2010 Match Results

I found this stuff helpful in the past, so I'll chip in

Med School: Southeast, Public
Boards: Step 1: 238, Step 2:238 (studied for a week and not released)
Rank: No class rank
AOA: No
Rotations: P/F 1st 2 yrs; A's in surgery,peds,psych (not sure how); B+'s in the rest
Ortho: Home, Utah, Emory
Research: significant basic science research in undergrad, a few ortho pubs submitted
Personal Statement: I had a unique story/background that was commented on frequently in interviews

Applied: 47 (primarily in SE and West coast)
Offered: 18
Attended: 13

Top Tier:
Brown - Great program overall. I've interacted with a few of their recent graduates while on sub-I's and was very impressed. They get a great balance of academics, operative experience, and research, which was imp't to me. The 6th yr wasn't a big deal for me, but the fellowship is unaccredited. If you know you want to be an attending, this is the place for you as they have about 50% of their residents go into academics. Providence was average. Got a lukewarm vibe from the residents.

Carolinas - Was blown away on interview day. The program seemed almost too good to be true, but many of the rotators vouched for the program. Seemed to have a great operative experience and they work 1-on-1 with attendings. Have some big names on staff, esp trauma and F/A. Research facilities and opportunities were abundant. Residents were great, tight-knit group. Charlotte was an underrated city. 3 residents a yr was on the smaller side for me, and there didn't seem to be much team work involved.

Emory - rotated here, loved it. The residents were an awesome group, with strong camaraderie. They get early and well-instructed operative experience. You get worked at Grady, but the PACS system makes life a little better. Attendings were very approachable and focused on resident education. Previously lacked a fellowship trained traumatologist, but they are getting one this fall. ATL is a great city, but traffic and crime can be a concern. Didactics and research were good, but lagging behind others in my top tier.

Utah - rotated here, loved it. Most well balanced program I saw. Big name faculty that are all focused on resident education and love their jobs. Early, graduated operative experience and the best didactics I saw. Research is readily available and well-supported. Facilities were great and rest of the housestaff seemed easy to work with. Residents were a great group with a work hard, play hard mentality. SLC is a great place for outdoor enthusiasts, but lacks much of a nightlife. Lots of fellows, but I did not see them affect the resident operative experience. Tough to find a weakness in this program.

UW - Very impressed on interview day. Both the residents and faculty were great to interact with. Great research opportunities. Well balanced program, with great trauma experience. Operative experience was back loaded. Seattle was an awesome city, probably my favorite. Currently searching for a new chair after Matsen stepped down, but Chapman seems like he would be a great chair. Like Utah, they have a lot of fellows. Committee interviews was cool.

Middle Tier:
Campbell Clinic - had heard great things about the program, and it was compared a lot to Emory. Was quite disappointed on interview day. The residents seemed great, but the faculty were just arrogant. Every interviewer asked me the same questions, and didn't know anything about me. That really turned me off with the program. Ranked it in this tier based on reputation and operative experience. And Memphis seemed like a dump.

Georgetown - seemed like a very white collar program. The recently added trauma experience in Fairfax seemed like it would be a great addition to the program. They admittedly didn't have much emphasis on research. Delahay seemed like a great PD who was willing to both bust your balls a little bit. Got the feel that it was like a community program. DC is expensive and has tons of traffic.

UVA - great all-around program. Chhabra is a great PD and will likely be chair there someday. Good balance of research, didactics, and operative experience. Roanoke rotation is 1.5 hrs away and you spend 40 wks there as a 3 and 4, but it is supposedly a good experience. Residents were a great group. CVille is a nice town with tons of culture.

Wake - very underrated program. Has the kind of balance I was looking for, but Winston-Salem wasn't doing it for me. Plenty of volume, good residents. Likely overshadowed by programs to the east, even though they likely get better residency training. Recently lost their big trauma guy (Webb), which will hurt.

Last Tier:
AMC - nice community program, with a hybrid feel. Improving research and academics. Get to work with the best community orthopaedists in ATL. Got a new anatomy lab. Didn't vibe with residents and things seemed too individual there.

Case - great program on paper with everything you could want. Great research oppurtunities and op experience. Residents were ok, and social was a waste of time. Cleveland was recently rated as worst city in US, need I say more.

Indiana - program is under the radar. Lots of research funding. Trained by some great faculty including those at the Hand Center. Can do a rotation with OrthoIndy guys if desired. Anglen seemed like a great chair and was very honest about the program. Indy was much nicer than I was expecting. Residents were very cool.

Kentucky - seemed like a solid program, with a great experience in trauma, peds, and sports. Lacked tumor guy, which was big downer for me. Milbrandt seems like he'd be a great PD, and Johnson has gotten a lot of funding for the program. Building a new hospital. Lexington seemed decent.


I matched at one of the programs in my top tier.

Advice: As you can see looking at my stats, I am average by ortho applicant standards. I have always sucked at standardized tests. However, I matched at a top notch program. I believe I was able to score solid interviews with my scores based on my LOR's, which were commented on in virtually every interview I had b/c they were supposedly great letters from some big names. I believe these are key to differentiating candidates.

So my advice while on sub-I's is this - know more than just anatomy, be confident, don't be a douche, and be helpful. You need to try to show the residents what kind of resident you will be and you can't do that by just following them around. Try to anticipate what they will need, fill out H&P's before you're asked, run and get the C-arm; all simple things that go a long way with residents. Also, as competitive as ortho is these days, you need to know more than before. Anatomy is the minimum. To impress people these days, you need to read Miller's or something like it and know more about ortho pathology. This will differentiate you from the standard rotator.

I also wanted to address the whining about not getting an interview despite rotating. I rotated at a place (Utah) that is notorious for not interviewing all that rotate. Know this before you sign up for it. It's not helpful for anyone to waste a plane ticket and an interview day during the middle of interview season to interview at a place that is not going to rank you highly. On the other hand, I know I would have never gotten an interview there had I not rotated and done well. Thoroughly research where to do aways and ask people for feedback about whether it was a beneficial rotation. If you're planning to get a letter, I wouldn't rotate at a place where you spend each week on a different service b/c the residents and faculty probably won't be able to write you as personal a LOR.

Tired of typing, PM w/ questions.

Med School: Midwest, mid-tier public
Boards: Step 1: 247; Step 2: 238 (taken & released in March 2010)
Rank: no ranking at our school; Top 25%
AOA: No
Preclinical’s: High Passed every class but two.
Clinicals: Honored pediatrics, High Passed Medicine and psych. P on the rest.
Ortho: Home, UW, Stanford. Two honors and one high pass.
Research: Conducted a novel MD Honors thesis to graduate w/ distinction, one case report submitted, two oral presentations at national conferences.
Extracurricular: Mens soccer league, International volunteering between 1st & 2nd year twice, Free Clinic for uninsured, translated Spanish for clinics, AMA delegate and 4 national conferences with that, other stuff.

What I was looking for: Location and surgical experience were the two biggest factors. I wanted to finish a five year program and have no doubt in myself if I were to go to Nicaragua the next weekend after graduating and work in a trauma hosp. as an ortho surg. for a few weeks or start a general practice afterwards. I will apply for a fellowship however.

Applied: 70
Offered: 12
Attended: 10


Stanford: Rotated and loved it. No double scrubbing, all subspecialties are truly represented, when on sports you interact with collegiate athletes’ and research opportunities are endless. Trauma at Stanford hosp. is weak, but you make up for it on outside trauma rotations. Weakness: Cost of living is prohibitive. Cheapest house I could find was 850,000! Location is divine however. Laid back residents and great atmosphere. If you want to paten a new device or invent something, Stanford has the resources, capital and minds for it.

Loma Linda: I didn't know what to think about this program since no one ever mentions it on this sight or anywhere else. Operative experience and case load was the highest of any program I interviewed at. They provide optional international rotations in Dom. Repub. As a second year you are assisting with spine surgery and putting in screws. They accept five residents now and will adopt a night float system. Three hospitals to work with including a VA. Downside is that oncology and foot & ankle are weak and LL is not the most known for its academic side. However, all the fifth year residents said they felt like they knew more about operating than all other interviewees when interviewing for fellowships. Location: In the winter, mountains to ski on are only 45-1 hr away. Sand Diego is 1.5hr LA 1 hr away. Tons of Mt. biking and outdoor activity and it never gets below 60 degrees year round during the day. Free food, parking and gym.
As you can tell I loved this place and matched here!

USF: Amazing program and I was blown away by it during interview day. Facilities are top notch. It is a new program; this year is the first year with fifth year residents. Dr. Letson is the MAN. He has so much passion and energy for his program and he is the most personable ortho. surgeon I have ever met aside from Dr. Wagner from UW Seattle. Oncology is the powerhouse at this institution. If you want to do oncology you need to be here! If your a Harvard grad---good connections here. Dr. Letson did a fellow at Harvard and the fifth yr. resident just matched at Harvard for Onc. Tampa is a great area, beautiful weather and women. Disneyworld 1/2 hr. away. All subspecialties represented but not to the degree that Stanford has. Didactics are solid and facilities pristine.
Weakness: It is fairly new and they were so used to running the system with PA's that residents end up not doing a lot of "resident" work. This could be good or bad depending.

Vermont: Solid Solid program. Residents are real cool and the program has a solid foundation and little turnover of faculty within the last 15 years. Faculty had great personalities and All the Residents Ski whenever they get a chance. Burlington is ice cold in the winter, and very small town. It seems like a good time however. The terrain is almost identical to Washington State. Well known to other programs and residents have no problem getting fellowships. Gym inside hospital (free), food is free and parking free.

BU: Work super hard and do a lot of Trauma. Program director is the man with regards to trauma and makes phone calls for all his residents placing them in their top choices for fellowships. He is very explicit about this. Just started a night float, so call won’t be as bad now. Boston is a great city duh. Expensive though and parking is like 220$ per month, no gym and food is not really free.

Hawaii: Best interview ever! Esp. going to the North Shore the day after the interview. This program seemed like it had great operative experience but seemed to lack organization for resident activities and schedules. In addition funding is not to be found and it seemed most didactics were residents teaching residents which wasn’t necessarily what I wanted. Sports is their niche. Location is mind blowing; however moving out there would be horrible unless you bought all new house/apt. stuff in Hawaii. Food and gas and everything else is expensive.

KU Kansas city: Great Great Great program, would have ranked higher, but wifey wanted out of the Midwest!

Nebraska: Same story as above, there are many posts accurately reflecting Nebraska. Residents are a solid group and they are operating by yr. 1 and 2. Faculty seems a little standoffish. Not as big of a program as I would like. Omaha is dirt cheap and great place to raise family.

SIU: Chair has a vision and will take this program very far. Program Director is a compassionate man and doe a lot of international ortho. Apply here! They have the best lab to practice surgical skills. You can go down any time of day and practice fixing any bone with all the instruments a surgeon would have in the OR. There is also a scope lab that you can practice with every day if you wanted. Springfield is very affordable, but I ranked it so low because of location...wifey.

Columbia Missouri: This was only ranked low because my wife really wanted out of the Midwest and this was the smallest town we interviewed at. It lacks a strong didactic curriculum and research. Things were a bit disorganized leading up to this yr. They were on probation and the Chair left. They now have an amazing Chair from Alabama. In addition they just built a 4 story pure Ortho hospital. Faculty has grown tremendously and I think this will be a top program in 3 yrs-5yrs.

Funny thing about my experience was that I received honors on my UW Seattle rotation and two outstanding LOR from two faculty there. I was denied an interview. I have a feeling that it was due to the guy I worked with in the beginning. He happened to be kind of weird and maybe didn’t like me. To get into UW you must win over the residents. They make or break you.

I had no connections with any ortho guys and had no one make any calls. Its tough to break into the world when you don't know people, but it can happen
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California out of all places!

My turn...I thought this thread was the most helpful of anything on this board. It gives you a vague way to compare yourself to others.
School: Midwest state school
Step 1: 244
Step 2: 254, taken early and submitted with initial ERAS app
Grades:: Honors in all classes except for two in first year
Awards: AOA as a senior, Gold Humanism Honor Society
Resarch: Two ortho pubs, multiple ortho poster presentations, special school research project in ortho to be presented at MAOA this April
Other stuff: college basketball, lots of community service, job at a tissue donation organization for five years, married with 2 kids
Aways: Wisconsin
Interviews: Applied-30, Offered-18, Went on 10 (scheduling conflicts/money)

TOP TIER
U of Wisconsin- Rotated here and absolutely loved it! That seems to be the common thread on this board. Really, the strength of the program is the residents. Great group of people that are having a good time learning what they want to do. Extremely balanced! Best program as a whole if you ask me.

Iowa- Another amazing place to train. Know I would have been very happy here. Iowa City is Iowa City, not really all that much do here, but enough since it is a college town. Faculty is well known in all specialties. Maybe a bit malignant at times...hard to tell from a two day interview.

Cleveland Clinic- Great name, great operative experience. Hospital is beautiful and life in Cleveland is very affordable. Seemed very balanced with relatively speaking "cush" life as a resident.

SECOND TIER
Ohio State- I got the sense that this program is really headed somewhere. The Chair seems to have a compelling way about him and I was buying what he said. Lots of money coming towards the ortho dept and hospitals in general

Kentucky- Loved this place because I did undergrad nearby. Great operative experience. Lots and lots of trauma. Strong in peds and sports too. Seemed liked residents were very hardworkers.

Northwester- Actually got an interview here without rotating, so another example of this happening (phone call made by an attending) Great group of guys! Seemed to be having a great time, always cracking jokes and having fun. Downtown Chicago location not ideal for a family guy.

THIRD TIER
Jefferson- Probably the most high powered place I saw. So, if you want academia or research, this is the place to be. OR time is extremely back loaded, so much that some of the younger residents seemed almost depressed about life...not what I was looking for. But, serious options for research here!!! Philly wasn't really appealing to me.

Duke- Great interview experience and a very strong program. Seemed well balanced Guys there were first class. Only reason this wasn't ranked higher was distance from home...and they spend a lot of time away from Durham doing peds and/or VA.

Mich St.- Smaller community program. I wanted academic and larger in size.

Matched at my top choice!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the advice I have for future applicants is twofold. First, listen to your predecessors. I.e., read orthogate ( and don't take things too seriously), call alumni who are currently residents at programs you are interested in, work with your faculty to exhaust every possible connection (Literally, my wife's Dad did the taxes for a family doctor who had his knee replaced by an ortho doc at a program I wanted to interview at...he sent an email on my behalf and the next day I had an interview there!). Second, apply broadly. I only applied to 30 programs and didn't get interviews to several programs that I thought I would be guaranteed at. There really is no rhyme or reason to the whole interview selection process.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions. I would be more than happy to help anybody out!

BUMP.

Post your thoughts etc on programs.

Well I went through a year ago but I interviewed at a couple of places not mentioned above…

School: Midwest Public
Step 1: 240
Step 2: 244 (released in time for applications, which I recommend)
Grades: Top 10%
Awards: um, none, and I'm still pissed that AOA was a popularity contest at my school...
Research: MS in Biomedical Engineering, couple of pubs in vascular biology, and I worked part time for bank $ during my 1st-3rd years of med school... no Ortho work, but as I've said many times before, the experience of research is more important than the topic
Other stuff: in college I stole a prototype Smith and Nephew oxinium femoral head and made it into a shift knob for my car
Aways: Akron General, Mt Carmel
Interviews: Applied 50, Offered 20, Made 15

In alphabetical order:
Akron General- I liked the residents and the daily morning conferences. They also get a ton of free food and I actually gained weight on this rotation. Note: if you do an away there, they put you up in a nice hotel and get you some food money. They also have a kids hospital across the street. However, as mentioned somewhere else they get random cases every day so you can do spine on Monday, joints on Tuesday, etc. which could be very difficult to manage the first couple of years. Call wasn’t very busy, and so there’s not too much trauma.
Arkansas- Excellent family-friendly program which produces very capable surgeons. New hospital and great benefits. The residents have a great deal of autonomy and develop a tremendous surgical confidence. They also seem to have a great rapport. Balanced rotations with great peds, trauma, shoulder, hand, joint, and sports experiences, but not really spine-heavy if that’s your thing. There's also an associated VA hospital which provides its own set of experiences. I haven’t seen anything really negative about this program on this forum. Definitely worth a look. Little Rock’s a nice town, but if you’re from a big city, it might not be for you.
Greenville- Good balance, and the residents seemed appropriately-busy. The real strengths I saw on my interview were the fantastic physical resources such as the adjacent Shriner’s hospital as well as more research-focused amenities like an amazing gait lab. I was fortunate to be invited to an interview, and it would be hard to go wrong here (unless you have a thing against Palmettos).
Kalamazoo- Technically, I think they’re associated with Michigan State, however you get the feeling it’s a pure private program based on the 2 hospitals they serve. For the research-inclined, there’s a strong link to the Biomedical Engineering program at Western Michigan University. Kali’s not a bad small town, and housing is affordable, and the residents get an unlimited free food budget… gourmet coffee included. This was one of my top choices, but the only downsides were the fact that the size is small (2 residents/year) and that consults are staffed before being called to the residents.
Louisville- The night before my interview, I took a running lap around Churchill Downs. Louisville’s an excellent KY town and the Barnes-Jewish hospital system seemed pretty strong. The interview day is a bit weird in that there’s only one day and so you’re thrown into the mix with 30-odd candidates. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a good read on the program from my day there. I believe this is the place with the great anatomy lab where you can request body parts to practice if you’re preparing for a surgery.
McLaren- Unfairly, the worst part of McLaren is that it’s in Flint, otherwise it’s a great program. Small hospital system and residents that seemed to get along very well. The day I was there it was sunny and -20F… time to pull out your snowmobiles… That said, I’d definitely recommend interviewing there because of program substance.
Med College Wisconsin- I got the distinct feeling this Milwaukee program was very regional and, even though I came from a Midwestern medical school, I felt sort of out-of-place. The hospitals are gorgeous and the residents seemed very confident and capable. This was in the top half of my rank list.
Mt Carmel- Probably one of---if not THE--- strongest “small” “private” training program. Brilliant residents, decent staff, good hospital system, excellent pay and availability of moonlighting $$$. The seniors pull in close to 100g/year. They share a huge kids hospital in Columbus with the The OSU guys. Lots of private experience. Unmatched OITE results. Fankhauser may be one of the best PDs in the business. The biggest downsides I noticed were: 1) it’s small and very fraternal and 2) I took call one night and the resident didn’t get called in a single time. As I’ve said before, if you’d like to go into private practice, it would be difficult not to rank MC near the top of your list.
MUSC- I was probably colored at my interview by other reviews and the fact that I was at the end of my interview cycle. The residents seemed pretty happy but they were a varied crew. I met a few at a course this year and they were very capable. Per rumor, bonus points go to the applicants who like wakeboarding…
The Ohio State University- Much has been said about the new chairman who was nipped from Missouri, and with the resources available to that hospital system, one would expect great things. I have no doubt it will be a strong program in the future, but at the interview day (which was excellent), I got the feeling that there lacked a certain “esprit de corps” of the residents… there’s not really an Ortho lounge or anything the guys and girls could stamp their name to. Depending on your preference, an 1100-bed hospital may or may not be to your liking with the red tape and “policy” that goes into such a massive system.
Oklahoma- Trauma heavy, but the residents were quite happy. Great support network for spouses. I ranked them highly because of the intensity and integrity of the program. I would’ve been happy to match there but would’ve liked to know more. Probably a good away rotation, although due to their location would probably lean towards regional folks. Other upsides: the beef is excellent. Downsides: it’s flat, really flat.
SUMMA- Located in Akron, OH, these guys run a great service. As far as I know, they share Akron Childrens with AGMC and while there’s a bit of competition between the two programs, there’s plenty of business to go around. When I was there for an interview, I actually got the chance to scrub for the morning (where a resident was doing a reverse) and was bragged-to about the volume of cases logged by the residents. There’s also a gourmet restaurant inside the hospital. Conferences seemed quite good. A gem of a program in the Midwest.
UMKC- Weird program director, even though I thought we clicked and his methods seemed reasonable (there’s the almost-laughable “fire and brimstone” speech which was the entertaining hour of the morning). Although, from talking to med students from UMKC, the malignancy is real. Truman’s probably a great medical center. For those of you who didn’t match the first time, there seems to be a preference for matching prelims.
West Virginia- Another of my top choices. The chairman is a spine surgeon who’s really set the program in a great direction. Morgantown is a great town. There’s also a very good research/anatomy lab. I was surprised that they only take 2+1 residents (one into a 6 year research track) given the business they receive. I’m from WVa by birth, and I’d’ve been happy to match there. I forget where they do their peds rotations, but as far as I know there’s not a dedicated kids hospital in Morgantown.
William Beaumont- Perhaps the most lavish program in the country… there’s even a concierge service for the residents. Excellent hospital and research facilities. Because of this, Beaumont was one of my top choices. Of note, this is the place where you’re asked your max bench press, and after I said “I can do the combine press at 46 reps”, I was reminded there was a gym nearby where I’d be tested… and I recanted. Seriously awesome program. There’s been talk before of the 2nd year anatomy requirement, and while this would absorb some extra time, you could never fault a surgeon for being too-good of an anatomist… I consider this a strength of the program.

School: top 20 private
USMLEs: 249/250 (released)
Rank: 1/125
Awards: scholarship, AOA, GHHS
Aways: UTSW, Duke
Research: had some, no pubs

ROL by tiers:

Tier One
WashU - as said before, very academic rogram with a reputation for being light on the OR experience. Still, great opportunities in every field and St Louis seemed nice

UVa - strong academics and research opportunities. Clicked well with residents I met. C-ville was small for me.

UTSW- amazing peds and trauma experience. Really loved the residents here. Trauma experience is among the best. Operative experience is front loaded and ample, which was important to me. Dallas is a great city.

Campbell Clinic - incredible tradition and reputation. Great operative experience. Residents seemed cool. Was told they serve beer at conference, which sounds awesome. only downside I saw was Memphis, although it didn't seem as bad as some had said. Lots of money for resident education.

Emory- loved this program. Great operative experience at grady. Residents seemed like a cool and hard working bunch. Atlanta is awesome. Didactics are pretty weak.

Second tier
Duke
UNC
Florida
Mississippi
Miami

Third tier
Kentucky
Baylor
Orlando
UT San Antonio

Match result: at one of my top tier places and couldn't be more excited to start.

Would greatly appreciate some more match advice. This thread is great!

Med School: Low Tier Public
Boards: 230s on Step I and II, Step II after ROL submitted
Rank: Don’t have it
AOA: Yes
Clinical Grades: HP in psych and family medicine, Honors in all else
Ortho Sub-I: Home rotation and 2 sub-I’s with Honors in all
Research: Undergrad and med school bench research in non-ortho with 2 abstracts, some ortho experiences but no publications at time of submission
Letters: All ortho and 1 gen surg, all except my home chairman’s letter were from my sub-I’s

My thoughts on some of the programs I interviewed at (in alphabetical order)

Brown: Really impressed with this place, Ehrlich’s introduction was one of the most impressive presentations I saw on the trail, really makes you want to come here. Research opportunities here seemed abundant if you are into that kind of thing. I think the 6th year sounds like a great supplement to the operative experience you get and turns you into a great surgeon…but’s it’s still an extra year…

Campbell Clinic: Another fantastic place to train. Sounds like they get great trauma experience downtown with a good PP experience out in the suburbs. Sounds like a love it or hate it place, and I loved it. Memphis is kind of a downer, but if you are from the south I’m sure it’s not that bad. Seem’s like their graduates are very well respected. Rotation is pretty cush as a med student too. Really liked this program.

Case Western: Dr. Marcus gave a great introduction and talked about his desire to have people to match here that are the leaders in the field, not community orthopods, so keep that in mind as you are looking at rotations and going for interviews. I liked most of my interviewers and residents that I met, but there were a couple that really rubbed me the wrong way and Cleveland didn’t help the situation. Still seems like a great program though with excellent training.

Miami: Loved it here, really seemed like that had good coverage of every specialty, residents seemed like really cool guys. Dr. Eismont is a legend and would really like to be here under his lead. New program director seemed like a nice guy with a real desire to help the residents. I like Miami a lot, not sure if I could live there for 5 years…and still be financially solvent. Really liked this program.

U of Virginia: Loved this place, Dr. Chabbra seems like the type of program director that anyone would be lucky to train under, and sounds like he TRULY cares about the residents and wants to make this a superior residency program. You do go to Roanoke for 40ish weeks spread out over years 3-4 which the residents seemed somewhat split on opinion wise, it sounds like a great opportunity to me. C-ville seemed like a nice town and really revolves around the university. Really like this program.

Utah: Fantastic program, probably the most well rounded that I visited. Great experience in every subspecialty. Chairman and PD were GREAT, but the rest of the faculty I interviewed with seemed kind of cold. Residents all couldn’t stop talking about how great salt lake was and how much they enjoyed it, which sounded like a great place to me. Great social at the former chairmans house. Doesn’t interview a lot of people.

UTSW: Heard great things before going here, and it lived up. Seems to really have a great reputation for producing top-notch technical surgeons. It sounds like the residents operate a TON. Chairman Dr. Borrelli seems highly interested in research, but it doesn’t sound like its shoved down the residents throats if they don’t like it, but opportunities for interested residents were available. A great mix of big county/semi-private/VA/Scottish Rite and Children’s for well rounded experience. Dallas is my favorite city in the country. Really loved this program.

WashU: Hands down one of the most impressive departments I have ever seen. Top names, impressive pedigrees for the residents, number one in NIH funding this year for departments. All that said, there were a ton of fellows, which don’t sound like they get in the way. St. Louis is OK. You could probably land any fellowship you want outta here, but some residents did say operative experience is top heavy. Really like this program.

Yale: Sounds like a great schedule with all the research time they have. Sounds like they really operate a lot, liked the mix of the community attendings with the academic rotations, would probably be great for your training. Residents were all very proud of the program. I just didn’t get a great feel from the faculty and new haven was pretty low on my list of locations I wanted to move.



Final thoughts:

Work hard on your subis, if you meet the stat cutoffs (>230) and apply widely as long as you have done well and have good LORs from them you stand a GREAT chance at matching.

There is no “best program in the country” or “top five in the country.” There are great departments with terrible programs and so-so departments with great programs. It is a personal choice based on numerous factors that are independent for every applicant. One person’s “best program in the country” could be almost dead last on another applicant’s ROL and THAT IS FINE!!!!!

Think hard about location when deciding which interview to take, really think about WHERE you want to LIVE for the next 5 years (big vs small city, etc). I didn’t really take location seriously until over halfway through the interview process, a HUGE mistake on my part. Think about this too when deciding on subI locations.

Be humble throughout the entire process, because honestly everyone will feel both exhilarated and demoralized sometime throughout this long and stressful process.

Med School]


This is a great post, thanks a lot for the information.