how is their internal medicine program? Is their workload doable? Is it a malignant program? Do their residents go on to do fellowships? can anyone please provide an info thanks............

how is their internal medicine program? Is their workload doable? Is it a malignant program? Do their residents go on to do fellowships? can anyone please provide an info thanks............

try using the search function first

this has been discussed within the last two years more than once . . . don't know what it is about USC that raises this question so often

USC is LA County - it's very busy; there is a lot of autonomy; you get good at general medicine; if the workload wasn't doable they woudln't be graduating physicians every year; their reisdents match to fellowships, but not impressively so IMHO; I have not heard anything about USC being "malignant" - it's a SoCal program and if anything, it's less so than more so if you are used to an east coast or southern IM style

I am currently a resident at USC in internal medicine. I can say that the program is definitely not "malignant" in any sense. It is definitely hard work and one of the more difficult programs in California from talking to peers at other programs. However, the flip-side of this is that it prepares you for practice probably better than most programs given the breadth of pathology and the degree of autonomy. The popular conception of our program is often from dated information. There are many false myths like we don't fill our program, we fill it mostly with foreign medical graduates, a lot of our residents don't pass the boards, etc. None of these things are true. The program director and associate directors are very nice and responsive to our concerns. We have recently made multiple changes such as making the daily lecture more convenient, the number of call months has been reduced to 9 call months for the intern year (it was 11 call months last year), tests such as echocardiograms and PICC lines are easier to order, etc. We have also put measures into place to reduce the number of patients dumped on to the medicine service and I have already noticed a reduction in admissions. Also, most people remember the dirty, old county hospital when they think of USC. However, we have recently (Nov 2008) moved into a brand new facility which cost well over 1 billion dollars. The facility is a significant upgrade from our prior facility. We have great perks including convenient parking, a $2K educational stipend, $28/day to spend at the cafeteria which has really good food. We also can spend that money at our own Seattle's Best coffee shop within the hospital which has a wide selection of drinks. We have new call rooms which are much more comfortable and each one has its own computer. Our salary is pretty decent (I am making around $48-49K gross right now). There are a ton of world-reknowned faculty members here and there are VERY few that I would describe as malignant. The research opportunities are second to none and I have plenty of friends who have approached world reknowned researchers and have gotten research projects. Recently the match list was released and I was really impressed hearing several of my friends matching to competitive specialities at USC and many other popular programs (i.e. UCLA, Cedars-Sinai). I hope that helps.

The previous response is only partially accurate.

I just graduated from the USC residency program. I agree, I wouldn't call this place malignant either. But to be honest, it is completely overrun with foreign grads and osteopathic grads. Another problem is, over my three years here, I think I only talked to the program director once for a couple of minutes. I have seen no effort on his part to get to know the residents better. He seems to care only about the program, not the people who work there.

I interviewed last year at USC for internal medicine along with other IM programs in SoCal. My first impression was pretty good when I got a tour of the new hospital. However, it was downhill from there. The interns and residents that I met were mostly DO and foreign grads and they did not give much information about fellowship opportunities or if the program provides any guidance. I also felt as though their residents (compared to the other places I interviewed) didn't seem as happy and satisfied. I did not end up ranking USC near the top of my list as a result.

I am a MSIV at USC and have done my general medicine subI and MICU subI there. I myself am planning on going into internal medicine but will not be applying to USC for residency, mainly for geographic issues, less so because of the program itself.
I would reiterate what has been posted that the majority of the IM residents are foreign grads or DO's. That's not to say that there are some very good residents. The workload can be heavy and the residents do have a great deal of autonomy. The upside is that residents get a lot of experience managing complex patients and making decisions when no one is around to help them. On the downside, I've heard from some residents that there is not enough time to study and really read up on your patients. There is also a lot of social work involved with county patients and social work issues can occupy a large chunk of your day. From doing other rotations at the county, I can say that the IM residents as a group are often looked down upon by residents in other specialties (i.e. surgery). This may not be something unique to USC though.

Most of the general medicine attendings are great. For the most part they love to teach and are friendly. I think the knock on USC attendings is that they are all very young. For the most part, this is true, as most of them are in their 30's. It makes for a collegial, non-malignant atmosphere, but at the cost of attending experience. There have been numerous times when the attending pimps the residents on rounds on basic stuff, the resident will not know it, and the attending does not even get mad. A lot of the attendings were also USC residents, so the perspective may be a little homogenous.

I know many residents matched into fellowships. A lot of them matched into USC fellowships. I'm not sure how they match into fellowships elsewhere though. A large percentage of graduates also go the hospitalist route.

The new hospital is much nicer than the old, however, it still has many of the same annoyances, things that don't work, the same county beaurocracy, and probably worst of all, the same cheerful county employees. For those that don't know, things move glacially slow here. It may take 2 days for a stat MRI or CT. Oftentimes, studies won't get done unless you make phone calls yourself even after writing the order. There are nurses and clerks with attitude, but some really great ones as well. The ICU nurses are particularly good and very knowledgable.

In summary, I would say this program offers some great benefits with some sacrifices. You will see a ton of pathology and get to manage it on your own in a non-malignant atmosphere. If you are the type of person that is self motivated and likes to work hard and get things done, you will thrive in this program and come out of it a very competent practitioner, in my opinion. If you are a person that is easily frustrated or not comfortable working and making decisions on your own then this program will eat you alive. No one will hold your hand here.
I also recommend that if you come here that you learn spanish if you don't already know it because the vast majority of county patients are spanish-speaking and your life will be much easier if you at least are conversant in medical spanish.

Nice input MP. Very nice perspective.