Neurology interview impressions, 2014-2015

Here goes.. I'll add my thoughts on some more programs and hopefully that will encourage others.. You can find specifics on call schedule and spots/yr on their website since I really can't remember some of them at this point. Feel free to ask questions about any specifics.

UAB

Strong clinical and research program. A slightly smaller version of WashU IMO. I think given the size of the hospital and neurology being one of the busiest services in the hospital, they could afford to add at least another resident spot (currently 6), which they might be doing in 2016. Most specialties are fairly well represented here. Stroke has a fair number of newer attending and currently no director since the prior one left, but residents are very comfortable w/ stroke and don't lack for tpa experience. They are expanding their NICU to 30+ beds. PGY2s looked slightly more tired than at some other programs, but morale was pretty high.

Pros: Well balanced program with diverse residents in a very easy to live city
cons: Birmingham may not be for everyone, although some may be surprised by it; I think they should have 7+ residents

WashU

Extremely well represented in all specialties. Chair is super research focused but PDs and residents are a refreshing mixed bag. Very personalized curriculum with 13 (i think) months of electives in last 2 yrs. Comes at a cost.. PGY2 is like the super ultra frontload of all residencies that goes with their philosophy of learning by doing.. I think it's like q4 call for a lot of the year and they also have nightfloat. Then you still have to take a fair amount of call in PGY3 and 4. Residents were actually really friendly and didn't seem overworked. They enjoyed the curriculum and even argued against proposed changes to call burden. Last year they saw 13 cases of CJD and a lot of other weird stuff. The educator, global health, research tracks seemed well established and not like second thoughts as in some programs.

Pros: sizable, diverse, well respected program. Research opptys abound.
Cons: Don't really know much about the city, but some parts along the public transport were not so endearing. Kind of felt indifferent to the city. Call schedule may be +/- depending on your view. 6 weeks psych- wtf? Mixed handwritten notes + EMR

UTSW

Another largish program program that recently opened a brand new hospital at the end of last year and has another shiny new composition of blocks springing up sometime this year (if it already hasn't). My impressions of call and work burden seemed similar to WashU, maybe a little less. I personally didn't connect that well with the residents, but I really liked the faculty that I talked to and the new-ish chair's interests in neuromodulation. Large hispanic patient pop.. some residents hinted at spanish language being invaluable, others said it didn't really matter. I really liked Dallas as a city, though- organized and slightly less traffic burden than Houston. The neurology faculty seemed to represent all fields fairly well.

Pros: another sizable hospital with a fair case load (learning by doing), ~$ 2B in new facilities, enthusiastic faculty, nice city
cons: residents seemed turned off, although I did interview later in the year

Baylor

Everyone's heard the rumors of malignancy. We even talked about them during the interview day! The residents and faculty assure things are running much better with more input, but like the other 2 above programs, expect to work your hiney off. This is probably partly due to having to cover a larger hospital system. Residents seemed very intelligent and capable, but you could tell they weren't there to screw (or joke) around. Some cool ICP rsch going on with NASA. Of course with a larger hospital system you also have a pretty nice representation of each specialty and access to MD anderson, largest VA in the US, etc..

Pros: Working at the texas medical center
cons: working at the texas medical center, didn't seem overtly malignant but I sensed a certain need for warm bodies, didn't love Houston- but it is relatively easy to live in other than traffic.

Utah

One of the smaller hospital systems (by # of beds) that I visited, yet they still have 7 residents/yr who all were personable and didn't seem overworked. Call schedule was very reasonable. Because of the location, the hospital draws from a large catchment area. It was difficult actually rating the program because the location itself is a boon to anyone who enjoys outdoor recreation and the city (IMO) is one of the nicest- if not the nicest- mid sized cities that I have ever visited. Even so, the chair seemed adamant about pushing the program in all directions. For a "smaller" hospital, I found that the neuro dept. was relatively diverse and very interested in resident feedback. Unique thing was that PGY1 MICU time was replaced with NICU.

Pros: diverse program for the size of hospital, liked the residents and city
Cons: Initially concerned about LDS religion, but it seems like it is dwindling in salt lake city and probably wouldn't be an issue in most peoples' lives; some concern for patient diversity as Utah is mostly white.

UVa

Super easy-going and friendly style of smaller southeastern city; also a smaller program. Huge emphasis on teaching. Residents and faculty were pleasant and I got a sense that one would learn a lot from great teachers as is evident by IMO good matches for fellowship. Research is also present, to a degree. The city is small, but has a surprising amount of history and things to do. It's quite beautiful out there as well. Best intl opptys of all the places I visited: well setup experiences in New Zealand, London (Queen Square), and others.

Pros: great quality of life, liked the residents, enjoyed attitude toward teaching
cons: city may be small for some

Wake Forest

Residents were quite nice talked a lot about how they had autonomy and got to do tons of procedures (tpa, injections, etc). Faculty were a mixed bag, but there was definitely not a research focus. Hospital facilities left something to be desired. All in all, it seemed like an about average program that had good representation in specialties, but I had a hard time picking anything that stood out from other programs. Don't know much about Winston Salem, but seems like a nice, southeastern city.

Pros: good representation in most specialties
Cons: nothing stood out

Ohio State

Size-wise I would liken OSU to UAB, and seemed pretty similar in a lot of ways. Residents were a nice, diverse bunch. Program itself seemed diverse with even a neuro-otologist onboard. The faculty were all very nice, I just had a hard time imagining myself living and working in an area so much dominated by football. Heard stories of streets shutting down because the nearby stadium got so much traffic. Columbus seemed like a nice city.

Pros: well represented group of residents and faculty
Cons: location? many nearby large hospitals, although they claim it doesn't influence their case load or diversity

U Louisville

Smaller program with most residents being IMGs from India/Pakistan. The residents were nice and intelligent, although somewhat hard to relate to. Faculty seemed to nice and pushing the program/hospital forward. Louisville from what I hear is an up and coming place, but I didn't have much chance to explore. PD was not very enthusiastic and did not sell program well. Not a good MS representation. This was subjectively probably the weakest program I visited.

UC Davis

Checked it out due to the location and absolutely loved the faculty, but did not connect with the residents at all, as in, I was shocked (and slightly embarrassed for them) at some of the things coming out of their mouths.

Pros: location, fairly nice hospital, faculty
cons: residents

Barrow/St. Joe's

Pleasantly surprised by this program that is a private neurological organization. Pretty busy inpatient service but the residents all loved their training. Extremely well known for the NSGY caseload which lends some interesting cases to Neuro. Even though NSGY literally partially runs Barrow, the two services get along well. There is still a substantial nonsurgical caseload including the zebras that other programs mention. ~80 NICU beds, making it one of the biggest units in the US. Possibly the best and newest outpatient buildings I have seen. MS and cog seemed weaker here, and movement and epillepsy stronger. Not super impressed with the IM program or leadership, but it's a categorical program... Phoenix took some getting used to but IMO seems like a nice Houston.

Pros: Exquisite NSGY cases+nonsurgical stuff, nice residents and faculty, massive NICU exposure, enjoyed PHX
Cons: Missing all the green stuff? IM program although it's only 1 yr.

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Neurology interview impressions, 2014-2015