Louisville Interview Recap

Hospital: Kosair Children's Hospital
Number of Beds: 263
Number of Peds Residents (per year): 21
Affiliated University: University of Louisville
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Interview Date: 11/20

My Louisville interview was initially scheduled for 11/20, but I was ill and was able to reschedule this interview for 12/6.  The day started with breakfast and attending the resident lectures as most do.  We then had several presentations, two 30 min faculty interviews and a tour.  As with the other interviews I have done, we had a lunch with residents followed by a tour then summary and wrap up ending around 2:00pm.

One of the new private NICU rooms

My first interview was with the program director for the residency.  While having an interview with the director was a little intimidating, I really liked talking with her.  She was very nice and friendly but was also no-nonsense kind of person - which I loved.  We had a great conversation about child advocacy and issues about which we are both passionate (reducing childhood obesity and child abuse).  My second interview was with a faculty member who had just recently finished her fellowship training at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.  It was great to talk with her about how Louisville compares to Columbus.

I love how colorful children's hospitals are!

Things I liked about the program:

• The residents and faculty are among the friendliest of any program I have seen.  The culture is so welcoming and genuinely friendly.  Everyone seemed so relaxed and fun.  This is the first program I have seen where I truly felt as though I could entirely fit in with all of the residents.
• The size of the residency class seems like a good blend of having enough residents to share the work without feeling like a huge program.
• The program is expanding and growing - as much as they can within the space they have.  As the only stand-alone Children's hospital in Kentucky, the hospital is constantly very busy and patient load is adequate.
• They are getting ready to switch to EPIC for EMR in March.  While this seems a little late to just be starting with an EMR, it would be in place in time for me to start.
• I really liked a child advocacy program they do called PUSH (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health).  PUSH is a resident-run program advocating for the children in Kentucky.  They specifically focus on childhood obesity, child abuse, and community education.  Their mission varies from advocating for legislation to creating resources for pediatricians to educating the community on safe practices.  I love what the program does and would definitely be heavily involved if I were to attend Louisville.  Even if I don't go to Louisville, I may try to start a similar program wherever I end up.

One of my favorite parts of the hospital: The "Kitten Scanner" is a pretend MRI machine where kids can put toys in the scanner and see what happens.  A tv screen then shows them how a scan looks inside the body but doesn't hurt the patient.  Using this demo has reduced the number of sedations needed for MRIs by 30%!

Things I didn't like about the program:

• The hospital has overgrown its facilities.  The hospital began as a five story relatively small building about 40 years ago.  More recently, three more stories were added, but they have reached the maximum capability to expand.  The support beams cannot support more than eight stories and the building is completely surrounded by other buildings.  Without being able to expand up or out, the desperate need for more space is difficult to accommodate.  The hospital is almost always full and usually has many patients on a wait list for beds.  They even have to use a massive inflatable tent in a parking deck to create extra rooms for the emergency department.
• There aren't many global health opportunities.  Two trips are offered to Ghana or Ecuador. However, for Ecuador you have to be fluent in Spanish to attend - which I am not.
• The team structure for inpatient teams consists of one senior resident and one intern.  About once a week at least, the senior resident will have other commitments and the intern is left alone to manage the team which can have up to 15ish patients.
• There are not many choices for longitudinal clinic work.  There are three clinics available, but they all see a fairly similar patient population.
• There is not any structured one-on-one mentorship program to connect us with a faculty mentor.

The lobby of The Brown Hotel - a gorgeous and historic hotel in downtown Louisville where the residency paid for our stay

Things I liked about the location:

• Louisville (must be pronounced "Lo'ville") is beautiful being right on the river.  There are gorgeous scenes throughout the city.
• There is a flair of southern hospitality and a relaxed feel as is stereotypical for the south.  Everyone was incredibly friendly from the hotel to the hospital to the restaurant.
• Even being just slightly more south than I'm used to, the temperature is warmer!
• There are a lot of fantastic restaurants in Louisville.  The residents said that it ranks in the top 10 cities in the US for great food.

Kentucky Derby takes place just outside downtown Louisville

Things I didn't like about the location:

• It would be a five hour drive home each way.  Similar to Indianapolis, the drive seems much longer than I would like.  Being this far away from family would make it difficult to see them as often as we would like.
• While Louisville certainly isn't a small city, it doesn't quite have the feel of a thriving metropolis the way Columbus does.  As a result, there isn't nearly as much to do or neat things to see.

Downtown Louisville is right on the Ohio River

Overall Thoughts:

• I loved the feel and culture of the program and city.  Unfortunately, with the program being so far from where family is and the buildings being quite limited in space and technology, I don't see it ranking high on my list.  I really enjoyed my visit but there are some undeniable limitations to this program for me.