Halfway home-Which places have you liked?

It seems like a lot of what you mentioned about Duke is what also occurs at other programs? What did you think about the operative experience at Duke?

As a senior resident who has been intimately involved with two years of the interview process, I would always be cautious about what you see at any interview. Every big program usually looks different on the interview day then it does on a regular day. I would recommend speaking with students who rotated at a program or even going back for a second visit at places that really wowed you at the interview day. I am not speaking specifically towards Duke, which is not my home program but is a place where I interviewed and is obviously a top-notch program. I am speaking more towards the interview process which ends up being a horse-and-pony show at most of the major programs. I remember being blown away by several programs on interview day only to speak with students who knew the program intimately or former residents who were not quite as impressed.

In terms of operative experience, it is always nice to be able to ask residents about their numbers and also speak with people who have done a fellowship at a place. Fellows are usually unbiased and will have a pretty good idea of how competent the residents are in the OR. Operative experience is always relative, particuarly as a junior resident. Many programs operate early, but it is important to realize what this really means. My program, which will remain nameless, is good about letting the residents operate at their level. As amazing as most students assume they will be in the OR, even the best of you will struggle and look pretty incompetent as junior residents. Second year will probably be the most humbling experience of your medical education to date. Instrumenting the spine or being left alone in a room to struggle through a complex fracture in July of your second year is probably not the greatest thing for you or your patient.

Having seen it now from both sides, I think that it is important to find a place where you will fit in and feel confident about the education you will get. Early operative experience is great, but it means nothing if you don't like the program faculty, don't like the city, etc...

Enjoy the process, as you will be working your butts off and eating cafeteria food soon.

Duke is without any question the most malignant program I had seen. I'm actually kind of shocked at your positive post. This just goes to show that anything can be portrayed on interview day.

Just be cautious when ranking programs you didn't rotate at.

Umm...what?

Really? I am actually shocked you would be throwing superlative like "the most malignant program" without elaborating. I agree with the comments above-a majority of these programs put on quite a song and dance during interview day and it is certainly easy to get fooled into thinking your life would be this sweet for 5 years. As far as my comments about Duke, these were made after having interviewed there and discussing everything I saw with a very close friend who has been a resident there for several years...if thats not a solid resource I don't know what is. I'd be hard pressed to believe you can't find malignant people in any specialty but to throw out that Duke is a malignant program may be a little "aggressive".

Pompacil- Dec + Jan = 2months....minus Dec = 1/2 way done dude....

Wow...I don't know about most people, but my December is chill, with half of Jan on the trail.

I am interested in hearing what people think about Duke. I didn't get the sense it was malignant on interviews and it seemed like all the faculty cared about the residents' success, but I'd like to hear what other people think. There's not much info on the forum about Duke, so if anyone would like to elaborate, please do!

I agree with the above post about taking what you read with a grain of salt. but not because of the interview process.....of course, the interview process is to make the program look good. Why wouldn't it be that way? You go to an interview to "look good" right....you don't show up in sweat pants, with bed head. So, i wouldn't worry to much about the interviews (unless they are really bad....that's a bad sign). most will be good, and by feb., most will blend together.
So, the bottom line is to read these posts, but don't allow them to change your mind. you don't know who is writing them, or why they are writing what they are writing.
Whatever your criteria are for evaluating a program (location, research, operative experience, etc), that's how you should decide on your list....period.
Good Luck