Future anesthesiology residents- Avoid RWJMS anesthesiology program at all cost

[deleted727021]

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[Dave1980]

This sounds like a personal issue. Sounds like OP is having a tough time transitioning from student to resident.

 

[kb1900]

This sounds like a personal issue. Sounds like OP is having a tough time transitioning from student to resident.

What is this response? 6/9 failures is shockingly poor if true and far less likely to be 6 people struggling to adjust to residency vs a systematic issue...

 

[operaman]

Hard to see a clear relationship between chiefs taking some extra vacation and weekend time and 6/9 exam failures. Sounds like some issues on the didactic side of things which hopefully the PD will work to fix ASAP so those don’t turn into board exam failures.

Assuming this is true, it’s definitely a red flag but would need to be seen in the broader context of past years’ performance. If there are more than average failures each year then that’s a bigger issue than this just being a fluke. Good questions for any applicant to ask about during an interview but not necessarily enough to warrant a DNR.

Your chiefs don’t sound that bad to me. They are certainly milking the system which their chiefs no doubt did as well. Perhaps it could be a little more equitable but it’s not terribly outside the norm.

Personally I would prefer a resident lead schedule rather than having faculty manage it. We run our entire call and vacation and rotation schedules and it’s sooooo much easier that way. Obviously we would lose that privilege if there were major issues so we have that as incentive to keep things running smoothly. As it is it’s soooo much easier to handle things ourselves and I think having a micro managing PD would drive me nuts.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Meh

 

[hallowmann]

It's completely normal to have chiefs managing the schedule. Generally, the PD and PC are involved on big picture stuff for the schedule, but individual call, etc. that's a huge part of the chiefs' responsibilities.

Sometimes chiefs take advantage. Its generally the culture that our chiefs work more and are the default ones covering call if anyone is sick, but I guess that really depends on who is chief.

Is the basic exam the ITE for anesthesia? I imagine if anyone were to fail it, it would be the CA1s. How did the other years do? I agree that it's hard to directly connect less week call and more weekend call directly with failing this exam. Hopefully your didactics will be adjusted to address this.

 

[jdh71]

rank hath its privileges

 

[contagious1992]

As a current CA-3 (not a chief resident), I’d like to address these remarks with a honest, but different perspective.



While it is true that 6/10 CA-1 residents failed the basic exam last year on their first attempt, every resident passed the retake in the fall. All of our current CA-2’s are in good academic standing and have all worked hard to get to this point. We are proud of them! This was all achieved because we have supportive & engaged faculty dedicated to enhancing the academic experience. Since I started residency here in 2017, dramatic improvements to the program include:

Weekly didactics from 7-3 PM every Wednesday

Weekly Chairman Rounds every Thursday

Formal Oral Board Prep

Paid online access to review programs + TrueLearn

Elimination of 24 hour calls!



I’m a numbers guy...

Class of 2019 Advanced Exam pass rate: 100%

Class of 2020 Fellowship match rate: 100% (6/6), 3 interventional pain, 2 cardiac, 1 peds



As far as scheduling, all of our residents receive 60 days off over 3 years. One of our chiefs rolled over vacation so they are taking 6 weeks of vacation this year.

I’m taking 5 weeks this year. The faculty create the vacation schedule. The call schedule is created by the chief residents and they keep track of overall call counts to make sure we are all treated equally.



To the medical school students who interviewed with our program this year, I highly recommend our program for your anesthesiology training. You won’t find another program with our combination of clinical training, didactics and emphasis on resident wellness.

 

[CentrALLSTAR]

As a current CA-3 (not a chief resident), I’d like to address these remarks with a honest, but different perspective.



While it is true that 6/10 CA-1 residents failed the basic exam last year on their first attempt, every resident passed the retake in the fall. All of our current CA-2’s are in good academic standing and have all worked hard to get to this point. We are proud of them! This was all achieved because we have supportive & engaged faculty dedicated to enhancing the academic experience. Since I started residency here in 2017, dramatic improvements to the program include:

Weekly didactics from 7-3 PM every Wednesday

Weekly Chairman Rounds every Thursday

Formal Oral Board Prep

Paid online access to review programs + TrueLearn

Elimination of 24 hour calls!



I’m a numbers guy...

Class of 2019 Advanced Exam pass rate: 100%

Class of 2020 Fellowship match rate: 100% (6/6), 3 interventional pain, 2 cardiac, 1 peds



As far as scheduling, all of our residents receive 60 days off over 3 years. One of our chiefs rolled over vacation so they are taking 6 weeks of vacation this year.

I’m taking 5 weeks this year. The faculty create the vacation schedule. The call schedule is created by the chief residents and they keep track of overall call counts to make sure we are all treated equally.



To the medical school students who interviewed with our program this year, I highly recommend our program for your anesthesiology training. You won’t find another program with our combination of clinical training, didactics and emphasis on resident wellness.

OP here. For some reason someone reported my post and my account got deleted but part of my posts still good. Someone didn't like my post but whatever. I was not there to know these match results. From my experience I was constantly harassed by the chiefs and given hard time by almost everyone at the department. all they cared about was getting attending & CRNA out on time and not give two ****s about residents. this program was getting malignant slowly. Lots of attendings leaving and residents being over worked. I wouldn't be surprised if its on probation due to work hour violations.

 

[PieOHmy]

The reason why SDN is circling the drain is because they edit posts/ remove posts, ban users. Sort of like Fake news network. (FNN). its only a matter or time where the owner of this website wont be able to make the 20k monthly NUT

 

[UnoMas]

The Basic Exam of anesthesia residency is akin to Step1/Level 1 of medical school. Different from the annual ITE. Taken during the Spring of 2nd year of residency. If you don't want any fellowship, it's fine as long as you pass on retake. But expect some scolding/scrutiny from the PD/department.

60% failure rate is really really bad. 1 or 2 failures a year, you could blame it on the residents but 6 out of 10, the poor residents must be worked to death without any time left to study/read.

Can't blame didactic either. There are so many great online resources for the Anesthesia boards, one doesn't really need to rely on his program didactic to pass the exams. Residents just need some free time so they can actually study.

 

[pgg]

OP here. For some reason someone reported my post and my account got deleted but part of my posts still good. Someone didn't like my post but whatever. I was not there to know these match results. From my experience I was constantly harassed by the chiefs and given hard time by almost everyone at the department. all they cared about was getting attending & CRNA out on time and not give two ****s about residents. this program was getting malignant slowly. Lots of attendings leaving and residents being over worked. I wouldn't be surprised if its on probation due to work hour violations.

In the interest of transparency to others on SDN -

While the first post in this thread is tagged with a "Last edited by a moderator: Jan 21, 2020" note, this is an artifact of what happens when an individual requests that his post and account be deleted. Generally speaking, we do not remove posts absent compelling reasons (illegal material, documented copyright infringment, spam, etc). There are mechanisms for users to remove their own posts and even entire threads that they have started - but again, this is not action the moderating staff does commonly or lightly.

In this case, the original account holder contacted site administrative staff claiming that he did not post the OP, and requested that it be removed because someone else was abusing his acccount. Whether this was indeed true or simply a case of after-post regret isn't really clear.

Several new accounts, including this one, have since been created (itself a violation of the SDN TOS) and subsequently used to crosspost despite additional warnings.

The drama is unwelcome, and in the interest of making SDN a useful and welcoming forum for all its users, future re-re-re-reregistrations of accounts by this individual will be summarily deleted as soon as they are reported or we otherwise we detect them.

 

[zero0]

The Basic Exam of anesthesia residency is akin to Step1/Level 1 of medical school. Different from the annual ITE. Taken during the Spring of 2nd year of residency. If you don't want any fellowship, it's fine as long as you pass on retake. But expect some scolding/scrutiny from the PD/department.

60% failure rate is really really bad. 1 or 2 failures a year, you could blame it on the residents but 6 out of 10, the poor residents must be worked to death without any time left to study/read.

Can't blame didactic either. There are so many great online resources for the Anesthesia boards, one doesn't really need to rely on his program didactic to pass the exams. Residents just need some free time so they can actually study.

Agreed, the situation reeks of overworked residents who don't have time to study. Fortunately I didn't even apply here.

 

[jw3600]

As a current CA-3 (not a chief resident), I’d like to address these remarks with a honest, but different perspective.



While it is true that 6/10 CA-1 residents failed the basic exam last year on their first attempt, every resident passed the retake in the fall. All of our current CA-2’s are in good academic standing and have all worked hard to get to this point. We are proud of them! This was all achieved because we have supportive & engaged faculty dedicated to enhancing the academic experience. Since I started residency here in 2017, dramatic improvements to the program include:

Weekly didactics from 7-3 PM every Wednesday

Weekly Chairman Rounds every Thursday

Formal Oral Board Prep

Paid online access to review programs + TrueLearn

Elimination of 24 hour calls!



I’m a numbers guy...

Class of 2019 Advanced Exam pass rate: 100%

Class of 2020 Fellowship match rate: 100% (6/6), 3 interventional pain, 2 cardiac, 1 peds



As far as scheduling, all of our residents receive 60 days off over 3 years. One of our chiefs rolled over vacation so they are taking 6 weeks of vacation this year.

I’m taking 5 weeks this year. The faculty create the vacation schedule. The call schedule is created by the chief residents and they keep track of overall call counts to make sure we are all treated equally.



To the medical school students who interviewed with our program this year, I highly recommend our program for your anesthesiology training. You won’t find another program with our combination of clinical training, didactics and emphasis on resident wellness.

Lol come on man.

You can defend your program without making claims like the closing line.

Sounds like you guys made a nice little company pitch. Probably validating a lot of OPs claims.

 

[RajitPat1212]

Hey all. After searching for answers on the forum, I’ve noticed very mixed and seemingly uninformed opinions on RWJ’s Anesthesia program. I was hoping to hear honest opinions from a true insider prior to setting rank lists, as the area is very important to me and my family. If you feel more comfortable, please feel free to PM me or email at my username[at]gmail.com.
Thanks Contagious and Centra for your opinions so far.
RP

 

[TeddyBoomBoom]

As a current CA-3 (not a chief resident), I’d like to address these remarks with a honest, but different perspective.



While it is true that 6/10 CA-1 residents failed the basic exam last year on their first attempt, every resident passed the retake in the fall. All of our current CA-2’s are in good academic standing and have all worked hard to get to this point. We are proud of them! This was all achieved because we have supportive & engaged faculty dedicated to enhancing the academic experience. Since I started residency here in 2017, dramatic improvements to the program include:

Weekly didactics from 7-3 PM every Wednesday

Weekly Chairman Rounds every Thursday

Formal Oral Board Prep

Paid online access to review programs + TrueLearn

Elimination of 24 hour calls!



I’m a numbers guy...

Class of 2019 Advanced Exam pass rate: 100%

Class of 2020 Fellowship match rate: 100% (6/6), 3 interventional pain, 2 cardiac, 1 peds



As far as scheduling, all of our residents receive 60 days off over 3 years. One of our chiefs rolled over vacation so they are taking 6 weeks of vacation this year.

I’m taking 5 weeks this year. The faculty create the vacation schedule. The call schedule is created by the chief residents and they keep track of overall call counts to make sure we are all treated equally.



To the medical school students who interviewed with our program this year, I highly recommend our program for your anesthesiology training. You won’t find another program with our combination of clinical training, didactics and emphasis on resident wellness.

I have no dog in this fight, but it is not a good look when you pronounce that all residents have 60 days off in 3 years.

That’s literally the absolutely bare acgme minimum of four weeks of weekdays off per year.

 

[deleted1059316]

I have no dog in this fight, but it is not a good look when you pronounce that all residents have 60 days off in 3 years.

That’s literally the absolutely bare acgme minimum of four weeks of weekdays off per year.

It's more likely less than 60 days off.. the residents are asked to lie about duty hours and days off regularly. There is a long history of duty hour violation. In fact, the program was on probation a few years ago for this same issue:

Future Residents: Avoid Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson RWJ Anesthesia Program

Long time member using throw away account for privacy. Avoid RWJ, program is currently on probation, program has changed four PDs in the last 5 years. A lot of turmoil in the department, with limited didactics and very poor resident satisfaction.

forums.studentdoctor.net

Not much changes.

Many of the attendings who have been there the longest are very unhappy and bitter, and the outlet for their anger is often the resident. It seems like attendings are allowed to have violent outbursts without being held accountable for their actions. The program will do whatever they can to protect the attending over YOU. In fact, one of their favorite ways around this problem is to manipulate you into thinking that YOU are wrong, while trying to convince you that the attending's outburst never happened. They play sick psychological games like that. Even their program coordinator had enough of their **** and left less than a year ago.

I can go on and on about the horrors of training with this program.

I know a lot of you really want anesthesia spots, but you need to pass this program by.

 

[deleted1059316]

Sorry for the string of posts, but I have some more to say.. linking to another thread. Same s**t, years and years again.

Future Residents: Avoid Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson RWJ Anesthesia Program

Long time member using throw away account for privacy. Avoid RWJ, program is currently on probation, program has changed four PDs in the last 5 years. A lot of turmoil in the department, with limited didactics and very poor resident satisfaction.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[deleted1059316]

100% pass rate.. no problems at all with anyone, huh? I don't know about you, but I smell the Bulls**t Express a'comin 'round the mountain. Choo choo!

As a current CA-3 (not a chief resident), I’d like to address these remarks with a honest, but different perspective.



While it is true that 6/10 CA-1 residents failed the basic exam last year on their first attempt, every resident passed the retake in the fall. All of our current CA-2’s are in good academic standing and have all worked hard to get to this point. We are proud of them! This was all achieved because we have supportive & engaged faculty dedicated to enhancing the academic experience. Since I started residency here in 2017, dramatic improvements to the program include:

Weekly didactics from 7-3 PM every Wednesday

Weekly Chairman Rounds every Thursday

Formal Oral Board Prep

Paid online access to review programs + TrueLearn

Elimination of 24 hour calls!



I’m a numbers guy...

Class of 2019 Advanced Exam pass rate: 100%

Class of 2020 Fellowship match rate: 100% (6/6), 3 interventional pain, 2 cardiac, 1 peds



As far as scheduling, all of our residents receive 60 days off over 3 years. One of our chiefs rolled over vacation so they are taking 6 weeks of vacation this year.

I’m taking 5 weeks this year. The faculty create the vacation schedule. The call schedule is created by the chief residents and they keep track of overall call counts to make sure we are all treated equally.



To the medical school students who interviewed with our program this year, I highly recommend our program for your anesthesiology training. You won’t find another program with our combination of clinical training, didactics and emphasis on resident wellness.
[/QUOTE]



100% pass rate.. no problems at all with anyone, huh? I don't know about you, but I smell the Bulls**t Express a'comin 'round the mountain. Choo choo!

 

[ronaldinho22]

can anyone provide updates on RWJ and how they're doing now? I interviewed at RWJ over Zoom and I thought the program sounded strong. I'm hoping to remain in NJ for residency and would appreciate some guidance in navigating the match

 

[Redpancreas]

can anyone provide updates on RWJ and how they're doing now? I interviewed at RWJ over Zoom and I thought the program sounded strong. I'm hoping to remain in NJ for residency and would appreciate some guidance in navigating the match

Here's how I see this situation.

1.) OP did not have a good experience at RWJ Anesthesia and he/she is attempting to sabotage the program with sock-puppetry. I wish he/she would have just come on here and given their own perspective instead of doing shady things to seem like a plurality. It's just ruined his or her credibility.

2.) The response from the supposed CA-3 at RWJ was also terribly done. Their "bottom line" reinforcement only made my malignancy radar go off regardless of whether the program is actually bad or not because a residency's focus should be on training and wellness and frankly the bottom line is often out of the program's immediate control. I've seen sports teams and medical training programs fail and the first thing that happens is the people become unhappy. The bottom line tends to stay around for a while until the system completely collapses. Be wary of a program that sells you the bottom line because there's a chance its on the downslope.

3.) Two separate posts from experienced users seem to imply that whatever academic issue there was at RWJ that year was not trivial.

Overall, if I was in your position @ronaldinho22 I would not ignore the issue if you can afford to be choosy. Try to gauge resident's opinions outside of interview day. I can see why NJ is a demographically appealing area to you and suggest you ask some in your community what they thought.

 

[Lawpy]

Another thread with too many deleted accounts. Better to check with the specialty forums for program specific advice