2011-2012 Interview Impressions

[DrVanNostran]

Loyola

Coming from Chicago, I was excited about this program. This program is located in Maywood, IL which is essentially ghetto, but easily accessible from either the city or the suburbs. Oak Park is probably the closest place you could live. Residents come in at 6 AM and seem to leave at 6 PM. They have a 4+1 Firm system, 4 weeks on the wards, etc and 1 week of ambulatory, clinic, time etc. Teaching seems to be emphasized by the faculty. They have a lot of simulations and didactics. They have the Hines VA which is insane. I'm not sure if the VA experience is all that it is cracked out to be. Residents seemed somewhat happy. Fellowship placement is pretty nice, especially within the Chicago area. If you are interested in Cards, this is probably a good place to go with their heart center. My gut feeling when I left the place was that I would not fit in there. I can see how people would love it, but I don't think its for me. BTW-they have a great gym.

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[DrVanNostran]

If you guys could post a small summary of what you thought of your interviews it would be nice to hear. I think this is a good way to keep some of your notes about each of your interviews as well.

 

[gutonc]

Thread stickied. Please post all residency review type questions/comments in this thread. New or bumped threads will either be moved or closed. Thanks.

 

[bronx43]

Ohio State

This program is actually pretty under-rated in my opinion. The leadership seem to be genuinely nice people (even though I have heard in the past that the ex-PD was somewhat challenging), who would have your back if you needed it. The residents seemed happy for the most part, though it certainly doesn't seem like a "cush" program when compared with some of the others. The fellowship placements appeared to be decently strong, especially for cardio and heme/onc. I'm not sure about their GI placement. The hospital itself was pretty solid, and they have a new building coming up in a couple years that's currently under construction. The heart hospital is brand spanking new and seems to be the pride and joy of the medical center for good reason. Columbus is a pretty decent town in the midwest. If you need something like a NYC or CHI, then maybe it would be too small, but downtown is overall clean. Overall, I would say that this is a program not to be overlooked.

 

[armstud]

Northwestern has been getting a lot of crap on these forums for being cush. There are many great things that I did find about the program: location!, work hour adherence, hospital is awesome, program director looks out for the residents, great matches, great faculty. The interns do seem to carry less patients than the average residency. Good MICU exposure. The medicine teams carry majority of patients with lots of consulting services: you will never directly admit to GI for example> people take that as a pro or con. Overall, residents seem happy, hospital is nice, great match in every fellowship. A place worth checking out IMO.

 

[a2raya83]

Loyola

Coming from Chicago, I was excited about this program. This program is located in Maywood, IL which is essentially ghetto, but easily accessible from either the city or the suburbs. Oak Park is probably the closest place you could live. Residents come in at 6 AM and seem to leave at 6 PM. They have a 4+1 Firm system, 4 weeks on the wards, etc and 1 week of ambulatory, clinic, time etc. Teaching seems to be emphasized by the faculty. They have a lot of simulations and didactics. They have the Hines VA which is insane. I'm not sure if the VA experience is all that it is cracked out to be. Residents seemed somewhat happy. Fellowship placement is pretty nice, especially within the Chicago area. If you are interested in Cards, this is probably a good place to go with their heart center. My gut feeling when I left the place was that I would not fit in there. I can see how people would love it, but I don't think its for me. BTW-they have a great gym.

I am looking forward to my loyola interview!!

Sorry for being nosey, but thus the idea behind these threads anyways, why don't you think it would be good fit for you? I wonder if its a personal reason or something you learned on interview day.

 

[DrVanNostran]

I am looking forward to my loyola interview!!

Sorry for being nosey, but thus the idea behind these threads anyways, why don't you think it would be good fit for you? I wonder if its a personal reason or something you learned on interview day.

Just a gut vibe. I didn't like the the 6-6 shift work feeling. I did an away at Loyola in another field and for some reason being there didn't feel right? I can't explain it. All I know is that I much rather be at my home program (if they take me )

 

[arielred]

Interviewed at uic today. Great program, pd is amazing and advocates for the residents, his enthusiasm definitely came across. Best morning report i've been to on the interview trail so far. Residents seem happy enough, lots of autonomy, pretty laidback. Only negatives for me were no free meals, no free parking and large program size. Will definitely be one of my top programs.

 

[hematopoiesis]

Anybody Interview at Mayo Rochester yet? I'm very curious about what to expect as my interview arrives.

Thanks in advance!

 

[hannibalct]

Pitt was my first interview, so I don't have much to compare it against, other than my home institution. My $0.02.

Pros:
- A very supportive PD who is apparently a strong advocate of the residents.
- UPMC is the biggest thing for miles, pulling in patients from WV, Ohio up to the Cleve, and halfway across the state, and north up towards Buffalo. In my 30 minute interview in one office that had a view of the helipad, I watched 3 choppers come in and out. Granted, most of them were likely surgical cases, but the place has patients. And then some. My sense is that the clinical training is likely sufficiently diverse.
- The faculty seem to be generally interested in resident development. A decent number were trained in the big H programs and speak candidly about choosing Pittsburgh because they wanted a more collegial environment in which to develop their careers and work with trainees.
- The residents seem happy. None of those I spoke with volunteered anything that they'd change about the program.
- The city is affordable, manageable, and has the best of a small town and big city. It's not Manhattan, but it's not Rochester. And the people are nice.
- EMR is solid. The ancillary staff apparently do their jobs (I'm on a VA block, so nurses who work still seem like a pleasant surprise).

Cons:
- A fellowship match list that, other than Pulm/CC, is solid, but not impressive. Most folks stay local or regional.
- Morning report was great, but not that impressive. The basic medicine was there, just not an extensive discussion of evidence, literature, or something else. I'm not expecting someone to barf Up to Date back at me, but an indication that folks are at least reading the literature would be nice. Granted, just one morning report, so maybe I caught a bad one. And, in the program's defense, there were applicant douches who kept interrupting morning report.
- UPMC is several hospitals mashed together. You're geographically located for ward rotations, but getting from one place in Presby to another in Monte can take 15 minutes.
- Some of the facilities are a bit dated. They're remodeling a bunch of floors, which will improve things.

Overall, I liked the place more than I thought I would. I think it'd be solid clinical training, but may not be the best if I have hopes of getting a competitive fellowship in something other than pulm/CC.

 

[cardsorbust]

Pitt was my first interview, so I don't have much to compare it against, other than my home institution. My $0.02.

Pros:
- A very supportive PD who is apparently a strong advocate of the residents.
- UPMC is the biggest thing for miles, pulling in patients from WV, Ohio up to the Cleve, and halfway across the state, and north up towards Buffalo. In my 30 minute interview in one office that had a view of the helipad, I watched 3 choppers come in and out. Granted, most of them were likely surgical cases, but the place has patients. And then some. My sense is that the clinical training is likely sufficiently diverse.
- The faculty seem to be generally interested in resident development. A decent number were trained in the big H programs and speak candidly about choosing Pittsburgh because they wanted a more collegial environment in which to develop their careers and work with trainees.
- The residents seem happy. None of those I spoke with volunteered anything that they'd change about the program.
- The city is affordable, manageable, and has the best of a small town and big city. It's not Manhattan, but it's not Rochester. And the people are nice.
- EMR is solid. The ancillary staff apparently do their jobs (I'm on a VA block, so nurses who work still seem like a pleasant surprise).

Cons:
- A fellowship match list that, other than Pulm/CC, is solid, but not impressive. Most folks stay local or regional.
- Morning report was great, but not that impressive. The basic medicine was there, just not an extensive discussion of evidence, literature, or something else. I'm not expecting someone to barf Up to Date back at me, but an indication that folks are at least reading the literature would be nice. Granted, just one morning report, so maybe I caught a bad one. And, in the program's defense, there were applicant douches who kept interrupting morning report.
- UPMC is several hospitals mashed together. You're geographically located for ward rotations, but getting from one place in Presby to another in Monte can take 15 minutes.
- Some of the facilities are a bit dated. They're remodeling a bunch of floors, which will improve things.

Overall, I liked the place more than I thought I would. I think it'd be solid clinical training, but may not be the best if I have hopes of getting a competitive fellowship in something other than pulm/CC.

Anytime posters use the term douche it brings a smile to my face. Thank you for starting my Monday off on the right foot.

 

[eastcoaster1979]

Really impressed by this program. Program director seemed bad-ass, the program has tons of research and is oozing money, great clinical training, great reputation, and every resident I met was really cool (they all passed the "I could drink a beer with this guy/gal" test). I don't know how much morning report can accurately serve as a proxy for resident knowledge/competence, but I was incredibly impressed the morning I was there. City isn't a huge metropolis, but Ann Arbor seems to be diverse with lots of culture and good places to eat - for me that works. The only downside I garnered from the day was that maybe the administration isn't totally receptive to resident feedback (had some residents voice a little concern, citing duty hour reformation this past year as an example). Overall, enjoyed the interview a ton and would be very happy to go here.

 

[atsai3]

City isn't a huge metropolis, but Ann Arbor seems to be diverse with lots of culture and good places to eat - for me that works.

UMich is a fantastic institution, but unless you are comparing Ann Arbor to Grand Forks, North Dakota I think the term "diverse", without a qualifier, would be a stretch. Ann Arbor is 72% white, 13% black, with a smattering of everything else. "Relatively diverse compared to other midwestern towns" may be a more appropriate descriptor.

 

[tallash]

UMich is a fantastic institution, but unless you are comparing Ann Arbor to Grand Forks, North Dakota I think the term "diverse", without a qualifier, would be a stretch. Ann Arbor is 72% white, 13% black, with a smattering of everything else. "Relatively diverse compared to other midwestern towns" may be a more appropriate descriptor.

Or you could compare it to Boston, which is 75% white, 9% Hispanic, 6.6% black, and a "smattering of everything else".

You might say Ann Arbor is "less self-righteous compared to some other East Coast towns".

 

[Deferoxamine]

Or you could compare it to Boston, which is 75% white, 9% Hispanic, 6.6% black, and a "smattering of everything else".

You might say Ann Arbor is "less self-righteous compared to some other East Coast towns".

THIS. So much.

 

[infarct]

i dont think anyone would ever confuse boston as diverse.

 

[nateshizzle]

Sorry it took me so long in getting to this.

UIC:

• I agree with what arielred said.
• Strong academic program with good patient/case diversity and plenty of opportunities for research.
• Hospital associations: University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center (diverse with significant underserved population) and Jesse Brown VA (a VA).
• This program seems to be in good financial shape and is growing rapidly, they added categorical positions last year.
• Their EMR is longstanding (10+ years) which is a huge plus.
• One point that was emphasized is that there are no private hospitalists at UIC which means no schlepping for private attendings which can be annoying.
• Teaching is highly emphasized, especially given that U of I is the largest medical school in the country. There is a special teaching month for residents to learn to teach (I forget the mechanics).
• The PD (Dr. Zar) is a badass. In addition to his duties as prof/PD he has a steady gig as a stage actor and has been known to model on occasion. He maintains a pdf database of the most pertinent articles on every internal medicine subject.
• Not sure if this is true at most institutions, but you can take courses at UIC for free in your spare time. Residents commonly take night classes in topics of interest, but a few have completed their MPH during residency by taking night/flexible courses.
• Fellowship match is competitive across all subspecialties with many choosing to stay at UIC (41% over 6 years).
• Residents get plenty of opportunities for procedures.
• Residents have a good degree of autonomy. The degree of autonomy on subspecialty wards is quite variable depending on the fellow.
• I didn't get a good sense of the ICU experience. They share an ICU with Northwestern. Hopefully someone will fill in this detail.
• Only chief residents host morning report. This is a minor con for me.
• The interviewers are required to find out certain facts about candidates. Be prepared to explain any years off and why you want to go to UIC and live in Chicago.
• The social event was at a bar and was shared between 2 interview dates. There wasn't enough beer, food, seating, and residents to go around. I don't think this reflected on the schedule of the residents so much as the fact that it was one of the first interview dinners.
• The UIC campus and affiliated hospitals are accessible by the pink line at Polk. Most residents take the train or bike. The VA is 2 blocks away. A car is unnecessary in Chicago.
• Chicago has a high cost of living. More expensive than Houston or Atlanta, but less expensive than NYC or SF.

 

[ricardos]

Sorry it took me so long in getting to this.

UIC:

• I agree with what arielred said.
• Strong academic program with good patient/case diversity and plenty of opportunities for research.
• Hospital associations: University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center (diverse with significant underserved population) and Jesse Brown VA (a VA).
• This program seems to be in good financial shape and is growing rapidly, they added categorical positions last year.
• Their EMR is longstanding (10+ years) which is a huge plus.
• One point that was emphasized is that there are no private hospitalists at UIC which means no schlepping for private attendings which can be annoying.
• Teaching is highly emphasized, especially given that U of I is the largest medical school in the country. There is a special teaching month for residents to learn to teach (I forget the mechanics).
• The PD (Dr. Zar) is a badass. In addition to his duties as prof/PD he has a steady gig as a stage actor and has been known to model on occasion. He maintains a pdf database of the most pertinent articles on every internal medicine subject.
• Not sure if this is true at most institutions, but you can take courses at UIC for free in your spare time. Residents commonly take night classes in topics of interest, but a few have completed their MPH during residency by taking night/flexible courses.
• Fellowship match is competitive across all subspecialties with many choosing to stay at UIC (41% over 6 years).
• Residents get plenty of opportunities for procedures.
• Residents have a good degree of autonomy. The degree of autonomy on subspecialty wards is quite variable depending on the fellow.
• I didn't get a good sense of the ICU experience. They share an ICU with Northwestern. Hopefully someone will fill in this detail.
• Only chief residents host morning report. This is a minor con for me.
• The interviewers are required to find out certain facts about candidates. Be prepared to explain any years off and why you want to go to UIC and live in Chicago.
• The social event was at a bar and was shared between 2 interview dates. There wasn't enough beer, food, seating, and residents to go around. I don't think this reflected on the schedule of the residents so much as the fact that it was one of the first interview dinners.
• The UIC campus and affiliated hospitals are accessible by the pink line at Polk. Most residents take the train or bike. The VA is 2 blocks away. A car is unnecessary in Chicago.
• Chicago has a high cost of living. More expensive than Houston or Atlanta, but less expensive than NYC or SF.

I had a very similar experience at UIC, seems like an awesome program with a strong fellowship match, the faculty are good and the residents are happy; skyrocketed to the top of my rank list after the interview

 

[sunset823]

Or you could compare it to Boston, which is 75% white, 9% Hispanic, 6.6% black, and a "smattering of everything else".

You might say Ann Arbor is "less self-righteous compared to some other East Coast towns".

Having lived in and loving both places (both are at the top of my potential places to be - what can I say, I love my white people (I'm not white)), I'd say A2 is pretty self-righteous too lol maybe just within the Rust Belt though.

And sorry to get off track, but this video is a great summary of New England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0

 

[jdh71]

Or you could compare it to Boston, which is 75% white, 9% Hispanic, 6.6% black, and a "smattering of everything else".

You might say Ann Arbor is "less self-righteous compared to some other East Coast towns".

pwned

 

[atsai3]

Or you could compare it to Boston, which is 75% white, 9% Hispanic, 6.6% black, and a "smattering of everything else".

You might say Ann Arbor is "less self-righteous compared to some other East Coast towns".

pwned

Yeah... not so much.
I think I'm going to go with infarct. Never heard anyone describe Boston as "diverse".

 

[Phyozo]

USC:

Definitely a positive experience here, MUCH better than the rumors stirring on the forums. Residents are all around happy and really try to sell the program. The PD seemed very laid back (could be a pro or con) and appeared to vouch for the residents. He will meet with you early in the year and make sure you get set up with the research needed to get to your desired fellowship. Most of the residents end up staying at USC for fellowship. Most of the faculty were former USC grads too. All in all, a solid program on an upward trajectory.

Pros:
- Large county hospital w/ diverse patient population and VERY interest pathology
-Supportive resident community, very collegial bunch
-2 hospital system (although 90% of time spent at LAC+USC, 10% spent at "University hospital", the private hospital in the area)
-PD VERY supportive of research and pursuit of future career goals, including fellowship placement. Flexible elective time during R2/R3 years to pursue additional months for research if desired
-Free parking
-$28 / day for meals (think about this for a minute...how much will you save over 3 years...)
-Live in beautiful socal with amazing weather, right next to downtown LA. Nothing you can't do in this area =).

Cons:
-Hospital located in a rather ghetto area (although residents don't live in this area)
-A strong research school,though can sometimes be dwarfed when compared to some of the other major academic centers in cali (UCSF, stanford, UCLA, UCSD)
-Most fellowship matches take their own and most faculty are lifers so this may be pro/con depending on your thoughts about academic inbreeding
-Residents work HARD (this was a consistent theme throughout the day and every resident made this comment). The flip side of this is that you are very well trained by the time you leave
-90% County hospital experience and all the social issues that come with
-about 50% spanish speaking population (a big issue for me personally as I don't speak spanish and would be slowed down a lot needing a translator for half my patients)

 

[Phyozo]

UMich:

All in all, an amazing program. The PD Dr. Del Valle is smart, warm, and extremely supportive. The entire day was planned and executed in an outstanding fashion. The residents are a tight knit bunch, definitely the type of people you could kick back and grab a beer with after work. Both my interviewers were great people to talk to. Nothing but good things to say here, really.

Pros:
-IM department ranked 7th in the nation
-2 Large hospital systems: university hospital (tertiary care and referral center for the most of the states in this region), and VA
-Large program with about 50 residents per class
-Unionized housestaff w/ VERY competative pay, especially considering the cost of living in AA
-Top notch research opportunities (school is top 4 in NIH funding)
-Faculty incentives for teaching well (top 5-10, per resident evals, get bonuses each year)
-Amazing fellowship match list
-SO CHEAP to live in ann arbor ($990 for 2bed/2bath)

Cons:
-Main one is location, if you would like to live in AA for the next 3 years.
-Personally, I thought the diversity of the area was a turn-off for me, coming from califoria where there are a lot more ethnic minorities. This is also true of the patient population.

 

[Phyozo]

Scripps Green impression:

An excellent community program. Scripps green hospital is beautiful and doesn't feel like you're in a hospital at all. The program is smaller in size (10 categorial, 2 research per year) and along with that comes a more intimate experience with the faculty. Everyone knows everyone's name. The PD Dr. Diamant is very friendly and well spoken. He graduated from scripps green residency back in '93 when the class size was only about 3-4 residents per year, and has stayed because of the collegial atmosphere. The residents are happy and we got to meet nearly all of them throughout the day (only about 30). They all vouched strongly for the program. Fellowship match rates are extremely good for a community program - most match into a fellowship at scripps green, though they have sent their graduates to bigger name places in cali like stanford, UCSF, UCSD, UCLA as well as some of the bigger names on the east coast as well (duke, bwh). By the way, rumors about them not having an ED are false. They have an urgent care which functions essentially like an ED. They can't call themselves an emergency room because they lack the required number of ED physicians (and likely other technicalities) as the place is run by internists. Functionally however, it serves as an emergency room and you will see all the standard emergency room problems.

Pros:
-Smaller community program with tight knit group of residents who are incredibly supportive
-relatively cush program (q6 long call, not overnight, cap of 4 admissions per call)
-HUGE emphasis on teaching. 3 hours of didactics per day. This is protected time for interns and residents handle their pagers.
-All faculty are dedicated clinicians who enjoy practicing medicine full time. There are no full-time researchers. Per the PD, the most research time the faculty have is 40% is that's rare.
-Residents get all procedures!
-Excellent match list even into the more competative specialties like GI or cards (as above, most residents stay at one of the many scripps green fellowships, though the program is well known nationally and individuals have been known to match at amazing outside institutions)
-beautiful area living in southern california. The hospital itself is located near a golf course overlooking the ocean. You can see the waves from the resident call rooms! Also, you can't beat socal weather.
-Free parking

Cons:
-One hospital system (scripps green hospital), though this experience is supplemented through rotations at the local navy hospital and optional rotations at nearby indian reserves, homeless shelter, and select areas internationally
-there appeared to be less resident autonomy than at other places
-3 hours of didactics per day is a lot; I'd rather spend about half that time seeing more patients
-attendings are code leaders; there are 2 full time dedicated ICU attendings that will pretty much do all the codes. It seemed like most of the code training is done through simulation lab
-Fewer research opportunities than large academic programs
-most patients are wealthy, healthy, and insured. You'll be unlikely to see the severe spectrum of disease pathology, except when rotation through other outside facilities
-No in-house fellowship for critical care, ID, nephrology

 

[pntgrd]

Scripps has no private attendings. . .

 

[Phyozo]

Scripps has no private attendings. . .

corrected

 

[internalmed86]

UMich:

All in all, an amazing program. The PD Dr. Del Valle is smart, warm, and extremely supportive. The entire day was planned and executed in an outstanding fashion. The residents are a tight knit bunch, definitely the type of people you could kick back and grab a beer with after work. Both my interviewers were great people to talk to. Nothing but good things to say here, really.

Pros:
-IM department ranked 7th in the nation
-2 Large hospital systems: university hospital (tertiary care and referral center for the most of the states in this region), and VA
-Large program with about 50 residents per class
-Unionized housestaff w/ VERY competative pay, especially considering the cost of living in AA
-Top notch research opportunities (school is top 4 in NIH funding)
-Faculty incentives for teaching well (top 5-10, per resident evals, get bonuses each year)
-Amazing fellowship match list
-SO CHEAP to live in ann arbor ($990 for 2bed/2bath)

Cons:
-Main one is location, if you would like to live in AA for the next 3 years.
-Personally, I thought the diversity of the area was a turn-off for me, coming from califoria where there are a lot more ethnic minorities. This is also true of the patient population.

Thanks for the great write-up! I am interviewing there in January and wanted to know what time the actual interview day ends. I know the website says 4pm but that sounded a little later than my other interviews and I wondered if it was a 'safe' time for them to list. The last flight that night back to my home state leaves at 5:40pm and I am afraid that if I book that flight, I might not make it to DTW from AA in time.

Thanks!

 

[Phyozo]

Thanks for the great write-up! I am interviewing there in January and wanted to know what time the actual interview day ends. I know the website says 4pm but that sounded a little later than my other interviews and I wondered if it was a 'safe' time for them to list. The last flight that night back to my home state leaves at 5:40pm and I am afraid that if I book that flight, I might not make it to DTW from AA in time.

Thanks!

Maybe others can confirm, but my interview day ended pretty early, around 3pm. Assuming this is the norm, and you can secure a ride to meet you outside the Taubman center right away, it should be doable to get to DTW with plenty of time to spare for your 540 flight.

 

[internalmed86]

Maybe others can confirm, but my interview day ended pretty early, around 3pm. Assuming this is the norm, and you can secure a ride to meet you outside the Taubman center right away, it should be doable to get to DTW with plenty of time to spare for your 540 flight.

Thanks a lot! I would be really interested to hear from other applicants as well to see if this was the exception or the norm. Thanks again for the reply!

 

[gutonc]

Thanks a lot! I would be really interested to hear from other applicants as well to see if this was the exception or the norm. Thanks again for the reply!

Why not just email the PC with your concern. You're probably not the first person to ever have to catch a plane after your interview there.

 

[arielred]

Not much to add to review above , just wanted to say I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely exceeded my expectations as I've heard many negative things about the program in the past few years. Residents seem genuinely happy and the pathology is amazing. It's not going to be a walk in the park considering its LA county but after my interview day, the program has moved waay up my rank list.

 

[armstud]

Thanks a lot! I would be really interested to hear from other applicants as well to see if this was the exception or the norm. Thanks again for the reply!

My interview day ended at 3 as well. They stick to the schedule. Like the above poster said its a great program. Residents work very hard there. I can post a review but it looks like we have a good one already

 

[internalmed86]

My interview day ended at 3 as well. They stick to the schedule. Like the above poster said its a great program. Residents work very hard there. I can post a review but it looks like we have a good one already

Thanks! I think I'll book the 5:40pm flight back

 

[OCallag]

Yeah, my interview at Michigan ended at 3, too. I was worried about catching my flight, emailed the PC and she made sure I got out in time. No worries.

 

[gutonc]

Yeah, my interview at Michigan ended at 3, too. I was worried about catching my flight, emailed the PC and she made sure I got out in time. No worries.

Wait...instead of asking random strangers on the intarwubs about it you reached out to the one person who could actually affect the timing of your interview and your ability to get to the airport on time? Are you insane?

 

[OCallag]

Wait...instead of asking random strangers on the intarwubs about it you reached out to the one person who could actually affect the timing of your interview and your ability to get to the airport on time? Are you insane?

Haha...sometimes people's paranoia gets in the way of logical thinking. I'm guilty of it too, so I can't criticize

 

[internalmed86]

Wait...instead of asking random strangers on the intarwubs about it you reached out to the one person who could actually affect the timing of your interview and your ability to get to the airport on time? Are you insane?

I understand what you are trying to say and I am quite worthy of criticism BUT on the interview day schedule it clearly states that the interview day ends at 4pm. I didn't want to be 'that' guy that bombards the PC with another pointless email to confirm something that's already stated. I figured it would be a much better idea to first poll some applicants and then see if I need to confirm with the PC.

The situation was resolved regardless, while booking my flights last night, I noticed that the airline had added a 9pm flight. Thanks for your responses, guys. The strangers on the intrawebs can be helpful sometimes

 

[obiwan]

UMich:

All in all, an amazing program. The PD Dr. Del Valle is smart, warm, and extremely supportive. The entire day was planned and executed in an outstanding fashion. The residents are a tight knit bunch, definitely the type of people you could kick back and grab a beer with after work. Both my interviewers were great people to talk to. Nothing but good things to say here, really.

Pros:
-IM department ranked 7th in the nation
-2 Large hospital systems: university hospital (tertiary care and referral center for the most of the states in this region), and VA
-Large program with about 50 residents per class
-Unionized housestaff w/ VERY competative pay, especially considering the cost of living in AA
-Top notch research opportunities (school is top 4 in NIH funding)
-Faculty incentives for teaching well (top 5-10, per resident evals, get bonuses each year)
-Amazing fellowship match list
-SO CHEAP to live in ann arbor ($990 for 2bed/2bath)

Cons:
-Main one is location, if you would like to live in AA for the next 3 years.
-Personally, I thought the diversity of the area was a turn-off for me, coming from califoria where there are a lot more ethnic minorities. This is also true of the patient population.

Yeah, I left my Michigan interview pretty awestruck at how impressive the program is. The only reason I didn't choose this program was weather related.

 

[Phyozo]

UCLA:
Mixed feelings about this interview day. It was fine but definitely not as warm and fuzzy as some of the previous programs. The day is typical with morning report, presentation by the PD, tour, interviews, lunch, then intern panel and finally last words by the PD Dr. Friedman. I thought the PD was excellent and very personable. I did get a little lost finding my interviewer as we were just given a map and left to find our interviewer location on our own (which is fine though seems more less personable when one considers that the last few places I went to all had personal escorts take you to and from the interview). Residents were really the selling factor for me. All of them are awesome…really happy and energetic bunch that like to work hard and play hard. I did wish I had met more of them…morning report had about 20 housestaff+faculty in the room…only met 3 interns the whole day (and only during intern panel).

Pros:
-Housestaff are really awesome...this was the major selling point for me throughout the day
-Top tier program with plenty of research opportunities, excellent fellowship placement
-LARGE quaternary/tertiary care facility famous for transplants…residents/faculty said these only make up 5-10% of patients on any given service so it’s less than some myths would have one to believe. Excellent county experience through rotating through Santa Monica and UCLA-Olive View
-AMAZING outpatient experience. R2/R3 will spend almost half their time in the outpatient consult services. Besides getting really good training to be an outpatient doc, this also means you get nearly half your weekends off during R2/R3 year.
-Can’t beat living in LA. 300+ days of sunshine / year. Traffic is always an issue, but most residents get around it by living close to the hospital and learning when/where to travel the roads.
-Great benefits in the housestaff insurance…100% hospital bill covered if services provided at uCLA. 100% lab and pharmacy costs covered at UCLA. No deductible if seen at UCLA
-Beautiful new hospital!
-Awesome retreats each year (2.5 days at spring retreat packed with plenty of play time and booze)

Cons:
-Housestaff definitely work hard and patients are complicated with multiple …the flip side is that the clinical training is top-notch and most come out prepared to handle anything.
-Great outpatient experiences comes at the expense of some elective time…total of 10 weeks over 3 years (this includes time for research)
-Work hour issues are still being tweaked at (as with most other institutions)...interns say they conform to the 80 hour rule but admit to sometimes staying way longer than intended to admit patients and help out
-EPIC EMR is coming first to outpatient later this year with inpatient soon to follow. Housestaff still write paper orders
-LA traffic can be mitigated with knowing the city better, but it was still a pain to drive around

 

[bashini]

Anyone already visit UCSD? Just wanted to find out what people thought of the program. Thank you!

 

[go lakers]

Anyone already visit UCSD? Just wanted to find out what people thought of the program. Thank you!

UCSD:

Very strong program. Probably strongest in southern CA, just second to UCLA. The PD is a well-respected and very sweet person. The day entailed starting off in Hillcrest, which is the main hospital. Then we took a bus to La Jolla, which contains the other 2 primary sites (VA and Thornton). The residents were very nice and so were my interviewers. Tried to elicit from a resident or 2 if there were many overly tough attendings to work with, and everyone had positive things to say. There is a new cardiovascular center (Sulpizio), which is a stellar addition.

Pros:
-Research powerhouse
-Living in San Diego
-Medium-sized resident class
-Impressive fellowship match
-All notes are electronic

Cons:
-Hope you speak spanish (for the patient population)
-Hillcrest separated from other 2 hospitals by ~15 miles. Not a big distance at all, but it's there.
-Work really hard (and "play really hard," according to the residents)
-Pay for parking ($40/month)

 

[argencolts]

Anybody visit these programs yet?

 

[armstud]

Anybody visit these programs yet?

UVA: really impressed by program. Residents very happy. PD goes to bat for the residents and only selects attendings that have positive feedback to teach. Good fellowship match. Hospital is nice but not the newest. Charlottesville is beautiful and I like the UVA campus a lot. Seems to attract more couples. Adhere to work hours. Good but not fantastic fellowship match. Ranked highly according to US News for what its worth. Admit to speciality service: could be a pro or con depending on your perspective.

Dartmouth: impressed by the program as well. Best pre dinner meal by far, even though that doesn't matter in the overall look of things. Hospital is really nice with tons of glass overlooks everywhere. Residents seem REALLY happy. People get along here. They emphasized that being the only tertiary care hosp in NH gave them a higher medicare index for diversity than boston hospitals. Fellowship match is okay: they do have a 100% match rate for the last few years but its at mid tier programs with DHMC taking a lot of their own. College town is nice and is really close to the hosp. Very little racial diversity in the area. Main negative is the location which everyone already knew. I like outdoorsy things but thats really all they have there. Great benefits there and not having state income tax is another plus. PD is very nice.

 

[internalmed86]

UVA: really impressed by program. Residents very happy. PD goes to bat for the residents and only selects attendings that have positive feedback to teach. Good fellowship match. Hospital is nice but not the newest. Charlottesville is beautiful and I like the UVA campus a lot. Seems to attract more couples. Adhere to work hours. Good but not fantastic fellowship match. Ranked highly according to US News for what its worth. Admit to speciality service: could be a pro or con depending on your perspective.

I agree with the entire write-up except for the part about the fellowship match - I thought it was EXCELLENT. They matched like 13 in Cards/GI in the last class with places like Yale (Cards) and Duke (GI). IMO, that was the most impressive part. Dr. Donowitz is a really nice guy, seems like he has a great sense of humor. I think the main con to me was the hospital. It looked rather old, I am also spoiled by having a great looking MICU at my home institution so I was not impressed by their ICU. Overall, I think UVA has a great program with nice residents, a good PD and an excellent reputation.

 

[jdh71]

-Hillcrest separated from other 2 hospitals by ~15 miles. Not a big distance at all, but it's there.
-Pay for parking ($40/month)

Neither are obviously reasons to not chose a program, obviously.

But I will say 15 miles through san diego traffic could be close to an hour in the mornings and quitting time

$40 a month is CHEAP

 

[Elixir86]

I agree with the entire write-up except for the part about the fellowship match - I thought it was EXCELLENT. They matched like 13 in Cards/GI in the last class with places like Yale (Cards) and Duke (GI). IMO, that was the most impressive part. Dr. Donowitz is a really nice guy, seems like he has a great sense of humor. I think the main con to me was the hospital. It looked rather old, I am also spoiled by having a great looking MICU at my home institution so I was not impressed by their ICU. Overall, I think UVA has a great program with nice residents, a good PD and an excellent reputation.

Agree x3. Carpets in the hallways of the ICU?!?!? Major turn-off for me. My institution just finished a huge critical care tower for all the ICUs (medical, surgical, neurosurg, etc.) and UVA's facilities looked too old and out-dated by comparison.

 

[adagio]

$40 a month is CHEAP

Hell yeah!!!!

 

[LoveGI]

Hell yeah!!!!

Depends on where you're looking. Since I'm mostly interviewing at medium sized cities in the midwest, which all provide good parking for free, for me to be told at my last interview that they charge $40 a month for parking in a meh city is kinda a big turn off. If it was Chicago, OK, but it's clearly not.

 

[applegeek1234]

UCSD:

Very strong program. Probably strongest in southern CA, just second to UCLA. The PD is a well-respected and very sweet person. The day entailed starting off in Hillcrest, which is the main hospital. Then we took a bus to La Jolla, which contains the other 2 primary sites (VA and Thornton). The residents were very nice and so were my interviewers. Tried to elicit from a resident or 2 if there were many overly tough attendings to work with, and everyone had positive things to say. There is a new cardiovascular center (Sulpizio), which is a stellar addition.

Pros:
-Research powerhouse
-Living in San Diego
-Medium-sized resident class
-Impressive fellowship match
-All notes are electronic

Cons:
-Hope you speak spanish (for the patient population)
-Hillcrest separated from other 2 hospitals by ~15 miles. Not a big distance at all, but it's there.
-Work really hard (and "play really hard," according to the residents)
-Pay for parking ($40/month)

Very helpful... thanks! I'm interviewing at UCSD in Jan, and I'm pretty excited about this one.

Two quick questions:

1. After talking with several residents about what factors to take into account when ranking programs, I felt like there was a general consensus on the importance of each program's ACGME cycle length (the longer, the better). So I hit up the ACGME website and looked up some of the accreditation stuff. I was really surprised to see that UCSD had an ACGME cycle length of 2 years... should this be concerning?

... which leads me to my second question.

2. On every interview that I've been to so far, the PD always talks about the ACGME cycle length (normal length seems to be 5 yrs... one PD stated that very few programs have a cycle length of 6 yrs). What is the significance of the ACGME cycle length? (ie. how should we as applicants be factoring this into our decision of ranking programs?)

 

[gutonc]

2. On every interview that I've been to so far, the PD always talks about the ACGME cycle length (normal length seems to be 5 yrs... one PD stated that very few programs have a cycle length of 6 yrs). What is the significance of the ACGME cycle length? (ie. how should we as applicants be factoring this into our decision of ranking programs?)

As long as it's >1yr, you really shouldn't be putting any weight on that at all. There are a lot of reasons why programs get less than the maximum # of years on their accreditation cycle and they are generally a lot of little things rather than several major issues. And programs like UCSD aren't going to be shut down overnight, no matter what.

IIRC (and aPD can correct me if I'm wrong), 5 years is the maximum approval time but some programs get a bit of a reprieve and, while approved for 5 years, won't get re-audited until 6 years have passed. This recently happened to my fellowship program as they were trying to get all of the IM/subspecialty programs on the same cycle so they could just make one site visit instead of 9 different ones (it was a really long 2 weeks for the site visitors).