Cali Prelims: Kaiser Oakland vs. Santa Clara TY&Prelim vs. CPMC vs. Scripps

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Hi all, thanks for the help!

I am trying to decide between the following 4 programs for prelim year:

1. Kaiser Oakland
2. Santa Clara Valley TY and Prelim
3. CPMC
4. Scripps

I am looking for a more 'laid back' year with high quality of life, and also learn on the wards. Thoughts on these programs???

Originally Posted by ppancreas

Hi all, thanks for the help!

I am trying to decide between the following 4 programs for prelim year:

1. Kaiser Oakland
2. Santa Clara Valley TY and Prelim
3. CPMC
4. Scripps

I am looking for a more 'laid back' year with high quality of life, and also learn on the wards. Thoughts on these programs???

FWIW - I didn't interview at Scripps but interviewed at the rest. Of the prelims you listed I believe Scripps has the reputation of being the most "laid back"/cush. CPMC made it a point to emphasize that you will work hard. I found SCVMC and Kaiser Oakland to be comparable with work-life balance. I don't know if anyone else had the same/different impressions.

Originally Posted by anonapp2011

FWIW - I didn't interview at Scripps but interviewed at the rest. Of the prelims you listed I believe Scripps has the reputation of being the most "laid back"/cush. CPMC made it a point to emphasize that you will work hard. I found SCVMC and Kaiser Oakland to be comparable with work-life balance. I don't know if anyone else had the same/different impressions.

I interviewed at Scripps and their schedule is no longer as cush as it used to be since the new work hour restrictions. Now their schedule is 3 months medicine wards, 1 month medicine float, 2 months ICU, 1 month peds inpatient, 1 month ER, 1 month outpatient, and 3 months electives. So basically it boils down to 8 hard months and 4 easy months. I'm not saying that Scripps isn't an awesome hospital with great people and benefits (I will be ranking it highly), but you will work hard there. It is by no means cush. But hey, I'll take one year of working hard to be in San Diego any day.

Originally Posted by onyx667

I interviewed at Scripps and their schedule is no longer as cush as it used to be since the new work hour restrictions. Now their schedule is 3 months medicine wards, 1 month medicine float, 2 months ICU, 1 month peds inpatient, 1 month ER, 1 month outpatient, and 3 months electives. So basically it boils down to 8 hard months and 4 easy months. I'm not saying that Scripps isn't an awesome hospital with great people and benefits (I will be ranking it highly), but you will work hard there. It is by no means cush. But hey, I'll take one year of working hard to be in San Diego any day.

Whoa...really? It went from 6 months of electives to 3 just because of new hours? That's huge.

Originally Posted by Dumb

Whoa...really? It went from 6 months of electives to 3 just because of new hours? That's huge.

Yea, at the interview they even gave us the 12 month schedules for all the current TYs and that is what their schedules consisted of. The TYs I talked to during my day there all confirmed this but still said they loved being there cause everyone was so nice. But yea, you're gonna work hard for 7-8 months out of the year. However, they said the elective months are awesome (especially surgery surprisingly because you just get to show up at 8 and go see cases instead of doing scutwork).

Thanks everyone for your advice!

Scripps used to be the #1 TY in the country. With the new work hour restrictions it's now significantly harder than Arrowhead and a little easier than Harbor, comparing to the other SoCal TYs. Still best location of any TY in the country however. The interns there are really top notch. Hospital is dinky. Wouldn't go there for "cushness" alone though. I would look into Kaiser SF or St Mary SF if you're in Norcal. Kaiser Santa Clara is also good. I don't know much about Kaiser Oakland.

Originally Posted by Asp

Scripps used to be the #1 TY in the country. With the new work hour restrictions it's now significantly harder than Arrowhead and a little easier than Harbor, comparing to the other SoCal TYs. Still best location of any TY in the country however. The interns there are really top notch. Hospital is dinky. Wouldn't go there for "cushness" alone though. I would look into Kaiser SF or St Mary SF if you're in Norcal. Kaiser Santa Clara is also good. I don't know much about Kaiser Oakland.

I interviewed at St. Mary's in SF. I would love to go there if not for the 3 mos of ICU...and the cost of living (although they give you free parking ). The residents were super nice though and the program director was nice. Nothing beats living in SF for sure

How is it that no one knows anything about Kaiser Oakland? That's the only thing making me nervous about that program.

And I would have loved to get to know Kaiser SF and Kaiser Santa Clara better, but they did not grant me interviews...

Amazing that scripps was #1 TY in the country- I would have thought newport news or spokane!

Originally Posted by ppancreas

How is it that no one knows anything about Kaiser Oakland? That's the only thing making me nervous about that program.

And I would have loved to get to know Kaiser SF and Kaiser Santa Clara better, but they did not grant me interviews...

Amazing that scripps was #1 TY in the country- I would have thought newport news or spokane!

Have you been to Spokane? Unless they pay $150K/y and don't actually make you show up for work, no program would be good enough to make up for that.

Originally Posted by gutonc

Have you been to Spokane? Unless they pay $150K/y and don't actually make you show up for work, no program would be good enough to make up for that.

Right. The 2 big factors are cushiness and location. Scripps was extremely competitive in both (top 10 for cushiness and #1 for location) = #1 TY in the country. Some argued that MSKCC was #1 but that's unfounded IMO and I didn't even bother applying there.

That said, there are TYs that I interviewed at in nomansland that pay over 50K and in which you don't have to show up for 3-4 months of the year (don't even have to be in the same state). That does not override Scripps former allure, but it's definitely tempting!

Btw, if you factor in the 4 month vacation time, other light 2-3 months like ambu, and extrapolate the pay, you would be making (on an hourly basis) the equivalent of 100K/yr.

Originally Posted by gutonc

Have you been to Spokane?

I'd take the beautiful eastern Washington and northern Idaho mountains over just about anywhere in the midwest.

Originally Posted by Dumb

Right. The 2 big factors are cushiness and location. Scripps was extremely competitive in both (top 10 for cushiness and #1 for location) = #1 TY in the country. Some argued that MSKCC was #1 but that's unfounded IMO and I didn't even bother applying there.

That said, there are TYs that I interviewed at in nomansland that pay over 50K and in which you don't have to show up for 3-4 months of the year (don't even have to be in the same state). That does not override Scripps former allure, but it's definitely tempting!

Btw, if you factor in the 4 month vacation time, other light 2-3 months like ambu, and extrapolate the pay, you would be making (on an hourly basis) the equivalent of 100K/yr.

MSKCC didn't have the cush reputation of Scripps but subsidized housing in Manhattan was enough to make it extremely competitive. I agree though, before the changes Scripps was probably the best.

Einstein in Philly still has a great schedule (2 ward months, 1 each of ICU, tele, ambulatory, EM, and night float and 5 elective months) but the location isn't great. At least Philly is a major city and close to NYC