Yale, Brown, UNC, VA, Denver

[natsplat]

Has anyone heard anything about the peds res programs at Yale, Brown, Denver and any in North Carolina or Virginia? (how competitive, quality of program, satisfaction of residents, etc.)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mhdousa]

Nat,

I just started as an intern at Denver, and it's the only one I can comment on from personal experience (I didn't interview at any of the other ones you mentioned). I have only been here a week, but I love it here. It was my first choice, and there has been nothing to make me regret it so far. Some of the things that I think are great about this program:

-FIVE call free months per year (some of the other programs I looked at didn't
have that many combined over all three years)
-VERY happy residents. We work very hard, but we also have a well-attended
weekly happy hour, and you can't beat living in Denver
-Great balance of bread-and-butter with highly specialized tertiary care
-The best morning report of any program I've seen (though it occasionally
degenerates into a pissing match between the attendings)

It's a competitive program to get into, but if you are interested, I would definitely
recommend doing a rotation out here. If you have other specific questions, ask
them here or send me a private message.

One of my good friends just started at UNC, and she loves it there. Very happy
residents, from what I've heard. I haven't heard great things about Brown,
although they supposedly have a beautiful hospital. Yale has taken some hits
lately -- their reputation has dropped considerably (I heard many of their
attendings left for UConn), though this is all just word of mouth. Someone
else would be better qualified to answer this.

Hope this helps. Like I said, let me know if you have other questions about Denver.

Good luck!
-M

 

[natsplat]

That's amazing that you get five months without call! There are no catches?! I'd love to hear more about any other programs you applied to, too, and what you thought of them. I plan on applying to the top programs in the northeast (Boston, Phili, etc.) but I don't really know where to apply to after that. So what is Denver like? How much does it snow? I'm in Buffalo right now, and I kind of want to get away from blizzards and get more sunshine. I like doing stuff outdoors like running, biking, etc. - are there places to do that? Thanks.

 

[mhdousa]

Originally posted by natsplat
That's amazing that you get five months without call! There are no catches?! I'd love to hear more about any other programs you applied to, too, and what you thought of them. I plan on applying to the top programs in the northeast (Boston, Phili, etc.) but I don't really know where to apply to after that. So what is Denver like? How much does it snow? I'm in Buffalo right now, and I kind of want to get away from blizzards and get more sunshine. I like doing stuff outdoors like running, biking, etc. - are there places to do that? Thanks.

No, there are no catches on the call-free months, other than an occasional
couple days of jeopardy call (you only go in if the on-call person is sick or has an
emergency) or one saturday of urgent care clinic.

Running and biking around Denver....hmmm....honestly, that's like asking if there
are places to get wings in Buffalo. You've got the frickin' Rocky Mountains in your
backyard. The only outdoors thing you can't do here is surf.

Denver weather is crazy -- it'll be sunny all day, then a storm will barrel in
and then be gone, and ten minutes later it's sunny again. it snows some, but
the sun shines so much that it all melts the next day.

Here are the programs that I ranked in order after #1:
Seattle -- incredible program. I debated for a while about whether or not to put
this #1, but in the end, the call-free months at Denver clinched it for me (Seattle
only gets one per year). But Seattle is an amazingly supportive residency program, and the residents have the "work hard, play hard (i know, it's a cliche)"
attittude similar to here at Denver.

Columbia -- honestly, I didn't like the program as much as I liked the idea of
living in NYC for a year. Fun group of residents. Great chance to act as an
advocate, because you are the hospital for the kids of washington heights.

Northwestern -- great program. great city. A very happy bunch of residents.
Supportive program director.

Stanford -- this was an okay program. Lots of post-transplant kids. Not quite
as academic as I would like (residents seemed more excited about the proximity
of the stanford mall than their program). Happy residents.

Cincy -- great, supportive program. lots of money for resident benefits. only
hospital to admit kids in cincy. city sucks, though.

Oakland -- i didn't like this program as much as many others did. as one resident
described it to me: "it's a community hospital with a little bit extra." happy
residents. lots of advocacy potential. hospital is having a lot of financial
difficulties.

pittsburgh -- great program, but there's no way i'd be able to live in pittsburgh
(recently ranked the worst city in the U.S. for singles).

So, it's late, and I've had some drinks, so I may have forgotten some things
about the programs. But feel free to ask more questions if you've got them.
I'm happy to answer whatever I can.

-M