hows SIU peds?

[hereiam12]

Hey
Has anyone had the chance to interview with SIU peds? How was the experience and hows the program in general? I have my interview next week so just trying to get things together.
Thanks and happy holidays!

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[hereiam12]

anyone? any input would help!

 

[StarboardMD]

No one?

I'm interested too. What did you think of the program when you went for your interview, hereiam? They're on my short list to apply to in a year or two...

 

[hereiam12]

The program was not too bad. Residents seemed very friendly, program director was very nice. The hospital itself needs abit work. No inhouse fellowships. They are not the best to put u in a fellowship because the chairman was clear that SIU peds is primary care driven program and in future they are going to impliment more of primary care. So overall, average program and a good spot for someone looking to do primary care ped. However, not so great if ur looking for fellowships. Good Luck!

 

[Jessipeds]

I really liked SIU Peds. I could tell the residents were happy there, and I felt right at home. I think it's a great program. I'm going for Peds Cardio and I plan to rank SIU highly. If you have good board scores, do well in your residency program, do research, network, and interview well, you should have no trouble getting a fellowship no matter where you go.

 

[Jessipeds]

Peds fellowships are generally not all that competitive, because most Peds residents discover during residency that as a Peds specialist, they won't earn much more than a general Pediatrician, and it's not worth the time spent. I like Peds Cardio and find it fascinating, so despite the fact that I won't earn much, I still want to do it.

 

[Slade]

Peds fellowships are generally not all that competitive, because most Peds residents discover during residency that as a Peds specialist, they won't earn much more than a general Pediatrician, and it's not worth the time spent. I like Peds Cardio and find it fascinating, so despite the fact that I won't earn much, I still want to do it.

Peds Cadio is the most competitive peds fellowship (with peds EM).

 

[hereiam12]

Peds Cadio is the most competitive peds fellowship (with peds EM).

Agree, also SIU chair of peds was clear that program lacks highly in research. If someone is looking to go into fellowship of any sort, I feel that you need research in your back to convince ur interest and dedication. SIU is a great program for primary care track.

 

[Slade]

plus, SIU (if this is Southern Illinois University) has a pass rate of only 63%

 

[Jessipeds]

Yes compared to other peds fellowships like PICU where they take anyone who applies and shows up, yes peds cardio is "competitive". But nothing compared to say, adult cardio. Reason being, adult cardio= $500, 000 salary, peds cardio= $ 200,000.

Which is why Peds IM residents have it made. They can decide either

 

[Jessipeds]

Same with Peds ER. Your earning potential is nothing compared to adult ER. And the really big name ERs prefer to hire people who did a 3-4 yr ER residency plus a Peds fellowship. Because they can work virtually anywhere in the ER, and can fill in or cover for anyone. If you'd like to work at a great spot like that, do ER residency + Peds fellowship.

If you want to work at a smaller, level 2 trauma, etc, those places hire General pediatricians with just Peds residency, as long as they are decent with procedures.since most Peds pts in the ER are there for simple things like asthma exacerbation or GE.


This info from ER attendings at several hospitals I've been at, +working as a paramedic before med school

 

[Jessipeds]

I'm still reflecting back on my interview day at SIU and how I felt there.... Hope I can match there, just gotta let NRMP work it's magic!

 

[diphenyl]

Same with Peds ER. Your earning potential is nothing compared to adult ER. And the really big name ERs prefer to hire people who did a 3-4 yr ER residency plus a Peds fellowship. Because they can work virtually anywhere in the ER, and can fill in or cover for anyone. If you'd like to work at a great spot like that, do ER residency + Peds fellowship.

If you want to work at a smaller, level 2 trauma, etc, those places hire General pediatricians with just Peds residency, as long as they are decent with procedures.since most Peds pts in the ER are there for simple things like asthma exacerbation or GE.


This info from ER attendings at several hospitals I've been at, +working as a paramedic before med school

This is a little variable with peds EM. Some smaller hospitals will still hire general pediatricians to man their peds ED, however this is on the way out. There are fewer and fewer of these jobs available. The general trend is towards peds EM fellowship trained guys working the peds ED. As far as which route is better (EM to peds em or Peds to peds EM), it really depends on what you want to do. There are many fellowships that are open to both peds and EM trained. There are some only open to peds trained people.

I have found at major pediatric referral hospitals, they generally prefer people who are peds to ped EM. If however you want to work in a mixed department and see some adults as well than I would try going for an EM residency. However if you never want to work with adults, than the answer is obvious.

 

[Slade]

Same with Peds ER. Your earning potential is nothing compared to adult ER. And the really big name ERs prefer to hire people who did a 3-4 yr ER residency plus a Peds fellowship. Because they can work virtually anywhere in the ER, and can fill in or cover for anyone. If you'd like to work at a great spot like that, do ER residency + Peds fellowship.

If you want to work at a smaller, level 2 trauma, etc, those places hire General pediatricians with just Peds residency, as long as they are decent with procedures.since most Peds pts in the ER are there for simple things like asthma exacerbation or GE.


This info from ER attendings at several hospitals I've been at, +working as a paramedic before med school

I have had the complete opposite experience. In all of the residency programs I interviewed at, I looked at the attendings and where they trained. Probably 95% were Peds then Peds ED trained, not general pediatricians or EM then peds trained...

 

[Slade]

Yes compared to other peds fellowships like PICU where they take anyone who applies and shows up, yes peds cardio is "competitive". But nothing compared to say, adult cardio. Reason being, adult cardio= $500, 000 salary, peds cardio= $ 200,000.

Which is why Peds IM residents have it made. They can decide either

You are completely off. I looked at the NRMP numbers, here are the stats.

Peds Cardio Fellowship: in 2011, 65.4% matched at 1.5 applicants per position
IM Cardio Fellowship: in 2011, 64.3% matched at 1.5 applicants per position
These are equally competitive.

For peds EM Fellowship: in 2011, 72% matched at 1.3 applicants per position
For EM Residency: in 2012, 89% matched (for US seniors) at 1.3 applicants per position (if you count all applicants, even IMGs).
Obviously it's hard to compare 2011 and 2012 as well as residency v fellowship in this case, but in what world is EM more competitive than peds EM?? Money is not everything in this world you know. You should do some research if you're interested in Peds Cardio. SIU might not be the best place for you.

 

[Jessipeds]

Depends where you interview. I had a different experience. When I was a Paramedic, I went to many many different ED's (not all of which were affliated with a Peds residency program, many happened to be private ED's) and I talked to the ER doctors and most were EM-trained with Peds fellowship. Those were the most highly sought after. Everyone wants to hire them. If you can get into an EM residency (obviously it's more competitive than getting into a Peds residency), then it's a great option. EM residency, followed by Peds fellowship.

Places where you interviewed were Peds residencies, so obviously those attendings are Peds residency +Peds EM fellowship. Private ED's hire differently.

 

[Slade]

Depends where you interview. I had a different experience. When I was a Paramedic, I went to many many different ED's (not all of which were affliated with a Peds residency program, many happened to be private ED's) and I talked to the ER doctors and most were EM-trained with Peds fellowship. Those were the most highly sought after. Everyone wants to hire them. If you can get into an EM residency (obviously it's more competitive than getting into a Peds residency), then it's a great option. EM residency, followed by Peds fellowship.

Places where you interviewed were Peds residencies, so obviously those attendings are Peds residency +Peds EM fellowship. Private ED's hire differently.

Again with the misinformation. I don't see how you can say EM->Peds EM are "highly sought after." You have absolutely no comparison to make that statement. Overall, Peds EM is a fairly new specialty and Peds-trained attendings are in growing demand in the larger peds ERs.

Just look at the programs offering Peds EM fellowships after EM - there are only 20 programs and they are in mid to low tier programs compared to the 51 and growing Peds EM after Peds fellowship programs which are in the best Children's Hospitals.

The only reason for going the EM -> peds EM route is if you want to treat adults, that's it. BTW, EM folks make a median of $237,000 NOT $500,000 (source: Medscape http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/compensation/2012/public)
I can't find official figures for Peds EM folks, but I have heard from attendings and fellows (anecdotal) that average salary is about 220000-270000.

Please stop spouting off this stuff without doing your research.

 

[Jessipeds]

Yes compared to other peds fellowships like PICU where they take anyone who applies and shows up, yes peds cardio is "competitive". But nothing compared to say, adult cardio. Reason being, adult cardio= $500, 000 salary, peds cardio= $ 200,000.

Which is why Peds IM residents have it made. They can decide either

I never said EM made $500,000. I said a good Adult cardiologist can make $500,000. Adult EM makes around $300,000 and peds EM around $200,000. You will always make less money seeing pediatric patients, THIS IS A FACT. This cannot be disputed.

However, you're right, money isn't everything. If it were, I wouldn't be going for Peds. I am blessed to have a husband who is a Radiologist, so I could care less how much I will earn in the future. Thus, I am going into Peds because I truly love working with kids. Even though I know I won't earn much.

Almost every pediatrician I talked to (not residents, but working middle-aged pediatricians with families) tried to dissuade me away from Peds, telling me I'd be poor. They only left me alone after I said I was married to a radiologist and was doing it because I love working with kids and it makes me happy.

 

[Jessipeds]

Btw, I hope you don't take any of this offensively. I'm not trying to start an argument or anything like that, I'm just sharing information from personal experiences I've had. Just trying to be honest and help people out.

 

[Jessipeds]

Here's a great article from the Journal of Pediatrics showing Pediatric Subspeciality Fellowship training and the cost-benefit ratio. The only pediatric subspecialities that generated a net increase were Cards, PICU, and NICU. I was actually pretty surprised, I expected it to be more than that.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21262882

 

[Slade]

I never said EM made $500,000. I said a good Adult cardiologist can make $500,000. Adult EM makes around $300,000 and peds EM around $200,000. You will always make less money seeing pediatric patients, THIS IS A FACT. This cannot be disputed.

However, you're right, money isn't everything. If it were, I wouldn't be going for Peds. I am blessed to have a husband who is a Radiologist, so I could care less how much I will earn in the future. Thus, I am going into Peds because I truly love working with kids. Even though I know I won't earn much.

Almost every pediatrician I talked to (not residents, but working middle-aged pediatricians with families) tried to dissuade me away from Peds, telling me I'd be poor. They only left me alone after I said I was married to a radiologist and was doing it because I love working with kids and it makes me happy.

It's fine to quote personal experience when talking about why you went into peds, but when you start saying things as facts without backup, it's a problem because pre meds and med students might take you at word value.

Of course, any "good" ____ can make $500,000... When you say a specialty makes X, people talk about mean salary. Cardiologists do not make $500,000. The Medscape 2012 Compensation Study shows they make a mean of $316,000 (Source: http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/compensation/2012/cardiology).

Again, you cannot just say EM make $300,000 and peds EM make $200,000. Where is your source??

 

[Jessipeds]

)
I can't find official figures for Peds EM folks, but I have heard from attendings and fellows (anecdotal) that average salary is about 220000-270000.

Please stop spouting off this stuff without doing your research.

Look, my husband and I are in a group of friends (couples, mainly) of which many are residents/young attendings. Several are newly graduated EM residents and have received job offers in the $300,000 range. This is what I mean by personal experience.

You said above "I can't find official figures for Peds EM folks, but I have heard from attendings and fellows (anecdotal) that average salary is about 220000-270000."

It is possible that the attendings and fellows that you know are in a different geographical area, different hospital network, etc. than the ones I know, which is why their salaries may be different. Not every hospital pays exactly the same amount to everyone. I did not question your anecdotal Peds EM salary, and I trust that you stand by your word. From my personal experience within our group of friends, I have heard $200,000 range for Peds EM and $300,000 range for Adult EM, which is why I said what I said.

If you absolutely must require that I show you proof because you don't trust my word the way I trust yours, here you go:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/elsevier/emconnect_201209/index.php?startid=7#/8

If you look on page 8, national average EM salary range is $263,000 (employees) - $339,114 (partners).

I think you and I both have better things to do than look up salaries. Let's trust each other as people of integrity, and agree that it is possible that people we know may earn different amounts in different places, despite having the same profession.

 

[Slade]

Yes compared to other peds fellowships like PICU where they take anyone who applies and shows up, yes peds cardio is "competitive". But nothing compared to say, adult cardio. Reason being, adult cardio= $500, 000 salary, peds cardio= $ 200,000.

Which is why Peds IM residents have it made. They can decide either

My beef is with you stating these things as if they were fact. I've shown that your Cards salaries were WAY off and your ideas of competitiveness are really skewed/wrong. At least accept that.

You are telling people in this thread that peds cardio is not competitive and that it doesn't really matter where you go for residency. But that is not true and is misleading to med students who read these posts.

In any case, I am done arguing with you. In the future, if you are going to respond to posts asking for advice, do your research or let those with experience answer (I do not claim to be one of those people, my expertise stops at what I have experience in, ie not fellowship competitiveness).

Have a good day (not sarcasm)

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I do believe the thread heading reads "how's SIU peds"...back on topic, if you please.