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What is your in-state status?:
Out of state
On what date did the interview take place?:
11/2010
How do you rank this residency among ALL other residencies?:
10 out of 10
How do you rank this residency among other residencies to which you've applied?:
10 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's facilities?:
7 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's location?:
10 out of 10
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?:
10 out of 10
What was the stress level of the interview?:
0 out of 10
How do you think you did?:
10 out of 10
How did the interview impress you?:
Positively
How long was the interview?:
15 minutes
How many people interviewed you?:
2 and breif meeting with PD
What was the style of the interview?:
One-on-one
What impressed you positively?:
I went into the interview unsure whether I wanted to be at a place like CHOP/Hopkins or a place like Penn State. I was lucky enough to interview with a GI doc who had done his fellowship at CHOP. He said CHOP was great and he got great training and met great people there, but made an analogy of CHOP being like the treadmill George Jetson is stuck on at the beginning of the cartoon, and said you could get 8 GI pt admissions in one night. He took time to listen to my goals and ambitions for after residency (which were outpt or an outpt subspecialty) and he leveled with me...the Hershey area is not for everyone, but if you can see yourself living in Hershey (which is safe, green, has a low cost of living, lots of outdoor activities available, hershey park, minor league hockey, hershey gardens, zoo america, etc) this is a great place if you're interested in primary care or more community/clinical vs academic/research subspecialty care. People are friendly and supportive and the program is somewhat less stressful (as low stress as a residency can be...) compared with the big name, big city residency programs. Basically he was saying why feel like you're constantly falling off a treadmill when you can still get where you want to go at a more sane pace. It was an analogy that stuck with me while I made my rank list. My second interviewer was the assistant PD who was very kind and smiley, and just seemed like she'd be a great person to work for. She admitted her weakness is being too hands on sometimes and checking in too much with the residents on the floor when they've already got everything under control, but in my opinion it's preferable to have too much backup while you're trying to manage pts as an intern! The program director took time to meet with each of us at the end of the day, and was very kind and straight forward. She was universally liked by my friends who interviewed at the program as well. I was impressed by their electronic vitals, I+O, H+Ps, progress notes and procedure notes. Report as inappropriate
What impressed you negatively?:
They had one resident meet us at the hotel before the dinner and she seemed a bit stressed/disinterested in being there, but a bunch of other residents met us at the restaurant and were more dynamic and happier looking. The facilities were a bit on the older side, with a curtain divided PICU still, but they are in the process of building a brand new stand-alone children's hospital, so hopefully there will be more space and privacy. Report as inappropriate
How was your interview day? Please summarize.:
Great hotel provided, great dinner the night before the interview day. Entire interview day was informal and warm/inviting. Administrators were amazingly nice. Residents seemed friendly and more than anything...very open, honest, and down to earth. They seemed like people I would want to hang out with, whereas at some places I interviewed I got the impression some residents were trying too hard to appear fashionable, intelligent, or sophisticated. The area is beautiful and safe- a huge draw for non-city people. They offer fellowships in some of the most competitive subspecialties and seem to give some preference to residents applying from within. Also they offer a second 1/2 day of clinic in the 2nd and 3rd years of residency which you can do in any subspecialty, like cardiology for example. This may not be the place for someone who wants to go into academia at CHOP or Hopkins, or who wants to live in NYC, but it's a great training environment for clinically oriented pediatricians looking for a safe, beautiful area to live. Report as inappropriate
What was your primary mode of travel?:
Automobile
What was your total time spent traveling?:
2-3 hours
What airport did you use?:
Didn't use, but Harrisburg airport is 15 min away and the hotel has a shuttle that drops off/picks up from there.
Where did you stay?:
At program supplied housing
What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?:
I think it was a Comfort Inn? Free, paid by program, with shuttle to dinner and interview day.
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?:
< $100
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