I would highly recommend rotating at Geisinger. I think the location scares some people off from doing a rotation there, but the program is vastly underrated. As a result, they have very few rotating students each year. However, they do put a premium on rotators, and all rotators are guaranteed interviews.

The operative experience the residents get is borderline excessive. They have an extremely high case load and get a great deal of autonomy. The program is set up as a preceptorship from day one, with each resident assigned to a separate attending.

Also, the residents get a ton of benefits. They have $1500 of CME per year for books/courses, and have an additional required course that is payed for by the hospital each year, including the intern year.

Call is all from home and no more than 1 in 7. They also have the opportunity to moonlight at an affiliated hospital each weekend covering orthopaedics only.

All the residents are extremely happy and get along well also.

Although I'm not a resident at Geisinger, it was my number one choice when I went through the match. I think that rotating there is a great idea for anyone who is interested in a high volume, resident-friendly program that puts an emphasis on resident education as opposed to the malignant hierarchy that can be seen at a lot of academic programs

Bonebreaker

Ok, probably not the topic post to be using to get on geisinger's bandwagon, but here goes anyway. I interviewed last year and these were the stats we were given: 99th percentile on intraining exam last year as a group (great emphasis on teaching), hundreds more cases by chief year than any other program i visited (catchment area for trauma the size of ireland?), preceptorship-type program, benign, residents get own office..even the interns get their own desk and computer, fellowships almost anywhere in everything. Possible downsides were name recognition, lack of tumor surgeon, small program size (2 per year), away rotation for three months in Delaware for peds, and maybe location. All of the above were actually pros rather than cons when it came time to rank for me.

The great thing about private programs is that almost anyone who works hard enough on rotation has a real shot at getting an interview/ position. This isn't to say that commnunity-type programs are second rate or less competitive, but it is to say that they generally put a higher value on 'fit' and work ethic rather than numbers, where you went to school, where your father went to school, etc.

Best of luck.

I interviewed at Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany and will throw in my 2 cents....

As far as Syracuse goes they take 4 residents a year (last year none from syr, the year before 2, the year before 1)--around 25%. I think this is around the national average. I liked this program the most out of the Upstate NY programs. Lots of variety, early OR exp, a really good group of guys.

Next on my list was Buffalo. A better city but worse program. More spread out.

I didn't like Albany, not sure why.

Don't know much about Geisenger.


Just my 2 cents......

I would not underestimate Buffalo. I think it is one of the better programs in the country. The program was reviewed by the RRC this year and was one of the few programs in the country given a 5 year accreditation with no changes recommended. Buffalo is not as glamorous as other big cities, but as far as training goes its among the best. All the sub specialties are covered including tumor. Check out their website and decide for yourself.