Another help with ranking thread :D

[CanIMakeIt]

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Hi y'all

As usual I am back to benefit from the SDN collective and hopefully get some more input to make a same decision, coz i have failed to reach a conclusion on my own. I thought I will post it now to get some opinions, before there is a flod of similar threads

I want a program with solid hands-on clinical training and teaching, happy residents, and good Cards fellowship. Location is not a problem. Currently my list (not by any mean binding..just putting my thoughts down as the programs pop in my head) is:

1. Duke - Despite match horror last year, still a great place to be. MS-Global Health is pretty lucrative program, good research oppotunities (will not try for their cards program afterwards though as it is 4 yrs and not 3 yrs) ... good ancillary service from what I have heard. Have the speciality inpatient service model which i like

2. WashU - Seemes a really good place to train with good amount of hands-on stuff without too much scut. Great research opps starting intern year ... amazing ancillary services .. lot of money everywhere

3. UTSW - will get all the hands-on I ever wished for and more. Not sure about on-wards teaching (and pimping...I can live with not knowing but demeaning kind of malignant teaching is not for me)...county hospital (prob poor ancillary services), about 8 unit months --> which may decrease to make way for ambulatory

4. OHSU - Got a really good vibe from the program on the day of interview. Amazing teaching during morning report, rounds..kind of program I like...not too sure about the emphasis on 1 yr hospitalist kind of deal after residency pre-match scenario...and I am not sure of their fellowship match either

5. UW (will rank both categorical and PC) - Great program with diverse training but fellowship match is not too strong...not sure about teaching rounds

6. UNC - speciality in-patient service model, good teaching, home program so know the infrastructure and attendings/residents well.

7. Baylor-Houston --> similar to UTSW but has lost Methodist and not sure how strong the program is for fellowship placement

8. Mayo-Rochester - great emphasis on teaching but almost no hands-on or autonomy dealeo.

9. UC-Davis - seemed like there was lot of emphasis on hands-on stuff, cardiology is getting stronger under new cards chief (or so I was told during my interview)

10. Harbor-UCLA - mostly like UTSW but smaller program and not as prestigious, so not sure about their fellowship match (seemed like they place ppl in good places in Cards)

11. Tulane - not sure about the stability of the program post Katrina...still trying to build the program back up...PD really passionate about education and service.

Thanks a ton in advance for any help you can provide.....any thoughts etc are welcome.

Good luck with ROL

 

[nasdr]

it sounds like you're leaning toward duke or washU (or maybe that's just the impression i got).

duke's cardiology program and match list are fantastic and probably the most reputable out of your list. historically, they only take 1-2 of their own into their cards program, but last year's pool was apparently very strong and they took 4. they are a cardiology factory and matched 12 people last yr.

matches for last yr: cards - duke x 4, cleveland clinic x 2, texas heart, u rochester, musc x 2, wake forest, northwestern

i know less about the other programs, but i assume you cant go wrong with a place like washU either.

best of luck!

 

[Lasclalo]

Quick question: why did you think that the UW fellowship match wasn't so strong? I don't have the list in front of me but off the top of my head it seemed on par with other good programs on the interview day. Is this a cards specific thing? I kind of assume your interested in cards if the interviewers are talking to you about the strength of the cards division (apologies if this isn't the case).

WashU seemed like a great place to me, too. Probably can't go wrong with most of the places on your list, although I didn't interview in the South at all (e.g. Duke, UTSW), so I can't really comment on those programs.

 

[mirrortest7]

Quick question: why did you think that the UW fellowship match wasn't so strong?

I was wondering the same thing. I remember thinking their fellowship match list looked pretty good. Don't remember cards specifically, though.

 

[dragonfly99]

Of the places you mentioned on your list, I think that Duke, WashU and UTSW likely have the strongest cardiology matches year after year. Mayo an perhaps Baylor would be close seconds in my book...Baylor has had some shakeups in their teaching hospitals in recent years and several faculty bailed out, so hard to know how that will all end up, but they have a long history of being academically solid and having good cardiology-related research. However, every program you listed above has a solid academic reputation and you should be able to match into cards somewhere from any of those places, provided you do fine during residency. If you want to match somewhere more "academic" and/or to do bench research, then I think Duke/WashU/UTSW/Baylor/Mayo probably have the biggest academic names, which probably is what gets you in those types of fellowships for the most part (that, and/or having a PhD or lots of research experience).

 

[153445]

You seem to be a really strong candidate and have great programs to choose from.

For your goals of matching into cards and being happy, it sounds like
Duke = WashU (maybe geography and which group of residents you like better would help you rank one higher than the other)
UTSW > Baylor > Mayo (just because it also seems like you want autonomy ... I don't think UTSW is all that malignant; also Parkland seems better run than the Houston county hospitals)

The rest in the order of gut feeling, but you may not have to get that far down the list.

I have similar questions about OHSU but have decided that Portland is such a great geographical fit for me that I wouldn't mind doing fellowship there, and they seem to take their own.

Good luck with your ROL!!
Everything below my top 2 changes on a daily basis.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

Thanks to everyone who replied for their time and input.

Lasclalo and mirrortest7, Re: UW fellowship match, as per the booklet they gave us, 2008 match for cardiology was: Texas Heart x1, UW x2 with a lot of residents going into Hospitalist service. I understand that it might be different every year but Duke, WashU, and UTSW each had about 10-13 ppl match into Cards (Which again might differ from year to year). It is a great school though and I am confident that I can get Cards fellowship, if I do things right.

dragonfly99 I was thinking the same thing about Mayo and Baylor. Plus a little lack of autonomy at Mayo and uncertainty about Baylor might push them out of my top 5. Also I am not so much for basic science kind of research ... neither do i have background nor time/interest. So i think, the research I am going to do will be mostly clinical. Duke/WashU/UTSW I think will most likely be in my top 5.

Wenckebach thanks for your comments ... believe me, my application is not as strong as it looks like...but i do believe in randomness of this process. I have to say that I had my best day at OHSU and if I were to go just with my gut feeling, I would out it my number 1 and call it a day. Everything there was amazing. It is not a known academic powerhouse but everyone at my institute thinks they have strong IM program.

nasdr I wouldn't mind ending up at any of these duke/washu/utsw/ohsu/uw ... all were pretty similar yet so different. I don;t think I would want to go to a cush program coz knowing me, I will become sloppy, have to go to a place that will push me hard and keep me on my toes but no so much that I start hating my life 😀 ... I hope I am making sense.

Please keep the input coming. These comments and my own experiences have already given me a basic framework to put my ROL in ....