salary and benefits being low compared to COL.

12) FL -- University of Florida - Jacksonville
This is where my list starts to get into programs I would be less than happy to match at. UF Jax is an AMAZING program that would probably be at the very top of my list if they didn't work their residents into the ground. I knew it would be ranked low the moment a resident at the dinner told me intern year they work 21 shifts per block that are about 13-14 hours by the time you get out. That's just not what will make me a happy and successful resident.

13) TX -- UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
Great name with a frankly massive medical center. That's where the pros end for me. I got the feeling that EM got a little pushed around with respect to the other "big dogs" on campus. Dallas was way too big and crowded for me. The residents also seemed to be very lukewarm on their program director. OK -- University of Oklahoma College of Medicine/Tulsa This program was okay all things considered, but I couldn't get over the fact that their main training site was a level 3 trauma center when there were level 2 trauma centers in town.

14) GA -- Medical College of Georgia (MCG)
The residents seemed very overworked with a high shift burden. I didn't vibe with the PD that well. I thought Augusta was not a very nice town. On the plus side the moonlighting rates were out of control good.

15) PA -- Drexel University - Philadelphia
Honestly I really really didn't want to live in Philadelphia and it clouded everything else on interview day. As I've gotten a little older I've really become big-city averse. I'd be miserable holing up in an apartment for 3 year of my life after living in a house for the past 4.

Anything else to add?
I don't think a single program I interviewed at was "bad." and I ranked them all knowing that at the end of the day I would be a good EM physician no matter where I trained. Good luck to everyone who reads!