"1. Amazing facilities. As everyone else has said, 100+ ORs spread out over 2 hospitals (which are within walking distance of one another). 2. Awesome cases. The resident that took me on the tour was naming off the cases as we walked by ORs and they were universally cool. Mayo is obviously a huge tertiary/quaternary center, but also serves the surrounding area, so it seems that you get a decent mix of big/weird/cool cases and routine stuff (but probably favoring cool stuff). 3. Friendly people. All of the residents and faculty that I met were genuinely nice, going out of their way to introduce themselves to me and ask me questions. Seemed to be great camaraderie between residents. 4. The Mayo name opens many doors. Graduating classes are a good mix of private vs. academics-bound people, as well as fellowship vs. no fellowship. It seems that everyone who wants to do academics/fellowship has multiple opportunities. Of note, they do like to take their own for faculty positions (and surrounding practices also seem to favor their grads), so if you'd like to be in this area, Mayo is a great place to train. 5. Great place to raise a family. Say what you want about the area, it's a fantastic place to raise a family. There's tons of outdoor stuff to do, great schools, the town is really safe, and it's also really affordable. 6. Good service/education balance. Dr. Long was very clear during the opening talk--this is not a program where you get out at 3 PM every day (it has that reputation). And though he's right, you don't get out at 3 every day, your hours are very manageable, leaving you ample time to read/hang out with friends or family/pursue outside interests." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Mayo name and reputation. Impressive facilities. Supportive faculty and happy residents. Strong curriculum with great regional exposure. Department has strong ties with hospital/clinic administration." | More from this Member | Report Response

"--HUGE, ornate facility & tons of surgical volume here (100+ ORs!). You will see anything and everything. Mayo name attracts VIP patients from all over the world. Plenty of bread and butter stuff, as Mayo is the referral center for a large regional catchment area. <br>--Call: All 24-hr overnight call. At St. Mary’s there is a CA-1, CA-3, and 2 CRNAs on call every night. CA-3s are the managers, CRNAs take the bread and butter cases, and CA-1s are only involved in learning cases. Often able to sleep nearly all night as a CA-1. Methodist Hospital has CA-1 & CA-2 on call, no ED there so you are only up for take-back cases. Only work ~1 weekend per month, with rare extra weekend thrown in. <br>--Highest number of active & retired board examiners on faculty in the country. Mock orals 2x/year. Immediate past chair is the president of the ABA and the ASA president-elect. <br>--Didactics: Monday afternoon lectures 3-5PM. Daily 15 minute keyword conferences. Monthly journal club, resident run M&M. <br>--HUGE simulation facility – seems well integrated (used ~4-6x/year). <br>--Regional: No probs. with numbers, lots of thoracic epidurals. Do a 2 month block of regional during CA-2 or CA-3 year. <br>--$1000 book fund, may travel to 1 trip paid (or up to 10 trips if presenting). <br>--Away rotations: May do a max of 9 months at affiliate sites: Jacksonville (OSC, Peds, TEE), Scottsdale (general, OSC, Pain), Bowman Gray (OB), Brigham & Women’s (OB). <BR>--Lots of time CA-3 year can be spent learning medical direction of CRNAs. All call CA-3 year is medical direction. <BR>--Don’t have to take vacation in week blocks. <BR>--Computerized charting in ORs. Nifty automated paging system for OR communication – nice to not have to walk over to phone or ask circulator to page attending. <br>--2 ICUs are anesthesia-run, one shared. <br>--Gigantic health club available only to Mayo employees & spouses. Fee reduced if you use it 3x/month or more. Daycare available for a fee while working out." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Great facilities, simulation building is great, all the residents I met were nice and happy with the program (the single and the married ones), low cost of living, little/no traffic. I met both residents that were liberal and conservative, without one clearly dominating the other. Skiing near St.Paul. People around the city are very nice. Very family friendly. Easily meet their Ob/peds numbers, and they offer to send you to jacksonville and/or scotsdale for further experience in a different type of hospital on their dime." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Diversity in caseload, focus on education, support and mentorship from faculity, international reputation for excellence, proper use of CRNAs, research resources available, superior facilities, completely electronic records, great ancillary staff, they treat you very well" | More from this Member | Report Response

"Everyone had read my application ahead of time, and knew it well, including my personal statement. " | More from this Member | Report Response

"Very laid back interview. Interviews were more about trying to sell me on Mayo rather than grilling me. Conversational." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Unique institution with interesting history. For good or bad, it is really one of a kind. Interviewers were well-informed, appeared interested in how I would fit in with the Mayo philosophy/community. Facilities are incredible. Residents are very happy." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Excellent numbers, complex cases, focus on medical oversight of CRNAs, program is home to big names in gas (Faust, Hall, Chantigan), CA-3 year is all electives with opportunity to go to Jacksonville (peds/TEE), Scottsdale (peds/OB) , Wake Forest (OB), and Brigham and Womens (OB), many hallway rotations, good ancillary staff, computer charting, easy CA-1 call, good CA-1 warm up period (3-weeks with upper level and 6 weeks of didactics for CA-1s), weekends off if not on-call, Average 1.5 weekend calls per month, great workout facility, cheap cost of living, low property taxes, opportunity to moonlight in Austin, Winona, Alberta Lea, Lake City ($900/12 hour shift), " | More from this Member | Report Response

"casual, easy going interview. residents were very happy. strong support from program director. state of the art facilities - workout center, simulation center, etc. supercede expected case numbers." | More from this Member | Report Response

"These aren't negatives so much for me, but what I thought people might perceive as downsides. 1. Location/weather. They're pretty clear during the interview that the location probably isn't for everyone and that yes, it's pretty cold during the winter. I would imagine that Rochester is not the ideal town to live in if you're a single 20-something, however, it's wouldn't be the worst, either. The town is cute and appears to be making an effort to be cooler (free outdoor music festivals downtown during the summer months, etc). 2. Somewhat homogeneous residency class. Most of the residents are from the midwest, most are married, and something near half have kids. Again, I don't think this is a bad thing, but it's something to think about. That said, I met a resident who moved there from California, so there is diversity re: location in the class, and everyone has different interests, so I actually found people to be pretty mixed. 3. SRNA school/lots of CRNAs. I'm more putting this out there as a theoretical downside. Per everyone I talked to, the residents have a good relationship with the CRNAs and actually end up supervising them a fair amount, especially during the CA-2/3 years. Moreover, there are very strict limitations to what they can and can't do (no central lines, PNB's/neuraxial blocks, no difficult airways, etc.), and apparently the CRNA's are cool with this. So in that sense, it may be good to get experience supervising/running multiple rooms during residency. Re: the SRNA school, they actually farm them out to area programs for the most part, so it's more a political question/downside than an actual problem. You won't be fighting for cases, but you will be training at an institution that is highly supportive of SRNAs/CRNAs, which is something to consider." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Rochester has its positives and negatives. Probably best for married residents. Cost of living extremely affordable. Twin cities 90 minutes away." | More from this Member | Report Response

"--Light on OB & Peds experience – will get all numbers needed in Rochester, but away rotations available to buff up. <BR>--Tough intern year – now have 2 elective rotations, though, so getting better. <BR>--Minimal penetrating trauma – mostly blunt (MVC, farm accidents). <BR>--More formal atmosphere (but not as bad as rumored) – wear a sportcoat when in pain clinic, a lot of the time during intern year...white coats not worn as often. <BR>--No internal anesthesia moonlighting, but can do shifts at rural EDs in southeastern Minnesota ($65-110/hr). Can also teach ACLS classes (done weekly) and run ACLS sessions in the sim-center for ~$75/hr." | More from this Member | Report Response

"it's cold, no mountains nearby. Sometimes finding a particular job for your spouse could be a problem. Probably not the best place for a hip single person." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Location, lack of racial/ethnic/economic diversity" | More from this Member | Report Response

"One interviewer antagonized me about my future career plans. " | More from this Member | Report Response

"well, nothing about the interview. The location is something to think long and hard about as I am single. Even some of the residents made comments that they wouldn't have necessarily come here if they weren't married." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Location is not negative for me...so nothing really." | More from this Member | Report Response

"the City of Rochester, small book fund ($1000 for the 3 years), Weak in peds, trauma, OB. Only 9 months available for TEE training at Rochester but additional months offered in Jacksonville, difficult Clinical base year, very formal dress code (suits while on wards/pain clinic/pre-op clinic)" | More from this Member | Report Response

"location" | More from this Member | Report Response

"Overall, Mayo is a fantastic program offering superb training in a very livable location. Night before: Dinner with the residents at a nice place downtown, relatively informal, lots of opportunities to ask questions. Interview day: Starts with a presentation by Dr. Long (approximately 1 hour) that gives you the basic facts about the program. Very helpful--Dr. Long is an awesome guy. Next you either tour or interview for 1.5 hours. Tour includes OR, sim center, multiple hospitals, as well as the actual Mayo "clinics". Interviews are with 3 people, last 30 minutes a piece. I think everyone interviews with Dr. Long, who is, again, a fantastic guy, really focused on making Mayo a top program. You then switch (interviewees-->tour, vice versa) and meet for lunch in the cafeteria with everyone, including a bunch of residents. Then you go home. Of note, it's more expensive to fly into Rochester, and if you fly into Minneapolis, you have to take a shuttle (1-1.5 hrs) to your hotel, so plan accordingly for flight times." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Night before interview dinner at a fancy restaurant with plenty of residents. Interview day starts off with a presentation by the PD, Dr. Long, followed by tours and 3 interviews. Day concludes with lunch at the Mayo cafeteria with residents." | More from this Member | Report Response

"Mayo puts you up in a nice suite right across from St. Mary's hospital where the interviews take place. Residents pick you up for dinner at a nice restaurant the night before. Three laid-back interviews with PD and two faculty. LONG tour - don't wear your heels, ladies!" | More from this Member | Report Response

"A previous reviewer mentioned the program was loaded with mormons, but the residents mentioned there were only 3-6 per class (~25%), which is not a lot unless you have some misguided, personal vendetta against nice people with families." | More from this Member | Report Response

"The Bottom Line/Impression: A very good, not great program, in a very love-it-or-hate-it location. They should call it the “Mormo Clinic.” <p> Lodging/Dinner: Nice “Residence Inn” type hotel for 1 or 2 nights, across the street from St. Marys, nice dinner at a nearby steakhouse with a few of the residents. <p> Schedule: First things first: THEY DO NOT PROVIDE BREAKFAST OR COFFEE so eat the free breakfast at the hotel. Short info session w/ Dr. Long, interviews and tour, shuttle over to Methodist Hospital to complete the tour. Facilities are very, very nice overall. Interviews with Dr. Long and 2 others <p> Program Info: 20 per year, 9 categorical/11 advanced. All fellowships, time at the 2 Mayo hospitals in Rochester, need to go elsewhere for Peds and OB (Jacksonville, Wake, and Brigham among others). <p> Pros: Mayo name, not a no-brainer to imagine that you get solid training in “big” cases, tons of zebras. One resident said he’d done 5 pheo’s. Great town for low-key families (newish 4 BR house = $140K) but otherwise please read below and BEWARE. <p> Cons: Rochester is a large town/very small city, in an extremely monocultural area of the country, with terrible weather. The faculty are ridiculously inbred (90% of all hires in last 10 years are Mayo grads), and the residents all seemed to be Mormon or at least be conservative white males with large families. If this doesn’t sound like you – beware. I think this program has little or nothing to offer you if you are looking at similar caliber programs, do not have a family, and are not attached to the region. " | More from this Member | Report Response

"Mayo Clinic is a great training program that offers outstanding depth and breath of medical training in a highly friendly, proffesional environment. They paid for the hotel and dinner the night before. The morning of the interview you are greeted by the Program Director and given an overview of Mayo Clinic. You are given a detailed schedule and written information about Mayo. You interview with 2 facilty and the Program director. All interviews were very conversational. They really wanted to get to know you. You are given a tour of the campus, including the Healthy Living Center and the simulation center. Overall it was a great experience" | More from this Member | Report Response

"Well organized, very relaxed and enjoyable. " | More from this Member | Report Response

"It was a great day. Laid-back, stress-free. Great facilities - the tour is 2 hours and could've easily been longer. I did like that the CA3 chose to show us things like the simulation center and the healthy living center rather than the 2nd hospital's ORs!" | More from this Member | Report Response

"Laid back day. Dinner the night before with 3 residents. Hour long presentation on Mayo. Two interviews, 30 min each. No absurd questions. Tour for about 90 min-2 hours with lunch afterwards. Done by 1." | More from this Member | Report Response

"It was a very relaxed day. I think that the programs views it more as an opportunity to get to know the program and people. " | More from this Member | Report Response

"breakfast at hotel across the street. 1 hr introduction to program. interviews x 3. tour of facilities. lunch in cafeteria. end." | More from this Member | Report Response