Albert Einstein?

[anesthesiabucky]

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So I am trying to decide whether or not to interview at Albert Einstein and I just found out that the program is on probation. Can someone tell me what that means. Why do programs get put on probation and what does that mean for their future? Also, it looks like Albert Einstein got a new Program Director but then he left suddenly last year. Anyone associated with the program who can expand on that? It looks like people were very hopeful that he would make some good changes but now he is no longer the PD. I am new to this whole process and don't know what to make of it. Obviously does not sound very good, but I would like to hear from people more knowledgeable about this situation than me.

 

[PMPMD]

So I am trying to decide whether or not to interview at Albert Einstein and I just found out that the program is on probation. Can someone tell me what that means. Why do programs get put on probation and what does that mean for their future? Also, it looks like Albert Einstein got a new Program Director but then he left suddenly last year. Anyone associated with the program who can expand on that? It looks like people were very hopeful that he would make some good changes but now he is no longer the PD. I am new to this whole process and don't know what to make of it. Obviously does not sound very good, but I would like to hear from people more knowledgeable about this situation than me.

Programs get put on "probation" for a number of reasons. This means the ACGME RRC (residency review committee) for anesthesia found (typically) multiple faults (called citations) in their program, and awarded a cycle length of 1 year or less. The ACGME reviews program every x number of years. When they review a program, they decide how many years until they need to come back. The better the program (according to the ACGME), the longer they can wait to come back. 5 years is the max, but uncommonly seen any more. 3 or 4 is acceptable/good, and 1-2 is concerning.

Common reasons include:

• Duty hours violations
• Staff not board-certified
• Violating the teaching rule (1 attending : 2 resident ORs)
• Didactics not up-to-snuff
• Low board pass rate

And many others I'm forgetting.

So does this mean it's a "bad program" or that you should avoid it altogether? IMO, not necessarily. It depends on the reason for going on probation. If you interview there, you should ask specific questions. Actually, no, they should tell you exactly why they're on probation, and what they're doing about it. Find out what the individual citations were, and specifically what they're doing about each one.

Now, if you're a rockstar applicant, maybe it's not worth your time to go there. I don't know the reputation of that program, so I can't say how the clinical training is.

I know of a good program that got (IMO) a bad eval by the RRC, and was awarded a 1 year cycle, only to turn it around and get a 4 year cycle.

Maybe some other SDNers can drop some knowledge of the particulars of this institution.

 

[nycitygas]

From what I've heard through the grapevine...
Pros:
Cover a few hospitals in the Bronx, easily commutable from manhattan
Good breadth of cases, lots of heavy vascular cardiac
New Chairman from UMDNJ with a very good rep
Low call ratio
Cons:
High Board failure in some classes (I've heard 50% in one)
Hours which I find hard to believe in anesthesia (6am-8pm on the regular)
Unfriendly attendings
The Bronx sucks

Programs get put on "probation" for a number of reasons. This means the ACGME RRC (residency review committee) for anesthesia found (typically) multiple faults (called citations) in their program, and awarded a cycle length of 1 year or less. The ACGME reviews program every x number of years. When they review a program, they decide how many years until they need to come back. The better the program (according to the ACGME), the longer they can wait to come back. 5 years is the max, but uncommonly seen any more. 3 or 4 is acceptable/good, and 1-2 is concerning.

Common reasons include:

• Duty hours violations
• Staff not board-certified
• Violating the teaching rule (1 attending : 2 resident ORs)
• Didactics not up-to-snuff
• Low board pass rate

And many others I'm forgetting.

So does this mean it's a "bad program" or that you should avoid it altogether? IMO, not necessarily. It depends on the reason for going on probation. If you interview there, you should ask specific questions. Actually, no, they should tell you exactly why they're on probation, and what they're doing about it. Find out what the individual citations were, and specifically what they're doing about each one.

Now, if you're a rockstar applicant, maybe it's not worth your time to go there. I don't know the reputation of that program, so I can't say how the clinical training is.

I know of a good program that got (IMO) a bad eval by the RRC, and was awarded a 1 year cycle, only to turn it around and get a 4 year cycle.

Maybe some other SDNers can drop some knowledge of the particulars of this institution.

 

[cincincyreds]

I would say if you have no choice, go there. But, the hours from the few people I have known to go there are fairly terrible and a few of the attendings are down right out of line. Again, if you have another choice, I would say go with it. But if happens to be the place you match at, at least you will be very well trained.

 

[PMPMD]

From what I've heard through the grapevine...
Pros:
Cover a few hospitals in the Bronx, easily commutable from manhattan
Good breadth of cases, lots of heavy vascular cardiac
New Chairman from UMDNJ with a very good rep
Low call ratio
Cons:
High Board failure in some classes (I've heard 50% in one)
Hours which I find hard to believe in anesthesia (6am-8pm on the regular)Unfriendly attendings
The Bronx sucks

Unfortunately I have heard of more than a couple programs with this kind of hours, mostly big "workhorse" academic centers.

 

[nycitygas]

Unfortunately I have heard of more than a couple programs with this kind of hours, mostly big "workhorse" academic centers.

But thrown in the fact that the hospital is located in central Bronx. You will likely have at least an hour commute each way. Which means you are leaving home at 5am and coming home at 9pm. Brutal

 

[PMPMD]

But thrown in the fact that the hospital is located in central Bronx. You will likely have at least an hour commute each way. Which means you are leaving home at 5am and coming home at 9pm. Brutal

Yeah that's heinous.

 

[anesthesiabucky]

thanks for the input everyone, i really appreciate it. some people also just told me that when they visited the program this year, they openly talked about their probation status. i guess they now have a new chair/PD who is making many positive changes. it sounds like the current residents are really happy with the changes as well. ive also been told that they were reexamined and are going to hear about their accreditation status within the next month. im going to be in NY for other interviews at the same time i have this one, so i think i will check it out. i may be pleasantly surprised, who knows. i hope i did not discourage anyone else from looking at this program because of my initial post. that was not my intention at all. just wanted to get some more information!

 

[wmc24]

thanks for the input everyone, i really appreciate it. some people also just told me that when they visited the program this year, they openly talked about their probation status. i guess they now have a new chair/PD who is making many positive changes. it sounds like the current residents are really happy with the changes as well. ive also been told that they were reexamined and are going to hear about their accreditation status within the next month. im going to be in NY for other interviews at the same time i have this one, so i think i will check it out. i may be pleasantly surprised, who knows. i hope i did not discourage anyone else from looking at this program because of my initial post. that was not my intention at all. just wanted to get some more information!

the program is off probation and has gotten a 3 year accreditation as of yesterday.

 

[gensurgonmymind]

Bumping this thread. I'm a third year student who is leaning towards applying for general surgery next application cycle (hence the name) but is also considering anesthesia. I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on Montefiore's program? I've heard about the bad things but it seems like some changes were made. What were the changes that were made and how do current residents like the program?