Residency Review Thread 2011-2012

I have told multiple people over the past few months that location became far more important to me as the course of interviews went on. I found that there were ALOT of great programs throughout the country and most of the programs will teach you similarly.

Also, fellowship placement is much easier to accomplish than residency placement, so it's not really fair to judge program quality based on fellowship placement. Pick your programs based on what is most important to you - i.e. operative experience, location, didactics, research...

Just typed a long post and when I tried to submit I lost internet connection and therefore my entire post. In brief, this is what it said.
School: Top 10 USNWR
Scores: 250’s on step 1 and 2
Grades: All honors preclinical years, all Honors (except Psych) clinical
AOA: yes, as junior
Publications: 5 first author, 1 second author
Away Rotations: 2
Applications: 28 programs, 20 interviews offered, 12 interviews accepted (plus my home school program)

Suggestions for applicants.

1) Find a program that has what you are personally looking for. There is no such thing as a perfect program. All programs have strengths and all programs have weaknesses. Just find one that has strengths in areas that you care about and weaknesses that you can tolerate for 5-6 years.

2) Don’t put too much stock in what you read on forums like this, including the post you are currently reading. Trust people that you know personally and can get a sincere individualized description of a program from.

3) Ranking programs is rubbish. There is no standardized valuation given to all the unique attributes that are taken into account when ranking a program (ie research, autonomy, city, surgical experience, attending/resident interactions, cost of living, trauma volume, “big name” program, call schedule, perks, etc). Because there is no standard valuation for each of these things there is really no way for me to rank programs and expect that my ranking should have any applicability to you. I would say that I agree with about 60% of what abcd1234 posted about programs. That does not mean that he/she is wrong, it just shows that we all view programs through different eyes and have different perspectives on things. I do think that not including Iowa on either of their lists was a poor omission though. That said, here are the “top” programs that I feel I have some idea about (I am sure that there are several other programs in the country that I did not interview/rotate at that could compete with these 5.

TOP 5 PROGRAMS in no specific order(w/brief explanation since my longer post was lost):

1. IOWA- A program is only as good as its leaders and Dr. Buckwalter is fantastic. He is top in the country in NIH funding for an orthopod and has held every leadership role but is still the nicest, most sincere guy you will ever meet. All faculty seem to have genuine interest in resident education and really love their program at Iowa. Great mix of established “big name” docs and up-and-comers. Idea balance across all specialties. All work done at a single hospital and VA just down the road so you don’t waste time travelling. Consistently one of the best programs in the country for research for the past several years. But only require 1 project if research is not your thing. Best call schedule of any program in the country. Iowa city is a Midwestern city but is affordable and an easy place to live. Will get the fellowship that you want.

2. WASH U- similar as above. Great leaders interested in producing the future leaders of orthopaedics. Great clinical balance. Do have to travel to hospitals/clinics but only a rarely. Great research emphasis and opportunity. People I knew who have lived in St. Louis think that it is a decent place to live (despite all the crap that people talk about it).

3. UTAH- Rotated here. Great up and coming program. Great leadership. Attending/resident relationship is of mutual respect and treat each others like peers. Research is not the strongest of any program but is available for those who want it. SLC is a great place to live. Affordable. Not sure what “mormon laws” abcd1234 is referring to but the only thing you would even notice in 5 years is that many shops are closed on Sundays.

4. CMC in Charlotte- sleeper program. Best mix of academics and private practice in the country. Building their academic/research arm with new addition of PhD’s and ancillary staff to help with research. Recently expanded from 3 to 5 residents with plenty of work to go around. Lots of perks. Charlotte is a great place to live and is affordable. Will give you a great start to a career in private practice or academic medicine.

5. HSS- Rotated here. Since one main goal of residency is to get you the fellowship you want and then the job you want I had to include this program as a top 5. Great city if you like big city programs. Lots of perks make it almost affordable. I can only speak to the service I rotated on but there were several things I didn’t love. 4 out of 5 residents I worked closely with were fabulous, down to earth people. 4 out of 5 attendings I worked with appeared more interested in their own agendas than resident education. Great work schedule with plenty of time to enjoy NYC. Worked at several different hospitals but cars provided to travel to the Bronx. As far as abcd1234’s comment about great surgical experience and being in the OR 4 days a week, I completely disagree (based on my month experience there). The 3’s and 4’s that I worked with had less surgical experience than most 2’s I have worked with at three other programs across the country. They did spend 3-4 days/week in the OR but were watching the attendings do 80% of cases and the fellows do the other 20%. (I spent 5 days/week in the OR as a medical student but this surely didn’t teach me a lick about surgical skills). The 3 and 4’s spent more time making powerpoints for pre-op and post-op conferences than they did with a surgical instrument in their hands on any given day. Great research experience with all the ancillary help that you would want. You may ask yourself why I still included HSS in my top 5 with all of the less-than-ideal attributes....it goes back to the purpose of residency training. Training at HSS you will be around top notch residents and will be able to go anywhere that you want to go in your future career even if the surgical experience is not ideal and the interaction with attendings is not what I would hope for.

Long story short, find a program that fits your personal desires and will teach you in a way that you like to learn. If you would rather have your hand held a little and learn well from watching others, find a program like that. If you learn best by getting thrown in the fire and want to lead a case in the OR as a 2, find a program that you will have this opportunity. Your personal valuation of each attribute of a program could be very different than mine so my list may have no meaning to you.

One thing I have learned over the past 9 months is that there are a lot of great programs in the country and a lot of really good people going into Ortho. The future of orthopaedics is in good hands. Good luck.

Top 5 Ranked Programs (in alphabetical order):

1) Dartmouth—Absolutely loved this program. Major positives of this program are great operating experience and the residents were tremendous. On interview day, residents seemed to genuinely enjoy their program. Attendings are committed to teaching residents. No fellows at the program. Negatives are that you spend 6 months away as a PGY2 for Tumor and Peds. It should be said however that you spend the 6 months at Harvard, so the program is seriously committed to training balanced residents even if the program does not have a Peds hospital or Tumor expertise. Also, Lebanon and Hanover are small towns…you have to consider if you want to live here or a bigger city. Overally, would have been happy to have matched here.

2) Brown— Another great program. Have to say that the research here is second to none. If you want to do research, this is one of the top places in the country. Heavily funded and multi-disciplinary. Resident interview days are early (starting at 0530) and ALL of the residents show up. This shows the kind of commitment that Ehrlich (Chairman) has to the program. Negatives for the program (potentially) is that it is a 6 year program, so the 6th year is a “super chief” year with a salary of $150k or so, but it is an extra year of training as opposed to fellowship. The 6th year is 50% trauma and 50% research, so you have to think really hard if you want to spend an extra year there. “Super Chiefs” universally seemed to like having the 6th year as it transitioned well for them to other fellowships or private practive. Regardless, I would have been lucky to match here, as PD and Chairman are great and Trauma is supposed to be tremendous. Providence as a city is so-so. Definately didn’t love it, but it is also close to NYC and Boston and it is overall, fairly affordable.

3) Hopkins— This is Hopkins, so the name certainly helps. Positives of the program are some of the Sim and Skill Labs that JHU Bayview has, as well as numerous collaborative research opportunities. Interview day was a little “sparse” as I only had 2-3 interviews altogether and had a hard time getting a feel for the program. Word is that the program is way more “friendly” than it used to be. Also, a positive is that you cover the Baltimore Orioles and Navy Football as a senior. Still ranked it very high, as chief residents seemed to be comfortable in their skills and got great fellowships. Baltimore is much more nice as a city than it used to be.

4) Iowa— One of the top programs in the country. Phenomenal Program. Dr. Buckwalter may be perhaps one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Program definately let’s its game speak. NIH funding is one of the top in the country. Call schedule is one of the best. Incredible balance in this program. Loved the rotations, as you rotate through services as both a Junior and a Senior so you have multiple exposures. Not a single area of the program is deficient in terms of specialties, so you get great training. I liked Iowa City ok overall, but the major question for most people will be if they can live in this type of town. It is in the middle of the Mid-west and will be a factor for people. Definitely a college town and not a major city. You have to see it for yourself to determine if it is right for you.

5)Utah— This program completely blew me away on interview day. Not a single weakness to be found. Dr. Aoki is Chair of the Residency Selection Committee and was amazingly conversational and truly seemed to be an advocate for residents (as well as being well-known for Sports). Overall, the program seemed very similar to Iowa, with rotations as a both a Junior and Senior. Dr. Saltzman (used to be at Iowa) is leading the charge here. Residents seemed the happiest of all out of over 15+ interviews. Seemed like the faculty new everything about you on interview day. Definitely did their research and chose applicants carefully. I did not see a single program on the interview trail that had the balance among sub-specialties that this program had. All subspecialties covered. Perhaps most important is that attendings were superstars at all levels (early v mid v late career). This program is training the next generation of top Orthopaedic Surgeons. Salt Lake City is affordable and a great place to raise kids. Program has a lot of fellows, but it seems like the program is resident driven and the operative volume is quite large for the area. Overall, would have loved to match here.

Other Programs

Mayo—tremendous research for sure. There is no program in the country that has research like this program. Major negatives for me were the size of the program, operative experience and location. 12+ residents per year means 60 residents in the program. Didn’t feel like residents knew each other and did not interact very much. Little class cohesion. Also, substantial variability in rotation based on faculty for the preceptorship type model. Didn’t feel like residents (even senior level residents) operated much at all compared to other programs. Also, Rochester is just sub-par as a location. Freezing cold most of the year and just not for me. Another major negative is having to spend 6 months away in jacksonvillle/Arizona.

Minnesota— Loved this program. Solid all around. Great residents who work really hard. Many residents are married and have kids. Trauma experience here is insane and you will be outstanding in this area if you train here. The number of faculty is pretty ridiculous. On interview day , you probably interview with 30 -50 faculty members in multiple “room-type” interviews. A negative for me was that the network of hospitals was quite spread out and it seemed like residents spent a lot of time driving between hospitals. Again, though, a tremendous program in a good city; Minneapolis is affordable and is family friendly…if you don’t mind the cold.

Indiana University— Enjoyed interviewing here. Pediatrics and Tumor are strengths here. Indiannapolis is very affordable and you don’t have to go away for any rotations. Residents seems ok overall. Program absorbed a residency a few years back so 7+ residents as PGY4 even though normally Cons are that researched seemed marginal overally.

University of Washington— If you are “single” this is the program for you. Absolutely incredible, in all aspects. Drs. Chapman (Chair) and Hanel (PD) are so approachable and are leaders in their field (Spine and Hand, respectively). Residents were awesome. Appears that the program is front loaded, with not much operating on the front R1 and R2, but heavy experience on the back. Major negative for me was expense….Seattle is ridiculous…plus, multiple hospitals all over the city, so I feel like a lot of driving was involved. Also, back end operating experience and huge number of fellows. Would have loved to have spent a month here to better determine OR experience. Also, it seemed like most residents did not have families which could be a significant factor for some applicants. Other than that, research and program is great.

I'm sure that I missed a few because some years have multiple threads regarding ROL and post-match thoughts, but at least I found something from every year. Enjoy.

2011:


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Come on boys and girls! Ortho is as popular is ever - we gotta have a few more people out there that will post some reviews for underclassmen applying for aways and soon-to-be interviews.

Med School: Top10 USNWR
Boards: Step 1: 260, Step 2: 260 (didn't submit until Feb)
AOA: Yes
Clinicals: Honors in everything except Family
Ortho: Only did one away, honors in both
Research: 4 first author papers (JBJS/Spine/CJSM); 2 2nd author, others in process
Extracurriculars: lots of athletic achievements

What I was looking for in a Program:
A great overall operative/educational/research experience w/ good interaction bw residents and faculty that would help launch an academic career.

How many Programs:
Applied to: 30
Offered Interviews: 26
Attended: 14

Top 4: In my opinion, I think these are the top 4 programs in the country. They all didn't end in that order on the rank list bc a lot of what goes into that is personal, family, location, etc. But in terms of helpfulness to future applicants, I think that these are the best programs in the country hands down from what I saw and heard about. I tried to come up with a 5th, but no single program stood out as better than the others in a long list of very very good programs.

Harvard: “The view from the top is nice” A large program consisting of 4 large level 1 trauma centers in Boston. With 60 residents in the program, everyone seemed to be able to find their group of friends in both the same and other years. Operative experience really starts to pick up PGY3 year during their 6-month dedicated block at Children’s. You really have to be a self-motivated person to do well at this program as residents “can get lost,” according to residents and faculty alike. Not a huge pimping program and I didn’t sense a hint of malignancy. They have (vs. HSS) the best perks in the country and are very well taken care of. Juniors yrs can be a lot of watching and if you don’t commit yourself to make sure you’re up to speed by the time the heavy operative experience comes around, you may find yourself at a bit of a loss. However, residents at the PGY3-5 level were universally happy and thrilled they had come to work at the best hospitals in the country, if not world. All graduating seniors walk into the best fellowships in the country in any area (and even one went straight into private practice last year which is a bit rare.) Overall, outstanding residents, attendings for the most part extremely dedicated to teaching, and great support from the program throughout the program. Rotations are primarily apprenticeship outside of trauma and vary between residents given the size of the program. Biggest knocks are the delay in heavy operative experience and short white coats during pgy1 gen surg yr. There are a lot of fellows, but are now completely separate services for the most part. Interview has a fancy dinner at the top of the hub the night before w/ plenty of drinks. Interview day is long as there are tours of all the hospitals in am/pm and a bunch of committee style interviews in the other half, some w/ ethical or scenario type questions. They only have your personal statement and no stats, fyi…and only 65-70? Interviewees for 12 spots is a great ratio. Ended up in my top 5 programs.

WashU: “The Best…if we weren’t in St. Louis” This program is like a perfectly well oiled machine. The PD Rick Wright is a great person and an amazing salesman of the place who truly has the residents best interest and education as a top priority. Rotations are setup to go through twice and many are in the apprenticeship model. Facilities, research, didactics are all top notch. Probably best known for hand and shoulder, but all specialties are truly very strong. Residents seemed nice and happy. A strong balance of males/females currently. Most residents own houses/condos nearby by the middle of their residency. Barnes is one big hospital and everything is there except sports which is at a cool outpt place 15 mins away. There’s just no weaknesses really and would probably be at the top of most people’s programs if it wasn’t in St Louis, although people who live there say it really isn’t that bad at all (and they’re probably right). There are an average # of fellows, but they don’t seem to distract from the focus on the residency at all – possibly w/ shoulder? It just doesn’t get the same kind of attention as coastal places do which is unfair, but true. Interview day is a nice bar and food the night before and 3-4 committee rooms often w/ one attending and a resident or two from varying years all w/ evry get-to-know you type questions. Very amicable and good down-home comfort food for lunch. Three interview days midweek makes it easy to attend and well worth it. Ended up being in top 5.

Mayo: “How medicine should be” This program defines excellence, efficiency, and outstanding pt care in everything it does. It must feel good to be a resident there. The facilities are like a 4 seasons hotel w/ an amazing gym that residents can use. Top notch record system. Apprenticeship model w/ varying experiences – I think the whole A/B track is orthogate lore, but some residents do feel like they didn’t get a chance to work with the “best” attending. 2nd yr basic science afternoon didactics sounds really cool as you still do clinical work in the mornings. Research heavy residents can take the whole yr for research and still graduate in 5yrs by doing heavier volume rotations. Strongest in joints and hand, but so well balanced that many residents go right into practice while others pursue the best fellowships. Only relative weakness is sports which you can go to Jacksonville mayo for to get more operative experience. There are no junior/senior rotations, so after 2nd yr you’re a “senior” resident getting to do what you’ve demonstrated competency with. Living is extremely cheap, and w/ that great price comes 8-9 months of winter…and it’s cold…like really cold w/ high wind. Great interview day split into 3 parts: tour, interview, promo talk. Interviews are 2 1:1 w/ a faculty member that knows your chart well. Only knocks are a q4 in house trauma required rotation as a chief and the away for sports…and the location. Oh yeah, and it bothered some people to wear a suit and tie, but it didn’t seem like a big deal to me. Ended up being lower on my list due to location and personal/family reasons.

HSS “Bone Palace NYC” I didn’t rotate here, a lot of my friends did and the interview day answered a lot of my other questions. This place teaches you to operate like none other. 2nd yr is primarily spent in queens or other places where you get to take a resident car to every morning and from what residents say is your typical, work hard, good basic stuff type of ortho program. Then comes HSS for pgy3-5 where you operate 4 days/week. Residents have all the paperwork/dc stuff taken care of by the army of PAs and don’t take in house call. They can come in on Saturday to make extra $ working cases and doing H&Ps and even by doing dc summaries. They live a really good life in upper east side and have tons of perks. They are strong in every area and the biggest life stresses for residents seemed to be making endless .ppt presentations and sucking up to the big name attendings. I expected to not really like the residents, but they all actually seemed like really nice guys and I enjoyed the committee interview room w/ them. Obviously, everyone gets great fellowships and they publish a ton (average 13 papers!?) bc they have all the resources and data at their fingertips. Biggest knocks for me are the short white coat and feeling like I would have to outwardly express my awe of how amazing my attendings are every day. It also isn’t a teaching hospital, but I don’t know if that matters to much although some subi’s thought that residents were expected to work fast or not work at all and some of the longer tenure PAs could kind of boss them around. Interview day has a technical skills room, research room, and a clinical room and a chief resident room. Pretty stressful day overall. Ended up ranking low on my list due to location and personal/family reasons.


Other Tier: I think these programs are all equal and each I could see someone convincing me is the next "best" program, whatever that may be.

Stanford: “400 million dollar commitment + Stanford reputation = The next big thing” Stanford has it all – great weather, nice facilities, outstanding academic reputation. 10 years ago, all it needed was a good ortho program. And now, it’s there. The program has made huge strides over the past 5 yrs in terms of opening a fancy new outpt surgical center, new faculty, higher quality residents, etc. The school put a ton of money toward making Stanford ortho the best and it’s about ½ way there. The rotations are still imho pretty bad, the worst being 5 months of trauma at the county w/ q3 home call (not really) during pgy2 and another 5 months as a chief. A highly recommended VA rotation is on pause (ie, stopped) until they get approval for their 6th or even 7th resident. This will likely create a night float system which would benefit the current call struggles as well w/ the work hour changes. Interview day was actually pretty funny w/ one attending standing up during a pause in the presentation and calling people out about why they wanted to go there, but I think it was kind of just one guy’s weird behavior bc both PD Cheng and the chair seemed like they had no idea what was going on. Interviews were 3 or 4 rooms about various issues, ethical, research, clinical, etc. and then one quick 5 minutes w. Cheng or Maloney. All in all, ended up in my top 5 due to location, reputation and personal reasons.

UCLA “Kick back, relax, and learn ortho” Forget UW, UCSF, or Stanford when you’re thinking about bouncing from the OR to hit the surf or throwing your flip flops in your bag for after work. If you want that lifestyle, UCLA has it to offer. Happiest residents I met on the trail. Really nice facilities w/ a brand new bone palace just opened on our interview day that looks really nice. Santa Monica is beautiful and minutes from the beach. The presentation on interview day was excellent and def. struck a chord with those interested in work/life balance. All areas are covered well, but the best is probably sports. Call is never too busy, but residents were quick to point out that they felt they got sufficient operative experience and felt prepared. They universally got very good fellowships and were thrilled at their choice of UCLA. Two residents are needed to take a yr off s/p pgy2 for a research yr which is usually filled by 2 willing participants. It sounds like a great yr where u can dedicate yourself to the lab, do a bit of research and moonlight, or truly just do whatever you want and recharge on the beach for a while with a little clinical research thrown in for good measure. The opportunities are endless with a large, dedicated ortho space. The biggest knocks are that it is part of the UC system and potentially susceptible to budget woes, but residents say they are rather insulated given the profitable nature of the Reagan hospital. Pay is insufficient for buying anything and most residents live in smaller apts near the hospital. There also is a fair bit of driving required for the different sites: VA, orthopedics, UCLA, etc. All in all, a great place to train w/ the Cali lifestyle. Ended up in my top 5 for aforementioned reasons.

UCSF “Big Dogs look nice…but can carry a bite” So you want flip-flops, early afternoons, and chill attendings – don’t look here. This place is serious business and with its world-class reputation comes a very big expectation for long hours, hard work, and research. The county hospital offers up some of the best trauma west of the mississippi (other than UW) while the main hospital gets all the complicated joints/spine cases. The sports program is smaller, but has energetic attendings and a brand new outpt surgery center than runs flawlessly. Hand and f/a are okay. The hospital as a whole carries with it an east-coast, no bs vibe and is represented in the ortho program. Residents are pimped quite hard in conference, in fx rounds, and in the OR…sub-I’s are also fair game. PGY2 yr is killer, but you come out knowing a ton. With very few fellows, residents get to operate a ton, early and often. The key issue is the county and its heavy, heavy trauma – 4 months per year for all 5 yrs. The place is extremely busy and you operate a ton. You also don’t have any support staff or a logical records system. The VA rotation is extremely operative heavy and is highly well regarded as the PD Kim is there. Vail is a very hands off chair, but is very well respected in the joints community. As far as san Francisco, one of the greatest cities in the world with everything you could want. They adjust the pay to allow for a life, but it is expensive. Residents are a extremely cohesive, tight-knit group that enjoy outdoor activities that are truly at your finger tips when you have time…also a large # of women relative to other programs. With a new dedicated childrens hospital and a brand new county hospital opening within a few yrs, its future is only getting brighter. Interview day is one of the more stressful days consisting of panels asking tough questions from research to clinical to ethical. Overall, ended up lower for heaviness of trauma and personal/family reasons.

Vanderbilt “We do this right” This program reminded me a lot of WashU. 5 residents per year going through 2 sets of rotations as a junior and senior. Amazing facilities all in one location (peds,main,VA). Energetic interested attendings. Everyone attends morning conference together creating a huge team dynamic that is really cool and palpable among the residents. The main difference is that Vandy’s mission is to make you the best surgeon in the world and they feel they do it better than anyone. How? With practice, practice, practice. This is a high volume place where you operate early and often. However, long hours and tons of cases are helped by an awesome EMR (think doing orders on your own ipad) and support on trauma. There aren’t two many fellows and the residents are very proficient by the time they’re chiefs. That said, research is there, but def. an afterthought to the mission of teaching you to operate. Fellowships aren’t as easy to come by as, say from Harvard, but the program’s reputation of churning out great clinicians helps overcome the less research. Call is Q10 for pgy2/3 and is killer bc you cover all the hospitals. Residents often earn top ED consultant awards, etc. However, it’s more like Q5 bc during busy calls (read most) the backup resident is called in to help. This can get draining but it’s like going into battle – on the other side you come out a different person. Nashville isn’t for all, but I loved it. Affordable housing. Great music and nightlife. Weather’s hot in summer, but mild winters. A lot of residents own. Interview day is pretty standard with mostly 1:1 interviews that are casual and kind. Dinner night before is fine. Ended up in top 5 for aforementioned reasons. Biggest knock for me was the slightly less focused research opportunities and number of residents primarily interested in private practice.

Hopkins “Changing tides” Hopkins had so many rumors on orthogate that when I went to visit I didn’t know what to think. Malignant? Lack of operating experience? Old facilities? In my opinion – all wrong. I think it carries one of the best lifestyles of any program in the country w/ their 24hr PA support while on call. There is tons of research time during 3rd/4ty yrs (two dedicated blocks) and there’s lots of great perks like the Orioles games, the nice ortho jackets, loupes, lead etc. There are very few fellows as well so it’s focus is definitely resident education. The best part of the program is the PD LaPorte. She is amazing – she was kind, nice, engaged, smart, advocate and got absolutely rave reviews from the residents. She has a great resident centered vision for the program and is a huge plus for the program. The elephant in the room is obviously their lack of chair which will surely change some aspects of the program. However, they’re going to get someone very good from the outside to help get their finances in order and with a brand new billion dollar hospital, should have no problem finding them. They’ve expanded recently getting new attgs in trauma (so they don’t go to shock anymore) and in sports. Spine is huge. Sports takes care of the O’s and Navy football and Peds is always busy with Sponseller leading the helm. Residents all had lives w/ some living pretty far outside the city. They have a really cool skills lab which is part of LaPorte’s training vision, but I don’t think its to make up for the lack of OR time. Subis and Hopkins students said they operate a ton, and I believe it. The pay is extremely lousy for an affordable (but not cheap) city meaning that some of the newer (read nicer and safer) areas of Baltimore are off limits for families unless you want to be really crunched. Everyone gets great fellowships w/ a lot of the residents I spoke to going into F&A based on their experience at Union and they have obviously a hx of good sports/spine/peds matches. This program ended up just out of the top 5 based on other/nonortho reasons and the thought of starting a family in Baltimore.

Penn “Stand straight, chin up, and shave” This program drums up opinions like none other on orthogate. True rumors: requirements are to be clean shaven, tie into and out of hospital, take any consult with a smile, be and look the best at all times. Anything less than excellent is not tolerated. We use US news and world report to gauge our self esteem w/ absolute goal being top 5 program in next few years. We will push and pimp you hard to make you the best. We will operate at all times throughout the night and expect you to want to be over hours on trauma or you will be looked down upon. The things that aren’t true are mainly about the turnover importance and Dr. Levin. He’s actually a reasonable person w/ an absolute burning desire for excellence and everything he does or requires seems to stem from that. He gets a lot of great things done for residents quickly – c-arm in the ED, new ortho hospital!?, etc. You pretty much just need to drink the koolade and get on board or you’re going to be one unhappy salmon swimming the wrong way. That said, most areas are strong including sports/shoulder – spine being the absolute weakest w/ only one attending that just came from UVa. The facilities at HUP are old and have paper records I believe, but theyre moving to presby soon w/ the new bone palace being built. CHOP peds is obviously amazing as well. Call sucks as a pgy2 bc you cover all 3 hospitals which requires driving in the middle of the night to do ED visits – called the “triple threat.” The 6yr option looks very enticing with one resident even scoring an R01 grant following her research yr that is completely call/service free. Tons of trauma including lots of penetrating trauma from all the gunshots if that’s your thing. Biggest knocks were described above in rumor section and phili overall for some people. Overall, I went back and forth on this program. No doubt you’ll get great training, but at what price for sanity? I decided I just wouldn’t be a great fit for a more militaristic type of program and ranked it lower accordingly. However, I think it will be one of the most respected programs again in a few years and encourage everyone to take a look to see if it’s the right fit. I have no doubt that if you’re willing to fall in line and work w/ Dr. Levin’s requests, then he will be an amazing advocate for you throughout your career.

Utah “The Outdoorsman’s dream” If you love skiing, hiking, the outdoors, and don’t mind a few weird drinking laws, then this is the program for you. The PD Aoki is awesome – down to earth, resident advocate, energetic and into teaching + he throws a great post interview party at his sweet house. The Utah program is extremely well balanced, has great rotations repeated for junior/senior experience. This program fits right into the WashU/Vandy mold – they’ve found their sweet spot with regards to rotations and experiences and are sitting well. Night float for 10weeks as pgy2 eliminates other call. PGY1 has even a sports experience to get you used to the arthroscope. Rotations feel truly education rather than service based. Residents were universally happy. Attendings at times wish their residents were more research focused and were a little odd in some of the interview rooms, but seemed genuinely interested in education and teaching. I truly have nothing bad to say about the program – great facilities, cohesive group of residents, maybe a little less academic than the other programs on my list, but it’s def. there if you want to focus on it. Top fellowships aren’t handed out given its slightly less known name, but they’re there if you work for them. The only question was how much the large #s of fellows interfere – rotators and residents, however, were quick to point out that the volume was sufficient and there wasn’t too much watching going on. Interview day was looooong including a tour and 9 (yes 9!) 20-30minute unstructured interviews. However, party at Aoki’s place was fun afterward. Ended up being a little lower on our list just bc of national recognition (ie, name) and mormon laws.

Yale
“Choose your own destiny” In classic Yale fashion, this is the most hands-off program I interviewed at. They have tons of dedicated research time which can either be for research or for “travelling Europe” “playing xbox” or “doing a bit of both” (all quotes from residents at interview day). I really liked the place – pretty nice facilities, really kind and nice residents, and the program had that feel that they’re pretty comfortable with themselves and aren’t looking to change too much. That said, the program is very resident run in terms of…well, pretty much everything. Call, didactics, etc. The residents complained about the poor didactics that were all resident given and I wasn’t too impressed about the turnout for a “good” grand rounds. The faculty are a large mix of private practice and academic faculty so that could be a plus/minus for some. Either way, residents get good fellowships and it has a good national name, but I think most people consider it a touch less prestigious than some of the other programs I interviewed at if that’s important to you. I also had questions about how much I was willing to have such a good lifestyle (lots of free time, very good pay) vs. how much I wanted to be the best orthopedist after 5 yrs. For the latter reasons, it ended up in the bottom half of my list, but I think it would be a great fit for others.

Columbia
“The Will Levine Show” The PD Will Levine (who runs orthogate and answers q’s on here frequently) is probably the best student/resident advocate in the country who I’ve met or heard about. He has a great vision for orthopaedic education and is an inspiring leader in orthopedics. He has the reputation of being very academically/surgically demanding while also being approachable and a pleasure to work with. Most sub-I’s and residents who rank columbia highly speak of his presence and leadership of the program as one of the top reasons. As for the other aspects of the program, the facilities seemed a bit dated and the residents I met weren’t as enthusiastic as I would have anticipated them being about the program. I think some of that stems from the fact that call is bw a few hospitals and when on home-call, you would have to subway or take a cab into work in the middle of the night coupled w/ the fact that the resident compensation is relatively low for living in nyc w/ few if any perks. Not being from nyc and having an significant other, that was an issue for me since it would mean a major lifestyle change. Also, you spend 4 mo in Baltimore for trauma/spine trauma for which residents give high remarks, but you still live in apt above a strip club across from Shock. As before, it’s for some, not for others. There may be also some issues re: double/triple/quadruple scrubbing that some of the subis had mentioned being an issue, but I can’t personally comment. As for interview day, you cant find a better social event on the trail. A wonderful mix of lots of drinks, good sushi, and nice people. Overall ended up lower for aforementioned reasons, but was as expected at the top of many of my friends lists for all the positives discussed and the allure of nyc.

Matched at:
#1

Advice for future applicants:
Most of your application starts early with relationships made with attendings, research, step 1 and 3rd yr grades. Subis and 4th yr are pretty much just to formalize those relationships and to explore other programs. Sell yourself and your interest at interviews. It's a long, stressful experience for everyone. Have fun and make friends on the interview trail - they're your future colleagues and a great resource throughout the process. PM me with any questions!

Med School: Midwest (low-tier)
Boards: Step 1: 250ish; Step 2: 270ish
Rank: Top 10%
AOA: Yes
Preclinicals: Mostly A's, a few B's
Clinicals: All A's
Ortho: 3 aways; All A's
Research: 1 non-Ortho publication, 3 other Ortho projects
Extracurriculars: Nothing crazy here, Surgery Interest Group stuff, volunteering at a low-income clinic

What I was looking for in a Program: Academic over community, good operative experience, good fellowship placement, research opportunities

How many Programs:
Applied to: 72
Offered Interviews: 28
Attended: 17

Tier 1:
Mayo - Great program, amazing atmosphere, strong fellowship placement, no real weaknesses, can go to SHOCK for better trauma experience

Cleveland Clinic - Another great place, much like Mayo, go to Akron for Peds rotation

Pitt - Interview day is quite a show, but I have no doubt you will leave here a fantastic surgeon, residents work hard, good fellowship placement, rotate through the VA - which offers lots of autonomy

Hopkins - Maybe a little high on my list because of the name, good fellowship placement, have heard that younger residents don't operate as much (I didn't see this directly, but heard through the grapevine)

Baylor - Very similar to Pitt, become a fantastic surgeon, work hard, good fellowship placement, nice facilities - Texas Medical Center is amazing, rotate through a HUGE VA hospital - lots of operating, rotate through MD Anderson for tumor

Tier 2:
UC-Davis - Great faculty, good location, good fellowship placement

MCW - Really impressed with this place, all specialties covered, good group of residents, VA experience

Allegheny - Great faculty, not in the best part of Pittsburgh, PD is a great guy

Minnesota - Surprised by this place, liked my interview day, work all over the Minneapolis/St. Paul area though - lots of driving?, VA experience

UIC - In a great city, good program overall, not much to say really

Beaumont - Seems like a great program, in the nice part of Detroit, really good fellowship placement, nice facilities

Tier 3:
Cincinnati
Indiana
Kansas-KC
Loma Linda
Henry Ford
UM-KC


NOT RANKED: 0

Matched at: Tier 1

Advice for future applicants: Ortho has become extremely competitive (maybe the most competitive specialty now) - I know many people who were surprised on match day about their residency placement. All aspects of your application are going to matter, so make them all shine. Also, don't trust everything you hear from programs and other applicants - everyone is looking out for themselves in this process.