I searched this forum and never found a list of away rotations with good reputations. I've heard good things about a couple places (Emory, Vanderbilt) but otherwise I am clueless. What do you guys think?

SUNY Upstate. The residents, staff, nurses there are super friendly and the attendings are more than willing to teach. The Chairman there is unbelievable generous with his time in terms of helping you to match into optho.

As a SUNY Upstate grad going into ophtho, I have to agree wholeheartedly about Upstate being a great place to do an away. The resident are very friendly, the learning environment is great, the attendings are down to earth, and the chairman Dr. Hoepner is one of the most caring chairs i've ever spoken to. While Upstate is not a "big name," the program has very strong surgical numbers and an ideal academic environment. Give it a shot, i had a wonderful experience with the ophtho department,

As a SUNY Upstate grad going into ophtho, I have to agree wholeheartedly about Upstate being a great place to do an away. The resident are very friendly, the learning environment is great, the attendings are down to earth, and the chairman Dr. Hoepner is one of the most caring chairs i've ever spoken to. While Upstate is not a "big name," the program has very strong surgical numbers and an ideal academic environment. Give it a shot, i had a wonderful experience with the ophtho department,

I agree 70%, not 100% with the above. There are positive aspects about the program. Describing the negative aspects would create the wrong impression unless this thread is entitled "what are the bad things about each program".

As a SUNY Upstate grad going into ophtho, I have to agree wholeheartedly about Upstate being a great place to do an away. The resident are very friendly, the learning environment is great, the attendings are down to earth, and the chairman Dr. Hoepner is one of the most caring chairs i've ever spoken to. While Upstate is not a "big name," the program has very strong surgical numbers and an ideal academic environment. Give it a shot, i had a wonderful experience with the ophtho department,
I concur. Having just rotated through this program, I had a chance to speak with one of the chiefs and her cat surg # is ~250. Definitely good surgical oppotunities if you are aggressive.

Curious, what do you think the downsides are to this program. I have seen a few, but nothing that bad worth mentioning

In my opinion, upstate is an ok place to do a residency. I was a med student at there & i would agree that the envt is friendly & caring, but it is a small program of 2 res/yr, & they dont get as much pathology and variety as bigger programs. I am a resident at UMDNJ in NJ and the path & volume here dwarfs what upstate gets, & this is what leads to a stronger, mopre academic program.

Along those lines I highly recommend both NYEE and Downstate. You will be inundated with patients and pathology at both places. The residents are very friendly and you may even get to see your own patients.

I would add Iowa to the list - incredibly friendly, nice, helpful, and an outstanding program. And right now, the weather's pretty good!