Anyone willing to post their experiences at UNC, Wake, UAB, VCU, UVA? Also, if anyone has the time UF Jacksonville, UF Gainesville, and Mayo Jacksonville? Thanks.
I can speak to my experience at UVA and UAB. Both were wonderful. Dr. Burns at UVA is very easy to speak with and makes the entire day very relaxed. We went up for hot tea at a faculty club afterwards to simply shoot the breeze. The residents were very candid and friendly. The interviews were fairly informal and the residents did a great job "prepping" me for my interviewers at the dinner the night before. Interviews are relatively long, so pack plenty of questions. I'm a big fan of the single hospital system.
UAB is much the same story. Great program where they show off all the new clinic and hospital space. Very relaxed interview process where you get to spend a lot of time with the chief resident asking whatever questions you'd like. One of the best "dinner-with-the-residents" dinners on the interview trail. The tour of Birmingham is nice if you're strongly considering the program, but if not I could see how the two-day interview would be bothersome.
You didn't request these, but I'll also mention Emory, Vandy, UTSW, and Utah. Emory was the most formal interview I had where they asked more "hard hitting" sorts of questions. The pre-interview dinner is basically a house party at the home of one of the residents. Definitely more of a singles/no kids crowd than other places. Having all the interviews in the morning was great, as it left the rest of the day to relax. The driving tour to Grady hospital is fantastic but Grady is like a third-world country. The new neuro ICU at Emory hospital looks fantastic, and anyone considering neuro-intensivist fellowships should look hard at Emory as they seem to put an emphasis on this. They have good beer at the reception at the end of the day. I'm also fairly certain they have you ranked before the end of the day, so don't bother being "on" at the reception.
Vandy was also a great experience. The dinner at a brew pub was relaxed and the residents again very candid. Definitely a more kid/family friendly crowd than Emory. The send a limo to ferry the applicants between hotel and medical center, which was a bit much for my tastes. The interviews were very relaxed and the schedule was not as tight as at Emory or UVA. Vandy was less formal than Emory but moreso than UVA. You don't get to see the VA, but I'm sure all VA's are pretty similar.
UTSW is home for me, so I found it very relaxed. Drs. Vernino and O'Suilleabhain do a great job outlining the program and the changes they are making. The chief resident gives the tour and does a good job answering all questions candidly. I think they should try to arrange more time during the day with residents, but between the pre-interview dinner, lunch at the faculty club (fantastic desserts), and post-interview reception I guess you do get the chance to meet several of them. Having the interviews at the faculty clinic instead of at their offices was a little strange, but I think they want to show off the Aston clinic space as it's the nicest space the residents get to spend time in. The reception is a good chance to meet any faculty that you don't get to interview with. One side note, Joyce Mohler was the warmest and friendliest of the program coordinators I came across on my interview trail. (Ms. Thiele at UVA and Ms. Wall at Utah were also very warm and relaxing.)
Utah was a good time. Dinner at a Brazilian steak house was not ideal because you cannot carry on a conversation without being interrupted every 90 seconds by a server shoving a sword full of meat in your face. Other than that it was great. The hotel they put you up in is fantastic. I even loved the light rail trip to the medical center. (I'm a sucker for public transportation.) Probably the least formal of all the interviews I had, almost too much so for my tastes. Dr. Renner is a great guy, easy to talk with, very high energy. Probably the most family friendly crowd in my experience. Also very, very skier-friendly. One resident claimed to have spent 50 days on the slopes as an intern. One thing that stuck out to me was that most of the residents I met seemed to have come to Utah either for family reasons (i.e. they were from Utah) or because they really really like to ski or hike. That's probably inaccurate, but it was the picture I got.
So that's my report. If anyone has questions PM me and I'll try to answer them.
