New Britain School

Kermit,
I interviewed at New Britain last year and I am currently a junior student at Bridgeport Hospital. The program director and all of the students at New Britain seemed very nice and overall I came out with a good impression of the program.
My major concern about the program however was the amount of clinical experience. The OR itself is pretty small, if I am remembering correctly 8 rooms but don't quote me on that. They also have to send students away to get their regional experience because they are not able to get enough in house (though this is not uncommon in many programs I did not really like the idea). In general the program has a good reputation but is regarded as more of the "country club" program than the others in the state, more laid back, get out early (when I was interviewing at about 1PM the students were leaving for the day), etc... Which is not necessarily a bad thing but just something to keep in mind.
As far as competing with residents that shouldn't be a problem, to my knowledge New Britain does not have a residency program (at least in anesthesia).
The interview itself was pretty basic, interviewed with the program director and a few CRNAs none of the MDs. They did ask some clinical questions but nothing too hard.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck!

Meg,
I noticed you are a student at Bridgeport.
I will be going there in June for an interview.
Can you give some tips on their interview process ?

What was your overall impression of the program as a student? Pros vs. cons?

Thanks for your help,

Gabriel

I can field this one as Meg is busy as hell. I am a senior at BPT. The interview is low stress. You will interview with the director, asst. director, some MDs and CRNAs. You will be toured by a student and have great opportunities to ask questions..

One thing about our program. In the interview you will be shown some numbers for OR hours, Cases, lines, epidurals etc. This is a big selling point for us. No program in CT is going to get more or better regional or line experience than us. You will get better didactics at the other CT programs. You will also have lots of alone time in the OR when you are a senior. In short, you will learn to give anesthesia and be safe and even confident (in many situations).

Good luck

Frank

First of all... Thanks Frank!
I would pretty much echo exactly what Frank said about our program. The clinical experience you will get at Bridgeport is unmatched (at least in CT). As far as the didactics, I can only assume that you are interviewing for the new 29 month program at Fairfield University as the last class that starts at Southern CT State (the current affiliation) starts in May. I am not sure how the classes will be structured but I know that they are looking to improve the didactic foundation.
Don't stress about the interview (easy for me to say) it is very low key. You will meet the program director, assoc. program director and a few docs and then get a tour of the dept with a current student. Plenty of opportunity for you to ask questions and everyone is pretty laid back.
Good Luck!
Meg