2012-2013 Adult Neurology Interview Impressions

[neuro2013]

Hey everyone, just wanted to start a thread for people to share thoughts about 2012-2013 adult neurology interview impressions. Please contribute -- to help future applicants, and to improve everyone's interview experience in the future.

Write the school's name, and observed pros/cons, but please no disrespectful bashing of programs.

Also feel free to include:

- How you felt about the programs you visited after you interviewed there

- Any changes in programs that should be noted from previous years

- What your priorities were when making your final ranklist (and did your priorities play out differently in the end than when you started interviews)? E.g. residents, faculty, location?

- Insights into program reputations nationally

- What are some things future candidates should perhaps ask about, or look out for in certain programs? (e.g. regarding work hours, research, support, faculty turnover, etc).

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[neuro2013]

Also please note that the bottom of this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=767861 has several 2012-2013 interview impressions.

And feel free to PM me if you don't want to post as yourself (as has been done on other threads)...

 

[neuro2013]

No takers?

 

[furmangrd08]

Strong- UCinci, UMass, UVA
Mid level- UNC, Vandy
Weak- MUSC, Wake
Malignant- Baylor. Let me say that this program was regarded by EVERY SINGLE PERSON that i met along the interview trail as "elitist." I was disgusted by the way the residents treated the interviewees at dinner and during the modicum of downtime afforded to us by them between interviews. The faculty were cold and off-putting. The chair told most of us "welp, thanks for coming" at the end of our individual interviews. The facilities are poorly kept and though the "medical city" is large and certainly offers a great deal of experience for the neurologist in training nothing takes away from the fact that you are clearly lost in the shuffle as a resident (10 per year). The didactics offered by this program are VERY WEAK and epitomize its sole goal: learning through heavy patient load with little clinical education. Will be extremely unhappy if I match here and will put in for transfer after intern year if this happens.

 

[furmangrd08]

Cinci, UMass, and UVA seemed to offer the best training and were very strong in terms of producing clinical neurologists. Vandy treats its interviewees best.

 

[Thama]

Strong- UCinci, UMass, UVA
Mid level- UNC, Vandy
Weak- MUSC, Wake
Malignant- Baylor. Let me say that this program was regarded by EVERY SINGLE PERSON that i met along the interview trail as "elitist." I was disgusted by the way the residents treated the interviewees at dinner and during the modicum of downtime afforded to us by them between interviews. The faculty were cold and off-putting. The chair told most of us "welp, thanks for coming" at the end of our individual interviews. The facilities are poorly kept and though the "medical city" is large and certainly offers a great deal of experience for the neurologist in training nothing takes away from the fact that you are clearly lost in the shuffle as a resident (10 per year). The didactics offered by this program are VERY WEAK and epitomize its sole goal: learning through heavy patient load with little clinical education. Will be extremely unhappy if I match here and will put in for transfer after intern year if this happens.

I have to say that I'm surprised that you put Wake in the weak category. The faculty here at UNC that I've talked to about local programs are all extremely high on the faculty and quality of education at Wake.

 

[furmangrd08]

Well to be honest Wake seemed like it would be very similar in training opportunities as MUSC. The staff, faculty, and residents were all cordial and welcoming. Definitely feel as if I would come out of there a well trained Neurologist, but compared to the programs at which I interviewed there was a sense that better training was available elsewhere.

 

[NeurologyDO]

I'm glad someone started this thread, I was surprised at how little updated information there is about many of the programs. For me it was most important about how good a fit a program was for me, along with quality of the training. I was not as interested in work load/call/salary. I expect to work hard in residency!

I only interviewed at categorical programs, and avoided the northeast as I tend to dislike the attitude people have there.

In no particular order:

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center: This is a small program (2 residents per year) that I feel was a good mid-level program. Residents seemed happy but with such a small number of residents it seems it would be easy to get overworked. Residents seemed satisfied with their training and said they got exposure to all the big subspecialties, Faculty was very approachable and friendly. because KP is it's own system, apparently you don't have as much of the paperwork to do, but on the down side it might leave you unprepared for how hospitals outside of KP work. It is a tertiary referral center for Neuro for all of southern cali, so you get to see lots of pathology. I was a bit concerned about salary here, though. 48,000 and cost of living is 1500-2000 a month! Yikes!
The program didn't particularly leave a big impression on me, however I feel one would get pretty good training and you would leave knowing what you need to know. Located very close to Hollywood, and right across from the Church of Scientology heh heh

UIC Chicago, IL : One of my earlier interviews, and I recall being very impressed. The faculty seemed very enthusiastic and the residents had lots of praise for a few of them as being excellent teachers. Sorry, I don't recall the names and I don't have my noted with me! You rotate at 3 different hospitals including the VA. IMO, rotating at a VA or county hospital is a big plus. They are right next to Rush, and per the residents UIC provides a better experience as Rush only has one hospital they rotate in. The VA is NICE, btw! Residents seemed very genuinely happy and friendly, and praised the program without even being asked. The ones I talked to said they ranked the program either #1 or #2. There are plenty of research opportunities. I've never been to Chicago before, but from what I saw and what I heard it seems like a pretty great city to live in (minus the snow, haha).
I got the impression that this was a strong middle-tier program, and you would certainly get strong training here.

UTMB Galveston, TX: This was my worst interview experience, and I left angry. (I'm a very happy, easy-going person, I don't anger easily!) I'll try not to let my emotions cloud my quick review, though! There were 10 total interviews, 2 with IM the day before, 5 with neurology faculty at UTMB, and then 3 with faculty at MD Anderson. No dinner was provided. I spoke with 1 resident for a total of 2 minutes, and then didn't get an opportunity to speak to a resident again. If you rented a car/drove your own to UTMB, you had to drive yourself to MD Anderson (1 to 1.5 hour drive depending on traffic) and you had to pay for your own parking in the Medical Center ($10). At MD Anderson, I was asked in an interview why I didn't go to a "normal" medical school and waited up to TWO HOURS between interviews (of which there was only 3). We were left in a conference room by ourselves and some of the interviewees had to "leave early" (at 5 pm) to make it to their flights on time. I didn't leave till 6PM, and I arrived at MD Anderson at 1PM - for just three 20-minute interviews! All of us were very frustrated by the end. At UTMB, the program chair and director (same person) was very friendly and enthusiastic, and stated the program had fully recovered after the hurricane. In fact, the entire medical center there has drastically expanded since the hurricane, the IM program there is EXCELLENT, and the city has rebuilt as well. However, another faculty that I interviewed with specifically stated that the program had NOT yet recovered.
I have no idea what the residents really think of the program, as I only saw one. Given that a faculty told me the program still had a long ways to go to recovery, and given how disorganized the interview process was, I cannot recommend this program at this time. I hope that they will improve in the coming years, though!


UT Houston: Still a strong stroke program!  I was told that you get strong exposure to all the other subspecialties as well, but certainly lots and lots of stroke heh heh. Dr. Grotta seemed very friendly and approachable, and per the UT-H interviewees that had worked with him before, he's a great teacher as well. Residents were very friendly and seemed very happy about the program, they all seemed to get along with each other very well and it is apparently not uncommon to hang out with some of the faculty after work. Faculty is very supportive of the residents. However I did not feel that this program was a good fit for me. Just like when I interviewed here for med school, I felt that they were….uh, not as easy to talk to. This was the only interview were I was actually asked specific medical questions, and I did not feel very at ease. I got the impression that they…think very highly of themselves. Overall I think it's a top middle tier type of program. You will certainly get excellent training, you get the advantage of being in the Texas Medical Center, plenty of research opportunities, as well as great fellowship opportunities.

 

[NeurologyDO]

Here's a second batch of Neurology residencies:

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX: Amazing! Honestly, I can think of almost nothing bad about the program. They have a slightly lower salary than average, but that's about it. I did an away rotation here for a month, and I was very impressed. The residents work hard but overall seem happy and help each other out. They all seem to get along very well and are friendly. There was a wide variety of pathology and I saw diseases which are pretty rare. Residents were very confident in reading MRI's as PGYIIIs on a pretty high level. Faculty had full confidence in the residents, and it was evident the residents were all very well trained. Dr. Kass, the program director, is incredible and has clearly introduced a lot of positive changes to the program in the last few years. They have the typical clinical and research tracks, but they are also starting up an international health track, where you can get the opportunity to train in Africa or South America, for example, for a certain amount of time. I'm not sure about the specifics, but it is the only Neuro program to have something like this. Residents and faculty are all very friendly and easy to talk to. I spent most of my interviews laughing and completely at ease. I can be pretty shy and timid, so I think this says a lot. Also, one thing I love about this program is its emphasis on PATIENT CARE. Faculty and residents actually spend time with EACH AND EVERY PATIENT, even if it's just a consult. I got the impression that they truly care about the patients. If a patient had psychogenic neurologic manifestation, for example, no one ever said the patient was "crazy," instead everyone discussed as a group how to best approach this patient to ensure a positive outcome. We spent up to an hour with an individual patient, making sure all of their questions were answered. Dr. Owens, a pediatric neurologist, is also an excellent teacher. Actually, every faculty I interacted with was very approachable and seemed eager to teach. There are research opportunities, and excellent fellowship opportunities. Also, when interviewing I got the impression that they are not so much interested in an interviewees rank/grades as they are in their attitude and personality. This is certainly a top-tier program, and I would highly recommend it!

UTSW Dallas, TX: Also a top-tier program. The most organized interview I went on, btw, I felt very taken care of. They even had a tour of the city which I though was really great! I feel like I got to meet almost all of the residents, I got the impression they were "one big happy family" and Dr. Vernino, the director of the "Dept. of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics" was very friendly, very supportive, and easy to talk to. He's made a lot of positive changes to the program. Faculty is very supportive, they all stopped to talk to us. Residents seemed very knowledgeable and while the work load was heavy, they did not seem to be overworked. It seemed that there was a good balance and a strong support system. Parkland, which is being rebuilt and is looking beautiful, is of course a well known part of UTSW where you will see a lot of pathology. A plus about UTSW the programs in the Tex Med Center is that they don't really have competition, so pretty much anything interesting in the area goes straight to them. Lots of research opportunities, the residents all have plenty of case reports written up, and excellent fellowship opportunities. Also, the salary is nice, 52,000! Dallas is also a great city to live in.

UTSW Austin, TX: Affiliated with UTSW but in Austin, this is a relatively new program. I did an away rotation here, and really liked it. It is much more laid back nad the residents admitted that they have enough time to relax and not get overly stressed, but you still get to see plenty. Overall the vibe here is much more laid back than the other programs in which I interviewed. Right now I would say it is a middle-middle tier program, however the program is in the process of expanding over the next few years. There is also a med school planned in Austin. This is certainly a program to keep an eye on, and I feel it will only become stronger over the years. Residents get excellent fellowship positions, there is an excellent salary (52,000) and you have the opportunity to spend a month in Parkland in Dallas. Faculty enjoys teaching and is approachable, however not the best teachers I encountered. Also, Austin is truly an amazing city to live in. You will get pretty good clinical training here however not at the level of UTSW-Dallas. Overall, I would recommend this program. I feel like I would be very happy here.

 

[tysabri]

I would just like to elaborate on the above post about the neurology program at UTSW-Dallas. I am currently a medical student at UTSW and would absolutely agree with everything said above. The residents are all happy here and hang out together a lot outside of the hospital. The pathology seen at Parkland is also incredibly amazing and the residents see everything from the most basic to incredibly rare cases. The faculty here are also very approachable and supportive of the residents, and the teaching is great. Other perks of the neurology program at UTSW: the residents start seeing patients in neurology continuity clinic during PGY-1, and there is a month of dedicated lecture time (no clinical responsibilities) prior to starting PGY-2 to review neurology basics such as neuroanatomy, etc. Seems like a great place to train!