- Joined
- Dec 13, 2006
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
There was a previous review of MCG but since someone asked here is an updated version. Fair warning...this was a "warm up" interview for me and i was not all that into the program except for location to family. I was open going into it, but a saw a lot of red flags.
Residents--I think it's 8 per year. Very nice and welcoming. all seemed fun, but maybe to a fault. Some make a point to get by without doing a lot of work-they told me this!!! Not a way to win me over. None that I spoke with ranked MCG 1 but all seemed pretty happy. Almost all own homes and say traffic is not an issue.
Faculty--The brag on having the first EM trained MD in the world (Janiak sp?) and use him as a selling point-not sure why, but i didn't speak with him during the day-maybe he is god. The didn't seem to speak a lot about teaching but mentioned several times they were in the 88 percentile of scores on the feb test that we will take. The PD is new to the position this year and he didn't seem quite comfortable in the "sales pitch" but did a good job.
The medical director interviewed me and asked the "what do you think about treating the poor?" question. I admit that I'm a softy and idealist and this is a bit of an attraction for me to EM. He then turns around and says that that is what everyone says and really poor people clog the system and need to be weeded out (not exactly those words, but close.) Then he tells me that the business side -medical director- is how to make money in EM. He later puts words in my mouth and says that the problem with applicants who did EMS prior to med school (me) is that I'm jaded already and have no knowledge base. Yeah, that was great (why do they let him talk to applicants??). I was ready to go after that...
FACILITIES-Nice enough. nothing great and nothing bad. They use pa's during the day for fast track which everyone seemed to like.
As far as the campus there is a bug problem-in one interview a little bug crawled across my application on the desk. In another interview there was a dead roach beside my chair.
Cirriculum-Again, nothing stood out. Decent amount of off-time. When asked about off service the residents said cards was the worst, but a learning experience. They really pushed disaster medicine aspect of the training. Like REALLY pushed it...and this is where i fell out with them- I asked what their relation was to SRS (a NUCLEAR plant about 10-20 mins away) and they don't do ANYTHING with the plant. I think that negates the disaster training. Apparently, if there is a situation/exposure, the pt goes 50+ to columbia,sc. Granted, I don't think that is a major thing i want in my residency, but to push that aspect as their selling point but not take care of a disaster was weird. That was the theme of the day. Big talk but when probed a bit you find out that not ACTUALLY the way it is.
Patient population-judging by the hotel i stayed at (and was on the suggested list) they have plenty of penetrating trauma. mix of inner city type and retired people to be adequate. they volume seemed low when we walked through, but then again it was in teh middle of the day.
Location-depends on what you are looking for. About 2 hours or less to atlanta. Affordable. Seemed ok to me, but if you are a big city/24hr person, probably not the ideal setting. Beautiful campus and quiet.
overall- i think it is what you make of it. The residents aren't bookworms by far and have lives (and families) outside of the hospital, but seem competent. I think the downfall is the discrepancy between what they say in the morning sales pitch and what really happens according to the residents. They push "finding your niche" but residents admit to not really doing a lot of anything.
Residents--I think it's 8 per year. Very nice and welcoming. all seemed fun, but maybe to a fault. Some make a point to get by without doing a lot of work-they told me this!!! Not a way to win me over. None that I spoke with ranked MCG 1 but all seemed pretty happy. Almost all own homes and say traffic is not an issue.
Faculty--The brag on having the first EM trained MD in the world (Janiak sp?) and use him as a selling point-not sure why, but i didn't speak with him during the day-maybe he is god. The didn't seem to speak a lot about teaching but mentioned several times they were in the 88 percentile of scores on the feb test that we will take. The PD is new to the position this year and he didn't seem quite comfortable in the "sales pitch" but did a good job.
The medical director interviewed me and asked the "what do you think about treating the poor?" question. I admit that I'm a softy and idealist and this is a bit of an attraction for me to EM. He then turns around and says that that is what everyone says and really poor people clog the system and need to be weeded out (not exactly those words, but close.) Then he tells me that the business side -medical director- is how to make money in EM. He later puts words in my mouth and says that the problem with applicants who did EMS prior to med school (me) is that I'm jaded already and have no knowledge base. Yeah, that was great (why do they let him talk to applicants??). I was ready to go after that...
FACILITIES-Nice enough. nothing great and nothing bad. They use pa's during the day for fast track which everyone seemed to like.
As far as the campus there is a bug problem-in one interview a little bug crawled across my application on the desk. In another interview there was a dead roach beside my chair.
Cirriculum-Again, nothing stood out. Decent amount of off-time. When asked about off service the residents said cards was the worst, but a learning experience. They really pushed disaster medicine aspect of the training. Like REALLY pushed it...and this is where i fell out with them- I asked what their relation was to SRS (a NUCLEAR plant about 10-20 mins away) and they don't do ANYTHING with the plant. I think that negates the disaster training. Apparently, if there is a situation/exposure, the pt goes 50+ to columbia,sc. Granted, I don't think that is a major thing i want in my residency, but to push that aspect as their selling point but not take care of a disaster was weird. That was the theme of the day. Big talk but when probed a bit you find out that not ACTUALLY the way it is.
Patient population-judging by the hotel i stayed at (and was on the suggested list) they have plenty of penetrating trauma. mix of inner city type and retired people to be adequate. they volume seemed low when we walked through, but then again it was in teh middle of the day.
Location-depends on what you are looking for. About 2 hours or less to atlanta. Affordable. Seemed ok to me, but if you are a big city/24hr person, probably not the ideal setting. Beautiful campus and quiet.
overall- i think it is what you make of it. The residents aren't bookworms by far and have lives (and families) outside of the hospital, but seem competent. I think the downfall is the discrepancy between what they say in the morning sales pitch and what really happens according to the residents. They push "finding your niche" but residents admit to not really doing a lot of anything.