please help me in ranking

24 programs? No way you are interviewing at ALL of them?

What do you want to do when you grow up? That would be helpful information. If you have any interest in fellowship, obvious rank the Uni programs higher . . . I don't know all of the programs on that list, but I think the top of the list looks like this . . .

1. Kansas
2. Loma Linda
3. USC

Everything else is definitely lower in my opinion, the next pack would probably have Fresno and Mich State near the top . . . everything else is unknown or equivocal in my book.

(With the coming crap storm to the economy I'd stay out of detroit and dayton . . . to name a few)

Good luck.

 

I would add Stony Brook and SLR to the second group of programs. I don't know much about the rest of the programs other than to say that Coney Island shouldn't even be on your list. That place is a horror show.

 

I would look at where the fellows in the program you are interested in trained, and if they are a FMG. This is not always available but frequently programs will post who their fellows are and where they did their residency.

 

I'm a 4th year student at NYMC. WMC is composed mostly of FMG, and they usually retain 2 each year of their own for their cardio fellowship (of the 4 spots). I'd say rep wise in NY its better than both stonybrook and SLR. From what I've seen, Dr. Gutwein (the prog dir), and Dr. Peterson (former PD, now vice chair of med) really go to bat for their residents in obtaining fellowship. After doing my sub - internship at the program, I really do feel like this is a program on the rise. In addition, they have 2 big guys for cardio who you will have the opportunity to work with if you pursue residency there (I know this because even as a student I was able to work and get published with both). These 2 are Dr. William Frishman (he was involved with the Women's Health Initiative) and Dr. Wilbert Aronow (he's a publishing machine, pubmed him). If you have any more specific questions about WMC feel free to PM me. Best of luck.

 

OP,
There isn't any objective system to "rank these programs". If you want to do cardiology, I basically agree with the above that it's better to do residency at a university hospital (USC, Loma Linda, U of Kansas would fit the bill and probably most or all of the others that other folks on here mentioned). I don't think you can go to that many interviews and probably shouldn't need to to match in medicine, but I'm not really sure of how many an IMG needs to go to to have a very high chance to match. I would think 15 or so should be enough but that is just a guess.

Also, I want to mention East Tenn State U. They have a medical school there and it has a primary care focus. I have met students from there and they are very nice and I think the school has respect in its regional area though not necessarily nationally well know. I don't know much about the IM residency but would think it would be decent. I haven't heard anything about them treating residents badly, but I can't say for sure. The ETSU hospital is a university hospital (directly affiliated with ETSU medical school) - it's a teaching hospital. The town is not really big so might be a culture shock if you're used to big cities. I doubt that you'd be the only FMG/IMG there. I think it's probably a mix of local people (i.e. former ETSU medical students from Tennessee) and IMG/FMG's. Atul Gawande, and Indian physician, wrote a book about taking care of AIDS patients there back in the 1980's ("My Own Country"). I believe they may have their own cardiology fellowship, but not 100% sure...you could check.

If you want to do cardiology, would try to check out some of these programs and whether any have an affiliated cardiology fellowship, as a way to perhaps narrow down your list of where to interview. Also, realize that you need to think about whether you need/want to live in a big city vs. not, and other things about whether you can be happy @ a particular residency.

 

I think that aurora place in Wisconsin has a pretty big cardiology fellowship, and it takes IMG's. I don't know anything about the residency or the cards fellowship, though.

 

Just wanted to correct the author's name. It's Abraham Verghese who wrote "My Own Country." I'm a big Atul Gawande fan and have read his books, so I was sure this couldn't be his.

 

Yes, you are right...I mean Abraham Verghese, not Gawande. I believe Gawande is a surgeon. Verghese did IM and then an ID fellowship. Although at times he seems like a self-absorbed young male, I do think that "My Own Country" is a great read. It's starting to seem dated, but was an eye-opener about trying to treat AIDS in the era before they had good antiretroviral treatments. It also gives insight into living in E. Tennessee in the 1980's as an immigrant doctor.

 

wow, panipuri.
Still, this is USC and I would be very, very surprised if they didn't get their fellowship program restored ASAP...like probably before next July 1st. I would still rank USC IM residency higher than the vast majority (or maybe all) of the other programs on your list.

 

Kansas University would not be high on my list. They have a really poor track record of training residents. Generally their grads are thought to be the weakest when entering fellowships or general practice in the surrounding community.

 

They have a pretty kick-***** cards program though

 

There is not a significant difference between the two programs in my opinion (in terms of YOU getting a cards fellowship after residency). Why don't you interview and see which one you like?

boF

 

Seriously dude, go where you'll be happiest. You won't do good in a place you're not happy.

 

im trying to decide loma linda or usc ( so many different responses from everyone. i know usc is "malignant" but can it really be THAT bad?

 

From what I have heard they don't even have the best fellowship program in Kansas City. If they are that good why aren't the best in their own city considering there are only 2 programs there?