*ATTENTION: LONG POST*
I wanted to post something because I had no idea what I was doing when I went through it as a 3rd year so I’m hoping this will help someone.
COMLEX 1: 543, COMLEX 2: 571, PE: Pass first time. Top 20% of my class. Had 3 strong letters, one from Trauma Surgeon, one from GS, and one from IM.
Before I start I just want to say that this is my opinion and my experience with these programs so don’t start freaking out on me.
I auditioned at Henry Ford Allegiance, Henry Ford Macomb, Botsford, and PCOM.
Henry Ford Macomb- Clinton Township
• large community hospital, I think over 400 beds, take 4 residents/year
• residents are very skilled in the OR, have a lot of autonomy. Residents are not the nicest, kind of cocky and don’t really let you into their bubble. There were times when I felt like they wanted the students to beg to get into the program and I’m not about that life. They also talk crap about each other behind each other’s backs which was very off putting to me.
• they have didactics M, Tu, Fri with the residents- very strong didactics
• Medical student didactics are on Weds. You will have to do a presentation as a 4th year. They apparently attach it to your application file.
• Deff a strong program. The residents hold each other accountable, they pimp each other and don't take BS. I have worked extremely hard on this rotation, didn’t have any days off . From what the residents told me the PD cares a lot about board scores so keep that in mind.
• You get to scrub in as a student quite a bit, they let you close most of the time. Expect to be pimped in the OR, even if you’re not scrubbed.
• The PD is a vascular guy, doesn’t seem very involved in the program but they have pretty good vascular variety
• Pretty weak in trauma, mostly ortho stuff, blunt traumas, level 2. They go to Sinai Grace for a level 1 trauma rotation. They also go to HF main for SICU, Beaumont for breast and colorectal. They have night float.
• You don’t get much OR time as an intern.
• At my interview, I was told they didn’t get ACGME accreditation because the 5th year residents have several out rotations that year and per ACGME they should be in house the entire year so expect some scheduling changes in the future, not a major issue to change.
• You get $60 for the entire month for food in cafeteria, food is good. No housing provided by the hospital
HF Allegiance
• First graduating class in 2017, large community hospital close to 500 beds, they take 3 residents/year. Not an ideal location, about 45 min away from Ann Arbor, housing is cheap.
• ACGME ACCREDITED
• The PD is a young guy that went to Botsford and did a minimally invasive fellowship at Geisenger so they use the robot quite a bit. I have seen a lot of robotic and laparoscopic surgery at this place. The PD is kind of OCD, kind of exhausting to work with some days because he’s so freaking neurotic. He didn’t pimp me during the week that I worked with him.
• The residents are AWESOME! Simply awesome! Probably my favorite bunch of residents that I have worked with on auditions. Very down to earth, want to get the students involved.
• It’s a level 2 trauma but they get some pretty good traumas since it’s the only hospital in the whole area. I’ve seen pretty good variety of cases.
• They have education on Fridays, including M&M and intern bootcamp for a couple months in the beginning of the year. Intern bootcamp consists of a lot of hands on clinical skill…how to use GIA staplers for anastomosis, vents, laprascopic stations….very hands on with the residents helping out and usually one of the attendings. It was one of my favorite things during the rotation. They’re in the process of building a SIM lab on site.
• I did one weekend and IT WAS BUSY!!!! not sure how busy they generally are but we were running around like crazy. The attendings kind of round with the chief resident or alone so I feel like you’re missing out on some education.
• Housing is across the stress from the hospital so you don't have to worry about traveling in the morning. You get $100/2weeks for food in cafeteria, food is pretty good.
• Overall, I think it’s a great program. The attendings are young and are invested into making the program great. I think it says something about it since they’ve received accreditation after 4 years.
Botsford
• I was told the program is not what it used to be but I didn’t want to believe it bc I’ve heard so many great things about Botsford but I was very disappointed during my 2 week audition.
• First of all, after talking to several residents, they don't really get to operate until they’re 3rd years, which is not acceptable to me. I scrubbed in with two separate 4th years on 2 separate occasions with 2 separate attendings and I wasn't impressed with their skills. One of the residents wasn't able to suture the mesh in a lap hernia repair and asked the attending to take over.
• The PD is an older guy, super old school and formal for no reason. He makes the residents formally present during rounds, which is a total waste of time to me. The residents weren’t approachable at all.
• They do a ton of colonoscopies which I absolutely hate. I question their case load and the level of autonomy they have.
• I wasn’t impressed with their didactics at all. I felt like they didn’t take the lectures seriously and kept goofing around when a resident was presenting.
• I honestly don’t know what the hype is all about when it comes to this program, at best I would give it a C.
PCOM
• I was told PCOM is a malignant program but I didn’t get that impression at all. I was between 2 hospitals and I had a great experience. One of the hospitals has good case volume, including whipples, bariatric surgery, robot cases. The other hospital I was at is smaller and has bread and butter gen surg cases, such as hernias, and lap. choles. I took trauma call at the larger hospital and I saw my first thoracotomy in the ED. It’s a level 2 but they get a lot of penetrating trauma d/t the area the hospital is in. The residents I worked with were awesome, not malignant in any way.
• You can work as little or as much as you want to.
• They have initial accreditation and they’re definitely a strong program.
• The only draw back I have was the traveling situation. I had to drive between 2 hospital and it got old really fast. I can’t imagine having to be on the road so much for 5 years.
Interviews:
Palisades- NJ
Newer program, they’re graduating their first class I think in 2017. Take 3/year. They cover 3 different hospitals. Palisades, the smallest out of the 3 is a 200 bed hospital on the Hudson River, overlooking Manhattan. Gorgeous view, interns spend most of their time at this place. Englewood, larger hospital, apparently in a rich area, has good volume. Hackensack, is the largest hospital, over 1000 beds, residents go there for different rotations throughout residency there. One of my classmates auditioned there and seems like they had problems with their case volume in the past but that problem has resolved since they changed the curriculum around. They’re making positive changes every year and the PD is very involved and listens to what the residents have to say. Interview was pretty laid back, 3 rooms, one is with the PD, one with the assistant director and the other one is with 2 residents. They didn't pimp me at all, mostly conversations about my application and life in general. Their pay is VERY LOW for that area. Housing in north Jersey is absolutely ridiculous so keep that in mind. Overall, I think it has the potential to be a good program.
Swedish, CO
ACGME Accredited
Newer program, they have PGY2 now. They take 3/year. All the interns last year auditioned there.
Very strong Level 1 trauma program. If trauma is your thing, this is the place you should audition. The residents said they get more blunt vs penetrating trauma though so keep that in mind.
They actually do trauma clinical research in house, which was pretty impressive given that it’s considered a community hospital.
They get their case numbers from trauma cases/ACS so that’s something you have to consider. Not a lot of scheduled cases.
The attendings seemed to be very nice and very involved with teaching the residents.
The residents work a lot, call Q3-4 days because they don't have enough bodies but they also get to do a lot because there are not seniors above.
Area around Denver is absolutely gorgeous so you can’t go wrong with that location.
Sky Ridge, CO
Very new program, they have PGY1. They take 6/year. At my interview, the PD said they’re going to take 3/year starting next year in 2018.
Given that it’s a new program, you will have to be flexible. There are things that are not set in place yet so if you’re OCD about knowing everything ahead of time, this is probably not the place for you.
They do ortho, urology, Neurosurgery during their intern year along with the typical intern rotations like IM, EM, Trauma/ICU.
Level 2 trauma, lots of blunt traumas.
They have didactics once a week on Thu where the residents or attendings give lectures. I felt like the didactics needed some work but, again, it’s a new program so it’s expected.
J.C. Lincoln-AZ
Newer program, have PGY3 now. Take 2/year.
Strong level 1 trauma. I talked to students that auditioned there and said that the trauma/ACS service is intense.
The attendings are very involved in teaching the residents. They have a DaVinci Robot for the residents to practice on.
At the resident dinner, some of the residents weren’t very interactive, felt like I was pulling teeth when asking questions.
Inspira-NJ
Graduating their first class this year. Took 3 this year.
I was actually surprised about what this place had to offer. They are a community based hospital but they pretty much have every specialty in house. The location is kind of remote, some residents live as far as Philly and commute about 50 min every day (I know, crazy!)
They go to Crozer, in Philly for their trauma rotation.
They had a really nice, new SIM lab for the residents
The residents were really nice!! The PD seemed to be very involved and receptive at what the residents need
One of the interns I know was very happy to have matched there last year.
MedySis Health Network-Flushing NY
ACGME Accredited- apparently they lost their MD accreditation a while back then they became a DO program and now they have Initial ACGME Accreditation again.
Small community hospital, take 3/year
Older hospital but I was told this is pretty common in NY
The attendings seemed to be very involved, the didactics were pretty solid per the residents I talked to.
The hospital is located in Queens, NY which has a high non-English speaking population, primarily Asians so keep that in mind.
Geisenger-PA
ACGME Accredited
Large hospital system throughout PA
VERY family oriented program. The chief resident I spoke with at the resident dinner had 4 kids during her 5 year residency. They seem to support each other a lot and do a lot of activities with their families.
The PD was a very nice, down to earth guy. Most of attendings are involved in research and they expect you to also get involved. The PD is on the committee that handles ACGME accreditation so they won't have issues in the future with that for sure.
Location SUCKS, literally in the middle of nowhere which is why they probably pay better than most places.
Orange Medical Center- Middletown NY
Very new program, interviewing for their intern class in 2017.
Apparently, they had Transitional year last year, which functioned as surgery interns and will transition into PGY2 in July 2017. Questionable set up if you ask me
Brand new hospital, located in a very rural area, level 2 trauma.
CarePoint Health-Bayonne, NJ
Newer program, have PGY2.
Very questionable program, I’m going to be surprised if they make the merger.
The resident that gave us the tour wasn't able to answer simple questions about the program’s structure.
The PD seems to be involved but not sure if that’s enough.
If you can, I suggest you schedule auditions at HF Macomb, HF Allegiance, PCOM to see if you don’t mind traveling. If you’re interested in a Level 1 trauma, I definitely recommend Swedish and J.C. Lincoln.
As far as auditions go, just be yourself, don't kiss ass, don’t be a gunner, work hard, READ, READ, and READ. If an attending is asking you something that you don’t know, go home, read it and talk about it the next day.
My mentor advised me to not shy away from new programs. Often times, you end up working harder and get to do things earlier at a new program because there are not seniors above you so keep that in mind when you audition and interview at different places.
I matched at one of my top programs so I’m super duper excited to graduate and start this crazy journey!!!!!! Just work hard, it’s going to pay off at the end!!!!
