- Joined
- Jun 8, 2003
- Messages
- 26
- Reaction score
- 2
The most important reason for choosing a residency program is to get your dream job afterwards. Whatever tolerable prestigious program it takes for you to get your dream job should be the one that you choose.
1. Before jumping into the programs, you must first start with your ideal job (location, cases, hours, salary, type, etc.) You should have a very good idea of the job you want. During my 4th year of medical school, I did not have enough insite as to what a real life anesthesiologist did. So, I contacted a local group, convinved my school to give me credit, and I did a month long rotation with that private group. I worked with as many attendings as possible and asked a ton of questions. I also contacted about 10 physician recruiters and asked about the type of anesthesiologist they were recruiting for. Then, I followed those subspecialists at the group and learned more about them too. At the end of the month, I had a very good idea what an private anesthesiologist did. Yes, as a medical student I was cold-calling doctors I never met and asking for info.
2. Since most residents will practice within 150 miles of their residency program, locations is very important. If you know what city/state you want to practice in, contact those groups and ask which program in the area do they recommend. I did not have a location in mind, so I asked anesthesiologists (about 10) from several groups around the country where I should go. They said, Johns Hopkins, Harvard programs, Duke, UCSF, Virginia Mason, etc. From that list, my wife could only tolerate living in Baltimore. Now some anesthesiologists said it didn't matter where I went, but they themselves told me they would look highly on a job applicant from the big names. I also called my recruiter contacts and asked them where would give me the advantage when I graduated. And each agreed with the big names.
3. Once you narrowed your search down, now go out there and interview and inspect them like a medical examiner at a crime scene. Programs will twist the truth and hide things from you. Some will offer you sweet income deals to make up for some deficiencies. Always get several phone numbers from the residents at your interviews and talk to the medical students. I had great interviews and when I spoke to the residents over the hone, I was shocked to find all of the information that was hidden from me. At Johns Hopkins, Jeff Kirsch gave me his presentation and what to expect. All of the other residents concured. When I called them on the phone, they told me the SAME thing. I didn't want to work that hard or that late, but they were honest, and the alumni network was vast and nationwide.
Pick a residency program with high expectations of you because this is what will happen when you are a new grad. At JHH, they through me right into cases with extremely sick patients during my first month alone. Pick one that will allow outside rotations so you can get used to different charts, patients, monitors, and protocols. Pick one with a high board passing rate. Pick one with an alumni network within the dream practices that you want or the location you want to be. And lastly, pick a program with superb residents. My colleagues were so smart that it motivated me to study hard and improve my clinical skills.
4. Add up the numbers. Can you afford to live there? Will your spouse, children, and or social life suffer? Can you deal with the workload or the expectations? As the check marks pile up, your best program becomes clear.
5. Name means every thing in medicine. The assumption is that if a big name place chose you, then you must be an excellent physician. The truth may be completely different, but that is not what gets you the interview or even the job. If you narrow it down to several programs that meets your criteria, go with the big name!
With all of the information I gathered during my residency search, I developed my web site. Hope that it helps you too. Despite many late nights of regret during residency, I was soooooooooo glad that I did it this way when I started looking for a job.
1. Before jumping into the programs, you must first start with your ideal job (location, cases, hours, salary, type, etc.) You should have a very good idea of the job you want. During my 4th year of medical school, I did not have enough insite as to what a real life anesthesiologist did. So, I contacted a local group, convinved my school to give me credit, and I did a month long rotation with that private group. I worked with as many attendings as possible and asked a ton of questions. I also contacted about 10 physician recruiters and asked about the type of anesthesiologist they were recruiting for. Then, I followed those subspecialists at the group and learned more about them too. At the end of the month, I had a very good idea what an private anesthesiologist did. Yes, as a medical student I was cold-calling doctors I never met and asking for info.
2. Since most residents will practice within 150 miles of their residency program, locations is very important. If you know what city/state you want to practice in, contact those groups and ask which program in the area do they recommend. I did not have a location in mind, so I asked anesthesiologists (about 10) from several groups around the country where I should go. They said, Johns Hopkins, Harvard programs, Duke, UCSF, Virginia Mason, etc. From that list, my wife could only tolerate living in Baltimore. Now some anesthesiologists said it didn't matter where I went, but they themselves told me they would look highly on a job applicant from the big names. I also called my recruiter contacts and asked them where would give me the advantage when I graduated. And each agreed with the big names.
3. Once you narrowed your search down, now go out there and interview and inspect them like a medical examiner at a crime scene. Programs will twist the truth and hide things from you. Some will offer you sweet income deals to make up for some deficiencies. Always get several phone numbers from the residents at your interviews and talk to the medical students. I had great interviews and when I spoke to the residents over the hone, I was shocked to find all of the information that was hidden from me. At Johns Hopkins, Jeff Kirsch gave me his presentation and what to expect. All of the other residents concured. When I called them on the phone, they told me the SAME thing. I didn't want to work that hard or that late, but they were honest, and the alumni network was vast and nationwide.
Pick a residency program with high expectations of you because this is what will happen when you are a new grad. At JHH, they through me right into cases with extremely sick patients during my first month alone. Pick one that will allow outside rotations so you can get used to different charts, patients, monitors, and protocols. Pick one with a high board passing rate. Pick one with an alumni network within the dream practices that you want or the location you want to be. And lastly, pick a program with superb residents. My colleagues were so smart that it motivated me to study hard and improve my clinical skills.
4. Add up the numbers. Can you afford to live there? Will your spouse, children, and or social life suffer? Can you deal with the workload or the expectations? As the check marks pile up, your best program becomes clear.
5. Name means every thing in medicine. The assumption is that if a big name place chose you, then you must be an excellent physician. The truth may be completely different, but that is not what gets you the interview or even the job. If you narrow it down to several programs that meets your criteria, go with the big name!
With all of the information I gathered during my residency search, I developed my web site. Hope that it helps you too. Despite many late nights of regret during residency, I was soooooooooo glad that I did it this way when I started looking for a job.
