California IM categorical programs

[ookla]

I've got a few CA interviews lined up so far (Harbors, UCI, etc). Has anyone heard from the big names (UCSD, Cedars Sinai, UCLA, UCDavis, etc.)?
Also, if anyone knows or has heard anything about UCI and/or Scripps Clinic (Green) can you post it? Thanks

[stephcf]

nope, i haven't heard from USCD or Cedars-Sinai yet. I think they may be waiting for Dean's Letters (I hope!)

[scaredapplicant]

yeah please let us know if you hear from UCSF, UCLA, UCSD and Cedar - Sinai

Is Cedar really considered to be that well regarded???

So far, I have offers from:
- UCI
- Harbor
- Scripps (any scoop on this program???)

[ookla]

scaredapplicant,
looks like we've got interviews at similar places so far...I also just got an email from UC Davis. UCI seems to be an up and coming program. Scripps Green is a small program but fellowships don't seem to be a problem after finishing their program.
Anyone with more info please post. Thank you.

[Surfer75]

only places in CA I've got interviews are SB Cottage and UCLA... but then again, I just sent in my 3rd LOR... who knows.. *shrug*

[jc8038]

hi all! does anyone know anything about University of Southern Californai (USC)? on scutwork.com the residents seem to really hate it...

i'm from NY and am applying to a bunch of Cali schools, but unfortunately don't know much about which schools are good besides the obvious choices (UCSF, UCLA, etc)...

[Rigomortis]

Originally posted by jc8038
hi all! does anyone know anything about University of Southern Californai (USC)? on scutwork.com the residents seem to really hate it...

i'm from NY and am applying to a bunch of Cali schools, but unfortunately don't know much about which schools are good besides the obvious choices (UCSF, UCLA, etc)...

Word on the street is that USC may be a little too much autonomy (which is usually good), but not enough supervision.

[jth9]

I know a GI attending at NYU who did his training in LA and then worked there several years. He said he would rather have gone unmatched than go to USC!

[scaredapplicant]

UCLA-SFV

[ookla]

just got interviews from Cedars Sinai and UCLA-OliveView...
Good luck everyone!

[scaredapplicant]

ookla,
we are bound to run into each other at some point given that we are interviewing at all the same CA programs... I just got Cedars Sinai as well. Now waiting on the UCSF, UCLA (the real one) and UCSD!

[ucsd-dude]

howdy- thought i'd throw in my two cents.

about uci; i have talked to several ucsd interns who interviewed there last year and a fourth-year med student there who have all said DON'T DO IT. supposedly the medicine program at uci is pretty malignant- when interviewees went to the wards to ask the residents about the program, the residents said that they were overworked, underappreciated, and undertaught. the fourth-year said internal medicine is irvine's worst department. i don't have much personal experience with uci besides an unimpressive med school interview, but it was enough for me to not even apply there for residency and it's only an hour away!

if you have any questions about ucsd (because i know there are a lot of myths to dispell), i'd be happy to give you my opinion.

good luck with interviews people.

[stephcf]

ucsd-dude,

what are your opinions about ucsd? what myths are there to dispel? i'm very interested in ucsd and have heard varying reports on them.

thanks

[ucsd-dude]

ucsd definitely has a reputation for being competitive and unfriendly- both the med school and residency programs- i heard these things all the time when i was an undergrad at ucla applying for med school and get asked all the time by med students i meet from other schools. also, several years ago 3 or 4 people dropped out of the internal medicine residency program which made for some major rumors about the program.

since then however, the department has really made an effort to improve conditions- they initiated a committee to address resident concerns, started a night float system, made the unit a closed unit (so you don't have to follow your patient if he/she transfers to the icu), and really do make a big effort to alternate call months with non-call months. they are also hiring a new residency program director which is huge since the present one is a source of many complaints.

all in all i really really like the medicine department at ucsd. the teaching is amazing (most of the time) and most importantly, the residents are on the whole really happy. also, ucsd has a name that lends itself to good fellowships.

sorry for the long-windedness. there's the inside scoop- hope it helps. i am really having a hard time deciding if i should stay here (where i know the training is top-notch and i'll be happy) or experience medicine somewhere else. we'll see i guess.

[mashimaro2]

i'm just like jc8308...from NY, applying to programs on the west coast, but with very little initial info.

can someone out there enlighten us about some of the programs? for me, specifically, UCLA, Harbor, and Cedar-Sinai. i'd also love to hear anything you guys have to say about living in LA...and whether you can make a happy transition to life in LA even if you've been a die-hard east coast person.

[Fiat Lux]

Here are some thoughts on the IM programs people seem to be asking for:

1) UCLA: excellent program; but hard. Its for those people who are basic science oriented. Housestaff have very little voice in changing things. They get top notch applicants (i hear this year, its over 2000 applications for their IM program! .. yikes, who's got a calc to do the odds?)

2) Harbor-UCLA: Another excellent program. Academically upthere with UCLA, great patient population; however, the housestaff are scutted like you would not believe! call months are too rough and back-to-back.

3) Cedars-sinai: Excellent faculty, not quite competitive against UCLA or Harbor. Good housestaff, but given that the patient population is predominately private, you only get to really touch 1 out of 5 of your patients, the other 4 are looked after by the attending, and you're no more than a glorified shadow.

4) Olive View- UCLA (aka SFVP): Excellent teaching/academics, strong housestaff, incredible patient population/pathology. You get to be the real doctor here, no scutwork, and a fair workload. Housestaff are the happiest here.

My personal feeling is that they're all great programs, and you will learn a lot; but depending on your personality type, I would chose accordingly. Hope it's useful, good luck on apps!

peace,

[downwardspiral]

Can anyone give me a ranking of the competitiveness of the Bay Area programs?

1. UCSF
2. Stanford
3. Santa Clara Valley
4. Cal-Pacific
5. St. Mary's
6. Kaiser SF
7. Kaiser SC
8. Highland Hospital
9. Kaiser Oakland

Also, any comments on what is known about the community programs (not UCSF, Stanford b/c i have no shot) is much appreciated. Info is kinda hard to come by on these programs!

[rama]

Hi,

Does anyone has info on Loma Linda? I have an interview with them.

Thanks,
Rama.

[Sporothrix]

Does anybody have any information on Scripps Clinic in SD...i.e. what does it take to get in, board scores, reputation, fellowship placement - (the same stuff that everyone wants to know about every other program)?
Any info would be greatly appreciated - Thanks!

Oh, and also any info about the Kaiser programs in the Bay area.

[yaoming]

Hi all. I am an underclassman and am from the SF area. My family is there although i'm going to a UC in southern cali, so I hope to go back. Can you please tell me how competitive IM residency admissions is in the SF and stanford area ( i found 6 programs on www.aamc.org)? How much easier is, say, St Marys or Cal Pacific to UCSF or stanford, and to other residencies (surgery, opthamology, etc). Thank you for your info.

[joelee955]

To ookla's comment about UCI and how it's an up and coming program. Can you elaborate on that?

[joelee955]

I've also heard that UCSD is a pretty malignant place, but has made some changes for the better.

UCLA is a very demanding IM residency, but from what I hear from my friends, they seem pretty happy there. Same goes for Harbor which may not have the prestige as UCLA, but actually may be a better program.

UCI has been taking IMGs and DO recently, althhough I've heard that it's a cush program.

[laidback]

I have heard relatively good comments on Harbor, can anyone elaborate on why they think it is a good program and why in some ways it is better than the UCLA main program?

[jhsu]

Anyone knows anything about UCLA-VA program? How is it compare to other UCLA affliated programs?

[Fiat Lux]

IMHO: Don't even consider the Wadsworth program as a "ucla" training program. The residents are not at all happy with the program or its leadership. Equally bad is that the training is inadequate. They have a terrible time matching or even filling their positions, historically they have recruited over half of their categorical medicine spots outside of the match with foreign grads from unheard of schools. Ask them to show you a list of their current residents, then ask how many are on remediation; i'm pretty sure the answer will shock you!

[joelee955]

The Harbor program is extremely busy, but you have much more autonomy there than at UCLA. Also, the residents there seem pretty happy, especially with the level of teaching there and the other residents they have to work with. Also, people there seem to match into fellowships pretty well.

[hamburgler]

does anyone else know any more about the USC program besides the fact that there is too much autonomy? is it overall a good or bad program? ppl i've talked too from the med school say the facilities suck and all the residents are unhappy...any information would be really appreciated....thanks!

[ucsd-dude]

i was really impressed with harbor-ucla and i think one resident put it the best when she said their residents get "street smart" in medicine- you see so much pathology there (from new diagnoses to extremely uncommon diagnoses) due to the large immigrant patient population at the hospital. i think it is great training and they are all so proud of the program it borders on cult-like. downside is the financial situation.

i was not impressed with ucla. the training is practically all tertiary- you take care of millions of liver transplant patients on the medicine service and the teaching is not so great, in my opinion. it does have the name, but i'm not sure why.

again, yes, ucsd does have this mythical reputation for being "malignant", but since some changes several years ago, the residents are very happy. the training is top-notch, with the right amount of autonomy and motivated residents who love to teach. the research there is some of the best in the nation (particularly in cardiology). there is a new chairman of medicine and they are getting a new program director (a good thing).

[med03ibd]

i've also only heard good things about harbor, financial problems aside, though it seems that the institution will always have financial questions and will always pull through.
ucsd i've understood is only as competetive as it is due to its location rather than its training, though that may be changing. really, how can i argue against a dude from ucsd.

my questions is - does anyone have anything good to say about uc-irvine? because i still haven't heard it.

[laidback]

From talking to some of my classmates, the competition in IM for Calif programs this year seems to be pretty tough. Several Californians are having some problems getting interviews from top places like UCSF and Stanford to my surprise. What is the deal with Californian programs these days?

[summertime]

Not being from California, I can say that out East, a good number of people want to go to California. And then of course you've got the California "ex-pats" at Eastern schools who want to go back home. And it doesn't seem like many people in California really want to leave. Which adds up to just a whole lot of people wanting to be at California schools....

[dcdo]

I am a PGY-1 at UCI right now.

I don't know where the malignant thing came from- The residents I've been with have been great, treat the interns well, and overall seem pretty satisfied. Autonomy is good. Attendings have been great so far, with 1 or 2 exceptions. Variety of pathology has been pretty good- lots of immigrants, plus UCI is treated like a tertiary and a county hospital since it is the only university program in Orange County. It actually isn't a county hospital, but people seem to think it is.

There have been a few DOs each of the last 3 years including myself. There actually aren't any foreign grads in the medicine program, although I wouldn't personally have a problem if there were.

Also, can't beat the location!- except maybe UCSD.

[Stillwell]

Any thoughts/comments about Loma Linda?

[OldWorld]

I interviewed at 5 California programs. These are just my personal opinions. I actually, still struggle with community vs. academic issue.
1. UC Davis - Very strong program academically. Wonderful PD. Very good fellowship potential. Housestuff seemed pretty happy. Potential problem - lack of stuff to do in Sacramento. One intern told me "social life is there, you just need to look for it", I am not sure there will be time.
2. California Pacific - too laid back, too many private patients. But both PD and Associate PD are new and energetic. Lots of faculty form UCSF. Here I am concerned about autonomy. They told me "it is there if you want it".
3. Cottage Santa Barbara - again too laid back. Their call is q6, but there is no cap on ICU admits (they have open ICU) and they admit almost every day during the day. Big plus - beeing in Santa Barbara
4. Scripps Clinic. The most formal interview so far. All the standard questions: your strengths and weaknesses, tell me about yourself, the hardest rotation, your mentor, can you add anything else about yourself ( btw, what's the good answer for that one? I still did not figure out). But the housestuff is great. The other problem, they rotate through Naval hospitals. Having had rotations in military hospitals, it's a minus for me.
5. Santa Clara Valley - the nicest county hospital I have ever seen. Good support. Overall, I think I liked this one the best.
I hope it will be helpful
Good luck on the interview trail.

[ookla]

I agree that Santa Clara Valley is a very good program, and so is UCDavis. Although I am a little concerned that at Santa Clara Valley they are still working on the 80hour work restriction-by trying to get 1-2 more interns for next year, and being a county hospital, i don't know if they will definitely get it for next year. if not, i don't know how they will resolve the issue. right now they dont have a formal cap on admission. UCDavis is therefore my #1 choice if i want to be in northern cal.
anyone has any input on Scripps Mercy? I thought the program is also excellent, the drawback for me at least is that they have way too many transitionals.
can anyone comment on OliveView vs. Santa Clara Valley ?

[gas-x]

Help!

I need info on Loma Linda's medicine program. i'm not from cal, so i would appreciate any info.

thanks.

[pepsitwist]

Hi, I am a PGY1 at UCLA...wanted to just correct the comment about the medicine service taking care of a ton of liver transplant patients...not true- actually the general surgeons take care of these patients on the liver transplant service. We do take care of renal transplant patients occasionally, however, as well as heart transplant on the CCU. I feel as though taking care of these patients has really broadened my medical knowlege...true there is very little "bread and butter" at UCLA, but the complex patients challenge you and kind of make you feel as though you can handle just about anything...
Good luck to everyone with the match!