For current or past SA interns

[negativenetworth]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm applying to the match this year. I could really use some personal accounts of different experiences interns had to narrow down where I want to apply. Everywhere is fair game at this point.

In particular, I would like to hear from someone who interned at Angell in Boston. I am very intimidated by them, and have heard mixed things.

Please PM me with your experiences! Thank you!

 

[jmo1012]

i think you need to figure out what you're looking for to help you narrow down the numbers, because although i could go on for hours about why i chose x, y, and z, the same may not hold true for you. my general advice is pick ONE thing to start so that you can begin to narrow it down. that could be as picky as "i want to be a neurologist so i only want programs with a neurologist or >1 neurologist on staff" or "i hate winter, i am not applying to anywhere cold." other things to consider: how much ER vs. rotating do you want? do you mind being left alone on ER or do you want a program where you will be supervised 99% of the time? want to live near a city? want certain benefits to be available? want primary surgery responsibilities? want access to certain equipment? want days off? want 10 vacation days instead of 5? want a program that has successfully matched a lot of people to residencies? want at least x number of internmates? want to be able to round cases off for the night instead of being on call for that case all night long? want to be able to actually live on your salary (yes, there are some programs where i honestly dont think anyone can live in that location for the price)? the list goes on...

personally, i was/am interested in an ECC residency, so i started by pulling out all programs that had 2+ECC specialists on staff. that narrowed things quite a bit. then i wanted at least 5 interns in a program, so that narrowed from there. then i decided that realistically, i didnt want to move to CA, so i knocked those programs out. and then i read about the programs, contacted the interns, etc.

if you are interested in a place like Angell, i would HIGHLY recommend visiting them to get a feel for whether or not that program would work for you. it is a very high volume internship, and the stress and pressures are not going to work for everyone. its an excellent program, but i think it is one of the excellent programs out there that has to potential to be a catastrophically poor match for someone who cannot handle that type of high volume/pressure.

 

[JaynaAli]

I 100% agree with jmo. You have to decide what you want out of an internship before you can really begin narrowing things down. I highly recommend visiting your top choices. This lets you get a feel for how the programs run and lets them get to know you as well. For the places I could not visit, every program director I spoke to was glad to provide me with email addresses or phone numbers of past interns. Everyone I talked to seemed honest about their program...no one was 100% positive or 100% negative. They told me both the good and the bad, which was something I appreciated. Plus keep in mind, one person's experience can be much different than someone else's, especially given different personality types.

Personally, I wanted a smaller program with 3-5 interns, access to a clinical pathologist within 30 minutes, supervision the vast majority of the time, and located in the west, midwest, or southern US. I am overall pretty happy with my program, but I did visit this place before the match so I knew a bit about what I was potentially getting into.

 

[negativenetworth]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. What I am really looking for here is specific descriptions of your experience and where.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I think david594 was an SDNer who was an intern at angell (I think that's what he posted), so you may want to PM him. Of the people i know who did internships at angell, they came out of it feeling awesome that they did it. It opened a lot of doors for them, and they felt very well prepared for emergency/specialty practice. During, they generally felt overworked and somewhat abused, but in the end they were all very satisfied. But I can't say from personal experience as I went straight into practice.

 

[twelvetigers]

He did, I thought of him too.

 

[jmo1012]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. What I am really looking for here is specific descriptions of your experience and where.

so i personally dont have the time to just ramble about the pros and cons of my internship, but if you have specific questions, please feel free to ask. i'm down in Tampa at a BluePearl. also, remember all interns are only about 1-1.5 months into their internships right now, so this question is probably better asked in another couple of months. those who have finished their internships can certainly give you a good idea at this time.

 

[psilovethomas]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. What I am really looking for here is specific descriptions of your experience and where.

You're at MSU, right? Talk to David in ECCM. He did an internship at Angell ( @david594 ).