New Program: Ochsner in New Orleans!

We are in new program announcement season!  Another new program has announced that they are recruiting for the 2020 match:

"The Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, Louisiana has received its initial accreditation and that we will be accepting applications through ERAS for our first class of 6 residents to begin July 1, 2020.

The Emergency Department at Ochsner is a busy tertiary medical center in New Orleans. We are a multi-specialty tertiary care receiving facility and the hub of the Ochsner Healthcare System. We currently have residency programs in Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OB-GYN, Orthopedics Surgery, Pediatrics, Podiatry, Psychiatry, Radiology, Surgery and Urology, and will be looking to add additional programs in future years.

For residents looking to get in on the ground floor of a program with a tremendous educational opportunity, this is an ideal fit!  Ochsner has made a commitment to the growth of Graduate Medical Education and I am very excited about the future of medical education at Ochsner.

Please let your students know to look for us in ERAS (1102100171) and to contact me with any questions about the program. Our website is:

 

education.ochsner.org/gme/training-programs/...
Regards from NOLA,

_______________________________________________________________________

https://www.ochsner.org

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Sal J. Suau, MD
Program Director
Ochsner Health System
New Orleans, LA

New Programs: Summa Health in Ohio and HealthQuest in New York

A couple more programs have announced that they will be interviewing for the match this year.  Summa Health is re-establishing an EM residency and HealthQuest will be based in a new hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Please read the messages below from their Program Directors to learn more about these  atypical programs.  Many reading this will say, "I don't want any part of a new program".  That means that these are exactly what some other folks are looking for (places that may not get inundated with applications). 

Summa Health - Akron, Ohio

"I am excited to announce that the ACGME has granted Summa Health initial accreditation for emergency medicine. As some of you know, I began my career at Summa and came back to facilitate the accreditation. We have wonderful facilities, 85,000 patient volume in our main ED, great metrics, great faculty, and a dedicated system-wide GME apparatus. I am excited to begin interviewing for our first class!"

Michael S. Beeson, M.D., MBA, FACEP
Program Director, Department of Emergency Medicine

President-elect, American Board of Emergency Medicine

Professor of Emergency Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University
Summa Health
525 E. Market St.

PO Box 2090 | Akron, OH 44309-2090

p 330.375.6876 f 330.375.3008beesonm@summahealth.org

HealthQuest Vassar Brothers in Poughkeepsie, NY

The HealthQuest EM Residency Program with a primary clinical training site at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie, NY will be reviewed for accreditation by the ACGME RRC-EM in January, 2020. We are optimistic that we will be successful in receiving initial accreditation at that time and in anticipation of that we will begin interviews for an inaugural class to start July, 2020. We are not able to participate in ERAS yet but we are accepting applications via e-mail that must include your recommendation letters, CV, personal statement, Dean's letter, and USMLE scores. Sending a copy of your common ERAS applications is encouraged. Please send all application materials and further inquiries to Julia Demboski, Program Manager, jdembos1@health-quest.org or Marc Borenstein, MD, Program Director, mborenst@health-quest.org. Please visit the HealthQuest/Nuvance website www.healthquest.org for further information about the HealthQuest/Nuvance organization as well as the opening of a new Vassar Brothers Medical Center Hospital and Emergency Department in early 2020 as well as plans that are underway for the opening of a medical school in partnership with Marist College in 2022-2023.

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Marc Borenstein
Program Director
Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center
Poughkeepsie NY

New Program: Valley Health System in Las Vegas!

For those looking to expand their search or escape to warm weather, there is a new program in Las Vegas:

 "I am pleased to announce that our new EM program at Valley Health System in Las Vegas, NV has just received initial accreditation.  We will be using ERAS and NRMP to obtain our initial class of 8 residents for July, 2020. Our program utilizes a diverse group of four teaching ED's and a rural EM curriculum.  Although we welcome applicants of diverse backgrounds, we are not able to sponsor any visas.

 Please feel free to forward this notice to any EM residency applicant that you feel would benefit from the opportunities presented by our new program. Our program should be listed in ERAS starting today.  Qualified applicants will be scheduled for in-person interviews.

• ERAS/NRMP #:2201110C0
• ACGME #: 1103100191
• Program email: VHSEmergencyMedicine@uhsinc.com

 Anyone with specific questions, please feel free to contact me."

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Thomas Swoboda, MD, MS, CPE
Residency Program Director
The Valley Health System
Las Vegas NV

ERAS is about to open to programs-are you ready?

ERAS opens to programs in just 4 days and applicants around the world are making their finishing touches. Here are answers to the questions we get asked the most:

How many programs should I apply to?
This depends on your competitiveness and where you ideally want to apply. Consider using EMATCH to look for risks within your own application and develop a targeted strategy.

What if I only have one SLOE posted on 9/15?
So this is multipart depending on if and when you will have a second SLOE:
If you have a second SLOE that will be posted within the next few weeks, you will be fine. It takes time for programs to review applications and many will wait a few weeks expecting another SLOE.

If you have a second SLOE coming later and you are not getting many interviews, consider sending an email to your top programs once the letter is posted. This is not necessary but might get you moved back into the review pile. Don't send 40 emails, only contact programs you are most interested in and email once, not over and over.

If you will only have one SLOE use EMRA Match to identify programs that will offer an interview with only one SLOE and apply to these to improve your odds.

When will I hear about interviews?
This will vary widely by program. Most programs will use a booking service and many try to send invitations in the evening to minimize interruptions to your clinical duties. There are also a group of programs that have agreed to a common release date of October 15th. As a generality you should expect most of your interview invitations to come in the month of October.

How many interviews is enough?
10-12 interviews is plenty. Ten will get you to a 95% probability of matching and twelve will get you to 99% per NRMP match data for EM.

Aren't more interviews better?
Not always, firstly it is hard to fit more than 2 interviews per week, travel is very expensive, and many applicants become exhausted during this process. You need to be on the whole time and it can get hard to appear interested and enthusiastic week after week. Those extra interviews are unlikely to improve your outcomes in the match, so put your time and money in the programs you are most interested in.

How can I ace my interviews?
Firstly make sure you know what to expect and how to determine what you need and want. This is different for every person but focus on what makes helps you learn and keeps you well. Make sure you leave enough time to make it to the pre-inteview social with residents and get the rest you need to be your best self. A classic blunder is getting your luggage lost, don't let it happen to you, so carry ons only.

Is it rude to cancel interviews?
No, if you have other opportunities that better match your needs simply let programs know with enough notice to offer the interview to another applicant. Please Please Please be generous with one another and cancel with at least 2 weeks notice so your spot can go to someone else.

While stressful the reward at the end of this application is well worth it - hang in and find ways to enjoy the ride

Lucienne Lutfy-Clayton is an APD at UMMS Baystate and the immediate past chair of CORD's API committee.