yale

[katz5001]

has anybody interviewed at yale or have any thoughts on their program?

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[DR]

I've interviewed for the primary care program. It seems like a great program, but the location is not great. Most of the rotations are done at 2 small community hospitals in Waterbury, and there isn't much out there, or in between. I don't know about the categorical program.

 

[katz5001]

i had heard there were problems with the yale surgery dept (lost accredidation??). is that true and what impact do you think that has on their medicine program?

 

[DR]

I believe the surgery news is true; I know some people in the programs there, and it seems that there were some problems with the surgery there...however, Yale is not a that crumbles when there's a bump in the road...they've got lots of financial support, and lots of legacy. I don't think it affects the IM program at all. Most departments function independently at major Universities; their surgical program was in trouble due to non-compliance issues, which is under control of the surgery people, not the medicine people. The fact that the medicine dept. has not been reprimanded means these are 2 separate entities.

 

[sk678]

i thought yale was ok, but if comparing to the better ny programs or boston programs i dont think it compares well. Im personally not sure if i will rank it above or below lesser NY programs...can ya tell i have a ny bias?

 

[fugax]

the surgery dept here at yale was, in fact, made an example of with the whole losing accreditation issue. part of the problem stemmed from the program merging with bridgeport and whenever training programs merge, they are subject to review. in the case of the yale surgery dept, one of the complaints lodged against it had to do with resident work hours and steps were taken to fix this problem (hiring PAs to help cover the floor, etc). as a result, the surgery dept was subsequently re-accredited -- something many posters either neglect to mention or don't know about. as a yale med student in my last year, i can honestly say that the medicine dept here is phenomenal. the teaching during my core rotations and sub-I were excellent and the faculty are very responsive to resident concerns. As for the difference between the traditional and primary care track -- they are both excellent. I know that residents in the traditional track seem to work a bit harder than those in the primary care track, but that's simply what i've heard and seen peripherally. as far as the yale-affiliated hospitals go, i did do a month rotation out at st mary's hospital (which is out in waterbury) and it was an incredible month -- the teaching and quality of attending contact was better than some rotations i've done at yale-newhaven hosp. obviously, it's hard to encapsulate the various strengths of weaknesses of these two programs because we all have different criteria when it comes to evaluating programs. if any of you would like to ask specific questions, i would be glad to answer them as best i can. as for the new haven issue, i have actually found new haven to be a great town to spend a few years in. for a town it's size, new haven has amazing restaurants, some good clubs, and is close to water (short drive to the beach). having said that, i am actually looking forward to moving to a new town for residency, but new haven (if you don't know the area like I did) can be a nice place to spend a few years if you don't let aspects of "inner city" living scare you away.

 

[scoop]

Just wondering if anyone who has spent time at Yale can comment on whether the IM residents seemed happy there.

I was really impressed with program, preferring it to the NY programs, but maybe not Boston.

 

[bob3]

Yale residents have actually been known to fare a lot better when it comes to obtaining their top choices of fellowships when compared to Boston programs. Having said that, Yale is EXTREMELY competitive to get into, according to many attendings that I've dealt with at other institutions. The program is suited for someone looking for high powered fellowship positions. Interestingly, I know of five Yale medicine residents (traditional program) who adored the program, faculty, and even New Haven (as odd as that may seem). They always talk about very supportive faculty and residents. Residents are not back stabbers either, like in some of the Boston programs. Additionally, and I think of particular note, all 4 out of 5 of these residents began receiving offers from top academic fellowships close to the end of their 1st year! They were all told that Yale has an outstanding rep with the medical community at large and many Yale IM residents were therefore being given early options to interview at these programs! The two people I know at MGH were suprised when I mentioned this to them aand said they never heard of this. That says a lot about the Yale reputation.

 

[droliver]

Originally posted by fugax
the surgery dept here at yale was, in fact, made an example of with the whole losing accreditation issue. in the case of the yale surgery dept, one of the complaints lodged against it had to do with resident work hours and steps were taken to fix this problem (hiring PAs to help cover the floor, etc). as a result, the surgery dept was subsequently re-accredited -- something many posters either neglect to mention or don't know about.

The sanctions applied to Yale were multifactorial. Work hours in fact were only a minor component (the formal rules for the work hours don't take effect until this July). Apparently there were a number of serious issues cited in previous RRC site visits which had not been addressed which is why they were penalized.

 

[irlandesa]

I've interviewed for the primary care program. It seems like a great program, but the location is not great. Most of the rotations are done at 2 small community hospitals in Waterbury, and there isn't much out there, or in between. I don't know about the categorical program.

sorry to resurrect this thread, but I have an interview at Yale's Primary Care/IM track, and from what I gather, a bit more than 1/2 of the intern year is at Waterbury, and the other 1/2 at New Haven, West Haven VA, and community practices. There is a bit more time rotating through YNHH during PGY-2 and 3 it seems. It seems like it would be a great program, but it also seems like commuting between Waterbury and New Haven or moving between the 2 depending on the time of year would be a big pain! Does anyone know how residents handle the living situations out there? thanks in advance..

 

[scm]

hey there, i just applied to a bunch more prelim spots friday (didnt have enough and not sure how i'll do for IM at places that interview me with Neuro, but where I don't match for Neuro)... got an invite to Yale/Primary care already. hey last poster-where did you see the schedule?

If indeed you spend a bit of time in Waterbury, I might be less inclined to interview there, its a decent drive, not to mention there was a giant, illuminated cross on top of the hill hovering over Waterbury when I used to drive through on my way to College/undergrad. Wonder if it's still there. used to be a good record store there though, nice blue collar town..but i dont want to spend half of my intern yr there.
thanks
scm

 

[cubby]

I have questions about Yale's PC program as well--I was impressed with the program originally based on their website, but have some questions after going through this website and seeing their ABIM pass rate, which was surprisingly low. It was not hard to ascertain that the only reviewer of Yale PC on scutwork.com is not real fond of the program, he/she was quite negative. I'm sure some of the points are valid, but it's hard to hang your hat on one person's opinion, which could be a very jaded opinion. I talked to a couple of Michigan residents while interviewing there who had gone to medical school at Yale, they seemed to indicate that the PC program was indeed a good program, and that there was some rivalry or competiveness b/w categorical and PC residents. Any ideas on how/where to get more information?

 

[irlandesa]

the website where you can link to info for both programs is info.med.yale.edu/intmed/prog; follow the links to the primary care program and click rotation schedules to get a general idea. The site makes it a little tricky to get all the information, but if you take a closer look at the Ambulatory Care link, for example; you can see that 4 weeks of Geriatric Medicine are done at the West Haven VA.. So from what I can tell, the schedule is as follows for PC interns:
Yale-New Haven Hospital:
4 weeks Gen Med
8 weeks Specialty Wards (including 4 weeks Onc)
West Haven VA: 4 weeks Geriatric Medicine-part of Ambulatory Curriculum

Waterbury:
ICU/CCU-8 weeks
Gen Med Wards-12 weeks
Night Float-4 weeks

Ambulatory Curriculum -8 weeks (4 weeks community practice, mostly in Waterbury area, 4 weeks selective (like Psych, Addiction Med, Hospice, many others in variety of locations)
Vacation:4 weeks

So it looks like up to 24 weeks in New Haven area (if you can pull it off during the 8 weeks ambulatory), and 24 in Waterbury. PGY-2 year, residents spend a bit more time at YNHH with the addition of 8 weeks of electives (1 elective block replaces a subspecialty ward) and a 4 week ER block that can be done there. Unfortunately, the whole living/commuting thing is an issue that will probably end up knocking the program out of my top 3, but can't judge until I've been there. I really like the mixed university/community format. So what is going on with the ABIM pass rate? I don't know what the pass rate actually is; one of the places I'm interviewing at has an ABIM pass rate of 77%! I really hope Yale's PC program doesn't have a lower rate than that! thanks for the info.

 

[Seawolf]

Can someone comment on the compepitiveness between the categorical and the primary care track? Looking at Scutwork.com, it mentions that there are FMG's and DO's in the program (nothing against FMG or DO)? Can anyone confirm this?

 

[cubby]

So what is going on with the ABIM pass rate? I don't know what the pass rate actually is; one of the places I'm interviewing at has an ABIM pass rate of 77%! I really hope Yale's PC program doesn't have a lower rate than that! thanks for the info.

The ABIM website lists the Yale/Waterbury pass rate as 77% from 2001 to 2003 (48/62 passing, 95% CI 67-87). That's not too impressive! I wonder why that is--curriculum problem? Unmotivated residents? I dunno, but certainly concerning.

 

[irlandesa]

Can someone comment on the compepitiveness between the categorical and the primary care track? Looking at Scutwork.com, it mentions that there are FMG's and DO's in the program (nothing against FMG or DO)? Can anyone confirm this?

They have a list of residents on the primary care home page.. From what I remember, there seemed to be about 2 FMG's and 2-3 DO (grads of the most local DO school, UNECOM) grads in the whole program; which computes to about 10% of the program.

Some of these ABIM pass rates are quite puzzling.. Lahey Clinic (Burlington,MA), which has attracted Harvard grads to their residency program and has some pretty high-powered fellowships has a ABIM pass rate of about 77%, while Maine Medical Center, a program which has not filled its categorical program the last 2-3 years, has a pass rate of 85%. I'm definitely concerned about the ABIM pass rate at Yale and LCMC, and Maine's isn't all that great either, but will go to all 3 and keep an open mind.