Hopkins Interview

[MDUpFront]

I wanted to give a "field report" for all of you who are going to interview at Hopkins this year.

First off, I have been incredibly lucky with interview invitations. I have gotten interviews at all the major programs (3 Harvard hospitals, UCSF, Wash U, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, Yale, 2 Chicago programs, + others) I was excited when I received the notice from Hopkins, because it is known to be an excellent program. I went into the interview day with an open mind.

Needless to say, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I felt as though I wasted a plane ticket.

The issues with Hopkins

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up." (The secretary knocks on the door when interviews should wrap up.) In fact, the interviewer had just ask me a question AND, while I was in mid-sentence, he rose from his chair, opened the door and said, "thank you," and left the room. It was incredibly rude.

None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman. "Where are you from again? What were your test scores?" No attention to detail.

All the residents kept stressing the "Hopkins way." "I think you will find that although we do things differently here, you will find that the Hopkins way is the better way." Give me a break.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us. I even had one of the CA-2's comment to me (NO B.S., I AM STILL IN DISBELIEF; THE COMMENT MADE ME WANT TO CRY), "We work hard here. For the most part people are professional, but not exactly warm. It is rare that someone tells me I did a job well done. BUT, I am leaving here with the reputation of a great program and will likely find a dynamite job."

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Wonderful, who cares?

4. Facilities. First, I must say in defense of Hopkins, they have every specialty know to man. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

Baltimore itself is not horrible, but the immediate neighborhood was questionable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

I hope this helps. You can have my place in the Match.

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[cloud9]

I wanted to give a "field report" for all of you who are going to interview at Hopkins this year.

First off, I have been incredibly lucky with interview invitations. I have gotten interviews at all the major programs (3 Harvard hospitals, UCSF, Wash U, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, Yale, 2 Chicago programs, + others) I was excited when I received the notice from Hopkins, because it is known to be an excellent program. I went into the interview day with an open mind.

Needless to say, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I felt as though I wasted a plane ticket.

The issues with Hopkins

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up." (The secretary knocks on the door when interviews should wrap up.) In fact, the interviewer had just ask me a question AND, while I was in mid-sentence, he rose from his chair, opened the door and said, "thank you," and left the room. It was incredibly rude.

None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman. "Where are you from again? What were your test scores?" No attention to detail.

All the residents kept stressing the "Hopkins way." "I think you will find that although we do things differently here, you will find that the Hopkins way is the better way." Give me a break.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us. I even had one of the CA-2's comment to me (NO B.S., I AM STILL IN DISBELIEF; THE COMMENT MADE ME WANT TO CRY), "We work hard here. For the most part people are professional, but not exactly warm. It is rare that someone tells me I did a job well done. BUT, I am leaving here with the reputation of a great program and will likely find a dynamite job."

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Wonderful, who cares?

4. Facilities. First, I must say in defense of Hopkins, they have every specialty know to man. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

Baltimore itself is not horrible, but the immediate neighborhood was questionable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

I hope this helps. You can have my place in the Match.

I didn't expect to see one of these already.

So, everybody, cancel your interviews with JH and give thanks to those selfless individuals who wish to save others from heartbreak.

 

[JP2005]

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm


YOU WILL FIND DO'S AT HARVARD, YALE, UMICH, UPENN AND OTHER "TOP RANKED" PROGRAMS ETC. I WOULD GET USED TO IT. WELCOME TO ANESTHESIA.

 

[driverabu]

Well, I am glad I didn't apply to JH then....I mean, aside from being a USIMG, not AOA, Step 1 was not a 300 and step 2 was not a 350 and I don't have 100 publications, they are too full of themselves. Most of you might say that they have a right to be full of themselves, but in medicine, not being humble is a negative quality if you ask me. I don't think I could put up with 4 years of arrogance...just my 2 cents.

 

[EW1779]

i would like to see the hopkins PD who recently posted on here respond to this....any second?

 

[MDUpFront]

Any second?

 

[xampower]

i would like to see the hopkins PD who recently posted on here respond to this....any second?

That was scutwork.com not not SDN. And it was a former PD.

 

[EW1779]

It was a CA3 from hopkins. and yes, they did post on here. check it out.

Any response, JackPB?

 

[aredoubleyou]

Self importance and arrogance at Hopkins? No way!

I'm not trying to say that big name places are necessarily arrogant, but I think its more prevalent at these kinds of places. They know they will get candidates with high board scores no matter what they do - so, in this particular case, they sunk to the minimal level of hospitality and effort they could.

I think this is a real review (venting) more than the first of the onslaught of mind games that will be coming in febuary as Cloud9 is alluding to.

 

[xampower]

It was a CA3 from hopkins. and yes, they did post on here. check it out.

Any response, JackPB?

Just so there is no confusion below is the link to the faculty member and former PD review of Hopkins, and yes this is on scutwork.com.
http://www.scutwork.com/cgi-bin/links/review.cgi?ID=997&d=1

Here is the link to the CA-3 review of Hopkins on SDN.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=240569

 

[KluverBucy]

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Valid point, cause DO's aren't real doctors right? in fact, they have to take the COMPLEX instead of real boards, is that correct?

Let me start by saying that you're a *****. i'll follow that by wondering how many times you've been called an A$$ clown when you were younger. lastly, i'll give you solace in the fact that i'm sure Hopkins was just as impressed with you as you seemed to have been with them. good luck on 'Black Monday'...

 

[blocks]

"I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm."




And I know of at least 1 USIMG that matched at MGH for next year. I guess that program isn't what it once was either. There have been a couple at Stanford recently too. And FMG's at Hopkins.

Or could it be that some programs have the philosophy that an exceptionally well qualified candidate is an exceptionally well qualified qualified candidate, and they as a department have nothing to prove with an "All top med school" match list, or a sales pitch on interview day.

I do find it interesting that this thread comes on the heels of 2 detailed postive reviews of the program....calls to mind the "UCSF sucks" thread that was started last interview season.

Hopkins is Hopkins...I think they'll do just fine without you.

 

[driverabu]

"I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm."




And I know of at least 1 USIMG that matched at MGH for next year. I guess that program isn't what it once was either. There have been a couple at Stanford too. And FMG's at Hopkins.

Or could it be that some programs have a philosophy that an exceptionally well qualified candidate is an exceptionally well qualified qualified candidate, and they as a department have nothing to prove with an "All top med school" match list, or a sales pitch on interview day.

I do find it interesting that this thread comes on the heels of 2 detailed postive reviews of the program....calls to mind the "UCSF sucks" thread that was started last interview season.

Hopkins is Hopkins...I think they'll do just fine without you.

I agree. I just wish that some other programs took that stance, especially in TX. TX just thinks that their sh** doesn't stink and they would rather die than to take an IMG.....even TX born and bread IMGs!!!!

 

[Trisomy13]

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that is all i have to contribute.

 

[chicamedica]

I wanted to give a "field report" for all of you who are going to interview at Hopkins this year.

First off, I have been incredibly lucky with interview invitations. I have gotten interviews at all the major programs (3 Harvard hospitals, UCSF, Wash U, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, Yale, 2 Chicago programs, + others) I was excited when I received the notice from Hopkins, because it is known to be an excellent program. I went into the interview day with an open mind.

Needless to say, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I felt as though I wasted a plane ticket.

The issues with Hopkins

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up." (The secretary knocks on the door when interviews should wrap up.) In fact, the interviewer had just ask me a question AND, while I was in mid-sentence, he rose from his chair, opened the door and said, "thank you," and left the room. It was incredibly rude.

None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman. "Where are you from again? What were your test scores?" No attention to detail.

All the residents kept stressing the "Hopkins way." "I think you will find that although we do things differently here, you will find that the Hopkins way is the better way." Give me a break.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us. I even had one of the CA-2's comment to me (NO B.S., I AM STILL IN DISBELIEF; THE COMMENT MADE ME WANT TO CRY), "We work hard here. For the most part people are professional, but not exactly warm. It is rare that someone tells me I did a job well done. BUT, I am leaving here with the reputation of a great program and will likely find a dynamite job."

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Wonderful, who cares?

4. Facilities. First, I must say in defense of Hopkins, they have every specialty know to man. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

Baltimore itself is not horrible, but the immediate neighborhood was questionable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

I hope this helps. You can have my place in the Match.

Well you know. . .it's difficult to judge a program just based on how your interview day went. I mean, every program is going to have it's share of attendings who love to teach as well as those who could care less about it. Likewise about residents. I spent a month at Hopkins and can attest to the fact that most of the faculty are VERY warm and approachable. I dont really agree with the CA-2's comment about the environment not being warm. Dont' forget that some programs are going to make an effort to just present their "good" side. Apparently people at Hopkins just dont have the time to waste with doing so (or they want to be more honest about it). Who CARES that the PD dressed comfortably/casually? For all you know, he could have been on call the night before. So the facilities are a little old. . .what the heck difference does it make?? You're never going to be in the administrative offices!!! Most of the ORs are actually very nice. I went in all expecting these tiny little dungeon room cause of what people kept saying. There are mayyybe 4-5 rooms like that (out of dozens across 3 OR locations). The cardiac rooms are freaking HUGE! The ORs at the "cancer center" which I assume you're referring to Weinberg are simply gorgeous.

My point is mostly that you cant really judge a program by how it "looks" on interview day.

 

[davvid2700]

I wanted to give a "field report" for all of you who are going to interview at Hopkins this year.

First off, I have been incredibly lucky with interview invitations. I have gotten interviews at all the major programs (3 Harvard hospitals, UCSF, Wash U, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, Yale, 2 Chicago programs, + others) I was excited when I received the notice from Hopkins, because it is known to be an excellent program. I went into the interview day with an open mind.

Needless to say, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I felt as though I wasted a plane ticket.

The issues with Hopkins

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up." (The secretary knocks on the door when interviews should wrap up.) In fact, the interviewer had just ask me a question AND, while I was in mid-sentence, he rose from his chair, opened the door and said, "thank you," and left the room. It was incredibly rude.

None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman. "Where are you from again? What were your test scores?" No attention to detail.

All the residents kept stressing the "Hopkins way." "I think you will find that although we do things differently here, you will find that the Hopkins way is the better way." Give me a break.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us. I even had one of the CA-2's comment to me (NO B.S., I AM STILL IN DISBELIEF; THE COMMENT MADE ME WANT TO CRY), "We work hard here. For the most part people are professional, but not exactly warm. It is rare that someone tells me I did a job well done. BUT, I am leaving here with the reputation of a great program and will likely find a dynamite job."

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Wonderful, who cares?

4. Facilities. First, I must say in defense of Hopkins, they have every specialty know to man. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

Baltimore itself is not horrible, but the immediate neighborhood was questionable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

I hope this helps. You can have my place in the Match.

several quick points.

You will find that in anesthesia you are continually under time constraints.. and sometimes you have to be cut off in mid thought or mid sentence even though you did not finish up. Thats the nature of the business. period. so im sorrythat you did not get to finish what you wanted to say but it probably wasnt that important anyway more than likely and he sensed that so he cut you off.. I spend the whole day cutting people off in mid sentence to re direct them to what i want them to say. No biggie. Shake it off..

The program directors apparel has no bearing on how good the program is.. Its a sum total of many things as you may imagine. So dont judge someone on appearance. Didnt you rmother teach you that.

So what the day was dis oraganized.. Medicine is disorganized if you couldnt tell already. Patients come in all shapes and sized some organized most disorganized.

You are not there to be treated nicely. You are there to train. If you wanted to be treated nicely you should have gone into music therapy or art school. Anesthesia is serious business.

Arragance. You think they are arrogant at hopkins. LOL try Brigham and womens or mgh or cleveland clinic.. Arrogant doesnt even begin to describe them. You are arrogant as well based on what you said about about the DOs. Im not a DO but you are showing your true colors..

I hope you dont match because you truly have no clue

 

[chicamedica]

several quick points.

You will find that in anesthesia you are continually under time constraints.. and sometimes you have to be cut off in mid thought or mid sentence even though you did not finish up. Thats the nature of the business. period. so im sorrythat you did not get to finish what you wanted to say but it probably wasnt that important anyway more than likely and he sensed that so he cut you off.. I spend the whole day cutting people off in mid sentence to re direct them to what i want them to say. No biggie. Shake it off..

The program directors apparel has no bearing on how good the program is.. Its a sum total of many things as you may imagine. So dont judge someone on appearance. Didnt you rmother teach you that.

So what the day was dis oraganized.. Medicine is disorganized if you couldnt tell already. Patients come in all shapes and sized some organized most disorganized.

You are not there to be treated nicely. You are there to train. If you wanted to be treated nicely you should have gone into music therapy or art school. Anesthesia is serious business.

Arragance. You think they are arrogant at hopkins. LOL try Brigham and womens or mgh or cleveland clinic.. Arrogant doesnt even begin to describe them. You are arrogant as well based on what you said about about the DOs. Im not a DO but you are showing your true colors..

I hope you dont match because you truly have no clue

Davvid, thanks for echoing my thoughts re: being cut off and disorganization (and being treated nicely--i mean it's all relative). I am post call this morning so i wasn't able to forumulate these thoughts in my prior post as well. VERY well said. As a med student, I get cut off ALL the time, in the OR, on the floors, at this program at that program. I do feel a little stupid when that happens, but I accept it and recognize that there is something more important to direct my attention to, or that the resident needed to do something or talk to somebody more important right at that moment. And I learn from it. You gotta recognize what the priorities are. the patient, and what needs to be done for the patient, is #1. You can't be the center of attention all the time. OP, perhaps your bad day was more due to your feeling inadequate, cause of this?

As for being treated nicely, i guess that is a very relative term. OP, are you used to being babied? You definitely wont be babied, but you wont be at any program that gives you great training. Nevertheless, I felt that the department does care for the residents. Food is complimentary with any meeting (and it's GOOD food), which is more than i can say for some departments in other specialties. I personally felt like there is a lot of collegiality among the residents, even though there are varied personalities among them (you gotta get used to working with various types of personalities anywhere you'd go). Many of the attendings I worked with were really great about teaching, and were actually very close with the residents (and even the med students). . .not all of course, but that's going to be the case ANYWHERE. . .even at my home program, and my home program is known for being "nice". People seem to care about each other at Hopkins. So I actually thought people do treat each other very nicely there, and there is not a lot of arrogance at all. I was pleasantly surprised that way, after hearing rumors similar to what the OP expresses.

As for the OP's last statement to the effect of "you will come out of this program very well trained". . .well isn't that the most important thing? I guess you'd take a less competent training at a place that'll rather baby you and look pretty. Well, for each his/her own, i guess. . .

p.s. the surgeons at Hopkins are some of the nicest I have met. VERY collegial with anesthesia. I was very impressed by this.

p.p.s OP, you must have talked to a negative CA-2 (or an incompetent one). I personally witnessed attendings patting residents on the back for a job well done on numerous occasions. Even as a med student, I got complimented for the little things i did , like bag-mask ventilating, intubating, putting in IVs or a-lines, etc, a lot more than I felt those small things deserved.

 

[JackPB]

My Friends:

Yikes! I registered on SDN two days ago and people are already calling me out. I am a current CA-3 at Johns Hopkins. I am not an official spokesman for my program, nor am I in a leadership position, nor do I have any input into the interview process, nor do I have any say in picking new residents. I'll be gone and forgotten long before any of you start your residency. To address your concerns:


"You will find that the Hopkins way is the better way"

I have neither heard nor said this, except in jest. Indeed, as I progress in residency, I realize that some things I've done all along isn't the best way at all.


"Residency director walks in wearing a faded, flannel shirt"

I am not surprised. Scott is very informal and dresses like Elmer Fudd when not in scrubs. He looks the same way when I see him walking his dog in Canton.


"People are professional, but not exactly warm"

I disagree. The residents have warm relations with each other as well as with the faculty and members of other specialties. I can think of only a few individuals in our large department who are widely disliked or feared. You'll meet them here, or in any other program.


"Organization"

I'm sorry the day was disorganized. I hope they get better as the interview season gets into full swing.


"Facilities"

The facilities are excellent, although some areas are old.

The ancient General Operating Room suite has 22 rooms. Some are indeed too small, and the tiles seem unchanged since the 1960's. Modern surgical equipment such as C-arms, x-rays, microscopes, cameras and such make for a tight fit. There are vestigial windows in some ceilings where spectators used to observe. I've heard that room 5 is where the first "blue baby" operation was done. The newer Weinberg OR suite has 18 rooms, built during the 1990's. They are brighter and more spacious. The outpatient surgery center has 9 rooms, the eye center has 6, the OB suite has 3, and there are numerous other anesthetizing locations in endoscopy, cardiac cath, and radiology. I am not sure of the exact numbers; I'm going from memory. There are 4 ICU's that anesthesiology residents regularly rotate through and several more ICU's that contain people who need operations.

Hopkins is currently in the process of knocking down a parking garage and putting up a new hospital, to be finished in 3(?) years. Then, the GOR / old hospital is to be abandoned and converted to lab space or a meadow.

On your tour, look carefully at the anesthesia machines. As a resident, you'll probably spend more time caressing the bag than caressing your spouse, so this is important. All machines are just a few years old. Most are Datex/Ohmeda. There are more and more of the new NA/Drager machines with the bells and whistles. There may still be a few of the old big blue machines that I started my residency with, but I haven't used one for a long time. Each regular OR has a computer bolted onto the anesthesia machine that belongs solely to you--you will use it to access patient labs, schedules, lecture notes, text paging system, online journals, and yes, your email.

There are call rooms scattered throughout the hospital complex that include ample beds, phones, computers, and cable television.


"Didactics"

Please read my previous post. I'm happy with the current arrangement. Be careful what you wish for when you look for lots of lectures. Too many talks can get tedious. Here's my secret--I sometimes skip one anyway! In any case, you will have to read on your own. If you don't, you'll fail the boards no matter how many lectures you get.


"The bottom line"

MDUpFront, I'm sorry you had a poor experience with us.

As I have said, you should go with your gut feelings when you finally make your rank list. There are many excellent programs out there. You will have a wide selection of residencies, and one will be best for you.

Good luck to all.

JPB

 

[Idiopathic]

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I get two 4's? Sweet...

 

[me454555]

I do think there is some thing to be said about being interupted during an interview. It is very rude and something that should not happen anywhere. The OP is obviously a very competitive applicant to land an interview at a school like hopkins. He deserves a little bit of respect during his interview and being able to finish his interview uninterupted is not too much to ask. Hopkins or not, residencies should at least be respectful to interviewing medical students b/c everyone is just trying to find the best fit. It always amazes me how little respect medical students feel they deserve. While on wards its perfectly ok to be interupted mid sentece but on an interview? C'mon, thats just bad form. I had a bad interview experience when interviewing for medical school, needless to say I didn't go there when they accpeted me. The same can be true for residencies, even JHU

 

[KingDong]

To Original Poster:

After skimming your post, you sound like perfect Hopkins material.

YOU are the reason I didn't apply to "top 10" programs.

 

[chicamedica]

To Original Poster:

After skimming your post, you sound like perfect Hopkins material.

YOU are the reason I didn't apply to "top 10" programs.

Hmm, maybe you can share with us what perfect Hopkins material is. . .I bet those of us considering training there would appreciate some of your insight into what kind of residents they want.

 

[rugtrousers]

Now, granted, the original poster had some questionable things to say, but I'm not very impressed with the replies, either:

"So what the day was dis oraganized.. Medicine is disorganized if you couldnt tell already. Patients come in all shapes and sized some organized most disorganized."

"You are not there to be treated nicely. You are there to train. If you wanted to be treated nicely you should have gone into music therapy or art school. Anesthesia is serious business."

"My point is mostly that you cant really judge a program by how it "looks" on interview day."

Umm...

The interview day is supposed to be the day when everyone puts their best foot forward. It's supposed to be your opportunity to shine and the program's chance to show you how well-trained and well-supported you will be if you choose to train there. So disorganization and what sounds like outright rudeness are sort of concerning. (And I'm not talking about the PD's clothing - if I'm going to be uncomfortable in a suit and heels, at least someone will be able to let their hair down.) Oh, and being treated nicely for me is paramount! I'm not going to a program that doesn't train me well and respect me at the same time.

And no, you can't judge a program just by the interview day, but if that's the best the program can do, what makes you think training there would be any better? Bottom line for me is that Hopkins sounds like it is not the right program for this person, and when I interview there I'll keep my eyes open for things that make me nervous, too. But I'm still going.

 

[driverabu]

Now, granted, the original poster had some questionable things to say, but I'm not very impressed with the replies, either:

"So what the day was dis oraganized.. Medicine is disorganized if you couldnt tell already. Patients come in all shapes and sized some organized most disorganized."

"You are not there to be treated nicely. You are there to train. If you wanted to be treated nicely you should have gone into music therapy or art school. Anesthesia is serious business."

"My point is mostly that you cant really judge a program by how it "looks" on interview day."

Umm...

The interview day is supposed to be the day when everyone puts their best foot forward. It's supposed to be your opportunity to shine and the program's chance to show you how well-trained and well-supported you will be if you choose to train there. So disorganization and what sounds like outright rudeness are sort of concerning. (And I'm not talking about the PD's clothing - if I'm going to be uncomfortable in a suit and heels, at least someone will be able to let their hair down.) Oh, and being treated nicely for me is paramount! I'm not going to a program that doesn't train me well and respect me at the same time.

And no, you can't judge a program just by the interview day, but if that's the best the program can do, what makes you think training there would be any better? Bottom line for me is that Hopkins sounds like it is not the right program for this person, and when I interview there I'll keep my eyes open for things that make me nervous, too. But I'm still going.

Hmm....to me, saying that you can't judge a program just by the interview....a day where the program is supposed to try and recruit doesn't make sense. I mean, that is the same as saying that first impressions are overrated. What would happen if a potential candidate came in late, fumbling for papers, poorly dressed, etc? They would say the hell with this person wouldn't they? If a program can't get it together for interview day, how do you think working there everyday for several years would be? Just my humble opinion.

 

[Idiopathic]

I agree. A program should be trying to impress the candidate more than the candidate is trying to impress the program. Remember, the programs are recruiting and the candidates are selecting. We are a known quantity: suit, tie, portfolio, clean, well-kempt, prompt, courteous...all these things are expected of us just to be on an even playing field. If JHU really was as the OP says, then maybe they have bought into their own hype.

Somehow, I believe it wasnt quite that bad, however. Perception is so important. Talking to the wrong resident in the wrong month can damage a program for a candidate, as can the shock of having someone not live up to their expectation of what a PD/chairman/attending/resident (especially one atHopkins) should be
.

 

[driverabu]

I agree. A program should be trying to impress the candidate more than the candidate is trying to impress the program. Remember, the programs are recruiting and the candidates are selecting. We are a known quantity: suit, tie, portfolio, clean, well-kempt, prompt, courteous...all these things are expected of us just to be on an even playing field. If JHU really was as the OP says, then maybe they have bought into their own hype.

Somehow, I believe it wasnt quite that bad, however. Perception is so important. Talking to the wrong resident in the wrong month can damage a program for a candidate, as can the shock of having someone not live up to their expectation of what a PD/chairman/attending/resident (especially one atHopkins) should be
.

Very true.

 

[labile]

Well, I am glad I didn't apply to JH then....I mean, aside from being a USIMG, not AOA, Step 1 was not a 300 and step 2 was not a 350 and I don't have 100 publications, they are too full of themselves. Most of you might say that they have a right to be full of themselves, but in medicine, not being humble is a negative quality if you ask me. I don't think I could put up with 4 years of arrogance...just my 2 cents.

given the content of your two cents i'd say it's fairly obvious you don't have a 300 or 350. if you went to the interview or spent any time talking and listening to the faculty, residents, and support staff you'd find that people at hopkins are actually not at all full of themselves. i'm a current resident and don't know of anyone who has those scores. there is a lot of research going on but there are solely clinical faculty as well, and while there are opportunities aplenty for residents to get involved in academic anesthesiology, if we're not interested, we're not interested, and no one gives us extra call or stabs us with 14g needles if that's the case. there is support for residents to do whatever they'd like afterwards, whether that means a lucrative private practice or staying on at hopkins teaching and working in the lab. people are people everywhere, but hopkins seems to have attracted a good deal of funny, incredibly bright, and caring individuals, and if you're glad you're not a part of that, you really don't belong here anyway.

 

[labile]

I wanted to give a "field report" for all of you who are going to interview at Hopkins this year.

First off, I have been incredibly lucky with interview invitations. I have gotten interviews at all the major programs (3 Harvard hospitals, UCSF, Wash U, UCLA, Stanford, Duke, Yale, 2 Chicago programs, + others) I was excited when I received the notice from Hopkins, because it is known to be an excellent program. I went into the interview day with an open mind.

Needless to say, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I felt as though I wasted a plane ticket.

The issues with Hopkins

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up." (The secretary knocks on the door when interviews should wrap up.) In fact, the interviewer had just ask me a question AND, while I was in mid-sentence, he rose from his chair, opened the door and said, "thank you," and left the room. It was incredibly rude.

None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman. "Where are you from again? What were your test scores?" No attention to detail.

All the residents kept stressing the "Hopkins way." "I think you will find that although we do things differently here, you will find that the Hopkins way is the better way." Give me a break.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us. I even had one of the CA-2's comment to me (NO B.S., I AM STILL IN DISBELIEF; THE COMMENT MADE ME WANT TO CRY), "We work hard here. For the most part people are professional, but not exactly warm. It is rare that someone tells me I did a job well done. BUT, I am leaving here with the reputation of a great program and will likely find a dynamite job."

I was also shocked that for such a "top-ranked" program how many D.O. residents were in the CA-1 and CA-2 classes. Hummm.

Wonderful, who cares?

4. Facilities. First, I must say in defense of Hopkins, they have every specialty know to man. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

Baltimore itself is not horrible, but the immediate neighborhood was questionable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

I hope this helps. You can have my place in the Match.

yikes. with that kind of negative attitude you're not liable to have a good interview experience anywhere, even at the other illustrious programs you've received invitations from. can we expect more diatribes as the the season progresses?

 

[labile]

Self importance and arrogance at Hopkins? No way!

I'm not trying to say that big name places are necessarily arrogant, but I think its more prevalent at these kinds of places. They know they will get candidates with high board scores no matter what they do - so, in this particular case, they sunk to the minimal level of hospitality and effort they could.

I think this is a real review (venting) more than the first of the onslaught of mind games that will be coming in febuary as Cloud9 is alluding to.

actually, "big name places" get the choice applicants because of the caseload they offer and types of experiences you will have, as well as, in the case of hopkins, a supportive environment and stellar opportunities post-residency. if you'd like a red carpet, gift baskets, and dancing girls, i'd suggest a change of career.

 

[Lonestar]

AND don't forget it is a seller's market. You are there to impress them, not the other way around. You guys need to pay attention to my past comments. Arrogance is awful no matter how you look at it. And yes there are arrogant people everywhere and they should not be defended. Unfortunately, some faculty are absolute garbage and the PDs can't do a thing about them (i.e. they are tenured or lack of good faculty available, etc). Guess who has to work with them? the CRNAs (you wished); its you and me.

 

[rugtrousers]

Thought I might add my own experience to the fray...

1. Attitude. I was flat out interrupted during an interview because "time was up.".... None of my interviewers (except for one) had read my file, including the chairman.

There are four short interviews that are EXACTLY 15 minutes long. Yes, it was a little strange to be interrrupted, but everyone was going through the same thing, so it didn't particularly bother me. At least two of my interviewers had read my application, but only one asked me anything about it.

2. Appearance. I know appearances aren't everything, but when the residency director walks (who is very nice, no joke) into the room in the morning wearing a faded, flanel shirt with a pair of pants that look like they're 10 years old, you worry. The day was held in a small, cramped, old office. There was hardly enough room to sit down.

Yeah, he's dressed comfortably, but so what? And yes, most of the interview day is held in really cramped, warm quarters, but there are lots of pictures of residents' babies to keep you occupied

3. Organization. The day was very disorganized. No agenda for the day. No simple program overview. The director mumbled on for 45 mins--very hard to follow.

I agree - most programs give you an agenda to know what to expect, and just being shuttled from place to place without knowing what was going on was a little disconcerting. The morning session involves a lot of the PD's talking, but it is a good opportunity to ask questions, which you should, since he's one of the interviewers (consider it to be a group interview of sorts).

4. Residents. Some were very nice, others seemed completely disinterested with us.

Agreed. Some were nice, some were just there for food. They all seemed happy with the quality of the training and not particularly (read: not at all) happy with Baltimore as a city.

4. Facilities. The cancer building is fairly new and modern, the eye center looks up to date, but the remainder of the building (mainly the gen OR's) are small, old, and dreary. If you can get over this, then it might be fine for you.

They're in the process of building new facilities, and all the equipment/technology is the same in the old and new buildings, so it's really just a space issue. Not a big deal for me. The ceilings in the old buildings are really low, though, so if you're tall (>72") you might be uncomfortable.

5. Didactics. Very questionable. Seems that a Monday conference is pretty much it. We actually sat in on the conference for a little while--it was disorganized (I was told it varies from attending to attending). It seems like everyone expects learning to come from self-study.

There is a pre-call/post-call case-based conference that seems to form the bulk of the didactics. There is also a short session before Grand Rounds every week (6:30-7:00 am - aah!). The residents told me that if you are looking for spoon-fed information (a la Gainesville with lectures every day), Hopkins is not the place for you.

The bottom line: I have no doubt that you leave Hopkins a well trained anesthesiologist.

But, if you want a place with a strong didactic program combined with approachable, warm staff and stellar facilities/city, Hopkins is not it.

Training is stellar, no doubt. The things that concerned me were that NO ONE liked Baltimore - everyone talked about how close it was to the suburbs, to D.C., to Philly, to New York. Also, the residents I met were outwardly self-confident in a way that I didn't like, not condescending, but I don't know if I would fit in well with them. The support staff are very friendly, but the faculty didn't strike me as particularly warm. And in contrast to some of the other places I've been, they didn't talk about whether I would be a good fit for their program (maybe the questionable vibes were bidirectional).

Questions to ask:
-How many female residents are there? (~5/year)
-How many female faculty are there? (~20-30%)
-Describe racial/ethnic diversity of the faculty and residents ("we're working on it")
-Do people ever drop out/get dismissed from the program ("sometimes")
-How many single residents are there? (<1/3)
-How's the nightlife? ("what nightlife?")

 

[Trisomy13]

if you'd like a red carpet, gift baskets, and dancing girls, i'd suggest a change of career.

um, i'm just curious as to which career offers the aforementioned incentives? mmmm. gift baskets. *drool*





*cancels all interviews*

 

[MDUpFront]

um, i'm just curious as to which career offers the aforementioned incentives? mmmm. gift baskets. *drool*





*cancels all interviews*

Well, I officially started at war. I had no intention of doing that. I just wanted to give an honest opinion. I am surprised about the outlash from other people, but I am reassured that one of my fellow interviewees agrees with me. If you are one of the individuals criticizing these opinions, then I hope you actually have an interview at Hopkins so you can see it for yourself.

Trisomy 13- About your gift baskets, etc. I have completed 4 other interviews thus far, 3 of which were at "top ten" programs (California and Boston). Needless to say, the experiences were exponentially better than the one I had at Hopkins, and the programs seemed more concerned with how I would fit in with their residents. As opposed to the multiple references to the "Hopkins way" AND the "Hopkins does things a little differently than everyone else" and "let me tell you more about OUR program", I had conversations with PD's about real life things like "WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? DO YOU LIKE THE PATRIOTS? WHAT KIND OF SENSE OF HUMOR DO YOU HAVE? TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF."

Look, I think everyone should expect a program to put its best foot forward on interview day. (Most programs do...if one does not, I am concerned!). I appreciated the comment from one of the other girls. I ALSO HAD TO DRESS UP IN MY BEST DRESS SUIT AND HEELS (damn those heels), so why can't I expect a little formality and decorum from a program. Like I said, some of you will find JHU to be a fit for you. Just remember, it is the whole package.

 

[chicamedica]

Well, I officially started at war. I had no intention of doing that. I just wanted to give an honest opinion. I am surprised about the outlash from other people, but I am reassured that one of my fellow interviewees agrees with me. If you are one of the individuals criticizing these opinions, then I hope you actually have an interview at Hopkins so you can see it for yourself.

Trisomy 13- About your gift baskets, etc. I have completed 4 other interviews thus far, 3 of which were at "top ten" programs (California and Boston). Needless to say, the experiences were exponentially better than the one I had at Hopkins, and the programs seemed more concerned with how I would fit in with their residents. As opposed to the multiple references to the "Hopkins way" AND the "Hopkins does things a little differently than everyone else" and "let me tell you more about OUR program", I had conversations with PD's about real life things like "WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? DO YOU LIKE THE PATRIOTS? WHAT KIND OF SENSE OF HUMOR DO YOU HAVE? TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF."

Look, I think everyone should expect a program to put its best foot forward on interview day. (Most programs do...if one does not, I am concerned!). I appreciated the comment from one of the other girls. I ALSO HAD TO DRESS UP IN MY BEST DRESS SUIT AND HEELS (damn those heels), so why can't I expect a little formality and decorum from a program. Like I said, some of you will find JHU to be a fit for you. Just remember, it is the whole package.

I get it, so you want to talk about your leisure interests rather than hearing about the program you came to interview at.

As for the lack of formality, that is the beauty of the program at Hopkins--the environment is very informal despite its being one of the best (if not THE best). As for decorum, I thought it was fine.


p.s. and yes i just had my hopkins interview.

 

[fishtolive]

actually felt the hopkins interview was great...very laid back, informative and reassuring.

and what a place!

oh, and i had plenty of conversations about my life outside of medicine, in fact that's mostly what we discussed...they had also read my application thoroughly...maybe they read the initial post because my experience was great!

my 2 cents.

 

[greets fr. nyc]

i second the above post. great overall impression of the place. went to hopkins last week.

(see interview section for another interviewee's reply: pretty well balanced)

very chill, extremely nice restaurant, basically you can order anythng and everything on the menu at this cush seafood place. lots of fun just chatting and eating and drinking.
we all stayed at the grand hyatt in inner harbor.

the interview day was also laid back. four interviews. for my day: chair + pd + 2 senior attendings who were actually quite interesting people in their own right. there is a good amount of down time between interviews to chat with people/fellows/lynda the secretary (to luv her spunk, you have to meet her)

the pd was definitely a cool, stand-up, yet refreshingly soft-spoken guy.
from the looks of it & feedback from Hopkins residents CA1,2,3's: improvements made in large part from Mittman's initiatives to the scheduling/rotations/small group case conference is nearly universally acknowleged to be a big reason for resident happiness and balance between intensity and a good life. definitely NOT malignant in terms of personalities. call is only taken on weekend ~1-2x's a month (usually 1). other wise 3-4 overnight calls a month. q5-7 except in the ICU (q3).

the chiefs were great, i felt. the one we spent the most time was funny, intelligent, and just down to earth. all the gas attendings we happend to run into in all parts of the hospital had a smile and a warm greeting for the residents we were with.

the residents, were really a fun bunch. have never laughed so much on the interview trail.. a quirky and nice bunch. at least the ones i met. actually is filled with quite a balanced motley crew of superskilled but down-to-earth people. ALL types of schools represented: which i strongly beleive is a major plus (not just high powered schools = decreased snootiness factor)

in summary...
awesome: leadership,residents program, hospital, balanced life, case-mix, residents seem to have an excellent relationship with attendings & surgeons.

hospital and case-mix: mondo impressed, and lots of tertiary/quatenary cases. this place is amazing. (also lots of trauma.)

tough: location (worse neighborhoods to north) yet thus with a major trauma component which other top programs often lack. on the other hand there were no major professional weaknesses that were clearly evident.

*maryland, the state itself, is definitely a liveable place.
*certain parts of baltimore are also very liveable though i must do some more exploring myself to see for myself.
*many residents stay for fellowship and become faculty.

I will rank this program very highly.

 

[JP2005]

good luck..hope to see some NYC heads down there......

 

[blaze]

Does anyone know their board pass rate?

 

[greets fr. nyc]

it's about a 96% pass rate (1/25 fails), consistently, by the PD's report.

 

[aredoubleyou]

actually, "big name places" get the choice applicants because of the caseload they offer and types of experiences you will have, as well as, in the case of hopkins, a supportive environment and stellar opportunities post-residency. if you'd like a red carpet, gift baskets, and dancing girls, i'd suggest a change of career.

You can keep the red carpet and gift baskets, but I will take the dancing girls.

 

[Hockeyguy]

I really liked it. Just thought I would post because I am pretty critical, but I really have nothing negative to say about the Hopkins program. The standouts were the chief resident and the PD both very nice and all the residents I met were really cool. We had a lot of laughs at dinner and at lunch the next day. Maybe since it is such a "big name" people were expecting more or maybe its because we hit on a good day. Because on the ride back to the hotel everyone echoed positve thoughts. I explored the city a little on my own and found some really cool areas too. even if it was cold as a$$. I will be ranking them 1 or 2.

Mario