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As a CA3 at Hopkins I would also like to dispel some of the myths and rumors floating around.
Attitude:
When I interviewed here my first impression was that the staff and faculty were very friendly. I met with the co-director of the program first and he told me to call him by his first name. I soon began to realize that all the residents call their attendings by their first name here! After being here almost three years now I can say the environment is very collegial and friendly. Out of the 80 attendings here, I can count on one hand the number of people that I dont like working with. The surgeons here are for the most part very easy to get along with. The neurosurgeons are truly great and Ben Carson (one of our neurosurgeons) is one of the nicest most helpful people I have ever met. There may be some times when we do things The Hopkins Way, but generally if you have strong feelings about doing an anesthetic a little differently, almost always your attending will support your decision. There is also an opportunity to leave the Hopkins environment during your third year and experience how other hospitals do things including private practice environments.
Appearance:
Our program director, Scott, and I share the same dislike for starched shirts and silk ties. For this reason you will almost never see him (or me) in a tie. He is however a strong resident advocate and has gone to bat for us on numerous occasions. In my opinion I would rather have a friendly advocate in flannel than a jerk in a suit and tie.
DOs vs FMGs vs MDs
It is true that we have our share of FMGs and DOs in our program. After being in medicine almost 4 years now, I have found that some of the best physicians (residents and attendings) are DOs or FMGs. The bottom line is that at Hopkins there is not an extreme weight placed on where you may have gone to medical school. The focus for accepting residents goes beyond that and they look at leadership potential, research experience and overall personality.
Facilities:
While it is true that some of our ORs may be in need of a face lift, the majority are brand new or have been recently renovated. All the Peds and cardiac ORs have been renovated recently and the Outpatient Center is quite new. The Weinberg Cancer center has brand new ORs. One of the ICUs is in need of a face lift but the Weinberg ICU is brand new. The long term plan is that by 2007 we will have critical towers with brand new ORs and ICUs.
Didactics:
Our didactics are by far the strongest part of the Hopkins anesthesia residency. The department has spent great expense to hire CRNAs so that every time we are on call we spend the entire morning engaging in didactic sessions. These include discussions of cases from the night before, discussion of a journal article, and mock oral board type questions. To someone just sitting in on these sessions it may seem a little disorganized, but I assure you these are key to helping you with your oral and written boards. I honestly dont know of any other program that offers 4-5 hours + per week of protected didactic time!
The Bottom Line:
The best thing about Hopkins is that your attendings are very friendly. The residents even call the chairman Johnny U. The didactics are really superb and you get a great deal of protected time to engage in them. Yes, there are things I dont like about Hopkins. For example, I wish we had a patient simulator. To be honest, though, I would trade our friendly work environment for a patient simulator any day of the week!
Attitude:
When I interviewed here my first impression was that the staff and faculty were very friendly. I met with the co-director of the program first and he told me to call him by his first name. I soon began to realize that all the residents call their attendings by their first name here! After being here almost three years now I can say the environment is very collegial and friendly. Out of the 80 attendings here, I can count on one hand the number of people that I dont like working with. The surgeons here are for the most part very easy to get along with. The neurosurgeons are truly great and Ben Carson (one of our neurosurgeons) is one of the nicest most helpful people I have ever met. There may be some times when we do things The Hopkins Way, but generally if you have strong feelings about doing an anesthetic a little differently, almost always your attending will support your decision. There is also an opportunity to leave the Hopkins environment during your third year and experience how other hospitals do things including private practice environments.
Appearance:
Our program director, Scott, and I share the same dislike for starched shirts and silk ties. For this reason you will almost never see him (or me) in a tie. He is however a strong resident advocate and has gone to bat for us on numerous occasions. In my opinion I would rather have a friendly advocate in flannel than a jerk in a suit and tie.
DOs vs FMGs vs MDs
It is true that we have our share of FMGs and DOs in our program. After being in medicine almost 4 years now, I have found that some of the best physicians (residents and attendings) are DOs or FMGs. The bottom line is that at Hopkins there is not an extreme weight placed on where you may have gone to medical school. The focus for accepting residents goes beyond that and they look at leadership potential, research experience and overall personality.
Facilities:
While it is true that some of our ORs may be in need of a face lift, the majority are brand new or have been recently renovated. All the Peds and cardiac ORs have been renovated recently and the Outpatient Center is quite new. The Weinberg Cancer center has brand new ORs. One of the ICUs is in need of a face lift but the Weinberg ICU is brand new. The long term plan is that by 2007 we will have critical towers with brand new ORs and ICUs.
Didactics:
Our didactics are by far the strongest part of the Hopkins anesthesia residency. The department has spent great expense to hire CRNAs so that every time we are on call we spend the entire morning engaging in didactic sessions. These include discussions of cases from the night before, discussion of a journal article, and mock oral board type questions. To someone just sitting in on these sessions it may seem a little disorganized, but I assure you these are key to helping you with your oral and written boards. I honestly dont know of any other program that offers 4-5 hours + per week of protected didactic time!
The Bottom Line:
The best thing about Hopkins is that your attendings are very friendly. The residents even call the chairman Johnny U. The didactics are really superb and you get a great deal of protected time to engage in them. Yes, there are things I dont like about Hopkins. For example, I wish we had a patient simulator. To be honest, though, I would trade our friendly work environment for a patient simulator any day of the week!
