I am a third year med student @ tulane and recently completed my ob/gyn rotation. The dept has been under fire in recent years. There have been complaints that the residents do not teach and that they are malignant. Overall the program received a lot of bad press. The Dept made a decision almost a year ago to turn the program around. They have a new clerkship and residency director. Both are determined to make the program a success.
This year's match was depressing for many, but after speaking to the program directors,they offered this explanation: They made the decision to get "better quality residents" and they were more selective in their rank lists. In the end students that ranked Tulane were not ranked by Tulane and vice-versa. The program directors do feel that the residents that scrambled in will be good perhaps great. Tulane took a risk this year and as a result no one matched.
I've spoken to many of the Tulane 4th years that are doing ob/gyn. Many felt that the program was malignant when they did their rotation (mind you this was prior to the numerous changes that have been made and will be made by July 1 2004). This made many of the 4th years shy away. One student ranked tulane 3rd and not 1st or 2nd because they did not have a night float system in place and she wanted to spend more time with her children. Another student wanted to go to a highly competitive program she will be starting at Brigham and Women's in July.
Before I started my rotation, I was not expecting much. However, this was one of my favorite rotations. I worked with 8-10 residents closely during my 2 months. The majority were awesome. These were some of the best residents that I ever worked with. They were willing to teach and were very helpful on the wards, clinics, and surgery. Perhaps I was just lucky, but really I think there a few residents that gave TU a bad name. The attendings were also great. They were very respectful to students. Overall, the program will improve and is improving. It isn't perfect, but the drive to be an awesome program is there.
This is all I know and I hope it's somewhat helpful.
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