Interview Impressions!

[Interviews]

Program Name and Location: Brigham/MGH

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program? Although you interview with a lot of applicants, you do not get the herded feeling. They interview on two days, with two shifts each day.

Positives: Amazing program. Complete exposure to the sub-specialities -- you can do any fellowship you want coming out of this program. It's in Boston, which is a great city with a small town feeling to it.

Negatives: They don't do their own ultrasounds. At Harvard, that is done through radiology.

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[appleandorange2]

Program Name and Location: Tufts NEMC Boston, MA

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
The interview day is fine, 4 interviews, low pressure. and delicious lunch at a Chinese restaurant across the street. The WORST night before gathering with the residents!!! It took forever to get to the resident's apt for it, and the food was scant and very niche--not typical party food. There were a total of 4 residents there, and about 15 applicants. Positives: it is in Boston, which is cool.
Negatives: traditional call yrs 2 and 3, residents actually openly discourage interns from getting pregnant, lots of traveling to and from different sites in traffic, expensive rent and parking is outrageous!!! Not a great reputation, at least in my very limited circle. Personality-wise, not a great fit for me. Maybe it was the fact that there were so few residents at the gathering, and so a few quirky ones didn't help my impression.
Does the program have a specific focus? No.
Specific interview questions you were asked? Why Boston? Why don't you want to stay near your family? Why not stay at your home program? Have you ever dealt with minorities?
What did you wish you knew before you went there? No way to tell personality fit before visiting. Really, I would have gone to see the program anyway, because I like Boston.

 

[appleandorange2]

Program Name and Location: Case MetroHealth, Cleveland, OH
Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
The day is long and exhausting! The night before gathering was weird in that the coordinator was there and had READ ALL of OUR APPLICATIONS, and tried to work details from them, like what we wrote in our personal statements, into the conversation. It caught me a bit off guard, since I didn't necessarily think she would have seen my application, let alone mention things in it in front of other applicants...The residents seemed nice and down to earth, although only two interns made it to the gathering... Positives: strong reputation, great numbers, solid high quality residents, two drastically different hospital settings to work in/learn from
Negatives: Cleveland can be a drawback if you aren't used to the weather--dreary pretty often, can get tons of snow. The Cleveland Clinic strikes me as a very pretentious and cold atmosphere, especially to an incoming intern. The intern I talked with who was working there had been there for 5 weeks and still hadn't learned any of the nurses names and felt lost going even down the hall on a regular basis.
Does the program have a specific focus? No. It is pretty well-rounded, and I got a sense that Onc is particularly solid.
Specific interview questions you were asked? Nothing remarkable. Why this program? Where else have you applied? What would make you a good resident?
What did you wish you knew before you went there? Do not plan travel tightly around Cleveland in the winter. Also, even if there is no snow/ice forecast, the interview day ends around 5:30pm! So best to stay nearby that night.

 

[appleandorange2]

Program Name and Location: Case University Hospital Cleveland, Oh
Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
Positives: Interview day was great. Full spread breakfast with coffee, good lunch too. Laid back residents, almost all of whom came to lunch and seemed interested in the applicants. Faculty at lunch as well, nice and engaging to talk to. Residency director very approachable and seems sincerely into making the best program possible.
Negatives: One important faculty interviewer was very abrasive during my interview, asked me one awkward and inappropriate question after another, and effectively was the one and only reason why I decided not to rank the program at all.
Does the program have a specific focus? No. It seems to produce well rounded grads.
Specific interview questions you were asked? Why our program? Why obgyn? What would you do to reform the US healthcare system? Who are you voting for in the presidential election? Do you want to have children? What does your father do for a living?
What did you wish you knew before you went there? Be prepared for inappropriate questions--they are rare, but you should know what you will want to say!

 

[appleandorange2]

Program Name and Location: University of Cincinnati, Cincy, OH
Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
Interview day was fine. The power point presentation in the am was helpful for generating questions to ask on the interviews. The dinner the night before was freaking amazing!--tapas at Teller's in Hyde Park, great food. Positives: Interview day was fine. The power point presentation in the am was helpful for generating questions to ask on the interviews. Everyone was nice, laid-back. Interviewers were very intent on answering any questions you might have (to the point of taking me on an extra little side tour to show me some building plans). The residents were a lot of fun and seemed very engaging and got along with each other swimmingly. The dinner the night before was freaking amazing!--tapas at Teller's in Hyde Park, great food.
Negatives: at the time of my interview, the program had not yet hired any gyn onc faculty, and the resdients were rotating at Christ hospital for onc cases and then rotating on med onc for chemo, which is not ideal. I am told that they are building a new gyn onc hospital and have 3 new gyn onc faculty coming to start in June 2008, so I am sure it will be much stronger in a year or so...They have IMGs in the program, which I have been told is a dwnside, but when I met them, I thought they were awesome and were the coolest people there, so that's not an issue for me!
Does the program have a specific focus? MFM is especially strong.
Specific interview questions you were asked? Why Cincinnati? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Nothing out of the ordinary or difficult.
What did you wish you knew before you went there? It is hard to find the parking garage and the actual medical sciences building, due to construction, so leave extra time to get there if you are driving or taking a cab (heck--it is even challenging on foot!).

 

[yoosername]

Program Name and Location: Aultman

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program? No negatives that I can think of. They interview a handful of candidates per interview day, so things are very intimate. The dinner after is fun and laid-back, and the residents are very candid.

Positives: I think this is a great program for someone wanting to do general OBGYN. They do a good job of taking care of the residents. There are great attendings in all the sub-specialities - they're pretty much the same ones from Akron General and Akron City. There's loads of procedural experience.

Negatives: Probably not the place for you if you want to do a fellowship.

 

[yoosername]

Program Name and Location: Good Sam/Bethesda North

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program? Great dinner the night before - lot's of residents and their families. Interview is done at Good Sam. People from Bethesda North come down to talk and people can tour the hospital if they want. Lots of opportunities to talk to residents.

Positives: Another great program for general OBGYN. Great benefits. Very busy MFM service. Much procedural experience.

Negatives: They have a urogyn fellowship, but the residents claim there's plenty of surgeries for everyone - I'm always skeptical of these claims. Don't match as many grads into fellowships as a big university program, but they do have some sub-specialize.

 

[yoosername]

Program Name and Location: Riverside Methodist Hospital

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program? Pretty standard interview - moderate amount of interviewees per day.

Positives: Of all the programs I interviewed at, this one pampers their residents the most. Great salary/benefits (reasonable work schedule, free membership to amazing workout facility, concierge service - the works!) On top of that, it's a great program. Very busy without any fellows to get in the way. You'll leave this program a well-prepared, well-rounded OBGYN.

Negatives: Some may say it's too busy. Again, maybe shouldn't be your first choice if you're thinking fellowship all the may, but they do match folks into fellowships.

 

[Domokun]

Does anyone who's been through the Bridgeport program or interviewed there have any 2-cents to offer about this program?

 

[ObGynDestined]

Program Name and Location: Emory (Atlanta, GA)

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
Positives:
1. Resident autonomy esp. at Grady where you are essentially the pt.'s doctor. There is still supervision though.
2. Dedicated OB ICU on the L&D ward
3. OB/GYN ER triage on the L&D ward
4. Variety of training environments including public (Grady) community (Crawford Long) and private for gyn surgeries (Emory)
5. Affiliation with CDC for clinical research
6. Very diverse group of residents ( int'l, white, black , gay, guys and gals...)
7. Goal of curriculum is to give all resident a well rounded education/training
8. One of a few prgms with a family planning fellowship

Negatives: You get $2000 stipend for the 4 years and you have to buy books from this. Diverse group of residents can also mean that not everyone will be BFF's but all seem professional.

Does the program have a specific focus? Research and resident autonomy early on

Specific interview questions you were asked? How would you teach? Some scenarios to try to see how you would handle difficult ethical situations. Questions were asked about my application and research.

What did you wish you knew before you went there? The residents come from diverse backgrounds.

Curious what the issue is with the program being diverse?

 

[schwasted589]

Program Name and Location: Oakwood Hospital, Dearborn, MI

Positives and negatives of the interview day and the program?
Positives:
1. 4 interviews about 20 minutes each. Nice length, not overwhelming.
2. Hospital is lovely. Delivery rooms are nice. ORs are brand new. Have a Da'Vinci, though I'm not sure how much you would actually get to train on it, since we need to master our basic surgery skill set first.
3. Diverse patient population, from the wealthy to the uninsured
4. Diverse pathology
5. Despite being a community program, 25% go into fellowship
6. Residents seem to get along well
Negatives:
1. Kinda small, but that depends on whether you are into a big program or want a smaller community feel, I haven't decided yet.
2. Other than that, no real negatives. About half of their residents are FMGs, again, its up to you whether its + or a -

Does the program have a specific focus? I don't think so

Specific interview questions you were asked? What are your career goals, tell me something meaningful from your application, where else have you applied, etc.

What did you wish you knew before you went there? Can't think of anything more.

I know this is anonymous but I was wondering: if you're the person that wrote this, did you happen to interview at the other Michigan hospitals? I have a few questions about Oakwood so if you could PM me, I'd really appreciate it!! Thank you