I had this programin my top 3 when I interviewed.
REview this year:
I went to UConn: It is a smaller program, 8 residents/yr, not at all research oriented. It is a private group that DOES NOT rely on Residents for labor force. The new Residency Director, Dr. Gross, is a huge change from the old PD.
The old PD never invited anyone for interviews that didn't have a direct tie to New England, hence they went unfilled the last 3 years and canned the old PD. Since the private group is profit driven, and time is money, nobody wanted to spend hours each week interveiwing residents. Dr. Gross trained at UPenn and will likely change all that, he's a double appointment Full Professor in Anesthesia and Pharmacology.
Residents are all very happy with the program. They all get time off, time to read, no competition for cases. There are no fellows in the program, good or bad you decide. Hartford Hospital does 17K surgeries a year, the residency rotates residents at Hartford Hospital, UConn Health Center, and St Francis Hospital. All CA-2s have there numbers and more, so you're well prepared in terms of clinical experience coming out of UConn.
MY reviewin 2005:
UCONN- Mid size program where they don't offer the first year. Do not offer to pay for hotel or dinner. Morning started out with a quick overview then 3 subsequent interviews with different attendings. NO RESEARCH. They are a clinical training powerhouse....no fellows to compete with for good cases. Do all types of transplant cases. You rotate through 3 hospitals in the area with NO need to travel for extra/more experinced rotations. Hospital staff were awesome and very willing to help the residents. CAll IS q-5 TO q6 DEPENDING ON RESIDENT vacation schedules. Almost every resident came out to see us. One common theme during the interview was that tht OR's can run just fine without the residents. The majority of residents stated they are out by 7am post call. Great benefit package (4weeks vacation) and PAID insurance across the board. You get an extra week during CA2/CA3 to attend any type of conference. All residents very happy. Attendings dont like to be called "BOSS". Director is young and full of energy. CAll rooms were private and had computor/internet access in the room...pretty nice! Cafateria was above average. Cost of living is still a llittle high, but it's not as bad as the Boston/Chicago/NY areas. Overall, great program in my eyes. One resident had interviews at UPENN, Duke, and BID.....he chose UCONN because his gut feeling told him UCONN. DO NOT RANK A PROGRAM for the name or you will be depressed for 4 years... Listen to your GUT!
