University of Pennsylvania Program Individual Response

What is your in-state status?:

Out of state

On what date did the interview take place?:

2/1/2008

How do you rank this residency among ALL other residencies?:

1 out of 10

How do you rank this residency among other residencies to which you've applied?:

1 out of 10

What is your ranking of this program's facilities?:

8 out of 10

What is your ranking of this program's location?:

6 out of 10

What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?:

1 out of 10

What was the stress level of the interview?:

2 out of 10

How did the interview impress you?:

Negatively

How long was the interview?:

20 minutes

How many people interviewed you?:

5

What was the style of the interview?:

One-on-one

How was your interview day? Please summarize.:

PROGRAM: Simply extraordinary. 24 residents per class; we were told that 15 would be categorical, and 5 would be for advanced; that leaves 4 spots for switchers. Intern year/categorical program is new, so bugs are still being worked out - Chairman Dr. Fleisher gives it a "B" grade as far as intern years go. Seems like a lot of thought went into the intern year from the anesthesiology standpoint. N.B. there is 4 months of surgery in this intern year, and your "elective" months are chosen for you (although there is no call during said elective time). Program Chair and Program Director report that they are stable for next 5 yrs or so. Accredidation cycle is 4 yrs; no information was given on citations or why it isn't 5 yrs, if you care about those sorts of things. Here you'll (almost literally) do it all - I think they don't do burns - but livers, lungs, double-lungs, hearts, kids (CHOP, baby!), and everything else. Research if you want it. Rotate thru all U Penn system hospitals - HUP, CHOP, VA, and Presbyterian. EXTREMELY impressive program clinically even when compared to the other "big name" programs (Brigham, Duke, CCF, NYU, Hopkins, etc) I've been to. Residents say "We work really hard but we're happy", and do a good job selling the "We work very hard" part. I'd buy the "...we're happy" part too, if I wasn't privvy to body language or facial expressions. Have a friend in the program who toes the party-line as well; he reports 6 am to 530 pm as normal/expected daily work hours in the main ORs; the room relief is pretty much consistenly in to get you out at 530. Call is only reported to be 4x/month, with only one weekend call/month. There is an element called "ECC" - no one knows what it stands for, but it's their version of moonlighting - you are offered the chance to stay late once or twice EACH WEEK until 830 pm, for the price of $100/hr for each hour after 530 pm. This is, as told to us, completely optional and you can turn it down if you don't wanna stay and get the extra cheddar. Hospital is reportedly doing very well financially, so no worries reported by the department on that end. INTERVIEW: Reception the night before in the hotel lobby, with hors d'oveurs and beer/soda; not a true dinner so feel free to grab a bite elsewhere. A bunch of residents came and were quite social, and again & again, repeated the party-line. Interview day had folks split into three groups - a 730, 930, and 1100 group. NICEST hotel this side of that badass Cleveland Clinic one, all free of charge, which was a supernice touch. My group at 1100am got a presentation from the Chairman, the Prog Director, and then some lunch. A few residents stopped by and chatted. Interviews were each about 20 minutes, except maybe 15 mins with the Chair, then 15 min with the Program Director. A personal tour which showed very little hospital (thank god) and no ORs was done with one of the residents as well - good time to ask questions and hear "We work really hard but are happy" again. Interviews generally laid back; some interviewers read the applications much more thoroughly than others, as per usual. One guy scolded me for an answer I gave, and one gave me the familiar "So what questions do you have for me?" interview...although his scheme to evade actually answering the questions was an appreciated new twist. "We have no weakness at Penn - we think of what the weaknesses could be, and then take action to prevent them" was probably my favorite answer. OVERALL: You will be an extremely well trained anesthesiologist upon leaving this program, and have an enormous academic name on your resume. Residents unfailingly said they were happy. The Chairman is a MAJOR player in the hospital, and is influential when the department needs him to be. Program Director is reportedly a saint. I can easily see where the negative rumors/reputation is comes from, so go into this with an open mind; if you can possibly get a curbside consult from a resident on the inside, I'd recommend it. My gut reaction was extremely poor for some reason, so it will be ranked very low on my list. Report as inappropriate