What are you looking for?

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Pinner Doc

Pinner Doc

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As I've visited a few different programs, I've started to refine my search and I feel like I'm beginning to understand what I'm personally looking for in a program. I thought it would be interesting to see what others are looking for.

My must-haves: geography, residents are truly happy, sense of camaraderie/family among residents and faculty

Other things I'm looking for: EMS opportunities (with option to fly!), a wilderness medicine contingent within the program
 
This seems like fun, I'll play 🙂

My must-haves: "fit", residents and RNs are truly happy and fun, sense of camaraderie/family among residents and faculty, supportive of my career goals

Other things I'm looking for: geography, research opportunities, experience and graduating autonomy
 
What I'm looking for:

  • Autonomous, respected department - want to get the full range of procedural experience, want to be respected and given responsibility on off service rotations
  • High level of resident responsibility - I like the stepwise progression to include supervisory experience during the final year
  • Town my fiance wants to live in and can get a job in
  • Academic reputation (thinking about going into academics)
  • Fit with resident AND faculty - hard to asses in a day?
 
1. Lots of trauma 😍
2. Great ICU experience
3. Enough peds to be competent
4. Less floor months and more time in the ED
5. Good EMS exposure
6. International opportunities
7. Diverse mix of residents that are laid back and fun to hang with
8. Good board prep
9. Nice location with affordable housing
10. Many others.....
 
WallowaWanderer said:
What I'm looking for:
  • Autonomous, respected department - want to get the full range of procedural experience, want to be respected and given responsibility on off service rotations
  • High level of resident responsibility - I like the stepwise progression to include supervisory experience during the final year
  • Town my fiance wants to live in and can get a job in
  • Academic reputation (thinking about going into academics)
  • Fit with resident AND faculty - hard to asses in a day?
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound like fun to me. :laugh:
 
First and Foremost: ICU exposure, peds exposure, quality didactics, also would like rural/community aspect as well, not just large university setting with every consultant under the sun running around. Also geography, absolutely would love mountains, areas where I can ride/race my bike(s). Sunshine definitely a plus, diverse patient population; not strictly urban or yuppie. Trauma is plus/minus would prefer blunt to penetrating (its amazing how many different ways you can get shot and go home the same day). Also strong off service rotations, after all we spend a significant amount of our training there. Also exposure to Fellowships/Fellows in Critical Care, Wilderness, Hyperbarics, etc...and obviously "fit".

Secondary: Lower cost of living, moon lighting opportunities, education fund money and good cafeteria/on campus food. Not neccesarily in that order.
 
One thing I found helpful during my search, as it similarly became refined after a few interviews, was to start looking at the program director, staff, and residents to ask myself, are they looking for the things I was looking for?

Basically, do the people in the program - particularly the program director want the same things I want?

I wanted geography - mountains!, family atmosphere, emphasis on education, a sense of comraderie, professional opportunity, and finally realized that I needed to look for people in programs that wanted that too.

once you find it - I did - then you've got people who care about you and the things you love, including yourself and your passions!

Good luck!
 
13770 said:
One thing I found helpful during my search, as it similarly became refined after a few interviews, was to start looking at the program director, staff, and residents to ask myself, are they looking for the things I was looking for?

Basically, do the people in the program - particularly the program director want the same things I want?

I wanted geography - mountains!, family atmosphere, emphasis on education, a sense of comraderie, professional opportunity, and finally realized that I needed to look for people in programs that wanted that too.

once you find it - I did - then you've got people who care about you and the things you love, including yourself and your passions!

Good luck!
Click to expand...

13770-- that's wonderful! I hope I have that same "fit," too.
 
13770 said:
One thing I found helpful during my search, as it similarly became refined after a few interviews, was to start looking at the program director, staff, and residents to ask myself, are they looking for the things I was looking for?

Basically, do the people in the program - particularly the program director want the same things I want?

I wanted geography - mountains!, family atmosphere, emphasis on education, a sense of comraderie, professional opportunity, and finally realized that I needed to look for people in programs that wanted that too.

once you find it - I did - then you've got people who care about you and the things you love, including yourself and your passions!

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Where r u?
 
i'm looking for...

place where wife will be happy
i'd like the program to be the only show in town, preferably
a program that wants to prepare clinically strong residents, not big names in the field (though this is not a bad thing)
3 years --> i'd like to decide if i want more yrs for a fellowship or to start working
humble residents/attendings/etc etc
being able to walk out of wherever i'm living and walk my dog and not worry about being shot
 
theCamel said:
i'm looking for...
being able to walk out of wherever i'm living and walk my dog and not worry about being shot
Click to expand...

I guess that depends on what kind of dog you have. I mean, are we talking Rottweiler or cocker spaniel. 😎
 
This is a little off topic but one program I am looking at (Big program with a fancy name and good reputation) only has one resident in each class from the medical school with which it is affiliated. Should this be concerning??
 
EdEmEr said:
This is a little off topic but one program I am looking at (Big program with a fancy name and good reputation) only has one resident in each class from the medical school with which it is affiliated. Should this be concerning??
Click to expand...

Not if you don't go to that medical school:laugh:

I think some of the more competitive programs like to diversify a bit.
 
-location: good place to live, lots of fun outdoor activities, spouse can find a job (need some help paying off those loans). plus, happy spouse=happy me. also needs to be good for dog

-people: want them to pass the 2am test, be a "good fit" for my personality. it would also be great if the ED had good relationships with other departments (making it easier to admit and better when you're on an off-service month)

-training: i think most programs train good docs (and a lot of that is what you bring to the table), so i'd rather do a 3 year unless there was something pretty special about that 4th year. and i'd rather not waste time on rotations that aren't teaching me much about EM. plus, having a life outside of work is pretty important to me so i'd rather not waste lots of precious hours doing surgery call or whatnot. no desire to be a 3rd year med student again, thanks.

-good support/mentorship to make the most of my career and offer opportunities for special interests (international/disaster/wilderness medicine)

-feeling like i'm prepared to go wherever and do whatever comes my way when i'm done.

-i'm sure there are other things, but most of the other details are just icing, though working all 12s and commuting a lot are certainly things i'd prefer to avoid.
 
-Strong residents & autonomous dept
-More county'ish experience than not
-Foundation built with challenging and maturing PGY1 months
-Great critical care experience - because bad CC experience is harder and yields less
-Very ill blunt trauma > penetrating
-Graded responsibility ultimately running the show
-Enough peds not to be too freaked out by sick kids (I'm gettin the feeling that crumping kids freak even the picu people out though)
-Research & EMS exposure
-Nice location +/- affordable housing (I'm from Cali and am numb to being destroyed by housing costs)
-At least a modicum of Spanish speaking pt's
 
Preface: What an amazing specialty we have that I would really feel well trained and happy at the 12th program on my list.

Of the criteraia below, no program that I have been to has all.

Deal Breakers:
-Cool city/town for a single guy with a social life
-established program with excellent reputation
-Track record of producing academic faculty and/or directors/administrators

Major Considerations:
-3 years
-Trust and Autonomy (I was surprised that hand-holding programs do exist)
-affiliated with a big name Medical school (Read: Name snob)
-Outstanding training on off service months or more time in ED. (Read: No peds floor month just to be a warm body.)
-LOTS of relative free time to pursue side projects in research/education/specialty track
-Academic minded faculty AND fellows. (Read: smart people who love to discuss and teach medicine)

It would be nice if:
-High pay and/or low cost of living (Read: no paycheck to paycheck)
-Lots of medstud involvement in research, rotations
-Lotta trauma (so what if its cookie cutter, it is still cool)
-Good facilities
 
I'll borrow the format...

Preface: The more I interview, the more I love this specialty and look forward to working with everyone I meet (residents, attendings, and other MSs!)

Deal Breakers:
- Geography - want to stay within a 6hr radius from family and sig. other
- Opportunities within EM - I may want to do a fellowship, and I'd like to get some experience in the things I'm interested in to get my feet wet.
- Program with an emphasis on training good clinicians and academicians.

Major Considerations:
-3 years
-Resident responsibility/progression - I love programs where senior residents run the ED.
- EM is its own department.
- Has teaching opportunities (ie. Med students rotate through regularly and residents get the chance to teach.)
-as above...Outstanding training on off service months or more time in ED. - ie. good ICU time, less floor time, and more ED time
-as above...Academic minded faculty AND fellows. (Read: smart people who love to discuss and teach medicine)
- "Fit" with the residents - I'm pretty laid back and have a lot of fun while I work, so I want colleagues that are like-minded (not hard to find in EM)

It would be nice if:
-as above...High pay and/or low cost of living (Read: no paycheck to paycheck)
-as above...Lotta trauma (so what if its cookie cutter, it is still cool)
-It was in the same city as my sig. other 🙁 (only 1 of the 13 places I'll be interviewing at)...but not a deal breaker

I won't list my fav. places just yet. One I'm totally in love with, but it's not in such a great location. And I like the place where my sig. other is, but I'm not 100% sold.
 
Hmm, now that I have a better sense of what I want from interviewing I'll copy this format as well...

First of all, I totally agree with this:
The more I interview, the more I love this specialty and look forward to working with everyone I meet (residents, attendings, and other MSs!).
Click to expand...
So fun to meet the other applicants, as they are our future colleagues!

Deal Breakers:
- Opportunities within EM - I am interested in research, esp translational research, and I would like to find some mentors in this arena during my residency
- Program focused on training great clinicians and academicians that will be leaders in the field.
- faculty can help me get a great job
- graduating autonomy (I need to run the ED during the last year)

Major Considerations:
-3 years or 4 years with a concentration built in
-A major training site with county-type level of patient load and acuity
-as above...Outstanding training on off service months, lots of ICU time
-as above...Academic minded faculty AND fellows. (Read: smart people who love to discuss and teach medicine)
-as above... "Fit" with the residents - I'm pretty laid back and have a lot of fun while I work, so I want colleagues that are like-minded (not hard to find in EM)
-proximity to family

It would be nice if:
-as above...High pay and/or low cost of living (Read: no paycheck to paycheck)
-I'm not freezing my butt off

I am in love with a place that is relatively far from family, and very interested in two places close to home. My ID is too transparent to be specific. 🙄
 
1. Warm weather
2. Close to home
3. Fun residents
4. Trauma Center with no surgery residency
5. EMS field experience
6. Disaster Medicine experience
7. Helpful nurses
8. Low cost of living

my top choice meets all 8, my second choice meets 7/8
 
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