Florida Categorical IM programs
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Depends a little bit on what you're looking for. Of the 3 academic programs, Florida (Gainesville) is by far the best. Miami would be 2nd, USF 3rd. But it's a huge drop-off....UF is a solid program, but not among the elite in the Southeast, and Miami and USF are both large county hospital populations. UF is an excellent clinical training program, and you'll have a good shot at fellowships. At Miami or USF, you'll be less competitive for the tough fellowships like GI or Cards. If you're looking more at private practice, Mount Sinai in Miami Beach is a pretty good community hospital (and it's in Miami Beach...). There's dozens of other 2nd-rate residencies, like CCF-Florida, Mayo-Jacksonville, Shands-Jacksonville, etc. that should be easy to scramble into.... It's a shame really a state that large doesn't have more quality residency programs, but I guess they import most of their physicians from the northeast anyway.
Thanks! I have only applied to University programs and want to pursue a fellowship. I have interviews at UF (Gainesville), Shands Jacksonville, Miami, and USF. It would be very good for my wife's career (and sanity) if I were able to stay in Florida. As far as competition goes, does it generally run in the same order or do people want to live in the bigger cities?
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I did a month away rotation at Jackson/Miami and I interviewed at UF, so I can tell you my opinion - UF is a much better training program. But Miami is a much nice place to live. Miami is not very competitive, because they have so many slots. Gainesville is more competitive but because of the probation, isn't ultra-competitive. USF you can pretty much walk into. I don't know if you've been to the area before, but the program is kinda scatterred, with Tampa General in one place and the VA in another part of town, and Tampa General is having some financial problems. Most of the residents at Miami, and the few people I've come across from USF, pretty much say the only reason they're at either program is for the city, not the program. UF is a good program, but not much of a city....so I guess you have to prioritize a little. By the way, don't waste your time with Shands-Jacksonville unless you're just really worried about matching - if you want to work in a county hospital, Miami or USF would be better than living in Jacksonville. Hope that helps.
Thanks again... it does help. You are not the first person to say that about Shands - Jacksonville. How was the interview at UF? I am going to try to stay in Florida. What are some other places in the Southeast that impressed you?
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UF interview was pretty good. The dinner the night before was at a nice restaurant, Harry's (save room for bananas foster for dessert if you go there). The chief residents kinda run the interview day, they're pretty nice and helpful, but not the most social. The day I went they took us to M&M conference for lunch, and I got to meet a lot of the residents informally there, who all were real friendly and seemed happy. Call ahead and tell them if you are interested in a subspecialty, and they will try to get a meeting with someone in that department. Interview itself is really informal and low stress...there's 2 interviews, and neither of the interviewers had even read my file yet. It's a nice program, the biggest black cloud is the probation, but I got the sense that it's not a huge deal. They are very open about it, though, so feel free to ask questions. Dr. Edwards, the program director, is a real down to earth guy; feel free to ask him anything during the wrap-up session at the end of the interview day.
As for other programs, I liked Wake Forest, UAB, and Tulane...haven't been to Emory, Vanderbilt, or Baylor yet. UF is a good program, enjoy the interview.
As for other programs, I liked Wake Forest, UAB, and Tulane...haven't been to Emory, Vanderbilt, or Baylor yet. UF is a good program, enjoy the interview.
Actually TGH has been in the black for the past two years. That's why there's a lot of renovation going on, as well as the construction of a brand new ED and Trauma Center which will start next year. Hospitals in financial trouble do not undergo huge renovations like that. You could also check out their budget to see if you wish.
Actually TGH has not had any money problems for a few years now. Like the previous poster has mentioned, they have been renovating and adding state of the art facilities. Having lived in both I would say that living in Tampa is much better than Gainesville. TGH and the VA are not as far from each other as some people are making it out it be. It only takes 15 minutes not during rush hour. Also you forgot to mention Moffit cancer center, which is the one of the top cancer centers in the US. There is hardly any scutwork at TGH (from what I hear) compared to Miami. Many students I have spoken to say that they love it at USF and would not want to be anywhere else, so I would listen to what the residents say cause they know the real story of what goes on everyday.
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I openly admit that I haven't been to the USF program, everything I know is based on what I've read and heard. It's true TGH is building, but that's because it just got privatized and got a large influx of cash, which doesn't necessarily mean the hospital is on stable long-term footing. It also means the hospital technically isn't a large county hospital anymore, as was advertised in the past, so future applicants may want to see how that affects the residency program. A good friend of mine who is a UF student and also did a rotation at Miami interviewed at USF and absolutely hated it, won't even rank it - and I trust her opinion. She felt like the hospital set-up was worse than Jackson in Miami. The 2 USF students I've met on the interview trail weren't too enthusiastic about their school either - though they were very enthusiastic about living in Tampa. I also talked to several residents at both Jackson/Miami and UF, many of whom are from the state of Florida, and not a single one had good things to say about the program. Like I said, I haven't been there myself (and I even had it on my list of programs to apply to at first), but the only positive I've heard about the program is living in Tampa. The only way to know if a program is right for you is to visit it, and obviously some people like it there because they do end up matching, but I'm just sharing what I've been able to find out about it.
From what I hear, UF and USF residents are pretty happy with their respective programs. Like summertime said, many of the USF residents wanted to be in Tampa so when you get to be in the city you want to be in you are happier. Their only complaint was the distance between the VA/Moffitt and TGH. They said it was only really bothersome on ward days at TGH when you were to be on call but you also had clinic at the VA. Meaning, morning at TGH, drive to VA clinic for afternoon, and then in rush hour drive back to TGH for the rest of the evening/night. Miami gets mixed reviews from residents. Combative nurses along with social work difficulties are the most common complaints. I have no doubt that all three programs will produce fine internists. The career question becomes which one is better for future fellowship opportunities? Of course, you must balance that against where you want to live... but most of us in medical school have always made the decision that will be best for us in the long term. Why change now?
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USF's IM program is #2 in my opinion, after UF-Gainesville but Tampa is 100X better than gainesville. Yes there is some driving involved, but I have seem numerous improvement over the last half decade. I strongly encourage any of you if you are looking to stay in florida, or come to florida for residency to strongly consider USF!
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if you apply to USF and you are an IMG and you have us clinical experience make sure you put it under work/volunteer experience in the eras application! even if it was on your transcripts (which they don't look at apparently), they will automatically cut you from consideration if they don't see it under that section in ERAS! I got docked from their interview invite list simply for this reason.
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Any info on florida hospital im residency or orlando regional im residency? Competitivness? Fellowship placement? Img friendly? Not much can be found on their website. My gf is going to be a 4th year med student at a polish med school and is applying for peds programs in her florida, as she is from fl and her top choice is orlando or tampa for peds and if she matches to either of these two cities i would be interested in following her and doing an im residency in either of these 2 cities
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it will help that she's a US citizen from FL.
what are her board scores and other stats?
and why a polish school and not say a top end caribbean med school? even Ross has rotations in FL.
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well my gf is applying for peds programs in florida, and i will be applying to im programs in florida. specifically florida hospital and orlando regional im programs. wanted more information about these two programs, and in general how img friendly these two programs are.
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I see; it all depends on how competitive you two are.
My friend at Ross had good stats and is from FL but didn't get ANY peds interviews in FL, if that gives you any indication. put apply anyway. they may like a international school more than a caribbean school.
also, like I said in a previous post, make sure she puts all her rotations in her activities section in ERAS, especially if she had any US clinical experience. I didn't get an interview at USF simply because they didn't bother to look at my transcripts which clearly stated all my clinical rotations were in georgia.
