Anyone have any thoughts on the Tulane IM residency program? I just recieved an interview letter in the mail today, with a handwritten personalized note from the program director on it. I was impressed that he had taken the time to jot down a note. Any insights into the program would be appreciated...
Tulane Categorical Program
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I would also be interested to hear any recent impressions of the school.
I was also very impressed by the hand-written note to all interviewees as well as the "resident liaison" each interviewee is assigned. The message on the website is also something that really resonated with me and there seemed to be a lot of passion there. It all gives me a sense of personality and enthusiasm that I haven't gotten from any other school so far, (and that goes for all those places on my list that are "higher ranked"), and it gives me the sense of a program that might be back on the rise
I guess my concern would just be how the closing of Charity Hospital might impact the school in the future, as well as the influence of any other remaining Katrina-related fallout. Guess that's what the interview will be for!
I was also very impressed by the hand-written note to all interviewees as well as the "resident liaison" each interviewee is assigned. The message on the website is also something that really resonated with me and there seemed to be a lot of passion there. It all gives me a sense of personality and enthusiasm that I haven't gotten from any other school so far, (and that goes for all those places on my list that are "higher ranked"), and it gives me the sense of a program that might be back on the rise
I guess my concern would just be how the closing of Charity Hospital might impact the school in the future, as well as the influence of any other remaining Katrina-related fallout. Guess that's what the interview will be for!
A few things, New Orleans post Katrina is much safer than pre-Katrina. New Orleans has changed since Katrina, but to be honest, it's changed for the better. In the wake of Katrina, due to an influx of money and educated do-gooders, the schools, crime, infrastructure, and city hall are being reformed/fixed. To be honest, for the first time in decades, the city's future looks promising.
Another thing, if Hurricane Katrina had never happened, Charity would still be closed today: before Katrina, there was actually a bond measure (it never got voted on due to the storm) to finance the building of a new Charity. University Hospital was built in 1996, and over time, clinics were moved out of Charity and into University. By the time of Katrina, Charity itself only had a few departments in it, while University had the rest. Charity is filled with asbestos, is not up to fire code, and has an antiquate elevator system, amongst many, many other problems. So although you would not physically train in Charity hospital, you're still going to see all the strange diseased that Charity was known for.
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Mixed emotions about this program. Even so, I would recommend interviewing because it will expose you to a program that is thinking outside the box and doing things in alternative ways (for better or worse).
Tulane approaches conferences and clinic schedules in a unique way. Residents have 1 half day dedicated to teaching in place of daily noon conferences, and there is a 4+1 system in place for clinics (I'll let you research the details). The ideas are interesting, although I'm not sure how things pan out in reality. In fact, one resident directly told me this system was "hit or miss". I personally like daily noon conferences and think it is a good opportunity to get to know other residents I would not otherwise see. See the previous post about the hospital situation, but I will also note that Tulane shares University Hospital with LSU-New Orleans. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but I found it a little strange that you would be alternating admissions and working alongside people from a completely different residency program.
The program director is very impressive, dedicated, and passionate about Tulane as well as the city of New Orleans. He jots a hand-written note to everybody, so don't get too excited about that. You will be interviewed by residents and faculty, which I did NOT like. I felt a lot of their efforts to portray themselves as a "resident run program" came across as unprofessional.
Check it out, make an opinion for yourself. If the program director sticks around and things continue to improve in New Orleans, in the next 5-10 years Tulane may join the discussion of very strong IM programs in the south.
(disclaimer: this information is from previous years, so forgive me if anything I said is now inaccurate)
Tulane approaches conferences and clinic schedules in a unique way. Residents have 1 half day dedicated to teaching in place of daily noon conferences, and there is a 4+1 system in place for clinics (I'll let you research the details). The ideas are interesting, although I'm not sure how things pan out in reality. In fact, one resident directly told me this system was "hit or miss". I personally like daily noon conferences and think it is a good opportunity to get to know other residents I would not otherwise see. See the previous post about the hospital situation, but I will also note that Tulane shares University Hospital with LSU-New Orleans. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but I found it a little strange that you would be alternating admissions and working alongside people from a completely different residency program.
The program director is very impressive, dedicated, and passionate about Tulane as well as the city of New Orleans. He jots a hand-written note to everybody, so don't get too excited about that. You will be interviewed by residents and faculty, which I did NOT like. I felt a lot of their efforts to portray themselves as a "resident run program" came across as unprofessional.
Check it out, make an opinion for yourself. If the program director sticks around and things continue to improve in New Orleans, in the next 5-10 years Tulane may join the discussion of very strong IM programs in the south.
(disclaimer: this information is from previous years, so forgive me if anything I said is now inaccurate)
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Thanks for the input guys, those are some interesting facts, especially about the hospital situation. the curriculum innovations were also pretty intriguing for me, though it's not surprising there are rough spots, so that's also useful to know. looking forward to the interview. and lol i knew he wrote a note to everyone, but that doesn't make it less impressive. when i say "impressive", i'm speaking to the energy that seems to be present at the program to build it into something better more than me feeling personally flattered by that kind of attention 🙂
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Dont worry about "sharing" University. There are T patients (Tulane) and there are L patients (LSU). Nursing staff generally respects and listens to Tulane residents, not so much the LSU people. It is a government job in a free hospital in the middle of New Orleans, so dont expect anybody to be very swift or effective with your orders.
The PD is not going anywhere. He literally built the program from the dregs up to what it is today. Right now, Tulane is held up by the internal medicine program. The other core specialties (OB/GYN, Surgery, Peds) are taking a big hit in the post-katrina era, some departments working harder than others to turn things around. Tulane medicine was on the upswing before Katrina hit. The result of Katrina was more people in need, more patients for Tulane's service, and only stronger, more able, more willing, and more giving residents willing to accept the challenge. Because residents interview applicants, that standard continues (which is why residents do the interview).
You will be interviewed by three people, always at least one resident, usually 2. If you are used to a formal program, say the Hopkins or Yales of the country, who have been around forever, you might be turned off by the way Tulane is run. New Orleans is called the Big Easy for a reason. Tulane incorporates some of the Nawlins culture into its program.
It is unfortunate that Tulane's name does not bear as much weight as some of the other name-brands. Duke, Vandy, Wash U, Baylor, UCSF, Hopkins, etc. all look really nice on your resume. Tulane doesnt have the money or the research opportunities to put it on the map of name-brands. If you goal is fellowship at a stellar research hospital, Tulane is not for you. If you want an excellent clinical education that puts you in the driver seat, Tulane is for you. I would say it is an easy competitor to the better southern medical programs (Baylor, Duke, Vandy, UAB) in terms of getting a medical education, maybe not so strong in its fellowship competitiveness.
Overall, very impressed with the program, the people and the city. It is a gen med hospitalist focused program with some opportunities for fellowhsip, research, and newly added in 2011, an Urban Primary Care track. Definitely outside the box from the formal programs, I think, in a good way.
The PD is not going anywhere. He literally built the program from the dregs up to what it is today. Right now, Tulane is held up by the internal medicine program. The other core specialties (OB/GYN, Surgery, Peds) are taking a big hit in the post-katrina era, some departments working harder than others to turn things around. Tulane medicine was on the upswing before Katrina hit. The result of Katrina was more people in need, more patients for Tulane's service, and only stronger, more able, more willing, and more giving residents willing to accept the challenge. Because residents interview applicants, that standard continues (which is why residents do the interview).
You will be interviewed by three people, always at least one resident, usually 2. If you are used to a formal program, say the Hopkins or Yales of the country, who have been around forever, you might be turned off by the way Tulane is run. New Orleans is called the Big Easy for a reason. Tulane incorporates some of the Nawlins culture into its program.
It is unfortunate that Tulane's name does not bear as much weight as some of the other name-brands. Duke, Vandy, Wash U, Baylor, UCSF, Hopkins, etc. all look really nice on your resume. Tulane doesnt have the money or the research opportunities to put it on the map of name-brands. If you goal is fellowship at a stellar research hospital, Tulane is not for you. If you want an excellent clinical education that puts you in the driver seat, Tulane is for you. I would say it is an easy competitor to the better southern medical programs (Baylor, Duke, Vandy, UAB) in terms of getting a medical education, maybe not so strong in its fellowship competitiveness.
Overall, very impressed with the program, the people and the city. It is a gen med hospitalist focused program with some opportunities for fellowhsip, research, and newly added in 2011, an Urban Primary Care track. Definitely outside the box from the formal programs, I think, in a good way.
I don't understand how you can vouch for the safety of NO. Last year, a promising young instructor in plastic and reconstructive surgery was brutally murdered in the French Quarter. NO is still murder capital of the United States. Durham and Nashville are much safer cities. You'll have enough to worry about with your training to also have to worry about your safety.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Tulane-Doctor-Murdered-In-French-Quarter-Home-68043452.html
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Tulane-Doctor-Murdered-In-French-Quarter-Home-68043452.html
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Ha! Research that guy more, the crime was anything but random.
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Also all-white, well-to-do towns like Cheshire, CT have home invasions and family massacres over 10,000 dollars. That guy was a doctor living the white-picket fence dream.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...nnecticut_home_invasion_murders_of_mom_d.html
Now the fact that there are homicides almost daily in New Orleans makes it an unsafe place to be. You have to be a little bit more on your toes (don't stumble around at 2 am down a dark alley drunk and by yourself), and be willing to accept that your neighborhood might be right next to a decrepit one, but the city is 100s of times safer than the immediate post Katrina state, and even more secure than the pre-katrina era. With the cleaning up of the NOPD corruption and the absence of major gang presence (hard hitters went to Houston and Atlanta after Katrina), its a much better place to live.
Most violence is done to out-of-town tourists during events when the population of the city quadruples or to drug dealers fighting over territory. It is no San Fransisco, but at least its not Detroit.
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I didn't want to start a new thread about Tulane since this one had a lotta good info. Just wanted to bump it up for this year! Anything new, or changing at Tulane? I'm really digging the program will be interviewing shortly and though it's early, anticipating ranking it in my top 3...
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Not a resident, but I can comment:
Not much has changed since 2010. Dr. Wiese is still steering the ship, and Tulane is as strong as ever. The ONE difference is that University Hospital (which is the reincarnation of Charity Hospital in spirit, patient population, and downright craziness) is going to be receiving some funding cuts from the state. The result of these cuts is still uncertain. I've heard anything from fewer Tulane residents being able to rotate at that site per year to no real changes at all. I will also add that the cuts will disproportionally affect LSU, which may ultimately work out in Tulane's favor. It's too soon to tell what will ultimately come to fruition, but I will say that Dr. Wiese will fight for Tulane (like he always has).
Tulane makes excellent clinicians. It is a combination of the curriculum, Dr. Wiese, and the city of New Orleans that will get you there. Want to see an AIDS patient with a CD4 count of 0.5? check. Want to see your Sjogrens/SLE/Rheumaotid/Scleroderma/any-other-rheum-disease-you-can-think-of? check. Want to see your CHF, CKD, vasculopath with chest pain? check. Sickle cell? check check.
However, I will say that Tulane is lacking in one thing: academics. It's not the type of place where residents can spout off "landmark" articles, it is not the place where articles are brought to morning report, and it is not a place where a lot of ground-breaking research is done (outside, perhaps, of ID). The faculty are more than receptive to residents bringing in articles that may influence patient care, but it is not something that is a daily occurrence. If you aren't interested in that sort of thing, then come to Tulane.
Not much has changed since 2010. Dr. Wiese is still steering the ship, and Tulane is as strong as ever. The ONE difference is that University Hospital (which is the reincarnation of Charity Hospital in spirit, patient population, and downright craziness) is going to be receiving some funding cuts from the state. The result of these cuts is still uncertain. I've heard anything from fewer Tulane residents being able to rotate at that site per year to no real changes at all. I will also add that the cuts will disproportionally affect LSU, which may ultimately work out in Tulane's favor. It's too soon to tell what will ultimately come to fruition, but I will say that Dr. Wiese will fight for Tulane (like he always has).
Tulane makes excellent clinicians. It is a combination of the curriculum, Dr. Wiese, and the city of New Orleans that will get you there. Want to see an AIDS patient with a CD4 count of 0.5? check. Want to see your Sjogrens/SLE/Rheumaotid/Scleroderma/any-other-rheum-disease-you-can-think-of? check. Want to see your CHF, CKD, vasculopath with chest pain? check. Sickle cell? check check.
However, I will say that Tulane is lacking in one thing: academics. It's not the type of place where residents can spout off "landmark" articles, it is not the place where articles are brought to morning report, and it is not a place where a lot of ground-breaking research is done (outside, perhaps, of ID). The faculty are more than receptive to residents bringing in articles that may influence patient care, but it is not something that is a daily occurrence. If you aren't interested in that sort of thing, then come to Tulane.
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Bump. Any thoughts from those who have interviewed here?
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I interviewed there in the fall. I must admit I was very impressed with Dr. Wiese and his vision. Just read his Website. In my humble opinion he has corrected so many problems with "traditional" internal residency training. (the 4+1 system for clinics so you don't miss work on floors, the, Friday school", and instead of morning report they have "afternoon delight" 🙂. Yes, I know other schools are adopting similar program changes, but Tulane did it first and continues to respond to resident feedback.
Also, I felt inspired before, during, and after my interview at Tulane, and I think it is very underrated for the quality and variety of clinical training you will get there. Yes, I was interviewed by residents (who cares they are the ones who I would work with.) There is certainly a high degree of camaraderie among the residents, and I got the feeling that the PD really goes to bat for you for for fellowship app time. He also has some great innovative ideas for new Quality Assurance initiatives.
All this being said. I just don't think I can bring myself to rank it as high as It deserves. I think I am needing a bit more basic science research in my life than what Tulane has to offer. But damn, It is a hell of a good program clinically.
As far as Cons go, a relative dearth of basic science, no electronic ordering yet (this is actively getting fixed and may be a non issue next year) And one resident comment to me was that because they don't have morning report/noon conference that rounds last longer than at their home school. This wouldn't bother me but some applicants seem to think that the reason for noon conference is so rounds must be done by 12. At my school, residents would just have to miss noon conference to continue rounding or come back in the afternoon to finish rounds.
Also, I felt inspired before, during, and after my interview at Tulane, and I think it is very underrated for the quality and variety of clinical training you will get there. Yes, I was interviewed by residents (who cares they are the ones who I would work with.) There is certainly a high degree of camaraderie among the residents, and I got the feeling that the PD really goes to bat for you for for fellowship app time. He also has some great innovative ideas for new Quality Assurance initiatives.
All this being said. I just don't think I can bring myself to rank it as high as It deserves. I think I am needing a bit more basic science research in my life than what Tulane has to offer. But damn, It is a hell of a good program clinically.
As far as Cons go, a relative dearth of basic science, no electronic ordering yet (this is actively getting fixed and may be a non issue next year) And one resident comment to me was that because they don't have morning report/noon conference that rounds last longer than at their home school. This wouldn't bother me but some applicants seem to think that the reason for noon conference is so rounds must be done by 12. At my school, residents would just have to miss noon conference to continue rounding or come back in the afternoon to finish rounds.
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I would really like to hear more, especially from people who attended med school or residency in NOLA or Louisiana in general!!!! Those from the state know way more than any out-of-state folk. The good and bad.
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I got an invite via email almost a month ago, and it was mentioned that there would be a letter in the mail as well, but I still haven't received it yet! I hope it didn't get lost by the USPS...I was really looking forward to reading it 🙁
I went to medical school in NO, but I'm not a categorical, so my opinion is based on rotations at University Hospital, Touro, and Ochsner campuses as a student and a prelim. From most of the IM residents I've spoken with (the ones who looked into all the NO programs closely), LSU Baton Rouge is seen by most as the top program in LA. I can tell you first hand that the BR rotation is the top choice for the LSU medical student rotations. There have some BRILLIANT residents who chose to go to BR over some elite programs out there. George Karam, the PD in BR, is probably the best faculty member on staff at LSU (including NO); and he has a collection of annual awards to prove it. It's tough to explain,cut he just has a "wow" factor about him. His lectures are very captivating as well as motivational (a healthy blend of personal experience into his topics); and he has a way to make things stick on the first time go round. I can't say how the move from Earl K Long to Our Lady of the Lake (which started midway through last year) has affected the program; but I'd highly recommend looking into it. Baton Rouge is also a very fun city and only an hour outside of NO.
LSU NO is in a bit of a transition process right now, though they are currently building a state of the art University and VA hospital that is supposed to open in 2-3 years. I can tell you that they have some excellent faculty, and the population of patients the hospital gives great exposure in all specialties of medicine, ID especially with the large population of AIDS, TB, histo, blasto, etc. I feel they did a great job of balancing academics with clinical learning, and I can tell you that the LSU students who trained under their staff tend to get high marks when rotating outside the state. The fact that they didn't match a few slots last year was more a result of political budget cuts, though I can't comment as to how things have changed this year. It's worth looking in to.
Ochsner Medical Center is another program in NO. It's without a doubt the best hospital in the state, though they don't quite have the academic reputation given they're not associated with a US medical school. Their clinical experience is outstanding, though. Their fellowships seem to be a big draw to the program for the categoricals, as the hospital is nationally ranked in cardiology, GI, endocrinology, And pulm ontology. Residents stay very busy while working reasonable hours and get exposed to both private patients and the indigenous population of NO. Staff is very friendly, and the transitional navigators and pharmacologists make it very easy to focus time on patient care and not the hustle and bustle of dealing with placement and follow-ups (something that LSU NO didn't have at the time).
I don't have much inside info on Tulane's program as far as academics are concerned. I worked with some of the residents during a VA rotation, and the few of them all seemed down to Earth and happy with their choice. The Tulane name definitely carries more weight in national academics than LSU and Ochsner, which will likely look better on paper when it comes time for fellowship applications, but I don't know how their match lists compare to the other programs. From an in state perspective/reputation, though, there's not much of a difference between the Tulane and LSU training/medical school. I would also like to dispel the notion that Tulane residents get more respect in the hospital than LSU residents. That's laughable. If anything, their students have garnered the reputation as being somewhat lazy on the floor. I know many former Tulane students who own up to their med school stereotype, and I've definitely seen that kind of attitude coming from them on the floor. The residents I currently work with who went to medical school at Tulane, though, are good physicians with good work ethic. As far as their IM residents go, I've never come across a personal issue, so you can take my personal experience and leave it at that. Again, you asked from an insiders perspective, so I'll say what I know. I've heard several complaints from residents and faculty (as a medical student and intern) about the Tulane residents being somewhat difficult to work with in terms of the LSU/Tulane and Ochsner/Tulane cross coverage. To be fair, it's not specific to their IM residents, and I've also never heard the complaints from the Tulane side of things (two sides to every story).
I honestly can't give any info on LSU-Shreveport. It's not a place that many people from New Orleans like to end up, if only for location.
Anyways, I hope this helps somewhat, despite a lack of details about the programs. Again, I'm not a categorical, and I'm not staying in LA for residency, so I really don't have a dog in this race. I just feel like most of the info out there regarding the programs are from people not from Louisiana and is based more on name value than actual experience. Best of luck to all of you.
i can make some comments on the Tulane IM program. i did an intern year here as a prelim, and did not go here for med school so this is my unbiased opinion.
Strengths
- GREAT program director- he is very supportive of residents
Weakness
- that's all Tulane IM has. a great program director. and in comparison to other Tulane residency programs, more $ since the PD has a high up position as far as resident program budgets are concerned. he is great, he is resourceful, and he is powerful.
- the residents here are hit or miss. some are great and could have easily ended up at a top 15 IM residency program but chose to stay in New Orleans for family reasons/to be with a sig other etc.This is about 1/3 of the residents.
- 2/3 I would say are socially awkward in some way. I wonder how some of them even became doctors. A lot of them close their eyes and order hundreds of tests "just for fun" without regard to costs etc. no wonder this hospital is practically bankrupt
THE SYSTEM
- 4:1 system. thats 4 weeks of wards and 1 week outpatient clinic. since i was a prelim i was fortunate to do what Im going into for that week, but my categorical friends were stuck in medicine clinic. i say stuck because they HATED this week. the only thing they looked forward to during this "plus 1" week was a golden weekend, but they were pretty miserable during this week thats supposed to be more relaxing compared to wards. specifically, VA clinic and its long hours-- they were there til 7pm sometimes. lots and LOTS of scut. it is normal for almost half of the stuff you order to fall through the cracks here.
WORK HOURS
- work hours are HIGHLY enforced by the attending and the PD. This would be seemingly reassuring however everyone knows that its not up to the ATTENDING to dismiss the intern, its up to the residents.
- MOST of the upper residents have NO REGARD for the intern work hours. they have happily and PERSISTENTLY kept me and other interns past 16 hours at work on a call day. we even do a 20+ hour STRAIGHT call during ICU and CCU just for the first day. its awful. if you try to bring this up directly to them (even if its in a nice or even joking way) they will give you bad evals and say youre not a team player. so you learn to keep your head down and take the beating. which brings me to my next point\
- the program is INTERN WORK HEAVY, meaning the residents do little. there also is some weird setup where the students work with the residents instead of helping the interns so they do some teaching and work half days while the intern is working/scutting all day long. intern gets in at 6:45 am for signout and does afternoon signout to the night team at 5pm. the resident rolls in around 8am and leaves around noon (unless its a call day). they only peripherally know your patients.
-- if you're going to be surrounded by residents that violate your duty hours, then there are bigger name programs that you can attend where you will work the same amount. the hospital here is one of the worst in the country (look it up). the nurses and residents dont seem to get along, esp at Tulane. its always a battle of some sort. we see errors all time time and its sad. this isnt a top program by any means, and i would not rank this program highly for IM categorical just because the PD is a good man. that's not a good enough reason to rank a program high in my opinion. 🙂
Just some thoughts. 🙂 i think as a prelim i didnt mind it because intern year sucks everywhere, it sucked here but im sure it sucks at other places more. i would def not come here for categorical though. stick to a bigger name with more resources, less wanna-be hipsters, and more well rounded residents
Strengths
- GREAT program director- he is very supportive of residents
Weakness
- that's all Tulane IM has. a great program director. and in comparison to other Tulane residency programs, more $ since the PD has a high up position as far as resident program budgets are concerned. he is great, he is resourceful, and he is powerful.
- the residents here are hit or miss. some are great and could have easily ended up at a top 15 IM residency program but chose to stay in New Orleans for family reasons/to be with a sig other etc.This is about 1/3 of the residents.
- 2/3 I would say are socially awkward in some way. I wonder how some of them even became doctors. A lot of them close their eyes and order hundreds of tests "just for fun" without regard to costs etc. no wonder this hospital is practically bankrupt
THE SYSTEM
- 4:1 system. thats 4 weeks of wards and 1 week outpatient clinic. since i was a prelim i was fortunate to do what Im going into for that week, but my categorical friends were stuck in medicine clinic. i say stuck because they HATED this week. the only thing they looked forward to during this "plus 1" week was a golden weekend, but they were pretty miserable during this week thats supposed to be more relaxing compared to wards. specifically, VA clinic and its long hours-- they were there til 7pm sometimes. lots and LOTS of scut. it is normal for almost half of the stuff you order to fall through the cracks here.
WORK HOURS
- work hours are HIGHLY enforced by the attending and the PD. This would be seemingly reassuring however everyone knows that its not up to the ATTENDING to dismiss the intern, its up to the residents.
- MOST of the upper residents have NO REGARD for the intern work hours. they have happily and PERSISTENTLY kept me and other interns past 16 hours at work on a call day. we even do a 20+ hour STRAIGHT call during ICU and CCU just for the first day. its awful. if you try to bring this up directly to them (even if its in a nice or even joking way) they will give you bad evals and say youre not a team player. so you learn to keep your head down and take the beating. which brings me to my next point\
- the program is INTERN WORK HEAVY, meaning the residents do little. there also is some weird setup where the students work with the residents instead of helping the interns so they do some teaching and work half days while the intern is working/scutting all day long. intern gets in at 6:45 am for signout and does afternoon signout to the night team at 5pm. the resident rolls in around 8am and leaves around noon (unless its a call day). they only peripherally know your patients.
-- if you're going to be surrounded by residents that violate your duty hours, then there are bigger name programs that you can attend where you will work the same amount. the hospital here is one of the worst in the country (look it up). the nurses and residents dont seem to get along, esp at Tulane. its always a battle of some sort. we see errors all time time and its sad. this isnt a top program by any means, and i would not rank this program highly for IM categorical just because the PD is a good man. that's not a good enough reason to rank a program high in my opinion. 🙂
Just some thoughts. 🙂 i think as a prelim i didnt mind it because intern year sucks everywhere, it sucked here but im sure it sucks at other places more. i would def not come here for categorical though. stick to a bigger name with more resources, less wanna-be hipsters, and more well rounded residents
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Wow.
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I would have to echo with poptarts. I would say this is a malignant program. The only teaching you get is a couple hours from the PD. Otherwise most of the teaching is done by 2nd or 3rd years. The work hour limit is abused. Also, don't be surprised if you get robbed or your car gets broken into. Probably the filthiest hospital you will ever work/visit. Even though they say there is little scutwork, there is scutwork galore as the upper level residents basically make the interns do everything. For the amount of scut you have to do in this program there are definitely better places out there. Also, the salary is one of the lowest in the country.
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Um, how is that unprofessional?
I stumbled upon here out of curiosity and I'll honestly say I'm shocked at the comments that are out there about Tulane's categorical medicine program. From what I can tell, DrJMD is an LSU student that can give some good information about some of the state medical school programs and it appeared that PopTart2 had a rough intern year. I graduated from the categorical medicine program last year and can say that I was absolutely happy with my experience.
From my experience, people at SDN care about a few things but most among them would be: social experience, clinical training, research training and professional development. I can comment on my experience with those:
Social experience: I really don't see how 2/3 of the residents are socially awkward. Perhaps that means that I'm socially awkward but I think I'm a fairly sociable person and I've made tons of friends here and have by far the most enriching social life out of my friends from medical school. There's always a few people who can be awkward but in general we ride in Mardi Gras parades together, we go to hundreds of parades and concerts and the nightlife can't be beat. The atmosphere in New Orleans is unlike anywhere else in America and, if you like that, you'll love it here. The program takes us to a retreat on the beach our first two years and provides us coverage. It's a blast. At this point, I can't imagine myself anywhere else. Plus, all your friends from back home will visit often so that's a plus.
Clinical Training: We rotate at Tulane hospital, University Hospital and the VA Medical Center (which as of Katrina is housed at Tulane but the new hospital is to be opened in about a year and a half). We are thrown into the ICU, CCU and general wards and have a lot of flexibility with which to choose electives. You get elective training early to make sure you're ready for fellowship applications. It's true, you're busy, but I can say from experience that being busy helps you when you finish your training. That being said you're not always on wards and your elective time is typically much easier than your wards time and during your electives you are never the primary service and you always have your weekends off. Most of my colleagues were well-trained in hospital medicine, prepared for their fellowship or appropriately trained in the primary care track. I can also attest that Tulane Medical Center is not the best of hospitals. It can be frustrating, but it doesn't impede on your ability to learn and your ability to care. New Orleans is a different clinical climate. It's a poor city. Most of your patients are very poor and there are challenges in treating them. But, you see a very diverse group of diseases in your training and you come out better for it.
Research training: I would say this is the biggest weakness of the program. There are isolated big names at Tulane in the research world (Vivian Fonseca, Oliver Sartor to name a few) and if you get in with them you can score big in the research world but you have to work at it. That being said, my intern published a retrospective review in Annals so it can be done. One big advantage of Tulane is that they do encourage you to publish case reports or your research at SGIM or SHM. Tulane has one of the biggest groups of residents that go to the conferences. The program pays for you to go and arranges for your coverage. Plus, they're really fun. Not many programs will do that.
Professional Development: In addition to the national conferences we go to, we also have some name recognition that helps us come fellowship time. We interview well and we tend to match well. In my three years, I saw one person not match in their specialty of choice. Every other person matched in their specialty and most of those were at their top 2 choices. No one shies from Cards, H/O or GI because they're "competitive." My year we happened to match at NYU, Hopkins, UCSF, UPMC, Duke, Boston University, Moffitt cancer and Chapel Hill. At least those were the ones I remember. Some people stay at Tulane and that always happens in residency. Everyone gets good interviews and most end up where they want. I don't really know what else you want past that.
There's a few things I can't comment on. My schedule was different than PopTarts because my intern year was still under the 30-hour restriction. The call days can be tough and the post call days as well. Especially for the interns. But, I am 100% positive that the residents don't "roll in" at 8 and leave at noon. Every intern in the country has that attitude because they tend not to understand what its like to manage the whole team. Residents don't do as much scut work because, frankly, it's not their job. The scut from intern year is a right of passage into the management of resident year. With that year comes much responsibility.
One last note about the other programs in the city. LSU-NO, Ochsner and Baton Rouge (Our Lady) have unique characteristics and from what I hear have good training opportunities. From my experience they put out competent physicians. But, those programs vs. Tulane are very different programs. Tulane draws people from across the nation (Dr. Wiese has a goal that less than 20% of the residents are from Louisiana) and sends people back across the nation. The state programs are very good at training their own Louisianans and they should be - that is their explicit goal. They are very different programs though and most people aren't seriously considering both.
From my experience, people at SDN care about a few things but most among them would be: social experience, clinical training, research training and professional development. I can comment on my experience with those:
Social experience: I really don't see how 2/3 of the residents are socially awkward. Perhaps that means that I'm socially awkward but I think I'm a fairly sociable person and I've made tons of friends here and have by far the most enriching social life out of my friends from medical school. There's always a few people who can be awkward but in general we ride in Mardi Gras parades together, we go to hundreds of parades and concerts and the nightlife can't be beat. The atmosphere in New Orleans is unlike anywhere else in America and, if you like that, you'll love it here. The program takes us to a retreat on the beach our first two years and provides us coverage. It's a blast. At this point, I can't imagine myself anywhere else. Plus, all your friends from back home will visit often so that's a plus.
Clinical Training: We rotate at Tulane hospital, University Hospital and the VA Medical Center (which as of Katrina is housed at Tulane but the new hospital is to be opened in about a year and a half). We are thrown into the ICU, CCU and general wards and have a lot of flexibility with which to choose electives. You get elective training early to make sure you're ready for fellowship applications. It's true, you're busy, but I can say from experience that being busy helps you when you finish your training. That being said you're not always on wards and your elective time is typically much easier than your wards time and during your electives you are never the primary service and you always have your weekends off. Most of my colleagues were well-trained in hospital medicine, prepared for their fellowship or appropriately trained in the primary care track. I can also attest that Tulane Medical Center is not the best of hospitals. It can be frustrating, but it doesn't impede on your ability to learn and your ability to care. New Orleans is a different clinical climate. It's a poor city. Most of your patients are very poor and there are challenges in treating them. But, you see a very diverse group of diseases in your training and you come out better for it.
Research training: I would say this is the biggest weakness of the program. There are isolated big names at Tulane in the research world (Vivian Fonseca, Oliver Sartor to name a few) and if you get in with them you can score big in the research world but you have to work at it. That being said, my intern published a retrospective review in Annals so it can be done. One big advantage of Tulane is that they do encourage you to publish case reports or your research at SGIM or SHM. Tulane has one of the biggest groups of residents that go to the conferences. The program pays for you to go and arranges for your coverage. Plus, they're really fun. Not many programs will do that.
Professional Development: In addition to the national conferences we go to, we also have some name recognition that helps us come fellowship time. We interview well and we tend to match well. In my three years, I saw one person not match in their specialty of choice. Every other person matched in their specialty and most of those were at their top 2 choices. No one shies from Cards, H/O or GI because they're "competitive." My year we happened to match at NYU, Hopkins, UCSF, UPMC, Duke, Boston University, Moffitt cancer and Chapel Hill. At least those were the ones I remember. Some people stay at Tulane and that always happens in residency. Everyone gets good interviews and most end up where they want. I don't really know what else you want past that.
There's a few things I can't comment on. My schedule was different than PopTarts because my intern year was still under the 30-hour restriction. The call days can be tough and the post call days as well. Especially for the interns. But, I am 100% positive that the residents don't "roll in" at 8 and leave at noon. Every intern in the country has that attitude because they tend not to understand what its like to manage the whole team. Residents don't do as much scut work because, frankly, it's not their job. The scut from intern year is a right of passage into the management of resident year. With that year comes much responsibility.
One last note about the other programs in the city. LSU-NO, Ochsner and Baton Rouge (Our Lady) have unique characteristics and from what I hear have good training opportunities. From my experience they put out competent physicians. But, those programs vs. Tulane are very different programs. Tulane draws people from across the nation (Dr. Wiese has a goal that less than 20% of the residents are from Louisiana) and sends people back across the nation. The state programs are very good at training their own Louisianans and they should be - that is their explicit goal. They are very different programs though and most people aren't seriously considering both.
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Future chief resident...
No chief in my future. Finished last year and now I'm an internist. I just really loved my residency experience and felt the need to defend it. I kind of just stumbled upon this site out of curiosity, I haven't used it since I applied to residency 5 years ago.
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This has already been elaborated on, but I'll go ahead and agree with what has been said. I'm interested in going outside of LA for residency as I would like to eventual practice in academics and think it's a good idea to get a varied educational experience, but I would love to eventually become staff at the BR program, and if I did match in BR for medicine rather than somewhere away, I'd still be very happy. BR medicine is a hidden gem.
