So I had a really tough time and changed my list a fair amount in the finals hours. Have some regrets about being so far from home (east coast), but I think it will be good for me. Would really be happy anywhere. It almost made me upset that I worked so hard in medical school
. If I were to do it again....I probably would have had my friend change my password a week before....In the end I tailored my list to leaving the east coast and getting the best training possible.
250s on steps. half honors/half HP, an EM publication and an abstract presentation, some random ECs. Top 40 east coast medical school and no AOA, but top 1/3 of class.
1.) Highland--Fuzzies here. Loved the people here, the interview was a bit quirky, but I felt at home. Residents were great and night before was one of the best. I liked the idea of being unopposed more than other places. Felt that the schedule was not too grueling, never work 12s and the bay area seems like a great place to live. Watched the documentary "the waiting room" the day before....Negatives: wish they did more rotations at UCSF, off service is weaker than most, probably not a a ton of research opportunities.....In the end the reputation, lifestyle, and training opportunities here just seemed like the best combo! This place felt like a giant family and would make it easy for me to
2.) Denver--Initially had this lower. M&M blew me away. I had considered doing surgery for a long time and wasn't scared of the intensity. That being said there was definitely not a friendly vibe here. I do better when I work hard though and love to ski! Denver has so many great sites to rotate through, you have rocky mountain poison, and a ton of great research at your fingertips. I felt that if I ended up here I would probably have endless really really tough days, which is scary, but in the end I would be able to go anywhere and handle everything. Cons: Rumors of malignancy (didn't totally dissuade me as I like to work hard), nothing.....just intense vibe.
3.) Pitt--3 years! awesome academics! cool residents! great faculty! Felt this was the strongest three year I interviewed at. Had it all....diversity of sites, great fellowships, residents seemed to go anywhere, and the city itself is CHEAP and seemed pretty cool. I really liked the blue collar feel of it all and heard that the patient population was really grateful. Also, Pitt is a really great academic medical institution and thus all the other services will be strong too (and the med students!--easier teaching). EMS Jeep was also an added bonus. Warm and fuzzies....wish I ranked it 2 almost....Cons: Maybe a little weak on ultrasound in past years, but they addressed that and said they had reworked some things and hired more people, seemed very EMS focus, but they also addressed that and made it clear that they were throwing resources into becoming more well-rounded.
4.) USC/LAC--Initially had this #1 for awhile, but i eventually became too scared of LA itself to keep it there. As mentioned previously, probably the best clinical training. A ton of EMRAP people are here as well. The interview day was awesome, the residents were awesome. If I had family in the area it probably would have stayed #1
Cons: The traffic/commute time seemed awful. They also work a lot all 4 years and all 12 hours shifts. Honestly, I became scared that one day after a 12-14 hour shift I would fall asleep behind the wheel on my commute home. I will note that some of the residents said they lived closer than an hour away, but a lot live in Santa Monica.
5.) Cincy--Loved this one too. PD and chair were awesome. Obviously a well known place in our EM world. Great research, procedure numbers, and the flight experience is sweet. I felt the vibe to similar to pittsburgh, although I think cincy has a slight edge in reputation. In the end I put Pitt higher because I liked the residents better, the city better, and it was one less year. Con: The city and a lot of residents were married with kids (there were multiple kids at the night before). A bit sad I didn't put this one higher though....if I were married/had somebody coming with me....it might have been #1.
6.) Bellevue/NYU-- Bellevue is an institution and the oldest public hospital in the US. It would have been higher if I didn't want to get away from east coast (grew up in NYC area). Great tox here (Goldfrank is chair)....which is something I am interested in. Morning didactics are AWESOME. Teaching is awesome. Great reputation. Amazing residents, everybody was really fun, young, and hilarious. Cons: Not totally trauma heavy, but certainly enough to be comfortable....a lot of people get hit by buses/cabs, etc. They don't really have to do much ancillary work anymore as it has gotten much better, but it is still probably worse than some places. If manhattan were more knife/gun and I hadn't spent so much time in NYC then I might have put it #1
7.) UCSF--great and up and coming. Probably will be a top program in the next 10-20 years (if it's not already). Great diversity in sites, etc. Maybe the happiest residents I encountered on the trail. Cons: Heard from people that rotated here that besides SFGH, a lot of the other sites weren't that busy. They split trauma airways with anesthesia. The big thing was that the PD is leaving this year....that was enough to knock them down lower.
8) BWH/MGH--I loved this program when i interviewed. All my interviewers was awesome. Initially was gonna put it in top 3. I mean, it's harvard....you're gonna be a good doc coming out even from just the off-service. Get their pick of jobs, rotate through a bunch of sites. Amazing institution and the ability learn fromthe brightest people in our field
Cons: It's harvard....while they said it wasn't that bad...I just didn't want to get pooped on by surgery and medicine, didn't want to fight for procedures. Didn't like that a surgery resident sits in the ED waiting for traumas and belly pain.
9.) Hopkins--Same problems as mgh/bwh. Although I liked the residents a little bit better here. I felt the ED was just TOO NICE. I know this sounds crazy, but they each have their own physical room with dry walls and an LCD TV. Rotate through shock trauma, good peds experience.
10.) BIDMC--3 years, harvard, awesome. Wasn't feeling the interview day/residents as much. At this point in making my list I just started to put programs down.
11.) Maryland--Shock trauma, 3 years, great program, but I didn't gel with the residents.
12.) Mount Sinai (NYC)--Liked Bellevue better, definitely an up and coming program, although scott weingart is leaving (bummer)
13.) UC Davis--sacramento was the only problem here. Awesome training and 3 years.
14.) BMC--Great program. Didn't like the procedure month idea. Felt I would rather be at harvard and get those strong off-service rotations.
15.) Emory--Just had an bad interview experience here that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Residents seemed happy and nice, i am sure the clinical training is fantastic, but the program is a bit big and I don't like the south.
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