2007-2008 Interview Impressions Thread

[ESPNdeportes]

Found this thread helpful last year, so I'm starting it up again for this year.

My first interview was Wash U (St. Louis) last week

Pros:
+ Funny, laid back program director. Seems like he would be very approachable
+ Nice hospital with many new additions, including CICU. 1/2 done with a family style NICU (very nice)
+ Have "House Staff Assistant"- basically each team has a full time employee whose job it to help basically, with scutwork (getting old records, scheduling followup, etc.). Seems like it would be a big help, said only 3-4 other programs have this.
+ Their outpatient program, COPE seems nice. 1:1 pairing with a community physician
+ Golden Weekends (I see it as a plus)
+ Hospital in nice area. Lots of residents/med students live within 5 minutes, can walk to work. There are bars and coffee shops 2 blocks away. Also is across the street from Forest park, which has running path, fields, zoo, etc. Also close to metro stop to go downtown if you don't want to drive
+ Low cost of living in St. Louis
+ 50/50 of people doing fellowship or general after residency
+ Attendings don't always go to rounds. I think this helps the senior resident to step up. Seems like this program gives more autonomy than other large programs with lots of fellows.

Cons:
- No night float at all. So interns can take admissions from afternoon until 7 AM. They do have a new thing called "morning helper." an intern who comes in at 5 am, takes admissions and helps the post call intern get out, but that is only on weekends and then during the busy winter months. The interns said they basically never get any sleep.
- There is going to be MAJOR construction on the main E-W highway through St. Louis over next two years, as in they are closing it down completely. This is going to change traffic patterns and could make living in certain parts of town impossible due to traffic. There is also concern of patients not being able to make it to the hospital because of the highway being closed. Its possible this could lighten the pt load.
- No morning report for interns every day, only one day a week. Seniors get morning conference every day I believe
- Conference schedule seemed confusing (http://www.peds.wustl.edu/residency/conferences.html)
- Low attendance at conference (maybe 25) when I was there
- Orders, daily notes on paper. Said they are working on a EMR, but definitely not soon
- St. Louis is a high crime city (I think its the #1 city for crime in the US....but don't quote me here)

Overall Impression: I think it is a very solid program. Good exposure to general and subspecialties. No night float during 9 months of q4 call makes for a tough intern year though. I really like the area around the hospital, don't think I would have to drive too much if I lived there. The construction is concerning, so you should consider it if you plan on living in the suburbs. I was also a little concerned about the lack of morning report for interns as well as the low conference attendance. I was surprised, I did like the program more than I thought but I'll definitely need to see some other places to get some perspective.

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[ZekeMD]

Great idea!

 

[drbon]

+ Have "House Staff Assistant"- basically each team has a full time employee whose job it to help basically, with scutwork (getting old records, scheduling followup, etc.). Seems like it would be a big help, said only 3-4 other programs have this.

omg that sounds AWESOME! too bad i'm not applying outside the northeast
are you allowed to make them get you coffee too or is that stepping over the line?

 

[m1234d]

are you allowed to make them get you coffee too or is that stepping over the line?

they're assistants not med students!!

i'm interviewing here on monday the 12th, looking forward to it. one of the interns was a med student at washu and says she loved it and would have stayed if she hadn't had to go through couples match with her hubby.

 

[reba2223]

Just an FYI on STL's crime rate...I'm pretty sure East St. Louis was factored into that rating and for anyone familiar with Stl you realize that East STL is almost like a different world when compared to STL. I wouldn't let that be a big con on your list. I've spent a lot of time in STL and haven't ever had to worry about crime.

 

[ZekeMD]

First interview was today....at my home institution. University of Rochester

First off...the program director is amazing! Dr. Harris is really looking out for the residents and goes to bat for them. The new Chair, Dr. Schor, is an amazing person and very easy to talk to and very nice.

The residents are a very cohesive group and all very down-to-earth. The Childrens Hospital is incorporated into the main hospital. (ie, it is not a stand alone childrens hospital). While some may consider this a weak point, this is viewed as a strength by many at the program. It allows access to many physicians and specialties and for a more well-rounded training experience. The faculty are absolutely amazing! Teaching rounds are a great learning experience and attendance at morning report is very good.

As for the city of Rochester.... it isn't very big....about 300,000 people, but big enough to have lots to do. It is VERY affordable! Many residents choose to purchase houses. There is crime in the city, however it is limited to certain areas. The hospital is in a relatively safe neighborhood. People sometimes mention the weather as a negative factor...while we do have snow, we don't have tornadoes, hurricaines, or earthquakes The winter isn't too bad, especially if you have a garage to store your car in.

I'm a bit biased, but overall I think it is a great program. I am tempted to stay here because my family is here, but there are still other great programs to see!

 

[m1234d]

so, i interviewed at Loyola today. It was a very pleasant day, and everyone was very welcoming. they have 10 residents a year, and are happy with this number. Their night float system is confusing, but seemed like it made people happy by avoiding an entire month of night float (which - if any of you have had the joy of doing during a rotation- is brutal, because you are basically absent from your life during nf). they provided many examples of resident feedback initiating changes in the program. they mentioned that they are recruiting faculty heavily, specifically a heme/onc guy has signed, a behavior specialist (theirs left this year or last for CMH) is pending, and possibly adding a pulmonologist (currently none) and cardiologist.
evals include midrotation and end rotation evals from attgs, and anonymous evals from peers as they arise (such as "answer your beeper" and " stop coming in at the last minute")

loyola, is considered a "jewel" of a program. they see a wide diversity of patients, have well trained faculty (with some inbreeding though- but i dont know if more than normal), provide good education, have decently good fellowship placement, but aren't a "name"

the biggest disadvantage is the eisenhower expressway, affectionately referred to by chicagoans as the eisenhower parking lot - and they aren't doing construction. whoever designed the thing hopefully did not go to UofIllinois for their engineering degree i thought i was better trained than that and i wasnt even a civil.

overall, it was a nice program with nice, cheery residents. the resident who gave the tour was post call and seemed like she wanted to be there. they have residents from a decent number of places outside chicago too, which is nice.

 

[165808]

the biggest disadvantage is the eisenhower expressway, affectionately referred to by chicagoans as the eisenhower parking lot - and they aren't doing construction. whoever designed the thing hopefully did not go to UofIllinois for their engineering degree i thought i was better trained than that and i wasnt even a civil.

Ahh, the Eisenhower. It makes me laugh when people call it "The Ike." I have the dire misfortune of traveling it every day, because I live right off it. You get used to it -- I'm an LA girl at heart, so traffic isn't a huge deal to me anymore!!

 

[coldflare]

This is a really great idea. I'll offer a bit of advice, as someone who interviewed (and matched) in peds last year: at the end of each interview day, when you board your flight (or get behind the wheel) to go home, jot as many notes as you can about each site - not only facts or statistics, but also your general impressions about the program. It's really important to write down something distinctive, that will allow you to remember which program is which, like "two children's hospitals, one downtown and one on campus" or "large child life atrium in center of hospital" or "no residents showed up to the pre-interview dinner." You'll be surprised how many of the interview days will run together in February when you're trying to make your rank list.

 

[reba2223]

Arkansas was my first interview. The residents were all very friendly when they took us out to dinner. They seemed to really answer the questions we asked honestly and all of them seemed to really love their program. We were also taken out to lunch the next day by different residents which I found to be really great. It gave me the impression that the program wasn't trying to hide anything and really wanted us to get to know their residents and all about the program. The children's hospital is reallly pretty amazing. Most records are electronic, they have a full range of services and procedures including a ECMO available during transports of patients, a special elective you can do with the transport team, and cardiac transplant. No patients are outsourced to other facilities. THe resident call rooms and lounge was pretty nice. Benifits, salaries, and vacation are all pretty great and the call schedule is pretty painless due to a good night float system in place.

Children's Mercy Hospital: Really I got about the same vibe from the residents at Mercy as I did at Arkansas. Their call schedule is also sweet!! The hospital was not as nice as Arkansas' but the attendings and staff were very friendly. The main advantage over Arkansas is Kansas City itself....but again it's kind of a toss up because the hospital is much nicer in Little Rock. I did feel that research opportunities were less available at Mercy as compared to Arkansas. Resident lounge was nice...call rooms less impressive. Either Arkansas or Mercy would be able to give great training and I feel you would be able to place yourself in a great fellowship after training at either program.

SLU: Cardinal Glennon is undergoing much growth and rebuilding. The hospitals ER, NICU, ambulatory clinics, and Wards have all be recently rebuilt. Residents were very laid back and friendly. Night float in place for senior residents only. Intern call is Q4 on inpatient, Q7 on NICU. PICU is done as a 2nd and 3rd year resident. Has had some issues with RRC and is only accredited for a 1 year period before another review must take place....however the program seems to have addressed the issues causing the limited accreditation.

 

[kkmed]

SLU: Cardinal Glennon is undergoing much growth and rebuilding. The hospitals ER, NICU, ambulatory clinics, and Wards have all be recently rebuilt. Residents were very laid back and friendly. Night float in place for senior residents only. Intern call is Q4 on inpatient, Q7 on NICU. PICU is done as a 2nd and 3rd year resident. Has had some issues with RRC and is only accredited for a 1 year period before another review must take place....however the program seems to have addressed the issues causing the limited accreditation.[/quote]

What are the issues that the RRC had? I am interested in SLU, but now I am really concerned. What have they done to address the issues?

 

[m1234d]

Found this thread helpful last year, so I'm starting it up again for this year.

My first interview was Wash U (St. Louis) last week

Pros:
+ Funny, laid back program director. Seems like he would be very approachable
+ Nice hospital with many new additions, including CICU. 1/2 done with a family style NICU (very nice)
+ Have "House Staff Assistant"- basically each team has a full time employee whose job it to help basically, with scutwork (getting old records, scheduling followup, etc.). Seems like it would be a big help, said only 3-4 other programs have this.
+ Their outpatient program, COPE seems nice. 1:1 pairing with a community physician
+ Golden Weekends (I see it as a plus)
+ Hospital in nice area. Lots of residents/med students live within 5 minutes, can walk to work. There are bars and coffee shops 2 blocks away. Also is across the street from Forest park, which has running path, fields, zoo, etc. Also close to metro stop to go downtown if you don't want to drive
+ Low cost of living in St. Louis
+ 50/50 of people doing fellowship or general after residency
+ Attendings don't always go to rounds. I think this helps the senior resident to step up. Seems like this program gives more autonomy than other large programs with lots of fellows.

Cons:
- No night float at all. So interns can take admissions from afternoon until 7 AM. They do have a new thing called "morning helper." an intern who comes in at 5 am, takes admissions and helps the post call intern get out, but that is only on weekends and then during the busy winter months. The interns said they basically never get any sleep.
- There is going to be MAJOR construction on the main E-W highway through St. Louis over next two years, as in they are closing it down completely. This is going to change traffic patterns and could make living in certain parts of town impossible due to traffic. There is also concern of patients not being able to make it to the hospital because of the highway being closed. Its possible this could lighten the pt load.
- No morning report for interns every day, only one day a week. Seniors get morning conference every day I believe
- Conference schedule seemed confusing (http://www.peds.wustl.edu/residency/conferences.html)
- Low attendance at conference (maybe 25) when I was there
- Orders, daily notes on paper. Said they are working on a EMR, but definitely not soon
- St. Louis is a high crime city (I think its the #1 city for crime in the US....but don't quote me here)

Overall Impression: I think it is a very solid program. Good exposure to general and subspecialties. No night float during 9 months of q4 call makes for a tough intern year though. I really like the area around the hospital, don't think I would have to drive too much if I lived there. The construction is concerning, so you should consider it if you plan on living in the suburbs. I was also a little concerned about the lack of morning report for interns as well as the low conference attendance. I was surprised, I did like the program more than I thought but I'll definitely need to see some other places to get some perspective.

this was my second interview. i agree with almost everything above. my friend is a grad student at washU and loves StL, very affordable, large and young diverse crowd (relatively). I knew it was a good program, but i was very impressed with it- well above what i expected. my group asked about the conference attendance, and really the residents didnt seem very gung-ho about conferences, which is fine by me, cause all i ever do at conference (unless its journal club ) is fall asleep no matter how hard i try to stay awake. the seniors really are in charge on the floor, and the RD made a point to emphasize that autonomy is with the residents and the fellows are on the floor in the afternoon for a bit. i really liked this program a lot.

 

[CrazyPeds527]

Echoing all of the other posts about this program...

Whoever has spread the "this program is malignant" rumor to various other attendings and residents; im not sure where it came from. Maybe old school people who knew this program 10-15 years ago?

This was my first interview and everyone was SOOO friendly, surprisingly so.

What else can i say besides what has already been said...

They feed you breakfast, lunch and dessert w/ coffee, not to mention the dinner with the residents.

Although a lot of the residents are MD/PhD (we had 10 interns at noon conference, 6 were MD/PhD), i dont think it is crammed down your throat that research is the only thing to do in life. They seemed to be all about the clinical education as well.

Fellows? Not allowed to write orders...the residents are definitely "in charge" from what we saw and heard. Maybe in the CICU, the fellows and surgeons are making more decisions, but from what the residents said, they werent really knowing what to do next anyway

Moonlighting on the transport team, flying in the helicopter to various small towns AND getting PAID!!! ($500+ for a busy night on call!!!!!!!!!, one guy said his buddy made $2000 in one 24hr shift.)

Diagnostic month, you basically are in the clinic with this guy who is like "House" but without the jerk-ness, solving cases that are challenging.

That's all i've got...PM with ?'S
time now!

All said, i was very, very impressed

 

[ZekeMD]

Interviewed at Yale today. I was amazed! I absolutely LOVE the program. The residents were all very nice and all seemed very excited to be there.

Some details:

Call is q4 for interns....5 months of inpatient wards. Senior residents have a 3-resident rotation that switches every week while on an inpatient ward. That means it is similar to a night float, but with much more continuity of care. It's kind of hard to explain. The program is very receptive to feedback and makes appropriate changes. The residents mentioned the lack of training in the NICU and they made appropriate changes that create a slow introduction to the care of NICU patients. They have a course on sedation during second year!

New Haven. It is small (150K), but has the feeling of a more urban setting. It is fairly affordable and close to both NYC and beantown.

Overall, a great program with great people. I would jump at the chance to go here

 

[reba2223]

I guess they had 20 infractions when the RRC came to review the school. Most of it appeared to be minor book keeping issues and have been fixed. Other things like logging work hours and documenting the hours for the 80 hr work week were more major problems but have now beed addressed through a phone system which allows residents to clock in and out at the start and end of each day. Committees are in place to address the issues. You should ask about it when you interview there...they are pretty open about talking about the issues.

 

[HKDO08]

Has anyone interviewed at Loma Linda yet? If so, how did it go? I will be interviewing there pretty soon and I'm curious how it went for others.

 

[ZekeMD]

This program was absolutely amazing! The residents and faculty were all very happy and very approachable. They have resident assistants who do scut work for you! They are building a brand new childrens hospital which will be completed during our 3rd year. The old hospital is actually very nice anyhow. They get food for breakfast and lunch almost every day PLUS money on their cards. One resident told us that he has never paid for a meal in all the 3 years he has been there. They have basically every subspecialty and are very well-respected. They have Michigan football and hockey teams there! Interns are q4 for about half of the year. Senior residents work on night float except for PICU and NICU rotations which are still q4. Residents get signout at 6:30am with morning report at 8am (except for days where there are grand rounds). Evening signout is usually at 6pm, but they try to get people out by 4 if there work is done. They try to get you home by 12-12:30 on post-call days. They have great electronic medical records! All notes are electronic...as are labs, orders, radiology, etc. The only thing that is not electronic are vital signs. This makes writing notes MUCH simpler. If the exam is unchanged, you can simply copy and paste from the previous days note. You can also copy your A+P and make changes where needed. I can see how this could save TONS of time!

Ann Arbor is small. Just over 100K. It is a very nice town. I felt very comfortable driving around and the town is safe. It may be a problem if you're a big city person as Ann Arbor is not a big city. It is about 45 minutes from Detroit however.

 

[starwisher]

SLU[/B]: Cardinal Glennon is undergoing much growth and rebuilding. The hospitals ER, NICU, ambulatory clinics, and Wards have all be recently rebuilt. Residents were very laid back and friendly. Night float in place for senior residents only. Intern call is Q4 on inpatient, Q7 on NICU. PICU is done as a 2nd and 3rd year resident. Has had some issues with RRC and is only accredited for a 1 year period before another review must take place....however the program seems to have addressed the issues causing the limited accreditation.

I agree the hospital is nice, but I wasn't impressed with the program at all. A few residents came to the dinner beforehand and the lunch but otherwise I didn't get a lot of interaction with the residents--especially because the interview group was so large that I felt like I was interacting so much more with the other candidates than the residents. The cheif resident didn't have much of a personality and seemed rushed and disinterested giving our tour (they showed us the recently renovated cafeteria, but not the PICU because it hasn't been updated yet). I felt like the morning report was a waste of time and had no educational value...if I was a resident there I'd much rather be getting work done than attending a pointless conference, although it was fairly well attended by residents only about 3-4 attendings were there who provided almost no input at all. It is not in a very nice area of St. Louis and overall I didn't find much appealing about my visit. The chairman mentioned they had a problem with there ped surgeons leaving and about the one year accreditation which wouldn't have bothered me as much has I felt like it was the right place for me, but with everything together I don't think I'd want to end up there.

I absoultely loved MCW, it is hard to put a finger exactly on why though. I just felt like it was a great program, the residents seemed so happy and social, the salary is outstanding for Milwakee. I liked the senior morning report (although it is disappointing that the interns don't get to go everyday), there seemed to be a lot of great interaction with the faculty, and I liked the hospital.

Besides SLU and MCW the other places I've been are Rush and Iowa--they didn't stand out as being great or horrible. Both were laid back and seemed like relaxed programs with nice and pretty happy residents, They wouldn't be high on my list but I think I'd be comfortable matching at either place. Iowa city is an adorable town, but it is Iowa, and neither program has a stand alone children's hospital.

 

[DoctorSoccer]

Zeke, which did you like better, Michigan or Yale? I'm definitely going to Yale, but I'm thinking of not going to Michigan (and Minnesota). It's just a lot of traveling from Upstate NY (I know you can relate), and seeing as I have to go out west 3 different times in January, I really think I might pass. If you thought Michigan was a lot better than Yale, though, I might have to rethink this all. Thanks man.

 

[ZekeMD]

Zeke, which did you like better, Michigan or Yale? I'm definitely going to Yale, but I'm thinking of not going to Michigan (and Minnesota). It's just a lot of traveling from Upstate NY (I know you can relate), and seeing as I have to go out west 3 different times in January, I really think I might pass. If you thought Michigan was a lot better than Yale, though, I might have to rethink this all. Thanks man.

I liked them both a lot. They have their differences though. New Haven has a more urban feel to it than Ann Arbor, despite the populations being about the same. Michigan is building a new hospital that looks like it will be amazing! Everything is electronic at Michigan which is a BIG PLUS . Imagine being able to chart round without leaving your chair! ie no deciphering attendings messy handwriting and no searching the floors for charts. At Yale, most things are electronic, but notes are still paper. The curricula are similar....since it's mandated. Both have q4 as interns and then work their way into a night float system. Yale has a unique way to cover nights...which you'll hear about it. Overall, I felt the programs were comparable....I think the residents work harder in Michigan. Hope that helps

 

[MelRoos]

So overall had a good day.
They pay for a you to stay in a nice hotel- close to the hospital. You meet with the program director in the morning for an hour, then go to morning report. The have 3 interviews. one is with an administration- so either program director, or assistant or similar, one is with a core interviewer- they have 10-12 who interview everyone, and the third is with a faculty who does a few interviews a season. all were good. One of the interviewers is "blind" only has your personal statement so as not to be biased by paper qualifications and is instead to get to know you as a person. Then havea personal tour of hospital, followd by lunch with residents. Then meeting with cheif residents for coverage of all basic points-call schedule etc. Then you are done, or can meet with anyone that you are interested in meeting with- sub specialty people etc.
Was very impressed with scheduling, residents, response of residency to resident concerns, facilties, pateint volume. residents seemed very happy- and also to all know each other despite larger class size (32).
Went to dinner night before and was good.
Only issue was the shuttle did not show up at the hotel to take us to the hospital, so got there ourselves.....

 

[CrazyPeds527]

Pros:
+ Facilities are GORGEOUS, new hospital moved in last month, ward teams are mostly one floor
+ "County" medical center looks like a private hospital
+ First-name basis with faculty (even during the interview, one dude said "first things first, call me Mike")
+ Supportive chiefs
+ Day/Night Float
+ Denver area is very nice
+ Conferences well attended
+ Free Parking/food stipend, food at AM report
+ Nice mix of tertiary care at TCH and "bread and butter" at DHMC (county)
+ Good rural rotation
+ International rotations encouraged and well organized

Cons:
+ Only 2 residents and 1 chief at dinner night before, no interns...red flag?
+ Disorganized interview day (Shuttle late picking up applicants at hotel, shuttle to DHMC for tour only had 6 seats so we stood for a half hour waiting for them to figure it out; one applicant had to drive himself so he could make his flight)
+ Met 2 interns (of 25??!!) the whole day, everyone else on the tour at Children's was nowhere to be found
+ Lots of spanish (could be a pro)
+ PD didn't exactly seem overly open
+ residents didn't exactly seem like they enjoyed the constant hand-offs of the day/night system at Children's, and spoke about 12 1/2 hr days feeling long as opposed to q4 at DHMC

Overall Impression:
Well, i just didn't feel the vibe here...i kept thinking all day "where is everyone??" The people i did meet were friendly, but it was curious. The disorganization i thought was pretty unacceptable. The hospitals now are 30-45 minutes apart depending on traffic, which can be an issue. Denver is an awesome city though, but if anyone knows where all of the residents were....

 

[reba2223]

I really didn't like MCOW as much as I thought I would...I did not feel a connection with the residents and didn't find most of them to be very outgoing. It may have just been the group of residents I was with on my interview day, but personally I liked Indiana about 100 times more than MCOW. MCOW has a great reputation and anyone going there will be well trained, but I just didn't get too excited about it while being there. To me nothing really stood out as being better than RILEY and I liked the residents a ton more at RILEY. Riley is building a huge addition to the children's hospital as is MCOW. Both programs are q4 for 8-9 months during intern year and neither has night float in place. Both programs have wonderful fellowship placement post residency. I can't say anything bad about either program, but I just got a better feeling at Riley overall for some reason. I also liked the program director more at Riley. Anyway overall both great programs, but I don't think MCOW is for me.

 

[ZekeMD]

Pitt: I was very impressed with this program. The dinner the night before was wonderful and tons of residents showed up. The residents were all very happy and pleased with their decision. Pittsburgh is relatively affordable and many residents buy houses. They are building a brand new hospital which looks AMAZING! The program director was very nice a welcomed questions. Interviews were laid back.

Ohio State: I was pleasantly surprised by this program. I absolutely loved it there. The hospital is beautiful, as is the city. Columbus is affordable and many residents buy houses. Call is q6! Completely electronic medical records are a big plus.

Cinci: There was good things and bad things at Cinci. First of all, the city is run down and the hospital is in a bad neighborhood. The hospital itself was beautiful however. The residents were all very friendly and seemed happy. No EMR . The residents are well taken care of. Catered breakfast and lunch every day! What really disappointed me was one of my interviews. The interviewer asked me some questions that were downright offensive and I was very insulted. This was only one interview, and the rest were good. But the one interview left a sour taste in my mouth.

 

[CrazyPeds527]

Pros
+ Residents here seemed awesome, very friendly
+ Cleveland is super affordable, lots of people buy, some rent downtown
+ Dinner w/ residents was at someone's house (who cooked!!), allowed us to interact instead of talking over bar noise
+ Faculty were amazingly friendly, lots of people from the Ohio area, but they emphasized that you didn't have to be from there to get around
+ Cleveland not the crappy place i thought; lots to do...the UH campus is very nice
+ Res lounge stocked with food
+ People really talked up how much they helped others out
+ Lots of fellows who actually let the residents do procedures, even heart caths and chest tubes!
+ PDs very nice
+ Sit down time with chairman, one of the fathers of NICU who actually is involved with resident education, very impressive man

Cons
- Cleveland's weather isn't going to agree with everyone
- NICU is being built, but not done until between Dec-Feb of 08/09
- ED is being built, goal is 09; the residents admitted the current ED attached to the main hospital is crappy
- Area west of hospital/case campus is not exactly great
- Residents pay for parking, $40/month

Overall
I LOVED my day at rainbow! I had one concern that is only a personal interest of mine, and was addressed very quickly and honestly. This is a friendly group who didn't seem all that tired and worn down like some i have seen. This was a solid interview day

 

[DingleBerry]

Yale
I'll try not to repeat too much of what others have said and try to point out some unique aspects of this program:
- during 5 month inpatient you start AT 7am, no prerounding and are usually out by 5pm if not on call, you carry 2-15 patients at any one time so basicly you admit a ton of patients on call and then there is high turnover
-You are eased into NICU as a first year being assigned to less critical patients during the day, the residents felt they had a lot of support from the NPs in the unit at all times
-Residents do PICU as a first year but same deal with the NICU- you see less critical patients as an intern
-Floors are mostly organized by age except for a heme/onc and chronic respiratory unit
-There is an attending for the month each floor, and there is also a full time hospitalist year round to help provide some continuity
-Excellent resident salary with $1400 education stipend, rent in New Haven is about $800 a month for 1 bedroom but you NEED a car
-All the residents seem to agree that 2nd and 3rd yr are much easier than 1st year
-Overall seems like a solid program, happy residents in a below average location. I liked it but certainly was not blown away by Yale

Columbia
-They just found a new chairman, this will be his first year
-The hospital is cutting edge, everything is electronic and the atmosphere is very child-friendly
-Even as an intern you have some call free electives and there is sick call rotation to cover missing team members
-Columbia has access to any kind of therapy you can imagine so you see some really tertiary stuff, but there is also lots of bread-and-butter from the local community
-no night float, residents are on average of q4 but it can be anywhere from q2-q6 because continuity clinic is the same day each week and your call is changed to assure that you're never there post-call. As an intern you spend 1/2 day in continuity clinic each week, 1 entire day as 2nd and 3rd yr on the same day of the week so that you have the same patients for your entire residency.
-Almost all rotations are done in the main hospital
-NICU- you can carry up to 30 pts when you're on call at night but fellow is in the unit 24/7 to help
-I was really impressed with the level of knowledge of the residents. They all stress that you work very hard at columbia but will learn accordingly
-Overall: Top notch program in NYC, doesn't get much better than that. I got the impression that if you come to Columbia you will work your butt off, but this is probably true for all the top programs

 

[ZekeMD]

This place is enormous. Texas Childrens Hospital is 21 floors (I think)....and that is only one building. Residents also rotate through a community hospital where they see more bread and butter pediatrics. So they get a great mix of the basics at Ben Taub and the weird and wonderful at TCH. We didn't meet a whole lot of residents during our day, but those we did speak with seemed very happy to be there and excited about the program. Both the program director and chair are amazing. They were both very nice and wonderful people. They seem very receptive to feedback from the residents. It is a very progressive place and they get to see all the new things before many other places. It is a busy place. You will work hard (as with any residency). The main drawback in my mind is that they have paper charting and paper orders. For such a progressive place, this surprised me a bit. They are hoping to transition to Epic in a year or two however.

Overall: an enormous place with tons of residents, great facilities, and amazing faculty

 

[m1234d]

UW-Madison
I was very impressed with this program. it's a smaller program, and really one that has a lot of very positive forward motion. The PD is a new med/peds from michigan, who strikes a really nice balance between being personal and professional. He is really into EBM, and integrating it more and more into the program. i think he has a clear idea of how best to bring his medicine training to his job, while keeping the peds program a peds program. they are working towards international elective time, working with an ID doc specifically, and the UW has a whole international medicine program of some sort - it was a little confusing. they have an advocacy project their first year (it is the UW school of medicine and public health now, and the PD has an MPH), and a scholarly project (with provided guidance including someone to help with IRB if you need it and a statistician) to be completed over the 3 years. This can either be under a faculty member's research or they will help you develop a realistic project if you have your own idea. they emphasize that faculty treat residents like adults, and this was clearly seen during morning conference in the conversations in their big beautiful conference room. the new hospital is amazing, open and cheery. there are going to be peds ORs opening 9/08 (they are currently with the rest of the ORs in the connected adult hospital) as well as more EMR planned at the same time (epic). Each applicant individually meets with the Chair for a little one on one time.
rounding is family centered-ish (w/ pharm, sw, etc) and walking. they have a short call system, with a month of night float per person (two on per night). you cover the gen peds service, the subspecialty service and the heme/onc (including BMT) service- i thought this was a lot, but the intern said it was fine. the picu and nicu are traditional q4, and with a senior. the newborn nursery, nicu and 1st year ER time (not after though, then ER at american family children's hospital) are at a community hospital near by because the UW obgyn program is there, and for more of the community feel. clinic is preceptor-ish, and this is the birth place of sports medicine, so you can do clinic with a sports medicine doc. the resident lounge is for peds residents only and is awesome. there are fellows, though i am not sure in which fields (def. picu, nicu, h/o), but when you round, the attendings are there, not just fellows.
overall i was very impressed, way more than i thought i would be. i think with the new children's hospital (before they were in the main hosp) and faculty clearly dedicated to resident education, and some research emphasis, this place will carve out a nice niche for itself.

 

[ESPNdeportes]

Since I started the thread and all, thought I'd post some of my updated experiences:

Hopkins
Pros:
+ True night float system- little call, you would get most evenings free
+ Very strong formal teaching
+ Super smart residents and attendings
+ I liked the feeling of history in the hospital

Cons:
- The City. The residents called Baltimore "patchy," which I guess you could say for most big cities, but I just felt like so much of Baltimore was in disrepair. And no, I can't blame The Wire for this (never seen the show, LOL)
- The residents seemed nice, but I wasn't sure how cohesive they were. It seems like a lot live out in the suburbs and I just didn't get the vibe they were as close knit as other places
- Lots of fellows

Overall: I think the program was impressive, but probably a bit too east-coasty to me......Guess I'm just looking for a friendlier program overall.

DC Childrens
Pros:
+ Tons of fantastic opportunities in DC, especially if you're into public health, etc.
+ Great new hospital tower with PICU and CICU, will eventually move general floors there
+ Residents are unionized- means they get a higher salary (maybe ~4-5k higher per year) and also get all federal holidays off if they aren't on call
+ True night float system- minimal call
+ PD said they worked an average of ~60 hrs/week
+ High volume hospital with wide variety of exposures

Cons:
- With the new snazzy tower, they forgot a major thing- call rooms for the residents. Yes, they built it without call rooms, and they are scrambling to try to find a solution. Seems like a slap in the face to the residents, and the ones I talked to were not very happy about it. To me, this sort of raised the larger question: does the hospital care about the residents? I just got the feeling that the hospital administration wasn't on board with the residency at all, and it seemed like a service hospital, not a great educational hospital
- The program director was nice, but I didn't get that warm/caring vibe from him. He gave a presentation called "Why You Should Rank us #1" that was just too business-like to me
- You can't take the Metro to the hospital if you're on an inpatient month, it won't get you there early enough. So, you do have to have a car in DC, which means more $$ and lots of traffic, especially if you live farther away

Overall: I really love DC, and the opportunities are amazing. I think the program is solid, I don't know how "caring" of a program it is compared to other places. I guess its a mixed bag for me. I'm definitely going to rank it, perhaps somewhere in the middle.

UNC
Pros:
+ Really happy, cohesive residents. I thought they were all really nice.
+ A resident driven hospital
+ PD seemed warm and caring
+ The Triangle area seems like a pretty nice place to live. It is inexpensive, most residents owned homes/condos, even single ones. With three major universities in the metro area (UNC, Duke, NC State) there are a lot of educated people in the area.
+ Really nice mix of general and specialty

Cons:
- Driving. There are three hospitals where you rotate (UNC, two others I cant remember). One is about ~20 mins away, the other is about ~50 mins away. You do 1-2 months each year at those places, so up to 6 months I think. When you rotate there, start times are later, so you end up getting up at the same time.
- The Triangle Area seemed to be all about suburban sprawl, lots of new developments, etc. It is certainly not a compact place. That said, I loved Chapel Hill, spent an extra day and stayed with a friend who lives there.

Overall: I really enjoyed UNC. The people were all warm, and the residents all seemed truly happy. I didn't really see too many holes in the program. It is not as prestigious as some other places I'm looking, but I have no doubt the training there would be great.

 

[bmm112407]

I really didn't like MCOW as much as I thought I would...I did not feel a connection with the residents and didn't find most of them to be very outgoing. It may have just been the group of residents I was with on my interview day, but personally I liked Indiana about 100 times more than MCOW. MCOW has a great reputation and anyone going there will be well trained, but I just didn't get too excited about it while being there. To me nothing really stood out as being better than RILEY and I liked the residents a ton more at RILEY. Riley is building a huge addition to the children's hospital as is MCOW. Both programs are q4 for 8-9 months during intern year and neither has night float in place. Both programs have wonderful fellowship placement post residency. I can't say anything bad about either program, but I just got a better feeling at Riley overall for some reason. I also liked the program director more at Riley. Anyway overall both great programs, but I don't think MCOW is for me.

Just an fyi -it's MCW! Not MCOW. Students from Medical College of Wisconsin have no clue when you say MCOW.

 

[m1234d]

Just an fyi -it's MCW! Not MCOW. Students from Medical College of Wisconsin have no clue when you say MCOW.

yes they do. that basically sums up why that program didn't seem like a good fit for me.

 

[AceRockolla]

yes they do. that basically sums up why that program didn't seem like a good fit for me.

I am not sure where bmm112407 is getting his/her information. As a second year peds resident, I have heard it called both MCW and MCOW by medical students. I even recall some of them devising a new bovine mascot for the program based on the MCOW acronym during one of my inpatient intern months!

m1234d: sorry to hear that we didnt seem to be a good fit. were there other things in particular that made the interview day good or bad? I am always looking for feedback. Just PM me when you get a chance.

If anyone else has questions about the program, please let me know.

 

[ESPNdeportes]

Been slacking on my program impressions.....here are some more

Vanderbilt
Pros:
+ new, spiffy stand alone hospital (opened late in 2004)
+ really happy residents
+ compact campus- close to undergrad, grad, med campuses. There is a free gym for staff right by the hospital. There are also several parks within a few miles. No excuses to not work out!!!
+ Very, very strong formal education. 18 month core lecture series. I really loved that they have a series of 48 "mini" lectures that are given before continuity clinic. PD said it was for topics that are important, but can be covered quickly (ie, toilet training, assessing readiness for kindergarten)
+ Per the PD, 100% board pass rate over past 9 years. Wow.
+ option to take 2nd half day during 2nd and 3rd year- can do another clinic or work an project (research, advocacy, whatever). It is protected on months except any intensive care rotations.
+ Nashville seems to be a cool place, great music scene. Just passed a smoking ban in the state
+ Complete EMR- residents raved about this
+ It is a q4 system, but there is night help in at 2am to take admissions
+ Case managers on teams to help with discharge and f/u care
Cons
- subspecialty mixed with general on the floors
- Not the most diverse group of residents
- Lots of private admissions
Overall: I came away very impressed. The formal teaching and great board pass rate were awesome. Nashville seemed like a cool city, I have friends there who really like it. I also loved the option to take a 2nd half day to work on a project. The residents seemed to get along very well and they were all really happy with everything about the program it seemed.

University of Washington
Pros:
+ A big program with tons of exposure, but also without a lot of fellows. Best autonomy of any place I interviewed.
+ Extremely happy residents. It seemed like they all get involved in some sort of project, even though I don't think there was a requirement
+ PD a major advocate for the residents
+ WWAMI rotation- coolest feature of a program, something that makes this program really stand out. Basically, for 2 months in your 2nd year, you join a rural community peds group (meaning you move away from Seattle). So you see patients in the office and take care of kids in hospital, and share call duty with the other pediatricians in the group. Another reason for great autonomy in the program.
+ Seattle is a cool, hip city
Cons
- Hospital is not a level 1 trauma center (will be soon)
- PICU rotation is at community hospital
Overall: Awesome program. Large program that feels small because there aren't too many fellows around. I was just really impressed by how much autonomy is given to these residents. The WWAMI rotation is unique and unparalleled by anything else I've seen.

Baylor
Pros:
+ Huge, awesome hospital, super busy
+ Great exposure to anything and everything
+ PD is awesome
+ High salary
Cons:
- Not a big fan of Houston. Traffic is terrible. Houston is the definition of suburban sprawl
- Tons of call 1st year
- Tons of fellows
Overall: I just didn't feel Houston, and really didn't want to live there

Cincinnati
Pros
+ Much like Houston, a huge, awesome hospital with all the bells and whistles
+ Loved the PD- energetic and charismatic
+ Despite size of program, residents seemed to know each other very well
+ q4 system with night help to take admissions starting at 11 pm (pretty nice!)
+ Really strong formal teaching, the morning report we saw was great
+ Family-centered rounds is a way of life
+ Program really takes care of the residents. Breakfast and lunch provided every weekday, plus you get money for the cafeteria on call nights
Cons
- Lots of fellows
- The city....just not too exciting
Overall: Really strong program. Tons of exposure with great teaching and caring program. Gonna be high on my list

 

[dr.b.natural]

University of Washington

Cons
- Hospital is not a level 1 trauma center (will be soon)
- PICU rotation is at community hospital

Just a note of correction. At the University of Washington program there are multiple ICU rotations at both Seattle Children's and the community hospital (HMC).
You rotate through the PICU at Children's twice - once in your 2nd year and once in your 3rd. The PICU there is much like you would expect at any large academic PICU, including medical, surgical and ECMO patients. Children's also has an IICU (infant ICU) for CGA <45weeks, which is another rotation you do in your 2nd or 3rd year. The IICU is considered a quatrenary ICU and manages regular premies, premies who need surgery or ECMO, and other full-term neonates that need ICU care.
You also spend 2 months in either the latter half of your 2nd year or first half of your 3rd year at the community hospital (HMC) where you serve as the pediatric consultant to all patients <15 years old who are seen in the ED and/or admitted to the hospital. HMC is the level 1 trauma center for Seattle, so that's where all the pediatric trauma goes. You are called to the ED whenever a kid comes in and participate in the trauma rescusitations and any codes. You also run conscious sedation for kids getting things put back together. You co-manage PICU and floor patients covering the gamut of gen surg, burns, ortho, neurosurg, and poly-trauma.
Some of the WWAMI rotations also include PICU experience, but that varies with site and time of year.

 

[edmadison]

I'd like to add a few things about the Seattle Children's programs. Although I did not do my residency there, I did three rotations at the hospital and one of my best friends went there. First, There are rotations at "HMC". This was referred to as a "community hospital". Many people have a small podunk institution in mild when "community hospital" is mentioned. Harborview Medical Center is a massive public hospital and level one trauma center. Actually, it's the hospital in Gray's Anatomy. Next, the description of the WWAMI is accurate except that many of the placements are in small cities or suburban practices rather than true rural practices -- but I guess this is a matter of perspective. If you are from LA, Dallas seems rural to you! My overall opinion is that Seattle is an outstanding program. The residents are very happy, but don't kid yourself -- they get there tails worked off and there is an unspoken sink or swim attitude there. From my perspective, the only "big" drawback is that they do very little primary care. The two-month WWAMI rotation is most of it (despite the ACGME requirements). With these things in mind, I would recommend it highly.

Ed

 

[arlsoonDO]

Has anyone interviewed at Loma Linda yet? If so, how did it go? I will be interviewing there pretty soon and I'm curious how it went for others.

How did you like it there? I assume you've interviewed there? I liked it, but like most big SoCal programs, it's very busy. what do you think?