anyone know of more updated reviews than scutwork.com

[vtucci]

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Hi. I was wondering if anyone knows of more updated reviews by medical students, interns, resident of ED programs than scutwork.com? I have reviewed SAEM's residency catalog of course and many of the ED programs web sites. It just seems that a lot of the ED programs have not been reviewed since 2000 and many of the more recent posts seem to be from 2003. A lot can happen in a few years.

If you don't, I highly urge everyone to put their two cents in. A lot of students do read those reviews in deciding where to do 4th year electives.

 

[monkeyarms]

A good resource that has slightly different info than either SAEM or Scutwork is EMRA Match. It is a questionaire designed from a medical student survey that is filled out by people working within the programs (typically chiefs).

 

[EctopicFetus]

This is also a good place.. There is a lot of info about a lot of places on this here site..

 

[vtucci]

Thanks guys. I know I am early in the game- I am just a first year but I am a non-trad with a former career as a lawyer so I would like to hit the ground running. I am about 99% certain that I will go into EM. I am leaving the other 1% for infectious disease/global health.

I am really open and just want to find the best program for me.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Good luck...

 

[bartleby]

As helpful as the reviews are to get a general feel for a program (uptight? laid back? research oriented?), there is really nothing like getting to some of the residents over a couple of drinks to see if you're a good fit in a program. Try to decide on a location (florida, georgia, south carolina), then apply to the programs in that area. There were programs that had glowing reviews here that really turned me off in person and the ones I ranked highly I might have missed if I'd just followed conventional wisdom and word-of-mouth.

 

[vtucci]

Thanks for your suggestions guys. My problem is that I love to travel and have no problem moving anywhere for 3-4 years. I have lived in Gainesville, FL for 2 1/2 years and NYC for 4 years. I can live anywhere and have no aversion to moving completely across the country if that is where the best program for me is.

I was thinking as I love to be really busy-- maybe I should focus on programs with more than 80K/year. That should narrow the field, no? What do you think?

I also currently do not have a preference regarding 3 vs. 4 year programs.

 

[BKN]

I was thinking as I love to be really busy-- maybe I should focus on programs with more than 80K/year. That should narrow the field, no? What do you think?

.

Not necessarily- if a program is small it may have the same experience as a larger one with many more residents. The standard that the RRC used to use was x = visits/residents. Looking for 2000/yr < X < 3000/yr. Less and not enough experience, more and not enough time to study and think.

Of course you also have to factor NPs, PAs, rotators and faculty seeing patients primarily, gets really complicated.

 

[Radiohead]

I was thinking as I love to be really busy-- maybe I should focus on programs with more than 80K/year. That should narrow the field, no? What do you think?

You will hear alot of things regarding ED volume on this board. Some will say that the more the better, while others, myself included, believe that, as a resident, you can only see as many patients as you can physically see, i.e.1-2 pts/hour. With that being said, programs with huge volume ED's i.e. >120,000/year will generally have more residents, so you end up seeing roughly the same number of patients. What does matter is the type of patients you see. You need to go to a program that has a balance of inner city pathology, i.e. indigent care, drug abusers, penetrating trauma, etc., with those who come in with emergent medical issues, i.e. MI, sepsis, pneumonia. Most EM programs are good in all aspects, but some are skewed toward either county or community. You need to find a program that is a good fit for you.

 

[GeneralVeers]

At our center it's a stretch to see much more than 1.5 patients per hour, and my average is 1.1.

Our patients are all homeless, drug-addicted, with multiple co-morbidities and no follow-up. Caring for them takes a lot of energy and planning for even minor complaints.