University of California (San Francisco)  Hot PDF Print E-mail
Residency Programs California
Program Information
Website: http://orthosurg.ucsf.edu/
City: San Francisco
State/Province: California
University of California (San Francisco) Orthopedic Residency Program, San Francisco, CA


User reviews

Average user rating from: 2 user(s)

Overall rating
8.7
Staff Surgeons
9.0
Didactics/Teaching
9.5
Operating Experience
9.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
9.5
Residents
8.0
Lifestyle
7.5
Location
7.5
Overall Experience
9.0
 

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

UCSF, Saturday, 14 November 2009

Written by Barbados   -  View all my reviews  - Top 50 Reviewer

Overall rating
8.6
Staff Surgeons
8.0
Didactics/Teaching
9.0
Operating Experience
9.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
9.0
Residents
8.0
Lifestyle
8.0
Location
8.0
Overall Experience
9.0
Program Information
Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Dr. Vail is amazing. He makes time for the residents on a weekly basis and is at many of the morning conferences at the Parnassus campus. He is really taking the program to another level and the other adult reconstruction faculty are really cool. Some of the other faculty members are great teachers and make time to help the residents on a day-to-day basis. Dr. Ma is one of those faculty members. He takes the time at the end of every clinic or OR day to review the patients and cases. Unfortunately, some of the other faculty are not as warm and not as into teaching.
Didactics/Teaching: Didactics are great. Conferences are every morning. One problem, however, is that the residency program covers different facilities/hospitals spread throughout the San Francisco area. Adult reconstruction, spine, and pediatrics are at UC/Parnassus. Sports, foot & ankle, and hand are out at the new Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay (an awesome outpatient facility). Most of the trauma is at SF General that has 2/5 residents in every class at all times. Tumor and some other stuff is at another hospital that I never made it to. They also cover the SF VA and I never even saw any of those residents. The bottom line is that clinical responsibilities limit the residents in being able to attend many conferences that are usually held in the morning at UC. This is because getting around the city can be very troublesome, there is a good shuttle system, but it can take a while. The residents at SF General have their own morning conferences. The bottom line is that access to didactic teaching sessions can be very limited when residents are on certain services. Its a problem that I hope can be addressed, because the program is great. After grand rounds, the entire resident group has teaching sessions until mid-morning that are really good.
Operating Experience: I was very impressed by the operative experience that the residents get. Chiefs are very comfortable handling nearly everything. Most of the early OR experience happens at SF General. The exposure that the residents get to trauma at SF general is absolutely the ticket here. The one thing that many residents will admit to being a little weak in is foot & ankle, and I think that the sports exposure may be a little soft too. Trauma exposure is phenomenal. Joints exposure is phenomenal. Strong spine exposure. Tumor is there, but like all programs, its limited. Strong hand/upper extremity exposure as well.
Clinic Experience: The clinic facilities are great. Some attendings make the clinic experience stronger than others. Its different on different services. Sometimes residents are being actively taught throughout the day in clinic, other times it felt as though they were just bodies getting work done. I can't speak highly enough about the new Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay. I only made it out there once, but it was amazing. Its brand new and geared towards ortho in terms of the clinic staff, setup, and the outpatient ORs.
Research Opportunities: There is the opportunity to take a research year. Research is one of the program's definite strong points. They have some research power players (like Dr. Bozic) that are really impressive and many of the residents have ongoing research projects with attendings on different services. There is a definite academic feel to the program that I felt was a serious high point.
Residents: The residents are all really great. Most are very bright, and you can tell that they all wanted to be at UCSF, which is different from residents at other programs I've visited. Given the lifestyle of the city, and the way the program is spread over facilities throughout the SF area, the residents as a whole do not seem as close-knit as other programs I've visited. One thing I also thought was a little unusual was interaction that R4s and R5s have with the junior residents. They pimp them on a regular basis. Sometimes interrupting the middle of a presentation or talk to call out a younger resident and ask them questions about classification systems and stuff. I think that the Socratic method is a good one, and I think that senior to junior resident teaching is very, very crucial to a program, but at times this seemed to be a little too much.
Lifestyle: San Francisco is a great city. Great food, great night life. The Marina has a good bar scene. Golden Gate park is only a few blocks from Parnassus and has a bunch of space for biking, running, etc where you actually don't even feel like you are in the city. Wine country is very close, although I didn't make it up there I heard its a quick hour drive North of the Bay.
Location/Housing: Housing is a serious problem. The residents get an extra housing stipend to cover the increased cost of living in San Francisco, and even though its an extra few thousand a year, I do not think it makes up the difference. Its a definite tradeoff that a resident must make. Go to Iowa, you can buy a 3 bd house and still save money, but you might be bored out of your mind. Go to SF, you'll have an absolute blast, but you'll be living in a overpriced, under-renovated, box. Pick your poison.
Limitations: The facilities are a double-edged sword.
They are top-notch, but the program is spread throughout the city at 1 of 5 locations at any given time, which limits the contact amongst the residency class to a certain point. Some of the faculty are a little abrasive, but this is a minority.
Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Overall UCSF is awesome. Some key faculty members in high places are resident oriented. The operative experience is well-balanced. Research is incredible. This program is on the rise and continues to expand.
Qualification
I am a medical student at this school.
Date of Rotation: 08/09
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

UCSF Residency Review, Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Written by Uncle_Hernia   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating
8.8
Staff Surgeons
10.0
Didactics/Teaching
10.0
Operating Experience
9.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
10.0
Residents
8.0
Lifestyle
7.0
Location
7.0
Overall Experience
9.0
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
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 August 2007 )
 
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