2015 Match Rank List Help Thread

[Phrenic_Burst]

Problem #2 of having over 20 programs on rank list is easier to run into than I had thought. I only plan on ranking 10 programs but most of them have 3-4 separate codes (advanced, categorical, research, crit-care combined). Thus ranking 10 programs could easily cost me an extra $300 (30 unique codes, $30 per codes over 20 codes). Should I just say screw it and pay the money and rank 10/13 programs I interviewed at or try to save the money and rank 6-7 programs? Feels like such a scam!!

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[koan]

The giant supercomputer that runs our match algorithm is just that expensive to operate! I've heard it takes up at whole room at NRMP headquarters.

Honestly though, my motto all year has been "this is not the time to save a few hundred $" i.e. despite how unlikely it is to fall past 20 unique program codes in your match, why risk it?

 

[DoctorDude]

If anyone is curious how long it should take the algorithm to determine the match, the answer is: 17 seconds. https://medium.com/@vishnuravi/how-long-does-the-residency-match-algorithm-take-to-run-c38c06cd4d57

 

[DrZzZz]

Problem #2 of having over 20 programs on rank list is easier to run into than I had thought. I only plan on ranking 10 programs but most of them have 3-4 separate codes (advanced, categorical, research, crit-care combined). Thus ranking 10 programs could easily cost me an extra $300 (30 unique codes, $30 per codes over 20 codes). Should I just say screw it and pay the money and rank 10/13 programs I interviewed at or try to save the money and rank 6-7 programs? Feels like such a scam!!

Depends on your preferences. Do you really want to be part of a research track? Or CC combo track? Just because you want to end up at a program doesn't mean you should enter a track you don't want. You can always just apply cat + adv and neglect the tracks you don't want to be a part of. That's your call.

 

[MustangGtV894]

Close

 

[Phrenic_Burst]

The research tracks definitely

Depends on your preferences. Do you really want to be part of a research track? Or CC combo track? Just because you want to end up at a program doesn't mean you should enter a track you don't want. You can always just apply cat + adv and neglect the tracks you don't want to be a part of. That's your call.

I agree completely. However, I'm really interested in the research tracks (and have a research background), which makes going over the 20 unique codes a more likely scenario in my case. I will probably just cough up the money. Maybe I'll try to make myself feel better by writing a letter to the NRMP expressing my distaste for their willingness to take our money with no justification. I don't believe that the extra seconds it would take the computer to solve the deferred acceptance matching problem costs them anything beyond a few cents.

 

[Biochemist21]

If anyone is curious how long it should take the algorithm to determine the match, the answer is: 17 seconds. https://medium.com/@vishnuravi/how-long-does-the-residency-match-algorithm-take-to-run-c38c06cd4d57

It actually takes a little longer than this, but I applaud this person's ingenuity to develop this experiment.

 

[NoTalentGasClown]

These are my interviews in no particular order
-Nebraska
-Iowa
-Milwaukee
-Loma Linda
-USCal
-Oklahoma
-UTSW
-Georgia medical
-LSU shreveport

I think I want to get back to California since my wife and I are from there and our families are there now, so that leaves Loma Linda or USC. Would it be the same to get into socal anesthesia after either of those programs or does one have better connections? I was impressed by both programs. I only did the web based interview for Loma Linda though, so I don't feel I got the entire picture. Anyone interview there and have an impression of the hospitals, area, etc? USC does a surgical intern year, which seems like it would be a worse year, plus I think I like the idea of a medicine year because that way there is a surgeon and medicine trained person in the OR together. Thoughts on that? Anyone currently at USC have input on the intern year right now? Other than that I really liked OU, Iowa, and UTSW.

 

[Ezekiel2517]

These are my interviews in no particular order
-Nebraska
-Iowa
-Milwaukee
-Loma Linda
-USCal
-Oklahoma
-UTSW
-Georgia medical
-LSU shreveport

I think I want to get back to California since my wife and I are from there and our families are there now, so that leaves Loma Linda or USC. Would it be the same to get into socal anesthesia after either of those programs or does one have better connections? I was impressed by both programs. I only did the web based interview for Loma Linda though, so I don't feel I got the entire picture. Anyone interview there and have an impression of the hospitals, area, etc? USC does a surgical intern year, which seems like it would be a worse year, plus I think I like the idea of a medicine year because that way there is a surgeon and medicine trained person in the OR together. Thoughts on that? Anyone currently at USC have input on the intern year right now? Other than that I really liked OU, Iowa, and UTSW.

better Socal connections from USC

 

[MikeMerk-MtS]

Does anyone have any advice on Montefiore versus LIJ? Thanks!

 

[sbhfl]

Deleted.

 

[pasgasser2]

Resident here. Moonlighting isn't limited, we have code bag for easy money on weekday nights and ICU shifts on many weekends. Teaching is poor but they're working on it. We now have a new guy in charge of education, and a few representatives from each class meet with him every so often.

Thank you for the feedback!! I have Wash U and Michigan ranked side by side...anyone care to post their thoughts on Michigan vs Wash U, Vanderbilt, Hopkins, UVA? I receive some good input on Wake Forest and am pretty damn impressed..

It seems that most applicants match in their top 3 so I am stressing about how to order the upper part of my rank list..

 

[anesthesiadoc]

UMass - Interviewed there in past. Residents seemed overworked and very fatigued on day of interview. Everyone I spoke to that had interviewed there had the same feeling, though none of the residents specifically said they felt overworked. They also only filled 2 of their spots in the match last year. Can't tell you why...did they not rank enough and prefer to fill in the SOAP with those who failed to match other specialties (like derm, ortho, etc)? Did everyone that interview there rank them low or not at all based on their impressions of the program? Hard to say...all I know is the residents looked very tired. Chair seemed like a cool guy, interview with him was good. One of the interviewers (newer attending) was one of the most awkward people I had met on the trail at any program, asked a lot of weird questions and asked some questions more than once, made it seem like he wasn't paying any attention to the interview.

BU - Interviewed there as well. Residents openly said that the lecture setup was horrible. Early morning lectures, poorly set up, poor didactic teaching, etc. Also got the sense that they got little help from CRNAs and like UMass, put in more hours than a lot of other programs I interviewed at. Categorical year is full surgical internship at the VA. Your first few months as a CA-1 are spent mostly with other residents and NOT attendings. I'm sure there's some benefit to that, learning how things work from a resident's perspective, but I prefer to get my teaching from an attending than another resident. Not a lot of regional exposure, outside of a 2 month stint as a CA-3 in an ortho hospital. Some said the relationship between anesthesia and surgery was not too good. $85/mo parking in the garages, which are a relatively lengthy walk to the hospital as I recall (think of walking to work in the snowstorm we're getting right now...). OR suites are also found in multiple buildings, some of which aren't connected requiring you to walk outside from one to the next.

Don't know much about Tufts. Good luck. In the end, wherever you end up, you'll be a good anesthesiologist if you put the work in.

I'm currently at BU. Wasn't going to reply, but given that it's close to match season, I'd like to correct a few misconceptions above. Over the past year the entire curriculum has been revamped, improved lectures, new lecture schedule including pushing OR start times back on Friday for more protected learning time for our residents. We have also hired a number of late CRNA's and created a mandate that, barring extreme circumstances (e.g. no triple GSW rolling into the OR at 16:30) all non-call residents are expected to be walking out of the hospital (preops done and all) no later than 5pm. In addition we've cut the number of resident calls by 25%.
Our residents get upwards of 300 ultrasound guided nerve blocks, through time at New England Baptist Hospital and in the main OR's here at BMC (not just on their regional/block doc months, as there are a number of orthopedic and vascular surgeons here who ONLY want to do their procedures with regional/neuraxial techniques).
Our residents here are in a union and have negotiated one of the highest (if not the highest) resident salaries in Boston, which easily offsets costs of parking (I paid more per month 8 years ago at another hospital here in town).
There is a massive construction project currently underway that will have all the OR's and periprocedural sedation in one building by 2017 (no more walking outside between campuses). Our rapport with the surgeons (resident to resident and resident to attending) is very good, particularly with our trauma surgeons and our airway/head and neck surgery service, with whom we work most closely. There are occasionally heated debates as to what Pandora station to select intraoperatively, but I'd assume these issues occur everywhere. Overall, we are proud of our residents and our residency here at BU/Boston Medical Center. We work hard, our patients are sick, but our residents complete training ready for anything.

 

[Triple AAA]

Hi all,

I was curious to see what thoughts you guys have from your interview days or how you would go about ranking the following programs. They are in the middle of my list.. I am having trouble organizing them. I'm focusing here on reputation, clinical experience, and fellowship opportunities (maybe peds or pain). Location isn't really a highlight for any of these for me.

[in no particular order]
University of Arizona- great peds exposure
MCW- great peds exposure
UCLA Harbor
Rush
Baystate

I can't recall anything super glaring outside from an awkward lunch and barely meeting any residents at Rush and low resident morale at Harbor.

Thanks so much!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-real-rush-anesthesiology.1113140/

 

[Steege305]

I could used another perspective on this. My ultimate goal, like everyone else, is to get a "good" job or a fellowship. I'm struggling with location as I'd like to move closer to the West Coast due to my SO's family but I don't want to sacrifice my training in doing so.
Would greatly appreciate a fresh set of eyes to weigh in on this. I'm struggling with how high to rank Michigan/UChicago.

Potential rank list order:
1. Irvine
2. Michigan
3. Utah
4. Loma Linda
5. USC
6. Arizona
7. UChicago
8. Indiana
9. Case
10. New Mexico
11. Penn State
12. Oklahoma

If you're struggling on where to rank them, then can I assume that they're basically equivalent to you? If so, then think about whether you'd like to live in Ann Arbor or Chicago, and how they relate to the other programs. I'd personally place them above Case and IU, not because of prestige, but because I wouldn't want to live in either Cleveland or Indy for 4+ years.

 

[koan]

Anyone have thoughts on how to rank the following based on quality of training?

Utah
SLR
Rochester
Downstate
NYMC
Maine
Baystate
Rush
Maimo

 

[AGenericUserName]

Rochester, Utah and Maine I would probably say are better names on that list. I only interviewed at Utah on that list and was turned off by 2 things - the "city" and the heavy work load (residents here worked the most out of all 15 programs I went to). They do compensate you heavily and have lots of perks and is a great program though. If I was married or in a serious relationship I would definitely rank this one highly.

 

[Anesthesiaholic]

Anyone have any thoughts about or experience with VCU, Ochsner, or Kentucky? I liked all three and am having a hard time figuring out how to rank them because they all have such different strengths.

 

[rakotomazoto]

Anyone currently at USC have input on the intern year right now?

I am across town, but I have friends at USC, from what they tell me, the hours have been kind of rough. One of my med school classmates matched there for emergency medicine and so they do SICU alongside the anesthesia interns and they were telling my friend that it has been more intense than they expected since USC has a reputation as being a more laidback program for hours.

That being said, I am not actually there, so I don't want to make it seem like I am picking on their program, just relaying what I hear through the grapevine. Hope I am not misrepresenting the situation over there.

I interviewed at Loma Linda in person and at USC last year and personally I ranked USC higher because I felt that they had stronger SoCal network connections and Loma Linda felt a little more like Arizona or New Mexico than SoCal. It's the high desert, not close to the beach. PM me if you want to talk details.

 

[Cumberland_Doc]

What are the thoughts on my rank list

UAB - solid program, good moonlighting, good city; large program
MUSC - location, location, location. Residents were relaxed and friendly
UNC - little brother to other NC programs, but still desirable location and good training opportunities
VCU - good gut feeling; New simulation center and moonlighting
UTenn - weekend moonlighting, good staff, older facility, nice town.

Others: UMiss, UArk, MCW, LSU-Shreveport

 

[courtnes]

Anyone have any thoughts about or experience with VCU, Ochsner, or Kentucky? I liked all three and am having a hard time figuring out how to rank them because they all have such different strengths.

I really liked Kentucky - residents and faculty were very nice, good case mix, great focus on education and Lexington seemed like a cool place.

 

[courtnes]

What are the thoughts on my rank list

UAB - solid program, good moonlighting, good city; large program
MUSC - location, location, location. Residents were relaxed and friendly
UNC - little brother to other NC programs, but still desirable location and good training opportunities
VCU - good gut feeling; New simulation center and moonlighting
UTenn - weekend moonlighting, good staff, older facility, nice town.

Others: UMiss, UArk, MCW, LSU-Shreveport

MUSC Didn't interview at the others. From everything I've heard, UAB deserves to be at the top of any list, too.

 

[Steege305]

Thoughts on Vanderbilt vs Hopkins?? I keep going back and forth between these for my #1 & #2..it's driving me nuts!!
I'd say quality of training is similar for both with Vandy maybe having a bit more emphasis on the PSH model. Which would offer better opportunities for private practice/fellowship? ANY input would be much appreciated..

I have several friends that love Nashville. I also have friends that live in Baltimore and while they don't hate it, they certainly aren't raving about it. I spent a month at Hopkins on an away and I felt the same about Baltimore - meh. Something to think about.

 

[courtnes]

I have several friends that love Nashville. I also have friends that live in Baltimore and while they don't hate it, they certainly aren't raving about it. I spent a month at Hopkins on an away and I felt the same about Baltimore - meh. Something to think about.

At least at Hopkins, it's a hop, skip, and a jump to DC, Philly, NYC when you have a little time to yourself.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Good luck to everyone!

 

[kzjb333]

Anyone have any thoughts about or experience with VCU, Ochsner, or Kentucky? I liked all three and am having a hard time figuring out how to rank them because they all have such different strengths.

UK has a great intern year and solid didactics.

 

[Manbearpig]

I've really been trying to avoid posting in here, but I just can't get the top of my list squared away. I'm pretty comfortable with my bottom 4 ranking (unless y'all have more info to share), but I feel like I'd be very happy at any of my top 5.

I'm considering private practice and pain (dark horse peds, only because I think kids are fun), if that makes a difference. Also want to be involved in the business side of medicine. And no, I have no idea where I want to practice in the future, but I am the type of person that likes to keep as many options open as possible.

Things that are important to me: Hockey, beer, food scene, singles scene, rock climbing.

Top 5:

University of Cincinnati - interesting didactics structure, moonlighting, seems pretty resident friendly, but partially concerned about fellowship placement in that most people stay at UC or in the midwest (idk maybe UC is just that awesome).

University of Connecticut - faculty seem cool, residents were nice as well, seems to have a pretty strong clinical base.

University of Vermont - unique culture with everyone being on a first name basis, awesome beer, great food, plethora of things to do outside of work, faculty seem to be from everywhere, fellowship placement seems strong.

Ohio State University - seems like a strong hospital with some cool faculty, Columbus seems to have a bit of everything (beer, food, hockey), interesting retirement plan (100% contribution match up to 10% of salary).

Penn State - integrated curriculum that seems pretty sweet, no medicine floor months (!), but I'm very concerned about being in Hershey for 4 years (ie- dating, interesting things to do).

The others:
6. Beaumont Health System
7. Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami
8. Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State
9. Henry Ford Health System

Sorry for the data dump, but any thoughts?

 

[courtnes]

I've really been trying to avoid posting in here, but I just can't get the top of my list squared away. I'm pretty comfortable with my bottom 4 ranking (unless y'all have more info to share), but I feel like I'd be very happy at any of my top 5.

I'm considering private practice and pain (dark horse peds, only because I think kids are fun), if that makes a difference. Also want to be involved in the business side of medicine. And no, I have no idea where I want to practice in the future, but I am the type of person that likes to keep as many options open as possible.

Things that are important to me: Hockey, beer, food scene, singles scene, rock climbing.

Top 5:

University of Cincinnati - interesting didactics structure, moonlighting, seems pretty resident friendly, but partially concerned about fellowship placement in that most people stay at UC or in the midwest (idk maybe UC is just that awesome).

University of Connecticut - faculty seem cool, residents were nice as well, seems to have a pretty strong clinical base.

University of Vermont - unique culture with everyone being on a first name basis, awesome beer, great food, plethora of things to do outside of work, faculty seem to be from everywhere, fellowship placement seems strong.

Ohio State University - seems like a strong hospital with some cool faculty, Columbus seems to have a bit of everything (beer, food, hockey), interesting retirement plan (100% contribution match up to 10% of salary).

Penn State - integrated curriculum that seems pretty sweet, no medicine floor months (!), but I'm very concerned about being in Hershey for 4 years (ie- dating, interesting things to do).

The others:
6. Beaumont Health System
7. Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami
8. Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State
9. Henry Ford Health System

Sorry for the data dump, but any thoughts?

We have a lot of overlap - I was everywhere in your top 5 but UConn.

Cinci - great case mix, I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to fellowship match into a place you wanted from here. fledgling food and beer scene, some good stuff and great selection given you have OH and KY distribution within easy reach.

Vermont - best beer and best food, but gets pricy up there. probably best hockey, given you're practically in Canada, and the college hockey there is great.

Ohio State - probably most singles friendly as it is a large college town that also has a lot of large corporations based there. good food and beer.

Penn State - second best beer scene (I'm biased, but there's at least Troeg's, Pizza Boy, and several good beer bars around Harrisburg), lacking in singles scene I imagine. seemed to be one of the more hours intensive residencies of this group. but, there are plenty of interesting things to do and you're less than a 2 hour drive to Philly, DC, and just a bit further to Pittsburgh.

 

[Manbearpig]

We have a lot of overlap - I was everywhere in your top 5 but UConn.

Cinci - great case mix, I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to fellowship match into a place you wanted from here. fledgling food and beer scene, some good stuff and great selection given you have OH and KY distribution within easy reach.

Vermont - best beer and best food, but gets pricy up there. probably best hockey, given you're practically in Canada, and the college hockey there is great.

Ohio State - probably most singles friendly as it is a large college town that also has a lot of large corporations based there. good food and beer.

Penn State - second best beer scene (I'm biased, but there's at least Troeg's, Pizza Boy, and several good beer bars around Harrisburg), lacking in singles scene I imagine. seemed to be one of the more hours intensive residencies of this group. but, there are plenty of interesting things to do and you're less than a 2 hour drive to Philly, DC, and just a bit further to Pittsburgh.

Awesome! Thanks so much. Everything you said is pretty much lockstep with my thoughts, so I'm pretty content feeling like I'm not losing my mind haha.

 

[koan]

Awesome! Thanks so much. Everything you said is pretty much lockstep with my thoughts, so I'm pretty content feeling like I'm not losing my mind haha.

I share your priority of rock climbing and Cinci gives you fairly quick access to Red River Gorge and the New. UVM puts you between the Adirondaks and Rumney. Both good choices

 

[RK.md]

Congrats to everyone for submitting those rank lists! Start the countdown for Match Day!

 

[MustangGtV894]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[amandaeleven]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I feel you.

 

[afob100]

anyone starting the post-deadline rank list thread?

 

[aimedicine]

Anyone drinking a martini right now?

 

[courtnes]

Anyone drinking a martini right now?

No, but there might be a Nugget Nectar in my immediate future.

 

[koan]

No, but there might be a Nugget Nectar in my immediate future.

Love the Tröegs

 

[MustangGtV894]

Anyone drinking a martini right now?

Core-clerkship shelf tomorrow

 

[courtnes]

Love the Tröegs

Gotta love living in a place where I can have a sixtel of this in my kegerator at home.

 

[CSAnes]

Like I said, I won't go into specific details. But, if you must know, I worked as an attending there. It doesn't affect me if a resident doesn't heed my advice, but I will say this... I would never trust a graduate from cedars to take care of anybody in my family.

Strong words? Yes. But I stand by them 100%.

I've worked with residents from usc, ucla, harbor, the Riverside DO program, and cedars. All other residents were well trained and humble. The residents are poorly trained and completely the opposite of humble (ie they don't know how poorly prepared they are for performing a safe anesthetic).

I don't blame the residents for this attitude, its what's taught to them by their pd. I just want medical students to become good safe anesthesiologists. That is not something they will learn at cedars.

I feel compelled to respond to the above post, as I am a current anesthesiology resident here and disagree greatly with the above post. Although every program will have people who like or dislike the program for various reasons, it appears as though the above staff member was overall just very unhappy with the residency/hospital in general and is providing a biased view. I would say as a current resident, most attendings/residents are very pleased with the program and feel as though our residents are strongly trained. Our case variety is huge and we are exposed to very sick patients right from the start of our CA-1 year. Our PD intentionally starts us out doing spine cases early on, as those patients often have many co-moribidites, are chronic pain patients and require a lot of a-lines/central lines for their cases. This helps us to develop our technical skills early on and develop a comfort with sicker patients from the start. The learning curve is steep however many believe this helps us to gain confidence and skills early on.

In regards to safety, I have never felt under-supervised or in a situation where I did not have help on stand by if I needed it. Our 1:1 model allows attendings to provide supervision and instruction during procedures and if we run into difficulty during a case and need their help. Although there is a variety in supervision - some attendings are in the room only for intubation/extubation while some are present for a majority of the case; most fall some where in the middle and allow us to have a large amount of autonomy during cases and are quickly available if we run into trouble. I can honestly say I have never been in a position where an attending was not close by when I needed or called for it. Additionally, I have never felt that the attendings have "stolen" any procedures from me. We are not a work horse program and the 1:1 system allows us to get instruction from some amazing teachers yet gives us the flexibility to be relieved for all lectures/conferences.

Many of our residents stay at Cedars for fellowship because the hospital and program really is amazing, supportive and overall care greatly about the happiness of their residents/fellows. At Cedars we have tons of fellowship positions (in every thing except for Peds) because every program in SoCal essentially trains at CHLA for peds due to their volume. Our fellowship programs are strong and those desiring to go elsewhere often land pretty awesome fellowship positions - on both the east and west coast. If our program really was as weak as the above poster claimed, it would seem that our residents would have a great difficulty landing jobs/fellowships outside of our institution. Our PD and chairman have amazing connections and are very willing to make phone calls/introductions to get our residents placed in their desired location.

I have absolutely no regrets about matching here and would rank it #1 again in a heart beat.

 

[Turtlez]

I feel compelled to respond to the above post, as I am a current anesthesiology resident here and disagree greatly with the above post. Although every program will have people who like or dislike the program for various reasons, it appears as though the above staff member was overall just very unhappy with the residency/hospital in general and is providing a biased view. I would say as a current resident, most attendings/residents are very pleased with the program and feel as though our residents are strongly trained. Our case variety is huge and we are exposed to very sick patients right from the start of our CA-1 year. Our PD intentionally starts us out doing spine cases early on, as those patients often have many co-moribidites, are chronic pain patients and require a lot of a-lines/central lines for their cases. This helps us to develop our technical skills early on and develop a comfort with sicker patients from the start. The learning curve is steep however many believe this helps us to gain confidence and skills early on.

In regards to safety, I have never felt under-supervised or in a situation where I did not have help on stand by if I needed it. Our 1:1 model allows attendings to provide supervision and instruction during procedures and if we run into difficulty during a case and need their help. Although there is a variety in supervision - some attendings are in the room only for intubation/extubation while some are present for a majority of the case; most fall some where in the middle and allow us to have a large amount of autonomy during cases and are quickly available if we run into trouble. I can honestly say I have never been in a position where an attending was not close by when I needed or called for it. Additionally, I have never felt that the attendings have "stolen" any procedures from me. We are not a work horse program and the 1:1 system allows us to get instruction from some amazing teachers yet gives us the flexibility to be relieved for all lectures/conferences.

Many of our residents stay at Cedars for fellowship because the hospital and program really is amazing, supportive and overall care greatly about the happiness of their residents/fellows. At Cedars we have tons of fellowship positions (in every thing except for Peds) because every program in SoCal essentially trains at CHLA for peds due to their volume. Our fellowship programs are strong and those desiring to go elsewhere often land pretty awesome fellowship positions - on both the east and west coast. If our program really was as weak as the above poster claimed, it would seem that our residents would have a great difficulty landing jobs/fellowships outside of our institution. Our PD and chairman have amazing connections and are very willing to make phone calls/introductions to get our residents placed in their desired location.

I have absolutely no regrets about matching here and would rank it #1 again in a heart beat.

You realize that match day is this Friday right?