Ok, so I waffled back and forth up until half an hour until the deadline for putting in my rank list- I still couldn't even tell you between my top three which would be my fav.
1. Utah- ++great location, great attendings from lots of great programs, felt like I would fit in well. The program rotates through a few different hospitals which I really liked, including doing Peds ER in a Children's hospital. They also fly in patients from far away as SLC has the only trauma center for a huge area. They are a new program which to me is a positive, as you can help shape the program. Academically strong. They're talking about starting a Wilderness medicine fellowship, which would be wicked! Because I really want to end up practicing in the west, I figured doing a residency out there would probably get me there the easiest. 7,8,9 hr shifts
--No county hospital, but all the indigent patients have to go somewhere so they go to the university hospital, which as a resident you would spend lots of time at. Less diversity than any of my other top picks. (Only 15% Latino, and only 2% African American) Your not going to see the same pathology as you would in Chicago or NYC. 8 hr shifts
2. Cook County- ++ County program, patients are sicker, more appreciative, and fits into what my parameter for helping the underserved. Attendings are great, so are the residents. Lots of chances to practice Spanish. Great reputation. Great path- I can't tell you the amount of weird stuff I saw here when I rotated through as a student. Graduates are practicing all over the US, especially in places that are considered hard markets to get into. They have an awesome fellowship in International Medicine- where you actually help start up ER programs in foreign countries. I think they might have done something in Afghanistan in the past.
-- Cook is only hospital you rotate at. I think they go to St. Anthony's for OB, but that's it.
3. Lincoln- ++ County program, patients are sicker, more appreciative, and fits into what my parameter for helping the underserved. Out of all the programs I interviewed at, I felt most at home with these attendings and residents. This program is in the Bronx- gun and knife central, so you will get all the trauma you want. Lots of chances to practice Spanish! I'm sure that you would see tons of weird medicine cases here too. For research they have set up stuff to do with high altitude medicine- all over the world. The PD has helped graduates get jobs all over the country. 12 hr shifts
-- 20 12 hr shifts per month (not 4 weeks)- you will work really hard here- not that I mind, but considering that you won't have a break for all 12 hrs; I was a little concerned about this and reading up on patients after a shift! They have a couple of rotations at a hospital in Yonkers and Toxicology in the NYC Tox center. Other people on SND have said this is the least academic of all the NYC programs. (Although I think too academic is a negative) To be honest- I am not a big city girl, and NYC is the ultimate of big cities. But I'm willing to give it a chance!!
4. New Orleans- ++Great city. Great program with a great reputation. I really liked the faculty and residents. They've kept the curriculum the same since the hurricane, and Charity hospital ER still stands in the convention center- in military tents. This program is one of a kind, considering you will never get this experience elsewhere. They don't have labs in the convention center, but they do have a CT scanner, and xrays. The residents said they were having to base diagnosis on mostly history and physical. I think thats great! You'll also get a more normal ED experience at other hospitals in the city.
-- Who knows what will happen to the city as a whole? On NPR I've been hearing that the dynamic of the population has completely changed- from a population of 75% African-American to 95% white! Furthermore the crime rate has dropped enormously- meaning no trauma. I thought this might really change the ER experience. Then again, there are still talks of Charity re-opening. Also, they are sending residents to Baton Rouge, and Houma for rotations- which would be really good experiences, but you'd be spending a lot of time in the car.
I'm getting tired now and I have a paper to work on so my comments are going to get shorter.
5. New York Hospital- Queens ++Very diverse population, in the most diverse zip code in the US (maybe even world!). PD was great, seemed very open to new ideas and making it into a great program. They are going to do trauma in Las Vegas- which I thought was a great idea. 12 hr shifts
--Only 1 major hospital
6. Eastern Virginia- ++I really liked the area. The program is very well put together. Rotate at quite a few different hospitals, so nice variety of experience.
--Not much diversity. This is also a fairly conservative part of the country, and next to a military base. I don't think they will like my views on hybrid cars vs. SUV's, or my anti-war attitude!
7. Mt. Sinai (NYC)- ++Great experience in two different hospitals Mt. Sinai and Elmhurst. Teaching seemed excellent! Pretty research oriented. Great international experiences. Mt. Sinai is located practically on Central Park. Recently changed to a 1-4 program, I actually would have preferred a 2-4 program, as that would allowm me to go home to Colorado for a year.
--A little too academic for me. Also housing in the area is extremely expensive, and residents don't get a great salary compared to other ER programs in the area.
8. Maimonides- ++Super busy ER. I was really impressed by it! I liked the residents a lot.
--I was worried about not being able to get back to the west after doing a residency here.
9. Baton Rouge- ++Really nice residents. Got along really well with them. I like the hands on experience there. County hospital + community hospital, good mix of experience.
--They kept asking me in the interview why I wanted to come there- as if I didn't belong. It is really conservative down there; but I am willing to but it aside especially since it's a college town.
I would be really happy with any of the programs, but super-stoked if I ended up in one of my top 4!
