PATIENT, PHYSICIAN, AND SOCIETY ANTHONY
D. LE
ELECTIVE PROJECT NIRAV
SHAH
MARCH
2002
EMERGENCY MEDICINE:
A STUDENT PERSPECTIVE ON GETTING
INTO RESIDENCY
The
process of applying and interviewing for residency can be fun and exciting, but
it can also be stressful. Having just completed the process not too long ago,
we would like to take the opportunity to provide important information and key
points on applying to an emergency medicine residency so that the journey will
be less stressful and more successful.
Entailed
are key points listed in chronological order.
Year 1 and 2
If
you are fortunate enough to know already that emergency medicine is the
specialty that you would like to pursue, then you can prepare early. If you
haven’t decided, that’s okay, too. You are not at a lost or significant
disadvantage. But for those who have already seen the light, you can look into research in the specialty of emergency
medicine to beef up your future application. If you want to be highly
competitive, research can set you apart from other applicants during the
interview season.
Research
opportunities in emergency medicine at SLU are few and far between, from our experience, but you may be able to ask the faculty for
suggestions. Our advice to you, if you would like to do research, is to get in
touch with the Washington University Emergency Medicine Department and ask some
of their faculty if there are any on-going research projects that you may
participate in during medical school. In comparison to SLU, Wash U has a
residency program in emergency medicine and there is PLENTY of funding for
research at that institution. Dr. Douglas Char is the residency director at
Wash U and he may be able to arrange for a research project within the
department. Dr. Larry Lewis, department
chair, is very nice and very interested in getting people involved in research.
Nirav contacted Dr. Lewis and it was a great experience for him.
Another
piece of advice during the early years is to get to know the emergency medicine department at SLU. The faculty
at SLU is a great asset, especially Dr.
Brooks and Dr. Weston. Try to
set up a brief meeting with Dr. Brooks, the head of the department, and express
your interest in the field of EM. He will set you in the right direction and
you will build a strong rapport with him (strong rapport = strong letter of
recommendation).
Another
opportunity to become more familiar with the field of emergency medicine during
the first two years of medical school is to be a member of the Emergency Medicine Interest Group at SLU. The group is very informal, but
helpful in providing the chance to ride in the ARCH helicopter (for those
interested in flying,
Finally,
and most importantly, at the end of your second year, there will be a little
quiz called the USMLE Step I exam.
We can not stress enough the importance of this exam. Performing well on Step I
can make life a lot easier down the road. Take the time to study hard and long
for Step I. Whether it may be two or four months, however long you need, make
sure to prepare for the exam and rock it when you do. The number of residency
program doors that swings open, during the application process, due to an
outstanding Step I score is high. Make
Step I a highlight to your application.
Other
important aspects to consider during Year I and II include setting up your third year rotations and pursuing other things
outside the realm of medicine. In regards to the third year rotations, we do
not believe that the order of the rotations matters, so long as you do well,
learn as much as you can, and have fun while doing the rotations. One piece of
advice when scheduling though – try to set-up an elective month in emergency
medicine at
Going
back to interests outside of medicine,
it is very important to show EM programs
that you are not this one-sided, robot, gunner student. Explore and pursue
other things in life. Whether it may be marathons and sports or acting and the
arts, go do those things to make life fun and to keep your sanity in hand. EM
residency programs want people who are fun to be with, in and out of the
hospital setting. Don’t get us wrong, they want residents who work hard, but
they also want people who play hard when they get the time.
As
you go into your third-year clerkships,
life will hopefully be much more fulfilling and fun. You have completed your
core academics and you are now finally applying what you have learned all those
hours of studying the books. Try to do the best you can in every rotation, yet
focus on your months of surgery and internal medicine (the two fields that are
the basis of emergency medicine). Also, try your best to honor your emergency medicine rotation whenever you take it at SLU.
In
order to prepare you for a rotation in emergency medicine, there is a short
paper on the topic located on the Internet. The following is the website:
http://www.saem.org/inform/advicefo.htm
Also,
there is an article in the journal, Academic Emergency Medicine, April 2001,
Volume 8, Number 4, pp. 402-403, entitled The Outstanding Medical Student In Emergency Medicine, that is very helpful, too. It
points out qualities in a successful medical student in EM rotations [e.g.
learning how to approach common EM complaints (chest pain, SOB, abdominal
pain), staying on top of patients without having to be reminded, etc.].
Don’t
forget to keep in touch with your advisor and make a mental note of the faculty
whom you would like to get a letter of
recommendation from when it comes down to the application. It would be wise
to ask s/he if they would be able to write you a
strong letter of recommendation, and if so, what they will need to write the
letter. Know that the letter writing process does not occur until the summer of
your fourth year or maybe even later, depending on your writer. Don’t sweat it
unless the letter isn’t in by November 1st of your applying year,
but we’ll discuss this more later.
Besides
studying, the later half of your third year should also be dedicated to researching emergency medicine residency
programs. Talk with Dr. Brooks and the rest of the faculty on what EM
programs should definitely be on your list. Also, do your own investigating on
the Internet. There are a great number of websites
on the topic of EM, yet we will only suggest a few.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html
http://emra.org/
The SAEM website is especially useful to view articles dedicated to medical students interested in the field of EM, to review residency programs that have externship electives available, and to become familiar with the residency programs that you are interested in applying to next year. The website also has links to the EM residency program website addresses, too. The AMA website also has many statistics on the numerous EM residency programs and contact numbers.
Arranging for away rotations should begin around the months of March to June. Residency
programs are very busy with the Match process up to the middle of February and
would probably like not to be bothered until it is over. Starting in March is great. You will have time to contact the
programs, get application material for the rotation (either by the Internet or
snail-mail), and prepare to have all the medical/legal/academic clearance for
the externship. Get your immunizations,
antibody titers, chest X-ray/PPD done by the end of your third year so that
all documents are handy when they need to be sent with the applications. Also,
some programs may request a letter of
recommendation from a faculty member- this letter is NOT the same as a
letter of recommendation for residency- it should be short and sweet, stating
that you’re a hard-worker, team-player, blah-blah-blah, not schizophrenic, et
cetera. This is when it is nice to have the EM faculty at SLU on your side, or an attending in internal medicine or surgery that
you feel can write you a brief letter quickly. EM away rotations are popular
and it is wise to get a jumpstart on the application before lists get filled
up. Rotations are very popular during
the months of July through November (the prime “audition months” of the
year), especially the highly sought after and competitive programs in the
nation. It’s First
Come, First Serve!!!
When
selecting which programs to apply to for externships, go for programs that you
are REALLY interested in going to and will have the opportunity to show your
stuff everyday on rotation. Many programs will grant interviews on the spot
after your month there, to forgo travel expenses later and get you interviewed
while you’re still fresh in their minds (these interviews are done during the
months of October/November and after). Tony went to
During
the latter half of your third year, you will also begin scheduling your last and final year in medical school (it sounds
great and it is!). Hopefully, you will know which away rotations you have
set-up and those months can be set aside already. We would suggest scheduling
for the USMLE Step II exam fairly
soon after the end of your third year. Why? Well, all the information you have
accumulated during your third year is still fresh in your mind and you will be
able to recall the facts much easier. Also, you don’t want Step II to be
something looming over your head for the rest of the year, especially after
your interviews and Match time when everyone else is going out, having fun, and
enjoying their last moments of irresponsibility. We took it in March and we
wish ww had taken so much earlier!!! Another advantage to taking Step II
earlier is to redeem any shortcomings on your previous Step I exam score or
academic history. Take two to four weeks to study for the exam intensely and
then ace it. You may feel some burn-out at the end of the third year, but trust
us, get Step II out of the way. We suggest that you take two weeks completely
off prior to the exam to study hardcore and, if you can, prior to the two weeks
off, schedule a very easy elective for two weeks so that you can ease into your
studying. Some examples of low-intensity
electives are as follows:
The Role of Teaching and Feedback (ED 402)
Cardiac Auscultation – An Advanced Course (IM 431)
Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram (IM 427)
Computer Assisted Instruction in Internal Medicine (IM 430)
Cross Sectional Anatomy (A 406)
All
of the above are two-week electives that do not require much time and will
allow you the ability to study for Step II while still getting your elective
completed. Knowing this about the electives, they are extremely popular in the
class and difficult to schedule at times.
A
few tips on studying for Step II,
get used to thinking for a long period of time. Step II is at least more
interesting than Step I, but it is also longer by one hour (extra 50
questions). Get some endurance and stamina! What to use to study? Well, that
all varies with how you study, but some of the more popular books include the following:
NMS Question Book for Step II (lots of Q’s and great answers
to review)
Advanced Life Support for Step II (short and sweet)
Secrets for Step II
Prescriptions for the Boards (long, but comprehensive)
Kaplan Questions on CD-ROM (lengthy Q’s, more difficult than
Step II)
First Aid for USMLE Step II (bombarded with facts)
Ask
other senior medical students what they used and go from there. Also, remember
to take time to enjoy yourself when you can- in other words, don’t get burnt
out studying and peak too early.
After
Step II, the beginning of your fourth year should revolve around doing the EM
elective at SLU if you have not already done so in the third year and the rest
of the EM rotations you have scheduled elsewhere. We would suggest that you do no more than three EM externships and at
least one. Why? The SLU EM rotation is great in the sense that you work
intimately with the attendings and do some procedures here and there. However, SLU does not have a residency program in EM
and that is important. EM residency programs want to see that you completed a
month at an institution with an EM residency program so that they know what
you will be getting into for the coming year. They also want to see evaluations
and letters from faculty who have come across EM
residents and medical students interested in EM (better comparison and
perspective of future star residents). By doing an EM externship early enough,
you may be able to get one of the faculty members to write you strong letter
quickly enough to get into the application. Don’t do too many EM rotations,
though. It is best to spread out your time wisely and smell some other flowers
while you can. Plus, you don’t want to look too gung-ho. If you would like to
meet the EM faculty of another institution, yet you have already done three EM
electives, try a toxicology month if they offer it.
Other
great electives to take during your
fourth year that will help you to prepare for a residency in EM include
anesthesiology, unit months (CCU, ICU, MICU, SICU, burn
unit), radiology, orthopedics, and pediatric EM. A final word or two on
scheduling the last year: plan to take
off a month in December or January for residency interviews, or schedule a
rotation that will allow you to miss days here and there with short notice
during those months; and in the last half of the year, schedule FUN MONTHS!!!
Take advantage of those last few days of freedom, prior to the internship hell.
Go to a foreign country, do a month of wilderness medicine at a National Park,
sign-up for cruise ship medicine, or just maximize your away rotation time by
going back home,
Year 4
The
year you have been waiting for has finally arrived and let the games begin. If
you have scheduled the year wisely, then the fourth-year should run smoothly.
Glitches in the master plan will happen inevitably, but don’t sweat it. Take
Step II and get it out of the way. Then, do the best you can on those away
rotations in EM. Get to know the faculty, especially those on the admission
committee, and the residents well. Ask a lot of questions about the program and
take advantage of your time there to make an informed decision later on about
the program. See if you get along with the people, ask the residents what life
is like working there, and take notes on all the logistics to the program. First
and foremost, though, when you are there, work hard and be friendly. Go out
with the EM crew when you have the opportunity, do that rectal on every chest
pain patient, get those lab results/scans read so you can report them to the
attending or resident, treat the ancillary staff with respect, do serial checks
on your rock patients that are in the ED for a long time, and take the
initiative to help out wherever you can. It is also important not to be that
annoying fourth-year student who is trying way too hard. Be yourself and go
with the groove. Remember: the program is definitely checking you out as
much as you are checking them out. Leave them with a stellar impression of
you when you end your rotation and they’ll want you when it comes to Match time. Remember to get contacts in the program
before you leave and keep in touch later on, especially if it is a program
high on your list. Try to do your interview while you’re there, especially
if it’s the month of November and December. It'll save you money and time.
During
the early months of fourth-year, you will also need to ask faculty for letters
of recommendation. I would suggest Dr. Brooks and Dr. Weston if you
have built a strong relationship with the both of them. The letters of
recommendation from EM faculty is written on a form letter which may be
found at the following website:
http://www.cordem.org/slor.htm
You
may elect to have another faculty member at SLU EM to write you a letter and
that is fine. Again, it is to your advantage if you have completed an EM
externship elsewhere to have a faculty member from the EM residency program
write you a letter of recommendation. The reason, again, is because the
letter will be more credible and worthwhile in the eyes of the residency
committee members. Get at least two letters of recommendation from EM
faculty, and the third may come from someone who can write you a great letter.
Most programs request three letters of recommendation, but a limited few want
four. You can check each program’s website for details. On ERAS, the electronic
application service you will use, a total of four letters can be sent to each
individual institution you apply to. We both had four letters (2 EM, 1 IM, 1 PEDS) that we sent to each school because they were all
very strong letters. In any case, provide each letter writer with whatever
material they need- CV, photo, personal statement.
Since
the writers of you letters of recommendation will need a CV and personal
statement, it is necessary for you to buckle down and get these documents
on paper by around August. It is courteous to give letter writers
approximately a month to write a letter of recommendation. So, getting the CV
and personal statement finished early will be to your advantage. In order to
get a better feel on how to go about writing a CV and personal statement,
please read Iserson’s Getting Into A Residency and First Aid for the Match, to become more familiar with samples.
The two books are also a great way to prepare for interviews and the rest of
the application process. One suggestion we have about the personal statement is
to express a hobby or interest outside the realm of EM in the document. EM
programs want well-rounded people. Also, don't get too bogged down on
completing the personal statement- there are other, more important factors to
the application than the personal statement. The following article in
Academic Emergency Medicine, January 2000, Volume 7, Number 1, pp. 54-60,
entitled Selection Criteria for Emergency Medicine Residency Applicants,
discusses what EM residency committees look for in applicants and how much each
aspect is weighted in their decision to select the applicant for a residency
position. Also, remember to have your personal statement reviewed by Dr.
Brooks and others for feedback and grammar correction.
Back
to the application process, complete the
ERAS application by the first week of October as a deadline. This means
that you must know where you want to go and how many programs you want to apply
to. Again, familiarize yourself with all the different residency programs on
the FREIDA and SAEM websites, along with the individual residency program
websites. What we suggest is narrowing the field of 124 residency programs by LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
Think about where you will be happy living for the next 3-4 years. Whether it
be close to home and family, or one of the coasts, try to decide on which
states you can say, "Yeah, I can live there," with a smile. For us,
we were both looking into heading back to
Another
thing to consider when looking at programs is the type of program you want to
train at. Do you want a small program
of 5 residents per year or the large-scale one of 18 residents per
year? There is also the consideration of a county
versus a non-county facility to train at. Many county residency programs
like
Pros- High volume, many procedures to perform,
always busy with a rare dull moment in the shift.
Cons-
Working with the poor and indigent population, usually not the best
facility/ancillary staff/surrounding environment.
At
the end of this paper, there will be
a list of several programs that we
and other EM applicants this year applied to and interviewed at, and a brief
description of the program. Hopefully, this will give you more insight on the
program, in addition to the information on the Internet.
As
for those of you deciding to apply to EM programs that require an internship
year (2-4 programs), you will need to open you pockets once again and select preliminary medicine and/or transitional
year programs to apply to, also. There are not as many transitional
programs as preliminary medicine programs in the nation. That being said, if
you are looking to live somewhere specific, you may be better off applying to a
preliminary medicine program. However, we particularly like the transitional
program curriculum because they tend to have more elective months and you will
be exposed to a number of different specialties that are important in EM (e.g.
surgery, anesthesia, critical care). On the downside, you will be shifted from
one service to the next, as opposed to medicine where you will have more
continuity and familiarity with the system of the program. We played it safe
and applied to 10 preliminary medicine and 10 transitional programs. If you are
lucky, some of the 2-4 EM programs will have their own internship year program
and your interview with EM program will usually be taken as an interview for
the internship. Many will push your name ahead of their internship list if they
know you will be ranked highly on the EM program rank list.
By
your application deadline, you will need your CV, personal statement, list of
programs to apply to, and your letters of recommendation. Regarding the letters of recommendation, make sure to
touch base with your letter writers to make sure they make your deadline date.
The letters should be at least in by November 1st, but the
earlier the better. One other piece of advice is to deny the opportunity to
see these letters- it is just the decision that everyone chooses. You will
also need your Dean's Letter for the application. Try to schedule
your meeting time in August or September with the Dean. The meeting will be
brief and will consist of the Dean reviewing your grades and evaluations, and
discussing with you what will be taken from the evaluations to be put in your
letter. Beware of reviewing the Dean's letter to make sure that the content
is appropriate and grammatically correct.
When
all the necessary material is in hand, you can send off the application via
ERAS and check the ADTS website to see when the programs have received the
material. Depending on the program, you will begin to receive e-mails/phone
calls inviting you for an interview or denying you an interview. Most
interviews are conducted from November to the end of January. Make sure to keep
up to date with your e-mail as it is the main course of communication between
you and the program. As soon as you
receive an invite to interview, schedule it ASAP. You want to have the
advantage of choosing your date and securing your spot. Some programs will
invite more applicants than they have spots to interview and that means it's
first come, first serve to those interview spots (don't be wait-listed!). When
to schedule? It is best to schedule your
top priority programs in January because you will be fresh in their mind
when they must make their rank order list of applicants in February. Also, by
collecting your receipts in January, you can make tax deductions on that calendar year for employment travel
expenses. However, don't make the mistake of setting up several
back-to-back interviews that will leave you in a whirlwind and present yourself
poorly during the interview. Keep in mind, though, you will also want to set aside some time at the end of January
or beginning of February to do second-looks at the programs you are dying
to go to for residency. Do the second-looks at the top three programs you're
interested in. It can mean a lot when the program makes their rank order
list of residents when they know you went out of your way to see them again.
One other piece of advice, we would suggest trying to group you interviews by location, of course, to cut down on costs
and time. The bottom-line is to try to interview in January, but December is
just as good.
When
you are preparing for the interview,
get as much information on the program
and read up on it. Have a set of questions you want to ask program
directors/attendings/residents during the interview (don't be left mute when
they ask you the "Do you have any questions for us" for the billionth
time- at least ask the same question you asked someone else before). Make sure
to ask the questions appropriate to the person you are asking (i.e. the
direction of the program to the program director, most difficult off-service
rotation to the residents). Also, ask about highlights to their program (for
example,
This
goes without saying, but always look
your best and be on your best behavior. You never know who is evaluating
you. Ancillary staff, residents, attendings, program secretary, or anyone else
you may meet during the interview may have a say in the selection process- a
resident you meet during lunch and had a great connection with could push you
further through the door of getting accepted to the program.
Travel and accommodation suggestions when interviewing, we have only a few. Look
into the Internet travel companies (e.g. Priceline, Orbitz, etc.) if you have
the leisure of when you can arrive and depart. Take advantage of residents
offering to house you for the night. You can find out more about the program
while saving costs. Also, ask the program secretary if they have anyone willing
to house you or if they have hotels at a discounted rate for interviewees. Finally, Priceline hotels and rental cars when you can. We
were amazed at the prices we received for one-night stays in 3-4 star hotels. Remember, save those receipts for any
expenses that you have January 1st and after- IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
The
typical interview day begins with a
brief introduction by the program director and a slide-show entailing
information and logistics to the program. Following, interviews will be conducted by as many as five faculty members (program
director/chair, attendings, residents, ancillary staff managers) but will
usually be around 2-3 total interviews. Be ready for anything, but most
interviews are relatively pleasant and friendly. Questions on why you want to
come to this program, what you want in a program, why you chose EM as a
specialty will always come up. More fancy questions that we've come across
include, "What is the latest book you have finished reading?",
"Tell me about a patient you learned the most from?", "If you
were stuck on the rooftop of a building, how would you get down?" After
the interview marathon, lunch will be served and you will be able to talk with
other residents in the program at this time. Finally, a tour of the ED and
facilities will usually conclude the day.
If
you have time, we would suggest that you shadow
a resident or observe the ED in action after your interview or possibly the day
before your interview (if you get in early). Most will welcome the idea and
hand you some scrubs. Check out how things work, how everyone works together,
what types of patients come through the day, and whatever else is important to
you. Note how much teaching goes on during a shift, how much supervision and
autonomy do the residents have by the attendings, and
what role does the ancillary staff have in the scheme of the ED. All in all, by
spending some time during your interview in the ED, you will come across as
being very interested in the program and its staff, and you will have your own
point of view of the program when it comes to making your rank list later.
Again,
before you leave, have some contact
people you can talk with later on during the interview season. The people
you stay in contact with can also be people who can speak for you at the time
when the admissions committee makes their list of residents. Depending on the
program, residents may have an equal say as an attending on who
and who does not get into the program.
After
an interview, it is a good idea to send the program a thank you letter for inviting you to interview and for the entire
day. Who to send the letter(s) to? We made a point to send each person we
interviewed with a letter, along with anyone else we
spoke to whom we felt we made a connection with during the day. This made for A
LOT of letters to write, sign, and send, but we believe it's worth it. Most
letters will be put in your applicant file that the committee will review
during the day(s) of making their decision. This being said, it is wise to
personalize the letters to their respective recipients. Use notes that you have
taken after each interview and mention something specific that was talked about
during your conversation. With respect to thank you letter format and content,
refer to the sample letters in First Aid for the Match and Iserson's handbook. If you are honestly going to rank a program very high on your list
(top three), it may be worth mentioning in your letter. Try to get these
letters in the mail 2-3 days after your interview with the program so that you
are fresh in the interviewers' mind when they read them.
When
you have hit the end of the interview trail and the last program has been visited,
the last second-look has been completed, and the last thank you letter is in
the mail, you can take a moment and sigh . . . for a moment. It will be the
beginning of February and the EM programs will be making their list and
hopefully checking it twice to see that you name is high on it. To make sure of
this, give a call to your top three
programs and, again, express your desire to come to their program. You can
also just e-mail the program to re-iterate your intent to put the program high
on your rank list. Just don't be pushy when you make the call or write the
e-mail. Keep it short and brief- just a little reminder before they make their
list incoming residents.
Now,
it is time to make your rank order list
(middle of February). First and foremost
when making your rank order list, go with your gut and rank how you feel.
Even if a program may not be the best in reputation according to some article,
if you felt during your interview that it is the place you will be most happy
at and where you felt that you belong, then rank it at the top of your list. On
the flip side, if there is a program
where you feel that you would be miserable working at for the next 3-4 years,
whether it is due to location, a particular person in the program, or whatever,
don't rank it!!! It is not worth going through the training feeling upset
and depressed about being where you are. There are options when you don't
match, yet going unmatched is another can of worms that needs to be discussed,
too. Do not over-analyze the match process, how you think the programs will
rank you, or come up with a scheme/formula to the rank order list. Go with your heart and rank accordingly.
Choose the program where you will ultimately be happy and where you will be
trained well. All accredited EM programs in the US should train you well in EM
(beware of programs that do not fill or programs that are on probation- find
out why and then make your decision about the program), some better than
others.
As
the rank order list deadline comes, try not to make any last minute or hasty
decisions (unless you absolutely have good reasons to do so). Leave the list alone. Go ahead and
count the seconds as they pass, but realize you have set your best foot forward
and made the most informed decision in your rank order list.
Congratulations!
Your destiny is out of your hands and it is now put into the Match computer.
Approximately in one month, around mid-March, the term "March
Madness" will not only apply to NCAA basketball but also many graduating
senior medical students awaiting the results of the Match. Enjoy the rest of
your year, make that spring break trip, go back home and relax with family and
friends. Match Day will come soon enough.
Match Day is usually a Thursday
in mid-March. The Monday prior, you will know first of all if
you match, just not where. A notification via e-mail will tell you if you
have matched or the registrar's office will contact you with the bad news. If
you go unmatched, you will need to find out which programs in the nation have
unfilled spots and make contact with those you are interested in applying to in
the Scramble. We can not give you suggestions or hints on this process since we
did not go through it, but you will receive more on this topic in a meeting
conducted by the medical school administration.
Once
you know you have matched on Monday, you must wait until Thursday to find out
where you will be going for residency. Match Day is definitely exciting. You
will be handed an envelope with the program enclosed. Hopefully, you will be
happy with the results, but no matter what go out and have fun with everyone
because the culmination of four years and an arduous interview season is over.
When
the smoke has cleared and you have awaken from your stupor of celebration, it
is courteous to contact all those who have helped you with applying to
residency (advisors, mentors, letter of recommendation writers) and let them
know about the results. It is also a good idea to contact the residency
program and let them know how excited you are about coming to the program.
Additional information regarding the program, ACLS/BLS/ATLS/PALS training,
health verification, and the one-year contract will eventually come in the
mail. Keep on top of these things so that you won't fall being and look unprofessional
before you even start on the floors.
As
for the rest of the year, ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY.
Savor the time you have before internship year and when you actually have a
job. Graduation is in May and we’re looking forward to it, along with the rest
of our class of 2002. This year has been a successful one for those going into
EM: UT Southwestern-Dallas (2), Brigham Women's Hospital (Harvard) (1),
We wish you all luck in your journey through medical school and beyond, whether you choose emergency medicine or another field of medicine, and we hope that this information will help guide you.
List of EM Programs Interviewed
1.
4-year program. Excellent county program. Good relationship between attending and
residents. Good teaching. 25% of time
spent at UCSF. One of the better and more competitive
programs. Tony did a month out there and it was easy to get, if you
apply for the externship early enough. There are a lot of students rotating
through. Very indigent patient population. Lots of trauma. New ED opening by the time you get there. EM
department is the highlight to this facility, so they call the shots.
2.
3-year program. Large ER with good mix of indigent and
private patients. Good teaching. Not as busy at county programs. Trauma
is run by surgery- a negative (you run it on your trauma month). Time mostly
divided between the
3.
3-year program. Good program. Great pediatric training and international EM
is a highlight to the program as well as event medicine (doing concerts, award
shows, auto racing and other sporting events). Good
4.
2-4 program. One
of the better programs in the nation. One of the largest with respect to
how many residents they take each year. Good off service rotations. Very structured program. Very busy, less
time for teaching but great place to learn by doing. In
our opinion great combination of county population, supervision, and teaching.
New ED in the works and will most likely be available by the time you get
there. Patient population is indigent with lots of new immigrants and
phenomenal pathology. Don’t bother with applying to the preliminary internal
medicine year there, though- it’s not well-received even by the EM residents.
5.
2-4 year program. One of our favorite programs. BU
runs the county hospital and the university hospital which makes a great
patient population. Good faculty and great training. Dr. Brooks is a graduate
from the EM program and he is happy to talk to you about the program. Very nice
curriculum and residents are happy there.
6.
Metrohealth-Cleveland
Clinic (
3-year program. Excellent place to train if you want to
stay in the
7.
4-year program. Another very county setting. Diverse patient population and tremendous variety of pathology.
Residents are working VERY hard in the program. High volume, not as much trauma
as expected for NYC. Big drawback is the ancillary staff- pretty much
non-existent in the ED. You push the patients to radiology, you push the
medications, you get the vitals. Very
understaffed. If you get done there, you will be stronger. Besides the
hard work you put in and putting up with the ancillary staff, it is a very good
program.
8.
3-year program. Middle
of the road program. Nice people. Nice community program. Nice place to
live in Park Slope. Tony used to live there and he had a great time. Housing is
provided next to the hospital as subsidized housing. Medium
size volume per year. You do get shipped around to other hospital ED’s
during your training. There is a SLU alum training
there now. Low trauma status, so you go elsewhere for trauma
training.
9.
2-4 program. Relatively
new and with a young housestaff. Tony was not very impressed after the
interview. You train at two sites- the
10.
4-year program. Good strong program.
Amazing facilities with a brand new ED. Strong commitment to being one
of the premier programs in ER and the faculty are dedicated in making it so
soon. New program with young faculty. Great patient population and nice attendings. You may have
some disputes with IM for admissions yet the faculty will support you. Lots of research time and money to support this endeavor.
Residents appear happy. Don’t have to move!
11,
2-4 program. Large
county program. Learn by doing. Very little supervision. You see everything and have to do
everything. Crazy place to work but you can deal with most things when in the
real world. Excellent
program.
12.
UCLA - Olive
View (UCLA Medical Center/Olive View)
2-4 program. Excellent
teaching. Excellent ancillary staff. Most
patients are private patients. Very little trauma. Excellent program.
13.
UCSF-Frenso (
4-year program. Excellent patient population and
teaching. One of the best programs Nirav has seen. Everything you want
in a program. Nice faculty, great population, and great teaching. Biggest down
fall of program is LOCATION. Nothing to do in
14.
Kern Medical (
2-4 program. Small
community program. Not very impressive. Since
it is a small community program when off-service rotations like ortho, you are
the only ortho resident so you do everything. Location less
than desirable with nothing to do in
15.
3-year program. Excellent program. Private patients. One of best
16.
3-year program. Middle of road. Nothing
special. Trauma training was
weak.
17.
4-year program. Nirav talked to resident as UCSF-Fresno who transferred out
of the program. He said very slow program without enough procedures. Would not recommend this program.
List of Transitional Programs
Interviewed
1.
SLU (
Offered by the anesthesiology
residency program so most spots dedicated to that specialty. However, a good number of spots left for other residencies
requiring an internship year.
2.
You will not learn anything during the year, don't waste
your time.
3.
A fantastic place for the
internship year. Very competitive and sought after by applicants. Great location. Director is very nice.
4.
Phenomenal program for the
transitional year. Good
training. Residents are happy. Located in the heart of
List of Preliminary Medicine
Programs Interviewed
1.
SLU (
Dr. Schmidts of the renal module during the 2nd
year is the head of the department is very dedicated to making the internship
year the best experience for the residents. Good amount of electives.
2.
Nice mix of outpatient and inpatient. Very
nice people. Great program.
3.
UC Irvine (
Majority of your time spent on VA wards. Good location.
4.
Same as above.
5.
EM interview counted as preliminary medicine interview.
6.
Don’t bother applying. Poor training.
Not advised by faculty and residents.
Great EM Programs We Wished We
Were Granted An Interview
1.
UCLA-Harbor
2.
3.
4.
5.
Maricopa,
6.
UC Irvine
7.
UC
*DISCLAIMOR:
THE
CONTENT OF THIS PAPER IS THE OPINION OF NIRAV SHAH AND ANTHONY LE ONLY. WE ARE
ONLY STATING OUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS. WE WERE OF SOUND MIND WHEN WRITING THIS
PAPER (AT LEAST MOST OF THE TIME).