does anyone have any experience with the programs at madigan? I have heard only good things but don't know any current residents or students who have rotated there.

I've had contact with a first year resident who did a transitional year there, and a classmate who did an IM rotation there. Both had nothing but positive things to say. Even as bad as internships can be, the resident said if you're gonna do one, that's the place to do it. I've also heard good things from attendings at other hospitals who were either residents or faculty there, but their experiences would be from at least 3 or 4 years ago.

Just got back from Madigan this weekend. It was a fantastic rotation. Although I was in the Pathology department (so I can't give you any specific info, except for that dept.) I heard many good things. Of course, as the previous post stated the nature of many residencies is suckville, most of the residents that I met were in good spirits. I think that it is an excellent place to train.

Thanks to the fantastic strategic planners at the White House, I had the pleasure of spending 4 months there this year. Ft. Lewis was supposed to just be our mob-site but it turned into a 4 month training exercise in the rain.

The MAMC facility is great and the residents and students all seem to enjoy it. I met many of the faculty and I was quite impressed. The medical library is great and the med librarians are top-notch.

However, try to do your rotations in the few good months of the year. From October to April it rains nearly every day. But even in the winter, it's not too bad -- did I mention it rains every day?

The student housing is pretty decent. Much better than the 'formerly' condemned WWII barracks we got to live in.

If you get weekends free, Tacoma and Seattle are just 15 and 45 minutes away, respectively. Watch out for the highway patrol around there; if they catch you speeding while it's raining (which is all the time, you get it right?) the fine is astronomical.

PS: Coffee is nearly religion up there, it?s unbelievable.

Madigan Rocks!
Great attending staff (although, as is the problem with all military facilities, many of them tend to get transferred after a couple years -- still, they seem to have no problems finding good replacements); great, friendly, smart residents; relatively new, nice facility; residencies are pretty benign compared to civilian -- there is a lot of emphasis on academic learning (lectures, etc), not just ward scut; "call from home" is not unusual; rotations at U of Washington in Seattle to get the "big academic hospital experience"; great geographic location. Only cautions I would offer would be: 1) to surgery residents: OR time can be cut sometimes depending on "needs of the army" (i.e, all the surgeons get deployed, leaving a skeleton crew to run the place). 2) Although a good hospital, Madigan is not truly "state of the art" when it comes to more advanced cutting edge procedures. Lots of subspecialized surgery, interventional radiology, and some high-tech medicine stuff has to be sent out to Seattle. Nevertheless, whatever your residency, you will come out of there very well trained

Agree with the previous poster about the weather. Fall, winter and spring are rainy but tolerable; winter is looooooong and daaaaaaark (you are much farther north than you realize) and, frankly can be a bit depressing. Flip side is that summers are purely awesome. Like 18 hours of daylight, hardly ever over 80 degrees and no humidity. Location is great, very short trips to shore, mountains, hiking, skiing, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, etc.

BTW, the REAL religion at Madigan is not coffee . . . it's TORTILLA SOUP!!!!!!

I second the Tortilla Soup remark. Have one cup for lunch, and take another home for dinner. They'll also give you the recipe if you ask (although it's the 50-gallon recipe).

By the way, out of my four duty stations (previous career, before med school), the winner, far and away, is Madigan...

CA