Obviously I would accept the interview and attend unless you have a conflict or have plenty of interviews. However, I would be very cautious. In my mind the cons would way outweigh the potential pros of ranking this program highly if you have other options. That isn't to say that this program wouldn't be great and work out, I'm just not sure I would take that risk if I had other choices. The way I see it:
Cons (in my opinion):
- Brand new program without proven effective training/board pass rates
- No seniors to learn from, operate with and protect you
- Call schedule- limited amount of residents = tons of call
- Back-up for call- no seniors to run things by on call, would have to call the attending for everything
- Would be lots of things to work out as far as rotation schedules and making adjustments
- Faculty may not have a lot of experience with teaching and may not be willing to let residents be hands on
- Nobody to ask how much experience they actually get in the OR, are they prepared for their own practices, or how the residents match for fellowships
- You may risk graduating from a program that does not get ACGME accreditation or is put on probation
- You are the guinea pigs, could go terribly
Pros (in my opinion):
- Being the first class, you will get a ton of attention and time from staff without having to double scrub
- Obviously enough case volume to open a residency program
- You'd have to assume the staff there want to teach residents or they wouldn't have opened a program
- You may (or may not) have some say on rotation schedules and contribute to shaping of the program
- You are the guinea pigs, could go great
There are obviously more but these are the onces that come up off the top of my head. By no means am I saying don't rank this place. If it is between here and not matching, you'd be a fool not to accept an ortho residency spot here. Just one person's opinion, everyone is different.
