Interview Dates for UCSF, UCD?

[pedsforme]

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Does anyone know which dates are offered by UCSF and UCD for Nov. interviews? Thanks.

 

[dr. maybe]

Does anyone know which dates are offered by UCSF and UCD for Nov. interviews? Thanks.

I received an email a while back from UCD stating that they were not going to send out interview requests until the application is complete (or their application deadline is up) or something to that effect. I did not apply to UCSF so I don't know.

Good luck!!!!

 

[superbeangirl]

I got my invite from them in mid-October and this is what they said at that time:

"Our interview days are generally Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the application season, with variable availability.

NOVEMBER 2005-- Monday 14, Wednesday 16, Friday 18, Monday 21, Wednesday 23, Monday 28, Wednesday 30.
DECEMBER 2005-- Friday 2, Monday 5, Wednesday 7, Friday 9, Monday 12, Wednesday 14, Friday 16, Monday 19, Wednesday 21.
JANUARY 2006-- Wednesday 4, Friday 6, Monday 9, Wednesday 11, Friday 13, Wednesday 18, Friday 20, Monday 23 and Wednesday 25."

I did my interview with them this past Monday (Nov 14), which was their very first interview day.

 

[USeF]

I did my interview with them this past Monday (Nov 14), which was their very first interview day.

Well, then how'd it go? What things did you like/dislike?

yes, I will be there and can ask them all the same questions- but it's nice to hear someone's opinions who was just there. 🙂

 

[superbeangirl]

Well, then how'd it go? What things did you like/dislike?

yes, I will be there and can ask them all the same questions- but it's nice to hear someone's opinions who was just there. 🙂

I was there on their first interview day of the season, and it was funny because you could tell that the intern selection chair (Tim Kelly) was very excited and just a tad bit nervous too - took some of the pressure off of us. 🙂

So - the day starts by meeting up with Tim Kelly in the main lobby of the UCSF hospital. He is really one of the greatest program directors I've met (in my 5 interview history) for really making you feel welcome and comfortable. He'll kind of guide you through the whole day and check-in on you every so often. After handing out everyone's schedules you go up to the peds part of the hospital for morning report (since it's a couple of floors in the main hospital rather than a stand-alone children's hospital). After that, you get a little breakfast while Tim gives a really comprehensive powerpoint presentation about the program (that you also receive on a CD so you can look it over again later), answers lots of questions, and probably introduces you to program director Bob Kamei.

Next was my interview, which for any particular person could be at this time, or later after lunch when you tour one of the other sites. My interviewer was very laid back and tried to make our session conversational. I felt a little unsure about some of the interview since she seemed to want me to come up with a lot of negatives about the program ("How does UCSF not fit your needs?" "What do you dislike about this program?") - but I did have a chance to talk about the positives as well. When I talked to the other applicants interviewing that day, they all had more typical peds interviews with questions about their interests and activities, how they got interested in peds, that kind of thing.

After the interview was the tour of the main hospital peds floors. Overall, things seem fine here and there are up-to-date work rooms, etc.... but I'm so used to training at stand-alone children's hospitals that it was hard for me to imagine working at a "hospital within a hospital" without a dedicated peds ED... or dedicated peds anything (labs, radiology) that I could really tell. The people all seemed really happy (and really busy) though. That's definitely just a personal preference thing.

Next was lunch with the residents, and plenty of them showed up to chat, so lots of my questions got answered here. We had sushi and tempura (how very West-coast 🙂 ) I talked to a few interns here (even a post call one) and they all felt lucky to have matched there and loved the program and the city.

The last part of the day was shuttling over to SF General (the county hospital) where another bulk of the training takes place. (Also get some at California Pacific, Kaiser, and Mt. Zion hospitals - so residents are split up over many different sites). SFGH is a typical county hospital with, again, a peds floor. It's the trauma center for SF-area, so this is where you get the good ED experience. Here you'll also get an overview of what your time at SFGH will be like (you also get snacks) and there's more Q&A time with residents here. Usually Anda Kuo - who runs the PLUS program - would meet with you here too so you can find out all about that program. They kind of expect that not a lot of people really know the ins and outs of PLUS so it's okay if you haven't applied to it, but then decide you want to (or vice versa) - you can change your mind as many times as you want. After SFGH, you're done and you can leave right from there or head back to the main campus if you want to.

I really liked this program on my interview day, but since then I've interviewed at programs that just feel like a much better fit for me. I don't think I can really appreciate the 5-site training style... even though you get great exposure to many different systems that will be really helpful for after residency, I just felt like I would be constantly trying to learn a new way of doing things when I'm already trying to learn to take care of patients. Most of the rest of my reasons they won't be ranked #1 are mainly personal (location, family, etc). Like I said, it's a great program and I really liked it - I just don't think the "fit" is there for me.

Oh - and I went to one of their "Dessert Nights" and it was great. I got to chat more with residents and see a typical neighborhood/apartment where residents live (since they're hosted at residents' homes).

I hope that helps a little - if there's other info you're looking for just ask and I'll try to respond.

 

[Lara]

Thanks so much for the review - very appreciated! 🙂

 

[USeF]

Lara and I ended up meeting in the 'real world' for our Wed. interview. She's every bit as smiley as her avatar would lead you to believe. 😀

Great review by superbeangirl.. Little points to add.

Tim Kelly spoke about the type of residents that would 'fully take advantage' of the program rather than say who would enjoy it- which I thought was a good approach. He said that the person who would like to come in knowing every detail about the program and have a set track/rotation schedule be confirmed from the beginning might not do so well there. That a person willing to change with the program, help carve new niches in the curriculum and try things outside the norm would thrive. That indeed the very residents who thrive are the enterpreneurs of med school, those that did lots off the beaten path and want the same out of residency.

A big selling point for me is that even though there are 4 hospitals (the 5th site is clinic only, if I'm not mistaken), there are atleast a dozen residents who never set foot in a car for commuting- with most of them doing it all by bike! As the one individual in my med school class that still does not own a car, this easily moved the program up to the top tier 🙂 There's a whole set of values that come with this mentality that is hard to explain breifly, but the environmental, the health-conscious, the independent (riding bike through parks, sidewalks, streets) individual comes to mind.

As for how they deal with the ridiculous expense of living? Well its' addressed head-on by Tim Kelly and the UCSF institution as a whole. The president (CEO?) of UCSF wanted to ensure that the top residents were being attracted and not swayed elsewhere because of the cost. SO he delved into their pockets, did fundraising to find $2400 relocation bonus PLUS $500/monthly for living in San Francisco. Symbolically- let alone financially- this is a huge commitment to their housestaff. Multilplying this by all the housestaff of UCSF is a multi-million$$ endeavour.

clearly I like the program- yet it will still be tough to decide between some others now that my interviews are done..

later

Thanks so much for the review - very appreciated! 🙂