Anyone get any pain fellowship interviews yet?

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Calilove

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Anyone get any pain fellowship interviews yet? And where? It is still pretty early I guess. Just trying to figure out when we'll hear from the programs.
 
isn't it still a bit early? of all the places i applied, the earliest deadline was july 15.
 
True, true. Alot of deadlines were even in August, but some of the websites claimed to be on rolling admissions/interviews. I wanted to know when to start worrying in case I don't get an interview. Maybe 8 programs is not enough. How many did you guys apply to?
 
Calilove said:
True, true. Alot of deadlines were even in August, but some of the websites claimed to be on rolling admissions/interviews. I wanted to know when to start worrying in case I don't get an interview. Maybe 8 programs is not enough. How many did you guys apply to?
Click to expand...

Last year I applied to 13 had interviews at 6 or so. Most my files were completed by mid-late august. Most interviews offered were in october/november with a few early-birds.

Keep in contact with the programs you are most interested in. They will tell you when they are evaluating applications and where you stand. Sooner the files complete the better.

I have been advising applicants to complete them by late July on average but again check with each program to see if that is too late or too early.

Also, some programs may contact you at the last minute and see if you can come for an interview in the next 2 or 3 days. This usually means you weren't on their preferred list initially but that other candidates may have cancelled their interviews. Either way don't be offended by this...

Lastly, you may want to have flexible rotations scheduled for the interview season.
 
😴

I just sent in my first four apps today. Next set o' four should be going out Monday.

Good to hear that I'm not procrastinating THAT much :laugh:
 
Hey,

I might not be anywhere near the point of applying, but to clarify it for myself, are applications suppose to be in by August or earlier of CA-3 year? So does that give anyone time to do "away" rotations if their institution allows for it? If someone did, was there a need to write a proposal or something like that to get in months during CA-2 year? And does the ABA allow for it or you would have to make it up/lose your vacation month?

Thanks.
 
Calilove said:
True, true. Alot of deadlines were even in August, but some of the websites claimed to be on rolling admissions/interviews. I wanted to know when to start worrying in case I don't get an interview. Maybe 8 programs is not enough. How many did you guys apply to?
Click to expand...

i applied to 20. i have received emails from 2 programs stating they received my part of the application, but were still awaiting my dean's letter and lor, and once my application was complete they would review it and let me know about interviews.
 
GassiusClay said:
Hey,

I might not be anywhere near the point of applying, but to clarify it for myself, are applications suppose to be in by August or earlier of CA-3 year? So does that give anyone time to do "away" rotations if their institution allows for it? If someone did, was there a need to write a proposal or something like that to get in months during CA-2 year? And does the ABA allow for it or you would have to make it up/lose your vacation month?

Thanks.
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you should look at each individual program's website. freida had pretty accurate links for most programs. the earliest deadline i have is july 15, but most are mid august to early september (of your CA-3 year)
 
Don't be shy about calling the programs and buttering up the coordinators. The coordinators wield a lot of power and if you sound nice and personable they may be willing to help you out. Also they will be able to tell you exactly what things are missing in your file and when they will be going through the applications. Personal phone calls show interest...

Also, play up ANY personal connections you possibly can. Your entire goal is to move your application into the "interview" pile. See if there are attendings in your program who know ANYONE at your favorite programs (even if they aren't pain guys) and have them make a call for you.
 
Bump, bored and no patient sched. until 1330.

Guess I'll work on more apps! :laugh:
 
I'd heard of peeps going to UCLA, not myself. Texas Tech is interviewing soon.
 
UT Galveston offered interview to me early July 07, will interview Aug 21.
Applied to 20 programs. Most places are telling me that they dont start interviewing until Sept/Oct.
 
First one:

UPitt yesterday by snail mail
 
I have a friend who is a fellow there - (PM&R) - he said its a lot of "bread and butter" stuff - not much if any pumps and stims. Mostly ESIs, RFs, and blocks. Sorry that's all I know
 
MD Anderson, Texas Tech, and Pitt so far. I applied to about 20 and had my applications in by early June.

What am I supposed to do with an early offer? I would be excited to get to go to any of the above programs, but I would still like to see a few others. I think I'm going to end up settling early since the field is (supposedly) so competitive. How willing are programs to let you out of your contract if you sign early, but change your mind later? It would be so much better for everyone if there were a match.
 
powermd said:
MD Anderson, Texas Tech, and Pitt so far. I applied to about 20 and had my applications in by early June.

What am I supposed to do with an early offer? I would be excited to get to go to any of the above programs, but I would still like to see a few others. I think I'm going to end up settling early since the field is (supposedly) so competitive. How willing are programs to let you out of your contract if you sign early, but change your mind later? It would be so much better for everyone if there were a match.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much about early offers (except for TT which usually fills early). Just as you want the opportunity to see other programs, most programs want to interview lots of applicants and don't usually make decisions until late Sept or early Oct. Also, most programs understand that people want to interview at several places so they delay final decisions to avoid the problem of people breaking their contracts.
 
Hey if you get an early offer at Anderson or Texas Tech I'd take it quick.

powermd said:
MD Anderson, Texas Tech, and Pitt so far. I applied to about 20 and had my applications in by early June.

What am I supposed to do with an early offer? I would be excited to get to go to any of the above programs, but I would still like to see a few others. I think I'm going to end up settling early since the field is (supposedly) so competitive. How willing are programs to let you out of your contract if you sign early, but change your mind later? It would be so much better for everyone if there were a match.
Click to expand...
 
Buckeyedoc said:
Does anyone know anything about this program??
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If you are set on Chicago, I have heard that RUSH is the big player in town. Northwestern has a neurosurgeon who puts in most of their stims although I heard one of their pain staff did do a stimulator trial last year.

Rumor has it that the RUSH pain fellows have to take OR anesthesia call. I recall hearing of a pain fellow who had to provide an anesthetic for a liver transplant while they were on-call. Ouch! (hopefully they had an anesthesia background) 🙂 You may want to verify this, and it probably wouldn't be the end of the world if you had to trade some anesthesia calls for a pain fellowship.
 
powermd said:
MD Anderson, Texas Tech, and Pitt so far. I applied to about 20 and had my applications in by early June.

What am I supposed to do with an early offer? I would be excited to get to go to any of the above programs, but I would still like to see a few others. I think I'm going to end up settling early since the field is (supposedly) so competitive. How willing are programs to let you out of your contract if you sign early, but change your mind later? It would be so much better for everyone if there were a match.
Click to expand...

One of our residents was offered a pain spot at a program. He asked if he could have 1 week to decide and the director agreed. The program gave away his spot during that week. Yikes! True story but I can't give any details cuz pain is a small world.

If you are offered a spot I would strongly consider just taking it. Or buy yourself some time by verbally accepting the offer...you can always break it later. It takes quite some time for them to send you a contract in the mail, and usually they will give you some time to have it reviewed by an attorney, etc. Consider consulting an attorney prior to signing a contract that you have a strong probability of breaking.

Pain is a small world so the PD you piss off today may be the expert witness against you in the future. You get the picture. Be careful.
 
An attorney for a fellowship contract?? I can guarantee you that any reputable academic university program will kindly ask to find another place if you ask for an amendment of the contract.
 
paindefender said:
An attorney for a fellowship contract?? I can guarantee you that any reputable academic university program will kindly ask to find another place if you ask for an amendment of the contract.
Click to expand...

Having a contract reviewed and being informed as to what type of consequences there might be if you violate the contract, is a totally separate issue from asking your future program to amend their offer.

Keep in mind that our current discussion involves potentially signing somewhere early, prior to interviews in other programs. If I were in this situation I would want an expert opinion.
 
Had dinner with a faculty member very close to Texas Tech/UTSW (I can't mention his name), however, his advice used to be go to Texas Tech but has since been revised to favoring UTSW. I applied last year so this opinion is about 8 months old but it was close to when Lou left. Again, not my opinion just passing on what I have heard. Both are probably solid programs though so probably interview at both and talk to the fellows.

One resource to find out who is doing lots of stims/pumps is to make friends with your Medtronic/ANS reps and they can do some research for you. They know the exact numbers and have no reason to be dishonest.
 
Last September I had only completed 3 of my 8 scheduled interviews when I was offered a spot at a decent pain program and given less than a week to decide. Some advised me to take it and turn it down later if something better came along. Others advised against that. Ultimately, I decided that I didn't want to play the game that way. These people had liked me enough to offer me one of their spots, and I knew full well that I would rather go to some of the other programs. I turned down the position, completed the rest of my interviews, and waited. And waited. After the seven longest weeks of my life, I got the call from my first-choice program in early November. Looking back on it now, I'm really glad that I did it the way I did. I didn't have to break any promises, and I didn't have to stall for several weeks on signing a contract. I got other offers after that, but it was a lot easier to turn them down. My point, I guess, is that fellowships make offers over a period of about 3 months. Be patient and don't get discouraged. I would agree with Buckeyedoc….if you tell someone "yes", then keep your word. Pain medicine already has enough of an image problem with greedy block jocks.
 
cornell via email yesterday. anyone have any thoughts or opinions on the program?
 
Wash U, but just to let me know that they've filled their positions already🙁
 
Cornell, but I really don't know what to make of this program. I know that they take 8 fellows, which is a lot. I wonder where fellows live in NY City. It seems like one would have to have subsidized housing to make it. Anyone have any thoughts....
 
Texas Tech, MDA, Cornell, UC Davis, Cleveland Clinic.

have not heard from Hopkins; passed over (I believe) by UPenn & UCLA.

from a resident who rotated at MDA: the field is so strong, and enough people have rotated through there, that 90% of the people they take will be internal/have rotated through this year

heard the same (from fellows and attendings at these programs) about a lot of the good programs this year

i think the med school class of 2004 represents the biggest jump in people who said to themselves: "I want to do an anesthesia residency so that I can go into Pain" and we are seeing that tsunami now.

re Cornell: there is subsidized housing, they do work with pumps and stims, and you get great exposure to cancer patients.
 
powermd said:
Has anyone interviewed down at MDA this year? Are there any procedures they're NOT doing?
Click to expand...

I'm one of the new fellows at MDACC. The only internal residents at MD Anderson are Rad Onc....all others are rotating from Baylor, UT Houston, or elsewhere. Its true that many fellows here over the past several years have been either UT or Baylor Anes/PMR/Neuro, and/or have rotated through as visiting residents.

Regarding procedures, there is very little that we don't do here. We do very large numbers of implants and vertebro/kyphoplasty. We don't do a ton of disc procedures, but we don't do any less than most other programs. I didn't find many programs doing these in large numbers, mostly I think due to reimbursement issues.
 
thanks for clarifying FLK 1

The Baylor resident mentioned that (from his conversations with attendings there) they are 90% taking Anes/PMR/Neuro residents who have rotated through there, ie "known quantities"...and that that was more a reflection on how good those residents are, and less about being uncomfortable with the unknown

as a fellow there, you may be privy to more current info. I hope I am wrong, and that you will correct me, b/c I would love to do my fellowship there 🙂

Congratulations on getting a spot there. From everything I've heard, you will get well trained.
 
Did you rotate at MDACC as a resident FLK1? How many of your fellow new fellows rotated at MDACC as residents? Congratulations on getting your top choice!
 
In this year’s class, two of us did rotations here as residents - so it’s certainly not necessary. But with a large number of applicants, a favorable impression made during a rotation can set you apart. I think that’s probably true for any competitive fellowship. Best of luck on all your interviews!
 
foxtrot said:
Cornell, but I really don't know what to make of this program. I know that they take 8 fellows, which is a lot. I wonder where fellows live in NY City. It seems like one would have to have subsidized housing to make it. Anyone have any thoughts....
Click to expand...

Basically, Cornell's Pain program (more properly NY Presbyterian Hospital) is a joint NY Hospital/Mem Sloan Kettering/ Hosp Special Surgery program. There are 8 fellow spots- 4 housing positions are provided by NY Hospital and 4 housing spots are provided by Sloan -Kettering. Housing is heavily subsidized (e.g 1 bedroom runs $1000-$1100/month) and is within a few blocks -in this area, 1 bedrooms are $2500-$3000/month. All rotations (As well as the hospitals themselves) Are within a 2 block radius. So, no need for cars, commuting, etc.
 
mid|ine said:
what do you know about the program?
Click to expand...

Well - DRUSSO trained there - so it must be excellent😍

Seriously though - it is an Anesthesia pain program but has taken PM&R residents in the past - mostly from Mayo. Their website is actually pretty full of information. One of the objectives they listed:
2) Be able to evaluate patients appropriately for and perform autonomously procedures involved in advanced pain management techniques, including:
a) Lumbar, thoracic, and cervical epidural access and injection techniques
b) Selective spinal nerve blocks
c) Trigger point injections
d) Neurolytic techniques, including radio frequency and cryotherapeutic ablation techniques
e) Neuroaugmentation techniques, including spinal cord stimulation
f) Chronic neuraxial drug delivery techniques, including implanted intrathecal drug administration systems
g) Botulinum toxin injections for chronic myofascial pain


here's the link to their fellowship http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/healthcare/paincenter/physicians/Fellowship-Program.cfm

Interview sounds sweet - they pay for hotel stay at a nice spa - and take you out for dinner the night before.

DRUSSO, care to comment?
 
I heard there is a former UM PMR resident there now.
 
Does anyone have any information on Dartmouth's Pain Fellowship? I understand that its in a beautiful location and is of IVY league affiliation. What positives/negatives do you know about the program? Thanks.
 
applied to 14 places, have only had 3 interview invites so far

uc davis, stanford, northwestern

when should I start getting worried??
 
Rush pain fellows no longer take OR-call.

The program is tough. No doubt about it.

You do an incredible amount of invasive stuff though. The fellows said they could put a needle in someone under fluro while standing on their heads...so high volume.
 
paingal said:
applied to 14 places, have only had 3 interview invites so far

uc davis, stanford, northwestern

when should I start getting worried??
Click to expand...

i am in the same boat, 20 applications, only 3 interviews. just curious, when did you hear from northwestern? they won't even acknowledge that the received my application.
 
VentdependenT said:
Rush pain fellows no longer take OR-call.

The program is tough. No doubt about it.

You do an incredible amount of invasive stuff though. The fellows said they could put a needle in someone under fluro while standing on their heads...so high volume.
Click to expand...

vent,

do you have any information on if rush has already started inviting/interviewing or when they will be? thanks.
 
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