Transitional/Prelim Thread for Rad Onc

[buckaroo]

Thoughts on the following Trans/Prelims:
1) Mt. Sinai-Miami
2) Mayo-Jax
3) Mayo-Scottsdale
4) Cambridge Hosp MA
5) Mt. Auburn MA
6) Scripps San Diego
7) Mercy Pittsburg
8) Albert Einstein Philadelphia
9) Christiana Care DE
10) Carillion-Roanoke, VA

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Buckaroo

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[squash]

I have friends and/or intervie:wed at the following programs on your list:

Mercy Pittsburgh - interviewed there, great ancillary staff, very manageable workload, Pittsburgh actually seemed pretty nice to me, low cost of living, residents very happy. A friend who was there last year really liked it

Albert Einstein - many people I know ranked this first. The hospital is in a scary part of town and your inpatient months are hell, but I think there are only 2- yes count them - 2. Lots of FMGs in the IM program but the ones I met all seemed pretty bright. That is in the transitional year - again make sure you clarify the rotations.

Christianna - really liked this one also - very nice people, good call schedule, only downside is DE - but close to Philly. Program was going through changes though wrt number of call/unit/ccu months - make sure you clarify.

Roanoke - there is cush and then there is too cush? Didn't interview there though.
Hope this helps - squash

 

[Voxel]

1. Albert Einstein-Transitional. It is in a very scary part of town, but most transitional years live in center city philly and drive there. Commute sucks. ~45 min. I think there was 2-3 floor months and the other months were sketchy. Make sure you get a firm understanding of that if you want these rotations x,y,z that you could get them. The floor months are hell with unbelievable scut. This is a very popular transitional year.

2. Christiana Care in DE-Transitional. I loved it there. Laid back atmosphere, lots of cool residents. Close to philly. Low cost of living in the area. The ancillary services are grrreat! There is minimal scut. I think there were 6 months of floors (5 medicine and 1 ER) 1 month outpatient gen med rotation, 1 month of vacation and 4 months of electives. I think there are selectives for floor months. And although ICU is not required, they ask all transitional years to "pitch in" and do a MICU month. So if you thought you could skip an ICU rotation "foogetaboutit." There was talk about doing a CCU month/Bone Marrow Transplant or Heme month. Also ask if you are called in to take call during electives. When I interviewed the program director said no for the transitional year, but yes for the prelim medicine year. Call on the floors averages out to q5 and sometimes q6 depending on the number of interns. I think they have night float on non-unit floors. The commute from center city philly is 45min - 1hr. 15min depending on how fast you drive and weather/traffic. I rated this program high, but matched higher on my rank list.

3. Roanoke. I got an interview, but I submitted my apps there late after hearing about it late. I didn't interview due to time constraints and realization that I didn't really want to live there. But my friend said that it might just be the easiest transitional year he's ever seen. I remember hearing something about them paying for your club membership at a local golf course and that you play with the program director and other transitional year interns regularly?!?! But ultimately, you have to ask yourself if you wanna live there.

 

[MarkMarkMark]

What about
McNeal or St. Francis in Chicago?
University of Indiana?
Riverside in Newport News VA?

Thanks-
Mark

 

[AnnK73]

I just interviewed at MacNeal today. It seemed like a nice place. minimal scut, q4 in 6 call months and 6 elective monthes without call. Out by 2ish on non-call days. Lots of good teaching. Seemed like the right mix of "cushiness" vs. quality learning.
They were talking about some chicago programs where people left at 9AM! Which program would that be??

 

[Stinky T]

One of the incoming residents from my program did his TY at Cambridge Hospital. What's unique about the program is that they have a House Officers' Union and they are able to negotiate salary, work hours, etc. The resident stated that the residents actually did have a lot of say in the program. If I remember correctly, they have 2-3 months of electives and two months of selectives. While I haven't actually been to the hospital, I do know where it is located and it's in a pretty good part of Cambridge. There's lots to do in Cambridge and Boston is easily accessible via the T. Given its location and its affiliations with HMS, I am sure it is pretty competitive. I'm pretty sure that as an affiliate, the residents also receive faculty appointments at HMS. What this means is that you get access to the library, group discounts for tickets, gyms, and more at both the medical school and the UGrad campus. I got the impression that the program was pretty "cushy" and that the residents were protected by the Union.