I interviewed at Yale. I believe I met fellows who came from Yale, Penn, MGH, and Columbia, but there was a lot from non-ivy programs.
In terms of competitiveness, it's probably similar to matching to a program like NYU or maybe a U chicago -- but honestly, I'm not sure.
Regarding what the program is like:
I got two messages from both the fellows and the chair of the department.
Many of the fellows said they were interested in clinical careers, got ample clinical training, and were not doing any research. The chair on the other hand made a point to say that they were looking for researchers and not to count on getting any level 2 training. One of the fellows told me this was an act.
In terms of research, Harland Krumholz is one of the biggest names in outcomes research. Barry Zaret is also there, and he's big in nuclear medicine and imaging.
For facilities, the main hospital is newly renovated and gorgeous. They just merged with a community hospital though, and it was old and not too exciting. The merger is going to double their overnight call, and the fellows not surprisingly didn't seem to like it.
Clinical volume isn't an issue. They do TAVER, 15-20 heart transplants a year, VADs, and good number of VT ablation and cath.
Downtown New Haven seemed vibrant and the pre-interview dinner was fun (My little brother is at med school at Yale and he actually really likes it). Fellows stressed the nice suburbs and cost of living.
Overall, I thought it was a solid program, with good clinical training, strong outcomes research and imaging, but with a few question marks:
1) the new merger
2) program leadership
Fellows seemed happy there, so I bet if you want to go there, you would be too.
Hope this is helpful.
