Emory

[lilsim]

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I was wondering if anybody knew any details on Emory's program and the program's overall reputation, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Specifically:

1. Is the program stable and is their chairman well recognized? Is he personable?
2. Do they have faculty that are desirable to train under? Do they train strong residents?
3. How strong is their formal teaching and 1 on 1 teaching?

Being a medical student, I am still deliberating over going into academics vs. private. If in fact I do decide to go into private practice, do you feel it would be more difficult to land a choice job if I did not go to a top tier residency program, but instead went to a second tier program like Emory?

Is their an advantage at landing a job local to where you trained?

Is the job market "hot" in certain areas of the country? Any word on the Chicago, Atlanta, and DC metro areas?

Thanks

 

[user_name]

I interviewed there. The chairman was retiring and I don't know who if anyone has been chosen as a replacement. Residents said they have lots of workload with less teaching than other places. I think the department worked like a huge private practice for many years with an emphasis on income. Now, they want NCI-CCC designation and are pushing (requiring) basic science research for at least 6 months. The heme onc has been bad there for awhile, so they are trying to overhaul the whole cancer center. This is one reason quoted for the new chairman search. The assistant chairman seemed great and had a shot at becoming chairman. Has military background, but I can't remember his name. He was a pretty dynamic personality for an academic rad oncer from the military. Residents said he was really transforming research there and giving lots of support to make it easier with their high workload. Another downside is that you work at 3-4 hospitals spread over Atlanta which has traffic probably worse than cities that are larger. Even if you are at a downtown sight, you have to start Thurs and Fri at Emory Clinic in suburbs for lectures then book it to get to clinic on time in downtown. Residents seemed very isolated from one another because only 2-4 residents at one place at any one time. They seemed to get along but were not a cohesive group due to fragmentation and little after hours gathering as they lived all over Atlanta and suburbs. Hope this helps some. It seemed like a good place to learn practical private practice rad onc if you like long days. Seem to want to get in the mix for research (takin g Holman pathway with some regularity.) The faculty confessed without prompting that their national reputation is lacking because of almost zero research in the past, but that may change. If you are trying to choose the program on a regional bias, this program is hard to peg. Almost no residents were southern with most being northeast and midwest, and Atlanta is far from what many picture as a southern city with all of the national and international companies there. I will let you draw your own conclusions as to whether the diversity is plus or minus.

Hope this helps.

 

[user_name]

oh yeah. they have new equipment all of the time due to lots of money and an arrangement to test for Varian. THey had the first Trilogy. Supposedly they get new equipment every couple of years. That has the potential drawback of slowing things down if you and staff are constantly having to learn new computer systems or the machines constantly need repairs or recalibrations, but it would likely affect techs and dosimetry more than you. could be really nice, though.

 

[lilsim]

User_name,

Thank you for all of your helpful insights. While it is apparent that training at an upper tier program is very beneficial if you are planning on pursuing an academic career, I was wondering if you feel that, to some degree, the same principle holds true for those planning on pursuing jobs in private practice. Also, is there any advantage in training near where you seek to settle down and practice (for example, training at Emory and practicing in Atlanta afterwards)? Or does the national reputation of the program still carry a great deal of weight when trying to obtain highly saught after private practice jobs? Thanks.

 

[RadOncMan]

Rumor has it that Thomas Buccholz, Residency Program Director at MD Anderson will become the new Chairman at Emory.

 

[user_name]

Being just an intern, I may be speaking beyond my experience level, but I have an opinion. I think it can be very beneficial to train in the area that you would like to end up living in after training. This is less the case for rad onc than internal medicine because practices are not as big or as common, so you cannot be guaranteed there will be an opening exactly where you want the day you finish residency. The important thing is being able to make connections through your residency director and former residents. This can give you an inside track on jobs or hear about openings earlier in GA than someone at UCSF. From all indications, private practices care more about you as a person and their ability to work with you, much like residency selection is proposed to be. I think it is more true in job searches. A girl looking for a job now is looking in a three state area with multiple practices and has only had one person ask her in-service exam scores, but all have had her come down and spend several days at the practice, including working in clinic for a day. Also, the higher tier a program is, the more likely the program is going to push you into academic medicine. These programs may not be as helpful in lining up residents with jobs outside academia. I have seen residents hide their private practice intentions until their final year to keep attendings off their backs. This will mean you have to do a lot more work on your own to find a job and be very sneaky scheduling vacation time to go interview and work in a private clinic. This was a lot of words to say: I have only obeserved a few people go through this, all of them stayed within a 3 state area of where they trained or went back to home state or both, the ranking of your program matters less than your personality, and Atlanta probably has private rad oncers from residencies all over and not just Emory.
Quick example: A senior resident at Emory was from Wisconsin. She had never been to Atlanta before interviewing for Rad Onc, and she had no intention of staying. Now she was interviewing for private practice in Atlanta exclusively during my interview. Her family loves to come to Atlanta, and I may be wrong here, but I think some of her family was considering moving to Atlanta, too.

 

[Thaiger75]

Simply put, yes, wherever you train at will help greatly in obtaining a job regionally. Most likely, alot of the privates will have trained at regional institutions, so will be familar with your program. In addition, the attendings at your institution will most likely have more connections with them and have more weight in pulling for you. Having said that, there is obvious advantages in training at a top tier program. My overall feeling has always been that if you train at an institution like MDACC, then you have a shot at anywhere you want to go...trumps all else.

User_name,

Thank you for all of your helpful insights. While it is apparent that training at an upper tier program is very beneficial if you are planning on pursuing an academic career, I was wondering if you feel that, to some degree, the same principle holds true for those planning on pursuing jobs in private practice. Also, is there any advantage in training near where you seek to settle down and practice (for example, training at Emory and practicing in Atlanta afterwards)? Or does the national reputation of the program still carry a great deal of weight when trying to obtain highly saught after private practice jobs? Thanks.

 

[lilsim]

Ur posts have given me alot of perspective. Thanks for all the help.

 

[CNphair]

Just wondering...have they named the new chairman yet? I kept hearing it was imminent, but have not heard any news over the past few weeks....