Montefiore?

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BrickCityGas

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Back on the interview trail, after an unsuccessful try last year...so far only one interview invite at Montefiore.

Can anybody comment on what the hell is going on with this program...I understand they have a new PD and Chairperson...scutwork seems to be trashing them...

I'm happy for the opportunity to interview at this program but is this program stable enough to risk my future if accepted?

Please comment!
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I would stay away from that program. I was a resident there. Incredibly malignant and unpleasant place to be. They have been very close to being on probation several times. Before I finished, the dean of the medical school and the medical director had a meeting with all of the residents and told us that if the department didn't get their act together, the school would have no qualms about shutting down the program. The department has had several years to make changes and hasn't done so. It is my understanding that despite the new program director nothing has changed. That's my two cents.
 
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so hard to take the word of people with just one post (especially when its such a negative view)....

i can't tell you how the situation is as far as residency goes, but when I interviewed there last year, I was pleased with what I saw. I must say though, they had one of the toughest interviews as far as anesthesia interviews go. A lot of questions like "how do you study best?", "where do you see yourself in 10 years", "what are you looking for in a program". Also, downside from what i hear - you work your butt off, so if you're looking for a chill program, might as well look elsewhere.

They have great perks in the way of housing - really cheap next to their hospital and free food (well kind of) - you get $5 per meal (so $15/day) whether you are working or not. A lot of the residents will stock up on water, soda, snacks in addition to eat there for a lot of their meals. So with cheap housing (including all utilities except internet/tv/phone) in addition to what is essentially free food, you will have minimal expenses. Sure, you're in the bronx but youre a train ride away from a yankee game and a little further and you're in manhattan.

With all these things said, I liked the program a lot - just had a good vibe when I left


regarding scutwork - take everything with a grain of salt. There were a lot of posts on it about MGH's program about how terrible it was however that is the exact opposite of what I have heard about it. (and yes, you still work your butt off while there)
 
EternalMD. Nothing you say is false. There is free food and cheap housing. Hard work, difficult interview, etc. It is just a malignant place with no chairperson and a program director with an uphill battle to fight. If free food and cheap housing in the Bronx is what you are after, then by all means that is the place to go.

As far as hiring new attendings goes... When I was at Montefiore, attendings were constantly leaving because they weren't happy. It is not a desirable place to work and hardly any graduates stay there to work when they are finished. The point here is that hiring new attendings is not necessarily a good thing (although I guess its good if the new ones are replacing bad old ones.) But in this case they are just understaffed.
 
Do you guys mean Albert Einstein when you say Montefiore? because I didn't see a seperate Montefiore program just that Albert Einstein residents rotate through montefiore.
 
Yes, it is Albert Einstein.
Did anyone notice they even had a stand in the carreer fair room at the ASA in New Orleans. I think they are realy trying to hire staff.
I also interviewed there 3 years ago, and thought it was the most difficult interview. Interview in 3 stages, 3 panels, they asked me difficult questions, even ones they shouldn't have, like if I have kids, how will I deal with residdency and raising my children, how does my husband see all this?
Most residents seemed content on the surface; there were 2 residents that came to me afterwards and told me to go somewhere else if I can, that that program is malignant, there are major problems in the department etc. I'm not sure what the nature of the problems was, and hope they solved it so far. Montefiore is a very busy hospital, has I believe the 4th busiest ER in the country. It is in my opinion an excellent academic center generally speaking; I did my internship there, and I thought the teaching was phenomenal; I don't know too much in particular about teaching in the Anesthesiology dept.
I say you need to go check it out anyway, especially if, like you said, that's your only interview so far.
 
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I am also interested in recent updates as I did not get to meet the chairperson or PD when I interviewed there.
 
igeak691 said:
I am also interested in recent updates as I did not get to meet the chairperson or PD when I interviewed there.
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Bad sign. When I interviewed, the only place where the pd and chair didn't show up was Columbia. Every other program had one or the other and usually both. The pd at the Brigham and Mt. Sinai stood out for being awesome, as did the chair at UMich.
 
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Curious as to current reputation of this program from the perspective of a resident and/or junior faculty, thanks.
 
I just think it is funny that a guy who didn't match the year before thinks program reputation matters for the only interview he has
 
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GassYous said:
I just think it is funny that a guy who didn't match the year before thinks program reputation matters for the only interview he has
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“I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member.”​


― Woody Allen
 
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Dawkter said:
Curious as to current reputation of this program from the perspective of a resident and/or junior faculty, thanks.
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A few years later but figured I'd give an update:

- Average work hours 45-60 per week. Rarely do I work over 60 hours in a week.
- Longest call 23 hours (Sat/Sun)
- Overtime pay after 6pm (rarely do I work past 5 anyways)
- Some moonlighting opportunities
- 4-5ish overnight calls per month while on General OR coverage
- Broad case mix- excellent thoracic, peds, OB, cardiac, transplant (liver, lung, kidney, heart) and regional exposure
- Housing is still quite cheap
- Parking is very very cheap and partially reimbursed by the program
- The PD mentioned at the beginning of this thread was new 10+ years ago and stayed on making a large change in culture
- New PD started this year who is a former graduate of the program and was a resident around when this thread was started and they are committed to continuing the positive trajectory the program has been on for years
- Current chairperson has been in the role now for 4ish years and has been making large strides to increase our footprint within the research world

Overall, I am happy with my training here at Montefiore. Of course it comes with all of the common difficulties that training in any NYC program will but I have been happy and I feel clinically competent.
 
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Anyone heard about them bringing in a large number of EU trained EU anesthesiologists? It’s all hearsay but I heard they were able to get rid of all of their locums by doing this. How are they able to have European anesthesiologists work here if they have not done training and are not licensed here? Are they considered “fellows”?

Def please correct me if I’m incorrect, but it would be an interesting dynamic if the floodgates get opened to foreign anesthesiologists.
 
academic programs can bring in foreign docs on a J1 visa. Their home country credentials transfer so no need to take the US exams (steps/basic/advanced/applied). They can practice as full faculty depending on their contract. But the visa only applies to the academic institution- so if this doc wants to jump ship, and take a pp job in the area then they would have to take all the licensing exams or go back to their home country.

We had a lot of aussies do this at my residency, so the residents got familiar with the process. Always seemed odd to have your attending studying for the same exams you were taking.
 
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dizzy21 said:
Anyone heard about them bringing in a large number of EU trained EU anesthesiologists? It’s all hearsay but I heard they were able to get rid of all of their locums by doing this. How are they able to have European anesthesiologists work here if they have not done training and are not licensed here? Are they considered “fellows”?

Def please correct me if I’m incorrect, but it would be an interesting dynamic if the floodgates get opened to foreign anesthesiologists.
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my residency program also did this from europe.
my current place i work at also employs foreign grads from other countries with J1 visa. dont need to take any exam. they are counted as attendings, and get paid the same as us. and yes definitely weakens our negotiation power, because it fills open spots, and hospital usually can count on these people to not leave, even if things get really bad, bc they got almost no where to go if they want to stay in US
 
dizzy21 said:
Anyone heard about them bringing in a large number of EU trained EU anesthesiologists? It’s all hearsay but I heard they were able to get rid of all of their locums by doing this. How are they able to have European anesthesiologists work here if they have not done training and are not licensed here? Are they considered “fellows”?

Def please correct me if I’m incorrect, but it would be an interesting dynamic if the floodgates get opened to foreign anesthesiologists.
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This rumor is true, but needs clarification. Shortly after the chair was brought on, he brought his EU research staff to help bolster their research presence. Shortly thereafter, he brought a colleague to be a Vice Chair of something. So there definitely is a streak of nepotism involved, but I think its pretty par for the course when changes like this happen.
 
One of the dumbest people I’ve ever met ended up matching at Monte for anesthesia. So that tarnishes my view of the program.
 
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Greenbayslacker said:
One of the dumbest people I’ve ever met ended up matching at Monte for anesthesia. So that tarnishes my view of the program.
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"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
George Carlin
 
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