New England Programs

interviewed at vermont and yale this year.

i thought vermont would be an awesome place to train. residents were very friendly and seemed very happy. attendings were very down to earth and seemed approachable. i liked burlington and the new hospital. they play up the skiing thing there on interview day. i think they do have a night float system for call. in the end it was quite far from my family so it slid down the rank list...had it been closer to the west coast it would have been a tougher decision.

the night before dinner was very nice at yale...that's about all i could find positive about this program. oh, and one of the attendings i had a great interview w/. interview day otherwise, i just wasn't very impressed w/ anything else. it wasn't a place for me, but i think i could have done 5 years there, so i did rank it. the residents did seem quite happy and the seemed to be a cohesive group. the rest of the attendings i interviewed w/ didn't represent the program very professionally.

hope this helps and remember that these opinions are based on one day of interview only...so take take them for what they're worth.

I interviewed at dartmouth and I can tell you the program from what I saw was outstanding. It is very well balanced and the chairman and faculty are continuously devoted to making it even better. they do 2 rotations in boston: tumor at Beth Israel and children at boston children. they alos have community rotations so that you get exposure to private ortho. the residents are very nice and they seem to get along together well.
The biggest downside of the program may be it's location. To some (especially the married), this is a plus.
I would definitely consider it if you don't mind living in new hampshire. A rotation there will probably help. It is very competitive (like all ortho programs!!). I interviewed without having rotated there and i really liked the people there. the location though was not for me.
One other thing is that they have a 6 year program where you take a year off and get a master's. They are definitely very proud of what they have to offer (as they should be because it is truly a GREAT program).

I concur with torn meniscus about Dartmouth - it would have been my number 1 if not for the snow. Outstanding program with outstanding residents.

While I didn't rotate at any of these three programs (Vermont, Brown, and UConn), I loved them all on interview day and left wishing I had rotated at each. Both Brown and UConn would have been somewhere in my top 4 had I completed a civilian match, and Vermont (also a great program) would have probably slipped back, but primarily due to location. Here were my interview day impressions:

1) VT- agree with Blow1331. A very personable, laid back group of residents, with faculty who obviously placed education, faculty-resident relations, and teaching as their top priorities. Could not have been more impressed with the facutly, particularly Dr. Nichols.. one of the most personable chairman on the trail. Training seemed pretty strong technically, and well-rounded in most specialties, with a large trauma cachement area. The lecture/academics seemed very well planned and thorough. Additionally, the facilities were great. Decent research, but probably not the place for you if that's a major priority. they probably are one of the few places that falls comfortably within hours limits, although I question whether this is due to smaller operative load (for reference, the residents denied this being a problem). Beautiful area, lots of outdoor activities, but isolated... for me the balance of these factors dropped the program below where its merits would have placed it.

2) UConn- Can't say enough about it... definitely a strong program that will only improve over the next few years. The chairman is new, but very energetic, and brings something like 7 million dollars in stem-cell research funding with him. The rest of the research seems to be growing here in parallel, with brand new research labs. Despite the research growth, UConn seemingly remains very strong clinically/technically... the chairman made it clear that he respects the "blue collar" roots of the program and hopes to build off it, rather than replace it. Once again, great group of residents, arguably a little more academic than Vermont, and all very personable. The faculty followed in suit... very excited about their program and invested in the residency. Was extremely impressed by a number of them... I can say from personal experience and resident discussion that they take a personal and active interest in the future of residents / prospective residents. Also seems very well rounded. Notable standout features: 1) Gus Mazzocca (?sp), one of the sports/trauma attendings, basically bought them a seven station arthroscopic lab with full towers and instrument sets. He runs cadaver workshops with the residents regularly, and apparently hosts industry courses for new equipment/hardware. 2) Pediatric hospital seems like a great place to work, with tons of exposure. 3) Interesting sports physiology lab with dynamic imaging (like they use to animate XBOX/PS3 games)... cool stuff. Location... well, Hartford makes for some good trauma cases, b/t knife & gun clubs, as well as the intersection of 91 and 84. Most residents live in West hartford, a quaint and safe NE suburb of Hartford.

3) Brown- Another impressive programs with very nice residents and faculty. Certainly the most academic in both groups. Tons of research, a large amount being basic science work with PhD labs. This is reflected in their 6-year curriculum. Very cool idea... you do a regular 5-year residency, then spend a sixth year as a junior attending. You spend 6 months, basically as the in-house trauma attending (Providence/95 provide plenty of trauma), and six months as a researcher... apparently if you do enough research in the first five years Dr. Ehrlich occasionally sets up a 6-month mini-fellowship for you. Needless to say, this 6th year is a big selling point when graduates are looking for faculty positions elsewhere... they place an impressive percentage of residents into training centers. Dr. Ehrlich seems great, a real resident advocate, although I'm not sure how much longer he'll be there (if energy is any indication, probably forever). Even if he did leave, there is a large core of young, similarly minded attendings who would probably carry on the tradition. Location: Personally I think Providence is great... a nice mix between Manhattan/Back Bay, Brooklyn/Southie, but small enough that you can live in a suburb setting and be < 10 minutes from work. Not to mention its only 45 minutes to Boston. the hospital is also VERY nice.

So, I guess I would encourage anyone looking in the NE to seriously consider all of these programs. I also happen to love UMass (my home program), but have posted on that before, so I won't repeat myself. A basic compare/contrast:
1) VT- most laid back, probably most family friendly, location could be either a huge draw, a detractor, or some combination (as in my case)
2) CT- very balanced program, up-and-coming in most aspects
3) Brown- most academic, pretty distinctive structure
4) UMass- in my opinion, pretty similar to CT, but a different personality in terms of the residents, slightly more clinical / less research... hard to describe it, but I personally found both groups equally positive factors in judging the programs.

Thank you very much for this extremely useful post. Can someone please supplement it with details about Harvard, BU, Tufts ec.

Harvard is an excellent program. As you probably know they take 12 residents a year (largest program in the country) and the residents cover 4 major hospitals (MGH, BI, BWH, TCH) all obviously world class facilities with very well known faculty. The residents are probably among the nicest that I have met on the interview trail, very down to earth and will tell you the goods and bads of the program. The size of the program is daunting to many applicants and the general concensus is that intern year is tough. The program is fellow heavy, but on interviews, applicants were reassured that the residents get to operate a lot, although it is a top heavy program, meaning you tend to operate later. you learn a great deal about theoretical ortho (great didactics) which is important in your training and you will also get a great ER experience and learn how to treat emergency room ortho. Some rotations tend to be too short (only 4 weeks) which may make it difficulty to create rapport with the faculty so they feel comfortable with you. that may be changing in the future though. the PD is very responsive to residents' concerns. All subspecialties are covered (heck it's harvard, they probably can create new subspecialties there too with all the weird stuff they get!!) obviously, fellowships are almost guaranteed with a phone call.
I personally thought it was an excellent program because it makes you a well rounded otho surgeon both in theory and clinically. there is also emphasis on research and you get to know how to approach the ortho literature and how to design and conduct studies. It is indeed a complete package.