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Hey, I was wondering what are some good community ObGyn programs? I only made 198 on step 1, so is there any hope?
ObGyn residency questions
- Thread starter OBGYN81
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yes, there is. theres plenty of hope. you can still match at a university program.
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I don't think a 198 relegates you to community programs. But since your question is about good community programs, lets try to make a list:
Orlando Regional Medical Center - Orlando Fl - heard really amazing things
John Peter Smith (Fort Worth Hospitals) - Fort Worth, TX - very innovative in scheduling, no 24 hour shifts when in ob/gyn dept, supportive faculty
St. Vincent Hospital - Indianapolis, IN - great people, great training
St. Joseph's - Denver, CO - great city, I didn't mesh well with the people, but others I know loved it.
I also interviewed at New Hanover RMC in Wilmington - where all of the open ob slots were... the people were nice, just seemed like they kept changing things like call vs night float, etc, seemed a bit disorganized.
Orlando Regional Medical Center - Orlando Fl - heard really amazing things
John Peter Smith (Fort Worth Hospitals) - Fort Worth, TX - very innovative in scheduling, no 24 hour shifts when in ob/gyn dept, supportive faculty
St. Vincent Hospital - Indianapolis, IN - great people, great training
St. Joseph's - Denver, CO - great city, I didn't mesh well with the people, but others I know loved it.
I also interviewed at New Hanover RMC in Wilmington - where all of the open ob slots were... the people were nice, just seemed like they kept changing things like call vs night float, etc, seemed a bit disorganized.
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One of my friends just matched there (had it as her number 1) - she really was impressed - "a hidden gem".
You'll get some good info here - but SDN tends to be tilted a bit towards university programs. I recall thread during interview season where people listed the community programs they were applying to ... here is the link:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=338220&highlight=average+joe
Maybe some of the people with more first hand knowledge of those programs would share info? Of the communities that I interviewed at - I liked JPS and St Vincent, Indy a lot. I didn't apply to Orlando - my husband was too afraid of hurricanes!
You'll get some good info here - but SDN tends to be tilted a bit towards university programs. I recall thread during interview season where people listed the community programs they were applying to ... here is the link:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=338220&highlight=average+joe
Maybe some of the people with more first hand knowledge of those programs would share info? Of the communities that I interviewed at - I liked JPS and St Vincent, Indy a lot. I didn't apply to Orlando - my husband was too afraid of hurricanes!
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Hi, OBGYN81!
I have sub200 score on Step 1, and actually matched in a university program. Couple things, my step 2 went up by ~30 points, so that probably helped. I also worked my butt off to get a good letter from my school's PD. One other thing was that I was turned down from couple of community programs for an interview, while getting interviews from university programs. So just because it's a community program doesn't mean it's easier. So apply wisely, from community programs, and university program. Especially now the field is getting much more competitive. .
Couple community program that I liked.
Christiana Care, Newark DE-> the hospital is beautiful, the chair seems to be very proactive, lots of Ob volume(>7000 deliveries), unopposed only Ob/Gyn program in DE, so most people from DE comes here.
St.Francis, Hartford CT-> I really liked all the attendings/residents there. They all seemed very friendly and happy. They seemed have very good training in laproscopic surgeries, and the hospital owns one of those DiVinci machines.
I also know of couple other community programs around Philadelphia if you are interested.
Good luck
I have sub200 score on Step 1, and actually matched in a university program. Couple things, my step 2 went up by ~30 points, so that probably helped. I also worked my butt off to get a good letter from my school's PD. One other thing was that I was turned down from couple of community programs for an interview, while getting interviews from university programs. So just because it's a community program doesn't mean it's easier. So apply wisely, from community programs, and university program. Especially now the field is getting much more competitive. .
Couple community program that I liked.
Christiana Care, Newark DE-> the hospital is beautiful, the chair seems to be very proactive, lots of Ob volume(>7000 deliveries), unopposed only Ob/Gyn program in DE, so most people from DE comes here.
St.Francis, Hartford CT-> I really liked all the attendings/residents there. They all seemed very friendly and happy. They seemed have very good training in laproscopic surgeries, and the hospital owns one of those DiVinci machines.
I also know of couple other community programs around Philadelphia if you are interested.
Good luck
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I interviewed at Baystate and really liked it. It's a community program linked to a university program (it's the western campus of Tufts), and so you still have some of the benefits of an academic center, such as strong didactics (and Grand Rounds that they broadcast via video to other hospitals in the area) and you get to teach medical students (1/3 of the Tufts class does their Ob/Gyn rotation at Baystate). They have a small number of faculty, all of whom seem dedicated and some of whom do research, though of course there is less research than you'd have at a large academic program. They have phenomenally beautiful facilities - it's a for-profit hospital that had quite a large surplus of money last year, and they've put it all back into the physical plant. They have an excellent virtual reality/surgical simulator lab. I didn't get a chance to meet many of the residents because I didn't go to the dinner the night before, so it's hard for me to give my impressions of them. There did seem to be a lot of married people with families, which makes sense because the cost of living is crazy low. You could definitely buy a house out there during residency. A few of the residents I talked to did say that Springfield is not a desirable place to live, and so many of them live in some of the other Western MA college towns, like Northampton. You could definitely have a shot at an interview there with your scores. There were a mix of applicants on my interview day - maybe 60% US med students, 30% US DO students, 10% IMG.
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Right now I'm not sure if I want a community based program or a university based program. Does anyone knew of any obgyn community programs that stressed research and had a fair amount of obstretical/surgical case load?
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Actually, many of the community programs have equal or better surgical numbers than the university programs - they get to operate more with private surgeons as well, so I guess that's where they get the numbers. St. Joseph's in Denver and St. Vincents in Indianapolis both had good surgical numbers. Quote from St. Joseph's resident "We may not have time to read Williams, but we'll have way more surgeries than most people in university programs". St. Vincents seemed to have a good balance, good lectures, good academics, fair-good research. St. Josephs' also had some good research - current residents published recently - also one won something for it, can't remember what right now. I got the feeling the academics were better at St. Vincents than at St. Joseph's.
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At community programs:
1. Why a community program?
2. Are you an independent learner, or do you need someone forcing you to study/read?
At both types:
1. Describe yourself with 3 words only.
2. Why ob/gyn?
3. What is your biggest fear about residency?
4. What 3 things do you see being big topics/crisis in healthcare in the next 20 years and how would you solve them? (Thank god that was asked in a 30 minute interview!)
5. How will your nursing background help you as a resident? Hurt you?
6. Why do you want to come here?
7. What questions do you have for me?
AND THE BIG ONE THAT EVERYBODY ASKED: Why leave Texas?
Those are pretty ballpark for most of my interviews. I hated the "how do you feel about teamwork" sort of questions, they seemed like a worthless exchange of air, but that's just me and I hate b.s.ing about useless, non fun topics.
H
Happy2BOB
At community programs:
1. Why a community program?
2. Are you an independent learner, or do you need someone forcing you to study/read?
At both types:
1. Describe yourself with 3 words only.
2. Why ob/gyn?
3. What is your biggest fear about residency?
4. What 3 things do you see being big topics/crisis in healthcare in the next 20 years and how would you solve them? (Thank god that was asked in a 30 minute interview!)
5. How will your nursing background help you as a resident? Hurt you?
6. Why do you want to come here?
7. What questions do you have for me?
AND THE BIG ONE THAT EVERYBODY ASKED: Why leave Texas?
Those are pretty ballpark for most of my interviews. I hated the "how do you feel about teamwork" sort of questions, they seemed like a worthless exchange of air, but that's just me and I hate b.s.ing about useless, non fun topics.
Don't forget the ever-popular "name your best quality and name your worst quality" questions. I think I was asked that in one form or another in every single interview! Also, "what are you looking for in a residency program?"
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I HATE that one!! It's code for "I haven't taken the time to read your application and have nothing better to ask"!!!
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See - I got asked sometimes more than 3 times in the same interview what questions do you have - but never once got a tell me about yourself! But everyone universally asked why leave texas? Strange, huh? I guess we texans don't get out much.
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By far the most popular question I was asked: SO WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR ME?
One program director asked me that as her first question and really wanted me to dictate the whole interview. I don't know if it was a psychological trick or if she was just lazy and had not read my file.
Definately was not the norm, and I didn't end up ranking that particular program too highly. But is an example of how you need to prepare questions for each interview, because you most likely will be asked.
It's really not too hard to come up with questions and you usually can use the same ones (even with different interviewers at the same place). Most people develop a question set as they go along their interview trail (some questions you'll find are great conversation starters, while some are duds).
Just do a little prep and have a smile on your face and you're bound to do well on an interview!
One program director asked me that as her first question and really wanted me to dictate the whole interview. I don't know if it was a psychological trick or if she was just lazy and had not read my file.
Definately was not the norm, and I didn't end up ranking that particular program too highly. But is an example of how you need to prepare questions for each interview, because you most likely will be asked.
It's really not too hard to come up with questions and you usually can use the same ones (even with different interviewers at the same place). Most people develop a question set as they go along their interview trail (some questions you'll find are great conversation starters, while some are duds).
Just do a little prep and have a smile on your face and you're bound to do well on an interview!
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I loved Brown and thought it was a very well-rounded program, and I thought the Women & Infants Hospital was impressive. Residents all seemed happy and satisfied with the program. I ranked it #2 and would have been happy there too.
I did my clerkship at Baylor, so PM me if you want details...
I did my clerkship at Baylor, so PM me if you want details...
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I loved the program and the people at Brown. If it wasn't so expensive to live in Rhode Island, I would have had more leverage with my husband on it. I had 3 programs that I absolutely loved - it was one of them.
H
Happy2BOB
I'm headed to Brown this summer! The people seem friendly, down-to-earth, and happy. I was also impressed w/ the facilities and set-up of the program in general.....it has a few things that are different from other programs. It was my #1 and I can't wait! PM me if you have any specific ?'s!
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Add to that list, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - Los Angeles, CA
I'm not going to ob/gyn but my buddy is an ob/gyn resident that interviewed at lot of big name programs in both coasts and eventually made Cedars-Sinai his #1. A lot fewer celebrity patient involvement than you would think since they all have private physicians.
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I'm actually headed to Loyola this summer (my first choice). As someone already posted, I also got below a 200 on Step 1 but increased my step 2 score by about 30 points, so I'm sure that helped a lot. Also did a rotation at Loyola and got to know the program fairly well (and obviously loved it). The residents and attendings are great, wonderful program, and I'm very excited to be starting there. If you want any more details feel free to PM me!
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Baylor sucks!
The residents claimed that they taught each other most of the time. It seems as if the faculty are not very involved. On my interview there, I got the impression that they were rednecks.
The residents claimed that they taught each other most of the time. It seems as if the faculty are not very involved. On my interview there, I got the impression that they were rednecks.
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I don't think you should limit yourself to community based programs based on your scores. I thought the same thing but I interviewed at university programs and I had a Step 1 score less than 200. What will help is an improvement in your Step 2 score, glowing letters of recommendation, and a well-thought and written personal statement. Be sure to explain why you have chose OB/Gyn, your career goals and interests, and what you are looking for in a program. Share unique attributes about yourself so you stand out, and apply early.
If you are interested in community based programs, I heard good things about Christiana Care, Newark DE. I would avoid Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, MI; it is a very malignant program and there is a lot of internal conflict and changes going on in the program. Most of the residents are not happy. Two PGY-1 residents and a PGY-2 resident are resigning and another intern felt earlier in the year after only 3 months into the program.
If you are interested in community based programs, I heard good things about Christiana Care, Newark DE. I would avoid Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, MI; it is a very malignant program and there is a lot of internal conflict and changes going on in the program. Most of the residents are not happy. Two PGY-1 residents and a PGY-2 resident are resigning and another intern felt earlier in the year after only 3 months into the program.
