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I had the good fortune of interviewing at a number of top tier programs and need help ranking. I am interested in future academic practice.
For clinical training, I like rigor, such as independent call, but also graded responsibility, such as starting with buddy call. When a choice is possible, I would prefer studying independently over spending excess time doing academic work (like prepping slides for conferences) or getting killed on volume (requiring one to stay late regularly) or not having much time "off" before the Core. If I have to sit through two hours of conference a day, I had better be able to take notes/make flashcards during, review videos whenever, and/or be pimped/quizzed (clicker questions, taking cases) for much of it. For subspecialties, I am very undecided, with tentative interests in neuro, body, nucs, and peds. Ideally, the R4 minifellowship experience should be good enough to "count" as a year of real fellowship (experience in the eyes of a future employer, or counting towards a 2-year fellowship, or getting dual boarded with nucs); ie, a 3+2 or 3+1+1 structure is highly desirable.
For research, my interests are varied; background in mol/cell bio/imaging, dabbled in quality/policy, want to learn more stats and informatics. I'd like a program that supports significant research (eg. time and money to present at conferences, elective time during R4, statistical support) and leadership (eg, robust role of chief residents, participation in local or national committes [eg, ACR, AUR]).
For culture, I want to be on a first-name basis with attendings and have no trouble finding mentors who are interested in resident success. I want them to casually offer more projects than I could ask for. The residents can be intense but should be collaborative (eg, want to work on this project together, can anyone swap this call shift with me), happy, easy to have a beer with. I don't really care whether I have to dress up vs. everyone wears scrubs, but hierarchical rigidity in how attendings interact with residents is stifling. I like institutions and leaders who are not afraid to experiment and innovate programmatically.
I expect many people will say, 'go where you want to live.' For location, I have few hard preferences. Family are closest to the mid/south Atlantic and east north central / northeast areas, but proximity is not a big factor for me. I have just a little debt and will be living with dual (but modest) incomes, reducing the cost of living sticker shock. Owning a house/car is not a priority for me and I do not have kids (maybe in 5 years though?). Of course it would be nice to have more disposable income (salary, moonlighting, education funds, ABR fees, AIRP tuition and stipend, StatDx, RadPrimer) yet live in a vibrant area. I am most familiar with the East coast and Midwest, but the Bay area is also attractive to me because of friends in the area, the progressiveness, and the weather. I prefer not wasting time with extended driving commutes, but public transportation is okay if accessible and reliable.
For facilities, it'd be nice to have big and high quality monitors, standing desks, and spacious conference seating.
My current ordering, with level of uncertainty, is UCSF (rank 1-3), MGH (1-3), Stanford (2-5), Michigan (2-5), Penn (2-5), MIR (3-6), and BWH (3-6).
Thanks for reading.
For clinical training, I like rigor, such as independent call, but also graded responsibility, such as starting with buddy call. When a choice is possible, I would prefer studying independently over spending excess time doing academic work (like prepping slides for conferences) or getting killed on volume (requiring one to stay late regularly) or not having much time "off" before the Core. If I have to sit through two hours of conference a day, I had better be able to take notes/make flashcards during, review videos whenever, and/or be pimped/quizzed (clicker questions, taking cases) for much of it. For subspecialties, I am very undecided, with tentative interests in neuro, body, nucs, and peds. Ideally, the R4 minifellowship experience should be good enough to "count" as a year of real fellowship (experience in the eyes of a future employer, or counting towards a 2-year fellowship, or getting dual boarded with nucs); ie, a 3+2 or 3+1+1 structure is highly desirable.
For research, my interests are varied; background in mol/cell bio/imaging, dabbled in quality/policy, want to learn more stats and informatics. I'd like a program that supports significant research (eg. time and money to present at conferences, elective time during R4, statistical support) and leadership (eg, robust role of chief residents, participation in local or national committes [eg, ACR, AUR]).
For culture, I want to be on a first-name basis with attendings and have no trouble finding mentors who are interested in resident success. I want them to casually offer more projects than I could ask for. The residents can be intense but should be collaborative (eg, want to work on this project together, can anyone swap this call shift with me), happy, easy to have a beer with. I don't really care whether I have to dress up vs. everyone wears scrubs, but hierarchical rigidity in how attendings interact with residents is stifling. I like institutions and leaders who are not afraid to experiment and innovate programmatically.
I expect many people will say, 'go where you want to live.' For location, I have few hard preferences. Family are closest to the mid/south Atlantic and east north central / northeast areas, but proximity is not a big factor for me. I have just a little debt and will be living with dual (but modest) incomes, reducing the cost of living sticker shock. Owning a house/car is not a priority for me and I do not have kids (maybe in 5 years though?). Of course it would be nice to have more disposable income (salary, moonlighting, education funds, ABR fees, AIRP tuition and stipend, StatDx, RadPrimer) yet live in a vibrant area. I am most familiar with the East coast and Midwest, but the Bay area is also attractive to me because of friends in the area, the progressiveness, and the weather. I prefer not wasting time with extended driving commutes, but public transportation is okay if accessible and reliable.
For facilities, it'd be nice to have big and high quality monitors, standing desks, and spacious conference seating.
My current ordering, with level of uncertainty, is UCSF (rank 1-3), MGH (1-3), Stanford (2-5), Michigan (2-5), Penn (2-5), MIR (3-6), and BWH (3-6).
Thanks for reading.
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