U of Maryland program?

[gasandgo]

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Hey guys,

I'm finishing up M3 in the next month or so and I've decided I want to go into anesthesia--so naturally in my youthful exuberance I've been spending a good bulk of my free time asking around about where to apply. I've talked to my school's deans and a bunch of anesthesia attendings, but the deans don't seem to know a lot about anesthesia and the attendings don't seem to know a lot about Maryland's program (different area of the country and no one from the dept. at my school has any direct experience there.)

The reason I am writing this is that I have a lot of family in that area and even a few who have worked at UMMC and are twisting my arm to apply, although none of them were actually physicians and so don't know a lot of the nitty gritty about really any the different departments. However, doing some web browsing on my own (as I mentioned already no live person has been able to help so far), there have been quite a few negative things said about the program. I believe someone here on SDN once commented that it may have been the most malignant program in the country, based on work hours and unsubstantiated reports of resident abuse. From what I have researched the quality of cases are outstanding, perhaps better than many bigger-name programs. Scutwork's reviews have been more positive lately but there haven't been any since 2008, and prior to the last few reviews there were some really scathing ones. Furthermore, the 2010 match data by hospital that one of you kindly posted a link to showed that they only filled 10/13 spots in a specialty that fills almost completely every year.

Sorry for the longwindedness of my post, but my main question comes down to this: Is UMD's malignant reputation a thing of the past, still present to some degree but improving, or gone altogether? I want quality training and am willing to sacrifice for it by working a few more hours than the average resident, but I don't know if it's worth suffering through any malignant program when there are so many nicer ones out there.

P.S. Since they seem to have categorical as well as advanced spots, would any of you also happen to know anything about the intern year? Thanks a bunch.

 

[Sergio99]

Hello,

I don't know about Maryland, but I can tell you that whatever you do, it is not worth getting into something dubious if you have a chance to get somewhere better. You can put it at the end of your list, so that if you don't match anywhere better, you have somewhere to go, but there are better places of known reputation to list at the top of your choices.

If you care about malignancy and resident treatment, I would recommend you put Beth Israel-Deaconess at the top of your list and UCLA as a second or third choice. You will love those programs. Of course, I am talking about my recollection from 30 years ago, but in any case, if that was the culture of the place, I doubt that they may have changed a lot. I am sure they are still good programs.

And then, there are the programs with the best reputation that everybody knows about, and I would recommend you put them also at or near the top. They are good; there is a reason they earned their reputation. And forget about the distinction about "academic" and "clinical": good programs are good in everything. We have discussed this in other threads before. You cannot go wrong with Columbia, Yale, MGH, UPenn, Stanford, Brigham and Women, UCSF, Case Western Reserve, etc.

Greetings

 

[chaucer]

I interviewed at Maryland this past year and was impressed with the program -- like you said, they have a caseload that's on par with bigger name programs and I think they offer excellent clinical training. I didn't get the sense that it was a malignant program and feel that info may be dated. Obviously Shock-Trauma is unique, and one of their faculty (head of the Anesthesia Quality Institute) is featured in the ASA Newsletter this month. I have heard the prelim year is tough and I did not rank the categorical program. If you have a tie to the area, it is definitely worth applying, interviewing, and seeing for yourself.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Hey guys,

I'm finishing up M3 in the next month or so and I've decided I want to go into anesthesia--so naturally in my youthful exuberance I've been spending a good bulk of my free time asking around about where to apply. I've talked to my school's deans and a bunch of anesthesia attendings, but the deans don't seem to know a lot about anesthesia and the attendings don't seem to know a lot about Maryland's program (different area of the country and no one from the dept. at my school has any direct experience there.)

The reason I am writing this is that I have a lot of family in that area and even a few who have worked at UMMC and are twisting my arm to apply, although none of them were actually physicians and so don't know a lot of the nitty gritty about really any the different departments. However, doing some web browsing on my own (as I mentioned already no live person has been able to help so far), there have been quite a few negative things said about the program. I believe someone here on SDN once commented that it may have been the most malignant program in the country, based on work hours and unsubstantiated reports of resident abuse. From what I have researched the quality of cases are outstanding, perhaps better than many bigger-name programs. Scutwork's reviews have been more positive lately but there haven't been any since 2008, and prior to the last few reviews there were some really scathing ones. Furthermore, the 2010 match data by hospital that one of you kindly posted a link to showed that they only filled 10/13 spots in a specialty that fills almost completely every year.

Sorry for the longwindedness of my post, but my main question comes down to this: Is UMD's malignant reputation a thing of the past, still present to some degree but improving, or gone altogether? I want quality training and am willing to sacrifice for it by working a few more hours than the average resident, but I don't know if it's worth suffering through any malignant program when there are so many nicer ones out there.

P.S. Since they seem to have categorical as well as advanced spots, would any of you also happen to know anything about the intern year? Thanks a bunch.

When I interviewed there, the residents seemed for the most part happy and the work hours reasonable. Of course, that was true for the majority of programs, so that doesn't differentiate it that much.

Good: Shock-Trauma experience, PD and chair seemed enthusiastic and motivated, residents seemed happy with experience as above, Baltimore seemed like a decent city if you stick to the nicer areas.

Bad: On a 4-yr accreditation cycle (though some surprisingly big names don't have 5-yr cycles), their board pass rate was one of the lower ones I saw (and their residents seemed to have more frequent in-service/progress exams, leading me to think they were concerned about it), they didn't fill all their slots (though again, some surprising names didn't fill, ie UVA).

 

[gasandgo]

OK, thanks so much. More input definitely appreciated.

Follow-up question about the whole filling deal: Do these spots generally get filled outside the match by the time residency actually starts? Or does that class stay smaller? And would a nonfilled program have to increase the call frequency to make up for the smaller call pool? Not a program-specific question, more a general one for any program which is under capacity.

 

[chaucer]

OK, thanks so much. More input definitely appreciated.

Follow-up question about the whole filling deal: Do these spots generally get filled outside the match by the time residency actually starts? Or does that class stay smaller? And would a nonfilled program have to increase the call frequency to make up for the smaller call pool? Not a program-specific question, more a general one for any program which is under capacity.

The open positions were likely filled in the scramble for unmatched applicants; if they weren't, I guess they would be filled outside of the match. If a program, for whatever reason, had fewer residents than expected, calls would increase in frequency.

 

[drchangstein]

Hi, I’m a long time lurker, but I just had to respond.

I’m a current graduating 4th year from Maryland going into anesthesia. I can assure you that UMD is in no way a malignant program. The residents and attendings who I’ve worked with over several years are all very happy. I feel as if our downfall is the negative perception that has been propagated among med students every year (one other interviewee during our interview day continuously tried to convince me that Maryland was a malignant – wth?) Our chairman has made many positive changes and meets with the residents every week during “chairman conferences” to address concerns and discuss cases. Our program director is truly amazing and really cares about resident well-being.

Strong points: very strong diverse caseload. You will get to do all types of transplant, we have a very strong cardiac surgery program, and the famous Shock Trauma Center. The anesthesia attendings over in trauma are the best teachers I’ve ever encountered and very enthusiastic (hunted me down to give me a paper on ventilators we had been discussing).

I suggest you go over to scutwork and read some current resident comments. You’ll see that the posts from recent years are all positive.

Feel free to message me if you have any other questions!

 

[proman]

I know a couple of the residents at West Baltimore Medical Center (ie Maryland). Their life has gotten significantly better with the new chair. It's worth a look. You won't have the name recognition of the East Baltimore Medical School but it's definitely a much improved place. And Rick Dutton is a pretty great guy.

 

[Bertelman]

The malignancy rap was well-deserved 3 years ago when I interviewed. I believe that was the first or second year of the new PD/chief whatever, though, so I'm glad to see they turned things around.

It seemed like it would be a great hospital to train, so I think it would be worth a look now.

 

[acertainknack]

Again, a bit of a lurker on the site and I wanted to make sure enough people rang in on this to make things very clear. I won't say what year I am/was at Maryland but I am going into/am currently in Anesthesiology and know the faculty there very well. The program is absolutely NOT malignant.

The chairman has been the definition of a resident advocate. The PD is lively and I have heard claims that she acts much like a second mother to many of her residents. The hours are at least comparable to any other program save for the super-cushy ones. And yes, they may not sport the name of their crosstown counterparts, but they get virtually identical caseloads.

This past year of 10/13 matching was an anomaly and they have filled the class. Do not worry about heavier caseloads as a result. This program is an up-and-comer and the 4 year accreditation cycle is actually stronger than many very big names.

Apply, interview and if you have family... it's worth the rank.

 

[loveumms]

Graduated medical school there several years ago and the reputation that the depatment once had is long past. I have friends who stayed for anesthesia residency and are very happy with the program. I cannot say enough about the PD who is not only an amazing clinician but, a great advocate. I've heard the new chair has brought significant positive change in the last few years. The case load was great and they do a lot of cutting edge surgery.

As far as the city, I think B-more is a great place to live. It's still not the safest city to reside in but, as long as you live close to the hospital and use common sense, it's a great place. There is tons of culture, lots of great restaurants and plenty to do on your time off.

 

[gasandgo]

Glad to hear all this--I think I certainly will at least apply now. As sad as it is to say I probably would have decided not to apply if I based my decision on purely what I heard before. One last question: Is there anywhere where I can find updated board pass rates for this program and all programs, as well as a national average pass rate? The last remaining concern about UMD in particular I had was that a few years ago its residents had board pass rates of ~75%. I'm still very new in the gas game so I have absolutely no idea what goes into passing boards; what I have heard is that the reputation or caseload may have very little to do with a program's pass rate since a program affiliated with my med school apparently has a near 100% pass rate even though their caseload and reputation are pretty poor.

 

[Bertelman]

Glad to hear all this--I think I certainly will at least apply now. As sad as it is to say I probably would have decided not to apply if I based my decision on purely what I heard before. One last question: Is there anywhere where I can find updated board pass rates for this program and all programs, as well as a national average pass rate? The last remaining concern about UMD in particular I had was that a few years ago its residents had board pass rates of ~75%. I'm still very new in the gas game so I have absolutely no idea what goes into passing boards; what I have heard is that the reputation or caseload may have very little to do with a program's pass rate since a program affiliated with my med school apparently has a near 100% pass rate even though their caseload and reputation are pretty poor.

Some programs will tell you on interview day, but otherwise there is no central place to divine this info. Suffice to say the programs with 100% pass rate are all very proud.

Honestly, unless you are a borderline student you should be able to take that burden into your own hand if need be. Unless they are working your arse to the bone, you should be able to study independently to achieve that goal. If not, what do you think you will be doing 10 yrs from now when you have to recert?