is metrohealth medical center (at case western reserve) malignant?

[dolce2011]

hey guys, I am new to this forum. I recently interviewed at metrohealth medical center in cleveland ohio. Which is apparently a case western program. During our lunch, another applicant had mentioned that she was pimped by the new hot shot chairman of medicine on her medical knowledge..... Apparently this guy invented pepcid, but who does he think he is? So what if he's really smart, I thought that any residency program that pimps their interview candidates is a malignant program, what have you guys heard? what would you have done in her situation?

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[NOsquid]

I would agree that's not a very good sign. But if he's new (ie recently hired, not promoted) maybe that's not reflective of the culture there.

 

[k96tw01]

Rotated through Metro for a couple of months as a med student at Case... never got ANY sense that the IM program (or any other for that matter) was malignant... but granted. that was about 8-9 years ago at this point.

 

[marathonrnnr]

Uhh, thats a bad sign. Heard of the program that some of my FMG friends applied to and I know that some places that have a majority of FMGs they just want "attendings" at resident pay...basically people they dont have to teach or train and are just work horses....so they screen by asking medical questions.

There's no reason to entertain a malignant program. So if the chairman is new it just means that the program may not be malignant now, but will probably become more malignant if he's the one pimping.

If that happened to me when I was interviewing, I'd say "thank you very much, have a good day."

 

[Blackstar72]

if someone disrespects you like that on your interview day, the day THEY are trying to impress YOU enough to come to their organization... I don't know why you'd even rank them!!

 

[marathonrnnr]

it screams do not rank

 

[atsai3]

hey guys, I am new to this forum. I recently interviewed at metrohealth medical center in cleveland ohio. Which is apparently a case western program. During our lunch, another applicant had mentioned that she was pimped by the new hot shot chairman of medicine on her medical knowledge..... Apparently this guy invented pepcid, but who does he think he is? So what if he's really smart, I thought that any residency program that pimps their interview candidates is a malignant program, what have you guys heard? what would you have done in her situation?

Anyone who thinks MetroHealth's IM program is 'malignant' clearly doesn't know Mike MacFarlane. He is about as interested in medical education as any attending could possibly be.

This is a stupid thread. Why would you think that the (new) Chairman's behavior would have any correlation whatsoever (and let's leave aside the question of causation for now) with residency program malignancy?

-AT.

 

[LikesJello]

As a med student who has done several rotations at metro health medical center, I have never experienced any kind of malignancy within the internal medicine residency program. The chairman, while I have not spent much time with him personally, seems nice and all the residents seem to get along with him well.
The residents are great, not malignant at all, and all seem to get along with each other pretty well. The attendings I worked with on IM have all been fantastic with great teaching. You will be asked medicine questions on rounds such as what do you think is going on here and what would you do next for this patient, but it was never in a stressful pimping situation. I hope that helps a bit.

 

[medschoolplease]

I recently interviewed there and had a great experience! My interview with the PD, Dr. McFarlane was great, he was very warm and kind! None of the residents I came into contact with expressed any sentiments of a malignant atmosphere in fact they were quite emphatic about how non malignant the program is.

 

[Blackstar72]

McFarlane has changed, his mood has become more hostile in recent times and since the new chairman has arrived and implemented many new changes. Changes that are sending shockwaves through the department of medicine.

if the PD can threaten to fire two senior residents with an otherwise outstanding record for a minor clinic scheduling issue this is malignant. It was not proven to be done with ill intent. This is something even our IM attendings have admitted to having done themselves during their residency. I.e, seeing a resident as your PCP in clinic WITH preception of attending of course. I don't see a problem with that.

Regardless, to threaten termination of two seniors in and of itself is a highly malignant behavior case closed! For the PD not be interested in what they have to say on their account of the matter in order for them to defend their integrity and just to hear their point of view is very malignant.

I dont' care what happened 8-9 years ago, regarding how great things were. These malignant incidences happened this year!

Never think that if you are interviewing at a program or rotating through as a med student, that the program will show you all their dirty laundry. Med students, don't be so naive. Of course they will put their best foot forward, smile at you and ask you questions during rounds. They want the best candidates, but ask yourself why are there mostly FMGs at this program? Why can't they attract better quality residents?
The other thing is you don't want to come to a program that is experiencing techtonic shifts, a new chairman with fresh ideas, a PD who is sick and will need to step down very soon, you'd want to wait it out for a few years until the dust settles before you come to this place IMO.

sure there are some great attendings here, but there are also ones that have huge ego's and are prone to power trip. take it or leave it.

 

[marathonrnnr]

so this new chairman of your's? yeah...he's pretty antiFMG and anti DO. By pretty I mean a lot....but that's just what the word is here in boston. Maybe he's mellowed since he's moved to the midwest.

 

[soccer1]

sooooo uncool!!!!!!!!

 

[MetroHealthCLE]

Anyone that knows him, also knows he spells his name McFarlane... oh and that he doesn't back up his residents...

There are some good people here and there, but the culture has changed...and training has been soo poor that even FMGs's ITE scores have significantly dropped!

Anyone who thinks MetroHealth's IM program is 'malignant' clearly doesn't know Mike MacFarlane. He is about as interested in medical education as any attending could possibly be.

This is a stupid thread. Why would you think that the (new) Chairman's behavior would have any correlation whatsoever (and let's leave aside the question of causation for now) with residency program malignancy?

-AT.

 

[rohitkedia07]

I did my AI in medicine at Metro in the fall.
I never saw anything malignant about the program.
I thought Metro was one of the better hospitals to be at, they truly get the best cases. Also their M/M is outstanding.
The residents are very friendly as well as the attending docs.
From what I saw in one month, I have nothing ill to say of Metro.

 

[asystoleaaliyah]

I did my AI in medicine at Metro in the fall.
I never saw anything malignant about the program.
I thought Metro was one of the better hospitals to be at, they truly get the best cases. Also their M/M is outstanding.
The residents are very friendly as well as the attending docs.
From what I saw in one month, I have nothing ill to say of Metro.

felt like I had to say something (some of the posts here seem like they go too far and written by some angry people! probably not the best advisors)
I rotated at Metro health hospital for electives during my 4th year and my husband did as well. we loved this program! here are some facts:
- this is a totally NONmalig program (and call is like every fifth day and they don't do 30 hour calls at all).
- I met the PD and he is really nice, and no one had anything bad to say about him during my whole time time there. he held a lot of teaching sessions with the medical school and everyone loves him so this is really suprising to see someone bad mouth him. the new chairman is also from what i hear been great and is receptive to the residents (He is from boston but what does that mean?)
- the residents are pretty friendly and do have some foreign grads in the program. they have a diverse culture background which i think says a lot
- i saw the fellowship match lists and a lot of residents did match into pretty good fellowships and the board pass rates are better than a lot of other places. Some of the residents told me that a couple of the 3rd year residents who really wanted to stay at metro health for cardiology (foreign grads, but were bottom of class) got really angry when they didn't match and didn't take it well.

sounds like things can only get better next year? hope this helps someone who is in my position looking for a good program

 

[missmd2u]

Alright, I've been hearing about what's going on here, and decided to say something finally.

I am a resident at Metro and I need to let you know what I think.

First, it IS true that most of the residents are pissed off. This place isn't malignant like Duke, but it is not a bed of roses either! I've heard of many instances were interns can get fired for no reason, and higher ups can get fired or told they will be fired for little or no reason. People have tempers here, and i'm sorry, but if you are just a med student or an AI, what you say doesn't matter! You have to ask the residents who are here for longer than 1-3 months! Residents can spend up to 3 years here and they will get to learn alot here, including the secrets!

It seems like that last post is written by a trol - asystoleaaliyah -, sounds to me like one of the department secretaries (marcie) who likes to lurk in forums. IF she truly was a visting med student, then she sure seems to know an AWFUL lot about the PD, the match rates, conferences, and seems to know all that there is to know about ABIM pass rates at this program and in comparison to other programs!! If that's true, then asystolealiyah or marcie is pathetic!

my questions to you asystoleaaliyah!
- If you rotated at metro and loved the program so much, then why aren't you here??
-you think malignancy is just about call schedules? wake up, its 2011, its about respect! 30 hour calls are going to be a thing of the past soon anyways!
- the PD is fine as long as you do what you are told! Just remember that interns are fired near yearly, and it is true that they said they would fire two 3rd years for something i've done myself!
- the new chairman is an anti DO type of person! I find that highly insulting to some my best resident friends here! He seems to want to turn this place into an AMG only/mostly program.
- some foreign grads? try more than half! I like working with them because they can teach you like attendings, and I like to be working with my resident friends who have so much more experience than the average resident. There is a reliance on FMGs here, but you need them to teach you how to do procedures etc.
- last years fellowship match rate was scary, everybody knows it was bad, and many attendings said it was poor. Even the chief said it was sucky! I hope this years match will be better!!! I worked soo hard on all my research.
- Not every resident wants to get into cardiology here, there are other fellowships that people want. Alot of those cardiology guys worked hard, but what can they do, they are FMGs going for cards, and I don't have a problem with any of them. You talk about how much it says of the program to take FMGs but then you bash them and call them bottom of the class, i bet their board scores were higher than yours!


phew! ok, now its time to go watch some TV!

 

[atsai3]

- the new chairman is an anti DO type of person! I find that highly insulting to some my best resident friends here! He seems to want to turn this place into an AMG only/mostly program.

If the new chairman is trying to raise the stature of MetroHealth and turn it into an "AMG only/mostly" program, then you and other D.O./FMG's should not take that personally. Many applicants view the AMG/FMG-DO ratio as a marker of a program's competitiveness. Whether FMG's are more competent than the average AMG (and by this I think you mean the foreign nationals who went to medical school in their home country-- not the U.S. citizens who went to a foreign medical school because they couldn't get into a U.S. medical school) is beside the point.

-AT.

 

[firefly22]

So yes, I agree this isn't the worst program in the world but sure isn't the best and they aren't trying hard to make it the best.

I guess it depends on what your definition of malignant is...is malignant firing an intern last year by saying he's incompetent, then deciding to offer his spot back after another resident had to leave for a different reason? Is malignant to threaten to fire 2 of the programs "treasured" AMGs as a knee jerk reactions for a minor misunderstanding that was eventually cleared up? IS malignant threatening to fire any residents that suggest the idea of a resident union for collective bargaining? Is it malignant when the program coordinator is racist, especially when majority of the residents are non-americans? And sure people have talked about the teaching enthusiasm of the PD, but how relevant is that if the PD will have to very likely step down ********************** or because the new chairman will want him to, or both?

Yes all of the above happened and likely will happen....

When I did my 4th year AI rotation here last year, I thought this program was a diamond in the rough. A program that had all the fellowships but without the malignant leanings of other programs. But as a med student things are sugar coated and not as transparent as they are as an intern now.

Fellowship match rates are fudged and made to look better than they are but the truth is the numbers are getting worse. During the interview they talk about how they have mentors to help with fellowships...the first time I met with my mentor was 6 months into the residency for him to give me my midterm eval! And he's just a hospitalist, not even someone from the fellowship I want to go into! The PD refuses to make a call for residents for fellowships and makes his dislike of sub-specialties very clear and evident. Someone posted on here that some of the residents were upset that they didnt match into cardiology and those residents were all IMGs and bottom of the barrel. Nothing could be further from the truth, half of those residents were AMGs and all were very competitive.


Its clear the program wants to become more AMG (new chairman;s mission) but it doesnt make sense that they try to alienate 90% of the current residents (who happen to be FMGs or DOs). I'm told by senior residents that his program interviewed for the first time mostly AMGs and not mostly FMGs and DOs this year and so if thats the case maybe FMGs and DOs should stay away from here.

No one should go to a place where they are unwanted.

I just say if you want the facts, ask an intern who;s here...dont ask med students who happened to rotate here but never ended up matching here...likely because they went somewhere better. If you can go somewhere better, do it. If you can't, then I look forward to seeing you here next year.

 

[wooster201106]

First, it IS true that most of the residents are pissed off...I've heard of many instances were interns can get fired for no reason, and higher ups can get fired or told they will be fired for little or no reason.

I guess it depends on what your definition of malignant is...is malignant firing an intern last year by saying he's incompetent, then deciding to offer his spot back after another resident had to leave for a different reason? Is malignant to threaten to fire 2 of the programs "treasured" AMGs as a knee jerk reactions for a minor misunderstanding that was eventually cleared up? IS malignant threatening to fire any residents that suggest the idea of a resident union for collective bargaining? Is it malignant when the program coordinator is racist, especially when majority of the residents are non-americans?

This place sounds awesome! Where can I sign up?

Kidding aside, I didn't interview at Metro but I did interview at a couple of the other Cleveland programs. I've heard a few grumblings of the Cleveland Clinic's program being malignant but nothing on the scale you just described. Seriously, what is it with programs in Cleveland? Beginning to wonder if it's the weather there that puts everyone in a bad mood. Also seems like nearly all the IM programs in Cleveland have an extremely high percentage of FMGs. Even now with the ROL deadline here I'm not sure how I should rank the Cleveland programs especially CCF.

the PD will have to very likely step down either ************** or because the new chairman will want him to, or both

I hope that was public knowledge, otherwise, that's not very cool. I don't think anyone would want to have their personal ************* issues advertised like that.

To the OP: Sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread.

 

[firefly22]

Pd's illness is common knowledge and is openly discussed by the pd with the residents of the program. There was no violation of hipaa

 

[asystoleaaliyah]

my questions to you asystoleaaliyah!
- If you rotated at metro and loved the program so much, then why aren't you here??
-you think malignancy is just about call schedules? wake up, its 2011, its about respect! 30 hour calls are going to be a thing of the past soon anyways!
- the PD is fine as long as you do what you are told! Just remember that interns are fired near yearly, and it is true that they said they would fire two 3rd years for something i've done myself!
- the new chairman is an anti DO type of person! I find that highly insulting to some my best resident friends here! He seems to want to turn this place into an AMG only/mostly program.
- some foreign grads? try more than half! I like working with them because they can teach you like attendings, and I like to be working with my resident friends who have so much more experience than the average resident. There is a reliance on FMGs here, but you need them to teach you how to do procedures etc.
- last years fellowship match rate was scary, everybody knows it was bad, and many attendings said it was poor. Even the chief said it was sucky! I hope this years match will be better!!! I worked soo hard on all my research.
- Not every resident wants to get into cardiology here, there are other fellowships that people want. Alot of those cardiology guys worked hard, but what can they do, they are FMGs going for cards, and I don't have a problem with any of them. You talk about how much it says of the program to take FMGs but then you bash them and call them bottom of the class, i bet their board scores were higher than yours!


phew! ok, now its time to go watch some TV!

WOW! looks like i hit a sensitive nerve here missmd2u! i guess this stuff was close to your heart:
- i did rank metro health at the top of my list and i do hope i match because i love this program. couples matching is NOT as easy as you think
- i have nothing against foreign grads like you so do not take this so personally. you say you did all your research and i hope you do match into fellowship
- you should NOT name call your attendings. this is NOT cool. i hope you do not treat your patients like this when they ask to see another doctor (well maybe i don't blame them for this)

 

[wooster201106]

i have nothing against foreign grads like you so do not take this so personally

I didn't get the impression the poster has something against foreign grads. Sounds like they were just stating facts about the percentage in the program and if anything were complimentary.

you should NOT name call your attendings. this is NOT cool. i hope you do not treat your patients like this when they ask to see another doctor (well maybe i don't blame them for this)

I must've missed something because I didn't pick up on any name-calling in that post. And even if that were the case this is an anonymous (supposedly) forum where people vent about their colleagues, workplace and work conditions all the time. I'm sure a lot of us have said things here or elsewhere that we wouldn't say in front of patients or coworkers. I thought that was one of the purposes of this forum. Silly me!

 

[soccer1]

Hey guys why are we wasting time on this? End of story, programs that pimp you are bad news. I got pimped here too just a shame I wasted a day...luckily I had other IVs at CCF and UH so the trip wasn't totally wasted!

 

[MetroHealthCLE]

So yes, I agree this isn't the worst program in the world but sure isn't the best and they aren't trying hard to make it the best.

I would add that they are making things worse. I hear about how things were different many many years ago but wonder if it was just hidden really well then.

I guess it depends on what your definition of malignant is...is malignant firing an intern last year by saying he's incompetent, then deciding to offer his spot back after another resident had to leave for a different reason?

That was a messed up event, the resident is now in a better program an happier. Not to mention not taking another resident's fiance who then left to go join her at a much more prestigious program. I hear about many different stories of stuff happening over the years.

Is malignant to threaten to fire 2 of the programs "treasured" AMGs as a knee jerk reactions for a minor misunderstanding that was eventually cleared up?

Even though many of the staff and assistant program directors didn't see a problem or why anything was even said, the last I talked to one of them, I hear that they are still dealing with stuff.

IS malignant threatening to fire any residents that suggest the idea of a resident union for collective bargaining?

Likely because they won't be able to get away with things mentioned above. Additionally, they would probably have to bring the hospital up to better standards (like having more than 1 working ultrasound machine being available for the whole adult hospital patient population)

Is it malignant when the program coordinator is racist, especially when majority of the residents are non-americans?

I can't say that I have seen any racist behavior so far, but I hear that you better never get on her bad side.

And sure people have talked about the teaching enthusiasm of the PD, but how relevant is that if the PD will have to very likely step down ********************** or because the new chairman will want him to, or both?

Anyone that has major health issues should take time off to rest, not rush back and make haste decisions.

Yes all of the above happened and likely will happen....

I hear stories of the past, see the changes and wonder how poor the program/culture/resident life will be before they stop making it worse.

When I did my 4th year AI rotation here last year, I thought this program was a diamond in the rough. A program that had all the fellowships but without the malignant leanings of other programs. But as a med student things are sugar coated and not as transparent as they are as an intern now.

Fellowship match rates are fudged and made to look better than they are but the truth is the numbers are getting worse. During the interview they talk about how they have mentors to help with fellowships...the first time I met with my mentor was 6 months into the residency for him to give me my midterm eval! And he's just a hospitalist, not even someone from the fellowship I want to go into! The PD refuses to make a call for residents for fellowships and makes his dislike of sub-specialties very clear and evident. Someone posted on here that some of the residents were upset that they didnt match into cardiology and those residents were all IMGs and bottom of the barrel. Nothing could be further from the truth, half of those residents were AMGs and all were very competitive.

They all worked hard to get multiple interviews in cardiology fellowships around the country. Recently the chairman did a fellowship "pep talk" about 2 months AFTER fellowship applications go in in which he said that all he cares about are Boston University chiefs, AMGs, MDs and bench researchers. Then the cards chairman said not to do bench unless you absolutely love it and want to do it for the rest of your life, and BTW I won't take you if you don't do bench. The chairman then ended with, hey, there's always the less competitive stuff like ID.

Its clear the program wants to become more AMG (new chairman;s mission) but it doesnt make sense that they try to alienate 90% of the current residents (who happen to be FMGs or DOs). I'm told by senior residents that his program interviewed for the first time mostly AMGs and not mostly FMGs and DOs this year and so if thats the case maybe FMGs and DOs should stay away from here.

No one should go to a place where they are unwanted.

I just say if you want the facts, ask an intern who;s here...dont ask med students who happened to rotate here but never ended up matching here...likely because they went somewhere better. If you can go somewhere better, do it. If you can't, then I look forward to seeing you here next year.

Change needs to be done to help make things better, but if you break the only good things of a program (like trying to fire AMGs or not hiring FMGs with years of experience who do a lot of the teaching), what are you left with? If you plan on changing the culture of a program, you need to talk to everyone involved by sharing your vision, then change your outlook based on the feedback you get.

 

[BUGI1]

I cannot speak to most of the issues at Metro Health, but I would like to comment on the Chair of medicine, Dr. Wolfe. Until recently he was the chair of our GI department in Boston, and we got wind of the comments in this thread. I feel obligated to comment as everyone was very sad to see him go. He was a staunch defender of our program and always particularly supportive of the fellows. He really tried to encourage a family environment and repeatedly went to bat for his trainees. I'm not sure what happened in the interview mentioned below, but I doubt any questions were posed in a confrontational style. On rounds and in conferences, his style was always to ask lots of questions. Not to intimidate, but to teach. He does have high standards, but that should never be a bad thing in medicine. Whatever problems the department may have, he should not be counted among them. Based on what I saw training under him, I think he will do very good things for the department.

I obviously think highly of him, and I think he deserves a more balanced portrayal at least.

 

[wisdomtooth2011]

The truth is:

* why does every discussion become about FMG's and AMG's. as ATSAI pointed out, its not really important. there are good and bad residents in each bunch.

* racism? are you kidding? the program seems very multiracial/cultural. there are korean, ismaily, african american, chinese, german residents just to name a few.

* low ITE score? thats something the poor performing resident should be ashamed of.... not the program. it seems like you are generalizing your poor score on every one else.

* even if the PD did tell people about his/her illness, why are you out here broadcasting it to the world? does not really seem like the moral thing to do. does it?

* people should rank programs based on their own experiences and not just what faceless names are saying on blogs. this is a public blog and you never really know what motivation someone has for their comments. im sure some people are bitter and others biased. MEDICAL STUDENTS READING THIS : MAKE UP YOUR OWN MINDS. go do a rotation at metro.

 

[gutonc]

the program seems very multiracial/cultural. there are korean, ismaily, african american, chinese, german residents just to name a few.

WTF is an ismaily?

 

[Doctor&Geek]

WTF is an ismaily?

More than you could ever want:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismailism

 

[Apollyon]

WTF is an ismaily?

It's a word used by someone that is intrinsically in that culture. It's like, if you're from outside "Christendom", you would say someone is "Christian", or, outside the US or Europe, and not Catholic, "Protestant". However, if you're in the US, and not Catholic, you would say "Baptist", "Lutheran", "Presbyterian", and so on. Likewise, instead of saying "German", you might say "Bavarian" or "Hessian". I would add "Han Chinese", but, since the Han make up 93% of Chinese (and 1/5 of the entire population of the planet), it kind of obviates the Manchu, Mongols, and numerous other "minor" (which I say because these minor groups can still have more than a million members) subdivisions of Chinese cultures.

To wit: it's someone showing from which group they come (because, to them, it's common).

 

[Reverse Osmosis]

I am also a resident at Metrohealth, one who matched into a fellowship program like most of those who applied did. My peers and I are very saddened by the recent malicious postings of blackstar and firefly. Their opinions are not endorsed by the collective internal medicine residents, and we are frankly shocked by the statements that were carelessly made.
Now, for those medical students who are really interested in learning about our wonderful program, here are opinions shared by most residents:
1)the medicine program is truly an academic program. It facilitates learning by the varied didactic lectures offered by all disciplines, and anyone who is interested in joining/starting a research project can easily find staff to help them with this. If you need more info, let me know in a blog.
2)The residents here get along very well with each other. Residency is a stressful time, but you are thoroughly supported by your peers during any time of need.
3) There are multiple feedback opportunities for residents to raise any issues to the PD and the medicine department, that have done their very best to accomodate the residents' concerns. (this should not be the forum used to do so.)

I think all medical students should know by now, that certain fellowship programs are more competitive than others. If you plan on applying into them, you should be responsible for making yourself a desirable candidate and not expect your PD to do all the work for you. This entails, being hard working and dedicated to the field early on.

 

[wisdomtooth2011]

I am also a resident at Metrohealth, one who matched into a fellowship program like most of those who applied did. My peers and I are very saddened by the recent malicious postings of blackstar and firefly. Their opinions are not endorsed by the collective internal medicine residents, and we are frankly shocked by the statements that were carelessly made.

Now, for those medical students who are really interested in learning about our wonderful program, here are opinions shared by most residents:
1)the medicine program is truly an academic program. It facilitates learning by the varied didactic lectures offered by all disciplines, and anyone who is interested in joining/starting a research project can easily find staff to help them with this. If you need more info, let me know in a blog.
2)The residents here get along very well with each other. Residency is a stressful time, but you are thoroughly supported by your peers during any time of need.
3) There are multiple feedback opportunities for residents to raise any issues to the PD and the medicine department, that have done their very best to accomodate the residents' concerns. (this should not be the forum used to do so.)

I think all medical students should know by now, that certain fellowship programs are more competitive than others. If you plan on applying into them, you should be responsible for making yourself a desirable candidate and not expect your PD to do all the work for you. This entails, being hard working and dedicated to the field early on.

I absolutely agree with all of comments made by reverse osmosis.

metrohealth residents are very supportive of each other. certain fellowships are harder to get and its your responsibility to make yourself into a desired candidate. don't expect them to be handed to you. if the PD or chair or anyone else offers you constructive feedback : say thank you and learn from it. they are telling you so because they care about you. dont act like a defensive fool. if you do, the only person who will suffer from it at the end is you.

 

[football86]

I absolutely agree with all of comments made by reverse osmosis.

metrohealth residents are very supportive of each other. certain fellowships are harder to get and its your responsibility to make yourself into a desired candidate. don't expect them to be handed to you. if the PD or chair or anyone else offers you constructive feedback : say thank you and learn from it. they are telling you so because they care about you. dont act like a defensive fool. if you do, the only person who will suffer from it at the end is you.

It is about time the majority speak! I am an IM resident at Metro and we were just informed of these posts. The negative comments made here really make us sick and are simply not true. The new chairman has been a perfect fit for Metro, and the program director is the nicest person in the world. No one is racist here. If you don't get a fellowship you shouldn't be so sour about it. Instead of attacking others on blogs, you should probably take that time to self-reflect.

 

[iluvapples]

hi i only learned of these posts the other day. i think that this has all been hijacked from the post's original intention. dolce2011 just wanted to ask if the program is malignant. i'm at Metro too and i think it is

why???

anytime people are constantly threatened of being fired, its scaryyy!
every year there are people threatened with termination and are terminated. 1 resident last year was fired, 2 exemplary residents this year were threatened to be fired and who knows what else has happened. at first i thought the pd was just joking when he constantly makes these threats but the proof is now in the pudding, people are always on edge. its a shame it happens but its no doubt malignant.

sorry for letting down the program directors and attendings but people interested in the program should know this.
but i dont think that 99.7% of the residents think this isnt malignant or else they wouldnt complain about it in the resident lounge. as for the other things...i have no comment and frankly dont care.

 

[wooster201106]

That was a messed up event, the resident is now in a better program an happier. Not to mention not taking another resident's fiance who then left to go join her at a much more prestigious program. I hear about many different stories of stuff happening over the years.

BTW, how the hell does something like that happen? We've all heard and probably experienced first-hand the ego involved in medicine. I cannot imagine a program terminating a resident for being "incompetent", admitting they were mistaken, and offering the spot back to the resident. They simply do not admit wrong. It's probably even more true in academics.

And how does a resident terminated just last year for being "incompetent" continue on in another program without skipping a beat? I certainly buy that all is not well in the house of Metro but some of these are so outlandish that it gives you pause.

Does anyone who's posted previously on this care to elaborate?

 

[jasper12]

re: wooster

I am a resident in a non-IM specialty at metro who rotated on the medicine service for much of my intern year and was privy to many of the goings on in the program

regarding the fired/rehired resident, tt is sad but true. The resident in question was quite bright and did very well in school and on USMLE, but had the misfortune of starting out on an intense rotation. Like the vast majority of us as interns, this person was nervous and not at all sure of themselves. For some reason a particular attending took a dislike to the resident in question and made it his mission to get rid of them. Afterwards, there were phone calls to senior residents asking "is this resident safe?" I'm not sure what happend in the interim, but he managed to get on someone's bad side and was not offered a contract renewal. Sometime after that he was on a rotation with an associate PD who was very impressed with him, and stuck up for him demanding and he was offered another a contract. As to where the spot came from, I am not sure. As it turned out the root cause of all this was a particular attending was not impressed with the resident 2 weeks into July of intern year and felt he was unsafe. I'm not sure what the attending expects of his residents, particularly during intern year, but it certainly shouldn't be a complete grasp of medical management of ICU patients. I actually worked with this attending for 2 weeks and he is inherently a douche(I got a good evaluation, so I have no personal qualm with him, other than what he did to my friend).

All this time, the PD, instead of standing up in defense ofthe resident kind of crumbled under the pressure.

I have worked with this resident, and their notes are impeccable, organized, rational, with excellent treatment plans. Their bedside manner is likewise. The only thing is they are very soft-spoke, and initially lacked confidence (though there was no reason for it).

I don't think the program is necessarily malignant, I would call it more "indifferent" than anything else, based on my experience. It is very poorly organized and the PD is a complete disaster. While a very nice guy, he is extremely old fashioned and has an almost asinine desire to avoid any and all technological advances in medicine.

Case in point, he once asked a colleage of mine what the output of a VP shunt was....(for those of you scratching your head, it is irrelevant)

And the guy seems more concerned with male residents wearing ties than backing residents up for fellowship. There are stories where he vaccuum tubed a tie for someone who forgot it and followed another guy around with one until he put it on. I'm all for looking professional but this seems borderline insane.



Also I did not get the impression that the PD would go to bat for you like some people on here say he would. To be fair there are many PDs who wouldn't go to bat for you, some because they are only PDs to become chairmen of depts, others for other reasons. I don't think this guy has any ulterior motive for wanting to be a PD he is just bad at it, or is no longer good at it, IMO.

On the other hand, there are exceptionally great attendings and associate PDs at metro accross all specialties who are from places like the harvard programs, northwestern etc. and who are great teachers, physicians, confidants and all-around great people. Though there are also a bunch of self-righteous attendings (any hospital catering to the underserved will have those) around whom it is tough to be around.

If you are an AMG/IMG who wants to be a hospitalist or do a non-competitive fellowship endocrine/nephro/ID I would say go to Metro, you will get tons of autonomy and tons of procedures, and there are more spots than applicants for these things.

If you have your heart set on a competitive fellowship, cards, GI, heme/onc either go elsewhere or be prepared for an uphill battle. If you are an AMG go elsewhere if the above are your goals. Particularly if your goal is GI and you didn't spend the last 4 years working in the new department chairman's lab in Boston.

I know of only a few allopathic AMGs in the program right now, and they are exceptional, as they likely would have been elsewhere, though from what I understand they are either at metro because they scrambled, or had some connection to it.

While Metro did manage to match people into fellowship, 6/6 people did not match into cardiology last year (some of the 6 were AMGs with awesome scores and research); while people matched into other fellowships many only got 1-2 interviews, which if fellowship is like anything like applying to residency is nerve racking. Not sure what their GI or Heme/onc match rate was.

I also want to assure you that everything that has been said on here is not an exaggeration, though some of the stories I have not been personally involved in, I don't think anyone at metro would go on here and post things that weren't true just because they were PO'd. After all it will then affect the kind of people who will be their future colleagues. The fact that they are coming on here should tell you that there is a great deal of disgruntlement among them. But that is often the first thing right before a big change. And for some reason the people that would make the best PDs and program leadership don't particularly want to do it???

 

[jasper12]

I also wanted to comment on the ITE scores. It is not 100% the residents job to study on their own, else why would there need to be a resident program. While I agree with the fact that all residents regardless of field should take at least 1-2 hrs/3-4 days a week to read, it is up to the residency to creat a didactic schedule conducive to learning which I feel metro (and many other places) lacks.

As far as doing research with faculty, that is true, it's easy to find research, people can even go to CWRU to do research (not sure if they can go to CCF), but that will not necessarily land you a fellowship, as the cardiology match proved last year.

And for you med students out there, it is an absolute truth that you guys get a great experience at metro, but that is largely due to residents and patholophsyiology seen there. Your experiences as a med student in any field and at any institution will be completely different when you are a resident in said field or institution.

 

[Dr Shocker]

I've been hearing about this thread for a few weeks now and I feel compelled to comment because most of this is just complete nonsense. Quite frankly, this behavior of taking anonymous cheap shots at one's training program in a public forum disgusts me. This is NOT the way to handle such grievances, and not only are you showing a complete lack of class and professionalism, you're unfairly hurting the image of a very good program by blaming it for your own shortcomings. For anyone who is interested in training at Metro, please take the aforementioned criticisms with a grain of salt and consider the fact that they're coming from a select few nameless, faceless, disgruntled individuals who have their own agendas and motivations for trying to portray the IM program at Metro in a certain negative light. I can't comment on those agendas, but I can tell you that my only motivation for commenting here is the fact that I've had an overwhelmingly positive training experience at Metro, and like many of my colleagues I feel strongly about defending the program, PD, associate PD, coordinator, etc. FWIW, I have no agenda and I have nothing to hide, and the numerous posts in defense of the IM program at Metro should help to debunk any myths about this being a "malignant" program...what a joke. Metro is the complete opposite of a malignant program and that’s one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place.

I did my IM residency and cardiology fellowship (including chief fellow year) at Metro and it helped me to land a spot at one of the top cardiology subspecialty training programs in the country. Anyone who calls the IM program at Metro malignant is soft and has no clue whatsoever what malignant even means. Malignant is being told not to speak unless spoken to, having scalpels thrown at you, being told to stand in the corner, being flamed in M&M (instead of calling on attendings like they do at Metro), being publicly humiliated, writing notes on 15 patients a day, etc. Firing residents for screwing up is not malignant – it’s the program’s responsibility. If anything, the program at Metro may even be a little too cush from a workload and call schedule standpoint because most people entering fellowship training or working as hospitalists will tell you that they work considerably harder than they did when they were a resident. But that's one of the nice things about Metro: because the workload is highly manageable, you have more time for didactics, reading, research, life outside of work, hanging out in the resident lounge (I recently heard that there's a new TV in there, but I didn't know because I haven't been in there in 3 years...because I've been WORKING!!!), complaining in online forums, etc. You really get a well-rounded training experience and if you're motivated enough, you can get a fellowship in any subspecialty.

It's no big secret now that the IM program at Metro affords a unique blend of strong academic roots, yet lacks the malignant and ego-driven atmosphere of some of the bigger name academic programs. The most striking feature that set Metro apart from the other programs I interviewed at was the fact that everyone seemed genuinely happy, collegial, and down to Earth. It had the community hospital feel but with the benefits of having a strong academic tradition. Some people are willing to be punished for 3 years in order to have the big name program on their CV, but others just want to be well trained with the option to pursue fellowship training. In that regard, Metro is regarded as a hidden gem.

So here’s my take on why this ridiculous question of whether Metro is malignant has even been raised: many of my peers and I have noticed somewhat of a drop-off in the caliber of the residents over the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, there are MANY strong residents, but it just seems like the culture has changed a bit. This whole cookbook approach to medicine fosters a “going through the motions” attitude in which there is very little thinking involved…and even less thinking outside of the box. Instead of having the attitude of “this patient needs a doctor, we’ll take the patient first and ask questions later” more and more residents are expending a great deal of energy to block admissions, whine about dumps, and pass the buck to consultants. Whatever happened to being a do-it-yourselfer? An intern called me last year and demanded that we document in the chart that it was okay to increase the norvasc dose from 5 to 10 mg at discharge because “hypertension is a cardiology issue.” Are you kidding me? It’s also quite disturbing that many of these same residents seem to think that every patient is either drug seeking, non-compliant, or trying to deceive them – they’re not…they’re people just like you. And don’t think for a second that they don’t see right through you when you take a condescending tone – it reflects poorly on Metro and nobody wins.

Unfortunately, I feel that that because word has gotten around (probably on forums like this one) that the workload is lighter at Metro and it has a pretty good fellowship placement rate, this may attract applicants who are lazy and who lack work ethic. Maybe it's because some of the residents have never held a real job prior to graduating from med school, and maybe it's because they've been handed everything by mommy and daddy and they don't know what it means to earn something. I don't know, but the accusatory and personally malicious posts in this thread clearly come from people whom, I’m happy to say, I simply cannot relate to. These cyber trolls are not representative of what Metro is all about. It’s also a maturity issue: people are complaining about their ITE scores being low and blaming the program. If the program hasn't changed, and the current residents are scoring substantially lower than classes a few years ahead of them, how can it be the program's fault? The attendings aren't going to take the test for you!!! They're not going to hold your hand and spoonfeed you! The drive to be a great doc has to come from within. You have to do the reading on your own. It's too bad because the past few years have had some very good residents including the chiefs, and it's really only a few bad apples who just don't seem to get it that have created such a stir. I don't know for sure who they are because this is all “anonymous,” but based on what I’ve seen the past few years I can’t say I’m surprised. In any case it's pretty disappointing and disheartening, and Dr. McFarlane, Dr. Becker, Marcie, and everyone in IM don’t deserve to be thrown under the bus like this. Have a little bit of respect.

If any potential applicants have any specific questions about the program, including fellowship placement questions, feel free to PM me. If any of the residents have an issue with anything I’ve said here, you know who I am and you know where to find me…

 

[WSUreds]

Did you do your cards fellowship at metro? I must be reading your post wrong because it is implying Metro is one of the best cards fellowships unless you are doing interventional now

 

[Dr Shocker]

Did you do your cards fellowship at metro? I must be reading your post wrong because it is implying Metro is one of the best cards fellowships unless you are doing interventional now

I was referring to the EP program I'm headed to, but thanks for getting that jab in there at the general cards program at Metro lol. It's actually a pretty solid program.

 

[jdh71]

I was referring to the EP program I'm headed to, but thanks for getting that jab in there at the general cards program at Metro lol. It's actually a pretty solid program.

You obviously have not read the rank list thread. You are a bad doctor since you didn't train at Hopkins or ucsf

 

[WSUreds]

You obviously have not read the rank list thread. You are a bad doctor since you didn't train at Hopkins or ucsf

That's exactly what I said ha. But, I am sure he received an excellent training at Metro. No jab intended.

 

[wooster201106]

First off, thanks jasper12 for taking the time to respond to my question and for being as candid as you were. A lot of people have felt "compelled" to respond to this thread in one form or another but never really elaborated on some of the the points that they stressed made Metro seem malignant. So, thanks for clearing some of that up.

I've been hearing about this thread for a few weeks now and I feel compelled to comment because most of this is just complete nonsense. Quite frankly, this behavior of taking anonymous cheap shots at one's training program in a public forum disgusts me. This is NOT the way to handle such grievances, and not only are you showing a complete lack of class and professionalism, you're unfairly hurting the image of a very good program by blaming it for your own shortcomings.

More than one person has come forward and made similar claims so it's difficult to immediately dismiss them as "nonsense". I don't want to sound preachy but you should respect their right to their own opinions just as they should respect yours. I don't know much at all about Metro but I'm guessing that if the program's ability to address grievances was better maybe they wouldn't be airing on an internet forum. Would you be as "disgusted" if someone were writing an anonymous, glowing review of the program? If not, than maybe you have more of a problem with the content than the venue. I can completely understand why you would not want someone airing Metro's dirty laundry which I'm sure most, if not all, programs have and would love to keep hidden from potential residents.

And, can you not appreciate the futility of chastising someone on an anonymous forum for their "lack of class and professionalism"? Besides, they are not in the hospital any longer and shouldn't have to worry about "keeping up appearances"? Class is always nice, even in an anonymous forum but professionalism is overrated here and if you take a quick look around you'll find many instances which are comparable. I do agree that it was unprofessional to discuss the PD's apparent PHI which had no place in the discussion but everything else should've been fair game. Furthermore, detractors on this forum remain "nameless" and "faceless" for a reason. The fear of retribution seems to rank foremost among medical students and residents alike. They're petrified they'll offend either an attending or someone in administration and suffer the consequences. Do you doubt that many a resident has been silenced by that fear? Hell hath no fury like an attending or PD scorned.

For anyone who is interested in training at Metro, please take the aforementioned criticisms with a grain of salt and consider the fact that they're coming from a select few nameless, faceless, disgruntled individuals who have their own agendas and motivations for trying to portray the IM program at Metro in a certain negative light. I can't comment on those agendas, but I can tell you that my only motivation for commenting here is the fact that I've had an overwhelmingly positive training experience at Metro, and like many of my colleagues I feel strongly about defending the program, PD, associate PD, coordinator, etc. FWIW, I have no agenda and I have nothing to hide, and the numerous posts in defense of the IM program at Metro should help to debunk any myths about this being a "malignant" program...what a joke. Metro is the complete opposite of a malignant program and that’s one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place.

I'm guessing everyone posting in support or against the program has an agenda. Those who are willing to defend it may gloss over deficiencies in the program or omit them entirely while those who post inflammatory remarks may be guilty of some hyperbole. "Disgruntled" residents may exaggerate but are much more likely to tell it like it is. The truth per usual probably lies somewhere in the middle. No program is perfect and each one has areas where it can improve but I noticed you neglected to mention any areas where you thought Metro was lacking.

Anyone who calls the IM program at Metro malignant is soft and has no clue whatsoever what malignant even means. Malignant is being told not to speak unless spoken to, having scalpels thrown at you, being told to stand in the corner, being flamed in M&M (instead of calling on attendings like they do at Metro), being publicly humiliated, writing notes on 15 patients a day, etc. Firing residents for screwing up is not malignant – it’s the program’s responsibility.

I doubt anyone here would argue that a resident who continued to compromise patient safety should not be terminated. But, the specific claims of malignancy did not revolve around threats of termination related to patient safety. They were made to seem rather trivial which would tend to make people think that the program may be malignant. Plus, if it's true that the intern who's contract was not renewed was eventually offered a renewal after others felt the need to intervene, how do you think that reflects on the program? If the program acts that impetuously that's not going to reflect favorably on Metro. If true, neither do the threats to terminate the senior residents for something which was also made to seem trivial. Petty politics seems rampant in medicine but it's also what makes medicine in general an especially malignant environment. Are they really that careless there with the careers of future medical professionals?

...more and more residents are expending a great deal of energy to block admissions, whine about dumps, and pass the buck to consultants.

As a medical student and in almost every instance I've seen a resident trying to block an admission while on call it's usually because A) they didn't feel the admission was triaged to the proper service, or B) they're getting slammed with admissions and/or having patients deteriorating on them. It's almost never so they can eat their meal in peace or finish watching the crappy cable movie on the 19" TV from 1982 in their trash-infested lounge. How about giving some of them the benefit of the doubt?

It’s also quite disturbing that many of these same residents seem to think that every patient is either drug seeking, non-compliant, or trying to deceive them – they’re not…they’re people just like you. And don’t think for a second that they don’t see right through you when you take a condescending tone – it reflects poorly on Metro and nobody wins.

Again, I believe the benefit of the doubt is warranted here. Every patient deserves to have their complaints addressed in a courteous manner and to have those taken seriously. That said, welcome to medicine in 2011. Show me a newly minted intern and I will show you a cynic in less than the 3 years it takes to complete residency. That's apparent to me even as a student from observing residents in multiple institutions.

Metro...it has a pretty good fellowship placement rate...

Didn't someone on this thread post a 0/6 placement rate for cards in the last match or am I mistaken? I'm not sure where you're getting "pretty good" from but those sound like horrible odds to me.

 

[jasper12]

you're welcome wooster, I can assure you that what I said is accurate as I asked around about details before doing so.

as far as metro being malignant, that depends on what you define as malignant. My definition I think is the classical one: i.e. programs firing residents at their whim, a la residencies in the 60's and 70s structured pyramidally, which is fine as long as you are open about it, the best will rise to the top, but metro is not open about it.

If you define malignancy by q3 calls, no time off, crappy scheduling, than metro does not fit that bill, as others have said it is downright cush; as far as residents blocking admissions, that is just a silly statement by someone who has not been a resident for a very long time. NO resident will ever block an admission unless their attending/fellow/senior resident tells them to do so.

regarding the fellowship match: I think they are actually pretty decent about getting people in to fellowships, the cards thing I think was a fluke, though a major fluke as all of the people who applied were STELLAR, and their only short coming as far as I can tell was that they were at Metro (not to be mean or petty) but if they were at the Cleveland Clinic, Case, Vandy etc they would have matched without a doubt.

I'm not sure what their GI match rate is, but i'm sure it's on par with others as their GI department has been historically very supportive (including FMGs). Not sure if that will persist as I have heard the new chairman flat out say he will hand out future GI spots to people who worked in his lab. And as far as a GI fellow from BU (where the new chair is from) speaking out in his defense, while nice, it means nothing as you probably worked in his lab etc.

As I have said in my previous post, if you want to be a great hospitalist or want to primary care in underserved areas, or want to do a "low-end" fellowship endocrine, rheum, (Pulm/CC may be getting more competitive but still not considered super hard), ID you'd be hard pressed to find a better place than metro as their hospitalist and primary care sections are absolutely phenomenal. Hem/onc while a hard match, if you are an AMG or stellar FMG is doable from metro, and their heme/onc faculty is absolutely stellar having worked with them as an intern and from a different specialty.

regarding Dr. Shocker's view that this is not the forum to air these things, this was brewing before I even got to metro, and I've even attended some of the meeting where such things were aired and all the administration could do was shrug their shoulder and single out the residents who actually raised concerns. When residents have no option to air the problems of a program, they will most certainly turn to an anonymous online forum. From what I understand this has actually been noted by the administration.

The program should have been humiliated when not one of the 6 (excellent applicanted) matched into cards, and they did virtually nothing about it. Cards is competitive but they didn't even get one resident into the home program, and all of these people were mentored by metro cardiologists.
Likewise when the resident was fired they really should have done some self-reflection and tried to figure out exactly what went wrong when they bowed to the whims of one attending.

I have encountered nothing but intelligent, professional residents at Metro IM who do not under any circumstances treat patients with anything less than total respect. The condescending attitude you may have encountered may have been when seeing a resident interact with a patient who comes in for his third tylenol overdose, or a woman who comes in for her weekly detox from alcohol, or a patient with IVDU and cocaine use who comes with CHF exacerbation, opiate withdrawal and chest pain. These are regular patients at metro seen on a daily basis, and you may forgive a resident working 60-80 hrs a week under a crappy administration for getting a bit wearied by it. And yet their attitude which they only share with their colleagues, never affects patient care.

 

[Dr Shocker]

Wooster, the furor and detail with which you've replied hints of someone who cares a little too much about this to be a medical student...in fact, I'm seriously questioning whether you're actually one of the residents posing as a student. Here's an easy way to put this to rest: PM me your email address or phone number and I'd be more than happy to chat with you to go over the strengths and weakness of the IM program at Metro. I think the biggest weakness is the inability to screen out people who refer to themselves as stellar...in capital letters.

 

[iluvapples]

Probably better for her/him that she/he poses as a med student! (if thats the case!) Apparently anyone who wants to express their first amendment rights on this particular forum has a target on their back...watch out!!! the department is going on a witch hunt instead of addressing very real issues!!! Soooo sad (

 

[theneh]

The sole purpose of this message is to perpetuate the inanity and argumentation of this thread with an air (error) of judgement and superiority (unwarranted).
Let, me (he/she), summarize:
Metro, mean?
no, yes, no, no.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No. I'm a fellow(-monster),send me your...(passive-agressive gesture i.e. PAG) :ower trip:: blah blah (oooo I can do it too, You totally just got PAGed! no pun intended)
OMFG First Amendment!
This is soooo sad

And so the melodrama continues (or so I hope) ...

 

[jdh71]

 

[jasper12]

Dr. Shocker
while I appreciate your sarcasm regarding my being stellar (I am in fact, stellar ) but I was not referring to myself. Also forgive the all caps, I was just trying to underscore that the 6 residents who applied to cardiology were in fact great, many of them I'm sure you interacted with personally and your careless dismissal of them (when you thought one of them was me) is merely a showcase of how the program treats it's own.

Once again, I am not a member of the IM residency at Metro, however I know many who are and am myself a Metro resident (in a different program, but who had to rotate in IM fairly extensively as a resident).
Take what you hear from me with a grain of salt, I have no grudge to settle with the program, I was personally treated quite well, and like I stated above there are perfectly great attendings at Metro (unfortunately for Dr. Shocker, I don't think any are in Cardiology, with the exception of one EP and one Interventionalist, the rest are pretty much a pain to deal with)

I suppose in my previous posts I left out that their pulm/cc department is actually quite STELLAR as well, with some big names and great phyisicans, but from what I understand that fellowship is beginning to become one of the "top tier" fellowships, however the pulm attendings are actually quite supportive and nurturing.

That the people who applied to cardiology all did the right things (research, letters, strong residents etc.) and not one of them couldn't land a fellowship spots (particularly at their home program) says something...

I don;t know how it was when you applied (maybe it was a weaker applicant year) but that's not how it is now

 

[phreako]

I was an IM resident from 2005-8 at Metro. I am a FMG. US-born, Caribbean school - so "not good enough for a US med school" as someone above put it. Allow me to add my experiences at MetroHealth to the discussion and review some of the things being said in this thread.

Ranking MetroHealth #1 for residency was an easy choice for me. I had little knowledge of the program / city / hospital prior to my interview but after that one day there, I trusted that I would be treated well as a resident and the faculty / department would be concerned for my well-being and growth while I was there.

I can truly say I had the best residency experience I could've hoped for at Metro.

• I always felt the department cared about the quality of education we were receiving and we were treated by the PD and faculty with dignity and respect.
• We had frequent opportunities to air our concerns to the program.
• My work schedule was quite good.
• I worked alongside and learned from many brilliant residents from US and around the world.
• Faculty were approachable, eager to teach, reticent to embarass residents and generally fun to work with.
• There was ZERO hint of racism or favoritism - I cannot stress how unbelievable or distasteful I find those allegations.
• M&M consists of attendings being pimped or put on the spot, not residents.
• As to a pyramidal scheme for the residents - absolutely not. In fact, I openly questioned some of my junior residents' fitness to be in our program as a senior resident and at times was frustrated by the Program's reluctance to discipline residents who were taking advantage of the residency - giving them multiple extra chances to perform better instead.

What is a malignant program? Read above and see if any of that sounds damning. Believe me, I have seen them at the top and bottom ends of the medical education spectrum. Metro during my tenure was as far away from malignant as possible. The people in charge of the residency program are committed educators who I am sure have been wounded significantly by people throwing that charge around.

I was selected prior to the match for fellowship at my #1-choice-in-the-world-program and had more interviews offered than I could take. I was well-prepared for fellowship and represented myself and Metro well alongside the country's best trainees.

Who gets the credit for this awesome experience? For these events? My board scores and ITE scores were completely average (and I'm being kind to myself). Did Metro have no part in my success? I think highly of myself but not enough to believe that I could have accomplished the same anywhere else in the country.

Instead, some here wish to roast this same program for 6/6 residents failing to match Cardiology? Grow up. The same that guided me are now supposedly greedy, heartless, racists who conspire against residents and try to get them fired? I realize I haven't been there for 2.5 years, but I am not buying it.

 

[TieFetish]

Most people who posted on here saying the program is not malignant, graduated from this program years ago...either they left and never looked back (phreako) or stayed on for fellowship and turn a blind eye to the program's new short comings (Dr. Shocker).

As a very recent graduate of this program, more so than my other collegues who have posted, and as someone who still has links to the program, let me talk about the things that I didnt have the guts to bring up when I was a resident there, things even my esteemed colleuges cannot deny. For the record I am also a FMG--Caribbean school and US citizen.

The Program Director

-the oldest program director of any residency I know and just as old fashioned, and stubborn as evidenced by his unnatural tie fetish
-regardless of the caliber of the resident, REFUSES to endorse residents for fellowship( feels the need to state in his letter how the resident had poor conference attendance--Truth)
-only jumps on the boat of innovation for the program when a gun is held to his head by ACGME
-as for the firing of residents, I think you can read that very disturbing news in the previous posts, as it is documented well

Associate Program Directors

-a variety of former residents from years ago, who are too comfortable in their own positions to push for advancements in the program
-support the disgusting behavior of one of their own associate PDs who, for years, has preyed on anyone with the XX chromosome (nurses, residents, interns, even med students), using his authority to pressure females to do his bidding
-sure there are some good associate PDs, but for the most part they are old and lost the hunger to better the program

New chairman

-I admit I do not know much of him, except through some hearsay, much of which is fact
-most recently FORCED a well liked and very helpful GI division director from his job (I guess firing residents is no big deal if you can fired a division director)
-notorious for being antiFMG, AntiDO whatever that means

Program Coordinator

-has been notorious for being harsh on residents that require visas. racist? you decide.