Opinions on These Community Programs/Rank List

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thatsrad

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Hi everyone, I would like to know what people think about these programs if anyone is familiar with them, and how would you rank them? I haven't heard much discussion about them here or on AM. The locations are a total wash, and this is the order I liked them:

MCWAH St. Joseph
Geisinger
Allegheny
West Virginia

Thanks!


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I went to WVU for med school, so I have a pretty good knowledge of the program and location.

Overall, I actually think it's a very underrated program. They had been in turmoil for some time. The PD who had run the program for years (who is excellent) retired from that position and a new PD took over. She was absolutely abysmal, and doesn't even practice Radiology any more (I heard rumors that she went back into training for an addition specialty fellowship, or some nonsense). While she was PD, they didn't fill for the match for, I think 2 or 3 years in a row, but this is not an indication of the quality of the program.

I left WV last year after my TY. The new program director goes 100% in to everything he does. He is a fantastic educator, and a great person. However, he expects a lot out of you. He will push you and make you a better Radiologist than you would have been otherwise. I don't know what the residents think now, after a year of him being PD, but I can't imagine that it's anything negative (or anything negative that matters).

The absolute worst part of the program is that there are only 4 residents per year, so you have frequent call, and not many residents to switch call with. They also have to do quite a bit of crappy procedures (looooots of LP's all the time on neuro, slinging barium non-stop on body/peds) that interrupt the workflow sometimes. Usually the residents are paired, so they work it out among themselves how they're going to break up the procedures.

I guess what I'm saying is that you'll work hard there, but it's a heck of a lot better program than the superficial, paper reputation would suggest.
 
I interviewed at Allegheny and went with low expectations. I was so pleasantly surprised - especially by Pittsburgh. The city seemed cool and thriving, the landscape was nice, the arts community was burgeoning, and the hospital/residents seemed genuine and nice. They all seemed to really like it there and have good training. If I had any family near there, I'd be ranking it much higher.
 
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