what are the top programs in the Northeast

[24858]

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I wanted to research some of the anesthesia programs so I can set up a rotation. I have heard it is best to set up fourth year rotations 6 months-1yr in advance so I wanted to start looking at the places on the net in advance.
What would you all consider to be the best gas programs in the Northeast?
I would prefer to live outside a big city, but feel free to include big city gas programs.
Thanks,
Tim

 

[2ndyear]

This is all really subjective, so be forewarned. Nevertheless I had the same questions last year that you and many others will have this year so I will try to be of some help as people on here have been for me.

In general the big name northeast programs are centered around Boston and NYC. Boston has the Harvard programs, Mass General, The Brigham, and BI. NYC has NYU, Columbia, Cornell, etc. There are other good programs in each city, but the big names center around, well big names.

It's interesting that you are looking outside of the cities, I did the same thing intitally. I thought that lower cost of living, less hassles, would lead me to a country program. I interviewed all over and by the end I was having fun in the cities. I'll be going to Boston in 2005 (and couldn't be happier about that) when at the beginning of applying I thought it was out of the question. Point is, you may change your mind so apply broadly.

Now for out of the city programs...
URochester is very good, smaller city, very solid all around with great residents.

Penn State doesn't get much smaller of a city in Hershey. I thought it was pretty awesome there. Very modern facilities, one of the nicest hospitals I've been in.

UPittsburgh is very good as well. Decent sized city but not huge.

I know Dartmouth is not in a big city. I didn't interview there so I know nothing about it, but I'd check it out.

Now if you're willing to leave the northeast and move midwest, some very cool small college towns exist (of course I'm biased being from Michigan), but UMich in Ann Arbor is great. UWisconsin in Madison is the coolest small city in the midwest to live. Iowa is very good. Mayo in Rochester MN is in the middle of nowhere but also very good.

And since your locaton says ME, I assume that's Maine. Maine Med in Portland is a solid program that's easily overlooked. I was impressed by the quality of residents and attendings. Most attendings trained at Mass General and migrated north. Nearly all are fellowship trained and I was suprised to find out the cases that they did up there. They seemed to send people to fellowships where they wanted and in good places. Portland seemed like a great place to be as well.

 

[24858]

Thanks 2nd year for the solid input. Good luck in Boston.
Anyone else with any feedback go ahead...

 

[pmichaelmd]

Greetings,
I can only offer the conventional wisdom from observing what others have said on this board and from personal anecdote. If you are looking in the Northeast (and include some mid-atlantic states), I'm thinking:
Top tier: MGH, B&W, JHU, UPenn
2nd tier: BID, Columbia, Cornell, URochester, UPitt.

Depends upon how far down the coast you wish to travel, but if the southern Atlantic states are included you're adding Duke to your list. The midwest would also add others and you can find these if you search the threads for the names (Mayo, Michigan, MCW, etc.)

Regardless of the "top tier" or whatever status, you may want to consider how happy the residents are. Several of the above mentioned programs have been slammed by current residents for poor atmosphere etc. Scutwork is a decent place to look for these.

Good luck in your search.

R,
PMMD

 

[gaspasser]

I see that Yale wasn't mentioned in any of the replies. Why? Does anyone have some info on the program?

Thanks 😴

 

[2ndyear]

Nothing firsthand on Yale. I did leave it out of my list, I guess New Haven didn't exactly seem like small town living, but now that you mention it, it's not too big. And Metro North goes from there, so the big city is close by. As far as their anesthesia program I have heard most people place it as a mid tier program. In other words, the program probably doesn't live up to the amazing reputation of Yale's medical school and undergrad's. But how bad could it be matching at Yale?

 

[dbiddy808]

I thought it was an excellent program. Excellent facilities. Excellent faculty (Barash is there). Small, but fairly nice town that is close to NYC. The residents I met were really cool as well. We went out the night before my interview and had a really good time. If it weren't for the fact that I need warmth I would have gone there.

 

[BassDominator]

I was really impressed with the facilities at Yale. The residents seemed happy and well trained. The program director and chair seemed very approachable.

Barash is a giant, but I think the rest of the faculty are just not up to snuff.... at least that's the word going around in the academic community. I wasn't terribly impressed with the faculty I met. In fact, some of them were lacking in interpersonal skills and asked inappropriate questions on interviews: religion, politics, rankings, etc. They didn't seem to enjoy their jobs very much at all, either.

Overall, I thought it was a mid tier program. They have definitely been slipping down the rankings in recent years. I expected a lot more of a program with the Yale name.