I wouldn't be so quick to believe the prior post of a resident/medical student with an agenda. I am a resident at UMDNJ-Newark. I am biased certainly...I love the residency. There is no chaos and never has been...our former chairman passed away over a year ago and things continue to run the same today as they did 2 years ago. Many of our attendings are indeed young but they are also eager to teach to those who are excited about learning. The staff, and interim chairman and residency director especially, work tirelessly trying to ensure that our education is well rounded and thorough in all subspecialties. The residents in this program are truly the best people one could find to work with. The attack against this residency posted on Sunday was from one individual well known to all of us at this residency and that individual had a score to settle and that's it.

I am an intern at UMDNJ-Newark, and i completely agree with the posting by orthotrauma67. That other post is ridiculous, and i don't appreciate him speaking for us interns. I am 7 months in, and I feel extremely fortunate that they chose me as one of their residents as my experience so far has been great.

So are the things he posted about 6 residents getting booted from the program totally made up? For me that seemed to be the focus of the post was that multiple residents were being taken down, which if I were an applicant again (Thank God I'm not!) would most definitely give me significant pause.

Can't say I'm surprised that a bombshell like that came from a person well known to the program who obviously has a serious issue of his/her own which we're not privy to. That being said, I think the issue of multiple residents losing their jobs is one that warrants an explanation as to whether it is true, and if not (which seems most likely to be the case) did this vagabond med student/resident/whoever exaggerate the situation or totally make it up? Not looking for specifics here, as much of this probably isn't our business, but speaking in general terms to refute the previous post would be of value to the applicants who just read the other thread.


rwbrhp29

From what I hear, there are definitely 2 people (pgy2&4) who will not have their contracts renewed next year.

Do you know why? Bad residents?

So, I guess this information was true, or at least part of it?? Interesting!!

I think that it would be best to have a current resident from the program answer the questions. The information I posted about 2 residents being told that their contracts would not be renewed came directly from a resident in their program.

Sunday's posting may have raised doubt in some minds regarding the stability of and the training received at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Med. School department of Orthopaedics...

Unlike the emotionally charged posting on sunday, I just want to give a more objective view on the program...

In my 4 years here I have learned a tremendous amount and have found terrific mentors in the attending staff. I feel indebted to this program and would not change a thing about choosing to come here.

In terms of residents in jeopardy of not having their contracts renewed... That by no means is a certainity at this point and more importantly that is not a reflection on the program as much as it is a product of an individual resident's performance. Even BoneBlaster will have to agree with this as its barely been 3 years since Sinai let go of 2 of their residents (PGY-2 and 3).

Don't try to change the focus here. Sinai didn't have two residents leave in one year and we didn't tell someone all of a sudden that their contract wouldn't be renewed.

I think a more informative and appropriate post about your program would be truthfully answering the questions of dr007 and maxortho7. If you have residents in jeopardy, fine then. You could post how your program has an extensive list of checks and balances with many points of documented evaluation before any decisions are made regarding not renewing a contract. Everyone knows that sometimes programs run into problem residents. What the applicants making their rank list want to understand from you is that this process of letting go of a resident is well thought out, justified, and documented. This would surely be more productive than pointing a finger at someone else and saying, "see they did it".

The ortho resident whose contract may not be renewed has indeed been through an extensive system whereby he could have resecued himself at several points along the way. We have performance reviews every 6 months wherein each resident sits down with the chairman and residency director and discusses the prior 6 months evaluations. If a problem is discovered then a soloution is sought at that time. The resident (one or two potentially) in jeopardy went through these reviews and were told that this and that needed to change. They failed to effect that change. However, they were then assigned a mentor (one of the faculty) to help effect a change. In one of the residents cases, he was assigned multiple mentors over the course of a couple of years before they had had enough. This program has in its several decade long history never ejected a resident before. The one or two in jeopardy now are not being let go in a cavalier manner...they passed through many checkpoints where a change could have occurred but decided to contineu their B.S. and thus, finally, enough was enough.

I too am a resident at UMDNJ-Newark and I would like to expound on the post submitted by orthotrauma67 regarding the checks and balances of the program.
Not only does every resident meet with the program director and chairman every 6 months but those residents having difficulty (ie. Rotation Difficulty, OITE, etc) will meet with their faculty advisor every month to monitor their progress. These sessions are designed to help the resident alter his/her current course and make the most of their learning experience.

I think the last two posts are what prospective residents needed to see. For those guys making their rank lists and those starting to think about applying for next year, it is important to remember that problem residents do show up from time to time. How a program DEALS with problem residents is a sign of how committed they are to their program. It is a situation that is very rarely talked about, but occurs more often than you may imagine.

I second the opinions by orthotraum67 and big boned on the residency. I happen to be one of the residents affected in the aforementioned postings. However I do stand behind the residency. The last several years I have made very close friends at my residency. I could not hope for a better group of guys and of course girls - you know who you are. With respect to the attendings they are good people who have helped me with many things over the years. The past and the present chairmen were responsible for me being here, therefore I am indebted to them. There is no chaos. The posting also said untrue malicious things about the program director. Hence, I will stay loyal to all these gentlemen who have helped me and the residents. About my situation I have some personal issues, which are not a topic for discussion on a bulletin board. Whoever posted the initial message, I realize that you may be trying to help or you may be trying to feel out/interfere with the program. If it is the former then just let the big boys handle it. If it is the later than pay attention to the above information and realize that we are a pretty tight knit group. Finally, orthopaedic residency is not a walk in the park, it is tough to get into, and even tougher to endure. Do not get into it if you do not have the resolve.

As a prospective candidate, it's good to see the residents step up and set the record straight. It's ashame other's feel the need to bash a program and place doubt in the minds of those who are making their rank lists.

I am another resident at UMDNJ. We are a tight group of residents. There is very little infighting, if any. Our past Chairman has passed away and there is an interm Chairman in his stay. They were/are excellent men with a commitment to form the best residency they can. Imagine how tired residents are at the end of a day. These guys run practices, educate us and still have to run a residency. No small feat! I am glad that I picked UMDNJ. Residency is tough, as Orthopedic residents we all are held to a higher standard! Why? Because we are some of the best applicants from medical school and we have proved that we can work hard and overcome obstacles.

To all those applying to UMDNJ, it is not a walk in the park. Call is tough, but you learn a lot. The attendings do not fluff you before, during, or after the case. You need to be prepared. You need to carry your weight as a resident, period! Those that think that they are in the clear and can cruise though residency are wrong.

(Moving off soapbox)

As a junior attending with plenty of experience in dealing with such issues with my residents, I was troubled by the dismissive attitude being taken toward 2-5 residents geting fired in the same program. This is a huge red flag that all applicants would be wise to pay attention to. Excuses such as "imagine how tired attendings are" and "residency is tough" gloss over the issue pretty well for a resident trying to be loyal to his program-but the issue remains. Unless each and every one of these guys did something egregious, scapegoating could be a large part of this. My advice-buyer beware when you fill out your ranking lists

I am also a resident at UMDNJ and would like to respond to the above posting. I think that our program is one of the strongest in the country and I have been treated nothing but fairly by any of our attendings. I do not agree that anyone is showing a dismissive attitude about the termination of residents, in fact the opposite; our program director and chairman meet with every resident individually to discuss any concerns or problems we are having with the rotations and when we have had complaints, appropriate changes have been made.

I think it is unfortunate that the original malicious posting may have affected the decisions of this year's residency applicants and I hope that all of you who did rank us highly despite some of the nonsense that has been posted here can have faith that you will be surrounded by one of the best and hardest-working groups of residents you can imagine if you do come here this fall.

Confucius sounds as though you were coerced into saying something?? Scared into it??

I am also concerned about maxorth7's agenda. They sound bitter, disgruntled and angry. Anyone can start a forum and start bashing a program out there. I could start a post and bash HJD, Sinai, HSS, MGH, PItt, USC, Miami....but what does that truly mean.

We all know there are problem residents in every program. If a resident is warned about their shortcomings and is given a fair chance to show improvement and they don't, why should they be allowed to continue? It sounds as though UMDNJ-Newark has a system in place where residents are evaluated fairly and given a chance to improve. If someone gets fired with that type of system in place then obviously there have to be well documented reasons, and it may be warranted. Even with that said, there has not been any official postings by this program or AAOS that residents have been fired. So do not assume anything.

If you are a medical student who is interested in UMDNJ-Newark and are concerned, all you have to do is pick up the phone and call one of the residents there or email them. All of their information is available online. That would be my advice.

Hopefully, no one out there winds up with a co-resident or co-fellow as malignant and bitter as Maxortho7. What would be even worse is if they were yours or your families doctor.

Sorry that my comments gloss over the issue that remains. If the program fires 4-6 residents at the end of this year, I will leave it too. Realistically, that will never happen! There are really one or two residents that may be fired. These residents have been reprimanded multiple times and have had many chances. There is a saying that a few bad apples spoil the whole damn bunch, that is also true for residency. In residency there is a certain trust between the residents and the residents and attendings. A bad resident cannot be trusted and puts strain on the other residents that must make up for the slack in performance. If there is a bad, unreliable resident that refuses to better him/herself then they need to be fired. This not only an education, it is a JOB. That means that we are subject to performance reviews and evaluations by faculty, peers, and other personnel. If I worked for Chase Manhatten and was not doing my job or perfoming the duties expected of me then I expect to be fired. If it was your loved-one getting treated at this hospital then you would definately want the best resident possible, not the one that is unreliable and refuses to learn proper techniques. We are surgeons. We cut people, we put things into people, and around people. We need to be better than mediocre because people's lives and limbs are at risk.

I do make these comments while being loyal to my residency. It is why I am here and it gave me the opportunity to persue one of my life's goals. Sorry that you think that I am trying to hide something.

(soapbox away again)