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!

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, November 27, 2007

So, I didn't really have the opportunity to take any pictures of the medical center, mostly because it was too cold to stand outside with a camera, but also because I had to miss the tour due to my early flight home. So, you will have to imagine it. The report:

The city: I LOVE Minneapolis! Gosh, it is such a friendly, clean city. And when I say clean--I mean it! We (me and my dad's friend/my pseudouncle, Chip, who I stayed with) were driving around, and I seriously (no exaggerating here), saw no pieces of trash on the street or sidewalks or anything. It was amazing. There is also a ton of stuff to do in Minneapolis. I have two cousins and a bunch of family friends who live there as well, and because of this I have many a happy memory coming up there to visit. So, I made Chip take me to the same Byerly's (grocery store) that we went to when we visited my grandma, and even got the same peppermint stick ice cream. Tasty and memorable! Although, as we were getting out of the car for my interview, the radio said it was 5 degrees outside. I thought, "Five? Just five? No other numbers?" But this is made up by the fact that the city has Joe Mauer. Sigh.

The program: It seems like the University has a strong program in many areas. They have four major hospitals they rotate at, all within 15 minutes of each other, which is nice. There is a period of two or more years in between third and fourth year where they encourage the residents to pursue research. I've never done research, but I think if I had the right guidance, then I could handle it. They typically send about %80 of their residents on to fellowships--frequently in cardiothoracic or transplant. They have a strong history of cardiothoracic surgery, with the help of Dr. Lillehei, who performed the first heart-lung bypass procedure, with the patient's parent being the bypass machine! Awesome.

The residents: Maybe it's a midwest thing, but I definitely felt like I got along with the residents at Minnesota. I also had a blast hanging out with the other applicants--there were almost all the BigTen schools represented--and I even met a girl that threw at Minnesota, so we were chatting about BigTen athletics, and also the burden that is the sewn-in shoulder pads that come standard in all women's suits.

That's about all I can think of for right now. Off to Dallas on Friday for a major change in weather! :)

Up Next: Minnesota

Hello there. I will do an official Minnesota post after my interview on Tuesday, but I wanted to comment on a freaky dream I had last night. I flew into Minneapolis yesterday, and have basically been bumming around and doing nothing since then. But it has been nice. Except for this dream:

So in my dream I was interviewing at the University of Minnesota. Well, for some reason I didn't show up for the interview day. And then I decided to show up at approximately 3 pm, when the interview day was supposed to start at 7 am. So, I missed my interview, and was begging them to grant me another one. In the meantime, I witnessed the administrative people calling the residency applicants fat and ugly, and discriminating against them because of it! So I was finally given a chance to talk to someone, and I merely used this time to reprimand them for said discrimination. Then I missed my flight back to Columbus. Awesome.

I actually woke up really freaked out and convinced that I had ruined my chances of living in Minneapolis, which upset me quite a bit! Then I realized it was just a dream...phew!

The REAL interview doesn't start until Tuesday, with the reception with the residents tomorrow night. Hopefully things will go better than I dreamed!

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, November 14, 2007

So, this week was my first interview at Temple University, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I will try to go about this in an organized fashion:

The town: Philadelphia has some really cute parts, including a lot of historical stuff and arts. I actually had a few free hours before my flight out, so I was able to see both the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (the location of the writing of the Constitution), the former Pennsylvania State House. However, a lot of Philadelphia is kind of crappy and dangerous. I've already heard some stories about people being mugged within their first week of moving there. There's a reason they have the highest rate of penetrating trauma in the state!

The program: I actually liked the Temple program quite a bit. They do a bunch of trauma and surgical oncology, which I liked. But they take q3 call, which I was not pumped about. One of the residents even told us that the nurses were not that great. The strengths of the program that were presented to me included the diversity of faculty, operative experience (~100 cases intern year), and the fact that the residents like each other. The one weakness that kept coming up was research.

The residents: Here's the kicker for me: I didn't really feel like I fit in with the residents. There were TONS of women (3 of out of 5 classes had 6 women out of 7 residents), which was a little bit of a turn-off for me, for some reason. All most of the girls were kind of prissy. I don't know--first impression: they weren't my kind of people.

But, all in all, I felt like it was a good first interview experience. Now I'll see if I can get some picures up here! :)

And here we go!

So tomorrow I leave for my first residency interview. This one's at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I'm actually pretty pumped to go to Philadelphia (even though I've heard it's a sketchy town), but I'm getting really nervous for the actual interview. I'm just telling myself to be myself, and I'm not sure I would want to move there for the next 5+ years anyway.

There has already been a kerfuffle with the hotel reservations....the cheapest one they offered me was the Holiday Inn for what I was told would be $89. When I called them, however, they told me the Temple University "deal" was $176--yeah right! So, when the lady said, "do you want me to hold it for you?" I responded with, "um, no!" and hung up. Fortunately, I found another hotel for $99 (yeesh, this is going to get expensive--fast), which is close to the medical center and the hotel where tomorrow night's reception is.

I'm hoping to have some free time on Wednesday post-interview and pre-flight home to check out the historic sites of Philadelphia (aka: The Liberty Bell). Some of the dudes that I'm working with right now pointed out that they would rather see the "Rocky stairs," but since I've never seen the Rocky movies, nor did I even know they took place in Philly, I think I'll opt for that old cracked remnant of our patriotic American past. That is, if I can find my way there....

Stay tuned for an update and pictures...

Makin' The Interview Circuit

So, I've decided to use this blog to update everyone on the places that I go to interivew for a general surgery residency. I am also planning on putting up pictures of all the places I go to visit. Here's a current list of my interview locations thus far:

November 14, 2007--Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
November 27, 2007--University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
December 1, 2007--UT-Southwestern, Dallas, TX
December 11, 2007--Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
December 13, 2007--University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL
December 15, 2007--University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
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 11, 2008--University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
January 12, 2008--Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
January 16, 2008--Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
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
January 31, 2008--Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
February 7, 2008--The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Stay tuned--my first interview is coming up! :)