Peds Interview Impressions 2012-2013

[GoSpursGo]

Alright, since some programs are starting to interview, now seems like a decent time to start this thread. It's a nice way to organize your thoughts about the program after the interview so that (hopefully) they don't all just run together at the end of the season, and of course it's a valuable resource to other current and future applicants You can find links to previous years' threads in the sticky at the top of this forum.

J-Rad has graciously agreed to anonymously post the reviews in this thread, so if you want to post anonymously please PM him.

Here is a template people have used in the past for their reviews; of course, a simple "pros/cons" list would suffice:

Program Name
Structure:

Faculty:

Housestaff:

Program:

Facilities:

Misc:

In sum:
Pros:
Cons:

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[J-Rad]

First set.

Program Name Children's Hospital of Richmond - VCU

Structure:
- Night-float system was in place before new work hour restrictions.
- Typical curriculum, but can do a primary care track or a specialists one, during which you can do research in an area in which you are interested in doing fellowship.
- "Bottom up" system - interns get first dibs at all procedures.
-Pull- call system: don't have to find someone to cover you if you get sick. First year, you only do pull call, then second year and third year your call becomes more frequent.

Housestaff: Super laid-back and friendly. 15 per year, about half and half on who goes on the fellowship and who does primary care. Several stayed at VCU for fellowship. Residents seemed happy.


Facilities:
-Hospital within a hospital.
-Very nice facilities - new pavilion being built across the street.
- Many food options (Chick Fil A, Wendy's, Cafeteria, Au Bon Pan, which is open 24 hours)
-Old pavilion was still pretty nice, though.
-Really fancy NICU with private patient rooms (where parents can stay 24/7).
- Many work rooms for residents.

Misc:
3 weeks vacation + 5 days off for either Christmas or New Year's.
Lots of opportunities for spouses/ family in the city

In sum:
Pros:
- Two tracks: primary care and research
- Lots of research - residents are encouraged to partake if they want to
- Very Family friendly
- Dog sitting service
- Shuttle will pick you up/ drop you off if you can’t transport yourself (snow, tired, etc)
- nightfloat system
- Real estate: many properties to rent/ buy, good market
- Richmond: larger city, lots to do, good food, cute churches and lots of museums
- Program pays premiums on health, dental
- Get VCU credits to take classes
- VCU gym, etc membership
- Usual board prep materials provided

Cons:
Richmond not the safest city, but not the most dangerous.

Program Name University of Louisville

Pros:
- Very old program
- 23 Peds residents/ year
- Stand-alone Children’s hospital
- 120 bed NICU w/ ecmo, transplants, etc
- Connected to adult hospital with another NICU
- Only hospital in the area that admits children
- very busy ER
- Fellows - not many but enough to help out in NICU
- Nice call rooms
- 4 weeks of vacation + 5 days off for one of the holidays
- “Procedure call” - 2 weeks each year where you are called to do any and every procedure in the hospital
- Med school for Zach, plus several grad programs, etc
- Nice city, decent cost of living

Cons:
- Were kinda evasive about their call schedule - “well, you’re going to work all the time as a resident anyway” statements.
- No night-float - tension among upper levels and lower levels because upper levels did old work schedule (ie no work hour restrictions) while lower levels work under new 80 hour/ week thing

 

[neya]

Program Structure:
* small-medium program - 11 categoricals peds residents
* 60% outpatient first year
* No set "tracts" to funnel residents into, but take incoming residents future plans to heart. If resident interested in a specific sub-specialty starting halfway through your 2nd year your continuity clinic will be with that specialty.
* Most elective time concentrated in 2nd year
* Night-float system in place except on PICU
* No dedicated hospitalists on the wards - various sub-specialty or general peds faculty take turns rotating on service (looking back I'm on a little confused on this point - if a GI attending is the on service attending who is managing the cardiac pts, etc?)

Faculty:
* 52 full time faculty
* Program director gave a great impression, she was very warm and friendly, seemed to genuinely love the program, the residents, and interested in taking feedback to heart

Housestaff:
* Very friendly. Dinner the night before the interview was at a resident's home, and a large number of housestaff from each year was there. Everyone seemed very enthusiastic about the program, about the town.
* Residents seem to socialize and spend a good deal of time together
* 50/50 primary care vs. fellowship on graduation

Facilities:
* Children's Hospital w/in University Hospital, new outpt building under construction
* Lack of resident workspace? There was one work - room on floor, but not sure if there's enough computers for each resident

Pt Population
* some "inner city" charlottesville
* some affluent
* 25% hispanic
* rural
* refugee population

Misc:
* Paid Parking
* Exchange Program w/Costa Rica
* Program pays salary on away electives
* 3 weeks vacation + beach week w/intern class

In sum: Very friendly, strong academic program, values the residents, caring faculty, residents get along
Pros: Seem to take duty hours seriously, close knit residents, approachable faculty
Cons: Charlottesville was very pretty, but a its a very small university town. Program does have a large catchment area, but coming from an urban med school I worry about a lack of diversity. Seems to be on the lower side of pt. volume. On the wards residents mentioned being able to leave 3-4, sometimes even earlier when not on a call day. An early day off is great, but if its occurring regularly I worry about a lack of patients. However - overall the residents seemed well prepared and competent so probably not a big issue. Small peds ED, not always staffed at night with a Peds ED attending.

 

[pooh86]

might be better to post reviews on the site below so there's one central place for all the programs

http://studentdoctor.net/schools/programs?prof=1&spec=pediatrics

 

[GoSpursGo]

might be better to post reviews on the site below so there's one central place for all the programs

http://studentdoctor.net/schools/programs?prof=1&spec=pediatrics

Definitely don't neglect the site-sponsored feedback area. However, historically these feedback threads have gotten better responses

 

[J-Rad]

Children's National Medical Center
Structure: Pre/post interview social on Mondays and Thursdays. Welcome from the chair, then a brief meet and greet over breakfast with current residents. Presentation from the PD about the program, then two 30 minute interviews, a tour, and noon conference with lunch. If you're applying to one of the special tracks (Primary Care, Community Health, Medical Genetics, or Child Neuro), you have extra interviews in the afternoon.

Faculty: Very impressive and committed to resident learning. Some 50-odd of them have been enrolled in the Master Teaching Program. Didactics are a scheduled part of every day prior to rounds, so they never get pushed to the wayside.

Housestaff: Generally seem very happy. For such a big program (40 interns each year), everyone seems very close. Interns have a two night intern retreat, then second and third years also have designated days off together as well. Two 2-week vacation periods, plus "beach week" at the end of intern year. While you're on, you're busy, but the teams cap at 10 patients per intern so it can't get totally out of hand. Resident-driven hospital, so fellows never write orders unless it's just to help out when the residents are swamped.

Program: Busy, in a major tertiary care center, so you see crazy stuff you won't see anywhere else. Still get exposed to bread-and-butter stuff too, as it's the biggest freestanding children's hospital in the area (next closest is CHOP), and also take care of kids at nearby Holy Cross, which is even more bread and butter. Most residents participate in a scholarly project as part of the REACH program, either in Research, Education, Advocacy, or something else related to Children's Health--gives you half a day of protected time every week to dedicate to your project. Being in Washington gives you a great chance to get involved in advocacy on Capitol Hill, and you can do an elective at the Advocacy Institute to have a month dedicated to that.

Facilities: Beautiful new hospital was just built in the last few years. Giant pedi EC. Huge PICU. Pretty much all of the subspecialties all under one roof, with most residents' continuity clinics also on-site. Holy Cross gives residents a more community experience, and residents particularly interested in underserved care can request a continuity clinic in an underserved part of DC.

In sum:
Pros:
-Huge program with lots of exposure to every kind of subspecialty
-Endless opportunities for resident-driven initiatives and projects
-Good community-based experiences to balance the tertiary feel at CNMC proper
-Tight-knit group of residents, especially for such a big program
-Busy in a good way--the high volume seems like it will leave you well-trained
Cons:
-Nothing obvious. I came away even more impressed than I expected to be

.

 

[albe]

Just curious about whether any programs out there have mostly eliminated 24-hr call for the 2nd and 3rd years.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Just curious about whether any programs out there have mostly eliminated 24-hr call for the 2nd and 3rd years.

not so far - a couple places mentioned specifically asking their senior residents about it to match the interns schedule, but both places the seniors wanted to keep their 24 hr call.

 

[J-Rad]

Couple more

Program Name: University of Florida
Structure: Dinner night before was at a resident’s home and had good turnout. Day started around 7am with a shuttle ride to hospital. Attended morning report then had 2 interviews (30 minutes each) which were one-on-one. After interviews had a meeting with chief resident and then program director. Lunch followed (catered to hospital). After lunch went on hospital tour and then concluded with meeting with Department Chair before shuttle back to hotel around 3pm.
Faculty: Have a variety of sub-specialist who really care about teaching. Have dedicated hospitalist on teams as well as a mid-level to help with discharges, etc. I was impressed by how many faculty were at morning report.

Housestaff: Medium-sized program. Residents seemed really happy and got along well. Had good turnout at dinner night before and lunch was catered into hospital so most residents came to lunch. Overall a diverse group and very family-friendly

Program: Night float system on most rotations. Have had specialty tracks for several years including research (11 months of residency), MPH, Global Health, specialty, etc. Typical Curriculum: Nelsons 2x during residency (noon lectures), monthly quizzes on topics apparently if you do them you get entered for gift card drawing at end of year and person with highest % on quizzes gets part of boards paid for. Morning report was unique because residents broke out into small groups with faculty to discuss cases and make differential and initial labs- more interactive which everyone says helps them remember better.
Facilities: Hospital within a hospital. Was a little spread out (Peds ER on 1st floor, main patients on 4th floor, L&D w/ NICU/Nursery a couple floors away and then 9th floor had PICU). The pediatric floors were nice with great team rooms and call rooms near floor. The ER is brand new and gorgeous however the pediatric trauma patients go across the street to adult ER where trauma team and OR’s are available. They had several fast food restaurants in addition to cafeteria and had good hours. Parking was a little further from hospital that expected (several blocks). Outpatient clinic had a couple options, one maybe ¼ mile from hospital and other one a few miles away.

In sum:
Pros: Very happy residents, Program director was one of the most enthusiastic I have met on trail, the tracks are well established with excellent opportunities in just about anything you would want.
Cons: Gainesville is very much a college town and everything revolves around gators, ER traumas go to adult facilities, there isn’t a dedicated pediatric resident lounge (shared with all UF residents).

Program Name: Phoenix Children’s/Maricopa Medical Center
Structure: Casual dinner the night before at residents home. Shuttle from hotel left around 7:15am (program paid for hotel breakfast buffet which was excellent). We had a group meeting with the PD first thing in the morning which was excellent. After this we had 1 interview at PCH, brief 10 minute individual meetings with PD, then part 1 of the PCH tour. Then we were taken to MMC where we toured that facility and had a 2nd interview with faculty there. After our 2nd interview residents drove us to lunch downtown. After lunch we returned to PCH for more tour and then were done around 2pm when a shuttle took us back to hotel.

Faculty: They have everything available. Hospitalist work on the wards with residents. Faculty seemed to really like teaching and residents said they were very approachable. They said they had more autonomy at MMC but learned a lot at both places and loved always having an “expert” available.

Housestaff: Very happy and diverse. Have a good number of AZ graduates but also residents from numerous other countries. Including med/peds and peds neuro it was around 30/year class size (tripled in size over last 15 years). They have frequent resident socials and as around ½ have families also do family socials often.

Program: Has 2 main hospitals which you are at about 60/40 (Phoenix Children’s and Maricopa). PCH has all the subspecialist and Maricopa is a county hospital with lots of bread and butter peds. Very supportive program director! Has daily lectures- heard that they can be tough to make if you are at other hospital but most are streamed between campuses. Outpatient continuity clinic had 3 locations but you are assigned to only one and have same preceptor throughout residency. They have an intensive reading program for residents who struggle with in-service exams and anyone who desire can opt-in on the program for board prep.

Facilities: PCH is gorgeous- has a level 1 trauma center, all private rooms, and great support services. The dining was amazing (Starbucks, brick oven pizza, Mongolian grill, ice cream bar, salad bar, etc). Maricopa looked much nicer than most county facilities I have seen- they also have an independent pediatric level 1 trauma center.

In sum:
Pros: Very happy residents, two hospitals to see everything from bread and butter to complex, great faculty support, good dining and residents said they pretty much never run out of dining bucks
Cons: none that I could see, I was really surprised by this program.

 

[pooh86]

Just curious about whether any programs out there have mostly eliminated 24-hr call for the 2nd and 3rd years.

Winthrop in NY has no 24 hr call at all for all residents

 

[avs0913]

Does anyone have any information or thoughts about Albert Einstein in Philly, Sinai in Baltimore or Newark Beth Israel? I have these three interviews on back to back to back days and I'm trying to decide whether to keep them/reschedule or cancel. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[J-Rad]

Harbor-UCLA
Structure: Smaller-medium program with 10 residents a year. You see lots of bread and butter peds although there is some diversity of cases. There are two inpatient ward teams that admit every other day. Each team consists of 2 interns and a senior. Interns carry 4-8 patients at a time. There is a night float system in place (1 month during intern year). NICU (2 months during intern year) is a shift system. For PL 2/3s call frequency varies by rotation but is no more frequent than q4. There are NP’s in the NICU/PICU to help cover workload. One afternoon each week is continuity clinic, and Friday afternoons are block teaching time. Residents get 4 weeks of vacation (2+2) plus an extra week off after intern year as well as a floating holiday for Christmas or New Years.

Faculty: Faculty are employed through UCLA and are at Harbor because they want to teach and/or for research. There seems to be a strong focus on teaching. There are fellows for many specialties, but fellows play a supervisory role and residents admit all patients to general peds teams with specialists/fellows as consultants. Residents get all procedures. The faculty seem very open to resident feedback and seem willing to work with individual residents to tailor electives to their needs.

Housestaff: All housestaff we met were very friendly and genuinely seem to enjoy program. The feel they learn to manage patients on their own at an early point in residency (there are no in-house attending at night) and feel comfortable about leaving and practicing on their own. Housestaff are mostly MD students from US medical school. About half go on to fellowships and half stay with general pediatrics.

Program: The residency program is very “resident centered” and residents experience lots of autonomy. There is a large advocacy component to the program and there is ample opportunity for research. However, they don’t require a research/advocacy/QI project although faculty sound more than willing to take on resident projects. The hospital has peds specialists in almost all areas.

Facilities: Primary site is a county hospital with level 1 trauma, a 28 bed peds ward, a NICU, and a PICU. Residents feel safe in neighborhood near hospital and walking to cars but most live in nearby beach communities. The hospital campus is undergoing construction (current project ends in 2013), but the main hospital facilities are what you’d expect in a county setting. All meals at the hospital are free. There is a sim center on campus where residents can practice mock codes and procedures. They have a hybrid EMR system still with a lot of paper charting, but they expect to have full EMR by 2014.

Misc:
- Diverse patient population including recent immigrants. Most patients are uninsured or underinsured.
- LA BioMed is the faculty research group on campus
- 80-90% boards pass rate – program now integrating board review across curriculum with an e-learning site
- $80/month pay increase for Spanish proficiency
- Procedural elective during intern year where you learn procedural sedation
- Program teaches residents billing/medical cost containment

In sum:
Pros:
- Lots of bread and butter peds along with resident autonomy will provide a strong foundation
- Faculty very involved in teaching
- It is nice that all patients are in same area of the hospital (easy to round)
- Strong advocacy program based in the community
- NP’s in NICU/PICU and continuity clinics
Cons:
- Facilities aren’t the best and seem to be continually under construction
- Only one training site
- Not yet EMR
- No attendings/fellows in-house at night although you can call at any time

UCI/CHOC
Structure: Large residency program with 30 residents a year. There is a shift-work system for inpatient wards used at both hospitals that the residents like. Interns have a cap of 10 patients. Residents preference which continuity clinic they want with clinics located are all over Orange County. There is an online curriculum for continuity clinics. Teaching conferences daily in the mornings and at noon.

Faculty: Residents think the program director is great and approachable. He feels that change is good and is looking for input. Faculty including specialists are very involved with residents.

Housestaff: Residents were very friendly although we didn’t see that many during the interview day. Residents socialize together and report that they feel like a “family” even though it is now a large program.

Program: Recently combined UCI and CHOC programs. The residents feel that they now have the best of both programs. Next year will be the first year where all three classes will be from the combined program. There are perks for being UCI employee including being able to live in graduate housing and using the UCI sim center and library.

Facilities: You spend most of your time at two free-standing children’s hospitals (Miller Children’s in Long Beach and CHOC in Orange) with more time spent at CHOC. The two hospitals are about 30 minutes apart. Residents live all over the area and don’t find issues with commuting. Both hospitals seem nice (although our tours were a bit rushed). Miller seems a bit more laid back while CHOC has a very high turnover rate. The new tower at CHOC is opening shortly and will house a new peds ER and a level 1 trauma center. Miller is completely EMR, but CHOC still working towards complete EMR (different platforms at both hospitals).

Misc:
- Large Hispanic population at CHOC and large African American population at Miller
- Book stipend will cover iPads and e-books
- Advocacy and procedural electives
- Board pass rate 10% > national average
- Interview day was rushed partly because we took trip to Miller Children’s
- Resdent’s get meal money at both hospitals and don’t usually run out

In sum:
Pros:
- Combined the best of both programs (UCI and CHOC) with two children’s hospitals and diverse patients
- Great program director
- Residents socialize together
- Large percentage of residents go into general peds (although good fellowship placement for those who want one)
- Considered a resident-friendly program with a good work-life balance
- Location
Cons:
- Commute to 2 hospitals
- I didn’t get much of a feel for the program from the interview day (very rushed)
- Didactics mostly at noon conferences and residents seem to miss large portions of them

.

 

[J-Rad]

Nationwide Children's/The Ohio State University
Structure: Dinner the night before, then a relatively leisurely late start at 8:30 with a brief program overview--a lot of "we assume you read our website and the folder we sent you," which was nice because it cut a lot of the fluff out of the day and we were able to just ask questions. Hospital tour with a chief resident, then two 30 minute interviews with faculty followed by two 15 minute meetings with the PD and the chair. Lunch over noon conference, and then a brief wrap-up. Done by 1:30.

Faculty: Fantastic, leaders in their fields. All of the ones I interacted with seemed very enthusiastic.

Housestaff: Outgoing and fun to be around. Some of them did seem to give off the "oh gosh it's winter and I'm being overworked" vibe pretty strongly; that's residency, but I felt like it was more pronounced at this program.

Program: A couple of pretty interesting unique features. First is that your 8 months of wards as an intern are all on subspecialties. There is a general peds inpatient team, but a lot of the bread and butter is interspersed among the specialties (ie asthma can be admitted to pulm, gastro might be GI, etc). Gives you the opportunity to try your hand at a bunch of specialties in intern year so you can find what you want to do asap and get ready in case what you want is an early match subspecialty. Also, everyone does a primary care rotation in first year which is also at your continuity clinic, letting you really get a close one-on-one learning experience with your preceptor. No morning report... residents say this is a plus because it gives you more time to see all your patients in the morning; they do have noon conference every day (did notice most arrived several minutes late), with a few extra hours of didactics on Tuesday and Grand Rounds on one morning a week.

Facilities: Beautiful new expanded freestanding children's hospital which has opened over the last 1.5 years or so. Very much still has the new building smell to it.

Misc: Columbus was surprisingly pretty and not horribly cold. Christmas lights on the mile were beautiful. Seems like a more "young" town than some of the other places in Ohio, probably because of OSU.

In sum:
Pros:
-Huge beautiful freestanding children's hospital
-Early and copious subspecialty exposure
-Strong primary care experiences
Cons:
-While the residents were all very nice and well-adjusted, did get the feeling they were a bit more tired/pressed for time than at other programs
-Maybe just the day I was there, but probably the worst food I've had at noon conference on the trail...

.

 

[J-Rad]

Program Name: Columbia/ NYP
Structure: Presentation by PD, 2 30 minute interviews, tours, lunch and closing with the chief residents

Faculty:My interviewers were nice and welcoming. Columbia has a great reputation, so I'm sure the faculty are very impressive

Housestaff: The residents I met were nice. They talked about the "malignant" reputation Columbia is known for, and insisted that they all got along well. That said, I got a strange vibe there- it felt very much like a "you're here to work hard and that's it"attitude. That said, ~10ish showed up to the pre-interview happy hour and lunch.

Program:The program is based primarily on inpatient rotations. The outpt clinic experience is based on 3 clinics, all close (ish) to the primary children's hospital. Residents seemed to feel very confident when they graduated. Fellowship placement is very good.

Facilities:One of only 2 free standing children's hospitals in NYC. The hospital was ok- it didn't wow me. The location isn't the best in NYC.

Pros: I think you'll get a great education and great exposure to patients here
Cons: I got a weird vibe from the residents, it just didn't feel friendly. The PD was extremely intense (more so than any other interview I've been on), she insisted over and over that residents at that program were expected to be "residents PLUS"...plus being a researcher, advocate, etc. It just seemed very overwhelming. They don't have the same benefits that some of the other NYC programs have (no great subsidized housing, not a great salary, no exceptional food/book stipends. etc)

In summary I think this is a good program that will provide amazing training. I'm just not sure that it's the right fit for everyone.

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[J-Rad]

Program Name: Montefiore/ CHAM

Structure: Begin the morning talking the PD, there were about 20 other applicants. Two 30 minute interviews with faculty, tour and then lunch. Overall, a very short day.

Faculty: Many of the faculty there are newly recruited and come from across the country. The new PD made the hospital's mission to care for every child from the Bronx regardless of their condition, and so there has been a huge push to recruit faculty across the all subspecialties. The residents said they really like the faculty and that they are responsive to requests for change.

Housestaff: I didn't go to the preinterview dinner, but my fellow applicants said it was very fun. The residents I met during lunch and tours seemed very laid back and nice.

Program: All inpt rotations are done at CHAM, clinics are around the Bronx. I can't remember anything remarkably unique/ different about the program

Facilities: One of 2 freestanding children's hospitals in NYC, I was nice but nothing super impressive. The residents and faculty said multiple times that there are plans to add on another tower b/c the hospital is so busy and often at full capacity

Pros: Lots of patient exposure, friendly residents, supportive PD, lots of sub specialty and general pediatrics.
Cons: Bronx isn't the best location, not a great place to live, so many residents commute in

In summary: This is a strong and growing program with friendly residents. Working in the Bronx and having to commute is a con for me.

Program Name: Duke

Structure: Begin the morning talking the PD, aPD and chairman, went to morning report, 20ish minutes of rounds, 2 30ish minute interviews, lunch with residents and wrap up.

Faculty: Very impressive faculty from a clinical and research point. Residents said they were very approachable and down to the earth.

Housestaff: Residents were very nice and collegial. At morning report, they were all very informal with each other, laughing and joking. That said, it was also a very good morning report and I was impressive with the residents knowledge

Program: All inpt rotations done at Duke, PD said there was lots of general peds, but when the residents showed us the census, it seemed to be heavily subspeciality that day. Clinic is at Duke too. A unique thing about their program is the way they do night shift. It's a 16 hr shift, q 2 days that allows you to stay overnight and then attend round and get feedback about your plan

Facilities: Peds floors are a few floors within the main hospital. Gen peds is one floor, split into 4 teams, NICU, PICU, BMT and ED are also peds services in different locations.

Pros: Residents seem very supported, get along well, good didactics. There are lots of subspeciality pts, Durham is very affordable. Duke has a strong reputation, and per PD most residents have gotten their first or second choice for fellowship placement.

Cons: Duke and UNC are so close to each other, that I think they each prohibit each other from being really strong. I feel that a lot of the general peds goes to UNC, and each hospital has a "niche" that they do (ie UNC does lung transplants, Duke has a much bigger BMT unit, etc). I like free standing hospitals, although I recognize this is a personal preference. Durham is not the most exciting place to live.

In summary: I like the program and residents a lot, and I like the night shift model. The location and UNC in the same city are things to think about.

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[serendpt1984]

anyone

 

[MonkeyRalph]

Anybody have any comments on Sinai vs CHAM vs nyu? Which program has a better reputation?

I will first state that I'm biased as an NYU peds graduate, but I'll try to be objective.

Sinai - Good name for Medicine, but probably the languishing program out of the 4 manhattan peds residencies
Location: Upper East Side of Manhattan - nice place to live, near the park, kinda expensive
Pay: Probably doesn't pay enough to comfortably live nearby
Atmosphere: described by some as a peds sorority
Reputation: the Sinai name goes far in the general public, but not the most renowned within the peds world
Prospects: can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

CHAM - Probably the most academic of the three in question, but it's a very very big program and it's in the Bronx
Location: the Bronx - cheap to live there, they have incredibly cheap housestaff subsidized housing, but it's the Bronx
Pay: not the best, but more than enough to live nearby comfortably
Atmosphere: very large program, some say it's easy to get lost, there's a ton of fellows, which can be a downside, depending on your perspective (personally, I think resident-driven programs are better to train at for residency than fellow-driven programs)
Reputation: very good reputation, and it's becoming more reputable with all the publicity that they're putting out there
Prospects: again, can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

NYU - Up-and-coming, medium-sized program, very close-knit group, outstanding clinical training
Location: midtown Manhattan - relatively close to all the fun neighborhoods, not the most exciting neighborhood to live in, but easy to commute from other good parts of the city
Pay: best paying program in the city
Atmosphere: close-knit residents, extremely approachable faculty, the most up-and-coming among all the NY programs
Reputation: very good and getting better each year
Prospects: I'm a broken record, you can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

PM with with specific questions.

 

[J-Rad]

Rainbow Babies and Children

Housestaff: I really liked the residents a good deal during the dinner. They were a bit reserved, but nice and friendly. Clearly liked each other. Lunch was WEIRD. The residents’ awkward side came out. It lasted 1.5 hours, and only a small subset of residents showed up, many of who were the same as those who came to the dinner.

Call and weekends: Night float for interns. Q4-6 in ICUs as upper level, some nights in your third year. 1 golden/month I think

Hospital- old minus a newly redone NICU and 10-year-old PICU.

Perks- breakfast everyday. Hospital has a good reputation. Level 1 trauma center.

Downsides- CLEVELAND. You have to pay for parking and part of medical insurance. Didn’t jive with residents





Cornell Impression:

Housestaff: Couldn’t go to dinner. Residents were very nice and friendly. Not all from NY. Very welcoming and sharp. I liked these people.

Call and weekends- night float mostly, except on PICU, but this will change because they have been on 3-week blocks and it’s changing to 4 weeks per ACGME. Currently golden weekends are not normal

Hospital- most of a floor of the hospital (including NICU and PICU). ED only 7 beds + hallway space. Not designed as a pediatric hospital. Ancillary services improving- now day time IV/phlebotomy, and some availability at night. Previously residents had to place all IVs even in the PICU… love the location in the upper east side. MSKCC is STUNNING. Also basically have to be the surgeons scut monkeys at Hospital for Special Surgery to make sure the orthopods don’t kill the kids. Resident work rooms-large, comfortable, bright and happy

Perks- the people. Working at MSKCC, UES. NY. Money when on overnight. Housing across the street. Go out to queens for bread and butter peds and more autonomy. Amazing support for doing research and for teaching. I was really impressed by residents teaching skills.

Downsides- cost of living in NY. Ancillary services. Patient volume. Working at 4 hospitals… that’s a lot of systems to learn. Residency program itself is pretty small with 20/year- decreased flexibility. Some volume concerns- learning by reading rather than by doing? Living in columbia’s shadow? I don’t think they have ECMO.



Duke Impression:

Housestaff: Housestaff hangs out some outside the hospital, but I got the impression it wasn’t a lot. Reserved people overall. Not sure they’re my “people”.

Call- Unique every other night system when you are on nights. I have some concerns about my ability to shift so much from nights to days, but it does give you plenty of time out of the hospital.

Hospital- old. One floor of duke hospital. PICU redone in 2000 (but doesn’t look like its in great shape). Some concern that pediatrics plays second fiddle to other departments. Resident work rooms recently renovated, nice.

Perks- Chair very involved in program- came and spoke for 30 min at the beginning of day. Apparently shows up to some social events and morning report. Durham is up and coming. Lunch most days.

Downsides- Living in the triangle. Playing second fiddle to other departments. Worried about my general pediatrics foundation. Volume concerns. NICU is just a level II, and while they do have a huge ECMO center, I got the impression that UNC was the bigger and better NICU. Cards and heme/onc prized subspecialties.




UC Irvine Impression:

Housestaff: Residents very friendly, laid back, and open. Residents able to stay and talk with us at various times in the day including interns in general peds clinic and at miller hospital.

Call- night float except in CHOC PICU and some weekends as an upper level to cross cover

Hospital- 2 hospitals primarily (75% CHOC, 25% Miller) with some time at UCI proper. CHOC is nice. New building opening in the spring, but will only house onc, path, radiology etc. 2 floors built as “shells” to allow for future expansion. The “old” hospital has been kept up pretty well. Mix of doubles and single rooms. Miller is much more run down except for their new tower that you don’t really work in. Paper charts still for progress notes at CHOC, with no immediate plans to change.

Perks- lunch and breakfast everyday when at CHOC. Some, but not all of that at miller. Money on your card too. High volume. Two children’s hospitals. New building at CHOC for onc and a new ED. Clearly want to treat their residents well, family feel. Got us the starbucks drink we prefer and had it waiting on the bus. Fancy gift bags- so not hurting for money, but working hard to recruit.

Downsides- Traffic. Southern California. The quality of the education seems so-so. They clearly are serving a need, but aren’t a huge referral center. Lots of Spanish patients, 30-40%. Academics, young faculty that seemed a bit unsure of themselves.




Michigan Impression:

Housestaff- very friendly, seem to have fun out of work. Two girls were talking about knitting nights and bachelor nights and hanging out outside of work. Very nice people.

Call- no call, only shift work. 2 blocks of 2 weeks of nights during intern year. No golden weekends

Hospital- brand new, beautiful, but empty. Looked as though there was a lot of room to grow. It was a huge environment. NICU with individual rooms, L&D in the children’s hospital

Perks- Resident Assistants!! No scut! Outpatient subspecialty time rather than inpatient. Amazing salary and benefits. HOA union seems very powerful. Bonus pay for your birthday?! College town bus system. Food at morning report and at lunch, plus money for nights. New nighttime curriculum being developed. ECMO created here.

Downsides- Ann Arbor? Inpatient teams have to round with multiple attendings. No full months of subspecialty inpatient other than heme/onc.




Nationwide:

Housestaff- really liked the residents I met at dinner. Laid back, friendly etc. They were much weirder during my interview day. A bit awkward and nerdy, but also trying to hard to be playful with each other, and ended up teasing each other a little too much during their noon report. Residents reported that they had real problems with their chiefs that year being unresponsive and making terrible schedules. They do say “next year will be better”.

Call- Night float for interns. Overnight call currently for upper levels, but considering changing it

Hospital- brand new and beautiful clinical areas for almost all services, and those that aren’t brand new are being re-done. Large hospital. The educational building is further away in the old hospital. Light filled.

Academics- only one conference/day, at noon. Residents were in the back snickering and making odd comments. No faculty present. Makes me worried about investment in education.

Perks- lunch every day. Parking in a deck right next door. Palliative care program available. New beautiful hospital. Beautiful new 70 bed ED, level 1 trauma center.

Downsides- Columbus. The residents aren’t a good fit for me.




Northwestern Impression:

Resident Dinner- did not attend, but had lunch with interns on interview day. Very friendly, laid back. Girly. I get the sense that they hang out a lot on the weekends and have a good time. Interns get every Friday night out of hospital in summer to bond- Upper levels take their pagers so they can go to the BBQ

Call- night float for 9 weeks intern year! Golden weekends are at least 1/ month, and platinum weekends as an upper level

Hospital- Wow!!! Huge. 23 stories. 280+ beds, 60 in PICU, have a separate CCU, attached to women’s hospital. Well thought out, Ronald McDonald House rooms on site, amazing location.

Perks- resident-led program. Really strong academics, laid back faculty. Strong heme/onc. THAT HOSPITAL. Living in Chicago. Work hard/Play hard mentality. “admission helper” during evening hours. Big hospital with a smaller program and a really family feel.

Downsides- Free meals are few and far between, lots of inpatient time as an intern, mostly ICU as a 2nd year, 3rd year is cake (can even moonlight).




UCLA Impression:
Housetaff: Clearly knew each other. A good mix of people. Most had ties to SoCal. Genuinely liked their program. Interns were present.

Call- night float everywhere but NICU where they do Q4. Switch rotations every 2 weeks, which is unusual.

Hospital- 4 hospitals. 45% of the time at UCLA (will not even admit an asthma kid basically), 20ish% at Cedars-Sinai (bread & butter with subspecialists available), a few months at Santa Monica (really B&B), and then ED at Olive View which is 90% Spanish speaking. UCLA itself is STUNNING for all departments, the whole hospital opened in 2008 and has amazing facilities, in a cool neighborhood in LA. Santa Monica is new, and the others are not.

Perks- Free lunch most days, more money than you can spend on your card. 100% of health costs paid, including Rxes. The hospital. The weather.

Downsides- Traffic. Southern California. If I heard “transplant” one more time, my head was going to explode- seems to be almost everything they do. It is very high acuity and I got the sense that the fellows really did run the show. However, I would really learn how to take care of very sick kids.

.

UCSD Impression:

Resident Dinner: All very laid back. Very sharp in conference. Really small program for number of beds 14 residents for 440ish beds! And you go to the naval hospital.

Call- night float, I think exclusively, only 1/month a year that you aren’t on backup call.

Hospital- Work at Rady which is mostly old and outdated, but heme/onc is new along with the ED (level 1 trauma center). Also go to the Naval hospital for some gen peds wards. NICU and Newborn at UCSD medical center. At Rady there is one lounge that is a bit old looking, have to bring your own k-cups, residents have to kind of fend for themselves for computers but say they can find them. The hospital is huge and you can be really spread out with your patients.

Academics- Amazing morning report on weird case from mexico. Cool pathology. Very sharp residents, and excellent faculty involvement and teaching. Looks like they get good grand rounds too. Great mentorship. PD pairs you with a career advisor, and then also with a physician scientist for those who want to be subspecialists to help you figure out the best fellowship and research plans.

Perks- lunch every day. Money on your card that is pretty sufficient- cafeteria a little dingy. 100% paid for medical/dental/Rxes. Resident had baby and paid $25. Total. Room service for food at night to resident work room. Great mentoring and support. Friendly program. Felt warm. Good teaching. Weather. Beautiful city.

Downsides- Southern California and the traffic that comes with it. Close to border, so while that’s good for pathology, will make learning Spanish a necessity. “Resitern” as a second year, you act like an intern, managing your own patients, writing all the notes in ¾ of the inpatient weeks you are on each month, but you do get to work one-on-one with attending. You clearly work very hard. You are always on call basically for jeopardy and have to remain in San Diego except for one weekend/month I think and one month / year.




Wake Forest Impression:

Housestaff- very friendly, a bit reserved. Most married. Many have kids and overall they felt vary “settled down.” They felt genuine and very southern.

Call- Mostly night float with call on a couple upper level rotations. You get 2 golden weekends/month even on inpatient rotations.

Hospital- looked much older than it was. Built in 2000ish, but looks like it’s at least 20 years old. However, floors were arranged by ages, and you are assigned to a floor, which means you are close to your patients.

Perks- resident run, small program feel. Could buy a home. Winston is a nice small city. Would feel very at home in the program

Downsides- The program seems to be hurting for funding. Despite being a private hospital they did not have breakfast for applicants or even coffee. They only provide residents lunch when a faculty sponsors it. Did not reimburse parking for applicants either despite 90% driving. Primary care driven program, but subspecialties are available. No fellowships other than NICU. NICU is at another hospital first year with only feeders and growers. Once you are at Baptist proper, NNPs/fellows take care of the most complex patients.


Mayo Impression:

Housestaff: Residents very quiet and timid. Took time for them to come out of their shell, but when they did they were nice. The residents I met throughout the day on visit were all nice, welcoming. Some quiet mentions of things like reality tv nights etc

Call- night float as an intern, Q4 when on PICU, admit every 4th day as an intern

Hospital- The outpatient subspecialty clinic is AMAZING. Like omgeez where did all that money come from. With glass sculptures and stunning marble floors. Cool waiting room with trees that glow and giant leaves that hang from ceiling. Continuity clinic, not as nice, but not bad. Great work space. The children’s hospital itself is older, and small. Only 2 inpatient teams. They cover all medical admissions, but there is probably 40% surgical volume to fill the peds beds. PICU and NICU are tiny (12 and 24 respectively). You do some time well baby and level 2 nursery at the other mayo hospital. Its pretty clear that the money goes to the outpatient clinics and to the adult areas rather than to the Children’s Hospital. Tunnels connecting all of downtown campus, but have to go outside into the cold to get a shuttle between St. Mary’s (where peds hospital is) and downtown clinics etc.

Academics- formal didactics were lacking a bit. Formal morning report once weekly. When you are on general inpatient, someone gives a 15 min presentation before sign out everyday. Grand rounds once weekly. Noon conference with lunch everyday. Not terrible, but not impressive

Perks- free lunch everyday, parking is close, covered, free. Could have a house. Very low cost of living. Nice residents.

Downsides- Rochester. Cold. Cold. Cold. Some concerns about institutional priorities and how they feel about pediatrics in general vs. adult health care. There was a women’s and children’s tower in their 5 year plan, but that’s gone out the window after concerns regarding funding post obamacare. Very introverted residents. Concerns about patient volume (“you learn by reading”). During my visit in the winter, only 10 patients on 2 teams.

 

[sprinkibrio]

I will first state that I'm biased as an NYU peds graduate, but I'll try to be objective.

Sinai - Good name for Medicine, but probably the languishing program out of the 4 manhattan peds residencies
Location: Upper East Side of Manhattan - nice place to live, near the park, kinda expensive
Pay: Probably doesn't pay enough to comfortably live nearby
Atmosphere: described by some as a peds sorority
Reputation: the Sinai name goes far in the general public, but not the most renowned within the peds world
Prospects: can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

CHAM - Probably the most academic of the three in question, but it's a very very big program and it's in the Bronx
Location: the Bronx - cheap to live there, they have incredibly cheap housestaff subsidized housing, but it's the Bronx
Pay: not the best, but more than enough to live nearby comfortably
Atmosphere: very large program, some say it's easy to get lost, there's a ton of fellows, which can be a downside, depending on your perspective (personally, I think resident-driven programs are better to train at for residency than fellow-driven programs)
Reputation: very good reputation, and it's becoming more reputable with all the publicity that they're putting out there
Prospects: again, can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

NYU - Up-and-coming, medium-sized program, very close-knit group, outstanding clinical training
Location: midtown Manhattan - relatively close to all the fun neighborhoods, not the most exciting neighborhood to live in, but easy to commute from other good parts of the city
Pay: best paying program in the city
Atmosphere: close-knit residents, extremely approachable faculty, the most up-and-coming among all the NY programs
Reputation: very good and getting better each year
Prospects: I'm a broken record, you can easily get a job or fellowship spot if you work hard and get good letters from here

PM with with specific questions.

I am a resident at a NYC program and have very close friends from several NYC programs and interactions working with attendings, fellows, and residents who have graduated/are working in many NYC programs, so here is my take:

1. What is unsaid in your post is NYU is up-and-coming because of how low it had been the last 10-20 years, while Sinai may be carrying along as before. I'm just going to say all three places have both "good" and "average" residents as do all programs. On average, though, I feel NYC programs attract much better residents than other places based on location alone.
2. Salary should not be a factor in choosing a residency, but in terms of affordability, Bronx>UES>LES. This is hardly debatable.
3. In general CHAM is the most different from NYU or Sinai--different location, much larger program, more fellows, free-standing children's hospital. NYU and Sinai are more similar, but have very different types of residents which is apparent on interview day. I agree Monte may feel more "fellow run" and the others are "resident run" for what that's worth.

I can expand more, but in general I would go where you feel like you fit, will get good training, and want to live.

 

[catsmart777]

I am a resident at a NYC program and have very close friends from several NYC programs and interactions working with attendings, fellows, and residents who have graduated/are working in many NYC programs, so here is my take:

1. What is unsaid in your post is NYU is up-and-coming because of how low it had been the last 10-20 years, while Sinai may be carrying along as before. I'm just going to say all three places have both "good" and "average" residents as do all programs. On average, though, I feel NYC programs attract much better residents than other places based on location alone.
2. Salary should not be a factor in choosing a residency, but in terms of affordability, Bronx>UES>LES. This is hardly debatable.
3. In general CHAM is the most different from NYU or Sinai--different location, much larger program, more fellows, free-standing children's hospital. NYU and Sinai are more similar, but have very different types of residents which is apparent on interview day. I agree Monte may feel more "fellow run" and the others are "resident run" for what that's worth.

I can expand more, but in general I would go where you feel like you fit, will get good training, and want to live.

Hi and thanks for the advice! Anyone have any comments on Cornell vs. Jacobi vs. Cohen Children's?

 

[J-Rad]

Program name: Children’s National
Impression: Their program director seems great. The program seems very deliberate about education and seems to be on the cutting edge with respect to training providers to teach. Residents were a blast to hang out with the night before. DC is amazing. I have a personal interest in advocacy and would feel very supported as a future pediatrician/child advocate in this program. I definitely think they are committed to giving their residents the opportunity to pursue passions outside of clinical medicine, ie research or advocacy. Resident union allows a ton of perks, including a high salary – important for the DC area. Residents state that they work very hard, but that they enjoy their time and love what they do. These residents seem intensely passionate and very collaborative. I would love to work with them in the future. Seems like a great place to be. Can’t think of any downsides to this program. If I weren’t couples matching, would have been my first choice.

.

Program name: BCRP
Interview day structure: Long day! Half the day at Boston Medical Center, half at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Housestaff: Residents are amazing! They were so friendly and I really enjoyed getting to know them. Not only do they seem brilliant, they also seem outgoing, enthusiastic, supportive of each other and passionate about their work. I also enjoyed the diversity of the class, not only in gender and ethnicity, but also in interests and passions. I know some of the current residents well and they are very excited about there program.
Program:
- Diverse clinical experiences – every rare disease you would ever want to see and more at Children’s + tons of bread and butter at both Children’s and BMC. You get your mix of patients, from international (they come from all over) to inner city to rural.
- FLEXIBLE – As I went through this crazy interview process, I realized how important a flexible curriculum was to me. I have many of my own passions and I felt I would be able to pursue them here. The program director states that he has had residents mold their residencies into what they want them to be. He’s let residents take time off to write a book, pursue other interests or even to have a baby. I think this is a major advantage and allows independent learners and thinkers to thrive.
- Innovative – They seem to be on the cutting edge of medical education. Dr. Sectish (Program Director on the Children’s side) and Dr. Vinci (Program director on the BMC side) and their whole team seem to be involved in developing the future of pediatrics residency education. Dr. Sectish was all about the new guidelines this year, before they even came out.
- Workload – They definitely seem to work hard, particularly in the first two years. High patient volume at both institutions. However, they seem to be well-supported by their program. They also seem supportive of each other.
- FUN – They seem to enjoy their time at work and at home! Happy hour was a blast!
- Advocacy – Residents interested in advocacy in either the UHAT program or the categorical seem to have ample opportunity to pursue projects and get involved with the community!
- Career prospects – There’s no question that the BCRP will open doors for their residents. The faculty and residency leadership seem incredibly supportive. You can go wherever you want after BCRP. It seems like they are training a group of future leaders in peds.
Facilities:
- Both facilities seem beautiful. No issues!
Pros: As above.
Cons: Can’t think of any.