PCCM 2008 Match Thread

[argh]

i've heard from wisconsin

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[eFatigue]

thanks pilondoc

i did check out that thread and it seems that CC might not be so bad after all..

will keep eyes and ears open...

 

[arsa]

Hi guys,

January went away in a blink! Repeated email checks, joys of invites, frustrations of rejections and uncertainty of silence.... This will continue next month and the months to come. But most of us, I believe do have a sigh of relief with some invites. I was so uncertain 2 weeks ago, having applied to over 70 programs and having heard from almost none. Now I do have decent no of interviews, albeit not from great-great places.

I wish all of us luck in the upcoming months so that on June 18th, all of us can come back to the forum and tell each other with joy that we did make it through thicks and thins.. standing beside and supporting each other..nameless, faceless yet bonded in friendship!!

 

[RTrain]

Hi guys,

January went away in a blink! Repeated email checks, joys of invites, frustrations of rejections and uncertainty of silence.... This will continue next month and the months to come. But most of us, I believe do have a sigh of relief with some invites. I was so uncertain 2 weeks ago, having applied to over 70 programs and having heard from almost none. Now I do have decent no of interviews, albeit not from great-great places.

I wish all of us luck in the upcoming months so that on June 18th, all of us can come back to the forum and tell each other with joy that we did make it through thicks and thins.. standing beside and supporting each other..nameless, faceless yet bonded in friendship!!

Agreed! Good way to sum it up arsa! It's so good to be on the other side of that anxious early January when no one had heard from any programs. Now we're "seasoned veterans" looking forward to interviews and big choices.

 

[louden]

This week:
Emory
Loyola

Previously:
UMDNJ RWJ
UMDNJ NJMS
Temple
University of MD
Washington Hospital Center
UCSD
UCI
Georgetown
VCU/MCV

Very excited but am not able to make it to all the interviews. Maybe try to pick 8 to go to?

 

[PilonDoc]

Has anyone heard anything from the following: Loyola (Chicago), Wisconsin, Minnesota, UT-Southwestern, Kansas, St. Louis University, Arizona

Rejection from Wisconsin (Said they are only taking 2 fellows this year, and won't be interviewing heavily.)

Applied/No News
Univ Arizona
Kansas
UT-Southwestern
St Louis Univ

 

[louden]

i haven't heard from arizona either.
anyone heard from USC, Harbor-UCLA, Loma Linda or Cedars Sinai?

 

[PilonDoc]

I'll try to keep everyone up to date, and provide useful info. Hopefully, everyone can do the same!

What I'll be posting...

1. Questions Asked by Interviewers
2. Number of Interviewers at Each Program
3. How the facility compares to the others

 

[sakullukas]

Will i get an interview ?
I'm a FMG from a community program with 1 poster presentation at ATS, scores 91,93, step 3 pending, and some case reports.
Applied to 24 programs.
Thanks

 

[doogle5]

Beth Israel, NY

Rej:
Chicago
Virginia

Hi, Did u get interview from Beth Israel by phone or email.
I got it by phone today. its weird they scheduled and everything by phone , not even sending a confirmation email. and there is no information on website. But I have heard its good program, NY city busy program.

 

[arsa]

Yes they did call me and everything was done on the phone. I could barely jot down directions. But got a fren there doing residency, so hopefully get things squared away.

 

[doogle5]

Yes they did call me and everything was done on the phone. I could barely jot down directions. But got a fren there doing residency, so hopefully get things squared away.

Thanks, I just found link to their pulm deptt.
http://www.bethisraelgme.org/PulmonaryAndCriticalCareFellowship.asp
Good Luck .

 

[arsa]

10th interview. seems like a small comm program nothin comparable to CC which I got a rej from today. anyway, good to get from ones I might get into!

 

[spiderdude]

Hi ARSA, have you started your int yet

 

[spiderdude]

10th interview. seems like a small comm program nothin comparable to CC which I got a rej from today. anyway, good to get from ones I might get into!

Congrats, metrohealth is a good program

 

[arsa]

Hi ARSA, have you started your int yet

thanks dude.

starting next week from philly. long way to go, esp that I have a call month in march. how about u?

 

[spiderdude]

thanks dude.

starting next week from philly. long way to go, esp that I have a call month in march. how about u?

done two, I think one of them went well , awating few more to go. I think you may need be very carefull about what you say. give the person infront of you enough time to talk so u can understand what he ro she really WANTS . good luck, I was worry about you when we did start the forum, but it looks you r doing well. best luck.

 

[arsa]

thanks a lot dude. i was quite nervous when we started as i dint know if i would get any calls. i feel quite relieved with the invites now. need to fare really well in some of them at least.

good luck to you too!

 

[Mossjoh]

Rejected by Hopkins today...oh well..moving on

 

[RTrain]

Will i get an interview ?
I'm a FMG from a community program with 1 poster presentation at ATS, scores 91,93, step 3 pending, and some case reports.
Applied to 24 programs.
Thanks

There's no way any of us could know whether you'll get interviews or not. We've pretty much all posted our stats, so you can see where you stand in comparison, but other than that we just can't know. If you haven't gotten any interviews by now, that is a little concerning.

 

[RTrain]

Interview at New Mexico. So to recap:

Yay:
CCF
Pitt
Rochester
Case Western/UH
OSU
Albany
UNM

Nay: Colorado, Michigan

Won't start my interviews until March (on wards all month in Feb) so I'll be eagerly awaiting interview reports from you all.

 

[hoddog]

Interview at Harvard today via email. Has anybody heard from UCSF?

 

[arsa]

SUNY Upstate. They want me to switch to J1. And just 1 week to go for interview. I can manage but this is my 11th invite and possibly my last priority. Dont think its a great program and dont want to live in syracuse for 3 yrs. Should I attend it? If I dont match at the end, I will certainly regret .

Need some suggestions.

 

[spiderdude]

SUNY Upstate. They want me to switch to J1. And just 1 week to go for interview. I can manage but this is my 11th invite and possibly my last priority. Dont think its a great program and dont want to live in syracuse for 3 yrs. Should I attend it? If I dont match at the end, I will certainly regret .

Need some suggestions.

I think with 10 Ivs you should math, It is difficult choice, but I don't think you should lose your H1 VISA. what you can do put this Ivs the last on your list to go and if you feel there is risk not to match then go for it.

 

[arsa]

deleted

 

[arsa]

was offered interview yesterday from Upstate and requested a date today. Now they say they wont interview me coz of H1. What the &*%$ ! Do they not review applications well before sending invites? And I have indicated I am ready to go for J1. Their answer is call us once you change the visa!! *****s! Pity their program and cold syracuse! Will certainly get into better place than that.

Maybe they did sense that I was not particularly interested.

 

[PilonDoc]

The numbers:
1. Less competitive programs may interview 20 per position. (Too many people doing warm up interviews)
2. Moderately competitive programs may interview 4-6 per position.
3. Highly competitive programs may interview up to 9. (They want the next Autschbach, not someone wanting a Maybach)

So, it would seem that interviewing at 4-6 programs that will rank you highly should be adequate. How is everyone else playing the game???

 

[arsa]

I think most programs have sent their first set of invites by now. I would assume that from next week on most of the invites would be empty slots not responded by more competitive applicants. For example, I have a fren who is applying to PCCM as a backup for cards and has >15 intvs from top places like colorado, washington, penn, emory and pitt.

Now its upto us to kill interviews. And the party goes on!!

 

[argh]

I'm not convinced the first round of interview invites is quite over. I say this because two programs I contacted directly replied that they were getting ready to send invites out.

 

[RTrain]

Invitation from Cornell today.

 

[Heliox]

I'm not convinced the first round of interview invites is quite over. I say this because two programs I contacted directly replied that they were getting ready to send invites out.

I second that opinion. It might be true for a few AMGs but some programs have written back saying they are still reviewing. Hoing for more calls, my calls seem to have dried out. Best of luck to all those who are interviewing this week and the next. Please do fill us in on the details!
My trail starts on the 19th.

 

[doogle5]

I second that opinion. It might be true for a few AMGs but some programs have written back saying they are still reviewing. Hoing for more calls, my calls seem to have dried out. Best of luck to all those who are interviewing this week and the next. Please do fill us in on the details!
My trail starts on the 19th.

I totally agree, most of the big univ programs already sent invites.
But most of the New york community porgrams still reviewing the applications.

 

[kazoo06]

Indiana University yday.

 

[arsa]

Virginia Commonwealth!!

Nice City, Excellent Hospitals, Good Staff, Good Research, etc. Cannot compare to UVA as I've never been there, but a very good program. I mention this because an earlier post asked for info on the two programs.

Received via e-mail. (note: invites come directly from PD, which is unique amongst the group of invites/rejections I've received so far)

hey pilondoc, have you got a confirmation email for your interview date? i got this call >1 wk ago, replied to it at least twice but they havent gotten back to me yet. strange!

 

[PilonDoc]

hey pilondoc, have you got a confirmation email for your interview date? i got this call >1 wk ago, replied to it at least twice but they havent gotten back to me yet. strange!

The program director handles all of the scheduling for the interviews. It took 4 business days to receive a response, but >1 week seems a little long. I say you call.

 

[arsa]

How should we approach these questions? I had a mock interview with my PD today and nearly got into an altercation afterwards in reviewing those. He was adamant that I be honest and tell all my weaknesses.. his logic- if you lack weaknesses, you lack "self-realisation" and FPD will think that this guy is too stubborn to train!!

What do you think about that? .

 

[PilonDoc]

How should we approach these questions? I had mock interview with my PD today and nearly got into an altercation afterwards in reviewing those. He was adamant that I be honest and tell all my weaknesses.. his logic if you lack weaknesses, you lack "self-realisation" and FPD will think that this guy is too stubborn to train!!

What do you think about that? .

That is nonsense. The key to these sorts of questions is to disquise a positive attribute as a fault. "I'm so anal that I spend too much time taking excellent care of my patients. At the end of the day I have less time to play video games. HooHoo I suck."

Play the game. Don't get played.

 

[Bobblehead]

How should we approach these questions? I had mock interview with my PD today and nearly got into an altercation afterwards in reviewing those. He was adamant that I be honest and tell all my weaknesses.. his logic if you lack weaknesses, you lack "self-realisation" and FPD will think that this guy is too stubborn to train!!

What do you think about that? .

I don't remember being asked these types of questions. Almost all of the interviews were very casual and they wanted to know what parts of the program they could sell you. Interviewing for a pulmonary/ccm fellowship was far different than the IM experience, at least from what I recall.

 

[arsa]

Completely agree. If i were in FDP's shoes, i would not take a candidate who does it my IMPD's way.

 

[Heliox]

Not sure if a mock interview helps. My PD wants me to take one. I have been delaying it for so long now. I don't think I would be comfortable doing that. Any thoughts on mock interviews?

 

[PilonDoc]

As promised... Here is a sampling of the tough/standard interview questions. (Most were expected)

1. Why did you choose pulmonary?
2. Why did you choose our program?
3. What will you bring to our program?
4. Are you interested in research?
5. If you are interested in research, are you interested in becoming an
academic/researcher/clinical scientist?
6. Will the amount of student loans you carry affect your decision?
7. How will you afford to continue in academics? Is this ok with your spouse?
8. What type of research (clinical or basic) would you prefer?
9. What are your favorite pulmonary disorders to treat, and why?
10. Can you describe your research to me? What made you perform this research? What drew you to research? Will you continue research at our program? Will you continue research therafter?

Overall, my interviewers focused greatly on the research I performed in residency. That is the strength of my resume, and the primary reason I received multiple invitations to interview. So, if your resume is similar to mine then I would expect a similar line of questions.

PS: Hey arsa, grab an interviewing book from Barnes & Noble. I read the interviews form dummies, which was just ok. I'd recommend actually trying to read one at the store and leave it. There is only 20 pages or so that are helpful.

 

[PilonDoc]

Not sure if a mock interview helps. My PD wants me to take one. I have been delaying it for so long now. I don't think I would be comfortable doing that. Any thoughts on mock interviews?

I think they helped tremendously. I performed one with my research mentor (pulmonologist), another pulmonologist, my wife, and my residency mentor. By the time I went to my first interview I was ready to roll.

 

[Heliox]

I think they helped tremendously. I performed one with my research mentor (pulmonologist), another pulmonologist, my wife, and my residency mentor. By the time I went to my first interview I was ready to roll.

Thank you Pilondoc. How many interviews have you completed so far?
I got one from Buffalo today

 

[doogle5]

Rejection from Brown today !

 

[argh]

northwestern

 

[arsa]

for guys who got ivs this week and today.

and thanks pilondoc for the interview qns and the book info. got one from residency. are they any diff?

no new for me except SUNY Upstate who did want me to come reconsidering my visa. VCU pd was on vac which explains why i was not answered.

let s hope nxt week will b more productive- in invites and interviews!

 

[PilonDoc]

for guys who got ivs this week and today.

and thanks pilondoc for the interview qns and the book info. got one from residency. are they any diff?

no new for me except SUNY Upstate who did want me to come reconsidering my visa. VCU pd was on vac which explains why i was not answered.

let s hope nxt week will b more productive- in invites and interviews!

Interview books are mostly the same. I'd just review that one, and take any assistance from your PD with a grain of salt.

One interview down, one next week, and then 3 over the next long weekend. (thurs-fri-mon)

I'm trying to read the interviewers' recent research papers before I go, which has grown to become difficult. My first two programs each have 5 scheduled interviewers.

 

[PCPinAL]

Hey Guys! if I haven't received any interview calls does that mean I'm doomed or is it too early to think that. Ne1 here who received interview calls for PCCM???
Ne1 received call from Univ of Nebraska or NY Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn??

 

[RTrain]

Hey Guys! if I haven't received any interview calls does that mean I'm doomed or is it too early to think that. Ne1 here who received interview calls for PCCM???
Ne1 received call from Univ of Nebraska or NY Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn??

I don't think it's time to consider yourself "doomed," but I can see why you're concerned. Interview invitations seem to still be coming in, but many have already gone out too. Looking back over posts here, I don't think anyone has reported hearing from Nebraska or NY Methodist, but I might have missed something.

Good luck and keep thinking positively!

 

[doogle5]

Hey Guys! if I haven't received any interview calls does that mean I'm doomed or is it too early to think that. Ne1 here who received interview calls for PCCM???
Ne1 received call from Univ of Nebraska or NY Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn??

I believe lot of programs are still reviewing applications. I got response from 10 programs, still waiting to hear from 10-12 programs, mainly community programs in New york. Most of Univ programs have sent invites by now.
So it all depends on which programs you applied to. I would send an email asking status of application.