New anesthesia residency program - HNSLIJ

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I am a resident here so here it goes (trying to be as unbiased as possible)

Pros: nice hospital, good cases, residency director hardworking

Bad: limited pathology (most are middle to higher incomes), poor teaching, attendings bitter about lowered pay from NAPA, NO research, no emphasis on scholarly activity, you're just a body for the OR

I know this may sound like a dozen other programs but wherever there is NAPA there will be trouble. There's no way I'm sticking around to work for them.

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I am currently an anesthesia resident at NSLIJ and can't disagree more with easternether.

Limited Pathology: False. Case diversity/complexity is a huge strength of the program. I could literally type pages about the cases we get and what we are exposed to. We don't get much violent trauma, no liver/heart/lung transplants.

Poor Teaching: False. 100% pass rate on the basic exam, high scoring ITE scores. I will agree that finding the right schedule for lectures has been one of the biggest and most frustrating challenges for a new program, but it has evolved into something that most of us residents think is a good situation. A huge plus of this program is the diversity in teaching we are exposed to. Our attendings are not inbred and are not all trained the same way. I work with attendings from Mass General, Columbia, Mt. Sinai, NYU, Cornell, U of M, UCSF, Yale, Brigham, and the list goes on. There is a great combination of younger attendings that are 1-10 yrs from residency, and older attendings that have 30+ yrs of experience that can teach you not only the history and evolution of anesthesia and techniques, but some of the best clinical pearls you will ever hear.

No Research: False. The department hired a PhD research analyst for us residents for the purpose of facilitating any and all research we want. There are a ton of opportunities for research. It just isn't forced on us. Some residents have presented 10+ times all over the country and some zero times. It's there if you want it.

So, I can tell you that there are unhappy people in the program, maybe 2-3. The rest of us realize the unique opportunity we have and are more than happy to be residents here. I know most people feel good about their residency, but I really can't imagine getting a better experience anywhere else, That's my honest opinion. We work hard, but average 50-60 hrs a week, unless you are on PICU rotation, which is more.

We don't work for NAPA. We are trained by anesthesiologists that are apart of NAPA, but we work for and are paid by the hospital.

So, these are facts. There are pro's and cons to this program like any program. I would be more than happy to answer any question about NSLIJ that anyone may have.
 
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How is it that 2 residents, both currently working at a place as prestigious as NSLIJ, can have such conflicting views on the program? Im looking for a place which is not malignant. A residency where the attendings are happy to teach the residents and even go out of their way to do so. But possibly the biggest thing im looking for is a solid program in which I could obtain a good fellowship position after. Kinda hard to feel out this place with such conflicting views.
 
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Easternether is NOT a resident at NSLIJ.

I really don't know who this person is or what his/her motivation is for claiming to be, but easternether is not a resident. I just looked back into her posts, and back in June 2016, and then more in late 2016, easternether was posting about how she took the oral boards, how she is retaking the oral boards, and how she needed a study partner. We are a new program, and in June 2016, our most senior class were CA-2s. I am pretty sure that you cant be taking, let alone retaking the oral boards as a CA2.
 
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interesting turn of events...ofcourse someone can say the same for you too "gasresident2000" since you only came into being this past saturday and have only 2 posts. Are you a resident or an attendings trying to recruit?
 
Easternether is NOT a resident at NSLIJ.

I really don't know who this person is or what his/her motivation is for claiming to be, but easternether is not a resident. I just looked back into her posts, and back in June 2016, and then more in late 2016, easternether was posting about how she took the oral boards, how she is retaking the oral boards, and how she needed a study partner. We are a new program, and in June 2016, our most senior class were CA-2s. I am pretty sure that you cant be taking, let alone retaking the oral boards as a CA2.


Maybe a disgruntled attending.
 
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I would like to think that I would have better things to do as an attending, but can't speak for them. I joined because there has been alot of incorrect info circulating about NSLIJ, and I had to say something.

I am a resident at NSLIJ. Like I said, we have pro's and cons and I'd be more than happy to give an honest answer to any question that someone may have, from my point of view. You can rank NSLIJ high or low, doesn't make much difference to me, but I think it is important to make sure you have accurate info when you make your decision. Honestly, residency is alot of what you make of the opportunity that you are given. I have been very happy so far, but I'd imagine i'd be happy most places because I am just glad to be learning and practicing anesthesia.

So, good luck with interviews and the match. I know its stressful but it'll all work out! Let me know if I can be of any help
 
Reviving this thread to see if I can get some more opinions (I take everything with a grain of salt, as I probably should on SDN) but I am highly considering this program now due to its location (yes, different than most people). My family lives in the area and my only worry about this program whether or not it will give me ample opportunity to stay a part of the Northwell Health system and also give me the opportunity to join a private group if I choose to. Another thing if anyone can comment on is whether the first class has graduated yet and where they have ended up (fellowship/private practice).
 
Listen you would be a fool to stay on and work for northwell health. The contract they are offering is worse than NAPPA lol.
 
Listen you would be a fool to stay on and work for northwell health. The contract they are offering is worse than NAPPA lol.
Thought it would be good way to get foot in door but didn't know the door leads to a terrible room! Any news of where recent grads went?
 
There will be no private anesthesia groups in Northwell Health hospitals, other than Lennox Hill in NYC. (could change in future too) Doesn't matter where grads went... To many young grads sign up for ****ty jobs especially n the NY/NJ tristate market. NAPA is def doing worse than they use to in recruiting but that doesn't matter.
 
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Not to sidetrack the conversation but I guess I was hoping this would be the go-to program in the area.. now I'm having trouble deciding between hofstra and SBU.. both are located in places I could see myself living. Don't really want to move into the city but it seems like that's the best choice now.. any thoughts?
 
Not to sidetrack the conversation but I guess I was hoping this would be the go-to program in the area.. now I'm having trouble deciding between hofstra and SBU.. both are located in places I could see myself living. Don't really want to move into the city but it seems like that's the best choice now.. any thoughts?

Stony brook easily. Hofstra is new and untested. Stony brook attendings seemed very nice, I liked it a lot. They recently recruited Tong Gan from Duke to be their chairman and he's a pretty prolific big name guy.

People who trained at places where napa had a foothold were very vocal about how production meant much more than education.
 
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Reviving this thread to see if I can get some more opinions (I take everything with a grain of salt, as I probably should on SDN) but I am highly considering this program now due to its location (yes, different than most people). My family lives in the area and my only worry about this program whether or not it will give me ample opportunity to stay a part of the Northwell Health system and also give me the opportunity to join a private group if I choose to. Another thing if anyone can comment on is whether the first class has graduated yet and where they have ended up (fellowship/private practice).

If you practice in the NY metro area then you will have more than just ample opportunity to stay a part of Northwell...you will have no choice. They gobble up hospitals and physician practices. I've known a few physicians (non-anesthesiologists) who have worked for Northwell and describe the experience as more than unpleasant. Northwell is the epitome of a behemoth health system that represents everything that is wrong with medicine.

Northwell is getting rid of NAPA? Wow.
Are they part of a public company?

Northwell (formerly NSLIJ) is what incubated and allowed NAPA to form and grow. Northwell is now forming an AMC to directly compete with NAPA. There is a lot of friction between the two, but it is unlikely that NAPA will be kicked out of their current facilities within the Northwell system...although, not impossible. NAPA just won't be brought along for the ride as Northwell's tentacles continue to spread. Between NAPA and Northwell it is a fast race to the bottom for the anesthesia market in NY metro.
 
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If you practice in the NY metro area then you will have more than just ample opportunity to stay a part of Northwell...you will have no choice. They gobble up hospitals and physician practices. I've known a few physicians (non-anesthesiologists) who have worked for Northwell and describe the experience as more than unpleasant. Northwell is the epitome of a behemoth health system that represents everything that is wrong with medicine.



Northwell (formerly NSLIJ) is what incubated and allowed NAPA to form and grow. Northwell is now forming an AMC to directly compete with NAPA. There is a lot of friction between the two, but it is unlikely that NAPA will be kicked out of their current facilities within the Northwell system...although, not impossible. NAPA just won't be brought along for the ride as Northwell's tentacles continue to spread. Between NAPA and Northwell it is a fast race to the bottom for the anesthesia market in NY metro.

This probably won't make anyone feel better but this cr*p is rampant in other specialties as well. Whether its the threat of single payor, getting scr*wed by insurance companies, or being gobbled up by large health system/cooperations, this is what trainees and younger attendings have to deal with. Pick your poison
 
NAPA is not going anywhere. It's true there is some animosity between Northwell and NAPA but NAPA is not going anywhere unless they want to as they have hundreds of providers across the system.

None of the first year class stayed at NAPA. Of the 5, a few went to fellowship (2 cardiac, one informatics), and two went to jobs in Cali. The jobs at North Shore and LIJ are solid jobs for the area. Each NAPA site is different in terms of comp, work hours, call burden, etc. The blanket statements about NAPA are totally off base and can't be generalized to each site. They might be true about the new sites in random places that NAPA takes over but def not LIJ and NS.

The residency is based at NorthShore and LIJ. Good education, great attendings, top notch case breadth. Totally disagree about the workhorse aspect. Residents are supposed to get out at 5pm (though it can be busy and sometimes later) and don't come in until 6:45/7am usually. Call is split with CRNAs which eases the burden. Be happy to answer any more questions via PM.
 
I don't see the need to promote NAPA regardless if some sites are better. NAPA is there to make money.... They are desperate these days in many of there sites for coverage in the tristate area. Maybe not NS or LIJ as those are nice hospitals/affluent areas but def others...
 
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Yes Igeak stonybrook would be a better place to go to than Hofstra for training if you insist on staying on Long Island.
 
Westchester pays decent for academics in the area. Only problem is for a typical academic job you are working more hours.
 
I believe NAPA is out at Westchester but this has absolutely nothing to do with the residency at NS/LIJ.
They were kicked out of Westchester because they didnt teach and just wanted to make money.
 
How much teaching do attendings do after ca1 year? i feel like after ca1 i get maybe 1 day a month with some type of teaching in the OR... and a lot of times it seems like it is not totally their fault since they seem really busy intubating/extubating with residents, helping with lines, giving breakfast/lunch/afternoon breaks to the residents they are covering and lunch breaks to other attendings with no residents they are assigned to.

But when i interviewed at these NY programs, they are sounded very similar. Most are big academic institutions and you cant really go wrong with them... half the time it comes down to location.
 
half the time it comes down to location.

Disclaimer: Here's my random 0.02, it's kind of a tangent from the original purpose of this thread.

By the time we submitted rank lists in February, it seemed like closer to 90% of the time, it comes down to location. It's still early in interview season, where applicants want to know all about didactics and other nonsense that is just talking points for interview days. Choosing the strongest residency in the geographical location that I wanted to be in AFTER residency has given me some excellent job offers that landed in my lap as a result of being in the right alumni network. Don't make your list based on where you want to be for 4 years of residency, but go to the place that will line you up for the +/- 30 year career that you want to have afterwards. If you want to live in the NY Metro area, don't waste your resources applying elsewhere, just focus on those programs in the area and go to the one with the strongest alumni network.
 
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For those asking about fellowships, the current CA-3's are all fellowship bound. The list is:

Regional Anesthesia at Emory University
Regional Anesthesia at Johns Hopkins
Pediatric Anesthesia at University of Colorado
Cardiac Anesthesia at Cleveland Clinic
Chronic Pain at Northwestern
Chronic Pain at Baystate Medical Center
 
For those asking about fellowships, the current CA-3's are all fellowship bound. The list is:

Regional Anesthesia at Emory University
Regional Anesthesia at Johns Hopkins
Pediatric Anesthesia at University of Colorado
Cardiac Anesthesia at Cleveland Clinic
Chronic Pain at Northwestern
Chronic Pain at Baystate Medical Center


Interesting that no one stayed in NY metro area. Choice or necessity?
 
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Not a very impressive list :/

I would say for a fresh program that is a pretty good list. Doing cardiac at Cleveland Clinic makes sense when the current president of the SCA is there and can make phone calls on your behalf. Also NW, Emory, and Hopkins are all solid matches. Not sure about UC for Peds.
 
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It's not all in a name :0 Emory and hopkins are not great choices for regional .
 
Scotty_G is a troll. You have done nothing but criticize NAPA and the residency at Northwell because of its association with NAPA. You obviously have some weird obsession with NAPA – Unrequited love? You sound like a lover scorned with this campaign you wage against them. You have zero affiliation or working knowledge of the residency yet you feel some weird obligation to disparage the residency and its achievements.

In reference to your earlier statement “In short I think most of us would agree it's risky to go there for residency.”, I think you are being proven wrong. 9/9 into fellowships. This past year, all but one got their first choice. 100% pass rate on the boards, and I could go on and on, but I don’t need to sit back and brag just to combat a troll.

For all those interested in the FACTS, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have about the residency program at NSLIJ.
 
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It's not all in a name :0 Emory and hopkins are not great choices for regional .

It’s regional, so a “great choice” in this field is an oxymoron to most.

The others are solid matches. Overall a strong class.
 
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Scotty_G is a troll. You have done nothing but criticize NAPA and the residency at Northwell because of its association with NAPA. You obviously have some weird obsession with NAPA – Unrequited love? You sound like a lover scorned with this campaign you wage against them. You have zero affiliation or working knowledge of the residency yet you feel some weird obligation to disparage the residency and its achievements.

In reference to your earlier statement “In short I think most of us would agree it's risky to go there for residency.”, I think you are being proven wrong. 9/9 into fellowships. This past year, all but one got their first choice. 100% pass rate on the boards, and I could go on and on, but I don’t need to sit back and brag just to combat a troll.

For all those interested in the FACTS, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have about the residency program at NSLIJ.

Napa is a cancer just like every other amc. People who trained under their docs had nothing but bad things to say. Focused on turnover, minimal teaching. Nslij has no history so risky is definitely a reasonable characterization.

Getting fellowship isn't that great. Who doesn't want cheap labor from a fully trained anesthesiologist? The default should be getting solid pp jobs.
 
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Anesthesia fellowships are not that competitive...at least not compared to certain IM fellowships. Even pain and cardiac are not nearly as competitive as GI and cardiology out of IM. Be a hard working resident and do well on your ITE and you can get any fellowship you want despite your program. Hours of research time outside of normal clinical hours and kissing butt to department chairs is not required in anesthesia like it is in IM. Fellowship match lists in anesthesia are not a good way to evaluate a program. To me the most important evaluation would be the types of jobs graduates get afterwards...that's your alumni network.
 
Fellowship match lists in anesthesia are not a good way to evaluate a program. To me the most important evaluation would be the types of jobs graduates get afterwards...that's your alumni network.

So where does training, case diversity, autonomy in residency, research, exposure to various techniques factor into evaluating a program? Or does simply finding the job you want based on who you know indicate the strength of a program? All I'm reading here is a bunch of conjecture but no real objective measures to base the opinions on.
 
I interviewed at Hofstra last year. During the pre-interview dinner, residents straight up told the candidates not to rank this program high. Few things I was told that night. Constantly overworked, constantly pulled from rotations to cover, lack of teaching, and they are treated as second class citizens to CRNAs. Residents were definitely unhappy with a lot of things. What is more shady is that any negative interview impression on last year's google spread sheet for applicants was constantly deleted, and was replaced with fake reviews. I ended up not ranking this program. Too many shady things going on.
 
Can't describe it but you know it when you see it
 
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I interviewed at Hofstra last year. During the pre-interview dinner, residents straight up told the candidates not to rank this program high. Few things I was told that night. Constantly overworked, constantly pulled from rotations to cover, lack of teaching, and they are treated as second class citizens to CRNAs. Residents were definitely unhappy with a lot of things. What is more shady is that any negative interview impression on last year's google spread sheet for applicants was constantly deleted, and was replaced with fake reviews. I ended up not ranking this program. Too many shady things going on.
Hofstra meaning NorthShore/LIJ?
 
So where does training, case diversity, autonomy in residency, research, exposure to various techniques factor into evaluating a program? Or does simply finding the job you want based on who you know indicate the strength of a program? All I'm reading here is a bunch of conjecture but no real objective measures to base the opinions on.

People getting good jobs is a pretty good surrogate marker for all those things.
 
I disagree. And a "good job" for someone may be a less than ideal job for someone else
 
That wasn't the point. GravelRider stated that the job one gets after residency is a good surrogate for evaluating the quality of a residency. I don't know how you can make that leap.
 
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