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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?:
7 out of 10
How do you rank this residency among other residencies to which you've applied?:
8 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's facilities?:
5 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's location?:
8 out of 10
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?:
2 out of 10
What was the stress level of the interview?:
5 out of 10
How do you think you did?:
5 out of 10
How did the interview impress you?:
Negatively
How was your interview day? Please summarize.:
The Bottom Line/Impression: A very solid program with great peds but a strange vibe.<p> Lodging/Dinner: Dinner at a cool local/organic restaurant. More residents than applicants showed up! No hotel.<p> Schedule: Meet at 0800. Intro from PD Dr. Stier with lots of info not just about the program but about anesthesiology and residency in general. Chair Dr. Martin gives short talk about how many they take, selection process, other FAQs. Notably, they interview 120 for 15 spots but only rank 70-80 and go to 45-55 on their list. The fact that they don’t rank a substantial portion of their interviewees, and the tone of the very short interviews (“Why did you apply here? What is your connection to California?”) leads me to believe that they weed out interviewees based on their intent to rank the program highly. I’m not sure that’s a great approach. Anyway, 4 very quick (8-12 minutes) interviews with PD, associate PD, chair, and one other faculty. Some are conversational but others are tough to get a word in edgewise with. They are openly focused on Step 1 and the mean of next CA-1 class is 231. Interestingly, no folder or written program info is given out. Odd. <p>Program Info: 15-16/yr including 3 CAT (intern year not discussed at all maybe because it won’t be available this season). Cover 20+ OR’s at main hospital plus outpatient surgicenter and “advanced” smaller hospital where they do spines and whatnot. Trauma etc at Arrowhead which is the San Bernardino county hospital.<p> Pros: Peds, peds, peds, this was hammered into our skulls. Cardiac – known for transplant and peds hearts – apparently volume-wise cardiac is “tons.” Location is great with great weather, close to lots of things, low traffic, decent cost of living. Faculty are laid-back and residents seem very happy - chief was probably the most chill, easygoing guy I've met along the whole trail. There is most fellowships here but it sounds like they do not fill. Neuroscience research lab.<p> Cons: Weaker regional. Name-wise and reputation-wise it’s clearly not UCLA or UCSF. This seems to translate to difficulty with grads finding good PP jobs (it’s tough in the current market). Strange vibe. For example, we are told that the program is small enough that you can’t be anonymous as if to suggest it’s a tight-knit family…and yet the chief and PD didn’t seem to know each other well. Other red flags: interrogatory interview style as above, apparently every class has at least one person switch out or drop out, feeling that you’re getting “the party line” and negatives glossed over. Report as inappropriate
What was your primary mode of travel?:
Airplane
What was your total time spent traveling?:
7+ hours
What airport did you use?:
ONT
Where did you stay?:
Hotel
What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?:
Courtyard Riverside
How would you rate the hotel?:
10 out of 10
Would you recommend the hotel?:
Yes
About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?:
$401-$500
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