last minute HELP!

[Puddinu2sleep]

ok, i need some last minute advise. i applied very late for anesthesiology and was able to still land three interviews.

Penn State
Medical College of Wisconsin
St. Lukes Roosevelt

I know that these programs are very different but I was hoping I could get some feedback/advice regarding these programs and where to put them on my ROL?

I like the 4 year integrated program at Penn State with the first 6 months of your fist year with no call and with the first three days of simulator training followed by 1:1 training for a month with an attending. It seems like they ease you into autonomy. I was impressed by the emphasis on education with 6 hours of protected lecture time a week. The residents seemed very happy three, however, most if not all seemed to have families. I am single and Hershey/Harrisburg doesn't seem like the place to be for a single person.

Medical college of Wisconsin is like # 5 in NIH funding for anesthesiology. I got kind of a blah feeling there. The program director was cool, but the mentality seemed that of good old boys/older thinking in the higher ups. Several residents said that the surgery department had more pull than the anesthesioogy dept and it was hard to make changes than in other programs. There are a lot of FMG's there from asian and eastern european countries. Maybe the residents were tired or something but they didn't seem very enthusiastic about their program.

St. Lukes-Roosevelt had sweet housing right across the hospital in mid-town manhattan. Would be great to roll out of bed and walk to work. Seems ideal for a single guy near a lot of exciting night life/single activities. The residents seemed a little rough around the edges, but overall happy to be there. Education/didactics/simulation lab does not seem to be the priority of the program. Almost every resident complained about the work hours.

I got the best impression from penn state and recived the email that i would be ranked favorably and would likely match there if i wanted to go there. I'm just not sure i'm ready to move to a more rural/conservative setting as a single person.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm having a hard time choosing between these three programs and time is ticking! :-D

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[fascinoma]

throughout the entire interview at penn state i felt like they constantly stressed how family friendly the area was. when i mentioned i was single the conversation was switched to the strength of the program. i think one resident mumbled something about "there's stuff to do in harrisburg." um...no.

of course, this is all relative. you're compaing nyc to hersehy. not fair in any way. i'm sure there's stuff to do, but if you want city life for 4 years, hershey is not your place. in fact, if you search the forums you'll find a long thread about penn state hershey vs. city programs. it's amusing.

everyone has their own algorithm for their rank: location? strength of program? family considerations? and go with that.

i will agree that penn state's program is strong and the categorical program is quite unique. def a selling point. their emphasis on resident education is amazing; if you're interested in academics it seems they like to foster that from day 1. you'll get great clinical and didactic training.

summary: great program; not so great location.

sorry, can't comment on the other programs. good luck, man.

 

[nutmegs]

I grew up in hershey and my family still lives there - it's not a big city but I don't think it's totally dead either, for the amount of free time you're likely to have a resident there's enough fun bars, good restaurants, concerts, etc to hit up on weekends. (definitely more live music than down here...) nobody can tell you if you will or won't like it, I'd say it would help if you were an outdoorsy kind of person, and there are definitely other singles in the area, just might need to be a little more proactive (I always wondered if singles who want residencies in places with great nightlife are really picking up partners in clubs, anyway).

good luck, feel free to PM me if you have questions about the program.

(for the record, I loved the program but ranked it third because I think I'll probably try go back there as an attending, wanted something different for a little...)