Infectious Disease Fellowship Application Thread: '08-09 version

[sswam]

Interviewed at Drexel last week: will post more details later today.

Here goes:
The program is the "other one" at Phily. Not that competitive, but showing signs of improving. New PD, lots of new faculty. They have now integrated the services and linked closer with Micro. More NIH grants, and research now. Good volume of consults. Largest HIV service in the city. The transplant team is quite aggressive, and patients with hepatitis and HIV are also transplanted- the ID issues pre and post transplant are amazing.
The fellows seem relaxed, and the academic sessions are good discussions. If the improvements continue, it could become a very good program in a couple of years.
The problem is that the hospital belongs to Tenet Health and the University does not have a hospital of its own. That can be tricky, and if the hospital administration moves in a different direction, ah, well.

One question. Has anyone heard about the issues between Wayne state and detroit Medical??

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[elresidante]

Interviews and Impressions so far:

Omaha/Creighton: Actually is split between Nebraska and Creighton, but Creighton puts their name on the diploma. Very good clinical program. 2 fellows/year. Very strong transplant service at Nebraska and HIV research there. Also good infection control people (Dr. Rupp). They send their fellows to both IDSA and SHEA free of charge each year (both 1st and 2nd years). Very nice PD. Rotations in 3 month blocks - VA, Nebraska, Creighton, Research - and this alternates over two years. Very family friendly.

Wisconsin: Great faculty. Numerous research opportunities with very good collaboration with basic scientists - and the infrastructure for research is outstanding. 2 fellows/year. PD is young, working in HIV. Excellent infection control/epi. Rotations are somewhat different in that are in two week blocks - between University hospital, VA, outpatient clinic, and research (personally I didn't like this). My impression is fellows are quite busy, and perhaps don't have enough time to do research until done with their two years. Many stay on after their training for additional research/work - and their are extensive opportunities in this regard.

Vanderbilt: Excellent faculty, facilities. 5 fellows a year and split pretty well between services (2 inpatient consult teams, an HIV service, outpatient clinic, and VA). PD is very nice/supportive. Dept chair is big into HIV. Also opportunities for infection control/epi work through state dept of health. TB research. Lots of educational activities - they even do a quarterly IDSA guidelines review! Nashville seemed like a great town - very safe/clean. Numerous training grants available. Many fellows stay in academics.

Iowa: Large department with lots going on (HIV/virology, Staph/bacteriology, infection control/epi, etc.). 2 fellows/year. Regional referal center, but less HIV than other places (although both the University Hospital and VA have HIV clinics). Great PD, dept chair. Smaller town - more of a college vibe. Also numerous training grants/labs to work in.

Minnesota: Large dept split between 3 large hospitals (VA, Minnesota, Hennepin County). But they don't count on fellows to run the service (not enough to anyway) - it's a bonus for the attendings when the fellows are around. Very family friendly - they are open about this. Fellows all seemed very happy. Minneapolis is a bigger city - services an area of probably 2+ million including burbs and local towns (so they get all the HIV, Tb, etc., which can be significant at the county med center). Also they are big into travel medicine, since their is a large foreign population that migrates here.

Got two more interviews left - Mayo and BID. If anyone has any input on those it would be greatly appreciated

 

[sswam]

Had my interview at Wayne state this week. Robust program, increasing from 3 to 4 from 2010. 1 year committed to research- option of 3 years for bench research available. Reasonable HIV load, good consult service. Dr Sobel for mycology, Dr Cohen and many such big names, all very approachable. The grand rounds had fellows from Henry Ford presenting cases as well, and faculty from Ann Arbor! Lots of research opportunities. Fellows attend the SHEA course. Go to IDSA. Publish articles and posters. Very good program overall, and great PD.

 

[ESBL]

Anyone heard from MGH-BWH yet, either way?

 

[iddoc2010]

ESBL--no word here either way from MGH/BWH.

Anyone know if Emory is inviting?

 

[elresidante]

I would appreciate anyone's opinion on the following programs: Mayo, BIDMC, Yale, Vanderbilt.

And...is this thread DNR/DNI, because it seems time to either slap on the paddles or inititiate comfort measures.

 

[ESBL]

elresidante, i think people are still interviewing, not much new info in the last few weeks. some programs are really dragging their feet with the interview selection process.....which are lasting now until mid-May??!@#$#@!??

I haven't interviewed at the programs you mentioned, but I've been to NIH and UW. Both are fantastic programs with awesome faculty. UW is probably better for a long term clinical career, NIH for a basic science focus. I liked both Seattle and DC, although they're pretty different places.

Come on you folks, spit out that interview advice and dont' be stingy!

 

[sswam]

Was in UAB thursday, and it is good- very good.
I had heard about some issues re the directorship there, but I did not see any problems. The faculty seem easy to work with, and the number of projects is amazing! Fellows are relaxed, and appear to get phone consults when on call from everywhere (how does ethiopia strike you??). Work hours are the usual, and they have lots of options on what they want to focus on.

Going to Baylor and UTMB Galveston in a week's time. Will post my assessment on return!

 

[smartgy1981]

Hello all:

I am just now getting ready to run the interview gauntlet. I have only been to Vandy so far. I am wondering if anyone is native to or has past interview experience with the NYC ( Columbia, NYU, Cornell) or Boston (BID, MGH, BU) programs and would be willing to share their knowledge. Also if anyone has any Emory or Case Western questions I have done residency and med school at those programs respectively. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pancake]

Hello Smartgy1981:

I recently went to BID and BU, and am planning on going to Boston again soon, so I can tell you what my impressions were so far. But again, I felt like the impressions really differ depending on what your interests are.

BID: New PD, very nice, very supportive with your career plan. Amazing opportunities during your research years, since you pretty much have all the Harvard resources available. However, since there are so many hospitals in the area, my impression was that during the clinical years, you might not be able to see that much variety (especially HIV, TB), but if you choose the clinical track, you can still make up for that by choosing to do elective clinics outside BID after your 1st year. Fellows seemed happy, didn't look overworked.

BU: Since BMC merged with Boston City Hospital, takes care of indigent people, refugees, and a lot of returning travelers (I was told they are called "Logan admissions"), and adds a lot more variety to the patient population. I don't know if this is BMC or Massachusetts tradition, but I was surprised to know that TB treatment is done by the Pulmonologists. In terms of research, the PD tends to welcome people interested in bench research, but not that many fellows seem to have actually been doing bench. I was told that so far no one has spent time abroad during fellowship, if you are interested in international health. If you are a US citizen or a permanent resident, they have a grant for "Clinical HIV/AIDS research training program" through which you can get full tuition covered for your Master's as well as training in mentored clinical research. For some reason, the fellow I spoke with did not seem to be that happy, but my overall impression was good.

If anyone knows about Emory, could you please let me know??

 

[sswam]

What is happening??? Is the thread in deep freeze??
I want to know if anyone what is going to happen to UTMB Galveston- they used to have a decent ID program pre Ike; are they going to get back to that level??

 

[idtobe]

How is Tufts vs. Boston Medical Center? Does anyone know if either has a "better" reputation?

 

[eagerguy]

How is Southern Illinois Univ. Program? Any info.?

 

[JayneCobb]

Remember: The deadline to submit your ROL is 9:00 pm eastern time on Wednesday, June 3, 2009.

 

[sswam]

Ok- I am going to Wayne state- they have an opening for this year, and since I am R3, that is better for me.... do not have to waste a year.
All the best folks!

 

[obasanjo]

Ok- I am going to Wayne state- they have an opening for this year, and since I am R3, that is better for me.... do not have to waste a year.
All the best folks!

Congratulations and good luck.

will are in for the Match.

For the last 2 days I have recieved emails from some program directors where I interviewed telling me they were impressed with my qualifications and will rank me on their list .........

have any of you received similar emails?

Good luck to everyone.

 

[sswam]

I did get them. And offers that sound like an out of match option.
Tip: Please make sure you express the desire to work with them, and if dont match send another email on the fact that you would love to work with them in the future.

 

[BigPimpin]

On the website of one of the ID fellowship programs I'm applying to, it lays out the rotations you have during the fellowship's 24 months:

11 months on the general inpatient consult service.
1 month of peds ID.
1 month of diagnostic micro at the university hospital's clinical lab.
1 comprehensive epidemiology month at the hospital.

Then is says that when you're not on the consult service, you are free to "engage in other scholarly activity, like conduct research, attend classes, write case reports, etc."

I mean...seriously? I'm no mathematician, but TEN months of doing "other scholarly activity?" I didn't know what that meant, and I still really don't. I've asked a couple of ID attendings, neither of whom did their training at the above program; one of them said, "Yeah, it sounds nice but they've always got you doing some busy work on those 'off' months." The other one said, "ID fellowship was the best two years of my life. During those 'off' months I basically read a lot on my own, but I slept and drank a lot, too."

I still don't have a specific answer: besides your day or half-day of clinic time, what does one do on those ten "other" months? I've looked at the sites of a few other programs and they all have a similar layout. Anyone know?

BP

 

[idtobe]

You do research.

 

[Rxford3world]

Ladies & gents,
Im currently applying for Med school w/ a long term goal of IM, then ID w/ a public health emphasis...

Q #1: In Academic ID programs w/ Research components, what kind of work hours can one expect during the non-clinical component of the fellowship - Yes, I know this would vary w/ location/program type, I would just like to have a more intelligent outlook.

Q #2: In regards to moonlighting/IM work as an ID fellow, how much of that can you expect to do during the clinical or research yr(s)...?

 

[GIBlues]

Ladies & gents,
Im currently applying for Med school w/ a long term goal of IM, then ID w/ a public health emphasis...

Q #1: In Academic ID programs w/ Research components, what kind of work hours can one expect during the non-clinical component of the fellowship - Yes, I know this would vary w/ location/program type, I would just like to have a more intelligent outlook.

Q #2: In regards to moonlighting/IM work as an ID fellow, how much of that can you expect to do during the clinical or research yr(s)...?

Kid, you are 7+ yrs away from the above mentioned goal, things will change a lot by then. Focus your energy on getting into med school. Plus are you sure you want a less paying field like ID ?

 

[iddoc2010]

Ladies & gents,
Im currently applying for Med school w/ a long term goal of IM, then ID w/ a public health emphasis...

Q #1: In Academic ID programs w/ Research components, what kind of work hours can one expect during the non-clinical component of the fellowship - Yes, I know this would vary w/ location/program type, I would just like to have a more intelligent outlook.

Q #2: In regards to moonlighting/IM work as an ID fellow, how much of that can you expect to do during the clinical or research yr(s)...?

This is only a semi-informed answer since, as you can see by my screenname, I won't start ID fellowship till next year, however my impression is that the research years of an academic fellowship are lighter than the clinical years. You have some freedom to make your own schedule so some of it depends on your level of motivation, but 40-60 hours/week is probably about right. You can also moonlight a lot during the research years, if you want to...depends on what opportunities exist locally and your level of motivation, but many fellows double their incomes this way during fellowship. During your clinical year of ID fellowship, you'll be working longer hours (60-80) so moonlighting is harder. It all depends on you and the program you choose.

 

[mrdowntoearth]

I'm applying for ID this year...wondering for those who have matched in the past could kindly put their stats on this thread (residency program, step1/2/3, research/publications)....Thanks!

 

[IDfellow]

Friends,
New ID fellowship spot has opened up for the 2010 July 1 Start date. It is at Texas A & M University, Scott & White Hospital, Temple, Texas: Contact Gayle Douglas: 254-724-6195 or Barbara Culp: 254-724-7633. Email: [email protected]. Please contact if interested.

 

[Franko]

Hi,
I would like to get an idea of the timeline for the application process to ID programs

I am interested in applying, for entrance in July 2012.
Can You tell me
1) when is the deadline for receipt of applications?
2) when is the interview season,how late does it run??

Thank You.
PGY 1
IM

 

[DrMano78]

I am currently applying this year for a 2011 spot.

The ERAS application opens up in July for you to begin filling it out. The earliest it can be submitted is November 1. Be aware though that programs will NOT download your application until December 1.

Each program has a different deadline for their application, but I would recommend trying to get your entire application, including letters or recommendation, in by Decemeber 1. That gives you the best chance, in my opinion, of getting an interview.

Interview season starts in January usually and runs probably until April. Match day for Fellowship is sometime in June.

I would also recommend that you do some leg work and research the programs you are interested in and even call them to start letting them know who you are.

I hope that this helps. Good luck next year!

 

[luabe]

Hi All,

Had a question about fellowship, are there any work hour rules? and if so what society oversees that? (IE residency - ACGME)


By the way,
FYI: for all who are looking into ID fellowship, I recommend you stay away from Newark Beth Isreal's ID department.
At least really research it and grill the attending's with questions before you choose that place.

 

[IDluv]

Hello, i am a medicine resident at emory applying for ID fellowship this coming year (to start july 2012) and i found this thread randomly when googling info on ID programs. Are ppl still using it? i will be starting to work on my application in a couple months. would love to bounce ideas/program research around. i'm just starting to compile info on other programs, but i have been at emory since undergrad, so i know a lot about it if anyone has questions. look forward to hearing from someone

 

[mrdowntoearth]

Hello, i am a medicine resident at emory applying for ID fellowship this coming year (to start july 2012) and i found this thread randomly when googling info on ID programs. Are ppl still using it? i will be starting to work on my application in a couple months. would love to bounce ideas/program research around. i'm just starting to compile info on other programs, but i have been at emory since undergrad, so i know a lot about it if anyone has questions. look forward to hearing from someone

I think you'll be fine coming from Emory.