- Joined
- Sep 14, 2003
- Messages
- 128
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From my interview experience just under a year ago here are the things that you think are important, and what I've found actually matters. And if you need context, I applied to 28, all academic, got 26 invites, interviewed at 13, ranked 11, and got my #1.
Some things that everyone asks interviewers:
How many cases do your chiefs end up with? How many teaching cases?
How many 'index' cases like whipples, esophagectomies, aortic, carotids, livers?
Board pass rates
Why did you come here/stay here?
what are the program's weaknesses?
how much trauma? blunt vs penetrating?
How much autonomy do the residents have?
How much operating during the first year?
etc, etc, etc--
What is really important:
How many cases you do, especially in your 3-5 years, and the mix of those cases (i.e. how many bread and butter vs how many complex GI/hepatobiliary/vascular-->there are MAJOR differences between some programs on the distributioni of cases: ASK)
Depth/Breadth of experience: do you spend 90% of your time at one hospital with limited resources, or do you get a VA, county, childrens, and university hospital experience? Think about this for a second: if you are at one hospital mostly, you get the experience of a small group of surgeons, but if you have a broader (but not too spread out) experience you get significant training from many different surgeons. And is the experience balanced, i.e. good trauma/bread&butter/complex/vascular/criticalcare/specialties??
How do the residents get along: THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A PROGRAM AND THE MOST DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN. You will be happy, content, satisfied, compelled to work hard, and the envy of your friends if you work with great people. Period. Spend an extra night in the program's city, go out with the residents and have a drink, attend the receptions, talk with the residents, talk with students.
Reputation/fellowship placement: If you want a fellowship this matters. Look at what the chiefs match into, and where they go. EVERY PROGRAM WILL TELL YOU THAT THEIR RESIDENTS GET THE FELLOWSHIPS OF THEIR CHOICE, but this is not true--if it was then memorial sloan kettering and md anderson wound have 20 fellows a year. If you want peds surg, you should seek out the program that has sent a chief into peds surg every year for the past five years, or the same for any specialty.
Enough talk for now.
Some things that everyone asks interviewers:
How many cases do your chiefs end up with? How many teaching cases?
How many 'index' cases like whipples, esophagectomies, aortic, carotids, livers?
Board pass rates
Why did you come here/stay here?
what are the program's weaknesses?
how much trauma? blunt vs penetrating?
How much autonomy do the residents have?
How much operating during the first year?
etc, etc, etc--
What is really important:
How many cases you do, especially in your 3-5 years, and the mix of those cases (i.e. how many bread and butter vs how many complex GI/hepatobiliary/vascular-->there are MAJOR differences between some programs on the distributioni of cases: ASK)
Depth/Breadth of experience: do you spend 90% of your time at one hospital with limited resources, or do you get a VA, county, childrens, and university hospital experience? Think about this for a second: if you are at one hospital mostly, you get the experience of a small group of surgeons, but if you have a broader (but not too spread out) experience you get significant training from many different surgeons. And is the experience balanced, i.e. good trauma/bread&butter/complex/vascular/criticalcare/specialties??
How do the residents get along: THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A PROGRAM AND THE MOST DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN. You will be happy, content, satisfied, compelled to work hard, and the envy of your friends if you work with great people. Period. Spend an extra night in the program's city, go out with the residents and have a drink, attend the receptions, talk with the residents, talk with students.
Reputation/fellowship placement: If you want a fellowship this matters. Look at what the chiefs match into, and where they go. EVERY PROGRAM WILL TELL YOU THAT THEIR RESIDENTS GET THE FELLOWSHIPS OF THEIR CHOICE, but this is not true--if it was then memorial sloan kettering and md anderson wound have 20 fellows a year. If you want peds surg, you should seek out the program that has sent a chief into peds surg every year for the past five years, or the same for any specialty.
Enough talk for now.
