Internal Medicine Residency- high-crime neighborhood hospitals list

[Anxs4Residency]

Any help will be immensely appreciated on this one- as you can see,
I'm anxious for getting into a residency program this year:

Does any one have any suggestions/advice on some Internal Medicine
Residency programs that are offered in hospitals that fall in
high-crime neighborhoods etc. [those, that are generally
not persued aggressively by others (extremely high-scoring USMLE
applicants etc.)]. Getting in the door of a residency program,
to fulfill my lifelong goal of being a doctor to serve patients,
is now vital for me and I'm getting very anxious this year,
since, my ECFMG scores would expire next year.

[Because of some unavoidable, life-situation beyond my control,
I could not apply for any programs these past several years,
after getting my ECFMG certificate. Now, this last year,
I can not afford to be choosy for a specific program ...
I'd happily accept a place that others would happily reject!
Just want to increase the probability of acceptance in a
program to 100%, at this cliff-hanging last year.
Any replies very welcome!]

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[Jaded Soul]

University of Southern California (LAC+USC Medical Center)

Judiging from the residents I've worked with, the Internal Medicine program seems FMG-friendly. The hospital itself is in a less than desirable location (East Los Angeles). I don't know how competitive the program actually is, but I get the impression that it's not.

 

[Finally M3]

Sinai Grace and the Detroit Medical Center in Detroit are in pretty high crime areas....although Sinai Grace is by far, worse.

During my ER rotation there, one of the ambulances got jacked. It made the news!

 

[irlandesa]

SUNY-Downstate, Temple, NJMS, good programs, not-so-good neighborhoods. Less than desirable locations for many, but not necessarily high-crime areas include Baystate Medical Center (TUSM affiliate) in Springfield, MA, Penn State-Hershey, U of Louisville, Maine Medical Center, U of Nevada-Las Vegas, Albany Medical Center, LSU-Shreveport. These are all good programs, FMG-friendly, as a US grad I will apply to nearly all, but for some reason all except Albany historically have had problems filling all their spots in IM. I think you'd have no problem getting a spot at any of these programs! Good luck.

 

[Adawaal]

Cook County Hospital.

 

[zoolander]

SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn
Einstein/Jacobi in the Bronx
LA County/USC
MLK/Drew in LA
Columbia Med Ctr, Highland/Alameda County in Oakland, Yale, U of Chicago Med Ctr, Harbor-UCLA (not as bad, though)
Most VA's

By reputation:
Charity in New Orleans
Johns Hopkins
BU's main hospital
Temple

 

[mosche]

Just thouht that I'd add my two cents! The programs here in Tenn., and also the Arkansas programs, are very heavy IM emphasis programs. Further, there is no real problem with "dangerous neighborhoods", just calm, easy-going, laid-back communities. Both states have one great benefit for residents: VERY LOW cost of living, i.e. two bedroom, 1000 sq. ft. apt. $550.00!! No kidding! compare that to a 200 sq. ft. in the major crime ridden inner-cities (people actually pay more for the crime?!).
Now, before I get angry responses saying that I'm being unfair to the city programs (I'm actually considering many of those programs listed above), let me assure you that I'm not. I just think that you should not limit yourself to certain programs because you think that you are a poor fit for others. Even in the Garden of Eden that is Tennessee, several IM positions go unfilled every year; APPLY! Even if you don't match, you've lost little! If money is the issue (and for many of us, it is) remember that even the schools in "bad neighborhoods" can be ubber-competitive ex: YALE! Good luck!

 

[Jamezuva]

SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn
Einstein/Jacobi in the Bronx
LA County/USC
MLK/Drew in LA
Columbia Med Ctr, Highland/Alameda County in Oakland, Yale, U of Chicago Med Ctr, Harbor-UCLA (not as bad, though)
Most VA's

By reputation:
Charity in New Orleans
Johns Hopkins
BU's main hospital
Temple

Yale?!?!? Geez, I wasn't expecting that, I thought New Haven was one of those quaint, typicaly New England towns....

 

[rotty1021]

Yale?!?!? Geez, I wasn't expecting that, I thought New Haven was one of those quaint, typicaly New England towns....

Quite the contrary, in certain parts.

 

[Jaded Soul]

MLK/Drew in LA

I wouldn't recommend this hospital to anyone, not even desperate FMGs willing to go anywhere. Within the last couple of years, it's lost accreditation for its surgery and radiology residencies and its neonatology fellowship. IM, FM, and anesthesia are on probation. Overall, the graduate medical training is characterized as "unfavorable" and "substandard" by the ACGME.

 

[Anxs4Residency]

Great, what a turnout here ... thanks to the wonderful posters so far, for their "quality" replies regarding the "non-quality" neighborhood hospitals! Hoping to see many more here!

I forgot to mention in my original post that I'm a US Citizen also (unlike many ECMFG certified-candidates, who are foreigners with various visas/green-card etc). Does being a US Citizen change the mix? i.e. Are there easier IM residencies to get into, if one is a US-Citizen ECFMG Certified candidate? (I assume that, the competition is then even reduced further, if one has a US Citizenship). In that case, any Veterans-Admin/Military type hospitals, where non-US-citizens are not accepted, would be useful to know for me.

On a related subject, typically how-many places one should apply (30, 50, 100 etc.), to insure that one gets into a place?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Great, what a turnout here ... thanks to the wonderful posters so far, for their "quality" replies regarding the "non-quality" neighborhood hospitals! Hoping to see many more here!

I forgot to mention in my original post that I'm a US Citizen also (unlike many ECMFG certified-candidates, who are foreigners with various visas/green-card etc). Does being a US Citizen change the mix? i.e. Are there easier IM residencies to get into, if one is a US-Citizen ECFMG Certified candidate? (I assume that, the competition is then even reduced further, if one has a US Citizenship). In that case, any Veterans-Admin/Military type hospitals, where non-US-citizens are not accepted, would be useful to know for me.

On a related subject, typically how-many places one should apply (30, 50, 100 etc.), to insure that one gets into a place?

Is the issue that you are running up against the 7 year deadline for completing all the USMLE steps or ECFMG certification? Can't you get your certificate approved indefinitely (or do you have to enter a residency program to get this)?

At any rate, unless there is another issue at hand, as a US citizen, even with ECFMG certification and a willingness to essentially go anywhere for an IM residency, I'm not sure that matching will be difficult. IM is not considered traditionally competitive and every year there are tons of programs that go unfilled. As for number of programs, that's really up to you, but do you REALLY think you need to apply to such enormous number of programs? Most of those that apply in such a scatter-shot fashion are non-citizens who fear not matching at all. Frankly, unless there are some other skeletons in your closet I can't imagine that you'd need to apply to more than 30 programs (which in and of itself seems a tad on the high side). Since the application season is fairly long, you could apply to a minimum number of programs and if you weren't getting interviews, add a few more to desired effect.

The issue with VA/Millitary type hospitals is not one of citizen vs non-citizen. Many US programs, especially university types, have various rotations at VA hospitals. I know of none which SOLELY rotate at VA institutions. And these are not "off limits" to non-citizens. Military type hospitals do exist (ie, Walter Reed) but these residencies *may* be limited to those who are pursuing a military residency. These would not be offered through the NRMP or found on FREIDA as the military conducts its own match, separate from the NRMP. The short answer to this question is that military hospitals will be off limits to you as well as non-citizens if they are affiliated with a military residency and VA hospitals are not off limits to anyone if they are affiliated with a non-military residency (which most are).

Being a citizen will make you more desirable to programs as they don't have to hassle with visa issues. I know of no list which delineates programs more likely to offer you a spot based on your citizenship.

 

[daisygirl]

SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn
Einstein/Jacobi in the Bronx
LA County/USC
MLK/Drew in LA
Columbia Med Ctr, Highland/Alameda County in Oakland, Yale, U of Chicago Med Ctr, Harbor-UCLA (not as bad, though)
Most VA's

By reputation:
Charity in New Orleans
Johns Hopkins
BU's main hospital
Temple

I live in the Bronx, and Einstein/Jacobi are NOT located in high-crime areas. These hospitals are located in middle-class areas within the Bronx. I'll agree with you on Downstate though. That hospital is located in a very rough part of Brooklyn. I interviewed there, and I've been in bad neighborhoods before (since there are quite a few in the Bronx- particularly the South Bronx) and that place still freaked me out.

 

[zoolander]

I wouldn't recommend this hospital to anyone, not even desperate FMGs willing to go anywhere. Within the last couple of years, it's lost accreditation for its surgery and radiology residencies and its neonatology fellowship. IM, FM, and anesthesia are on probation. Overall, the graduate medical training is characterized as "unfavorable" and "substandard" by the ACGME.

That's completely true- but I want to give them some credit. The hospital does see a very diverse underserved population. Their trauma exposure is probably up there with the best, very hands on.

For IM, though...

Re: Einstein/Montefiore in the Bronx- only there once. The commute from the subway/"don't worry it's mostly property crimes here" disclaimer left an impression.

 

[Finally M3]

UChicago was in a bad neighborhood? I don't know if I agree with that, although that was my out-of-towner, 1 day tour experience.

I agree that the area surrounding Cook County can be a little frightening.

 

[VentdependenT]

Mt. Sinai is even deeper in the hood than Cook County. Try that place.

 

[Jaded Soul]

That's completely true- but I want to give them some credit. The hospital does see a very diverse underserved population. Their trauma exposure is probably up there with the best, very hands on.

Do you mean for the ER residents (seeing as how King-Drew doesn't have the surgery residency anymore)?