Great idea to start this thread. For everyone who applied and interviewed this year, let's keep the reviews coming to help future applicants!
OHSU:
-4 fellows per year
-Clinic is not dependent on fellows, good for learning. 1 hour new patients, 30 minute follow ups. Plenty of time for learning/discussion. Rotate at VA and OHSU.
-Good procedural experience and diversity. Lighter neuromodulation volume, about 20 SCS per fellow. No IT pumps, kypho, Vertiflex, MILD.
-APS call 5 weeks throughout the year, Thursday to Thursday with Friday off after call week.
-Great location. Portland seems awesome.
-Nice faculty. 4 interviews with faculty and a chat with the fellow. Interview day was low stress.
Medical College of Georgia:
-2 fellows per year
-30 minute new patients, 15 minute follow ups. Residents carry the load in clinic with fellows in a supervisory role. 2 clinic days per week, 2 procedure days, and 1 OR day. Just 1 site, I believe.
-Call 15 days at a time. Reportedly not busy.
-Per fellow, good procedural experience. No numbers given though. Don’t do DRG or peripheral stim. Minimal IT pump. No details regarding other procedures.
-Augusta seems meh
-Interview day was a 20 minute interview, with PD, APD, and both fellows asking questions. More intense questions, not really conversational. No presentation on the program so information was limited to what the fellow said during the Zoom happy hour the night before.
University of Florida:
-6 fellows per year, 2 are 14 month track for Anesthesia only
-Clinic volume seemed busy but manageable. I think fellows only rotate at 1 site.
-Good procedural volume per fellows. No numbers, but SCS numbers seem reasonable. Minimal DRG. No word on peripheral stim. They do MILD and endoscopic spinal decompression. No mention of Vertiflex, IT pumps, and kypho so I’m not sure if they do these.
-Fellows can attend industry courses
-Call every 6th week. Inpatient consults and procedural complications if patient goes to the ER. No APS call. Fellows did not mention how busy call was.
-PD seemed like a straight shooter, which I appreciated
-Gainesville seems like a usual college town, not too far from beaches
-3 faculty interviews, including PD. 2 interviews with current fellows
VCU:
-3 fellows per year, PM&R based
-Rotate at VCU and the VA. Clinic at VCU has 30 minute new patients, 15 minute follow ups. VA isn’t as busy. Minimal medication management at VCU and you just give recommendations at the VA.
-Call is not busy, fellow covers Marc Huntoon’s patients only. No APS call, but you do APS for 1 week.
-SCS experience is solid: 50-60 per fellow including trials and implants. 50-60 peripheral stim per fellow. Some IT pump experience, one fellow had done 4 implants. They do DRG and MILD. IR does basically all kypho however.
-Fellows can attend industry courses
-Richmond is a surprisingly awesome city
-3 interviews with 2 faculty members per interview and a chat with current fellows
Penn State:
-4 fellows per year, 1 spot reserved for PM&R
-Clinic volume is reasonable, usually runs from 8-4
-Call during the week is for clinic and is light. Weekend call is 1:5 where fellows cover APS.
-Some opioid and other medication management, but not too much. Do not implant IT pumps but they do refills and manage existing pumps. 15-20 SCS trials per fellow, but they do not do implants. Minimal but expanding DRG. They will start peripheral stim soon per APD. No mention of other procedures like MILD, Vertiflex, kypho.
-Fellows can attend industry courses
-Hershey is a nice, affordable rural area. I love it, but it isn’t for everyone.
-4 interviews, 3 faculty and 1 fellow.
UVA:
-6 fellows per year, mostly Anesthesia with 1-2 from other specialties
-Clinic from 8-5. 40 minute new patients, and 20 minute follow ups. See 12-15 patients per day in clinic and they have scribes! Minimal opioid management but they do make recommendations.
-Call is 1:6 for after-hours clinic calls and inpatient chronic pain service which is mostly a consult service but does have some primary patients (IT pump trials and implants, ketamine infusions for CRPS). Apparently call will be changing soon as there are plans to combine regional/APS/chronic pain into 1 service. This will be covered by residents primarily with the fellow in a supervisory role. Details are still being worked out though.
-Good procedural experience. Do their own SCS and IT pump implants. Good IT pump exposure, but not overly heavy per fellows. Also do kypho (rare per fellows), MILD, and peripheral stim. No Vertiflex yet, maybe soon.
-Cadaver lab to practice surgical procedures near the beginning of the year
-Charlottesville is awesome. Great food, wine, beer, and outdoor activities.
-4 interviews with faculty and fellows
Rochester:
-3 fellows per year, one is an off-cycle out of Match position
-Busy clinic per PD and multiple faculty members. Fellow said that there were some later days due to answering patients messages, catching up on notes, etc. Minimal opioid management.
-40 SCS trials and implants per fellow. They do DRG, peripheral stim, MILD, and kypho. No IT pump implantation but they do refills in clinic. Hired a new attending to increase implant volume.
-Call is 1:3, after hours clinic calls during the week and APS on the weekends. Call didn’t sound bad at all. APS rounds usually done by 10-11 per fellow.
-Rochester sounds like a nice small city, but winters are rough
-Interview with 4 attendings and Q&A with a current fellow
Michigan:
-8 fellows per year, 5 Anesthesia and 3 from other specialties
-Rotate at various clinic sites and the VA. Clinic sounded very manageable in terms of patient volume and hours. Minimal opioid prescribing. Some medication management.
-APS call 6-7 weeks. It didn’t sound too onerous, fellow mentioned getting 1-2 evening pages but essentially none overnight. He only had to go in once after 4 PM all year, which he said was typical of the other fellows. APS rounds finish around 11 on the weekend.
-Lower procedural numbers. Did not give numbers for SCS and peripheral stim. No IT pump implants but they see refills in clinic. Minimal DRG and kypho. PD planned on starting Vertiflex and MILD but this got derailed by COVID.
-Ann Arbor seems like a nice college town
-4 faculty interviews. Unfortunately did not get to speak much with fellows.
LSU:
-5 fellows per year, PM&R based. Seem to have a strong preference for internal candidates.
-Rotate at VA, Ochsner, and University Medical Center. VA is slower paced and fellows do all their own fluoro there because there are no x-ray techs. Ochsner is faster paced, more PP style. UMC is where fellows do inpatient consults. Clinic hours sounded manageable. Weekly continuity clinic occurs throughout the year.
-Consults are just for medication management. No procedures, which kinda sucks.
-Sounded like there was minimal call, no real details however.
-Varied procedural experience, with SCS, DRG, peripheral stim, Vertiflex, and occasional IT pumps. No MILD. No mention of kypho. PD may add SI fusion if more convincing data on its efficacy is published.
-Weaker didactics, but PD is working on improving them. Fellows can attend industry courses.
-New Orleans is a great city, fair amount of crime though
-4 interviews: PD, 2 faculty, and current fellow. Presentation by PD was just reading from the program website, not a good look.
University of Mississippi:
-5 fellows per year, one position is an off-cycle out of Match position. Strong preference for internal candidates.
-6 months in clinic, 6 months of off-service APS, Palliative, Psych, Neuro, PM&R for non-PM&R fellows, Anesthesia for non-Anesthesia fellows. 1 month PP rotation.
-Clinic has a good volume, done by 5 every day. Weekly continuity clinic runs throughout the year while on off-service rotations. Some opioid management, attendings vary as to how much or little they prescribe.
-Call sounded chill per fellow. Unclear if it is for clinic only or if there are any inpatient or APS responsibilities. Call runs on a weekly basis.
-SCS experience is solid. No DRG or peripheral stim. Minimal IT pump implants, do refills in clinic. No word on Vertiflex, MILD, or kypho.
-Fellows can attend industry courses
-PD was great, very friendly
-Jackson sounded like a surprisingly nice city. Mississippi as a state has a really unhealthy population, though.
-5 interviews, with PD, APD, faculty member, and 2 fellows
EVMS:
-2 fellows per year, PM&R based
-Rotate at VA, EVMS clinic, and Portsmouth Naval Medical Center. No medication management at the VA, hours are lighter there as well. Portsmouth is Anesthesia-based and more procedure heavy. Per PD, this site is like Pain mixed with Sports Medicine. EVMS has a more typical patient population, with a fair amount of opioid management.
-Fellows are on-call basically ½ the year, though call sounds very light. Usually get called for an inpatient consult.
-Previous fellow mentioned doing 600 procedures, unclear breakdown. Lower number, kind of concerning. No details on SCS numbers. They do not do many implants. No mention of DRG, peripheral stim, Vertiflex, and MILD. Minimal IT pump and kypho exposure.
-Per PD, didactics are pretty bad and disorganized, though he is working to improve them. Despite this, they have a 100% board pass rate.
-Interview day was disorganized as the PC took the day off or wasn’t around, so the PD had to set things up on the fly. Not a good look. Interviews were with the PD and a fellow who graduated the year prior. Relaxed interviews. No chance to interact with current fellows which I consider a red flag.
