New Program: Southside Hospital on Long Island, NY

Here is a message to the CORD-EM mailing list from the APD of a new EM Program in the 2018-19 Match:

We are very excited to announce that we are recruiting for our inaugural class for the new EM Residency at Southside Hospital in Bayshore, New York. Southside is part of Northwell Health and is a rapidly expanding tertiary care facility in Suffolk County, NY. Our first class will comprise of 6 residents, and the program will be for three years. We are currently ACGME certified and listed on ERAS for application purposes. Our state of the art ED just finished construction last year, and we are eager to begin educating the next generation of EM physicians!

Southside Hospital is the tertiary referral center for Northwell Health's eastern Long Island region and receives transfers of patients from community hospitals throughout the area. The Department is an American College of Surgeons level 2 trauma center, with in-house trauma surgeons 24 hours a day. Our hospital is recognized by the American Heart Association as Gold awarded STEMI institution, with 24-hour cardiac catheterization lab availability. We are also recognized by the American Heart Association as a Gold-Plus Quality Achievement, Stroke Elite-Plus Honor Roll Award for our Stroke care. Our hospital has comprehensive Cardiology and Cardiothoracic services, Orthopedics, Women's Health, Neurosurgical services, receives patients from the Northwell Imbert Cancer Center, and transfers from community hospitals throughout Long Island.

Twitter: EMSouthside
Website: BayshoreEM.com

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Andrew Mastanduono
Associate Program Director
Southside Hospital

Great Question! - Cancelling excess interviews?

A fortunate student who received a lot of early interview offers asked...

I’m thankfully in a position where I have gotten a lot of interviews offers, including many of my top choices.

I’m starting to make a more concise top choice list of programs and want to begin releasing interviews that I am less interested in to make room for other applicants. 

I’ve read varying things about releasing interviews, with some suggesting you just cancel on interview broker and some suggesting you should email programs explaining as well. 

• Do you know which programs prefer? 
• Should I preemptively withdraw from any programs I have not heard from that are lower on my list than my current interviews?

These are great questions and I am glad you are thinking about purging your interview list.  

You can withdraw from programs lower down your list that you have not heard from, or simply wait to decline until they offer you a spot.  Waiting does not interfere with others getting interviews. 

You can just release/cancel interviews in ERAS or interview broker.  I would only email them if they handle all their scheduling themselves.  Nobody needs more email or phone calls this time of year.  Programs appreciate you giving us as much notice as possible to find someone else to fill that interview spot.  

- Adam

Interviews: the good the bad and the ugly

Interviews are very shortly about to begin. You already overcame the greatest hurdle - you got the interview, now make it count. This is your opportunity to really get to know programs and in turn let them get to know you. While you may find in the end that you love the spot you always thought you'd go, most applicants are surprised along the trail and fall in love with an unlikely program that captures their heart. Be open to the change that is likely to occur during this process. The interview trail is designed to do just this - let  you slowly gain exposure and with it find what you truly need and want.

Ways to succeed:

• Make the pre-night events - almost all EM programs will have a pre-interview social gathering the night before you interview. Residents will be there to answer your questions and get to know you. This is your chance to really get the feel for a program. You can see how the residents interact with one another, with interviewees, and with faculty if they attend. This is the most honest exposure you will have - take the time to go and discover if you fit with the group already at the program.
• Try your suit on now and get a friend to give you input on your appearance. How you present yourself counts - an ill fitting suit reads as ill prepared.
• Compose questions before you arrive. This makes you appear genuinely interested - if you have no questions you seem disinterested. You are spending time and money to be there, set yourself up for success. If you have the names of the faculty you will be interviewing with, go ahead and look them up so you can explore interests you share. Ask what matters to you - consider asking:
• What keeps you at this program?(gets at strengths)
• What issues have arisen over the past year and how did they get handled?(gets at weaknesses)
• What changes do you foresee over the next few years?(gets at vision) 
• Lean in(literally) - lean forward in your chair and make eye contact. Body language counts. If you slouch or fail to look at your interviewer you look disinterested, overconfident, or worst awkward. You only have a few minutes to stand out, so lean in make eye contact and have a conversation.
• Finish with a thank you note (electronic is fine but I remember the hand written) - it certainly won't hurt.

Classic Blunders:

• Don't check your luggage - carry just what you need and have it with you so you are not the applicant this year in jeans and a teeshirt.
• Don't be late - early is on time - on time is late - and late is unacceptable.
• Plan for weather - it snows in many spots you will be traveling to - expect it and have appropriate clothes and extra time.
• Don't over schedule - you can do two interviews per week no more. When you try to squeeze more, you can't make the pre-night, you end up tired and don't present your best self. 
• The sherpa applicant - there will be a safe spot for your luggage and carry on - you don't need anything but yourself in the interview. If you want to carry a CV or card with you go ahead but programs have this information and don't need it from you.
• Needy and nervous are not positives. If you want to make contact with your top choices once after you interview, go ahead but do not call or write repeatedly.

Lastly the rules of the game:

Conduct for interviews:

• Most programs will offer interviews after your Dean’s letter is released on October 1st on a rolling basis(sending a group out at a time, waiting for answers then sending more)
• You may hear an answer quickly or have to wait to hear - breathe
• Many programs purposefully send invitations after 5pm to avoid you having to check email during your rotations(try and be respectful of your rotation and patients)
• Once you receive an invitation answer it quickly
• Do not double book - it is unfair to programs, your fellow applicants, and against policy. Programs will be notified after 72 hours if you hold two interviews for the same date - they may choose to cancel your invitation.
• If you need to cancel, do so as soon as you realize you need to. Give programs enough time to allow another applicant to fill the spot, at least two weeks.

Lucienne Lutfy-Clayton is an Associate Program Director at UMASS Baystate Health, Chair of the CORD Application Process Improvement Committee and former Clerkship Director. She has the attention span of a nat and needs shiny sincere applicants to draw her attention. She is also really short and some believe this is where the real problem begins.