Board Certified!!! Yeah me 🙂
By the way when you get offered a second look what does that mean? And do you have to go?
By the way when you get offered a second look what does that mean? And do you have to go?
same here.Mayo-JAX rejection
Yippeee...me as well, though I wish I cared more after 3 yrs of residency 🙂 so what's the deal with having to wait for the score report in the mail... ridonculous in this day and age!Board Certified!!! Yeah me 🙂
By the way when you get offered a second look what does that mean? And do you have to go?
I agree but I recon it will change with time. What do you think about the second look thing?Yippeee...me as well, though I wish I cared more after 3 yrs of residency 🙂 so what's the deal with having to wait for the score report in the mail... ridonculous in this day and age!
Don't really know. I've heard at one of my interviews that some fellow came in for a second look, but at least for residencies, programs are explicitly discouraged from even offerinf 2nd looks. If you really wanna go there, sure, go, but otherwise IMHO don't think it's worth the effort.I agree but I recon it will change with time. What do you think about the second look thing?
Don't really know. I've heard at one of my interviews that some fellow came in for a second look, but at least for residencies, programs are explicitly discouraged from even offerinf 2nd looks. If you really wanna go there, sure, go, but otherwise IMHO don't think it's worth the effort.
I was also offered a second look at a program 6 hours away. I am ranking number 1 though. I have ICU coming up , so I don't wanna drive there. I aim to send a nice email by end of October that I am ranking them number 1. My director agreed to call too.
Yeah pretty much. May get one or two because of cancellations but others it's doneI guess it's safe to assume IV season is over now
Can you tell a program they are on your top 2. Because I want to email my top 3 and tell them and I dont want to say rank highly. ...
How should I rank?
Jefferson, Nebraska, SUNY buffalo, Iowa, Michigan, UAB?
Any ideas...?
Anonymous program reviews . . .
Awesome clinical (procedure heaven) + potentially awesome research:
Indiana: (18+18/12+24) This is an Amah-zing program!! Personally my #2. Everything you could ever ask for. Terrific faculty, terrific procedures, ECMO, TX – the works. Not only are the clinicals amazing, but so is the research faculty, and they will all go out of their way to help you get what you want out of an additional degree WITHIN the 3 year program. Young, dynamic PD, have heard very good things about the division chief. Fellows are all great, friendly people. The ONLY ONLY thing negative I had to say about the program was that they rotate through 4 very big and busy hospitals with different EMRs, and need to come in quite a bit overnight when on call. I *heart* IU. They may not be the big ten in research, but they’re definitely in the top 5 clinically.
MUSC: Lovely place, lovely city, awesome people. One of the nicest PDs evehh (can give Bosslett from IU a run for his money in niceness) – Nick Pastis, who is also a procedure guy. New Chief brought in from UW to help recruit more research faculty. Steven Sahn is retired. Former PD is lung cancer bigwig + procedure guru Silvestri (to-be ACCP Chief soon) who btw is also one of the nicest bigwigs I’ve spoken with. In speaking to the Division Chief, felt like I was already being told what path I would take/who I would work with if I signed up, and wanted to do research in the areas I’m interested in. Do Tx but to a limited amount – abt 20 cases/yr
Rochester (18+18): Lovely place, lovely city, awesome people again! Lots of pathology, very busy place. Despite making changes to how the call works, it still seems to be pretty brutal compared to most big state uni places who have shifted to a better night float system. Nicest, smiliest, very accomplished PD. Very strong clinical place if you don’t mind the absence of lung tx (they all go to CC/Pitt). Fellows easily do a 100 EBUSs each without even trying. Fellows said that the 2nd year is too full of clinical responsibilities to get any meaningful uninterrupted research done. Do offer an MPH/MSCR that would probably require 3 to 6 months beyond the 3 year program but probably ONE person pursued it like 3 years ago.
Temple: OK faculty, no big time research but clinically pretty solid. ++ Lung Tx. Located in North Philly and so no stiff competition from the Center City programs of UPenn/Drexel/TJ
Mayo: (24+12, option for additional year).. Driving to the clinic from the airport (which has a grand total of 4 or 6 gates) along this dusty road, I was thinking to myself ‘ OMG! What IS this place! This is as rural as it gets!’ Anyhow, I go to my interview and we receive a very warm introductory talk from the PD, and we go through the motions of the interview day.
THIS IS THE S***! Like I died and went to procedure/rare diseases heaven (if you didn’t already have that thought cross your mind as you entered the lofty halls of the Gonda Building). Fellows do about 400-500 bronchs, at least 50 EBUS, other IP stuff. Their main IP person seemed like a great person to work with. Probably going to add a pleural service. Fellows see pretty complicated patients in their own clinics, and become very adept at handling complicated/rare cases. They DO see enough bread and butter, and run the ICU services both at Mayo and their other community hospital. Will likely have a lot of sleep exposure as 2nd years (I personally like sleep, some might not). Do get a lot of PFT/CPET exposure.
Great conferences which the fellows seemed to like, and most of all, I really liked the fellows – a great bunch of non-snooty people from all over. The faculty don’t seem to be bigwigs but all of them are very nice, and no doubt very competent. PD apparently open to feedback. Apparently their ICU has this state-of-the-art software that allows you to monitor patients, check trends and do all kinds of zany clinical informatics mumbo-jumbo, and though I’m not very tech savvy, the fellows were all raving about it.
Apparently not a whole lot of exposure to lung tx unless you ask though they do a decent amount, but apparently most fellows go to Mayo-JAX on an elective for more intense exposure.
Awesome Research + bleh clinicals
Hopkins - apply for NRSA grants 1st year, will probably end up doing research year before clinical year. Could stay for a 4th year depending on whether you can bring in that research moolah. Obviously you could do a million things with the research potential, but I honestly left the place thinking that if I would not graduate as a robust clinician from this program. All the faculty seemed nice enough. I guess it’s a place best suited for people who are definitely committed to a lifelong career of research, because honestly they’re not seeing/doing anything clinically that you wouldn’t find (perhaps even more of) in other decent sized tertiary/quaternary care centers and these days most big places have big names in all ILDs and other disease categories. Newer bigger (I think 24 bed) ICU. Most fellows graduate with 120 bronchs or so with no-minimal EBUS exposure.
Yale - can tailor your research career as you like, awesome research facilities, bronch scene lacking, can hook up with Dr Fares (PHTN) if you wanted to do RHCs. Division chief is a researcher with no clinical duties. Can do a Masters in clinical research or a PhD in investigative medicine – pretty cool opportunities. Don’t see why it couldn’t give Hopkins a run for it’s research money – have wayyy more people/departments to collaborate with and pay 20k more than Hopkins does/year. Loved Dr Herzog – IPF lady who began her career as a clinician. Fellows were okay, and except for 1 chatty/nice chief fellow, most didn’t seem very friendly. Have night time intensivist, and have basically no night call/night float. Major clinical sites = yale + the huge West Haven VA. No transplant.
Bottomline: Cushy fellowship with the best research opportunities (in breadth/independence to do what you want to) but not the strongest clinical program.
Stanford - probably better than the two above clinically. primary VA faculty does a good amount of IP, Dr Zamanian at Stanford does all his RHCs, buttttt.....fellows are basically doing what I used to do as a new PGY2 - running to all RRTs, triaging in the ED, admitting. Looks like PGY1 residents don't rotate through the Stanford ICU, only through SCVMC, and one fellow honestly said that 'every one is demoted a level here'. Interview day interaction with the program director was wierd to say the least, though the division chief seemed like a very nice guy. PCCM fellows don't seem to have as much of a hold in the ICU as they're unwittingly competing for confidence/attention/love of the other ICU auxiliary staff and procedures with straight CC fellows, anes-CC, neuro-CC.
Bleh clinical, bleh research
TJefferson : Strange place. I and 2 co-interviewees had weirdly, unexpectedly unpleasant interactions with him. Nothing to be said on the research front. No NIH awards in a decade, purely clinical and very average at that. No transplant. No strong reason to pick it over ANY program unless you were desperate to stay in Philly and had no other options.
UIC (32+4 on clinical track, 24+12/24+24 PI track): Fell way below my expectations – I was actually excited about the program before I interviewed. All 3 of my interviewers except the division chief (who seemed really nice) seemed distracted. PD said he’d read our profiles more than 2 weeks before the interviews, and the other interviewers didn’t seem to know much about us either. Very weird day – the initial presentation about the program gave no details as to how the program was structured, and when we pressed the fellows, out it came – they’re very clinically heavy with no-little time for research unless you wanted to stay an extra year. If you did want to go the physician-investigator route, you would do the year of research first. No transplant, vague undefined fellows role in the unit which is mostly resident-attending run. IMO, nothing to really recommend the place.
Highest fellow bronch #s on my list: UI, Mayo, Temple, MUSC if you work with the lung cancer folks, Rochester for the EBUS/Nav
lol! Putting aside the cost, emotional and mental fatigue and general tear-my-hair-outedness, I learnt SO much during the interview trail, and I don't mean all those rad/path/ILD conferences I had to sit through. I learned about how the process works, how people got to where they are now, valuable advice about mentors/NIH grants/clinical training.Leo Spaceman should write a journal about interview experience lol.
I am done interviews too. All that is left is prayer and hope.
sunny downstate rejection after already interviewed there. Bad sign
.
ummm.....from former memories, from what I remember Downstate is pretty malignant.Its a mistake or a very crappy way of dealing with the interview process. Might just call the coordinator and ask, but it is highly unusual for a program to do that (never heard off).
At Kings County and the Downstate Hospital, they are crrrrrazy busy by virtue of who they are and the demographic they cater to. I'm not sure where else they rotate through these days other than the above two and the VA.I don't believe Downstate's pulm program is malignant at all. Did a pulm rotation at their VA as a med student. Fellows came in at 9 and left at 5 with home call (almost never got called in). Did bronchs/EBUS w NAV/ thoracs etc. Maybe its chill cause its the VA? Program is not very academic though.
hmmm.... I don't know...I felt like there's a lot of absolutely awesome programs out there, and that the name recognition/perceived ranking had very little to do with the quality of training. Sure, at some places I was really pissed off that some interviewers seemed very distracted or not invested enough in getting to know you, but it was totally made up by some awesome sweethearts of a PD/interviewer who gave you credit for the 3 or more years of slogging-yer-behind-off that you did to get to this point.Now that interview season is winding down, I was just wondering, did anyone else feel underwhelmed by the whole process? With the exception of one program, my interview experiences were pretty uninspiring. I must say that it was a bit disappointing, especially after spending money, time, and energy on travel, taking time off work, etc.
Copy-pasting Downstate Review from last season:I don't believe Downstate's pulm program is malignant at all. Did a pulm rotation at their VA as a med student. Fellows came in at 9 and left at 5 with home call (almost never got called in). Did bronchs/EBUS w NAV/ thoracs etc. Maybe its chill cause its the VA? Program is not very academic though.
I tried telling you guys all this.
Get the training you'll want.
I had a NUTSO night last night. I'm not even going to take the time to explain the whole deal and the 5 sick patients at almost once.
When you're running LONE cowboy and are the LAST house on the block for patients for many services, including CVsurg, neurosurg, vascular surg, general surg, and cardiology you better have your shiz together! I mean I LOVE this stuff. It turns my freaking crank but it's like riding a greased pig without a saddle into a lightning storm Viking melee complete with flying battle axes sometimes. People will expect a lot of you in the unit. And people will expect a lot out of you in diagnosing weird nonsense in the lung, especially in the out patient setting.
Are you a bad enough dude to save the president?? Because he's been kidnapped by ninjas.
Choose your training wisely.
It's so cool. Lol. I love this job.
Are there programs (other than the top 5) out there that are known for providing the best of both worlds in terms of great clinical training with good clinical research opportunities? As someone who is not completely sure about which path (academic vs private practice) I will want to take after 3 years, I am looking for a program that would be able to foster either direction I choose.
Anonymous program reviews . . .
Awesome clinical (procedure heaven) + potentially awesome research:
Indiana: (18+18/12+24) This is an Amah-zing program!! Personally my #2. Everything you could ever ask for. Terrific faculty, terrific procedures, ECMO, TX – the works. Not only are the clinicals amazing, but so is the research faculty, and they will all go out of their way to help you get what you want out of an additional degree WITHIN the 3 year program. Young, dynamic PD, have heard very good things about the division chief. Fellows are all great, friendly people. The ONLY ONLY thing negative I had to say about the program was that they rotate through 4 very big and busy hospitals with different EMRs, and need to come in quite a bit overnight when on call. I *heart* IU. They may not be the big ten in research, but they’re definitely in the top 5 clinically.
MUSC: Lovely place, lovely city, awesome people. One of the nicest PDs evehh (can give Bosslett from IU a run for his money in niceness) – Nick Pastis, who is also a procedure guy. New Chief brought in from UW to help recruit more research faculty. Steven Sahn is retired. Former PD is lung cancer bigwig + procedure guru Silvestri (to-be ACCP Chief soon) who btw is also one of the nicest bigwigs I’ve spoken with. In speaking to the Division Chief, felt like I was already being told what path I would take/who I would work with if I signed up, and wanted to do research in the areas I’m interested in. Do Tx but to a limited amount – abt 20 cases/yr
Rochester (18+18): Lovely place, lovely city, awesome people again! Lots of pathology, very busy place. Despite making changes to how the call works, it still seems to be pretty brutal compared to most big state uni places who have shifted to a better night float system. Nicest, smiliest, very accomplished PD. Very strong clinical place if you don’t mind the absence of lung tx (they all go to CC/Pitt). Fellows easily do a 100 EBUSs each without even trying. Fellows said that the 2nd year is too full of clinical responsibilities to get any meaningful uninterrupted research done. Do offer an MPH/MSCR that would probably require 3 to 6 months beyond the 3 year program but probably ONE person pursued it like 3 years ago.
Temple: OK faculty, no big time research but clinically pretty solid. ++ Lung Tx. Located in North Philly and so no stiff competition from the Center City programs of UPenn/Drexel/TJ
Mayo: (24+12, option for additional year).. Driving to the clinic from the airport (which has a grand total of 4 or 6 gates) along this dusty road, I was thinking to myself ‘ OMG! What IS this place! This is as rural as it gets!’ Anyhow, I go to my interview and we receive a very warm introductory talk from the PD, and we go through the motions of the interview day.
THIS IS THE S***! Like I died and went to procedure/rare diseases heaven (if you didn’t already have that thought cross your mind as you entered the lofty halls of the Gonda Building). Fellows do about 400-500 bronchs, at least 50 EBUS, other IP stuff. Their main IP person seemed like a great person to work with. Probably going to add a pleural service. Fellows see pretty complicated patients in their own clinics, and become very adept at handling complicated/rare cases. They DO see enough bread and butter, and run the ICU services both at Mayo and their other community hospital. Will likely have a lot of sleep exposure as 2nd years (I personally like sleep, some might not). Do get a lot of PFT/CPET exposure.
Great conferences which the fellows seemed to like, and most of all, I really liked the fellows – a great bunch of non-snooty people from all over. The faculty don’t seem to be bigwigs but all of them are very nice, and no doubt very competent. PD apparently open to feedback. Apparently their ICU has this state-of-the-art software that allows you to monitor patients, check trends and do all kinds of zany clinical informatics mumbo-jumbo, and though I’m not very tech savvy, the fellows were all raving about it.
Apparently not a whole lot of exposure to lung tx unless you ask though they do a decent amount, but apparently most fellows go to Mayo-JAX on an elective for more intense exposure.
Awesome Research + bleh clinicals
Hopkins - apply for NRSA grants 1st year, will probably end up doing research year before clinical year. Could stay for a 4th year depending on whether you can bring in that research moolah. Obviously you could do a million things with the research potential, but I honestly left the place thinking that if I would not graduate as a robust clinician from this program. All the faculty seemed nice enough. I guess it’s a place best suited for people who are definitely committed to a lifelong career of research, because honestly they’re not seeing/doing anything clinically that you wouldn’t find (perhaps even more of) in other decent sized tertiary/quaternary care centers and these days most big places have big names in all ILDs and other disease categories. Newer bigger (I think 24 bed) ICU. Most fellows graduate with 120 bronchs or so with no-minimal EBUS exposure.
Yale - can tailor your research career as you like, awesome research facilities, bronch scene lacking, can hook up with Dr Fares (PHTN) if you wanted to do RHCs. Division chief is a researcher with no clinical duties. Can do a Masters in clinical research or a PhD in investigative medicine – pretty cool opportunities. Don’t see why it couldn’t give Hopkins a run for it’s research money – have wayyy more people/departments to collaborate with and pay 20k more than Hopkins does/year. Loved Dr Herzog – IPF lady who began her career as a clinician. Fellows were okay, and except for 1 chatty/nice chief fellow, most didn’t seem very friendly. Have night time intensivist, and have basically no night call/night float. Major clinical sites = yale + the huge West Haven VA. No transplant.
Bottomline: Cushy fellowship with the best research opportunities (in breadth/independence to do what you want to) but not the strongest clinical program.
Stanford - probably better than the two above clinically. primary VA faculty does a good amount of IP, Dr Zamanian at Stanford does all his RHCs, buttttt.....fellows are basically doing what I used to do as a new PGY2 - running to all RRTs, triaging in the ED, admitting. Looks like PGY1 residents don't rotate through the Stanford ICU, only through SCVMC, and one fellow honestly said that 'every one is demoted a level here'. Interview day interaction with the program director was wierd to say the least, though the division chief seemed like a very nice guy. PCCM fellows don't seem to have as much of a hold in the ICU as they're unwittingly competing for confidence/attention/love of the other ICU auxiliary staff and procedures with straight CC fellows, anes-CC, neuro-CC.
Bleh clinical, bleh research
TJefferson : Strange place. I and 2 co-interviewees had weirdly, unexpectedly unpleasant interactions with him. Nothing to be said on the research front. No NIH awards in a decade, purely clinical and very average at that. No transplant. No strong reason to pick it over ANY program unless you were desperate to stay in Philly and had no other options.
UIC (32+4 on clinical track, 24+12/24+24 PI track): Fell way below my expectations – I was actually excited about the program before I interviewed. All 3 of my interviewers except the division chief (who seemed really nice) seemed distracted. PD said he’d read our profiles more than 2 weeks before the interviews, and the other interviewers didn’t seem to know much about us either. Very weird day – the initial presentation about the program gave no details as to how the program was structured, and when we pressed the fellows, out it came – they’re very clinically heavy with no-little time for research unless you wanted to stay an extra year. If you did want to go the physician-investigator route, you would do the year of research first. No transplant, vague undefined fellows role in the unit which is mostly resident-attending run. IMO, nothing to really recommend the place.
Highest fellow bronch #s on my list: UI, Mayo, Temple, MUSC if you work with the lung cancer folks, Rochester for the EBUS/Nav