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Profile #00606
Demographics
Match Year: 2010
This profile will remain anonymous for two years from the match date above.
Academic Information
USMLE Step 1: 264
USMLE Step 2: 258
AOA: Not Available
Class Rank: Top 10%
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| Family Medicine: | Honors | |
Internal Medicine: | Honors |
| Pediatrics: | Satisfactory | |
Surgery: | Honors |
| Neurology: | | |
Psychiatry: | Honors |
| OB/Gyn: | Honors | |
Radiology: | Honors |
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Other Information
Took time off between undergrad and medical school thus had some work experience in clinical trials. Research was a weak point- only involved in a couple of projects with No publications. Did not go to a powerhouse top 20 school. Had some unique experiences non-medically related during medical school that people enjoyed talking about at interviews.
Applications
Alabama
Arizona| Maricopa Med Ctr: |  | | - Applied
| | U Arizona: | | | - Rotated at this institution
- Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| I did not get an interivew. Actually withdrew after rotating there - Program lost a lot of faculty several years ago and has not returned to what it once was. Buyer beware - they still only interview very strong applicants though. |
- Program Advantages:
| Residents were friendly.
Tucson, AZ is a great place to be that is really cheap
Paid for call I believe thus can make alot of money and I believe their call situation is improving |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Alot of angry attendings. One of the big names in body imaging reads out with residents without saying a word to them + he gets easily agitated and has to be calmed down like a prima donna. One of the MSK attendings makes first year rad residents dictate |
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California| Cedars-Sinai Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
| | LAC-Harbor-UCLA Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Everyone was very friendly. Interview day was poorly organized and PD had absolutely no enthusiasm. Made it obvious he did not want to talk to us |
- Program Advantages:
| It is in California - if you want to be there.
All the people I interacted with were really friendly. |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Hospital is a community hospital for the indigent in LA thus it is not that nice. Not as many lectures as alot of other programs |
| | Loma Linda U: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized but alot of down time. All the faculty were very friendly. |
- Program Advantages:
| Nice hospital in SoCal
Seemed like a really laid back atmosphere with very friendly people.
Send residents to some top fellowships especially in IR |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Hospital is run by seventh day adventist church and thus does not sell any meat products or caffeine on campus. It created a somewhat unique atmosphere if you are not a very religious person. Everyone was very nice though so not necessarily a true negativ |
| | Santa Clara Valley Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
| | Stanford U: | | | - Applied
| | U California (Davis): | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Interview day was very well organized. Interview with about 4-5 attendings I think + a resident. Low stress interviews. |
- Program Advantages:
| Friendly atmosphere with happy residents
In CA - if thats your thing
Some well known faculty. |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Nothing major. Due to financial crisis in CA (Out of my region) it was unclear if lack of money was going to affect the program. Supposedly some attendings had taken pay cuts. Don't know what impact this will have long term. |
| | U California (Irvine): | | | - Applied
| | U California (San Diego): | | | - Applied
| | U California (San Francisco): | | | - Applied
| | U S. California/LAC+USC Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
| | UCLA Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
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Colorado| U Colorado: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Something like 50 applicants per interview day - like herding cattle. Made it somewhat chaotic & did not get a ton of exposure to residents. Same drill with 3-4 faculty interviews + 1 resident interview. All were very friendly. |
- Program Advantages:
| Beautiful new campus and facilities. New chairman of the dept has big plans and appears like he is going to execute them. Program appears to be getting more stable after its recent downturn |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Program lost alot of faculty several years ago & thus things were rocky for several years. Things appear to be improving. Was told that the program director is not a student advocate and thus doesn't do much for the students - just a heads up. |
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Florida
Georgia| Emory U: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized (for the most part) with good food. Opportunities to talk with residents. Big program with alot of hospitals - thus exposure to alot of diverse pathology |
- Program Advantages:
| Program size = good call schedule
Grady - Could be good or bad- your call
Newer chair of program has big plans and seems very motivated.
Residents seemed happy
Grady has a solid pacs system now |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Have to cover something like 5 hospitals thus learning all the systems might be a slight challenge.
Grady is not in a safe area & got the impression residents were kind of on their own there. |
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Indiana
Iowa
Maryland| U Maryland: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Very well organized. 3 or 4 interviews I believe - all very relaxed. |
- Program Advantages:
| One of the best atmospheres of all the programs I interviewed at. The chair of the dept takes residents out routinely to get feedback on the program. The PD was super friendly. Really was an outstanding program that is very active. Hospital facilities wer |
- Program Disadvantages:
| The location for me. Baltimore just isn't my Nirvana. If you can stomach it, it would be an awesome place to train |
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Massachusetts
Michigan| U Michigan: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Day was well organized - but very very long - too long. |
- Program Advantages:
| Well known & respected program with a lot of resources
Ann Arbor is one of the better places to be in michigan. PD seemed really nice but was told the chair (who is a big shot heavy hitter) does not socialize with the residents that much. |
- Program Disadvantages:
| I personally got a strange vibe when I was there. Some of the residents did not seem happy. Was told by several people that mammo people were bordering on malignant. Michigan (the state) is in a slump right now. |
| | William Beaumont Hosp: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. Opportunity to talk with residents. 3 interviews with faculty members |
- Program Advantages:
| Residents were extremely happy with great opportunities to moonlight.
Hospital is beautiful. |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Royal oak Michigan is not a happening place. |
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| | Minnesota
New Hampshire| Dartmouth-Hitchcock Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. 3 to 4 interviews with faculty and 1 resident. The dept was dominated by woman (all other programs were definitely male dominated). Only stated that because it was unique. All interviews were friendly and laid back. |
- Program Advantages:
| Beatiful hospital
Location - definitely in the middle on no where which may be hit or miss. A lot of outdoor opportunities |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Small program something like 3 residents per year.
-Just putting in powerscribe voice recognition now |
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New Mexico| U New Mexico: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. 4 interviews I believe. I did not feel I had enough time to talk with residents. |
- Program Advantages:
| Very unique categorical curriculum.
2 of the residents seemed happy |
- Program Disadvantages:
| One of the 2 residents I talked to said limited research opportunities - can't say for sure if that is accurate or not.
Cafeteria was dumpy with poor food selection.
Program kind of has a unique vibe- can't really put my finger on it though. |
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North Carolina| Duke U Hosp: | | | - Applied
| | U N. Carolina Hosps: | | | - Applied
| | Wake Forest U SOM: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized but something like 15 applicants. A lot of opportunities to talk with residents. PD seemed nice but serious and reported most residents go into Private practice. Really liked this program and ranked it #3 |
- Program Advantages:
| Great program with strong depts and happy residents. alot of opportunities for research. |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Winston-salem is not for everyone, especially is single |
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Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania| Penn St U/Milton S Hershey Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. 4 to 5 interviews I believe. Had one of my weirdest/most uncomfortable interviews but it was with a new faculty member. Rest were conversational. PD was nice but rubbed me the wrong way complaining about how much it costs them to interview |
- Program Advantages:
- Program Disadvantages:
| Location is in the middle of no where. |
| | U Pittsburgh Med Ctr: | | | - Applied
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Rhode Island| Brown U: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| well organized but alot of down time. Interview a lot of applicants per day. You sit in a large room with 1 resident and you each can ask him/her questions. PD rubbed me the wrong way |
- Program Advantages:
| Residents were happy/friendly. More city type of people (which I'm not) |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Rads depts are distributed all over the hospital.
Rumors of malignant attendings - cannot verify
Hospital was too hot for me |
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South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah| U Utah: | | | - Rotated at this institution
- Applied
- Attended interview
- Matched here (Ranked # 1)
- Interview Experience:
| Reasonably well organized. Limited interaction with the PD. Opportunities to talk with residents. 5-6 interviews with faculty and 1 resident. All were conversational. They take residents from all over the country. Not everyone in dept is mormon & SLC is l |
- Program Advantages:
| Top notch teaching with attendings that are focused on resident education. some bigshot heavy hitters in neuro (osborn & harnsberger), MSK (mannester). Affiliation with amirsys which is the company that created/runs stat DX.
Residents were happy.
SLC is |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Did not offer interviews while you were rotating there & would not even confirm if you would be interviewed. |
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Vermont| U Vermont: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Very well organized. enjoyed dinner the night before. Plenty of opportunity to talk with residents. They do have alot of residents that transferred from other fields like orth/neurosurgery. |
- Program Advantages:
| VT is a beta testing center for one of the big imaging companies thus has some of the newest equipment of all the places I interviewed at.
Burlington is a cool city with alot of outdoor activities.
Chairmen has alot of industry connections & working on |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Perhaps research but it is there. |
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Virginia| Eastern Virginia: | | | - Applied
- Received interview
| | U Virginia: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. Plenty of opportunities it talk with residents. PD asks you about highschool and did not show any emotion during interview which is somewhat awkward. Currently updating dept |
- Program Advantages:
| Solid training
-Big names |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Residents did seem tired - I have read/heard rumors that residents were overworked but cannot verify |
| | Virginia Commonwealth U: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Well organized. Most interviews were laid back. 5 interviews I believe. Nice hospital. |
- Program Advantages:
| Friendly residents & PD
Dept chair came and talked to us and she seemed very friendly
- Mammo bigshot - cardenosa |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Perhaps not the reputation of UVA but seemed like a solid program. |
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Wisconsin| Med Col of Wisconsin Hosps: | | | - Applied
| | U Wisconsin: | | | - Applied
- Attended interview
- Interview Experience:
| Very well organized. Everyone was friendly. 5 -6 interviews with faculty and 1 resident. Really liked this program and ranked it #2 |
- Program Advantages:
| Big beautiful hospital with money.
Everyone was very very nice
Send residents to solid fellowships
Residents seemed very happy.
Pioneers in virtual colonoscopy
Alot or research opportunities |
- Program Disadvantages:
| Location was the reason it was #2 for me. I think Madison is a cool city, just wanted a place with a milder winter/more sun (my wife's criteria) |
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Match Experience
Overall the process is a pain in the but.
1. Complete you ERAS & submit it as early as possible. You will get more interviews if you submit earlier
2. Apply to alot of programs, more if you have a weak app & less if you are a strong candidate. I don't think this is the right thing to do, but everyone is doing it so you have to play the game
3. Go on as many interviews as you can. I went on 19 rads interviews. Most people I talked with were going on 16 -18. Again, don't like that this is the way it is but since everyone is doing it you have to
4. Don't skimp on interview expenses. Cheaper to apply and match once then repeat the process twice
5. I think it is advantageous to do away rotations. It helps you to determine what you want in a program and may give you a leg up come interview time. Some say it can only hurt you but my feeling is if you rotate at a program and they don't like you, then you probably wouldn't have been a good fit for that program anyway.
6. Have questions ready to ask. At least 3
7. Get ISersons book on getting a residency - it has all the questions you probably will be asked, good book to prep from.
8. Don't stress out about your app too much. Very few applicants are all starts thus everyone will be strengths and weaknesses. You can still match with lower board scores you just need to apply to more programs and be sure to include community programs
9. When selecting programs to apply to remember the rule of 1/3 - 1/3 reach, 1/3 you are a great fit for, 1/3 you are overqualified for. There are no program rankings but university programs are harder to get into then community programs. You can use P53's program rankings as a guide to what programs are the most competitive. You can find it on Aunt minnie.
10. Most interviews are conversational. So be comfortable having a conversation. Alot did not even talk about radiology at all.
11. Be sure to put interesting non-medically related things you have done on your app. People enjoy talking about these things.
12. I think thank you letters are nice - some programs expect them, some do not. it is a quick and easy thing to do so just do it and be done with it.
13. Alot of the programs start to blend together and there was not as much of a difference as I thought there would be. Take notes as you go through the interview season and decide what is most important to you. I created a running ranklist which made it easy at the end. Location & caliber of teaching were most important to me & my wife.
14. Enjoy the whole process as much as you can, it can be very taxing though
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