That's pretty interesting to hear. Do any other places do this as well? According to the natmatch website, it says that almost all places gave "pre-match" offers. Is that true?
i only know about the OR program, and that's just from what ive heard through the grapevine.
Good west coast program, with moderate OR time. Attendings are pretty good about teaching, but often things fall on the residents to do amongst themselves. Not really much to complain about, except if you're not really an outdoorsy type person.... a lot of people are into that.
Didn't do AOA match but I will give give overview of DO programs I rotated at since this site helped me a lot when I was looking for program info.
NYCOM / Peninsula- Summed up in one sentence....you will work.
Pros: Easily the most operative experience of any program I rotated at. Spread out over a number of hospitals on LI, some of which are pretty trauma heavy. Attendings seem willing to teach, but a few of the private attendings are hesitant to let junior residents jump in. Peds rotation in Cinci is one of the best...only bad thing is that you have to travel. All of the chiefs felt like they were well prepared. Great fellowship opportunities...I can't remember the specifics but they wound up in some pretty nice spots in NYC and elsewhere.
Cons: Blatant disregard of work hours as a junior resident. Call schedule gets a lot better as a senior but 2nd and 3rd years seem like they never go home. Weak academics, although the current group of residents seem pretty dedicated to improving that. They do didactics once a week and based on how spread out the hospitals are it would be hard to change that. Typically they take a large class size but they had an issue this year with their 5 year review and as of interview time they were only allowed to take 2 residents (I think this has since been resolved). Peninsula hospital is not great, some residents said getting sent there was basically punishment. Very few ortho cases there and you do the majority of intern year at that hospital.
UMDNJ-Kennedy
Pros: Solid program overall. They have 3 primary hospitals. Small resident class size with excellent academics. Didactics are resident lead with some attending participation. Residents all seem happy and get along. Attendings seem willing to teach and will involve junior residents as much as possible. I can't remember much about fellowship placement. They use Cooper for trauma which is a big plus. Reasonable cost of living.
Cons: Didn't seem as operative heavy as some other places. Some of the residents were openly concerned about a potential change in department leadership, although their current PD stated he was not leaving any time soon. Lost one of their major attendings this year (although he will still do some academics)...residents seem concerned about this. Students complained this was a program that looked hard a COMLEX I...rumored 600 COMLEX cut-off for non-rotators although I can't confirm this.
PCOM-
Pros: Best program I rotated at. PD/Chairman is 76'ers team surgeon and committed to resident education. He is a fanstastic Cooper for Level I trauma, Penn for foot and ankle and recently started going to Baptist in Boston for spine/sports (I think they each do 3 months there). Strong academics, they do didactics once a week and bring in some pretty big names for attending lectures. They use a large (7 ish) hospital network and you get to work with some amazing attendings. Large class size, generally 5 or 6. Residents love the program and seem to get along well. Amazing fellowship placement. As a student you will get to spend a good amount of time with the Chair. They do not take only take PCOM students as was rumored on the interview trail.
Cons: Spread out over a number of hospitals, leading to a confusing call schedule. Most residents says second year is the toughest, but that is likely true of any program.
