Med-Peds Interview

[aeneas3]

Originally posted by Sheon
The information I have been getting (primarily from the med-peds professional organization website). All says that in the past three years there has been an anticipated decline in med-peds applications and that their estimations have been accurate. From their information Med-Peds applications were down 2.9% in 2002-2003.

http://www.medpeds.org/match.htm

thanks

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[klopek]

Yeah, that is helpful. Interesting, since that sort of fits with what we'd already heard about their only being around 280 applicants this year, but it still sort of goes against several people saying that their school (including mine for sure) has seen a dramatic increase in med-peds people this year. I guess it's just one of those statistical things, kind of like how I get a widely varied amount of mail each day but the overall amount of mail delivered nationwide is incredibly constant. [there's no cross-eyed smiley face or I would have put him here].

Anyway, it's sure nice to see that >80% match rate.

 

[medmoo]

Hey, I've been reading the posts on here for a while now and was just wondering if anyone has set up an interview date with UCSD yet. I got an interview invitation via email from them a week ago saying to wait for more details to follow and haven't heard anything since.

 

[leslita]

I got an e-mail to my ERAS mailbox and school address saying there would be more info to follow, and there was another e-mail immediately following with all the info for the UCSD interview (dates, what goes on there, etc.) I think that if you didn't get this e-mail at the same time as your initial one, you should contact them about it.

Thanks Kristing for the Phoenix info. I had only applied to Phoenix Childrens because Maricopa only matched one med-peds resident last year, so I wondered if that was cause for concern!

 

[aeneas3]

hi guys
interviewed at buffalo today. what a nice program - great residents, everyone is happy, great children's hospital (the closing rumor was put to rest 2 years ago by them investing tons of money into it), great fellowship opportunities. i was impressed. nice rain driving back

 

[Kiki2004]

I was wondering if there was a med-peds thread and just finally came across this one today! Sweet! I applied to Med-Peds programs late in the game...just starting to get interviews...so far I have heard from:

Good Sam-AZ
Loma Linda-CA
USC-CA
Mount Sinai-NYC
Rush/Presby-Chicago

One rejection from Maricopa in AZ, which doesn't make me too upset because I have heard some not so great things about their program, plus it seems they have trouble filling their spots.

Still waiting to hear from Cedars-Sinai (CA), and a couple more in Chicago and NYC...didn't apply to UCSD. Anyone heard from Cedars? I heard some rumor that they don't have enough funding and will not continue with the program, which is weird because they are still listed on ERAS and I paid to apply to their program. Haven't heard anything from them.

Haven't been on Med-Peds interviews yet, mostly have done inteviews in Categorical Peds.

Good luck everyone!

 

[leslita]

Kiki,
I have gotten an interview for Cedars-Sinai. Also, just FYI for everyone, I have gotten invites to Good Sam in AZ and Univ. of IN, but other people have already posted that. Hope interviews are going well for everyone!

 

[jrb10]

Anyone still waiting to hear from Harvard Med-Peds? Are they still giving out interviews and do they send out rejections?

 

[klopek]

Hey, I just thought I'd touch base on all this interview business. From my experience so far (although I've only had 2), and from everyone else I've talked to, all the interviews I've heard about have all been really laid back, more like conversations, with the emphasis as much on recruitment as evaluation of us.
I was just going to see if anyone has run into or heard about any of the "old-school", more hard core interviews where they grill you, try to make you nervous, etc.

Like I said, I haven't heard of any, and my experience has been great so far, but I just thought maybe it would be nice to have a heads-up before heading to those places. I'm off to Duke tomorrow and then Harvard after that, both of which I guess have the possibility of being like that so we'll see.

 

[ubiquitous]

Originally posted by 1996
Hey, Klopek, just out of curiosity, are there a lot of med-peds applicants at your school? The reason I'm asking is that my school strongly discourages people from going into med-peds, and, as a result, historically not many people applied from my school. Just want to see what the trend is like at other places.

Congratulations on your interviews.

1996,

Just curious as to why your school is strongly against the med-peds specialty? What are some of the drawbacks to the specialty?

TIA

 

[1996]

Originally posted by ubiquitous
1996,

Just curious as to why your school is strongly against the med-peds specialty? What are some of the drawbacks to the specialty?

TIA

I attend a very academically-oriented medical school. Their main purpose is to train specialists and academic physicians. Not only do we not have a med-peds residency program, we don't even have a family medicine program. There are no required family medicine or ambulatory clerkships. In short, they don't like primary care.

Med-peds, to many big-shot, old-school academic physicians, equal family medicine or primary care. That's why they are very strongly against it. However, they didn't realize that, although med-peds originally began as a primary care field, it has evolved over the last decade. A very significant percentage of med-peds grads end up going into academics or pursuing a fellowship. There are more and more med-peds programs opening up at big-time academic institutions (e.g. U Penn just started a program this year). Many applicants that I've met so far during my interviews plan on doing academics or doing a fellowship.

Therefore, I have to say that it is the misconception and stubborness of the old-school academic physicians that created such unwarranted hostile culture towards med-peds at my school.

 

[1996]

After having gone on a few interviews and talked to several PDs and applicants, I have found out that the overall number of Med-Peds applicants this year has gone up nationwide by quite a bit. The 280 number that was quoted in a previous post was probably a number from last year, during which the number of applicants was down. In fact the trend has been downward for several years until this year. Not only are there more applicants overall, the quality of applicants has gone up too, according to one of the PDs. There are more applicants from the higher-ranked med schools such as Penn. Many of these programs traditionally didn't have many med-peds applicants or none at all. The overall "stats" of the applicants went up too, with more people with higher board scores applying. When I asked the applicants from different schools about the number of people applying for med-peds from their school, EVERYONE noted an increase in his/her school. The increase ranged from 1.5-4 folds. There has not been anyone that I have talked to yet that came from a school with a decrease in the number of med-peds applicants. In summary, med-peds got a lot more competitive this year. I don't really understand why the increase in interest all of a sudden, after a downward trend for a number of years. I did notice, from my informal sampling, that it seems like more and more med-peds applicants are thinking of doing a fellowship afterwards.

 

[leslita]

Hey kids,
Just wanted to let you know that I can safely say that Harvard has begun sending out their rejection e-mails! So, I think if you applied, you should be hearing from 'em one way or the other soon, if not already! And, I agree with Klopek, all the interviews I've been on have been very laid back, all "Doyouhaveanyquestions?" So, definitely nothing to worry about, although then I haven't really been able to get a real feeling for what they thought of me, as I'm not sure I impressed anyone with my question asking!

 

[aeneas3]

hi guys
well just finished my whirlwind tour of ohio for interviews. limited geographically for a few reasons so i am only applying in NY and Ohio. i decided to do 10 of the 14 offered and i am done. finished this past friday. feels nice to be done. now i have to decide who to rank where, when to do second visits, etc. i hope everyone has fun with the holidays and i wish you all great luck in the rest of your interviews and in your travels.
i also heard that there was a large increase in med-peds applicants, not sure why. i would still think that the general rule of it being very likely that you will match in your top 3 if you are a USA grad will still hold true. we shall see. now to decide on a top 3 ;-)
if anyone has any questions about interviews, dinners, travels, or where i went feel free to post here or email me - i think my email is in my profile
have a good one

 

[aeneas3]

anyone still around?

do u guys know when programs submit their rank list...trying to decide when to schedule 2nd looks
thanks
hope all is well

 

[brown]

... found a medpeds thread.

I've interviewed at a bunch of places (12 total, NE and midwest). My (brief) comments about interview impressions:

Rochester: nice. not thrilled about Rochester. great vibe from the residents and the PD

Michigan: great. established program, work hard.

Cincinnati: great peds, questionable medicine, don't want to live in cincinnati

Case: Great peds (Rainbow), decent medicine, but medpeds still working to get up to snuff. PD has a good vision for the future, though, and I think it'll be quite good in ~5 years

Pitt: Hated it. Medpeds gets lost in the huge program, you spend most of your time at a community hospital, not the big house. Pittsburgh is ok, not great as a city

UMass: great teaching, intimate, great residents. Worcester is ok, not great.

Yale: residents seem very happy. Liked the PD, great benefits package. great international health track

Duke: a bit conservative, work hard. great IH track, good computers

Brown: a bit of a mystery. great computers, good IH, but didn't meet many medpeds residents. Facilities are decent, not great.

UChicago: nice place, great city, great peds director (gave us a bubble-blowing pen and told us all to blow bubbles before we left). But the med residents struck me as arrogant.

Rush: residents seem happy, facilities are good, don't send enough people to fellowships for my taste.

Baystate: great ambulatory program, not enough resources on inpt side. Very nice PD.

All that said, here are my questions for all of you:
1. What did you think of Brown?
2. Anybody have thoughts on Duke's reputation for malignant attendings?
3. Anybody else like Yale or Michigan?

Any other comments/questions are welcome. Remember, these are all one day impressions...

 

[aeneas3]

anyone around?
curious what people decided on.

 

[Kiki2004]

I lost all hope in seeing if there was anyone out there in the med-peds threads. Started a post a few days ago, but no replies...

I decided on ranking Good Sam in AZ first, then USC, then Rush in Chicago. Ended up not ranking Loma Linda or Mt. Sinai in NYC. I am also ranking categorical Peds programs also, so we'll see how it turns out!

How about anyone else? Leslita, you still around???

Good luck, everyone!


~one more day before I certify my ROL!~

 

[aeneas3]

hey kiki
i decided rochester first (which i knew way back)
after that i was confused how to take into account geography in all of this. so i was torn between tOSU, cinci, albany, buffalo (i am in central NY now and my family is in NJ and my soon to be family-in-law is in albany). also ranking both case programs.
i decided not to rank/interview at
sinai, akronx2, stoneybrook, staten island, st vincents or any of the nyc programs. hopefully rochester will want me and deciding what to rank 2-5 will not matter
dont forget to certify everyone and do it today b/c tomorrow the internet traffic is gonna be bad.

 

[Kiki2004]

good luck, aeneas! I'm sure you'll do great! I heard great things about rochester...

24 hours left to certify your list!

 

[aeneas3]

hi guys
i hope u all do well tomorrow. there is a thread in gen residency issues with unfilled spots for med peds if anyone is interested. looks like there are a number. maybe see some of u next year?

 

[Kiki2004]

I thought it was quite interesting to see some of the programs go unfilled. My number 3 spot went unfilled...

Should be very interesting tomorrow!

Aggghh! The suspense is killing me!