Maryland vs. NYU

[HolyMoly]

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I am having a hard time debating between Maryland and NYU toward the top of my list. Thoughts?

 

[guitarguy09]

I'm also curious as to what people think of these programs. Setting aside Baltimore vs. NYC... specifically regarding the programs is what interests me. Seems like both are strong clinically but I got the feeling that they may be missing something with their didactics... I don't know. If I remember correctly, I think Maryland just recently changed their didactics in an attempt to improve them based on resident feedback.

Also, any thoughts on where people were landing fellowships coming from Maryland? I know that one of their chiefs was going to Brigham for something...

 

[RxBoy]

Applied to both...

I think they are pretty equal as far as experience. You can't really go wrong with either one.

Maryland impressed me because they were very resident friendly and the residents/attendings are very down to earth.
Drawbacks: Baltimore is more dangerous (I personally don't care about that), new Categorical program so we'll be the guinea pigs (7 months general/subspecialty medicine), thought it was shady that the resident who was supposed to answer questions between interviews was secretly interviewing us.

NYU impressed because they had good didactics, very focused on teaching, and lots of good cases with 2 hospitals so you get a feeling of private vs. university. Bigger name, plus you get to live in NYC.
Drawbacks: NYC is crazy expensive, no subsidized living.

Both average ~60 hour weeks, 5-7 calls per month (neither malignant nor cush), both weaker with regional cases although they both claim you get a good experience.

Both I think they are great programs overall. Its more of a question:
1) Where would you rather live.
2) Would you rather do a prelim somewhere else.

 

[welovelamarodom]

Applied to both...

I think they are pretty equal as far as experience. You can't really go wrong with either one.

Maryland impressed me because they were very resident friendly and the residents/attendings are very down to earth.
Drawbacks: Baltimore is more dangerous (I personally don't care about that), new Categorical program so we'll be the guinea pigs (7 months general/subspecialty medicine), thought it was shady that the resident who was supposed to answer questions between interviews was secretly interviewing us.

NYU impressed because they had good didactics, very focused on teaching, and lots of good cases with 2 hospitals so you get a feeling of private vs. university. Bigger name, plus you get to live in NYC.
Drawbacks: NYC is crazy expensive, no subsidized living.

Both average ~60 hour weeks, 5-7 calls per month (neither malignant nor cush), both weaker with regional cases although they both claim you get a good experience.

Both I think they are great programs overall. Its more of a question:
1) Where would you rather live.
2) Would you rather do a prelim somewhere else.

that dude at maryland was secretly interviewing us?!?!?! what?

 

[RxBoy]

that dude at maryland was secretly interviewing us?!?!?! what?

Yup.. The resident that was there to "answer our questions" made it a bit too obvious probably because they weren't used to american customs. I am sure other residents did a better job conceling the the hidden nature on other interview days.

At first they kept asking me questions about my relationship, whether I was single or not, how I would deal with Baltimore ect. They asked another interviewee the same kinds of questions right in front of me and when the interviewee admitted that they were couple's matching, the resident kept asking them about it and how the spouse felt about Baltimore. It made me a little uneasy but nothing worth noting as a red flag.

What actually was the cherry on the sundae was when the resident asked me when I was alone "Tell me something about you no one else knows". It sounded way too structured probably cause the resident didn't know how to transition the question properly (Not from the US). It was very abrupt and totally left field.I caught the drift early and played right back at their game. Then the resident asked me some other structured personal question that I can't remember. I answered in a very vague enthusiastic way because my guards were sky high. When me and the other interviewees got together to walk to the parking lot, we discovered that resident asked the same exact questions when they were alone. Its shady... especially because at the beginning of the interview the resident said explicitly we can ask anything we want, and they were only there to help us.

Is it a red flag? Some would think so, some wouldn't. I still think the program was great, they just shouldn't be so shady during the interview. It may be a good tactic for the residency, but I am sure it also drives away good potential residents.

 

[jdovez]

Rx....one last thought on NYU, the regional experience actually takes place at a 3rd hospital, the hospital for joint diseases, a dedicated ortho hospital. There are obvious pros and cons to this, but its nice getting some experience in a dedicated arena.

 

[RxBoy]

Rx....one last thought on NYU, the regional experience actually takes place at a 3rd hospital, the hospital for joint diseases, a dedicated ortho hospital. There are obvious pros and cons to this, but its nice getting some experience in a dedicated arena.

I totally agree with you. I wouldn't say they either program are weak with regional.... just weaker.

I think regional is very important especially with the encroachment of CRNA with general cases. Makes you a lot more adaptable to the emerging field as well as an asset to private practice positions after residency.

THats why it was really hard to choose which to rank higher, NYU vs. St. Lukes. St. Lukes has such a strong regional program but it was that damn new categorical program that made it lose that rank. Intern year looks hellish at St. Lukes. Mostly surgery + medicine months which is the worse of both worlds. I would still be happy matching at either. I am very happy with my top 8. Its just the programs ranked lower than 8 I am concerned about. I would still choose match over not match, but I def. wouldn't be excited about them.

PS: Before residents starts bashing St. Lukes, its been totally revamped since last year. New PD who has made some huge changes.

 

[jdovez]

I hear where you're coming from Rx. St Luke's ended up near the bottom of my list after my interview day there. I liked the residents I met, but I was a little put off that 5/7 interviewees were FMGs. I have nothing against FMGs, but such a high percent interviewing on my day was a little offputting. Definitely seems like the program is improving though and I am sure it'll be much improved over the next couple years.

 

[treasurefull2]

St. Luke's 6 months of ICU???

 

[HoyaBlue02]

Like a dork I took some notes on my interview days. I am toot tired right now to make it well organized. So here is what I have for Maryland and NYU:

Maryland
- CA-1's get out relatively early to read
- residents usually leave hospital btwn 5-6pm
- spend 1 month at Shock Trauma doing shift work- can do more time there as an elective
- large volume of cases
- electronic anesthesia records coming soon
- didactics are taught by attendings
- most didactics in afternoon
- 1st and 2nd yrs have didactics together and 3rd years seperately to do more board prep
- rooms start at 7:15am except ortho and cardiac at 6:45am
- faculty is a mixed bag for teaching- some good, some not
- Dr. Rock (chair) is very pro-resident- makes sure that they are being treated well in all venues (OR, ICU, etc)
- Anesthesia dept is very well respected
- free parking in garage about 2 blocks away
- SICU is run 1/2 by anesthesia 1/2 by surgery- surgery cheif resident makes the sched
- overall program is "medium difficulty"
- "strong" regional experience at Kirnan which is a community hospital that handles ortho and rehab. Residents referred to it as "Camp Kirnan." There are sono machines that are purely dedicated to regional blocks
- residents rotate through pre-op clinic
- usually get some sleep on overnight call b/c OR's running for emergencies only (remember that trauma goes next door to shock trauma and that is a different rotation- 12 hour shifts where you are expected to be awake the whole shift working)
- call rooms have computer and bed
- anesthesia covers all codes- even at the VA next door
- residents have no problem completing cases by CA-2 year
- prelim med at Maryland is very demanding
- meal coupons given when on call
- one of the residents is staying on at UMD for pain fellowship next year

NYU
- morning conference- residents go over some of the cases for the day with an attending
- CA-3 year is 1/2 year elective, 1/2 year advanced cases
- lots of nerve/peripheral blocks with US
- Bellvue is a resident run hospital- sr resident acts as "team leader" on call and supervises jr residents- runs OR board, starts and ends cases- basically operates like attending
- Bellvue has lots of neurosurg
- didactics are M 430-530p, T 5-6p, W 7-8a, Th 4-5p
- take Step 3 before CA-1 year to get NY State licensure
- 1/2 grads to fellowship 1/2 to private practice/academics
- pre-op pt night before, call attending in evening to discuss case, do case, see patient the day after for follow up
- last RRC in 2008- no citations
- Research wise they have a regional anesthesia simulator
- SICU run by surgery and anesthesia
- Tisch has more private patients and attendings are more concerned with productivity
- Moonlighting opportunities: $75/hr can do 2 hrs as member of anesthesia call team or 3 hrs on pain call
- SICU team incharge of all airways during the day
- parking is $140/mo but is done as a raffle b/c not enough spots
- call at Tisch is 1 jr and 1 sr
- call at Bellvue is a team
- subsidizing housing is provided for out of state people. It is recommended to get on the list as soon as you match. 1 bedroom rent is $1650-1770/mo
- no good subway stop in this area
- book fund $600/yr
- OR's get cell phone service

 

[HoyaBlue02]

Also PD at NYU is young and seems pretty laid back. PD at Maryland is a mature woman (did not say old) and seems a bit more serious than NYU PD.

 

[ofoshoukno]

I am having a hard time debating between Maryland and NYU toward the top of my list. Thoughts?

HolyMoly, those are two stellar programs.

sorry I couldn't resist.

tehehehhe

 

[guitarguy09]

Awesome posts Hoya. You definitely jogged my memories of each program. Thanks, it was good to see that you got some of the same impressions! 👍

 

[HolyMoly]

You guys are awesome during this crunch time for our lists! Thank you so much for the responses!

 

[Soon2BENT]

let me help the future NYU applicants out....

Like a dork I took some notes on my interview days. I am toot tired right now to make it well organized. So here is what I have for Maryland and NYU:

NYU
- morning conference- residents go over some of the cases for the day with an attending
- CA-3 year is 1/2 year elective, 1/2 year advanced cases
- lots of nerve/peripheral blocks with US
- Bellvue is a resident run hospital- sr resident acts as "team leader" on call and supervises jr residents- runs OR board, starts and ends cases- basically operates like attending (yes, you're functioning like an attending but there is an attending in house and present and assisting with decision making)
- Bellvue has lots of neurosurg (Tisch has more NES than Bellevue. the Tisch NES experience is actually pretty damn good, if that's your thing)
- didactics are M 430-530p, T 5-6p, W 7-8a, Th 4-5p (Thur no longer exist)
- take Step 3 before CA-1 year to get NY State licensure (yes, pass Step 3 before CA1, but you need your license before CA3)
- 1/2 grads to fellowship 1/2 to private practice/academics
- pre-op pt night before, call attending in evening to discuss case, do case, see patient the day after for follow up
- last RRC in 2008- no citations
- Research wise they have a regional anesthesia simulator (Really?)
- SICU run by surgery and anesthesia (At Bellevue)
- Tisch has more private patients and attendings are more concerned with productivity
- Moonlighting opportunities: $75/hr can do 2 hrs as member of anesthesia call team or 3 hrs on pain call
- SICU team incharge of all airways during the day (At Bellevue)
- parking is $140/mo but is done as a raffle b/c not enough spots (It's NYC. you don't need a car.)
- call at Tisch is 1 jr and 1 sr
- call at Bellevue is a team
- subsidizing housing is provided for out of state people. It is recommended to get on the list as soon as you match. 1 bedroom rent is $1650-1770/mo (very very hard to get NYU housing. you can live anywhere and be at work in reasonable time. most people live near work. it's not TOO terrible rent)
- no good subway stop in this area (unfortunately true. closest train is 4/5/6 at 33rd)
- book fund $600/yr
- OR's get cell phone service (Most Tisch ORs and Tisch has wifi. Not so much at Bellevue.