Peds in New England - how competitive?

[Lara]

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I'm in 3rd year and at this point have pretty much made up my mind - I'm going into peds. 🙂 If I can't match back home in Canada (definitely not something to count on, plus I'm concerned about paying back my very large debt) I'd like to at least be close in New England. I just checked the Frieda website, and was rather dismayed to see there are only 11 programs:

UConn
Yale
Maine Medical Center
Children's Boston
MGH
Tufts
Baystate
UMass
Dartmouth
Brown
UVermont

There doesn't seem to be too much in the way of "safeties" from that list. I have a 217 on Step One and unfortunately will only pass my peds clerkship (stupid of me for scheduling it before medicine, when I wasn't sure yet). I can however get very good recs from NICU. Of course I hope to shine in a 4th year sub-I at Children's Pittsburgh, but I don't know how much weight that carries compared to the 3rd year clerkship. Am I still an ok candidate for most of these programs or will the pass really hurt? Any input from those who have received interviews would be great, and also help in deciding where to do away rotations (I'd love to visit the West Coast, but don't want to waste my time either if going to NE will be more beneficial).

Thanks!

 

[Lara]

Um, I'd settle for any input at all. 😳 I don't suppose anyone has interviewed already at those programs and could give impressions?

 

[bof]

i know that peds isn't that competitive but the pass in peds is going to hurt you a lot more than the 217. 4th year sub-i's don't mean as much because there is a lot of grade inflation in your fourth year and everyone knows it. if you want to be in the new england area i would concentrate my away electives there. forget california, if you want to visit, do an away elective in derm or something.

 

[GeneGoddess]

I'm interviewing at UConn, Yale, Boston Children's Boston and Brown in December and will post my impressions then.

 

[notstudying]

I interviewed last year at Yale and Boston Childrens (now the BCRP)-BCRP is honestly probably not an option with a pass in 3rd year, unless you have some amazing other background. Yale is not as competitive, and I liked the program (though I have heard that they work residents very hard). I knew people who interviewed at Dartmouth, UVM, and Maine-they are all small, but moderately competitive programs and would definately be worth a look-people really seemed to like them. People were also most heavily recruited by UVM, so they may be having the most trouble finding applicants. Maine has a beautiful new children's hospital (though with only 6 interns to staff it they work hard 🙂). I know someone who had a pass in peds (actually I think she only got a pass in her subI!) and got a position at Baystate, so that might be a safety.

Also think about the upstate NY and Ohio (Cleveland) programs-they are also close to Canada (Buffalo especially) and the state programs tend to be easier to get in to and also good (Buffalo and Syracuse-I'm not sure if there's one in Albany). Rochester has a great program, but I think it tends to be a little more competitive, though all three suffer from being off the beaten track (who wakes up one morning and says "You know, I'd really love to live in Rochester!"?).

It will be vital for you to get knock-your-socks-off recommendations from peds faculty from electives or your subI-make sure to do them early! Also if you think you can kick butt on Step 2, take it early so you can send those scores in (217 on Step 1 isn't terrible but every bit helps). Just remember that in most schools 50% of the class gets a pass in each clerkship, so there are plenty of people trying to match in areas in which they only passed-fortunately it's possible in peds (unlike some of the surgical subspecialties).

Good luck!

 

[Lara]

Thanks so much for the advice, and I'm looking forward to hearing about impressions.

Unfortunately I'm limited to two away rotations so it'll be a tough decision as to where to go for electives. I'm fortunate enough that Children's Pitt doesn't "count" since the Temple affiliates in Pittsburgh don't offer subI's. 🙂 Also I may not have to count Montreal Children's or other Canadian hospitals due to them being international. But there are still tons of other places I'd like to visit. I'm just bummed that Boston seems so unlikely with just Tufts - I really wanted to move there.

There are 31 peds programs in NY state alone 😱 so there's a lot to wade through there! Albany does have one, and it is right on the Amtrak train line between Montreal and NYC. 🙂 But like you said, upstate NY doesn't sound too enticing. Any suggestions for NYC proper, as well as Chicago?