University of Washington

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3 reviews with 7-9 stars
7 reviews
9-10 stars
 
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7-9 stars
 
43%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
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Overall rating
 
9.1
Staff Surgeons
 
9.6(7)
Didactics/Teaching
 
8.9(7)
Operating Experience
 
7.9(7)
Clinical Experience
 
9.2(7)
Research
 
9.7(7)
Residents
 
9.4(7)
Lifestyle
 
8.6(7)
Location
 
9.3(7)
Overall Experience
 
9.2(7)
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UW
(Updated: January 30, 2013)
Overall rating
 
8.5
Staff Surgeons
 
8.0
Didactics/Teaching
 
9.0
Operating Experience
 
7.0
Clinical Experience
 
8.0
Research
 
10.0
Residents
 
9.0
Lifestyle
 
7.0
Location
 
10.0
Overall Experience
 
8.0

Program Review

Staff / Faculty / Chairman
All of the staff I interacted with during my one month rotation were pretty good. They were open to questions and seemed to care about the residency program.
Didactics / Teaching
Overall teaching is good. The weekly fracture conference is very valuable. The R2s are responsible for presenting all the trauma cases and do get pimped quite a bit, but it didn't feel too malignant.
Operating Experience
Comparing this rotation to my other two ortho rotations, I must say, this is where UW is the weakest. I felt that the operative experience was significantly better at other programs. UW has a trauma fellow on each of its three trauma teams. Additionally, there is another trauma fellow who does all the pelvis cases. I felt like the chiefs could operate, but did not operate nearly as much as chiefs at the other programs I rotated at.
Clinic Experience
HMC has extremely busy trauma clinics, but overall not too bad.
Research Opportunities
Outstanding. There are endless opportunities at UW to do research in whatever you want.
Residents
Overall, residents were great to work with. I really enjoyed my team. Residents seemed to get along well with each other. Some of them seem a little burned out.
Lifestyle
Overall the residents seemed pretty happy. Very few residents own houses in Seattle because it is so expensive. R2s work a ton of hours on the trauma service and have a very busy q3 schedule. Also, residents rotate at hospitals all over the city and Seattle can be a difficult city to drive in with traffic.
Location / Housing
Seattle as a city is tough to beat other than the bad traffic. Lots of water and outdoor activities.
Limitations
As I said before, it is fellow heavy, which comes with its downsides. (But comes with its upsides too, and nothing against fellows, I hope to be one someday.)
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Overall, I learned a lot about ortho on this rotation and really enjoyed it. Med students get to do quite a bit at HMC while on call. For me, the main limitation of this program was poor operative experience due to the fellow heavy environment.

Qualification

I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
2010
JT
Top 100 Reviewer
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UW ortho
(Updated: January 30, 2013)
Overall rating
 
8.9
Staff Surgeons
 
10.0
Didactics/Teaching
 
9.0
Operating Experience
 
8.0
Clinical Experience
 
9.0
Research
 
10.0
Residents
 
9.0
Lifestyle
 
8.0
Location
 
8.0
Overall Experience
 
9.0

Program Review

Staff / Faculty / Chairman
I did my rotation on the shoulder and elbow service, so most of my interaction was with Dr. Matsen and Dr. Warme, both of whom were extremely nice to work with as well as incredibly knowledgeable. They were easily approachable, and involved the residents in pretty much every aspect of the cases.
Didactics / Teaching
These seemed to be extremely valuable. Again, as I was on the shoulder service, there was not a lot of interaction with the trauma folks, but the lectures that I did receive were very useful.
Operating Experience
Again, can only comment on the shoulder service, as the call I took at Harborview was strictly limited to the ER. It is a fellow heavy program, and that comes with all the pluses and minuses therein. I don't think one can say that the operative experience is unaffected, but it's a tradeoff for getting to see the latest and cutting edge surgical techniques and research.
Clinic Experience
Again, I was on the shoulder service, but over at the UW, the clinic was very efficiently run, and the attendings were very involved in resident education. No complaints here.
Research Opportunities
We had a research talk every Monday on the shoulder service, and talking with the residents, there is research going on in every department for the residents to be a part of. There is also ready funding for presenting at meetings and such.
Residents
I interacted with 2 3rd years on the shoulder service, and both were incredibly down to earth. The 2nd years and interns at harbor were also good to work with. I really can't comment on the seniors as I just didn't have the chance to interact with them that much.
Lifestyle
2nd year seems to be the worst, and its downhill (easier) from there. Harborview call is Q3 2nd year. However, trauma call at harborview just about the most fun thing I've ever done.
Location / Housing
Seattle is a great place to live, but it's not cheap. Especially if you want to live close to the hospitals. The amazing culture of Seattle is really something you just have to go and experience to appreciate.
Limitations
As I said before, it is fellow heavy, which comes with its downsides. (But comes with its upsides too, and nothing against fellows, I hope to be one someday.)
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
So first of all, I should say that I rotated there, but just got my rejection for an interview. My boards are step 1 250's, step 2 260's, several publications, etc. So I'm not a stellar applicant, but I kind of thought good enough for an interview. Maybe I suck at people skills, who knows. Also, I'm not the only person who rotated there who got a rejection. So don't think that doing a rotation will get you an interview.<br />
<br />
Overall, it was a good experience to do as a rotation. As a residency, you probably can't go wrong if you want a school with a strong trauma and research base.

Qualification

I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
August, 2010
MR
Top 500 Reviewer
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UW ortho
(Updated: January 30, 2013)
Overall rating
 
8.5
Staff Surgeons
 
9.0
Didactics/Teaching
 
10.0
Operating Experience
 
6.0
Clinical Experience
 
9.0
Research
 
10.0
Residents
 
8.0
Lifestyle
 
8.0
Location
 
8.0
Overall Experience
 
8.0

Program Review

Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Wonderful faculty. Impressive on paper as well as in person. I didn't have a chance to meet the chairman personally, but people seemed to have a very high regard for them.
Didactics / Teaching
Top notch. We received an stats lesson that taught me more in 30 minutes than 3 months of EBM in med school. The grand rounds are televised with guest speakers from around the nation.
Operating Experience
One of the mantras that you'll hear over and over from the residents here is that 'no matter where you go, you'll come out all right'. Translation: the residents don't operate here. This was my experience as well. For comparison, I rotated at a community program after this, and the PGY-2's there were doing more in the OR than the chief residents at UW. The residents that I worked with were always double scrubbed behind the fellow. They kept saying that as the 5th year chief at harborview, you get to run the OR without a fellow. So I figure that puts you about 2 years behind other programs where the 3's are running the OR.
Clinic Experience
Wonderful. A good combination of both simple and extremely complex pathology. If harborview ER is included in clinic, then wonderful doesn't even begin to describe it. You see trauma there that you won't see anywhere else on a nightly basis.
Research Opportunities
There is no shortage of excellent research being done in pretty much all departments.
Residents
A mix. Most were chill. I met a couple of residents that thought they were more important than they were, but you'll probably find that anywhere.
Lifestyle
Q3 at harborview 2nd year, and you never sleep on call. Other than that, it seems to be alright, with the 3rd-4th-5th years easing off on call.
Location / Housing
Seattle. It's not cheap, and the traffic is horrible. Living close the the university is next to impossible. But it's Seattle, which is awesome.
Limitations
The GME office is difficult to work with, often will not return emails or calls, and is a major hindrance to getting paperwork approved for the multiple hospitals. <br />
Didactics are lacking, but the learning opportunities are there. You would become an excellent surgeon in this program, but may have trouble finding time to get solid OITE prep.<br />
The lifestyle is very tough, the hours worked are brutal and family life might suffer.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
I have no doubt that going to UW would look great on paper, and certainly serve you well if you wanted to be the chairman of a department someday. You'll just be about 2 years behind your peers as far as operative experience. Personally, being adept in the OR is more important than being at a big name institution, so I'll be going elsewhere.

Qualification

I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
Fall, 2010
LR
Top 500 Reviewer
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