I will comment on Mt. Sinai. I recently interviewed there and will admit I was unimpressed. I applied to many midwest programs, mostly academic and some community (so already you can see it wasn't my type of program). Dinner the night before was fine but I didn't really feel like a clicked with the residents like I did at some of the other programs. On interview day the PD was a no show because of a "family issue" (felt like the coordinator was purposefully sidestepping the word emergency) and the first words out of the chairs mouth was "Here patients come first, your education comes second" While I agree the patient always comes first, I don't think the two need to necessarily be separate. Debate for another thread. At the very least, he could have found some better words to break the ice.
In any event, the chair is a very old school type surgeon and drilled all his applicants (myself included). That wasn't such a big deal but the purpose of the interaction was unclear. It didn't appear he wanted to put us under pressure...almost simply to pick fights. Rubbed me and several other applicants the wrong way and not the type of person I want to be working for. As far as the hospital it is in a very bad part of Chicago and very run down. Security was found in every hall way of the hospital. Their are very few elective surgeries when compared to other programs (sorry can't remember #s off the top of my head) and most of their #s come from trauma. Very large amount of penetrating. It is very sad to be honest. The hospital is obviously underfunded, understaffed, and in need of help. I think the residents and attendings that work there must be great people to work in a place like that which obviously needs them.
In the end if your goal is end up working in an underserved community, and you want a great trauma experience, this is absolutely the program for you. I simply wasn't a good fit for this program. I will also say that I am friends with one of the interns who was at my school last year. While this was not high up on his match list, he tells me he is very happy and learning great surgery. Hope it helps!
