Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida, December 21, 2007

The city: Orlando is actually a really cool city. Not too big, perfect weather, a nice combination of chain and individual restaraunts (believe me, I partook in both), and things to do (about 45 minutes from Daytona Beach). And you can't forget Disney World! Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to visit the "happiest place on Earth;" however, I was surprised by how little this major tourist attraction interfered with life in Orlando. That was nice.

The program: The Orlando Regional Medical Center program is a pretty solid academic/community program mix. They are associated with both the Arnold Palmer children's hospital and also the Winnie Palmer women's and children's hospital, both of which, of course, are gorgeous. The residents do quite a bit of trauma (4800 trauma admits last year) and ICU work, which I liked. And the attendings that I met with were really friendly and laid back. They seemed to like me as well. The residents get 3 weeks off during the year, in addition to a fourth week either during Christmas or New Year's. However, the interview day was really disorganized, and myself and the other applicants did a lot of sitting around and waiting! :(

The residents: The ORMC program is pretty small--only 4 categorical residents per class. And most of the residents seemed to be from the south--despite this, they didn't seem too much like beach bums! They were all very friendly and helpful, and said that ORMC was one of their top choices for the match. Once again, I felt a lot younger than all the residents, but it didn't seem to bother me as much this time.

UF-Jacksonville/Shands, Jacksonville, Florida, December 13, 2007

The program: Jacksonville has a pretty solid clinical program, with TONS of ICU and trauma rotations (4300 rotations a year), which I was really pumped about. However, they weren't very academic, and I even had a resident tell me that if academic was what I was looking for, then UF-Jacksonville wasn't the place for me. The residents that do do research usually have to go to a different location (Pittsburgh, Gainesville), and have a tendency NOT to return to Jacksonville.

The city: Jacksonville is a pretty nice town, really. It's the largest city in the nation, square-mile-wise (840 sq mi), and it feels like it. I rented a car (my first time ever), and got lost 3 times while pimping in my white PT Cruiser. Of course there are a ton of outdoor and water activities to partake in, and the entire city looks like the pictures above. However, the hospital is in a pretty bad part of town, and the residents even admitted that there are regularly transvestite prostitutes and homeless people milling around the hospital at night. Awesome.

The residents: So, the residents seemed a little like beach bums, to be quite honest. Many of them were bald and had big muscles (I know, you are thinking, that sounds perfect for you!), and spend all their post-call days at the beach ("Dude, if I leave the hospital at 12, I can totally be on the beach by 12:20" Seriously, that's what they said). They also frequently talked about hanging out with their attendings and "ripping it up." Not sure that's for me....

Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, December 11, 2007

The program: So, IU has a solid program. They seem to do a good diversity of rotations and have five hospitals that they rotate at, including Wishard (a VA hospital that was built before the Civil War, second picture, above), and Methodist Hospital (a HUGE private hospital that is absolutely gorgeous, first picture, above). All their hospitals are right within walking distance, except for Methodist which is one mile away, and which you can get to by Monorail (aka: "The People Mover"). That's pretty sweet.

The city: I'm really not too keen on the city of Indianapolis. I guess there are some cool things to do, and it would be a good geographic location for me--close to Columbus, Champaign, and Chicago. I guess I wouldn't be diverting much off I-70 though. While in Indy I stayed with a girl from my class who was interviewing for peds at IU. Apparently the peds department is nicer than the surgery department, as they put her (and therefore, me) up at a super duper nice hotel downtown, with a sweet view (third picture, above).

The residents: I really can't say anything bad about the residents at IU. Most of them seemed happy, and I talked to a few who have had majorly productive research, which was cool. I had a million interviews that day--3 interviews with 2 people each, then 2 interviews with 1 person each--which was draining. I hope I don't have to do that anymore. I withhold further comments because, as my dad says, "be careful what you write, anyone can read that!"

Too Tired, so stay tuned.....

So, I got back from Indianapolis today, and I leave tomorrow at 12:25 for Jacksonville, FL. Aka: I'm pooped, so I will update on both interviews when I get back!

Not like anyone reads this anyway.... :)

Updated Interview Schedule, as of 12/9/07, 2232

I have done some cancelling, so here is my updated interview schedule so everyone can be on the same page:

November 14, 2007--Temple University, Philadelphia, PA--DONE
November 27, 2007--University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN--DONE
December 1, 2007--UT-Southwestern, Dallas, TX--DONE
December 11, 2007--Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
December 13, 2007--University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL
December 15, 2007--University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ--CANCELLED
December 21, 2007--Orlando Regional, Orlando, FL
January 4, 2008--Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
January 5, 2008--Penn State University, Hershey, PA
January 9, 2008--Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ
January 10, 2008--Wright State University, Dayton, OH--CANCELLED
January 11, 2008--University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
January 12, 2008--Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI--CANCELLED
January 16, 2008--Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH--CANCELLED
January 16, 2008--University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH--CANCELLED
January 16, 2008--Loyola University, Chicago, IL
January 18, 2008--Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC
January 24, 2008--Michigan State University, Lansing, MI
January 25, 2008--Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX--CANCELLED
January 25, 2008--Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
January 31, 2008--Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
February 7, 2008--The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

UT-Southwestern, Dallas, Texas, December 1, 2007

Back at last! My flight(s) home from Dallas was delayed, and I didn't get home until 3am this morning. But, here's the scoop on the program nonetheless:


The city: So, I have some family and friends in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and with that comes a lot of happy memories from my childhood, some of which were able to be relived this past weekend. While in town in the Fort Worth area, I was able to hang out with two of my cousins and my aunt who live in the great state of Texas, which was awesome! The actual cities of Dallas/Fort Worth (I honestly had a hard time telling them apart during all the driving around the area, so I shall henceforth refer to them as one entity, DFW) are pretty cool. The highway system seems to me to be ridiculously confusing, but there is tons of stuff to do, including several professional sports teams, which I'm excited about. The crime rate doesn't seem to be too high either. My only reservation is the heat--yikes! They also have strange birds (see above). I chased this one around the parking lot for a good 10 minutes after my interview.

The program: So, UT-Southwestern is the largest surgery residency program in the country. The accept 39 first year residents, 13 of which are categorical. In addition, they have a 5-year 100% board pass rate--one of only 4 surgery programs out of 248 that can boast this stat. And out of the 4 programs that have a 100% pass rate, UT-SW is the only one that has more than 4 residents per year that graduate. Their hospital system is humongous and includes Parkland Hospital (5500 trauma admissions per year) (see picture above), Dallas Children's, the VA, and a couple private hospitals, all in very close proximity to each other. They send more than 80% of their residents onto fellowships and research is optional.

The residents: So, there has definitely been a difference in the types of residents that I have encountered at each program thus far. The residents at UT-SW were very friendly, and were actually from all areas of the country. The thing that stood out to me this time was that I felt so much younger than all of them. I mean, I guess I am, but I just felt it and probably looked it this time! Not sure why.

That's all I have to say right now. I have a little break before my next interview at Indiana University on the 11th! :) Peace out!