Q's for Residency Reps at EMRA/ACEP?

[notdeadyet]

For us medical students going to the EMRA residency fair in Chicago for the first time, any suggestion on questions to ask of the program reps there?

I doubt I'll be able to come back next year, so this may be my only time to ask questions of non-local residency programs. I don't want to ask things I can dig up with a bit of research online; I'm more curious about the intangibles or things that wouldn't be on the web. Any suggestions?

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[Jeff698]

I went to two years of these as our program's rep. Lots of folks asked the typical questions that could be answered by looking at the website but I didn't much mind. That's sort of the point of the fair.... to get information.

It was nice because all of the programs are together in one room. You can stumble onto programs you might not have ever thought about and find out it's the one for you.

Just remember that the reps aren't any different from you. They chose EM for the same reasons that you are. Talk to them about it.

Take care,
Jeff

 

[Jeff698]

BTW, the fair's are extremely laid back. Just like you would expect from a bunch of emergency physicians.

Enjoy yourself.

Take care,
Jeff

 

[notdeadyet]

Lots of folks asked the typical questions that could be answered by looking at the website but I didn't much mind. That's sort of the point of the fair.... to get information.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect folks to be too hard-nosed, I just hate to waste an opportunity. I'll be casting the net wide when I apply and with only time for one audition rotation, there's a whole lot of programs that this may be my only exposure too. I'd hate to think up a list of great questions on the flight home.

Thanks for the information. I'm looking forward to looking at some programs I know very little about.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Ask about strengths and weaknesses of programs. IMO most residencies are really pretty similar but all have a "focus" on something that makes them a little different from the next guy. It should also give you a feel of whether, community, academics or county might be a better fit but I think thats a hard question to answer. I rotated at a community(semi county) place, a true county place and am now at an academic place and am super happy.

The other thing I would ask is how many NEW patients they see per shift. I think (with my limited community experience in moonlighting and some of the data I have seen), this might be an issue. This is a hard number to get at because of the tremendous variability in resident and the acuity and type of patients. There are programs that see NO trauma during a shift.

For the students, while trauma does become "cookbook" it is time consuming compared to the lower acuity stuff or the low prob CP patient.

Just my 2 cents. ill be at the fair!

EF