- Joined
- Aug 13, 2019
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 4
Hello everyone - long time lurker on SDN since my pre-med days, but I feel like I'm at the point where I would really appreciate some additional input from kind strangers on the internet, and help me escape the cycle of insanity that is making a rank order list. For background, I live in New York City (born + raised) and since most of my friends and family live here it was the most reasonable choice to focus my applications in this area. I know the Northeast and particularly NY gets a lot of flak (at least from threads I've read) for being pretty workhorse / scut-heavy compared to other cities, but that calculus is definitely a little different since my main support system lives here - while I would love to live in an area with better COL / less scut, I wouldn't want to distance myself from my support system here either. Pretty much all of the programs I'm thinking about will have very strong nursing unions (which probably means I'll be doing lines no matter where I go) and have high COL, so not much doing there either. It is what it is.
With that said. I'm applying anesthesia this year and was fortunate enough to receive a handful of interviews. I'm mainly interested in getting some feedback on my current top 6, as this has been where most of the rank-shifting has been going on. I'm also interested in potentially pursuing a fellowship in critical care (liked my ICU rotations more than I expected), and currently live with my fiancé.
1. Mount Sinai Main (sent LOI + away)
Not much to say, strong program, great vibes, love the location and feel good about it overall.
2. NYU Manhattan
Pros: attended in-person tour, chiefs seemed very jovial, supposedly "cush" relative to other programs (if one could conceive of calling an NY residency "cush" which sounds questionable the more I keep seeing it). Great case exposure, great location (if you can find a place to live) that is relatively more desirable and closer to public transit hubs and midtown NY, and wouldn't need a car.
Cons: Call scheduling sounded brutal. Interview was okay, but one of the interviewers just didn't vibe well, very dry conversation. Second one was much more interesting.. Also hearing a lot of contradicting accounts (NYU is super cush and also very malignant/toxic at the same time?) which makes things even harder to parse. Have read that the didactic support seems more hands off and people kind of just figure things out on their own.
3. Brown
Pros: attended in-person second look, liked the area more than I expected to and the drive up wasn't awful (at least not driving 4.5hrs to Boston terrible). Great peds / OB exposure. Residents seemed to be genuinely happy to be there and there was also a segment that emphasized commitment to supporting URMs through training which was great to see. I actually had it ranked below top 5 before the visit.
Cons: It's not New York. Rhode Island is still pretty far from home (relatively speaking) and can't really compete with NY in terms of things to do on short notice (festivals, concerts, etc). I'd definitely need a car to get around away from the city, and patient population is nowhere near as diverse as NYC.
4. Zucker SOM / Northwell
Nothing much to say here, solid program and I'm familiar with their offerings, but just not as high on the list since I'm not the biggest fan of Long Island. It's close enough that it's still a great option. Would definitely need a car to go here.
5.Montefiore
Pros: strong clinical training, serves a very diverse patient population, residents seemed pleased with training and PD is well-liked, really liked my interview with them and left feeling really good about the program. There also is a resident union which... exists... which is at least a start and is better than most other programs in the city.
Cons: Also has some malignancy problems / rumors of its own, though not sure if those are recent or from the pre-COVID era and whether they are anesthesia-specific or perhaps disgruntled residents from other specialties. The resident union has apparently (?) been having a rough time working with administration, so negotiations for a better contract and working conditions are not in place and it's unclear if they will actually happen soon. Also I'm pretty sure there was a resident who unalived themselves a few years ago, though specifics were very hard to come by and I could only find a handful of reddit threads on the issue, so have no idea of how the program responded to it. It was never mentioned in any of the interviews or info sessions.
6. NYU Brooklyn
I wanted to rank them higher, but the lack of any useful information about the program specifically (beyond a couple of paragraphs in the brochure) + rumors (and relatively recent testimony from a current resident) that their residents are considered second-rate to NYU Manhattan residents was tough to overcome. I love the location but I'd rather not have to deal with an extra potential layer of discrimination for no good reason.
I'm doing the best I can with the circumstances and despite some of my descriptors I'd frankly be very happy to train at any of these programs. Any comments or insight from other perspectives would still be really helpful. Thanks for your time.
With that said. I'm applying anesthesia this year and was fortunate enough to receive a handful of interviews. I'm mainly interested in getting some feedback on my current top 6, as this has been where most of the rank-shifting has been going on. I'm also interested in potentially pursuing a fellowship in critical care (liked my ICU rotations more than I expected), and currently live with my fiancé.
1. Mount Sinai Main (sent LOI + away)
Not much to say, strong program, great vibes, love the location and feel good about it overall.
2. NYU Manhattan
Pros: attended in-person tour, chiefs seemed very jovial, supposedly "cush" relative to other programs (if one could conceive of calling an NY residency "cush" which sounds questionable the more I keep seeing it). Great case exposure, great location (if you can find a place to live) that is relatively more desirable and closer to public transit hubs and midtown NY, and wouldn't need a car.
Cons: Call scheduling sounded brutal. Interview was okay, but one of the interviewers just didn't vibe well, very dry conversation. Second one was much more interesting.. Also hearing a lot of contradicting accounts (NYU is super cush and also very malignant/toxic at the same time?) which makes things even harder to parse. Have read that the didactic support seems more hands off and people kind of just figure things out on their own.
3. Brown
Pros: attended in-person second look, liked the area more than I expected to and the drive up wasn't awful (at least not driving 4.5hrs to Boston terrible). Great peds / OB exposure. Residents seemed to be genuinely happy to be there and there was also a segment that emphasized commitment to supporting URMs through training which was great to see. I actually had it ranked below top 5 before the visit.
Cons: It's not New York. Rhode Island is still pretty far from home (relatively speaking) and can't really compete with NY in terms of things to do on short notice (festivals, concerts, etc). I'd definitely need a car to get around away from the city, and patient population is nowhere near as diverse as NYC.
4. Zucker SOM / Northwell
Nothing much to say here, solid program and I'm familiar with their offerings, but just not as high on the list since I'm not the biggest fan of Long Island. It's close enough that it's still a great option. Would definitely need a car to go here.
5.Montefiore
Pros: strong clinical training, serves a very diverse patient population, residents seemed pleased with training and PD is well-liked, really liked my interview with them and left feeling really good about the program. There also is a resident union which... exists... which is at least a start and is better than most other programs in the city.
Cons: Also has some malignancy problems / rumors of its own, though not sure if those are recent or from the pre-COVID era and whether they are anesthesia-specific or perhaps disgruntled residents from other specialties. The resident union has apparently (?) been having a rough time working with administration, so negotiations for a better contract and working conditions are not in place and it's unclear if they will actually happen soon. Also I'm pretty sure there was a resident who unalived themselves a few years ago, though specifics were very hard to come by and I could only find a handful of reddit threads on the issue, so have no idea of how the program responded to it. It was never mentioned in any of the interviews or info sessions.
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6. NYU Brooklyn
I wanted to rank them higher, but the lack of any useful information about the program specifically (beyond a couple of paragraphs in the brochure) + rumors (and relatively recent testimony from a current resident) that their residents are considered second-rate to NYU Manhattan residents was tough to overcome. I love the location but I'd rather not have to deal with an extra potential layer of discrimination for no good reason.
I'm doing the best I can with the circumstances and despite some of my descriptors I'd frankly be very happy to train at any of these programs. Any comments or insight from other perspectives would still be really helpful. Thanks for your time.