Applicant Summary
Board scores: 250s/270s
EM rotation grades: Honors/Honors/Honors
AOA: Yes
Medical school region: Midwest
Anything else that made you more competitive: significant research with multiple publications, ran/sit on board of a non-profit, various leadership positions in COM
Main considerations in creating this ROL
1. couple's matching
2. very much looking for a mixture of county population with university $$ (living the stereotype), lean more towards a 4-year
3. am interested in academics/fellowship (wilderness/EMS)
4. am from the west coast and would like to end up there after residency (grad placement played a lot into the rank list)
5. location
6. breakfast food
7. i want a dog more than most things in the world
1) CO -- Denver Health
Pros: literally skipped away from the hospital after my interview like a schoolgirl, loved the PD, had a great time with the residents. have faculty that share very specific interests. training obviously legendary. PD is very responsive to resident feedback, to the point of changing off service in the middle of the year per resident request. lots of teaching opportunities (both med stud and jr residents), plenty of flexible elective time. think the university and county hospital mix is great. i'm not going to residency to slide through something easy, so wasn't super bothered by the "work hard" stuff. i thought residents overall seemed really happy and most could justify spending $800 for an epic pass so they must have free time in there somewhere. closer to home, have family/friends in the area.
Cons: none
Breakfast: bagel deli is delicious
2) OH -- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pros: home program, i love everyone here, the faculty and residents are all super wonderful. leadership is very responsive to resident feedback. training again obviously legendary. opportunity to become a flight physician is unique and i think adds a lot to the training. i think they have the best curriculum and allow for tons of career exploration with early elective time. patient population is very much a mix of a county and university population (it's the university hospital but also the only safety net in the city). the city is actually pretty neat and close proximity to red river gorge provides plenty of backpacking and climbing opportunities. honestly choosing between here and denver was really hard and my SO and I talked about it for hours. could easily switch these two and wouldn't bat an eye.
Con: further from home, but actually none
Breakfast: proud rooster owns my heart
3) CA -- University of California San Francisco/ Fresno
Pros: very close to home, WILDERNESS MED (park med program is dope), residents here have the most procedures in the nation (someone graduated with five real person crics last year). has a midwest-y vibe in that it's the only level-1 for hundreds of miles so everything comes through there. residents are super laid back and had a great time at the dinner. SO rotated here and loved it and we are looking for essentially the same stuff in a program so i trusted him.
Cons: not as many leadership/teaching opportunities as at Denver or Cinci (ie running the ED, etc)
Breakfast: i personally did not eat breakfast here, but SO had a cinnamon roll pancake, and the Ahwahnee is only like 1.5 hours away (brunch there is amazing)
4) IL -- University of Chicago Medicine
Pros: i think this is chicago's shining star. i loved the residents and the PD. again, program leadership is incredibly responsive to the residents' needs. one of the apds begins meeting with every resident partway through first year to start outlining longterm career plans to ensure that each resident gets exactly what they want out of residency (this was best demonstrated to me by the fact that every year for the past several years they have placed a resident into a wilderness med fellowship even though there is 0 wilderness in chicago and U of C has no wilderness faculty). dinner was super fun. new trauma center is crazy busy, being in the heart of south side you get plenty of county feel with buckets of university money.
Cons: chicago is neat but parks and a lakefront don't count as outdoorsy **** for me and it is hard to get out of that city without flying out of the mess that is O'Hare
Breakfast: Valois
5) MN -- Hennepin County Medical Center
Pros: i interviewed with Reardon, that's literally all that needs to be said. honestly though, the strength of ultrasound and airway training here is probably unparalleled. faculty is very do-it-yourself minded and wants the residents to own everything that comes through. the hyperbarics stuff is pretty cool, really good addiction medicine and tox. dinner was super fun and the residents were awesome. training obviously legendary, very county population. loved minneapolis even though it was 10 F outside in november, city is super art-oriented.
Cons: it was 10 F in november. no wilderness med, ems is meh
Breakfast: Nicollet diner was absolutely delicious
6) NC -- Carolinas Medical Center
Pros: most fun residents on the trail. loved the faculty on interview day. leadership is very responsive to resident feedback and has made multiple changes to the program in the past few years. the hospital has buckets of money and you can do pretty much anything you want., but again serves as the safety net hospital. ems here is super strong. i liked charlotte well enough and it's pretty close to the smokies which are good for living my best em stereotype life
Cons: nothing really a con, just didn't give me the FEELZ
Breakfast: Amelie's French Bakery DAMN yes
7) CA -- Stanford University Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
Pros: Sarah Williams is my dream woman. She is amazing and inspirational. the residents here are a little on the nerdier side for sure. TONS of money available. have a county site but spend negligible time there. Paul Auerbach is here and thus wilderness medicine opportunities are amazing. the upcoming year will be their first class of fourth year residents so i'm sure there will be some hiccups along the way but they seem very open to feedback and ready to change things as needed. close to home/family/friends
Cons: i wish they spent more time at the county hospital, honestly that's the main problem i have. probably would have moved up a slot or two if it was closer to 25-30% rather than 11%. also that damn bus tour during the interview was exhausting
Breakfast: didn't eat breakfast while i was there, but the real answer is to drive to santa cruz for cafe brasil
8) ME -- Maine Medical Center
Pros: what a wonderful place. the most down to earth residents and faculty i met by a lot. only game in town and for basically the whole state and some of vermont. wilderness med is built in to the curriculum, ems is good. faculty is really invested. PD is an odd duck but i really liked him. patient population is pretty white and pretty old so there is a chunk of pathology that might be missing. otherwise the training seems really solid, residents felt really confident. portland is a cool little town and the food is insane. white mountains are close too
Cons: job placement seemed pretty good overall, but most people stay in the area, which is not where i want to be long term at all. the town is pretty small and the closest real city is boston which i don't really like.
Breakfast: the holy donut!
9) IN -- Indiana University School of Medicine
Pros: overall just had good vibes from the program. the residents were really awesome and i had a good interview day. i like the mixture of sites and eskenazi has a jail wing which i really like (i think this patient population is really great to work with). very solid program, good job placement. didn't get to spend any time in indy, so not sure about the city, but stayed with COM alumni and they were telling me about the restaurant scene, etc. surprisingly good hiking opportunities in indiana too.
Cons: seems that there were some limits on autonomy in the ED as far as leading resuscitations, etc. SO not super sold on the program. neither of us really excited about living in indy
Breakfast: travel complications prevented me from eating breakfast in the city
10) CA -- Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Pros: unparallelled. autonomy. seriously. rotated here. someone on the spread sheet said the residents could be attending after pgy2 year and i tend to agree with that. they run the jail ED starting halfway through pgy2 year. ED volume is insane. the residents are super badass and i got along great with all the residents i worked with. faculty also in general was super wonderful, excited to teach, and very good at giving specific constructive feedback. new PD is genuinely one of the kindest humans i've ever met in my life. 12s are what they are, everyone has an opinion, i don't really care one way or the other. LA is what it is, everyone has their opinions on it. traffic sucks, proximity to mountains, beach and desert is pretty dope
Cons: very little elective time, not a lot of academic focus. there are definitely opportunities, but not much time to go for them. also these residents were tired. no international opportunities
Breakfast: Dinah's
11) CA -- Los Angeles County - Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Pros: disclaimer - this would be in my top 3-4 if my SO liked the LA programs. loved the residents, huge plus that they had in-n-out at a brewery for the dinner. really liked the residents, had a great interview day. has more of an academic focus than LAC, and with a lighter shift load (9s) and more elective time, seems to have more time to do things outside of clinical work. tons of on-shift teaching, really liked the way their shifts are set up. thoughts on LA above
Cons: not a lot of elective time. no international opportunities
Breakfast: Dinah's
12) MI -- University of Michigan
Pros: again, really liked the residents and faculty, they were super friendly. this program is modeled after cinci curriculum-wise and i think they have made some really good modifications while keeping the same basic outline. the opportunity to work up at flint is pretty sweet and i think the three-hospital model does a really good job of capturing a huge pathology base. a lot of good wilderness opportunities, sweet flight ems opportunities. ann arbor is small and white and walkable which is 1/3 things that are good. those people LOVE to recycle and compost though so i can definitely get down with that.
Cons: LOTS of driving to various sites. ann arbor is what it is. i don't give a flying **** about college sports.
Breakfast: didn't spend enough time here
13) RI -- Brown University
Let the jokes roll
Pros: super fun dinner with the residents in an adorable house with several dogs. on interview day i talked to a faculty member for a long time about pickling home grown vegetables and a pig roast that they did for the residency last year (these are things that are very important to me). only level 1 for miles, huge variety of pathology, safety net hospital with BUCKETS of money. good autonomy. curriculum again modeled after Cincinnati and i think they've modified it well to fit their mission. providence is cool enough, lots of good food (lots), outdoorsy stuff is apparently somewhere but i would have to be convinced of such
Cons: just wasn't excited enough about the program to live in providence. i don't think there's anything that's a true con, just didn't give me the FEELZ
Breakfast: didn't have time for breakfast, but had a delicious dinner after the interview
14) WA -- University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Pros: Harborview is dope talk about a county hospital. also the flight experience is super great. residents were cool. i LOVE seattle it's my favorite city ever
Cons: did NOT like the PD. she complained a lot about couples in the program, she reacted poorly when asked about what changes were upcoming in the program (this program is 7 years old, it is far from perfect). residents talked about turf wars with anesthesia and surgery.
Breakfast: shameless plug for my friend who owns Salmonberry Goods bakery
15) IL -- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Pros: loved the residents. unsure about the lack of PD at the time of interview. obviously pedigreed, but was not convinced that they are continuing to earn the reputation. patient population definitely what i'm looking for. really strong addiction medicine done in the ED.
Cons: little elective time, no wilderness, weak ems
Breakfast: BroBagel
16) IL -- McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Pros: loved the focus on creating leaders. residents and faculty were cool. i thought the PD was sort of sweet and earnest. i appreciate the amount of ICU time, though wish they traded one month for elective time. obviously tons of money and opportunity to do basically anything. supplement main site with rotations at gary and lakeview for county and bread-and-butter community experience.
Cons: not very much elective time considering the academic nature of the program. had a little too much attitude for me. think the purple jacket on match day thing is super weird.
Breakfast: Valois and BroBagel were my Chicago breakfasts of choice. also wormhole coffee
17) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's
Pros: liked the residents, definitely on the nerdier side. liked that the chairs both at the brigham and MGH seemed super invested and involved in the program (they interview every single interviewee). obviously tons of money. good wilderness stuff.
Cons: some question of autonomy, seems that there is a lot of consulting. i really don't like boston.
Breakfast: the Friendly Toast
18) MA -- Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess
Pros: 3+1 format is super cool. residents all seemed super happy
Cons: too many sites
Breakfast: The Friendly Toast
19) MA -- University of Massachusetts
Pros: only level 1 for a while, residents and faculty were all nice, PD is super dedicated to the residents (one resident had to leave for personal reasons for 2 weeks and the PD worked all of their shifts).
Cons: no FEELZ, nothing really wrong with it
Breakfast: didn't eat breakfast here
20) IL -- Advocate Christ Medical Center
Pros: strong name in chicago. great autonomy. faculty seemed pretty cool.
Cons: no real chance to get to know the residents, not quite academic or county enough for me
Breakfast: see previous chicago stuff
21) Henry Ford
i was just bored all day. the program i'm sure is really great and it obviously makes strong physicians, but i didn't click with any of it
Anything else to add? Sorry for the brevity at the end, this list was ****ing exhausting to make
Interviewed at but did not rank: NY Presbyterian Queens, U New Mexico, Rush
**UNM I think is really great, there were SO many dogs, but they don't have super great academic placement from what i could tell (~10% into fellowships over the last 20 years, and the graduating class this year 7/12 are staying at the albuquerque community hospital) which is why it fell off the list. new mexico is my dreamland so i was sad.
Declined: UCLA-Olive View, NYU Bellevue, SUNY Downstate, UTSW, Johns Hopkins, UC Sand Diego, Christiana, Detroit Sinai Grace, Detroit St. John, Thomas Jefferson, Georgetown, George Washington, Cooper, Temple, UT Houston, Ohio State, St. Lukes, UH Cleveland, Metro Health, UPMC, UC Irvine
Declined waitlist: OHSU, Highland, SFGH
Ghosted by: Maricopa, U of Arizona, Jacobi, Louisville, Detroit Receiving, Wake Forrest, Duke, UC Davis, Mt. Sinai
Rejected: U of Maryland, Emory, U of Utah, Texas Tech, UNC, BMC