K8E said:
I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of any rankings/comparisons of the different surgery residency programs. Not that I put much stock in rankings, but I'm trying to choose places to apply, and other than word of mouth, I don't have much to go by.
Or maybe one of you can help me directly. Eventually, I would like to practice in a semi-rural area (pop. ~30 000 - 200 000), which more or less limits me to G-surg. It also means that I should steer clear of residencies where I'll have scrubbed on more Whipples than appys (sorry Johns Hopkins!). Finally, I would like to stay in the West for residency if at all possible. That being said, there are probably a few programs that would fit, so how to choose? Is U Washington "better" than Oregon health sciences, or vice versa? What about Colorado, New Mexico, etc. Any thoughts?
Hi there,
If you are totally set on private practice, as CP said, you may want to look very carefully at solid comminity programs where you get lots of operative experience with "bread and butter" surgery as opposed to the big academic programs. That being said, lots of academic programs train community surgeons so you should apply to a wide variety of academic programs too.
Excellent community programs would be: Inova Fairfax (sleeper program because this program is based on one of the best equipped, best hospitals in the country with excellent faculty who teach well. You can come out of this hospital being comfortable with Whipples and lap choles). The community program in Wilmington, NC (This program is small but great emphasis on teaching and stellar operating facilities. You can't beat this for location near the beach and outstanding teaching.) University of West Virginia: solid academic program but located in a very rural state. The chairman at West Virginia is Hopkin's-trained and provides some of the best teaching anywhere. This program is evolving and is moving up the ranks rapidly thanks to the McFadden influence. Medical College of Ohio: again, a solid academic program with a good mixture of academics and exposure to private practice. Excellent teaching and plenty of solid operating experience. Riverside Methodist Hospital also has a small community-based residency program with an excellent teaching faculty and lots of great experience. Located in Columbus, OH, this program places great emphasis on solid operating and patient care skills avoiding the huge traumas and complications that go to the Ohio State, which is located down the road. The faculty is top-notch, university-trained and extremely knowledgeable.
You should look for smaller university based programs that tend to have a good proportion of rural patients. The bigger urban academic centers like Hopkins are wonderful but you are going to spend a fair amount of your training doing research and you will be seeing a slightly sicker population than you would see where you intend to practice as the urban university programs are referral centers for the more complicated cases. On the other hand, the University programs in the more rural states like West Virginia have a good mix and are a little less intense.
In looking a residencies, make sure that you apply to a good cross section of programs both community and university based. You do not have to stay in the area of the country that you intend to practice but it does help. You can make plenty of contacts at national meetings. Look for programs that have solid teaching and plenty of operative experience. Again, academic centers like West Virginia (no fellows) can provide you with good experience in the bigger cases and lots of choles, applys etc. You also want to look at board pass rates too and a fairly diverse faculty who are interested in teaching residents.
Steer clear of programs where you are a glorified surgical assistant who watches patients for faculty who are not interested in teaching. Again, you have to really look closely at the community programs to avoid these places. Also, look at board pass rates and ABSITE scores. If the residents are scoring low on ABSITE, the teaching is suspect. Ask about these things during your interviews and be very tough on your interviewers. Don't let them show you the fluff without providing you with solid information that you can use to make a good decision. Look carefully at the faculty and their interests. Do they mentor the residents and help them professionally. If not, drop that program.
Finally, look at your credentials. If you did not score above 200 on USMLE Step I and you are not in the top half of your class, the top university based programs and the good community programs are probably going to be out of your reach. General Surgery has gotten more competitive in the last couple of years so look at what you have to bring to the table. If you are AOA and USMLE Step I above 240 with honors in clerkship scores, you are going to be competitive at the top academic institutions. Do an inventory here too.
Good luck!
njbmd
