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Reviews written by Uncle_Hernia
St. Mary's Residency Program, Thursday, 18 October 2007
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Faculty are very friendly and some are very enthusiastic about teaching, but others not so much. Biggest names are Hsu and Zucherman, co-inventors of the X Stop. These two guys cashed in on their invention, millions and millions, and operate now for pure enjoyment and not out of necessity for the cash. Dr. McGann is fairly new as Chair and is sincerely devoted to the residency program. He has a strong desire to make big improvements. Very approachable and friendly, just what you would want in a Chair of the Department. Surgeons at Highland Hospital and Kaiser, both in Oakland, seem friendly enough but I had little contact with them during my rotation. I gave this program a seven for Staff Surgeons only because they are not the big names you will find at Univeristy Hospitals.Didactics/Teaching: Didactic sessions are resident run and still need a lot of work. They are working on getting 50% attending taught sessions, but its not happening yet. The presentations could use some more polishing and discussion needs to be kept to a minimum. Most sessions turned into a "look how much I know" experience that dragged on for hours longer than necessary. Operating Experience: Operating experience is top notch. Residents get to do a large percentage of the procedures at St. Mary's. Only one fellow at St. Mary's, who is on the Spine service, so no need to worry about losing out on your OR experience to an overabundance of fellows. At Highland Hospital, second year residents get their own ORs and operate a ton. Some complained that it is a little scary and overwhelming at first with all the responsibility they are given so early on, but the learning curve is fast and you become a confident surgeon quickly. I didn't get any OR experience at Kaiser, but it is supposed to be good there as well. You will not get a better OR experience at any other residency program. Clinic Experience: At St. Mary's, clinic is limited to Sports, Joints and Spine, but the experience was solid. At Highland and Kaiser, you will see a much greater variety of patients. At Highland, the residents run the show several days a week and a few attendings are around just to supervise. As a medical student, I did more in this clinic than in any other rotation of any type. A great experience for me! Apparently, Oakland Kaiser takes on a lot of unique cases so you will get to see a lot of zebras mixed in among the regular horses. Research Opportunities: The program is not known for its research. Faculty do write some papers, but it is pretty much limited to clinical stuff. Don't expect to do much basic science research here. Dr. McGann is trying to increase the research experience and things may be improving over the next few years. Most residents do their research during second year, usually just a few months, but you can probably do as much as you want if you would just ask. Residents: The residents are extremely happy there. They are very friendly and committed to their program. For the most part, they really enjoy teaching. In the OR, they are all very sharp and this is expected with the great surgical experience they get. Most are married, but a few are still single and out partying it up. Overall, a great group to work with. Lifestyle: Lifestyle is the best I have seen. The hours at St. Mary's are fairly light, and nobody gets to the hospital before 6:30AM (except the rotating medical students). Days frequently end at a decent hour, although the didactic sessions occur late afternoon twice a week and can drag on somewhat late. Hours are definitely longer at Highland Hospital and I am unsure about Kaiser. Location/Housing: What you have to decide is where you are going to live. St. Mary's is in SF, but you only rotate there four months a year on average. The other eight months are spent in Oakland, on the other side of the SF Bay, at Highland Hospital and Kaiser. Living in SF can be a drag with housing costs, traffic, parking and the cold and foggy weather, but many people love it there. If you choose to live in SF, you will be commuting over the Bay Bridge many months out of the year, using more gas, and paying daily bridge tolls. Oakland is a much rougher area, but the rents are also cheaper. Not nearly as nice as living in SF, but it does cut down on the commute time and gas expenses for a big part of the year. There are other places to live in East Bay besides Oakland too, but you will be driving farther to get to St. Mary's when you are rotating there. Just depends on what you want. Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Overall, it was a very solid experience. There are big trade-offs if you select this program, with the positives being a fabulous operating experience and probably the best lifestyle you could hope to achieve during residency, and the negatives being lesser known faculty, lower level of research opportunities and just average didactic sessions. These negatives may be improving in the years to come though. Because this is a small program, only three spots per year, most interviews go to medical students who rotate there, but non-rotators do get invited too and sometimes even match there. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
UCSF Residency Review, Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Faculty are terrific. Many solid names including Reis, Hu, Bozic, and Cannon, and most are enthusiastic about teaching. Safran recently stepped down as Chief of Sports (went to Stanford), which was a rather hefty blow to the department. Dr. Vail is the new Chair and has been there since January of this year, coming from Duke. He is very dedicated to improving the program. He attends resident rounds every Monday morning and actively participates with the residency program. He told me about plans to build a new Ortho only surgery center that should break ground very soon. He spent quite a bit of time talking with me outside of the OR regarding residency and personal talk as well. I was very impressed with him and his vision for the program.Didactics/Teaching: Didactics are the best I have seen. Residents and some attendings meet every morning for patient presentations as well as one or two teaching presentations by residents. There are several other attending taught teaching sessions throughout the week as well. A big emphasis is placed on teaching and all residents participate. Senior residents lead the discussions, ask important questions and offer more detailed information if necessary. Top quality!!! Warning: if you don't like to teach and give oral presentations, this may not be the program for you. Residents are expected to give high quality talks often. Operating Experience: Operating experience is one of the best things at this program. Residents get to do so much, especially when rotating at SF General hospital. There, the residents basically run the show and it is typically a second year operating, a chief scrubbed in to assist, and an attending in the room to supervise. At Parnassus and Mount Zion, attendings are scrubbed in and leading the procedures, but residents do quite a bit of the operating. Clinic Experience: Clinical experience is pretty darn good. You will see a wide variety of patients and get plenty of hands on experience. A lot of teaching takes place in clinic too. Research Opportunities: What can I say? It is UCSF and the research is world class. All the opportunities are there for basic science and/or clinical research and it is strongly encouraged. Faculty have a strong desire to publish and will love you if you feel the same. Residents: Residents are top quality. First years don't see too much Ortho, but work hard in other surgical departments. Second and third years are pretty wiped out and these two years are definitely the toughest of the five. Junior and senior residents are very bright and actively participate in teaching the other residents. I really enjoyed my interactions with almost all of the residents. Lifestyle: Lifestyle is not so great for several reasons. First, you work extremely hard when you are at this program. You will get a ton of great experience, but you will definitely pay the price. Second, you are rotating a lot between several different facilities that are spread throughout the city and transportation can be tough. Driving your own car is a pain because of city traffic and parking (parking is aweful and can be very expensive). Public transportation is good (Muni lines are great and pretty cheap if you buy monthly passes), but most Muni lines don't run early in the morning and I often found myself walking at 4:45AM for about 20 minutes in the cold and fog to get to the hospital to round on my patients. There are free shuttles that run between Parnassus and Mount Zion and these help a lot if you don't need to be there too early. SF living can be pretty tough as a surgical resident. Location/Housing: Location depends on whether or not you like congested city living. It was fun for me at first, but it quickly grew a little tiresome. Housing is pretty pricy and you will find yourself paying a lot of money for a tiny little space close to the hospitals, or paying less money and having to drive quite a bit further and then deal with parking. Along with expensive housing, you will also pay a lot for gas, groceries, restaurants, etc... SF is a wonderful city with a lot to do when you do find yourself with time off and there are many great places to visit that are not too far away (Napa, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, Yosemite, etc...) Guess it really depends on what you are looking for personally. Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Overall, the experience was extremely good. The surgeons, residents, teaching and operating experience offered about as much as one could possible expect to get out of a high quality program. The flip side is the amount of work that will be expected of you, the high cost of living, and possibly the nuisance of living in a big, crowded city if that is not your thing. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Stanford Ortho Residency, Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Faculty are great overall. Big names include Malloney, Goodman, Carragee, and Safran (just came from UCSF), among others. Fanton and McAdams are now both team docs for SF 49ers. There are also great faculty at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and the VA Hospital. Malloney is very driven and will certainly improve the reputation of this program rapidly. As a Chair, he is not very approachable and contact with him is very limited.Didactics/Teaching: Didactics and teaching are solid, but there is room for improvement. Some faculty are much more enthusiastic about teaching than others, but that goes for most programs. Didactic sessions vary depending on the specialty you are rotating on, but there are plenty of them. Operating Experience: Stanford has a lot of fellows, which takes away from the resident surgical experience. Be prepared to work like crazy during the intern year doing a lot of scut work, and you will only get three months of Ortho experience (similar to many programs). The best OR experience comes at Santa Clara Valley MC, where the residents get to do most everything under the supervision of an attending. The VA operating experience is better than Stanford Hospital as well. Clinic Experience: Clinical experience is great at all locations. You will see a lot and do a lot. No complaints here. Research Opportunities: Plenty of research to be done with many great names. Stanford is a research heavy place and they encourage all the research you can handle. Residents: Overall, the residents are a good group. Stanford wants to increase the size of its program from four to six new spots each year. To show its commitment, they have been picking up residents from other Ortho programs that have closed down. Some of these residents are not as sharp as the regulars, but for the most part they are very good quality residents. Lifestyle: The lifestyle is pretty good there. A lot of home call and the location is terrific. Residents are very happy for the most part. They work hard, but not nearly as hard as some other programs. The Ortho Residents Room has just been remodeled, complete with free snacks and drinks, plasma screen, plenty of brand new computers, lockers, soft sofas, etc... A good place to hang out when on-call with nothing to do. Location/Housing: Location, except for the cost of living, cannot be beat. Small town feel living in Stanford or Palo Alto, but only a short drive, 25 minutes, to San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Cruz is a 45 minute drive, Lake Tahoe a 4 hour drive, and Los Angeles 6 hours. Weather around Stanford is perfect. Warm but not hot summers, cooler winters with some rain, but no snow or ice storms like other places. Most winter days you can wear a t-shirt and shorts and not be too cold. Plenty to do in the local area like hiking, cycling, mountain biking, surfing, etc... Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Overall experience was really good. The program is on the rise and the work demands, work environment, and lifestyle are hard to beat. You want to work fairly hard to learn enough in residency, and Stanford offers a "just the right amount" experience. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
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