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While we're at it naming off the top programs, I thought I would start a thread on programs which I thought had major question marks during the interview trail this year. These include programs which I thought conveyed a general sense of unhappiness among residents, are malignant, or are heading in the wrong direction. Let me start off with three:
1. Columbia: The interview process was so atrociously disorganized that most of there interviewing were questioning whether to even rank the place. There is presently no Chairman (The Radiology Chair is currently serving also as the RadOnc Chair) as the former Chairman was demoted to Program Director because the department was hemorrhaging money. Word is that a Chairman search will begin as soon as a new cancer director has been selected - latest info is that it will be Ricardo DallaFavera, an insider at Columbia, though he has been trying to leverage the offer for ages. The residents all didn't seem very happy and one got the impression that it was definitely not in the top half of their rank list. The department is in disarray as several faculty have left, and one was so unhappy during the interview with me, he appeared to be crying. Another applicant from Columbia medical school itself was told just not to go there because the program was a mess. Enough said. The only positive aspect of the department is the Radiobiology Program - but Eric Hall is getting up there in age and you wonder how the division will continue without him. Oh and did I mention the program did not initally fill this year?
2. Case Western Reserve: Tiny program that's essentially a private practice group that's contracted by the university. In other words, the attendings are paid like private practitioners with an interest in maximizing volume to fill their pocketbooks. You gotta seriously wonder if they're actually interested in teaching, and from my impression, they aren't. The residents there work like dogs because of that volume. Chairman/Program Director - Tim Kinsella - is known as a pretty shady character around RadOnc circles, having been forced out of Wisconsin because of fraud dealing with Medicare or Medicaid (probably to fill his fat checkbook). He also refuses to work with any PGY2 residents or medical students. He's the only known attending in the department doing major research but recently lost his collaborator David Boothman to another program. Word is that former Program Director John Greskovitch suddenly quit his post in the middle of the application process and was in the midst of interviewing for jobs at other programs but is currently still on as one of the four teaching faculty.
3. Thomas Jefferson: You just get a maliganant feeling from the place. The residents didn't seem that sharp or engaging, and conference was just not all that impressive. I think some of the newer attendings like Machtay are awesome but there are a few bad seeds there that just might make the place unbearable for four years. Chairman, Walter Curran - though well known is a really hands-off kind of guy and doesn't take much input from the residents or faculty in making decisions. Basic Science research is virtually nonexistent - and the Radiobiology Division recently lost some of their top faculty to Ohio State. The residents I met just seemed weird - just my personal opinion. Again, heard from at least one of the residents that the program was pretty low on his rank list.
I'd probably avoid these programs - but hey it's just an opinion (and the general consensus I received from talking with other applicants this year).
1. Columbia: The interview process was so atrociously disorganized that most of there interviewing were questioning whether to even rank the place. There is presently no Chairman (The Radiology Chair is currently serving also as the RadOnc Chair) as the former Chairman was demoted to Program Director because the department was hemorrhaging money. Word is that a Chairman search will begin as soon as a new cancer director has been selected - latest info is that it will be Ricardo DallaFavera, an insider at Columbia, though he has been trying to leverage the offer for ages. The residents all didn't seem very happy and one got the impression that it was definitely not in the top half of their rank list. The department is in disarray as several faculty have left, and one was so unhappy during the interview with me, he appeared to be crying. Another applicant from Columbia medical school itself was told just not to go there because the program was a mess. Enough said. The only positive aspect of the department is the Radiobiology Program - but Eric Hall is getting up there in age and you wonder how the division will continue without him. Oh and did I mention the program did not initally fill this year?
2. Case Western Reserve: Tiny program that's essentially a private practice group that's contracted by the university. In other words, the attendings are paid like private practitioners with an interest in maximizing volume to fill their pocketbooks. You gotta seriously wonder if they're actually interested in teaching, and from my impression, they aren't. The residents there work like dogs because of that volume. Chairman/Program Director - Tim Kinsella - is known as a pretty shady character around RadOnc circles, having been forced out of Wisconsin because of fraud dealing with Medicare or Medicaid (probably to fill his fat checkbook). He also refuses to work with any PGY2 residents or medical students. He's the only known attending in the department doing major research but recently lost his collaborator David Boothman to another program. Word is that former Program Director John Greskovitch suddenly quit his post in the middle of the application process and was in the midst of interviewing for jobs at other programs but is currently still on as one of the four teaching faculty.
3. Thomas Jefferson: You just get a maliganant feeling from the place. The residents didn't seem that sharp or engaging, and conference was just not all that impressive. I think some of the newer attendings like Machtay are awesome but there are a few bad seeds there that just might make the place unbearable for four years. Chairman, Walter Curran - though well known is a really hands-off kind of guy and doesn't take much input from the residents or faculty in making decisions. Basic Science research is virtually nonexistent - and the Radiobiology Division recently lost some of their top faculty to Ohio State. The residents I met just seemed weird - just my personal opinion. Again, heard from at least one of the residents that the program was pretty low on his rank list.
I'd probably avoid these programs - but hey it's just an opinion (and the general consensus I received from talking with other applicants this year).
