First Impressions: The name "Montefiore," aka "Monte," is a good one on the East Coast, as it has strong residency and fellowship programs well known for preparing its graduates for anything (my ICU attending used to be at Monte and he's one of the smartest people I've ever met). One of the PGY3's in my program matched here and will start in July, and I looked forward to seeing what kind of program this was.Since I had taken a day off after getting stranded in Charlotte overnight (see previous post), I was able to leave Philly at 1 pm. (after taking a 3 hr nap) and arrive in the Bronx by 3:30 pm. The Days Inn I stayed at was a 1/2 mile walk to the subway, which I took to the NYU area for my usually trip to get Pinkberry frozen yogurt. Walking back to the hotel at night, however, was a pretty terrifying experience; the Bronx is not exactly the safest part of NY. My biggest gripe with my hotel room was that it smelled faintly of urine. Ugh.
Pre-Interview dinner: None. I had dinner at Saint Alps, a Hong-Kong/Taiwanese cafe that serves delicious boba tea (which I can't get in Philly)
Interview Day: The drive to Montefiore Medical Center was, fortunately, not a bad one. My first impression of the hospital was that it was old, even more decrepit than JPS (which looked great by comparison). There were about 11 of us at the interview, and each of us would interview with both program directors. So the entire morning consisted of the two interviews, or else waiting for the interviews. Very poorly organized. There were 1-2 fellows who came to speak to us but that was it. We were not a talkative bunch, either; most of our downtime was spent on our smartphones checking email or sending texts. I did learn that I got another interview during this time (at my home institution), so thank goodness I got my iPhone. My interviews were not the greatest; one PD asked me about research I did in 2003, and the other asked how I'd work up a patient for leukocytosis. Not the best time to ask considering my computer was in the shop (got a Trojan) and I hadn't had time to review my application.
After a brief tour of the hospital (gloomy), we had to take a shuttle to the research campus of Albert Einstein Medical Center for lunch and a brief talk about the research opportunities here. We couldn't all fit in the shuttle so some had to take the taxi. We didn't eat until 1:30 pm, and then we went to a lecture about some of the projects that were being done here. Even THAT was cut short because we then had to take a shuttle back to Montefiore. And by the time I got to the parking garage, some idiot had parallel parked his car behind mine. Thank goodness someone was there to move the car, but I saw that there were other cars parked similarly within the garage b/c there were no more spots yet. Talk about inconsiderate! (then again, this is New York). Bronx traffic was horrible too; I was glad when I crossed the bridge into New Jersey.
Overall Impression:
Pros: Very strong program in both academics and research. Well balanced in hematology and oncology. Lots of diverse pathology, specialists within each department (breast, lung, colorectal, heme, etc) for focused treatment and care, plenty of research opportunities in either clinical or laboratory settings. 8 fellows a year, subsidized fellow housing, reasonable parking prices (for those who keep their car, which I would like to do), a 20 min train ride to Manhattan.
Cons: Way too much emphasis on research, fellows rotate through 3 different hospitals, unable to gauge whether fellows are truly happy to be there. Bronx isn't the safest place to live; not completely sold on living in NY, as cost of living is ridiculously high. Program did a poor job of selling the program.
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