Info about ETSU-IM Residency

[boxerman]

Hey, I'm considering both East Tennessee State Univ. and/or UT- Knoxville for an IM residency. Both communities have resources and appeal to my wife & kids, my concern is about the programs. Both of those Interviews went well, but ETSU is a much larger program than UT-K or the program I have gone thru in medical school. Does anyone have info about the " intangible" aspects at ETSU such as staff- resident rapport, resident-resident interaction, in short is it the kind of place where you are just a number, is it a malignant work environment; any ETSU 3rd or 4th years out there want to discuss your experiences during rotations.
This is a big decision for me, to move my wife and children across several states for residency-possibly fellowship and any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[scm]

i've met/worked with a number of folks doing FM down there, seemed a wonderful place to train, their FM residency is usually #3 or so in the country for rural meidcine, if those rankings mean anything..but i worked with a large number of the FM faculty, and they all seemed very dedicated also quite nice/concerned about residents/students, education, and well, laid back(i'm in NYC). i was down there working in a clinic in the mtns for a summer a few yrs back through ETSU, spent a week at ETSU proper for didactics.. been to knoxville a few times..i would much rather live near ETSU than knoxville, much more stuff in proximity that I'm interested in(i.e. hiking, biking, beautiful spots, nice communities)..though johnson city isnt too great. feel free to PM me, sorry i dont know much about IM though there..
take care

 

[boxerman]

i've met/worked with a number of folks doing FM down there, seemed a wonderful place to train, their FM residency is usually #3 or so in the country for rural meidcine, if those rankings mean anything..but i worked with a large number of the FM faculty, and they all seemed very dedicated also quite nice/concerned about residents/students, education, and well, laid back(i'm in NYC). i was down there working in a clinic in the mtns for a summer a few yrs back through ETSU, spent a week at ETSU proper for didactics.. been to knoxville a few times..i would much rather live near ETSU than knoxville, much more stuff in proximity that I'm interested in(i.e. hiking, biking, beautiful spots, nice communities)..though johnson city isnt too great. feel free to PM me, sorry i dont know much about IM though there..
take care

Thanks for the feedback, I agree Johnson city is closer to the things I like to do also ( hiking etc...). You stated Johnson City wasn't too great, any specifics?? I don't really mind small communities as long as people aren't too close minded. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[scm]

oh, actually i meant i'd prefer to live around in some of the small communities there, vs johnson city itself. i guess i was at a few nice profs houses in neighborhoods near JC actually, they had us over for swimming, and bbqs and so forth... i just meant that johnson city wasnt that great in that it probably used to have some nice character, but the downtown isnt doing too well, and there are just strip malls around and national chains all along the highway there (benningans, chilis, etc etc), which is not my type of thing. though im sure this has happened all over the country. i seem to remember a gigantic proportion of ETSU being a commuter population, so JC isnt a college town really either, but there are certainly some nice places to eat/bars etc. i didnt find _anyone_ closeminded, in fact, quite the opposite -and i lived with with some people from town who put me up etc, who lived 3-4miles, well, up, in Roan Mtn. i watched the sunset over the mtns every night. people were very friendly in the area, a bit more well educated/traveled than i expected(some of them), more diverse than i expected(i think JC has a growing latino population)...i loved it down there and would consider living there one day... if you like hiking, there is _amazing_ hiking very close by(10-20min), if you do match there, please dont forget to PM me, i can tell you some great spots, some hard(er) to find. also if you are interested in boating/fishing, theres tons of that on lake cayuga. plenty of bluegrass around as well.

 

[scm]

just to add, you asked about ETSU's character, i glossed over this, and granted i was in a special rural medicine program/away elective, and it was the summer, and these were FM not IM people(but then again, the FM dept is very well respected/one of the best in the country)...but i think in the week i was there, 5 different faculty had us over to their homes, for a bbq, for swimming/picnic, lunch, etc etc. we went hiking to nice waterfall with another faculty member. these faculty included the the co-chair, the program director..and so on. so as far as feeling like a number, malignant nature and such, i would say what i experienced is the exact extreme opposite of what you are worried about. i would e-mail an IM resident or two to confirm this, im sure they'd be happy to talk to you, or you could contact the PD for some e-mail addys...

 

[boxerman]

Your experiences sound ideal. In fact, the whole situation up there at least for me sounds too unreal. I really liked both ETSU and UT- Knoxville, but have leaned toward ETSU as of this week because of the fellowship opportunities there. However, when ever something seems that good of a fit, my radar goes up and I get the proverbial microscope out at look at the details, search for more info and otherwise look closely. Your feedback has helped and yes I will take you up on the scoop about those hiking places and etc... .
Thanks again.