2008 Interview Reviews

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Instead of posting individual new threads on programs you've interviewed at, put em here.

It'll be helping everyone out.
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Not sure whether this review should go under the "Texas Programs" thread or here, so I'll put it here to maximize its chances of being seen.

Lodging: Need to find your own; UT-H does not provide for lodging.

Dinner: Residents from the program meet interviewees for happy hour at a local pub. The residents (there were quite a few there) I met there seemed very friendly and eager to answer questions.

Interview schedule: Day starts at 7:30 AM; interviewees meet in a conference room and have a continental breakfast. First presentation is by the program director who goes through a slide show highlighting the program, Texas Medical Center, and Houston. Next, one of the co-chairs comes and speaks for a few minutes (current chair is retiring in January; we did not get to meet him). Between that time and about 11 am, each interviewee (there were about 20 of us at this interview) meets with three faculty members. Then, a tour of Hermann Hospital and lunch. Day wraps up about 1:30 PM.

Program Info: Has 10 categorical positions (beginning PGY-1) and 10 advanced positions (beginning CA-1). Located at Texas Medical Center, which consists of several hospitals, two medical schools, MD Anderson Cancer Center, etc, etc, on about 800 acres. Call is variable; during the week it lasts from 3 pm to 7 am. For those who match into a categorical position, your PGY-1 year consists of a IM internship, a surgery internship, a pediatric internship, OR a med-peds internship (your choice). Residents generally have no problem obtaining a job or fellowship upon completion of training. Very strong clinical training but residents generally feel that didactics are a little weak.

Moonlighting: Available moonlighting opportunities within program at LBJ Hospital. Some residents make upwards of 60-70K (total) per year with moonlighting.

Perks: Health, Dental, 100K Life, Disability, Malpractice provided at no cost to resident. Dependent health, dental, and life available at group rates. No dependent disability available. Financial incentive to score >= 75 percentile on yearly inservice/board exams. One week of meeting time per year; 2 weeks vacation for PGY-1; 3 weeks vacation for PGY-2 and up.

Impression: A solid program. Upon completion of the program here, will likely be ready for anything that can be thrown at you. No problems here getting numbers or variety of cases. Plenty of opportunities for research, though that is not required. Residents all seem friendly and happy; stated that they would go through this program again if they had to do it all over again. Interviews with faculty were cordial and friendly; I got a few of the "standard" interview questions, but no hard core pimping or malignant questioning. Houston is what it is...some like it there, some not so much. It is a HUGE city with big-time traffic (and at times, pollution) but also tons to do. Good cost of living, though, for a large city. A couple of minor concerns include didactics (though residents state there's plenty of time to read on your own) and the situation with the department head (I think an interim has been selected for when the chair retires in January).

Hope this is helpful. It has been a few weeks since I interviewed there, so I tried to put down as much info as I could remember. Will try to put up more interview reviews soon.
 
Interview starts in the morning with sit down informal meeting with Dr. Fox, the interim Chair. A warm breakfast is provided. He talked to us about the program and answered any questions we had for him. After that we had 3 interviews that lasted about 30mins apiece. Then we had sit down lunch with 2 residents and went for a tour of the hospital. Done about 2pm.

Program: Dr. Fox is the interim Chairman and is a really awesome guy. I don't know or haven't heard who they are going to bring in as the next Chair. I wish he would stay, but if he doesn't I would hope that the next Chair shares his same vision for the program. Having said that, Tulane seemed to have took a strong hit from Katrina and they are still recovering from that. Several attendings and residents left but the ones that remain are dedicated to bringing the program back and are ones that really want to be there. Pre-Katrina- it seems as if the residents were really work horses were there to work work work, not that thats a bad thing, but their board scores suffered....I don't recall the exact percentage but there didn't seem to be enough time to study and implement didactics etc. Now, that has changed. Every Wednesday is dedicated to teaching, no OR time. They have a didactic schedule, sim lab (3-4 million dollars to be built in the next year), journal club meetings during this time. They have assigned readings with pre and post tests, keywords etc on that day. Dr. Fox said his goal is to have his residents pass the boards during their CA-2 year. He also mentioned about giving insintives to those who pass it in the CA-1 and CA-2 year. He said since they have implemented this type of schedule that their board scores have improved a lot, but they want them improved more. They are going to have something like a 2 week board prep course integrated into CA-2 year rather than the 3rd year, so that this can happen. They will also have the course for the 3rd years too. He puts a lot of emphasis on passing the oral and written boards. He said residents have no problem in meeting their " numbers." Said that pre-katrina there was about 2700 cases, but now there are 3100. Combined with about 15 CA-1 to CA-3s there is plenty enough to go around. In his words the work load and call schedule "IS PRETTY SWEET." Average day is about 6:30 to 3:00. They are able to do this because of the CRNAs who they rely on and help a lot with the work load. One would think this would be a bad thing, but the way he said it, it seemed to be a pretty sweet deal. Residents have priority on which cases they do and are very happy the CRNAs are there to help with the workload. All the residents seemed to be real happy, and enjoyed being a part of the program. Right now they don't offer any fellowships, but out of the four graduating seniors, 2 are persuing fellowships. One is going to Duke for Pain and the other is going to Texas Heart Institute-Houston for Hearts. He has already hired a Ped-heart guy and they have a new ped-heart surgeon and plan to have a ped-heart fellowship pretty soon. Also plans to have other fellowships to follow. That also seems bad not having any fellowships, but there are Attendings trained in all areas with rotations in all areas, Peds, Critical Care, Hearts, OB, Pain, Regional etc; so while you are there you definitely wont miss out on anything. The problem seems to be in not having enough staff to have these fellowships right now. Call schedule is sweet. I want to say you have 1 weekday of call per week and only 1 weekend call (Saturday 7pm to 7am) a month (I could be wrong, someone correct me on this). Thats 3 weekends off a month to do whatever. Residents say they average 50-55 hours per week. They said that translates to a lot of study time, hence Dr. Fox putting emphasis on passing boards. All of the work is done in the New Orleans area except for Hearts. Heart cases are done in Houston affiliated with Texas heart and MD anderson. Tulane pays for cost of living, some food, and travel expenses. Residents say you work your butt off, but they say they wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Interviews are very laid back, didn't come across anyone malignant at all. All of the residents seemed very laid back and very happy too.

Living in NOLA: They emphasized crime and rebuilding from Katrina. BUT most of the crime in both places is in areas in which you shouldn't be in, in the first place. Just like any city, if you stay out of the bad places and don't look for trouble then trouble won't find you. Tulane seems to be going full steam ahead after taking a hit from mother nature.

Cost of living: Houses in NOLA are around 300000 and condos are about 200000 with rental property being about 900/month. Some residents even live in Baton Rouge and commute to work, WOW.
 
Program gives you discounted rate at Holiday Inn right next to the airport the night before (~$50). Nice enough hotel plus plenty of info about the program, coffee mug w/personlalized note from PD waiting at check-in. Big downside of this is that by staying here you have no idea what the city of Rochester looks like, as the airport/hotel is way outside the city.

Excellent dinner night before with chief resident, CA1 and CA2, 6 total applicants. Chief resident has a ton of things to say about the program and seemed very honest about everything, even driving 4 of us around in his car after dinner to show us the town.

Interivew day starts 6am, meaning if you're from any other time zone that's way earlier than you're used to, but what can you do. Lecture occurs 615-645 everyday (on our day the lecturer got a flat on the way). Bagels and juice with this, then PD gives PP presentation about the program. Program certainly emphasizes didactics and boards with daily lectures and very frequent key words/board reviews and oral boards practice, 100% pass rate for the past 4 years. However they also like to stress how strong they are clinically, which means, at least according to most of the residents, that they work quite a bit. Typical day starts about 0600 goes anywhere to 1600-1800 if not on call. Very rare to get out earlier unless post call. No 24-hr calls, just night float about 1 weekday/week and 2 weekend days/month. Overall they quote about a 60-65 hr work week, push 80 during ICU blocks. Starting PGY1 salary just over $44,000, with options to moonlight soon after step 3. If you moonlight enough, the hospital will pay for your state license. Chief resident then takes you into ORs during cases to meet with other residents while your colleagues are interviewing, which was nice. About 30 ORs, 12 more for OP surg, about half are new within 5 years. Big time liver center, were #1 for liver transplant volume last year. Also do plenty of hearts and peds, no off-site training needed. Residents said they met their requirements easily by the end of CA2 year. They do use CRNAs in more routine cases, leaving the tougher cases for residents, but residents definitely relieve CRNAs more than vice versa. They offer peds, cards, and pain fellowships in house. Residents have no problem getting prime fellowships or private practice jobs. Research available if you want it, but not required and not really stressed. Also cool, you can request any special drugs, instruments the night before your cases all online. (downside you have to specially request sevo or des EARLY, as they have limited supplies of these and they are scooped up by CRNAs because they get done so early; the gas of choice here is iso.)

2 interviews, both very benign and laid-back, 30 min each. Day ends with long lunch with residents.

Good intern year in that CA1 actually starts in March, and no call for first 6 weeks. You then do a couple ICU blocks later in CA1.

Residents all seem very happy, most are married +/- kids and some stressed that it may not be the most desirable place for swingin singles. Commaradarie seemed good but not great, residents didn't seem to hang out a lot outside or even at work, and some didn't seem to really know each other well at all, especially across classes. Just my perception, they all seemed just fine with everything. Rochester itself is a charming city, old, close to Lake Erie, plenty of outdoor activities. You still have to drive a ways to get to any decent skiing though, and they have minor league sports but no major leagues. A big plus is the fact the there is almost never any traffic and you can get anywhere in 10 minutes. Also avg house costs ~$120,000, almost all residents own a house, even single ones. Great school system for those of you that care. Finally they give you $1,000 worth of books PGY1 year, pretty much every anes book you could need, plus an extra $1K every year for educational allowance, which is pretty sweet.

Overall I was impressed with the program, no doubt you get excellent training and they are very resident focused, love teaching. In my opinion it probably isn't the best fit for me, just didn't get a great feeling, and I didn't like Rochester the area enough to uproot the family from the midwest. Certainly would not be upset to end up there though, will probably rank middle to end of my list, but that's just me, it's definitely worth checking out.
 
Lodging: Program pays for one night at the Courtyard Marriott downtown that's literally across the street from the medical center. Pretty sweet place...the nicest place I've stayed at so far on the interview trail. You can go to the parking garage next door and take the elevator to the walkway that connects you to the medical center.

Dinner: The chiefs met us in the hotel lobby around 6:00-ish the evening the night before the interview. There were 6 of us, so each chief took 3 students. The resident I was with took us for a drive to show us around town before taking us to dinner. At dinner, the three of us (med students) got to chat with a few other residents as well as the chief. Everyone was friendly, laid back, and eager to answer questions we had (and those we didn't even think of).

Interview schedule: The six interviewees were split up into an early group and a late group (3 in each group). The early group started at 8 am; I was in the late group, so my day started at 10:15 am. From here on out, I'll discuss the "late group" schedule. Dr. Black, the PD, came in and gave us a welcome talk; we then adjourned to the library where we met with the Anesthesiology chair, then the librarian (UAB is the only program in the country with a dedicated Anesthesia librarian). From 11:30 to about 1:30, everyone (early group included) went on a tour of the facilities with residents; then we had lunch. Interviews for the late group were held after lunch. I interviewed with Dr. Black, another senior faculty member, and an attending who had recently completed residency. All interviewers were pleasant and seemed laid back...no pimping or super-difficult questions. Day wrapped up at about 3:30 PM for us in the late group.

Program info: Program is situated at a large downtown medical center that serves as a tertiary referral center for Birmingham and pretty much the entire state of Alabama. UAB has the only Level I trauma center in the state, so you'll see anything and everything. Residents have absolutely no problems getting the number and variety of cases that they need for their training; in fact, many are finished getting their "numbers" by the end of CA-2 year. Also, UAB has an optional yearly TEE training course that any interested resident can enroll in (during the past 2 years, 7 CA-3's have volunteered to take the TEE written boards; all of them passed). Has a class size of (I think) 21 residents; they typically take a couple of CA1s outside the match. This is an advanced program, so you'll have to match to a separate preliminary year for PGY-1. The current chairman (Dr. Jones) has been in place for about 1.5 years; faculty and residents feel that the program is stable and that it has only gotten better under Dr. Jones' tenure. Some residents say that didactics are a bit weak; Dr. Jones has sought to improve this and also has made it a point that all faculty need to be involved in teaching while in the OR.

A note about pediatrics at UAB: Peds situation is a little strange in that B’ham Children’s Hospital is run by a private practice group of anesthesiologists (and CRNAs), some of which are not that interested in teaching (some are excellent teachers, though, according to faculty and residents). However, recent graduates have gotten jobs at Children’s, and there are enough staff there that residents can get a good peds experience, especially if proactive and genuinely interested.

Moonlighting: This is one of the best aspects of the program, IMHO. This program makes it a point that residents (other than those on-call and those signed up for in-house moonlighting) should be able to leave by 3 pm. Any resident present after 3 pm gets paid at the rate of $70 per hour, even if it's just staying in their room after 3 pm. There are also opportunities to take liver call where you're paid $3 per hour to have the pager with you at home; if you have to come in, you get paid $70 per hour (I think). Residents LOVE this aspect of the program; they say that it only adds to the education experience that they get, plus many have made a boatload of extra money in addition to their resident salary.

Benefits/Perks: Resident pays nominal cost for health, dental, and vision insurance. Group term life insurance (basic), accidental death and dismemberment (basic), long-term disability provided at no cost to resident. Can increase life and accidental death/dismemberment insurance at nominal cost. Long term care insurance, flex spending account, TIAA-CREF retirement (non-matched) available. 3 weeks vacation and one week meeting time allotted during each 12-month period. $1000 yearly provided for books, etc ($1500 for CA-3).

Impression: FANTASTIC program!! I can see why many here say it's one of the best you'll find. You'll get a clinical experience that's second to none; also, it seems as if residents also have time for outside study (as well as other aspects of their lives). Everyone I spoke to seemed very happy at the program and would pick it again if they had to do it all over again. Some may not like Birmingham, being a mid-sized Southern city, but that's just dependent on taste. Personally, I find B'ham to be a very livable city with a reasonable cost of living situated in an absolutely gorgeous part of the country...mountains are not too far away, and there's plenty of opportunity for outdoorsey type stuff for those that like it. Only possible issue I see with this program is the peds situation (see above); I do think, however, that it's not really that big of a deal if you seem interested in learning and you take a proactive role during that rotation. I'm sure this program will be one of my top programs on the ROL.
 
UCSD . . . early start (6:30) to attend M+M, then a few talks, then a quick round-robin format of 4 back-to-back interviews with faculty, 20 mins each, done by noon. Dinner the night before with residents is informative and fun. The ORs are generally resident-run, startig the CA-1 year, so they use a very hands-on approach. Research is a big deal, that they're trying to make a bigger deal. Sounds like the CA-1 year sucks, then gets better throughout the residency.

Harbor - basically it sounds like they got the message their program sucks, and the PD is trying to fix it . . . more CRNA's now that cover Sundays, ifyou take Saturday call you get Sunday and Monday off, so it's a wash. The interview day is the same as described . . . tour and talk in the morning, followed by one combo interview with a faculty and resident. Dinner the night before is kind of a pre-interview, with the same faculty and residnts (since the program is so small, only 5 residents!)

On the schedule: UCI, Stanford, UCSF, UCLA
 
hey fouts, could you describe UCSD's program a little more? how are the didactics? what are the typical hours, call, etc? I'm an MS3 at a small MD school in ohio and i want to end up in SoCal, so i'd like to get as much info as possible.
 
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y2janitor said:
I'm an MS3 at a small MD school in ohio and i want to end up in SoCal, so i'd like to get as much info as possible.
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You are from Ohio, and you want to end up in SoCal, is there really anything I could say that would prevent you from going to San Diego in December?

No.1 thing every resident stressed at UCSD is autonomy--OR independence very early as CA-1s--and everyone thought that was the best way to prepare for a real job. Didactics: daily morning conference, weekly lecture (attendance is optional). On the flip side: smaller department and program. They work pretty hard, but the residents are super lay-back and look forward to cush private jobs. Call is 9a-7a. Weaker in peds due to a lack of children's hospital. Check out their fellowships to get a sense where their strengths are. Department prides itself in research, especially funding per capita. The separate research presentation may give the impression but it is only on par with any top tier program. Residents did not feel pressured to do research.

I'm not going into details of their strengths, again, it is freakin sunny San Diego! Yes, they have had an interim chair for several years now, but I was told it is more due to changes in hospital leadership than the department itself. Again, it is San Diego. Good luck.
 
I interviewed at Yale on 11/28/07. I was impressed so I thought I would write a review. I went into the interview a little worried due to someone's post about a difficult interview, but this was not the case.

I had a long 13 hour drive from MSU (Michigan) so I was pretty tired when I got there. The hotel was very nice with granite countertops, fireplace, full kitchen, and flat screen TV. Dinner the night before was very cool. It was a relaxed atmosphere. The chief residents did a small powerpoint on life in New Haven which was helpful. Dinner ended by about 9pm.

The next morning started at 6:30am which was grand rounds. It was a real treat to hear Dr. Barash speak about the last 52 years of Yale anesthesiology. Some amazing advances in anesthesiology have been done at Yale. Then Dr. Schwarz (PD) gave us a presentation about the program and Dr. Hines (chair) talked about Yale anesthesiology. Also were brief lectures about resident education and research opportunities. We (~36 applicants) were then split into groups. Some of us toured the facilities, some spoke with residents, and others interviewed. There were two 25 minute interviews. My interviews were very relaxed (with no pimping). The day was finished at about 1:45pm.

The true strength of the program is the PD, Chair, and faculty. Dr. Schwartz is relatively new to the position and has hit the ground running. He is very approachable and seemed very responsive to resident's needs. Dr. Hines seems really involved with the residents and is one of the nicest chairs I have met so far. These two people are the most valuable assets to the program. They make resident education their priority which is the most important thing for me looking at different programs. The program in general seemed very responsive to resident's ideas and feedback. The faculty are excellent, some are known around the world (Barash, just to name one). Lots of research going on here, and there have been over 20 textbooks written by faculty. In summary, faculty and administration are totally dedicated to resident education.

The residents were very bright, yet down to earth. (I spoke to one of them about the Transformers movie!) They said that on an average day they expected to be there at 6:15am and out by 5pm. All residents were very happy from what I could see.

New Haven seems like a nice place to live. This is a personal preference however. Yale University is there of course, campus is really nice. There are lots of restaurants, bars, stores around the downtown area. I'm sure there are some bad parts of the city, but I did not see them while I was there. About half of the residents live within walking distance of the hospital. The rest own houses outside the city.

In conclusion, the strengths of the program perfectly match what I am looking for and therefore I will be ranking it very highly. I know that my fiancé and I would be extremely happy here. People all too often ignore their gut feeling when looking at different programs. Just remember that although a program is a great fit for somebody, doesn't mean it is a great fit for everybody. That is why "rankings" of programs are sometimes irrelevant and arbitrary.

They have a really informative website, so check it out before you interview. I tried to keep this review short and sweet, but let me know if I left anything out.
 
trying to be totally objective in my interview reviews -- you guys decide if it works for you or not.
hors d'oeuvres and wine before dinner at the restaurant. then dinner --which was really good. residents were all super friendly, seemed great and happy. seemed half and half married and single.
Hours are probably a little less than other places. you get out of the OR where ever you are to go to lectures which most said were pretty good. 1/3 do fellowships, 1/3 academics, 1/3 private practice. while there are 15 residents per year there are LOTS of attendings. they emphasized that the residents are NOT a work force for the hospitals. they have the ferrari of similators -- he can manifest trismus and reduced range of cervical motion, which i have not seen. opportunities for research but no major commitment if you want to avoid it. they offer optional 2 week rotations in medical missionary work and will offer a month at their satellite location in palermo italy (i think these two were only for ca3s). they also allow you to design your ca3 year.... 6 months of research, or pain or peds or whatever. moonlighting is $50/h on weekends. new childrens hospital opens soon.
they have several hospitals, all of which are very big. a couple are a few miles away. new childrens' hospital opens soon. regional seemed strong. did i forget anything?
 
Gonna try hard to be impartial/neutral:
First class hotel. Great dinner, no etoh (I don‘t care but some of you might). Residents were great, friendly, seemed happy in general. One out of maybe 15 I met said wished he worked less but otherwise no complaints. They reported an average of 61.2 hours (many students at the interview thought that it was more). Residents admitted 12h days. Seemed like 1-2 weekends per month. Some rotations like vascular and hearts I think were more hours. As reported the CBY has some really sweet months while still offering a quality experience strong in critical care. The interns I met seemed super happy. I also ran into some D.O.s -- which was nice and there seemed to be NO distinction. I really liked the faculty and PD that I met.
The book stipends ($1500/year) and travel etc are very generous. Will pay for one conference per year period and any others where you present. First year book money can be used for step three or relocation if you are moving more than 50 miles. You get a couple free books anyways, miller I think, and this is what the lectures are based on. They are Thursday afternoons for a couple hours. Moonlighting is past 5pm (they had weekend shifts available as well I think) and was $80/hour. Opportunities for research are plentiful. In general strong faculty and resident representation in the Midwest anes. Organization and in publication in general.
Facilities are state of the art in every way. You don’t have to go outside to get around as they have a skyway. Which was nice because I hadn’t seen snow in several years -- and was excited to…but the novelty wears off fast.
Every fellowship imaginable and they are all strong. Especially pain which the PD says is the best in the country. An independent pain doc I know not at all affiliated with CCF agrees.
Cleveland seemed like a nice medium sized town with enough fun stuff to do (but they specifically said they have no rockclimbing -- sorry climbingdocs).
Interview day is typical with the exception of the exit interview with the pd. I thought this was a really good idea. The residents said that he would tell you if you were in the top third, middle third or bottom third of their rank list. He seemed to be a little more vague than that. He seemed to tell everyone in various ways that they did really well. Was anyone told anything different?
While many of the other students on my interview day did not share my sentiments I really liked the Cleveland clinic and was very impressed. I could see myself being very happy there.
 
Can anyone tell me about their interview experiences at either (or both) SUNY-Downstate and St. Luke's Roosevelt???
 
amyl said:
did i forget anything?
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UPMC: by far the most resident friendly programs I have seen. Multiple people said 45-55 hours per week, which is becoming less believable the more programs I visit. Call is 3p-7a. Protected didactic time. Great simulator. Great regional--I forgot what rotation the interns get to do, but some bragged about having already done >100 blocks as a PGY1. Incredible perks, something like $1000 per as CA-1/2, and $2000 as CA-3 just for meetings, in addition to $600 for books per year. >150 faculty. Seriously, can people confirm what I just wrote because it sounds unreal (at least with my experience with academic programs).

Any way, if you have an interview scheduled at Pitt, you will find out for yourself all those things. I am doing this more for the next class who is considering anesthesia.
 
DrN2O said:
Incredible perks, something like $1000 per as CA-1/2, and $2000 as CA-3 just for meetings, in addition to $600 for books per year. >150 faculty. Seriously, can people confirm what I just wrote because it sounds unreal (at least with my experience with academic programs).
QUOTE]

i'll confirm it. i only have a couple places to compare it to but ccf actually offered more money for books, etc. $1200 a year I think (plus they got some books free and could use this $ for computers, ipods, palms, etc -- whatever) and no cap on meetings...they will pay for one period, no matter how much it costs and an unlimited amount of other ones if you present...no cap on $ at all.
anyone else interview anywhere else?
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WARNING: This is a pretty long review...hopefully it will be useful to someone.

Lodging: Program pays for one night at the Sheraton in downtown OKC, a couple of miles from the medical center. Nice hotel with some great views of the city.

Dinner: Residents met us at about 5:45 PM to take us to dinner at Iron Starr (self-described as an “urban BBQ” restaurant). Had a good cross-sampling of residents present at dinner; all of them very friendly and open to whatever questions we had. After dinner, some of the residents went to a local sports bar to watch the Cowboys-Packers game; they invited us (applicants) to come along.

Schedule: Shuttle picked us up at the hotel lobby at around 7:30 AM to take us over to the medical center. There were about 10 applicants interviewing during the day—some of us interviewed in the AM while others went on the tour, and vice versa. Day began with the department chief giving us a presentation about the program (standard power-point presentation); then my half of the group had our interviews. I was interviewed by the department chief (who’s really passionate about being politically involved in organized medicine), the program director, and another faculty member. A couple of times, I was asked what problems I see with the profession of anesthesiology. I was also asked, “what ethical issues might an anesthesiologist run into?”. No really malignant questioning or pimping—all interviewers were friendly and eager to answer any questions we might have had. After lunch, my half of the group went on a tour of both Baptist Medical Center (where the PGY-1’s spend their internship year) and the OU Medical Center, where CA-1 through CA-3’s spend their time. Day ended around 4 PM.

Program info: OU Medical center is a large tertiary referral center and the only level 1 trauma center in the state of Oklahoma, so you’ll see pretty much anything and everything from trauma to high-risk OB to anything else except most transplants (more on that later). PGY-1 year done at a private hospital (Baptist Medical Center), across town from the OUHSC. Residents absolutely love this experience—they describe the experience as learning what you will need to learn to function well as a doctor without much of the dreadful sctuwork associated with most internship year (pushing paperwork to find placement, etc)…it’s more like a transitional year where you get a little smattering of everything from general medicine wards to cards, pulm, nephrology, general surgery, ER, etc… Two months of ICU and one month of gas is included in PGY-1 year. For CA-1 through CA-3, scheduling is done by the chief resident; residents state that they are usually able to get requested time off (as long as it’s requested far enough in advance); residents are typically good about covering one another if the need arises. The chief admits that residents here tend to work longer hours than many other programs, however, after 3 PM (on most rotations except OB, where a night float system is in place), you’re “on the clock” and you get paid $15 for each 15 minutes you’re there after 3. No sign ups involved, no independent license required—if you’re not on call, you get paid for the time you’re present after 3:00. Currently has fellowships in peds and pain; hopes to add critical care and OB in the near future. As I mentioned above, major transplants (hearts, livers, lungs) done at Baptist and not at OUHSC…when I asked residents about this, most say that this isn’t really a detriment for those not planning on doing transplants during their careers, and if you’re really interested in doing transplants, you may be able to set something up perhaps as a CA-3 where you could rotate at Baptist and get involved with transplant procedures…not entirely sure about that, though, so don’t quote me on it.

Didactics: Wednesday Educational Blocks from 3 to 5 PM (this is protected time for gas residents); Friday morning conferences (M&M, Grand Rounds, case presentations, or journal clubs, depending on the day). For beginning CA-1’s there’s an “immersion course” that lasts for the first week of July, and an intro course that takes place July/August. Program has residents take AKT-0,2,6, and 18; also, yearly in training exams in preparation for written boards.

Perks: Excellent perks. Paid insurance for resident; resident pays group rates for dependents. Nice discretionary fund given each year, PLUS, each resident gets a library of basic anesthesia texts (10 books or so including Miller) FREE OF CHARGE. This program stresses heavily preparation for oral boards, and so it will pay for you to go once a year to a oral board review course. Paid membership in ASA, OK Society for Anesthesia, and AMA. USMLE Step 3 paid for.

Assessment/Plan: Very good program with some excellent perks…I can see myself fitting in with the residents there, plus, OKC is a good city to live in with some very affordable housing options. Overall, will get good very good training and preparation for board certification and private practice. Not a big research institution…take that as you will. Only concern I have is lack of transplant experience…though I’m not really sure if this is much of a detriment. You’ll definitely see some very sick patients here and get excellent clinical experience. Overall, I think I’ll rank this program toward the top of my list.:thumbup:
 
Interview season is half over people. Help your fellow resident out and let em know what you thought of the program you just interviewed at.
 
someone already reviewed oklahoma -- but i will second that it has one of the best intern years around. interns and residents were all super happy and loved the program. col is super cheap. new cancer center and ambulatory centers opening up soon so regional and pain numbers will climb. best resident turnout at dinners i have seen yet.

VCU -- dinner the night before was at an attendings house...beautiful house in the country just outside richmond. this was a nice touch and more intimate. residents i met seemed very happy. richmond is beautiful, with a nice mix of old and new. col is pretty reasonable here as well. new building dedicated totally to critical care that will contain some ORs. intern year seemed sort of middle of the road, not too harsh but not too cush. late stay moonlighting past 3pm at $70/hr and optional weekend shifts too i think. call schedule seemed less than most places but enough trauma to get to do some cool stuff. i think they have a good number of crna's so it seemed that residents never got stuff with non-learning type cases. residents got priority of the best cases... lectures every morning at 6. residents seemed happy. all in all a solid program in a great location. pd seemed like a super nice guy. let me know if i am leaving anything out that y'all want to know...
anybody been to mcg?
 
Louisville

General: Seemed like a nice place. City is big but not impersonal. Families able to live in suburbs only about 15 mins from hospital. Lots of stuff to do and great restaurants. Residents were very happy and got along great. Lots of interaction among residents outside of the OR and hospital. Faculty were very nice. Hospital is up to date and was aesthetically pleasing. Emphasis on trauma at the university hospital. All numbers completed generally by end of CA-2 year. Peds and CV done at private hospitals so opportunity to get away. Simulator shared with medical school. More clinical training with minimal focus on didactics. Board passing rate slightly above average.

Interview: Chief residents do some interviewing. 2 faculty and 1 resident. No PD or chair unless needed. Big emphasis on behavioral questions: e.g. Give me an example of when you motivated a team. How do you study? How do you prioritize tasks? When have you resolved conflict? etc.

Best quote (CA-1 resident): "My intern year was easier than my fourth year of medical school."

Strengths: Trauma, Resident Comraderie, Nice City, 'Cake' intern year

Weaknesses: Didactics, CA-1 work hours

Bottom line: B
 
Ar-kansas

General: Meh... not too impressive. I was hoping because I like Little Rock and have friends there. Hospital is old, but a new one is in the works (completion by 2009 sometime). Anesthesia office and conference room very unappealing and not aesthetically pleasing. Still using old school ginormous computer monitors in anesthesia library. Residents seemed overworked They do have a night float system which seems ok, except you don't get to utilize it until you're a CA-2 or up. Lots of international flavor with many nationalities on faculty. BIG emphasis on peds. Children's hospital is ace. CV over at the VA. Intern year consists of 4 surgery months which apparently suck. Little Rock is great though... really expanding and growing. Very family friendly. Hospital in safe part of town. Board passing rate last year abysmal with barely 50% passing... supposed to be increasing didactic load because of that.

Interview: 2 faculty, no chair, no PD. The first interviewer of mine was very unprepared and asked me questions off my CV whilst struggling to maintain consciousness. Second interviewer was much more professional. I was pimped however on some pediatric anesthesia which I thought was odd, seeing that it is a subspecialty many of us have never been exposed to.

Best quote (Intern): "One thing about Little Rock... the city is nice. I don't have the time to check it out but I hear it really is nice."

Strengths: Peds, Night Float, New Hospital in 2009

Weaknesses: Work Hours, Board Passing Rate, International Flavor (others may disagree with this), Interview

Bottom line: C-
 
UTHSC San Antonio

General: I liked it a lot. I wish the Chair (Dr. Andrews) was my uncle. He seems like a great all around guy. Residents were very happy. Hours seemed reasonable. Intern year mainly medicine so not too too bad. Some bad months were recently removed from intern year due to 80+ hours/week and replaced with better ones (I think trauma surgery switched with ER or something like that). Pay sucks but you get a $5000 stipend for books and expenses over the CA-1 - 3 years. Big big emphasis on board certification. Multiple ISE's with feedback. Good cert rate as well. City is awesome and very family friendly.

Interview: With chair, PD, and 1 faculty. Very easy-going interviews. No weird questions. Basically chit-chat.

Best Quote: I don't recall anything in particular

Strengths: Chair, Board Certification Emphasis, Comraderie Among Residents, City, Spurs

Weaknesses: I dunno, I'm tired now

Bottom line: B+
 
Weaknesses: Single scene. This is as per a buddy who is a categorical there now.

Plead the Fifth said:
UTHSC San Antonio

General: I liked it a lot. I wish the Chair (Dr. Andrews) was my uncle. He seems like a great all around guy. Residents were very happy. Hours seemed reasonable. Intern year mainly medicine so not too too bad. Some bad months were recently removed from intern year due to 80+ hours/week and replaced with better ones (I think trauma surgery switched with ER or something like that). Pay sucks but you get a $5000 stipend for books and expenses over the CA-1 - 3 years. Big big emphasis on board certification. Multiple ISE's with feedback. Good cert rate as well. City is awesome and very family friendly.

Interview: With chair, PD, and 1 faculty. Very easy-going interviews. No weird questions. Basically chit-chat.

Best Quote: I don't recall anything in particular

Strengths: Chair, Board Certification Emphasis, Comraderie Among Residents, City, Spurs

Weaknesses: I dunno, I'm tired now

Bottom line: B+
Click to expand...
 
amyl said:
richmond is beautiful,

in a great location.
Click to expand...

Seriously? That's not the sentiment of the majority of the population of Virginia? It's a crime-ridden he--hole.
 
i don't know...the parts i saw were nice. the residents did tell us to avoid the south part of town i think.
 
Location aside... what does everyone think? Pitt v Columbia.
 
Penn is definitely a great program but had some issues (see below)

Hotel: Puts you up at the Inn at Penn. Definitely the BEST hotel (aside from maybe the Hyatt at Hopkins) that any program puts you up at. The rooms cost up to $1500 a night according the the sheet on the inside of the hotel. It really isn't worth that much, haha, but it truly is a fantastic place.

Dinner: The dinner the night before is in the hotel, in the "livnig room." A weird set up, but it does the job. The residents were friendly for the most part, especially this one guy. Unfortunately, there were probably 5 or 6 residents that just got some EtOH and food and hung out together. Didn't really interact with the applicants.

Interview day: You will be divided into a group that comes in early and another later. The early group is greeted by Dr. Fleischer (chair) in the lobby of the hospital. Pretty laid back but inefficient. You are taken on a tour of the hospital in pairs (2 people). And the tour was sort of worthless.

Dr. Gaiser, PD and Dr. Fleischer, Chair, are great. They are probably the most dedicated leaders of any residency program. They will make you feel at home.
However, Dr. Fleischer has an air of arrogance about him that is certainly annoying. Granted, he is on the cover of Miller and is probably one of the most well known anesthesiologists in the country.

This air of arrogance, unfortunately, permeated the entire day. We kept on hearing about how Penn is so great and incredible. It really is a fantastic program, but they don't need to keep on rubbing it in our faces. Further, the residents kept on saying how because they go to Penn, they can do anything they want to. But they kept on commenting how other programs suck, etc. Not very professional.

Penn definitely gives some of the best training out there. However, I was definitely surprised at the huge egos at the place (especially when other top tier programs such as MGH, Brigham, Duke, Hopkins, UCSF did not exude this).
 
this thing is WEAK.

Past years it has been several pages long. Lets go people. Lurkers. SLakers. Lovers. Fighters. Whatever, lets get it on.

By the way, youtube the new snoop dog video. I think its called "sensual relation" or something like that. Friggen hilarious.
 
Overall impression: solid program, but not as good as you would think. The interview process was started with a dinner the night before at a very nice restaurant. At the dinner, there were about 25 or so applicants. It looks as though some places this year are taking the shot-gun approach for interviews since so many applicants are present. This makes for a less personal process. The dinner was ok. Initially it was impressive to see so many residents there. However, most seemed aloof and hung around each other as opposed to dispersing themselves among the different tables.

The interview day is poorly organized given that there are so many applicants. Every applicant interviews with either the chairman or program director. The interview day starts with a presentation given by the program director, who is a young and solid person. The chairman showed up later. He is the president of the ASA. He seems like an alright person; he does give an air of arrogance however. After the presentation, there were four interviews. The interviewers, for the most part, did not seem too prepared. One interviewer, whom everyone will remember, actually had me stand outside his door for a few minutes before the interview. I am pretty sure that was the first time he read my application, i.e., right before my interview. He had a list of rudimentary questions, which made the interview last about 5 minutes...very superficial. The day also consists of a tour of the hospital. The two chiefs answered all our questions, although one seemed a bit more enthusiastic than the other.

The program overall: good transplant exposure, good regional experience, weak in trauma, good peds experience overall, good cardiac. Most, if not all, accredited fellowships are offered. The faculty seem decent, overall. The surgery dept does have a few malignant members, and I felt like I had to milk this out of the residents. Solid place if you're single and want to stay in the midwest. Expensive housing should come as no surprise. Any other questions, feel free to send a message. Cheers.
 
Interview itself was well organized and personal. There were a total of 10 applicants on my day. The interviews were laid back and FUN. Crazy hey? The PD did have a list of questions, but it wasn't off putting. They read your applications before hand which is great! There was a dinner the night before with open bar. Residents are really nice and laid back, and seem like a cool group of kids. They were eager to talk to us and to let us know how much they loved NW. I was impressed with how many residents showed up to dinner and the lunch the day of the interview, and how happy they seemed. The atmosphere was very informal and fun.

Anyways, onto the program itself....

Didactics are much improved since years past and are held Tues-Thurs AM; written board review, oral board review, simulator sessions, morning report, and teaching sessions. As a CA1, they finish baby Miller. In terms of simulators, according to them, they are #1 in the country (20% of time first 6 weeks is in simulation) and residents found it useful. Residents have autonomy early on in the OR but attendings are always available if you need them.

Everyone passed boards last year. I didn't ask about previous years. NW is not a basic sciences research center. Clinical research is available if wanted. Not pressed on residents. NIH funding is a weakness, and they admit this.

NW is subspecialty heavy and strong especially in Peds, OB, regional anesthesia. Can get a fellowship anywhere especially in those 3 fields. Graduates are typically ½ private and ½ fellowship.

I've also heard before interviewing here that you don't get to touch the patients especially if they are VIP. This is not true according to the residents and patients include medicare and the upper middle class. They more than meet the ACGME case load numbers, and residents feel comfortable with any case when they graduate. They do lack trauma cases, but you do get some penetrating trauma once and awhile. They did emphasize they get enough practice in "controlled trauma" (liver transplants).

Hours range from 60-70 hours a week with 5-6 calls/month. I'm not sure if all the calls are 24 hour call or if some are short calls. They are good about getting residents out early the next day if they stay late, and they are usually sent home around 1pm. Call is based on a point system so no one resident is left with sucky call schedule for the year.

I've seen on previous posts that the atmosphere at NW is cold. However, I did not sense this during my interview. There seems to be excellent resident camaraderie, and they genuinely seem happy. There also seems to be good relationships with faculty and staff. Faculty are leaders in the field. The programs is also family friendly.

I won't talk about the facilities too much because they speak for themselves. One word: Magnificent. Each call room is private (no bunk beds!). Location can't be beat, with Michigan Ave a few blocks away. There is affordable living near the hospital in the South Loop and Gold Coast. NW also pays the most out of all the Chicago programs. They also give you the standard textbooks and about 450 expense account. They give you money for call and though parking was free in years past, it is about $80 a month (still a bargain in Chicago). You get 21 days paid vacation.

In the end, NW offers excellent clinical training in a great location, with a reputation that can take you fellowships all over the country. They work harder than most programs (is 60-70 hours alot?) but there is another school in Chicago that works ALOT harder in terms of hours.

5 year ACGME accreditation

I'm curious to see what others think of NW, and if any residents from NW can share their thoughts and correct any inaccuracies in my review.

I'm also curious about the CRNA situation, and if the residents are the "work force."

-CB
 
UThouston -- although it has already been reviewed I wanted to add that they are adding a pain fellowship that will start slowly with one or two positions and grow from there -- first fellow will start in july. regional is strong as well. residents seemed super happy. dr. hagberg and rabb are awesome women. i like houston. in general, i was very impressed with this program and will rank it very highly.
 
The interview at Yale was anticlimactic. The process started the night before with a dinner at a huge restaurant, which was very pretty on the inside. However, there were about 25 applicants with a good number of residents. The residents sitting at the table I was sitting at were pretty good with answering our questions. I could not hear a word from the presentation that was given at the restaurant by the chiefs, simply because it was too loud around our table. The vibe I got is that you work really hard, but you get to have the 'Yale' name attached to your back upon completing residency. It should come as no surprise that you would become a well-qualified anesthesiologist.

With that said, the interview day started extremely early. We had to be there at 6:15 am. This was not a good way to start the day, especially since the shuttle drivers at the hotel were very imprompt and had horrible manners (perhaps this comes as no surprise for those who live in New Haven). Anyhow, the day started with Grand Rounds, which was nice. The auditorium was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful one I've ever visited. Then we had a tour of the medical library and facilities. The library was phenomenal. However, the facilities were no different from any state, public institution in my opinion. The chiefs were very kind and tried hard to answer all our questions, but again this was difficult since each applicant felt like a number. Again, it appears some schools are taking the shot-gun approach for interviews. This does not reflect well upon the program.

Then, there was a presentation by Drs. Schwartz and Hines. Both presentations went well, though, again, very long. Then we had lunch, and the interviews followed (or vice versa depending on which group you were in). I had two interviews. The first consisted of a few hypothetical questions, but nothing to make you sweat. The second was a typical, normal interview with standard questions. Both individuals and most staff seemed nice. Nonetheless, the residents at the dinner made it sound like there are a few malignant doctors, particularly in the surgery department. Vacation time is between 2-4 weeks; this is based upon the department's discretion (you make your own judgment about this one).

In brief, the Yale name is wonderful; however, in terms of quality I don't think this program is better than most other state programs. In addition, the area was not as nice as I'd expected. People said New Haven used to be crime-ridden; the problem I had, however, whether I was at a restaurant or the hotel, was that people offered poor service and were unwelcoming. Plus there are much nicer cities in the northeast, which I preferred over New Haven. I also believe the ICU is run by surgery. Overall, not as impressed as I had hoped to be. Cheers.
 
Anybody out there been to MUSC in Charleston. What do you think of that interview/program. thanks
 
as with all my reviews, trying to be unbiased and objective.
UT scott and white -- in general small strong program. new cardio fellowship. new 3d echo machines. critical care fellowship a year out. pain in distant works...they want it but details are still vague. about a third to fellowships, some stay on as staff, the rest go into private practice. strong program. no deficits. no livers if that matters to you. temple is a small town that seems to revolve around the hospital which draws from a large area of texas. level one trauma center, more mva's and less gsw's. great place for married with families. cost of living is ridiculously cheap. most residents live in one of two neighborhoods of nice houses, their kids play together, etc. residents seem very close with attendings. moonlighting is late stay past 3-330 and also weekend shifts. icu shifts are in the works. all in all very solid program in a nice location for families or those looking for nice COL. forgetting anything?
 
MUSC is located in downtown Charleston, SC. I had my interview last week and all my interviews have been in the southeast. South Carolina is my home state although not my home school.

Day before interview:
They put us up in a very nice SpringHill Merriott overlooking the Ashley River and harbor, very nice. We were taken by van shuttle. We went to a very nice restaurant, meeting 4-5 residents all of whom were very nice and informative. Dinner was from 7-9.

Day of interview:
Free breakfast at hotel followed by shuttle to hospital. Day started with a welcome and greeting by the Program Director, Dr Latha Habbar. She was very engaging and loves her job, a total resident advocate. She gave us a handout on the schedule of the day. We went through a thorough powerpoint outlining the highlights of the program. The chair, Dr Reeves came in for about 10 minutes and gave us a broad picture of the program as well. This was followed by interviews with 3 faculty + Dr Habbar over the next 2 hour period. We then had lunch with several informative residents followed by a tour of the hospital.

I took many notes and I'll try to hit the highlights or things that might be different from other programs...

This is a growing program with 40 faculty looking to expand to 48 in the coming months. Electronic recordkeeping in OR on the way. MUSC had a recent site visit and has been given 4 years accredidation. Resident work week is reported to be 60-62 hours per week. There is currently no moonlighting available. Vacation is in 1 week blocks. There are several scheduled afternoon lectures that are year specific. CA-1's on Wed with formal ppt lectures and CA2-3's with interactive, and keywords lectures. Thurs @4pm, TEE lectures are available. There is a simulator run by the department and there are dedicated anesthesia days for residents. Journal clubs take place once per month usually at a faculty's house but this month it is at a bowling alley!:D The AKT is given at 1,2,6 and 18 months. An in-service exam is also given. Mock Orals are once in the CA-2 year and twice in the CA-3 year. Educational $$, CA-1 = $1000 and it increases each year. 100% pass rate reported on boards. Free journals. Residents are involved in hospital comittees and med student teaching.

The intern year doesn't seem too bad after talking with 2-3 residents.
3MO medicine
3Mo surgical CC
1mo neonatal ICU
1mo PedsER
1mo Cards (8-5p) no weekends
1mo Pulm (8-5p) no weekends
1mo CT surgery
June = anesthesia OR training month with afternoon lecture series.

CA-1
7mo Gen surg
1mo each PACU, regional, uro, OB, ortho

CA-2
2mo each, CC, Cardiothoracic, peds, neuro
1mo vasc, CP, VA, vasc

CA-3 - clinical or scientist tract, very self directed on what months you want

Only a CT fellowship here but they don't take your cases
VERY HUGE PAIN experience available as there are no fellows!!

Older parts of the hospital are ok but the new hospital wing was to open soon which should be spectacular. Anything cardio will be over there which could be about 5-6 months of your total residency. Outpatient areas for pain and special surgery were very nice. You do have to pay for your parking and to get from the deck to the hospital is not covered.

All in all this is a very good clinical program where most residents get good jobs in the southeast, some going outside of that. Faculty are generally very helpful and resident satisfaction is high. Good luck on your own visit!
 
Agree with GreyhoundMD. Nothing really to add or change, except that Charleston is a FABULOUS city, especially if you like the coast, architecture, history, and good all around Southern hospitality.

OK, so I'll add one more thing...good number of transplants done at MUSC...pretty much everything except lungs.
 
Lodging: up to 2 nights paid for at the Campus Inn.

Transportation: I drove to the interview; Amtrak also an option.

Interview: They interview 30 people at a time. Everyone starts off in the conference room at 7am with Dr. Tremper giving the program interview. The tour and four 15 min interviews including 1 with either Dr. Tremper (the chair) or the program director occupied the rest of the morning. Afterwards, we went to a sports bar/wing place to have lunch. There was no dinner the night before at least for my interview date.

Overall it was a really relaxed day (the staff was amazing at directing us to the correct place) with nice interviewers. I found the residents to be friendly and open about the hours they were working. They leave the OR at around 5 and have to preop their next day patients. This could take them till 7pm. The intern/clinical base year is brutal with 4 months of surgery including neurosurgery, transplant, and vascular along with 1 (maybe 2) months of ICU. There is no option to do your intern year elsewhere unless you are switching from another residency. They have mock orals 3 x a year so the residents come out very well prepared. Their didactics are very strong it seems with lectures almost daily (I think they were at noon with lunch provided and consistent relief from OR duties to attend). The program is huge (~30/yr) which means the call schedule is nice around 3 overnights/month. Regional is a weakness with the surgeons slow to catch onto peripheral blocks. While the school has a simulator center, it wasn't really talked about or much used by the dept it seems. They’ve had computerized OR records for many years. Facilities are great with a new children's hospital to be completed in the next couple of years and a newly opened cadiovascular center.
 
amyl said:
UThouston -- although it has already been reviewed I wanted to add that they are adding a pain fellowship that will start slowly with one or two positions and grow from there -- first fellow will start in july. regional is strong as well. residents seemed super happy. dr. hagberg and rabb are awesome women. i like houston. in general, i was very impressed with this program and will rank it very highly.
Click to expand...

I went to UT houston and while i really liked the program...i felt that they just werent a very strong program. Clinically i felt that there were strong and had a wide variety of cases and had no problem meeting numbers. HOwever, they are in limbo about getting a chairman, i think they are close to finding one. Also there is also no research going on in the program. Also when I asked the CA3's where they were going they all said there were staying in Texas....meaning that everyone stayed in state and im not sure if i want to stay in the state. BOARD pass rate is 80%, and only 30%-40% fellowship, which i want to do. The attendings however are very very nice tho.

I have mixed feelings
 
mmag said:
Lodging: up to 2 nights paid for at the Campus Inn.

Transportation: I drove to the interview; Amtrak also an option.

Interview: They interview 30 people at a time. Everyone starts off in the conference room at 7am with Dr. Tremper giving the program interview. The tour and four 15 min interviews including 1 with either Dr. Tremper (the chair) or the program director occupied the rest of the morning. Afterwards, we went to a sports bar/wing place to have lunch. There was no dinner the night before at least for my interview date.

Overall it was a really relaxed day (the staff was amazing at directing us to the correct place) with nice interviewers. I found the residents to be friendly and open about the hours they were working. They leave the OR at around 5 and have to preop their next day patients. This could take them till 7pm. The intern/clinical base year is brutal with 4 months of surgery including neurosurgery, transplant, and vascular along with 1 (maybe 2) months of ICU. There is no option to do your intern year elsewhere unless you are switching from another residency. They have mock orals 3 x a year so the residents come out very well prepared. Their didactics are very strong it seems with lectures almost daily (I think they were at noon with lunch provided and consistent relief from OR duties to attend). The program is huge (~30/yr) which means the call schedule is nice around 3 overnights/month. Regional is a weakness with the surgeons slow to catch onto peripheral blocks. While the school has a simulator center, it wasn't really talked about or much used by the dept it seems. They’ve had computerized OR records for many years. Facilities are great with a new children's hospital to be completed in the next couple of years and a newly opened cadiovascular center.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Michigan review. Was wondering how this year is looking.
 
titanjones said:
I went to UT houston and while i really liked the program...i felt that they just werent a very strong program. Clinically i felt that there were strong and had a wide variety of cases and had no problem meeting numbers. HOwever, they are in limbo about getting a chairman, i think they are close to finding one. Also there is also no research going on in the program. Also when I asked the CA3's where they were going they all said there were staying in Texas....meaning that everyone stayed in state and im not sure if i want to stay in the state. BOARD pass rate is 80%, and only 30%-40% fellowship, which i want to do. The attendings however are very very nice tho.

I have mixed feelings
Click to expand...

Dr Hagberg is chair now for good. i think the fellowship thing will improve in the future. Dr hagberg is reopening the pain fellowship and they will still rotate at MD Anderson, which i have heard is a requirement for that fellowship. cardio fellowship starting too.
 
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