So this is going to be a lot of info, I hope it helps. I’m going to post objective info about programs I interviewed/rotated at, and then will give my opinion. Went on 13 DO and 4 MD interviews … Posting before the match so it has less bias
🙂
Just some general advice about 4th year:
(1) Number one rule: Take everything with a grain of salt, even what I’m about to post. Everybody has their own opinion about programs, and everybody has their own fit. There are pros and cons to every program.
(2) Setting up auditions:
I did four 4 week sub-Is. I met people who did 3-6. In my opinion 6 is insane. I was burnt out midway through my third one. Moving to new areas (use airbnb.com or rotatingroom.com) figuring out new hospitals, being on point everyday, it all gets very tiring.
I started setting up rotations February of third year. Some places weren’t accepting applicants at that time, and some places were incredibly difficult to get in touch with. If you’re determined to do a rotation at a place that is stringing you along, set up a backup that you can cancel later on.
(3) Auditions: My best advice is just be yourself. Just because you see somebody else kissing ass, doesn’t mean you have to. Do what you are comfortable with and what you feel is best for you, and try not to worry about how you look compared to anybody else. Work hard, be a team player, and people will appreciate whatever help you give.
(4) Timeline of hearing back for interviews:
Got my application in 2 weeks after ERAS opened up. Definitely recommend getting it in early. The only hold up was of course the personal statement. Try and get this done during the end of your third year.
I started hearing back from programs the second week of September. I received most invites before the end of October, and got one the first week of November. A handful of programs never got back to me. If you haven’t heard back from a place you’re interested in, I would definitely recommend giving them a call and expressing your interest.
(5) Interviews
Interviews started around the last week of October and went through December (MD programs go into January). The bulk will be Nov & Dec. Usually if you are doing a Sub-I, they are ok with you going on interviews. If you’re on a core rotation, make sure you let them know ahead of time that you’ll be requesting time off. And as I’m sure is the case with most places, the less your school knows the better… just arrange the time off with your preceptor and don't let your school know.
Try not to schedule your first interview at a place that is high on your rank list. Not sure if I was just nervous or didn’t have good answers ready, but I definitely felt like I didn’t do well – and it wasn’t because it was a tough interview. Second interview went much better, and obviously the more you go on, the more natural they become and you will do fine.
Interviews I went on were basic, nothing to tricky, no real pimping (maybe some scenarios but nothing to serious). Common questions to have answers ready for: (1) why this program (2) what are your strengths / weaknesses (3) why surgery (4) talk about a case that impacted you
(6) Useful stats: National in service exam taken by all AOA surgery programs - speaks about didactics and resident education (scroll to bottom of website):
http://www.facos.org/imis15/public/...spx?hkey=993f0e10-436a-4401-b476-29c724a934ad
Review of programs in no particular order:
Sidenote: Just because I mention something for one program and I don’t comment on it for another, doesn’t mean that a program is lacking, it’s that I either (a) forget or (b) was never presented info about it … Also in my opinion, the most important thing a residency can offer you is case volume. You want to find out how many cases chiefs are graduating with. For the AOA, you must finish with a minimum of 750 major surgical cases. From what I have heard, places graduating chiefs with 1000+ cases are good numbers.
Arnot Ogden Medical Center – Elmira, NY
New program, in its second year with two PGY2s and four PGY1s (two of whom did TRI at Arnot). Plan on taking 3 candidates each year. Hospital is an older 256-bed tertiary medical facility, which just acquired all of its residency programs (TRI, FM, IM, Psych, Rads) two years ago and is starting an EM residency this year.
They have four attending’s as faculty, they recently lost a vascular attending Dr Nast d/t personal issues and they got a new hepatobiliary attending Dr Hatzoudis. Dr Martinez is the PD and is Bariatric trained, seems very invested in the program and in teaching residents.There is a developing relationship with the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital, currently they have trauma set up there. Follow SCORE curriculum (
http://www.surgicalcore.org/)
Curriculum:
PGY1: GS x4, Night Float x2, IM x2, ICU, ER, Urology, Anesthesia
PGY2: GS x7, Night Float x2, GS/END, ENT CV, ICU
My opinion:
Pros – faculty is invested in training, good relation with U of Rochester, tight knit family type feel to program …
Cons – new program (can be viewed as a pro because you as a resident have large influence on direction of program, but for me I would like to have chief residents), lacking structure (can also be viewed as a pro because they will be easy to adapt to new ACGME requirements),
very rural location
Berkshire Medical Center – Pittsfield, MA
New program, in its second year with one PGY3 who transferred from an ACGME intern year, one PGY2, one PGY1 and apparently another PGY1 that will be starting off cycle Jan 2015.
Hospital used to have an ACGME surgery program that had been in place for 50+ years and lost its accreditation last year (google search for more details). The exact reason why it closed was not fully addressed during the interview, although it was mentioned that it was probable clerical issues and not d/t lack of case volume, which I believed. So the program went from having 14 ACGME residents plus the new AOA residents down to just having the AOA resident, and they are in a rebuilding phase. They are trying to expand the program to have 10 categorical residents, and are doing so through the AOA.
Hospital is a 293-bed community hospital with 8 ORs, surgery center across the street, and 20 bed mixed SICU/MICU. There is some sort of didactics M-F from 7am-8am. Right now residents don’t cover any nighttime services since there are only 3 of them. The hospital hired attendings to act as surgicalists who cover patients and emergencies overnight. Hospital also hired a bunch of new PAs. Residents cover patients they operate on and have around 15-20 patients on their list. They have their pick on surgeries to cover because there is tons of stuff going uncovered. A few attendings / residents mentioned program is vascular heavy.
Away rotations: UMass Med Center (transplant, CTS), Roger Williams Med Center (surg onc – even though PD is surg onc trained, they go here for more cases, specifically pancreas), Baystate Med Center (ped surg, trauma).
My opinion:
Pros – good case volume / diversity, residents get along well with eachother and with attendings …
Cons – same new program issues I stated for Arnot (lack of structure, not having chief residents), not sure how the program is planning on expanding with merger if they were unable to keep the ACGME program
EastEnd Health Alliance – Riverhead, NY
Newer program with PGY4 class as highest currently (planning on 4 residents per year). Seems like they take TRIs from inhouse (3 pgy3, 1 pgy2, 0 pgy1). Program splits time between two core sites – Southampton Hospital (125 beds) and Peconic Bay Med Center (200 beds). A good amount of residents live in Hampton Bays as it is ~15 mins away from both hospitals and is more affordable.
Have skills lab once a month (skills labs at both facilities), get Davinci exposure, follow SCORE curriculum. While there, was told that a pgy3? was taking a year off next year to pursue research and the program was supportive of this.
Curriculum:
PGY1: 3m GS, 2m IM, 1m IR, 1m Breast, 1m Anesthesia, 1m ICU, 1m ER, 1m Trauma
PGY2: 8m GS, 1m Peds, 1m Vasc, 1m SICU
PGY3: 7m GS, 1m Plastics/ENT, 1m CTS, 1m Surg Onc, 1m Trauma nights
PGY4: 8m GS, 1m Trauma days, 1m Trauma nights, 1m Peds
PGY5: 11m GS
Away rotations: 11 months at Stony Brook Unv Hosp (trauma, ped surg, vasc, sicu, plastics/ent, cts, surg onc).
My opinion:
Pros - New program but seems like there is good structure in place, good balance between work and having outside life, great exposure doing 11 months at Stony Brook …
Cons – seasonal area which has influx during the summer and can be quieter during the winter, which would lead me to question case volume
Geisinger Wyoming Valley – Wilkes Barre, PA
238 bed hospital level 2 trauma center which sees some level 1 stuff. Have some sort of didactics everyday. Follow SCORE curriculum. Several alumni of the program serve as faculty. Great case volume, one of the seniors said he would graduate with 1200+ cases … Honestly, the website has tons of up to date info, see link below.
Away rotations: Geisinger Med Center Danville (transplant, peds, level 1 trauma), VA Medical Center in Wilkes Barre (gen surg)
Curriculum:
http://www.geisinger.edu/residencies/osteopathic-surgery/pages/clin_exp.html
My Opinion:
Pros – talking to people along the way this is a very strong program, seems like they have good case volume / diversity, good trauma, have a nice mix of faculty (older & younger attendings) who seem interested and dedicated toward resident education …
Cons – Only thing I can think of is location. Its in a more rural area, 2 hrs from NYC, 2 hrs from Philly.
Inspira Health Network – Vineland, NJ
Newer program, I think the highest they have is one PGY4. They are taking 3 per class year. 262 bed newer hospital which is top of the line. Have a lounge area where all residents from different programs can hang out or work on computers. Have three 12 bed icus (SICU, MICU, CVICU), 10 ORs, 45 bed ER. They follow SCORE curriculum.
Away rotations: Hahnemann (ICU, transplant), Crozer (trauma), DuPont (peds)
My opinion:
Pros- seems like they have good support from faculty; residents all get along well with each other; hospital is top of the line…
Cons – newer program so unsure about case volume; not sure how strong didactics are; didn’t get a bad vibe from the place, just didn’t feel like it was as strong as some of the others
Kennedy Univ Hosp/Our Lady of Lourdes – Stratford, NJ
Older program in NJ just outside of Philadelphia. Rotate through four hospitals: Our Lady of Lourdes (410 beds, by far the busiest hospital of the four), and three Kennedy Hospitals (Cherry Hill, Stratford and Washington Township). You can live centrally to all four hospitals and the furthest commute is ~25 minutes. Some residents live in Philly and said furthest commute is ~35 minutes.
Have in house transplant with Dr. Youssef at Lourdes. No fellows, so seniors are scrubbing these cases. Is the only program I’ve seen that has this.
Program director is newer and is supposedly very into board scores. If you don’t rotate, you need to have >550 for interview.
Outside rotations: Wilmington Veterans Affairs Med Center, Cooper (trauma & peds), AtlantiCare (trauma)
Curriculum: PGY1 (start mid June): GS x 8, IM x 2, SICU, EM, Uro
My opinion:
Pros – good mix of older and younger attendings (some recent graduates from the program, some really great teachers),see a variety of cases throughout the four hospitals, transplant exposure is great, good fellowship placements, nice being near Philly
… Cons - slower services at some of the Kennedy hospitals, have heard it's a malignant program from a few UMDNJ students who did third year with the residents (I did a month here and never got the malignant vibe once, although some of the PGY5 class was intense)
Lutheran Medical Center – Brooklyn, NY
Older program at a 450 bed hospital, Level 1 trauma center. New SICU is 10ish beds? Have a morning report every day at 7am where consults and traumas from the day before are presented to attendings. New partnership with NYU. Dr Vinces was the previous PD who stepped down and went over to Barnabas. The current PD is Dr. Ferzli but I’m not sure if he does much, the acting program director seems to be Dr. Nemr (interviewed with him as such). Do not have Da Vinci robot, but did get some sort of new simulator for resident use. Follow SCORE curriculum. Program has great vascular cases (Dr. Hingorani and Dr. Ascher are very well known attendings). Have scheduled cases going until 9-10pm regularly. Hospital serves large Chinese, Russian, and Jewish populations.
In house fellowships: Vascular (new this year), MIS, Critical Care/Trauma
Outside rotations: Maimonides (1 mo as pgy3 for peds), Elective x 2 as pgy4
Curriculum: entire PGY1 year is spent between SICU, Trauma, and 3 surgery teams
My opinion:
Pros – established program which has great track record for fellowship placement (PGY4 just matched plastics at PCOM, had never even heard of this), great case volume and diversity, will be in the OR starting as pgy1, good trauma exposure, good SICU experience, resident teams are set up well, work with some great attendings, new NYU partnership seems great
… Cons – probably the most difficult intern year out of all of the places I’ve seen (in terms of how hard you work): ancillary staff is terrible at all NYC hospitals so you often have to do your own stat lab draws / transportation (but medical students are relied heavily on for this). You are in the OR a lot as an intern (sometimes 3-4 cases per day), but this means playing catch up when you get back to the floor.
MediSys Health Network (Flushing Hospital) – Jamaica, NY
325 bed older hospital with large Hispanic and Chinese patient populations. Program is relatively newer because the old Brookdale ACGME and Peninsula AOA programs were combined into this program. Have graduated two classes – all have gone on for fellowship. This years class went vasc, mis, breast?, cosmetics. Last years class went hand, burn, critical care, vasc.
No current residents did rotated as students. Two Da Vinci robots, 8 ORs, 6 bed SICU (18 total ICU b/w medical, surgical, cardiac). Residency is actually unionized (not sure if others are but they made a point of mentioning it) =
http://www.cirseiu.org/
On one of handouts from the interview they had the following written “flushing hospital just added a well-respected group of pediatric surgeons to our team as well.” Don’t remember them talking about this, but I would think they would have because most AOA programs I checked out did not have in house ped-surg.
Away Rotations: PGY3 (3 mo Roger Williams Med Center surg onc; 1 mo NSLIJ Cohen peds); PGY4 (1 mo NYMC Weschester Med Center trauma, 3 mo Kingsbrook gen surg) PGY5 (Brookhaven for advanced laparoscopic) … Possibly setting up bariatrics at Brookhaven but they just got two new bariatric attendings so this might be unnecessary
My opinion:
Pros – Faculty & PD definitely invested in resident training, good fellowship record, seems like good balance between work and outside life (enforce duty hours strictly), really stressed that they get great exposure to bread and butter gen surgery cases which I liked, union is good for benefits and salary bargaining etc
… Cons – questionable volume in house, not that its bad but some of the other programs definitely had better
Palisades Medical Center – North Bergen, NJ
Don’t know much about this program unfortunately because I had to leave the interview early. A 202-bed hospital. Newer program that has been around for 3 years. Inherited residents from other programs, and have graduated one class (I think 2 went breast, 1 vasc, 1 private practice). PD is also DME. New affiliation with Hackensack Hospital.
Outside Rotations: Englewood, Meadowlands, Hackensack, and Bergen Regional
My Opinions:
Pros- PD really sold the program well, seems like he knows how to help the program progress in a great direction (especially as DME), and seems invested in resident training; solid outside rotations; new affiliation with Hackensack seems like it will be extremely beneficial …
Cons- questionable in house case volume, in my opinion similar to flushing / hamptons volume
Plaza Medical Center – Fort Worth, TX
320 bed hospital, nice facilities. Take 2 residents per class but do not have a PGY5 class this year because those residents left/were asked to leave (not entirely sure). Private attendings. Start taking call by yourself as an intern within 2-3 months. Start off with junior/senior, and then once they feel you are comfortable you are the only resident covering surgery patients in house.
Curriculum:
PGY1: GS x 6, IM x 2, Gyn/Onc x1, EM x1, Uro x 1, ICU x1
PGY2: GS/Vasc x 10, CTS x 2
PGY3: GS x 7, Trauma x2, Transplant x2, Burns x 1
PGY4: GS/Vasc x 6, Peds x 2, Onc x 2, Trauma x 2
PGY5: GS/Vasc x 12
My Opinion:
Pros- residents all get along very well, program used to have a malignant reputation but when the new PD came in ~ 4 years ago he worked to change the culture of the program and it seems like he did a great job; solid away rotations; good case volume…
Cons- only having 2 residents per class year might make things more difficult, not much else I can think of
St Barnabas Hospital –Bronx NY
Well-established program at a 461-bed community hospital which is a Level 1 Trauma Center. Take 3 residents per class year, however some of the classes have spots open due to residents leaving (currently open pgy4 and pgy3 position). Hospital is located in a rough neighborhood (very good trauma exposure), residents commute from surrounding areas in NY/NJ.
New PD came in summer 2014 - Dr Vinces - was the previous PD at Lutheran (old acting interim PD - Dr. Robert Davis - is actually joining Lutheran as critical care and SICU chairman). PD is actively working on brining in new attendings and getting the case numbers up.
Residents cover clinic across the street - Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wed/Thurs full day, Friday morning.
In house fellowships: Critical Care/Trauma & Plastics
My opinion:
Pros –good trauma, plastics fellowship usually takes in house resident (which I think is a big reason people apply here), new PD seems like he knows the programs deficiencies and is working to change things, Dr Petersen is a Breast surgeon who is amazing – very nice to work with, lots of cases, and gives residents autonomy in the OR …
Cons – Biggest downside is the lack of case volume. There are anywhere from 10-20 cases per week which residents split up, this is including neurosurgery and urology cases. Since numbers are low, chiefs are scrubbing on most cases. Didn’t seem like they get enough laparoscopic training. Also an issue here is resident happiness. Program has a malignant reputation from years past. I’m actually having a hard time writing this because I don’t want it to seem like I’m laying into the program. I’m not trying to throw out the whole “malignant reputation” thing lightly because I feel like people use the term loosely when a program is demanding on its residents. The reason I feel this program is malignant the way that senior residents treat other residents. It’s not a team atmosphere and people only look out for themselves. There was one specific resident who would publicly berate and belittle other residents, and faced no repercussions for what many would deem totally unacceptable. I think the program is moving away from this malignant atmosphere and the younger classes are not apart of the negativity. The most negative people in the program will be leaving this year, which should help out immensely. The entire culture of the program needs to change in order for things to move in the right direction.
St James Hosp & Health Centers – Olympia Fields, IL
398 bed hospital. Two mixed 10 bed ICUs (usually only one open). 9 ORs. NF system in place for interns. SCORE curriculum. A good amount of residents live in the south loop, which is a 30-45 min drive to all hospitals. While touring the hospital during my interview one resident said that as a PGY2 you only really double scrub cases.
Curriculum / Away Rotations:
https://sites.google.com/site/chgeneralsurgery/
My opinion:
Pros- new PD seemed invested in the program; residents all got along; go to Cook County for trauma …
Cons- low case volume, lots of double scrubbing
St John's Episcopal Hospital – Far Rockaway, NY
241 bed hospital. NF system in place for interns. Cover ortho/urology/ent cases but they try and make TRIs scrub the unnecessary cases. A few of the current residents did a TRI at St Johns. Follow SCORE curriculum. All seniors going onto fellowships this year (Critical Care, Vasc, MIS, Head/Neck)
Outside Rotations: South Nassau (level 2 trauma), Trinitas (north jersey), Sloan Kettering
My opinion:
Pros – good away rotations; 2 new bariatrics attending (one recent alumni from program); good mix of younger / older attendings …
Cons – have never seen a GS program cover ortho cases, questionable case volume
St Joseph's Hospital & Med Ctr – Paterson, NJ
700 bed hospital, Level 2 trauma (trying to get Level 1 status). Newer program, which inherited residents and has graduated 2/3 classes? Lots of new updates to facilities. Probably the biggest and nicest ER I’ve seen, very busy so see tons of stuff coming through the doors. In house Peds-Surgery (only program I can remember seeing with this). Apparently lost one of its outside rotations and instead of taking 4 residents this year they are only taking 3. Very big into research, program director loves it and pushes med students and residents to pursue (almost have to have research in order to get interview, unless your scores can make up for it). Board scores are important.
Curriculum:
https://www.stjosephshealth.org/education/item/1548-general-surgery (lots of other good info)
In house fellowships: Plastics (new this year) and Critical Care/Trauma
My Opinion:
Pros- good trauma and great SICU; good case volume; residents get along well with each other and function well within teams; good support from faculty; active research; everybody has great things to say about this program, is one of the best even though it is relatively new …
Cons- lost an outside rotation
Stuff I’ve heard about places I haven’t been to:
·
Doctors Hospital (Columbus, OH) - Very good program, academically rigorous – read through one textbook each year and assign chapters each week which residents are quizzed on. I heard they interviewed 24 people, 20 of which rotated. For the interview, the night before they make you take an exam and give you mock oral cases. The next day every applicant’s scores (from night before along with board scores) are posted for everybody to see.
·
Philadelphia College Osteopathic Med (Philadelphia, PA) – have heard mixed things about this program, but honestly I would say it's a top program. People seem not to like the fact that you rotate at multiple hospitals. I’ve also heard some people say the program is malignant. I had a good friend who rotated and didn’t feel this way. I think it gets the malignant reputation because it might be a tougher residency. Also something to be aware of for the interview – its extremely short. It lasts like 20-30 mins, you don’t get a tour or anything, and they pimp you the whole time. Have spoken to multiple people who were turned off by it.
Places you must rotate at for interview: (just from what I’ve heard, there are more so research this before applying and potentially wasting money)
1.
Largo Medical Center (Largo, FL) – new program which takes one resident per class
2.
Pinnacle Health Community Gen Osteo Hosp (Harrisburg, PA) – from speaking with other students along the trail, this program is a solid one. I actually interviewed with their MD program and was impressed (and supposedly the DO program is stronger)
3.
Oklahoma State University Medical Center (Tulsa, OK) – spoke to one student who rotated here, said it was a good program, he may have mentioned that they are making students pay a fee to rotate here
