Please Help Rank. This is in no particular order. Not looking to subspecialize right now, but want to keep the doors open for fellowships if I choose to later on. Would like some research opps, but nothing super-academic (it's just not me). Just want a balance program with strong training and happy residents.

Cedars-Sinai
Habor UCLA
Olive View UCLA
Kaiser Sunset
UCI
UCD
Cal Pacific
Huntington
UCSD
USC

Please Help Rank. This is in no particular order. Not looking to subspecialize right now, but want to keep the doors open for fellowships if I choose to later on. Would like some research opps, but nothing super-academic (it's just not me). Just want a balance program with strong training and happy residents.

I don't think I know how to help you. You remind me of that Mercury insurance commercial where the lady tells the taxi driver that she wants to go to the airport and downtown at the same time when they are at the opposite sides of town. I feel like that taxi driver, i can either get you to the airport or downtown but not both.

You need to figure out a few things.
1. Are you going to subspecialize? If you are, or think you might be then it completely changes a rank list.
2. Do you really want to do research? Are you interested in a career in academia, or do you just want to dabble in a project? Most places with research opportunities are "super-academic". Figure out if that is what you want.
3. What kind of balance do you want in a program? Patient population? Disease pathology?

I think there are probably some happy residents who are well trained in most programs. The key is for you to figure out the environment where you will be most successful. You really need to know yourself before anyone can help you with this.

boF

Why not just pick the program where you liked it the best? The best 'gut feeling/vibe' if you will. All of those are solid programs and you will get good training.

I don't understand all of the analyzing that goes on with these rank lists. I just kept a running list of places while I was interviewing, and when I got home plugged them in based on my overall impression of how happy i would be living/working there.

I think there are probably some happy residents who are well trained in most programs. The key is for you to figure out the environment where you will be most successful. You really need to know yourself before anyone can help you with this.
boF

Amen.

I'm not from California, but am at least a little familiar with some of these places. It sounds like you don't yet know what you want to do. If you want to keep the doors open for fellowship, it would likely be better to avoid those community-type programs, at least if you want to do GI or cards, which tend to be hard to get. Hem/onc= getting that way too. If you just want an endo or rheum fellowship, I think you can still easily get a spot from most any solid medicine program....

If you are thinking you may want a fellowship and don't know what specialty yet, I'd say better to keep the doors open by attending one of the more "academic" programs, including some of those in the UC system.

California Pacific seemed like a nice, cushy program when I visited there...not sure about their fellowship placements...would probably be OK for the less competitive ones, and I know they have their own cards fellowship but I don't know about GI and I don't know how many internal candidates they take. Their fellowship programs seemed to have some east coast (? NYU or Columbia) and UCSF types who just wanted a cush fellowship and to go into private practice.

I you just want to do primary care or hospitalist, a community program might actually be "better" training...at least for primary care...hospitalist I think I'm +/-, since most of the bigger more academic programs have more sick ICU and CCU patients that you'd be helping take care of, which could be helpful to establish a knowledge base for hospitalist practice.