2006-07 Interview season

[siempre595]

Pros:
really great residency director, probably the best I've seen
residents seemed really happy
exposure to three different hospital environments each offering something a little different
good teaching, i actually learned on rounds
apparently affordable housing near ucla
new hospital opening up in 2007
good subspeciality exposure


Cons:
HUGE applicant group, it was actually a bit much, i thought it took away from getting to talk to residents, etc
poorly planned interview day, we got to cedars sinai so late we barely saw it
requires a lot of driving between hospitals
not a free standing hospital
LA=traffic...

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[Colinator]

did anyone who interviewed or rotated at MGH happen to get a sense of the number of months on call each year? it almost became a joke for me on the interview day . . . i can't tell you how many residents i asked and no one would give me a straight answer. i really like the program, but am concerned that i can't find out this simple detail. on top of that, i have a peds intern friend who heard a rumor about mgh peds residents getting worked extra-hard. this wasn't the impression i gathered at the interview, but who knows.

for anyone considering mgh, i must say, call sounds like it's made relatively less difficult by having a night float come on to take admissions after 11. so keep that in mind.

thanks!

 

[oompaloompa]

I'm a little surprised no one's mentioned any Texas programs yet, so I'll start it off with Baylor/Texas Children's Hospital. First of all, let me say that Houston has a draw for me in terms of friends/family/community, but I do feel conflicted about this program. I would very much welcome your input.

PROS:
- very impressive in terms of physical environment and resources
- TCH pays well, so draws top-notch nursing and ancillary staff
- Dr. Feigin seems to genuinely care about the residents and is quite influential
- often granted a lot of autonomy in decision-making
- lots of volume and broad exposure
- ER-admit system well-managed, so patients often come up "pre-packaged"
- largest Pedi ER in US and pretty new and high-tech
- in spite of obvious fatigue, all residents I met were happy with choice, with a few from my own school that I trust
- focus on acute care in program (important for me)
- all subspecialties well-represented, no gaps in coverage
- schedule gets considerably lighter from years 1--> 3
- so crazy-busy that seniors aren't scared of anything
- great salary for Houston ($47,000)
- Houston has pretty accesible real estate- could buy a house or condo
- peds residents get many perks at Baylor(lounge, retreats, tickets, salary bonus)
- parking is paid for (if you've ever been to the Texas Medical Center, you know this is HUGE)

CONS:
- no ER time in 1st year
- 10 months q4 in 1st year
- county hosp Ben Taub(1/3 of your time) has notoriously bad ancillary staff
- in addition to the seriously crappy call schedule, there is no form of night float or overflow coverage - you keep admitting till rounds
- no online notes or orders
- no specific procedures training
- residents admitted sometimes can feel like a secretary for the many private docs
- has "sink or swim" philosophy, minimal formal teaching/education
- also a side note is that in my interview travels, it has occured to me that Texas seems to have a sharper divide between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Nowhere is this more evident than than between TCH and Ben Taub. In theory, the level of care should be the same, but {makes wishy-washy hand gestures}

So in summary, I think its important to note that I've been harder on this program simply because I know the most about it. After all, after any interview day, it's hard to come to come up with a list of anything but PROS, because that's what you been fed all day. The hardest part is figuring out what they aren't telling you, so that's what I tried to do. Hope it helps. I think that in spite the downsides I mentioned, Baylor has an extremely solid program that I will be ranking quite highly.

Would welcome any comments and/or corrections. Cheers!

 

[DOnut]

The residents weren’t friendly…you almost had to start every conversation and only one or two really wanted to talk with you. They didn’t seem very friendly to each other and the ones that were friendly appeared “cliquey” (asking some residents to go out this weekend, but not others).

Everyone I’ve met thus far has been extremely friendly. My wife is a Peds intern, and her class is great. We actually get together whenever time permits. The best part is that there are a lot of couples with spouses in other departments like myself. This way we get to have some interdepartmental get-togethers. Also there are several of us with kids. If people are looking for a family friendly program, Upstate is great!!

Sorry for the bad experience, it definitely doesn’t represent how things really are.

 

[siempre595]

Pros:
Good reputation with good exposure to subspecialities and gen peds at various sites including SF General.
Approachable program director who seems to get things done when the residents have concerns.
Housing stipend ($500/month) to offset the SF housing craziness.
Good location (for most, but I actually thought it was pretty dreary there).
Good variety of patients.
Large program with lots of back-up.
Research opportunities are good.

Cons:
Grumbles about lack of resident cohesion.
My interviewer told me, off the record, to go somewhere else...huge red flag went up in my head.
Expense of city.
Facilities are pretty bad compared to other places I've been, not free-standing.
Residents are predominantly from a few select schools.

 

[blanche]

Cons:
Grumbles about lack of resident cohesion.
My interviewer told me, off the record, to go somewhere else...huge red flag went up in my head.
Expense of city.
Facilities are pretty bad compared to other places I've been, not free-standing.
Residents are predominantly from a few select schools.[/QUOTE]

in what context was it that your interviewer told you to go elsewhere??
i can't think of a larger red flag than that..

 

[Pedialyte]

Not to one up you here, but I was told on an interview that I really shouldn't go to the program where I was interviewing if I wanted to get pregnant. Wow! He actually recommended other programs in the area. I gave an elusive answer which he took as a "no" and he said he was delighted and thought I'd be a great fit. Um, yeah...

 

[GoSprout24]

That's right, I'm doin' it. I'm bumpin' this baby up! It's been a long time since I've had an interview, but I have a few coming up again so I'll try to post after that. And if I can get off my lazy a$$, I'll try to post older ones as well... Anyone else got new interviews to add? It's been oh so slow on this site the last month. We are all obviously sick of interviews by this point.

Hope everyone is doing well and finding places they love!

 

[blanche]

Nice to see this thread back!
i've been lazy also about updating, and i'm starting to forget details as well (cognitive dulling??)

I've recently visited: U of M

I didn't go in expecting to want to go here, but I loved the program. If I could take it and transport it to a larger city, I think it might be perfect (for me)

Pros:
-nice hospital, good facilities
-may be the best computerized order/data/note system I've seen
-residents all were happy
-morning report very good
-resident support, unionized HO ass'n. for some reason, the fact that they give you holiday pay on your bday really spoke to me--it makes you feel like the hospital system might actually care about their residents...
-resident asssitants!
-schedule sure looked nice, elective time throughout, and the ability to 'enjoy' this elective time instead of running back to the floors/nicu/whatever to take your q4 call
-residents do well--fellowship or primary care, I think michigan's rep carries alot of wt from hearing senior residents describe their job/fellowship searches
-choice of continuity clinic sites
-cost of living pretty good, some residents buy
-ann arbor is a nice place
-tons of fellowships, faculty in all subspec
-program emphasized research opportunities for residents (if interested) they also advertise their # of md/phds to support the claim that U of M is a good place if research is your bag

Cons:
-ann arbor is a big college town, + some other stuff but not an urban area. however, detroit is not far.
-patient diversity--not sure about this (see above: 'not an urban area'). though residents said that ypsilanti, ann arbor's poorer, less refined little brother, allows you to see a wider range of patients.
-not sure about the referral base, as I think detroit metro area goes to detroit.

 

[mrman]

I particularly liked the following programs and wonder if anyone who has been to them has similar or different reactions:

Hopkins:
impressed by the resident-run rounds, I think this requires sr. residents to really know their stuff
Hopkins has a wonderful reputation with many world-renowned researchers
The Harriet Lane clinic is beautiful and brand new looking
Comparitively speaking, favorable schedule with night float and two golden weekends per month most months
On the downside, their facilities were badly in need of renovation. They are buidling a new Children's Center but it's not supposed to be ready until 2009

Rainbow Babies:
Very friendly residents and program director seems to be really into teaching
Their chairman is one of the experts in neonatology
International health track offers the chance to do electives all over the globe
I know Cleveland gets a bad rap, but strangely, I found that I kind of liked it

Baylor:
This hospital was huge and unbelievably impressive
Their chairman, Dr. Feigin, seems to be actively involved in resident education and really into teaching
On the downside, there are no golden weekends during q4 call months, and intern year sounds pretty brutal with 10 months of q4 call

Wash U:
I really like the program director, he seemed real laid back and fun to work with
Very pretty hospital
The Transport Team seems like a unique opportunity to go out in the field and be the physician managing the case

Emory:
Very friendly residents
Mixture of night float and q4 call as a compromise in both styles of scheduling
Atlanta seems like a very nice place to live
Impressive grand rounds with residents actively involved in presenting cases and discussing findings

 

[oompaloompa]

I realize that everyone has pretty much made up their minds by this point, but I'll post another review for the sake of keeping this thread alive. It's been interesting to me, at least.

So I really didn't have any expectations for Southwestern, since I have actually been unfortunate enough to spend some time at Parkland(sh*thole), but I hadn't ever seen the children's hosp. I was very pleasantly surprised, Children's is fantastic and not at all like Parkland.

PROS:
-service schedule appealed to me, diverse and well-organized
-has an acute care focus
-lots of ER time, esp in 2nd year
-volume is good, but not overwhelming(like some other Texas programs)
-residency class is largely young & single - liked everyone I met
-call is more manageable than most( 5-6 months intern year)
-night float on heavy services(specialty and PICU)
-hospital itself is fairly new and quite nice
-like the "call teams" system, I felt like some programs abandoned you on call
-ER is large, nice, and well-organized - had this "asthma-bronchiolitis" room I thought was a fantastic, admit-decreasing idea
-Dallas certainly isn't New York, Boston, SF, but the Uptown/SMU area is very nice and has lots of young professionals

CONS:
-for such an otherwise modern center, chart/order system is decidedly antiquated
-not strong in all areas(won't affect me, but don't come if you want to do pulm)
-like most urban Texas, majority of pts Spanish-speaking (wish I did)
-NICU is at Parkland(which is a dump, thankfully only 4 months total residency)
-area around UTSW is VERY dangerous(don't ever stop on Harry Hines)
-there are nice areas, but expensive
-least amount of vacation encountered (2 weeks)
-medical/life/disability not paid by program, so must factor into financial picture

All in all, a fine program. I have made every attempt on my all my posts to be as objective as possible, so I didn't include this in the list, but I just had a really good "feel" from this program. No stuffiness, indifference, deceit, or trying too hard. Will be ranking very near or at the top. Good luck to all, hope you've found that perfect "home" for the next 3 years!

 

[faerichilde]

Brown Children's (Hasbro)
PROS:
Pedi EM is a strong department - many fellows for its size
only children's hosp for RI
dedicated children's hosp, full facilities
online orders with online notes for next summer
Brown area nice and interesting, but not too expensive
night float system kicks in at 8pm, only sleep at hosp 1-2 times a month
very big into international work (which I am as well)
residents seem to actually be friends, instead of just "friendly"
lots of intensive care (me likey)
free food everyday
protected education - 1 month just for reading/teaching
least amount of call of all programs I've looked into
Providence airport has cheap fares, plus can take train
moonlighting opportunites in-house
lots of electives (8)
lots of autonomy (may be a CON at times)
salary good for environment - $49,000
CONS:
long days due to patient volume vs. number of residents
except Brown-related, not many young professionals in Providence
peds residents kind of isolated
pay for parking
area around hosp not safe (can't walk)
RI seems more provincial than most of New England
too much NICU(unless you're into that) plus the NICU is intense(80 beds)
maybe too much autonomy at times - 3rd year is the big boss of the PICU at nights

As an intern at Brown, and a former SDN addict, I thought I'd check out what people were saying about my program. A few things to clarify, though they are (hopefully) the things that will least impact your decision. We do not get fed everyday. There is food once a month, and then daily for the few months when there are applicants. We do get money for the cafeterias both at Rhode Island Hospital and Women and Infants, though technically that is just for when we are on call. We do not pay for parking. The lot you parked in on your interview day is a patient lot. We park in employee lots, which are a little far away, but free. Good luck on the match.

 

[lla252]

Hey guys, could people who have been to Duke or UNC let me know what they think? These are my thoughts:

Duke:
Didnt get as great a feel as I did at UNC (maybe because the pre-interview dinner was more formal). Has a great reputation based on everyone I've talked to. The program leadership seems extra energetic and friendly, and faculty are supposed to be enthusiastic about teaching. Everyone is excited about the new peds chair as well. Call schedule is totally reasonable and perks are pretty nice. I heard it is subspecialty-heavy and maybe there aren't a lot of general patients? Im still really interested though and going to rank it high.

UNC:
Got a really great feel- the residents were so friendly and laid-back, despite a little bit more hectic call schedule. They really seemed to be enjoying their lives as residents. Patient load seemed to be a good balance (reasonable volume, general and subspecialty balance), and I liked that you rotate at 2 other hospitals to broaden your general peds background (although 1 of the hospitals is almost an hour away and this can be somewhat annoying of a drive, apparently). I dont think we met the dept chair. Their electronic medical record system is really seamless. I havent been able to get as many opinions about it since I left, since it's not as well known where I'm from. But Im still really excited about it and also going to rank it high.

Any thoughts about these programs?

 

[Complications]

Hey guys, could people who have been to Duke or UNC let me know what they think? These are my thoughts:

Duke:
Didnt get as great a feel as I did at UNC (maybe because the pre-interview dinner was more formal). Has a great reputation based on everyone I've talked to. The program leadership seems extra energetic and friendly, and faculty are supposed to be enthusiastic about teaching. Everyone is excited about the new peds chair as well. Call schedule is totally reasonable and perks are pretty nice. I heard it is subspecialty-heavy and maybe there aren't a lot of general patients? Im still really interested though and going to rank it high.

UNC:
Got a really great feel- the residents were so friendly and laid-back, despite a little bit more hectic call schedule. They really seemed to be enjoying their lives as residents. Patient load seemed to be a good balance (reasonable volume, general and subspecialty balance), and I liked that you rotate at 2 other hospitals to broaden your general peds background (although 1 of the hospitals is almost an hour away and this can be somewhat annoying of a drive, apparently). I dont think we met the dept chair. Their electronic medical record system is really seamless. I havent been able to get as many opinions about it since I left, since it's not as well known where I'm from. But Im still really excited about it and also going to rank it high.

Any thoughts about these programs?

I interviewed at both of these places ... I echo a lot of what you've said. I got a great "feel" from UNC. We did meet the PD and the chair ... but no one-on-one conversations like I've had most other places. I really liked this program. Duke ... I loved the residents here ... I'm concerned that it's too specialty driven and that it's not a stand alone.

Overall, I liked both programs and will probably be ranking them both highly. We'll see ...

 

[GoSprout24]

Pros:
Excellent variety of patients and subspeciality exposure.
Large program
Program director is fairly new and very approachable.
Residents are unionized and apparently got a salary increase from this.
Good ancillary staff described.
Several large PICUs and at least one NICU that we were actually allowed to see.
Faculty was friendly, and residents seemed to get along well.
Great city to live in.
dedicated to night float system
Decent research opportunities (if you're into that).

Cons:
Somewhat expensive to live there.
Rounding teams were quite large and it was hard to tell what was going on sometimes.


(I loved this program)

I generally agree with the previous post on CNMC. My additions/differing opinions are as follows:

PROS:
- Offers three tracks: categorical, community (more time spent at Howard University Hospital, a more "community"-like hospital with more bread and butter patients), and primary care (more time spent in outpt clinic)
- REACH Program: can apply for protected time (half day a week) in your PGY-2,-3 years for a research project - research can be basic, clinical, advocacy, anything.
- PD, faculty, residents all friendly and approachable. Residents seem to really enjoy their lives outside of the hospital.
- Brand new wing of hospital to open in 11/2007. Includes new wards and ICUs. The current inpatient wing of the hospital is a bit drab.
- Great city. Though the roads are darn confusing! I got lost driving multiple times.

CONS:
- While PD is very nice, she is new and a bit young. The PD at Howard (for the community track) is very new and young as well. For me, this brings some concern: I wonder if this is a case of "young faculty getting stuck with the job"-syndrome.
- Ancillary better than NYC hospitals, but not as great as some. Phlebotomy only comes by twice a day (once in morning, once in afternoon). No true IV/Phlebotomy team at night - but apparently the residents have hired this guy, General, who will do all the blood work at night. The residents seem to really love him.
- No free food/meal tickets. Apparently the money for food is actually incorporated into your salary, which the residents like, but I wasn't sure.
- Hospital not really accessible by Metro/bus. Pretty much all residents drive to work.

 

[GoSprout24]

Here are a couple more notes about programs. Drop me a line if need more info.

Boston Childrens Hospital (BCRP):
Pros :
Numerous men (12/28 PGY1, 9/29 PGY2, 8/26 PGY3)
Large ICU (24 PICU, 24 CICU, 26 NICU, 13 SCT)
Get to practice formal procedures & ER Scenarios in ER, CC, and simulator
Resident dominance in program
Partner with Dana Farber, if interested in Onc
Powerful fellowship opportunities with almost assured admittance
Career Development block
Active leadership training for residents
Largest pediatric research facility (150 million/yr)
Good orientation (6 days) w/ summer and winter retreats
Good mass transit
Medicolegal presence for underserved populations
Active diversity in residents (Ethnicity, sex, LGB)
4-6 complicated pts/intern w/ good time to read
Ridiculously friendly faculty at meetings
Strong development of academic careers (85% enter academia)
Personal Touch (Fleischer - Chairman, Lovejoy - Program Chair, Lux - Intern Selection Chair) all individually shaked hands and greated each applicant

Cons :
Call heavy (q4 & ER shifts 11 months)
Not possible to buy a home
Boston Medical Center kind of pales compared to BCH

Here are my additions. To note, I am more of a primary care/child advocacy/international health sort of person. I note this bc Rybaby seems to be more of a subspecialty type of person (not sure, but just a guess! ), so we probably offer differing views:

PROS:
- I actually loved BMC. The major urban hospital in Boston. Sees the poor and the disadvantaged populations. Get a lot of autonomy as there really aren't any fellows. Hospital is huge into advocacy projects and international health. Attendings are fantastic. Work with Boston U medical students.
- Primary Care/Urban track is great. Protected time PGY-2 and -3 years to do an advocacy/community health project. Spend more time at BMC (which I like). Some selected months for advocacy/public health education.
- Great international health opportunities. BMC doc takes residents to Bolivia to work with street children in their week off btw PGY-1 and -2 years. Harvard clinic in Lesotho, Africa that you can rotate at where you are essentially the pediatrician in the hospital.
- Boston is cool.

CONS:
- Call schedule is a bit rough. I think you're q4 about 10-11 months PGY-1, 8 months PGY-2, 9 months PGY-3 (If my math is right. Could be more, it's kind of hard to decifer). Residents say that PGY-1 and -2 are very tough and you get pretty worn out, but PGY-3 is better.
- Atmosphere is a bit intense. I did get a small taste of the "Harvard" attitude (i.e. Intern Selection Coordinator jokes about how they're not just interviewing you for 3 years, but for 30 years bc so many residents stay for the rest of their lives. I know he meant well, but I was kind of turned off by this). To be honest, though, there was less "Harvard" attitude than when I looked there for undergrad and interviewed there for med school, so that is good.
- Fellows are pretty numerous and strong at Boston Children's. Residents state strong working relationships with them, but admit that the fellows will take over if you let them -- so you just need to be sure to be vocal and proactive.

OVERALL: Exposure to diversity of patients (in disease process and socioeconomic status) possibly unmatched anywhere else. I think your education and training would be top notch -- but with it comes an intense environment with a lot of call.

 

[Pedialyte]

LA &SF
So it seems as though people have covered the LA programs, so unless anyone wants another perspective, then I'll just skip those. Stanford and UCSF have also been covered, so I'll just add Oakland to the CA list here. For what it's worth, I will say that I'm a fan of Stanford, UCLA, and Oakland---as far as CA goes. This will be rambling, since I'm not really taking notes anymore on interviews.

OAKLAND:
Essentially, it's a larger program (20-something interns) with a very pretty free-standing children's hospital. It's like a 30-40min commute over the bridge from San Fran, and many of the residents end up living in the East Bay area around or in Oakland. Big surprise to me, the midwesterner, is that Oakland can be actually really nice. The residents designed a little driving tour for me and I found a lot of really cute areas I loved in Oakland. Turns out I thought Oakland was awesome. Sushi, curry, and having a place with a yard? That sounded pretty ideal to me. The residents are social and very nice. I'm also a peculiar blend of shopaholic and left-winger, so the combo of San Fran plus Oakland's commitment to the underserved was great for me. They even mentioned a same-sex couple adoption clinic, which impressed me. The program is both single/family friendly, and there are really nice/smart faculty here.

Those are my rambling thoughts!

 

[blanche]

Children's Memorial Chicago

-great resident group, seemed to hang out and have a good time
-balanced workload
-great facility (nicest hospital i've seen that's going to be replaced!)
-located in nice part of chicago, most residents walk or bike, can drive if want, and if you live out a bit it's even cheaper
-tons of subspecialties
-floors are arranged to sort pts by their issue, so your neuro pts will be on the neuro floor with nurses who are used to seizing kids...makes life a bit easier
-morning report was pretty good
-teaching on rounds that i observed was awesome. even on general peds service, there were some pretty interesting kids that the team was discussing
-just got a great vibe here

+/-
-new hospital, but won't be done while we're there, unless staying on for fellowship maybe

 

[Pedialyte]

Children's Memorial Chicago

-great resident group, seemed to hang out and have a good time
-balanced workload
-great facility (nicest hospital i've seen that's going to be replaced!)
-located in nice part of chicago, most residents walk or bike, can drive if want, and if you live out a bit it's even cheaper
-tons of subspecialties
-floors are arranged to sort pts by their issue, so your neuro pts will be on the neuro floor with nurses who are used to seizing kids...makes life a bit easier
-morning report was pretty good
-teaching on rounds that i observed was awesome. even on general peds service, there were some pretty interesting kids that the team was discussing
-just got a great vibe here

+/-
-new hospital, but won't be done while we're there, unless staying on for fellowship maybe

I would also add to Blanche's notes (b/c I forgot to put it my previous post on NU) that your teams are also basically completely split up by organ system, more so than most other programs. So, in addition to nursing organization, that also directs the residents' learning style (i.e., you know you have a renal kid because you're on renal team...your next intern month may be GI, then next intern month may be cards, then pulm, etc.). It's just a different way of doing it, but there's a plus/minus here (depending upon your view) in having your learning sort of lumped by organ system.

 

[gingersnap]

Anybody been to Rush?

My impressions:
Pros:
Nice children's floors
Tons of perks such as high pay, meals, resident union
Residents seemed competent
Not esconced in a secluded peds bubble - get to see some other specialties
affordable housing
Chicago is beautiful
Some top name cardiology people, esp fetal echo

Cons:
Didn't get that gut feeling from the PD and definitely not from the assistant PD
Residents seemed nice but didn't get the feeling they were friends w/ each other
it's cold
Only 2 ward teams at any time

I really am at a loss of what to do about this program. Not going to rank it super high but don't know where to place it in comparison to some of my other choices. Thoughts?

 

[Podocyte]

Has anybody been to University of Wisconsin or to Mayo? Just curious what others thought. Thanks!

 

[pedsfan125]

I just wanted to see if anyone interviewed at Children's hospital in Pittsburgh. Any thoughts about the program or the city?

 

[redpiolet]

Nice residents, good solid program, probably a little fellow driven. Nice perks- free tix to area sports and shows. Well endowed program. New hospital in the next couple of years. Q4 as intern, then night float. Affordable city to live in. Good restaurants. Overall, pretty good program. I'm thinking of ranking it high.

 

[tarhealer]

Hey peeps,

So I've seen a few people writing about the two programs. I'm actually at UNC (as if you couldn't guess by my username). In speaking to UNC, it is a PHENOMENAL program. The residents are super-nice and I love Chapel Hill. Even though it's not a city, there's a ton offered here in the Triangle in the way of culture, dining, etc. The EMR here is fantastic and the facilities great too; in fact, it's kinda spoiled me, which I didn't realize until I hit the interview trail. I've also worked at WakeMed (one of the community sites). They are WONDERFUL and treat the residents like gold there. The director is super sweet, very kind-grand-fatherly like. The attendings are really nice and chill. Plenty get great fellowships, and there's a pretty solid mix of generalists and fellowships. I really love this place and the program, but there is a reason why I am ranking this not-so highly. This is a great place to "settle down" and I'm single and ready to go out and have fun. After being here for 8 years, I'm ready for a change. Also, the program is very married. If you're single and looking for an out-going crowd, it's not so great. And the dating scene in the area, if you're a female, is not the best. So, if I were ready to settle down, from somewhere else where Chapel Hill would be new to me, and/or had a significant other, I would SOOOO rank UNC #1. Besides, they do have phenomenal med students and basketball!