You don't have to list them off specifically if you want but maybe give a description of pros and cons some can help 🙂
Alright, here goes. This has actually become a battle for my top 3 ranks. I thought I was 100% solid on my #1 but now I'm not so sure. Also, please let me know if there is anything else important I should find out, I have resident contact info for all of these programs.
All 3 programs are located in the general geographic area I'd like to be in, so when I talk about location it's really just being nitpicky to an exact area. Schedule is 4+1 at all of these programs. Honestly, I think I'd be thrilled to be at any of these at the end of the day, so I'm just getting really nitpicky with them in an attempt to put together the best rank list.
PROGRAM 1: most established program, has been around for decades
-location: as mentioned, in the general region I'd like to be in. more in the "downtown", so potential for more traffic because I don't want to/couldn't afford to live downtown, although I don't think traffic would be bad at the times I'd be driving anyways lol. for clinic you can pick from a variety of sites, so I would try to pick the one closest to wherever I'd be living
-salary: highest at this program (by about a 4k difference from the lowest one out of these 3)
-food: yearly stipend that is on the low side but is potentially going up next year. not a huge factor for me as I bring a lot of my own food in typically
-schedule: 4+1. on call q3 until 8pm, but other teams take admits from 8am-1pm. best part about this program seems to be the schedule. according to the residents, when you are pre- or post-call you can leave around 3pm. also, on weekends if not on call you can leave by like 1pm. always get 1 day off out of 7, always either Friday/Saturday/Sunday. also, they do MICU in 1-2 week blocks, so you never have to do ICU for a month straight
-vacation: 3 weeks as an intern, then 4
-overall: this program surprised me and I'm considering ranking it #1 because of the schedule and how established it is, but I am nervous about showing up and things being different than how they were portrayed on zoom
PROGRAM 2: newer program
-location: multiple hospital sites, but probably around the same distance from me as program 1. however, with this program I would be able to afford to move closer, although it wouldn't be my choice of place to live so I would consider staying put and just dealing with the commute
-salary: lowest here
-food: $15/day
-schedule: 4+1. call schedule can be q3 or q2 depending on hospital. admit until 5pm, sign out at 6pm. best part about this program is clinic week. you are given blocks for personal time and between that and academic stuff, only have clinic for 3 days/week. this sounds really nice and chill but I am also interested in outpatient, so may be a downside? always get 1 day off in 7, usually Friday/Satuday/Sunday.
-vacation: 4 weeks, plus extra time at NY/XMAS although this isn't guaranteed
-overall: this program seems pretty nice, PD was awesome. biggest downsides are location and salary
PROGRAM 3: also newer
-location: best location to where I want to live. clinic is a little far, though
-salary: middle range here between the other 2
-food: always free, no limit
-schedule: 4+1. long call/short call system, so take admits in a trickle style (I'm not sure how I feel about this?). long call is 12 hours, short call 9 hours. will have long call about 50% of the week. couldn't really give me a straight answer about whether they get 1 day out of 7 off, they said they "prefer" it to be that way and try to tell electives to schedule their rotation that way. also seems like day off would be Friday/Saturday/Sunday.
-vacation: 4 weeks
-overall: I thought this program would be a no brainer for my #1. It's exactly where I want to live/work location wise. However, when talking with residents it seemed like the program was lacking structure? it didn't seem like there were concrete things in place that kept things standard amongst the various rotations, seemed like everything was just attending dependent. I don't know if I got the wrong vibe or whatever