Cornell: 5 fellows, great name, good program overall, good number of procedures, crazy surgeries going on in the hospitals, you spend time at 3 different places each with a different flavor - some months procedure heavy some months not, some fellows c/o scut, living situation is standard for nyc (horrible compared to everywhere else) you HAVE to live in manhattan per the PD .. the hospital aesthetic is also standard nyc in the same sense but who really cares.. fellows prepared for anything but preferred mt. sinai for nyc.. 7/10
Sinai: 5 fellows, program seemed more focused on happy fellows, built in moonlighting/late call a couple times per month, good number of procedures, nice people, didnt restrict where fellows lived but still the hospital and living is still in nyc... seems like less unpaid scut than cornell .. 8/10
UC Davis: ~6 fellows, Outstanding program overall. What can you say? They have great faculty, great facilities, and its in California. I think its up there with any of the other UC schools or top programs in the coutnry.. fellows get good procedures, good multidisciplinary rotations, they are well rounded and strong overall., people seem happy and nice, extremely competitive... 9/10
UT San Antonio: 6 fellows, Surprisingly good (I didnt know what to expect in SA). Very organized program and outpatient clinic. Residents and med students rotate throught the large, busy clinic. Leadership here is great combo of old big name and young progressive former fellow. I liked the city. Fellows got good jobs and texas that money goes a long way. Very interventional, good hours, good job placement, happy fellows.. 8/10 (only real ding being location) its not MD anderson, but MDA is not the kind of place i was looking for - this is a bit more mom and pops, but very university based also dont get me wrong...
Baystate: 3 fellows, good interventional program - 3 fellows and lots of volume so they seemed confident and well trained for bread and butter, not too sure how much SCS and pumps and out of the ordinary stuff going on here though, interview day seemed rushed and off the cuff, overall program looked like it wasnt as structured/stable as the other larger programs, but i wasnt concerned that i wouldnt get adequate training.. it was generally nice people, lots of interventions but mostly b and b, seemingly reasonable hours though we only talked to one fellow but he seemed normal and nice and happy .. 7/10
Northwestern: 4 fellows, beautiful hospital, amazing city, lots of interventional volume per fellow including SCS, large organized department with distinguished faculty .. but .. strange overall vibe.... fellows stated they were unhappy, it seemed like they got beat up pretty bad by the attendings verbally, it seemed like they didnt want to come to work and they wished they didnt do the fellowship, we talked to all of them and one was vocal and the others just kind of agreed ... everyday, one of the four fellows would have to be dedicated to the great job of answering/returning calls from patients all day in the clinic.. what? .. it was the sketchiest vibe of all my interviews but a great program from afar.. strange... 6.5/10
Pittsburgh: 8-9 fellows, good interventions including SCS, happy fellows, organized and structured program with distinguished faculty, good hours, multidisciplinary teaching with a good philosophy, fellows get good jobs, however in pittsburgh but thats cheap and easy to live.. 8/10
Brigham: 8 fellows, strong program, high volume interventions, hard work compared to other programs in terms of schedule/hours/personalities, but overall a great program as others have attested to .. 8.5/10
BID: 8 fellows, also as advertised by others.. great program, happy fellows, good interventions, overall 8.5/10
SUNy Upstate: 4 fellows, arrive at only interview (very early .. in may) day to find ~50 candidates, >20 being from within SUNY system.. then we are told they will make decisions and contact us either way within one week.. what?? that means that even if they accepted me, i would have to say no, i mean they only offer one interview day and its before any other programs in the cycle, i would not turn down everywhere else and accept an early spot at syracuse.. i think they people who end up there are mostly within the suny system and the other people are invited as fodder.. completely inappropriate and a waste of my time and money and i am still upset about this one... that being said it honestly seemed like a good program with good cadaver labs and facilities and nice knowledgable faculty..
PM me for specifics