Does anyone see a major concern if a program brings on a new chair and program director before the match is complete? I received a letter from one of the programs I was interested in as an update to all applicants about these recent changes. I already have my rank order list sorted out but am not sure if this warrants any rethinking.
Program director change mid-match
- Thread starter hfh4
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If it's a reasonably stable program with a decent culture, and the letter emphasized that the new leadership are taking those roles because they are excited to be part of it, then there's probably not too much to worry about. PDs almost never come from outside the program, so usually there's a conservatism of sorts built into the system. (From a resident's perspective, the Chair is probably one of the least significant people you will interact with in the next four years. PD is more important to you--you may want to call up a couple of current residents and see what they think about the new one.)
If it's already a train wreck of a program, and they're looking to a leadership change to "fix things" (Detroit Lions football comes to mind... 😛) then you probably would be better off not seriously considering them in the first place.
If it's already a train wreck of a program, and they're looking to a leadership change to "fix things" (Detroit Lions football comes to mind... 😛) then you probably would be better off not seriously considering them in the first place.
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The change could be due to a number of reasons which should not make a candidate look upon that program in a negative light. Of course, it could be for other reasons as well.
One thing about PDs changing is the PD could bring in a different flavor into the program. So far my own residency and fellowship went through a change in PDs while I was still in it, or about to enter it. The flavor of the programs did change.
In residency, the change in PD brought about a major increase in the enforcement of ACGME regulations, the ones that the residents thought were not in their interests. The old PD thought that the entire reason for the ACGME regs were to protect residents so if the residents didn't want to do some of them, he was alright with it. The new one was by the book. That's not a criticism on my part because I understood her angle. It was not in bad-faith and her enforcement of the rules put a lot more work on her.
As for my fellowship, my former PD was more of a laid-back, friendly, group-hug type person (he won the best teacher award from AAPL), while my current PD is more of a genius, statistician, one of the top minds in the field type person (He's one of the top guys in the country in the field). Wow very different flavors, though I'm still happy. We had a great PD replaced by one of the best in the field, who could complain about that? The former PD left because he got an offer to head a new state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital.
But the flavor is very very different. Some people liked the former PD better, while others are very happy that we have a top mind in the field heading the program. The change did cause major changes in the way the program was conducted.
