University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical Center Residency Reviews

Before my review, I won't be reviewing Cook County or OSU since I rotated at Cook and want to see unbiased reviews (cuz I love it) and there were plenty of OSU reviews already. Prepare to enter the craziness known as C-booth!

Residents: There are 18 residents per class in the PGY 2-4 format, making it along with Cook County, the largest EM residency in the US. The residents are all extremely happy at LAC, at it was the first choice for all those I spoke with. It is a very self-selecting program, and only those that want to be there are. There only negatives according to them, is the peds experience and that they currently are compartmentalized because of their facilities. This will change, however! There is great camaraderie amongst them. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet many as there were less than 5 of them there at the social the night prior, and none of them made it to lunch.

Faculty: Dr. Swadron is awesome. He is extremely funny, and has a great philosophy that really helps in the self-selection process. You will learn by doing everything here and will also learn the art of efficiency. The residents love the faculty and had nothing but positive things to say. They are extremely supportive and the residents input is important.

Facilities: They suck...straight up. But that will not matter for those of us matching this year as they are on schedule to move to the new ED in Nov. of 2007. This new facility will have 112 beds and will include sections for peds, ob/gyn, obs, and trauma. There will be 22 new OR's also, making this a great place to experience trauma. The new hospital is completely ED focused, and there will actually be fewer beds available.

Curriculum: The curriculum is very EM focused, since everything is done in the ED. There are no trauma months, since it is a trauma heavy ED. There is only 1 month of MICU, since you manage very sick patients down in the ED. The EM residents dominate the hospital. They see everything and get first crack at everything. All procedures belong to them, and there are plenty to go around. As a PGY-3, you wear the hospital code pager, responding to all codes. The EM residents also handle all floor intubations, which is unheard of in my experience. There really isn't much need to be outside of the ED because of this. The biggest weakness is the peds experience. There are two months of peds ED and one month of PICU. LAC does recieve all the peds trauma, however. This will likely change, however, since the peds ED is currently in another hospital but will be integrated into the new ED. These residents are studs!

Patient Pop: This is a county population, with 50% being hispanic. The pathology is excellent and you will see thirld world illnesses. This is a huge strength! The volume is extremely high, and you learn efficiency.

Location: LA, California. There is so much to do. The down size of LA is the cost of living. You will be renting on a resident's salary. Many live by the beach, others choose to live closer to the hospital. It just depends on how much you like traffic. Regardless, this a great place to live and train.

Overall: There are many aspects about this program that I truly love. The amount of pathology and trauma you see is top of the line. The fact you do everything in the ED is also a huge strength. You will be a stud graduating from this program and will be extremely confident. The peds experience could be better, but it may improve with the move. The biggest downside, in my opinion, is that it is a PGY 2-4 for obvious reasons (I would love this program to switch over to a 1-4 format). I'm currently undecided about it and need to check out a few more places before I decide where it falls.

Here are some quick facts about programs from last year of interviewing. I tried to be non-biased as possible, but sometimes I threw in some subjective comments. Hope this helps.

FYI, some things may have changed at programs so be sure to ask.

Christiana - 3 years, 12 EM residents/year (+3 EM/IM and 2 EM/FM), 9 hr shifts with 1 hr overlap, 40 hr/wk as intern, 1 mo of night shifts with minimal night shifts on other ED months, >110k volume at main hospital with 72 beds, ~200k combined volume, 5 hrs lecture/week, daily morning conference, monthly animal lab, 1 month orientation, dedicated CT and radiology dept, OR in the ER, $200 mil expansion of Wilmington hospital by 2011, EM gets airway AND procedures in trauma, no anesthesia residents to intubate, no ortho/ENT/NS/optho residents either, fellowships in admin/EMS/US, 6 U/S machines with great U/S faculty, $49k as R1, 6 mo of ICU rotations over 1st two years, interns work >1/2 shifts at Wilmington, no floor months, no state sales tax, 30-45 min to Philly, 1 hr to Baltimore, 2 hours to DC/NY, 90 min to Atlantic City, moonlighting available

Hennepin - 3 years, 11 residents (+2 EM/IM)/yr, 9 hr shifts, >100k volume, very little floor months but surgery heavy, 2 mo neurosurgery as R2, believer in "graduated responsibility" (AKA delayed gratification) so that as R1 you don't have many duties but by R3 you are running the dept, "pitboss" as R3 with no note responsibility, free food, 4 stabilization rooms with U/S mounted on each bay, airways only as R3, 12 U/S machines total which are directly linked to PACS, U/S tech hired to teach residents, EM on ALL traumas and surgery as consult, 1 mo community experience, OB/gyn involves inpt and outpt care, EMR (Epic), sim lab integrated into curriculum, great EMS relationship, 1 wk hospital orientation and 2 wk EM orientation, hyperbaric chamber

Brown – 4 years, 12 residents/yr, >100k volume, brand new ED with cath lab, 2 CT scanners, 72 beds with 6 crit care beds, awesome sim lab 1 day/mo, no boarding in the ED (is that possible?), strong peds EM program, large amount of trauma since they are the only show in town from New Haven to Boston, strong U/S program with fellowship available, 4.5 mo electives, trauma surg without scut work, conferences supposed to have more small group discussion this upcoming year, 20-22 shifts/mo, 9 hr shifts with 1 hr overlap, great international EM, 75 full-time facult, $50k salary as intern

Yale – 4 years, 12 residents/yr, 1 full month orientation, stong U/S program, 12 hour shifts, 18-20/mo as intern, 6 mo crticial care over residency, tox month at NYU Bellvue, 2 hours sim lab per month, 6 mo elective time, $51k as intern

USC – 4 years, 17 residents/yr, 12 hour shifts, 20? shift/mo, top-notch U/S program with over 20 machines, 12 resus bays, tons of procedures, EM has ALL hospital codes, work in the underground jail ED, excellent teaching with tons of videos uploaded every month, attendings doen’t write notes so that have more time to teach, observation unit run by attendings and NPs, new hospital with good facilities, no EMR using all paper notes but plans to upgrade

Highland – 4 years, 10 residents/yr, one month EM orientation, awesome U/S training with 2 U/S fellows, county program, great salary, uses EMR, ski cabin in Tahoe that residents share, one month off per year, 3 informal teaching session in the ED per day, free food all the time, no OBS unit so you must admit all low risk chest pain, rotate though many hospitals (Kaiser, UCSF, Children’s, SFGH), ortho rotation includes time in OR, great tox month at SFGH, weaker IM program can be frustrating

Carolinas - 3 years, 14 residents/yr, >100k volume, very nice hospital, only 1 hospital to rotate through, labs results broadcast to free PDA, didactics daily with free lunch and protected on off-service rotations, fellowships in tox/EMS/US/peds/research, large amount of off-service rotations but I was reassured that they are important, $45k/yr as intern, no EMR but orders by computer coming soon, no orientation month, 4.5 resus bays, no direct medical school affiliation, residents go to SAEM 2nd year and ACEP 3rd year

UMass - 3 years, 12 residents/yr, no medicine floor months but lots of ICU, 10 hr shifts, 20-22 shifts/mo, 5 u/s trained attendings and 8 toxicologists, volume 80-90K and growing, 200+ million dollar ED, new CT scanner, located in worcester (pronounced wooster), helicopter medicine - one month in PGY1 with a 2 or 3 running the show (the bird never flies without a resident) but can be grounded often in winter, every U/S is recorded and Q/A'd by U/S doc, likely elimination of PGY3 elective to Hawaii with free housing/car, 45-60 min from boston, plenty of trauma with all procedures/airway being done by EM residents, residents can moonlight in the ICU starting 2nd yr, 5 hours weekly of didactics, computer tracking system with labs/rads results but orders/vitals/nursing notes/MD notes are all paper and then scanned into computer that you can pull up later if needed.

Vanderbilt – 3 years, 12 residents/yr (increased by 1 this year), no floor months, 1 hr lecture each morning by PD or chair of EM, 1 month orientation with reduced ED shifts and great teaching, awesome EMR, >100,000 combined volume of main hospital and children’s, teaching by U/S fellowship trained EM physician, >3k level 1 traumas/yr, video review for each trauma, 2 BS toxicologists, ED radiology 24 hrs/day, emergency cardiologist in ED, 6 wks community ED, moonlighting allowed, 2 CT scanner, 4 active trauma bays, 10 hr shifts as R1, great sim lab with 1 day/mo, Keeping Up! (EBM review website) run by attendings, $49k as R1, fellowships for EMS/international health/peds, no anesthesia residents/attg necessary for PSA, tons of airway devices, evals p every shift/month/6mo, great EMS relationship

[deleted]

I think there have been some general changes in the program since the older reviews were written. I will highlight some of the new strengths and weakness that I observed while interviewing there.

ED: beautiful, new, huge, 1.5 ultrasounds per resident working in the ED, a dedicated Peds ED (residents commented that it is not the busiest of peds EDs but you still get shifts integrated throughout the month), huge resuscitation bays and you start running your own side as a PGY2 in the Jail ED(prison patients)

Faculty: Although not too many fellowship trained docs, there is one boarded in tox, a few in ultrasound, and a bunch in Peds, the majority are USC/LAC inbred for life. It speaks to how much the attendings love the culture and energy of working at "big county" so they stick around. Since they all handle every situation in the ED, fellowships seem almost redundant at a place like this. The real pride is the teaching ability of the faculty. Although casual they are all great presenters and excel at poignantly teaching EM. There is a reason all their grand rounds are archived and available for CME credit -> they're that good.

Residents: I did speak to a few ditzy LA girls but the majority are high energy work hard play hard types. Lots of beach lovers because it's LA and lots of outdoor adventurers. Fun and happy with no signs of being abused and burnt out

Cons: 2 big ones from my perspective:

1st: very little time or ability to do outside rotations because county funding really needs you to stay at the hospital for staffing reasons. You can do international electives but it is not super easy to set up and get money for. Other programs in LA like UCLA dwarf USC's international opportunities

2nd: although the faculty at USC used to run the LA county poison center, since it was shut down with budget cuts there is no tox rotation in the curriculum. No away tox, no dedicated tox week or month an only one tox faculty although he is boarded in chemistry/tox and EM/tox so very smart. If you think tox is your thing there are probably better places to go and explore field (NYC or SanFran)

Overall: one of the coolest and most action packed county programs, with world class teachers but a few limitations that stem mostly from funding and being in LA

for a look into the bad-assness at LAC watch this documentary http://vimeo.com/channels/usc

quicknss said:

I think there have been some general changes in the program since the older reviews were written. I will highlight some of the new strengths and weakness that I observed while interviewing there.
...Overall: one of the coolest and most action packed county programs, with world class teachers but a few limitations that stem mostly from funding and being in LA

Click to expand...

I agree with much of your post. Tox isn't a big deal to me so it isn't really a negative for me. I thought that the biggest negative was the pod system of their new ED. A few of the residents that I met complained that they never knew what was going on outside of their 15-bed pod when they working, which meant fewer learning opportunities from interesting patients and less camaraderie. In touring the ED I could understand what they were talking about. Not a deal breaker by any means as the program is badass with fantastic education, faculty, residents, resources, location, pathology, etc. Interested if anyone has anything to add regarding this point.

Previous years' ROL threads were a great help to me when I decided where to interview, so here's my part this year.

My list would also be much different were it not for 1) a spouse in the picture and 2) my interest in international EM, so take it with a grain of salt and to echo SuziQ, feel free to PM me with questions regarding any of the programs I interviewed at. Honestly, I'd be thrilled to land anywhere on my list.

1. Vandy Pros: INCREDIBLE faculty, residents, unparalleled teaching, the PD and chair are a dynamic duo that are very involved in resident education. Busy, busy university ED where you see ALL the trauma in a large catchment area, plus all the weird tertiary stuff, and your bread and butter. Great international opportunities with the Guyana residency, New Zealand, ect. Off service rotations are great, peds shifts are mixed into your regular ED months, residents are happy, 10 hr shifts with 1 hr built-in overlap, COL is incredibly low, Nashville has a great live music scene. Cons: Less diversity (in both staff and patient population), you're in a smaller southern city (+/-). Caveat: I rotated here, so I'm bias in that I'd already spent a month getting to know and love the people. But honestly, couldn't find a better program on the interview trail.

2. Brown Pros: this was the program that snuck up on me. I even considered canceling the interview. Like Vandy, a university program with a large single hospital program with a huge catchment area, very busy ED. Happy residents, warm faculty, great peds experience, strong support for international work and opportunities (currently setting up a training program in Nicaragua), 9 hrs shifts all 4 years, Providence has surprisingly low COL for the northeast and is a great little town with amazing food and recreational opportunities. Cons: It's in Rhode Island, 4 yrs > 3yrs.

3. New Mexico Pros: another single-hospital system with a huge catchment area (which I like for the reasons above), incredibly nice PD, down to earth faculty, happy happy residents, strong commitment to underserved care with a large indigent community, great international/wilderness opportunities, one of the best programs for critical care exposure, great reputation, large Spanish-speaking population, only 4 months of call all 3 yrs of residency, 9 hr shifts with 1 hr built-in overlap, you have skiing and hiking less than an hour away. Cons: the city's economy somewhat depressed, less job opportunities for spouse (this program would be my #1 or #2 if not for this), less ethnically diverse.

4. Highland Pros: well-respected program, hard-core county training, in a beautiful part of the country. Great service commitment, residents are happy, strong pedi exposure at CHO, tox at SFGH, 8 hr shifts. Cons: the faculty are quirky (+/-) and somewhat inbred, very weird interviews, draw your own labs as PGY1, ED itself felt a little small, not a Level 1, the cafeteria food (yes, that's picky).

5. OHSU Pros: old, well-respected program with happy residents in a beautiful part of the country, diverse hospital exposure (university, VA, community), faculty very supportive of residents, 1:1 with attending as PGY2.10 hr shifts PGY1, 8 hr shifts PGY 2-3. Cons: low-volume primary ED, only 1 mo elective time, have to drive a lot.

6. Stanford Pros: Dynamic faculty, content residents, 3 hospital system with exposure to university (Stanford), community (Kaiser) and county (Valley), an AMAZING amount of resources for anything you could possibly be interested in, great fellowships, great international and wilderness opportunities, beautiful part of the country to live,time for research/scholarly project built into rotation schedule. Cons: COL (highest of anywhere I interviewed-this was huge for me), low-volume at primary ED (Stanford) which is where you spend 1/3-1/2 of your time, intern year spent with a lot of off-service rotations (including medicine and surgery wards and NICU time), 12 hr shifts, "country club" feel (the catered lunch comes to mind).

7. Carolinas Pros: incredible community program with great training, I loved the PD and faculty I met, residents are very tight and social, 1 hr conferences daily instead of a 5 hr block, single-hospital system, great U/S experience, starting an international fellowship, great COL. Cons: I thought Vandy was a better fit for me when it comes to Southern programs, their int'l focus is in Tanzania (my interest is Latin America), medicine and peds wards months, Charlotte, a very "proud" program.

8. USC Pros: Incredible faculty and residents who obviously enjoy working at LAC, probably the most amazing county training out there (certainly busiest ED in the country). Great diversity in both staff and patients, huge volume ED that probably sees some of the craziest trauma and pathology, residents run their own "pods" and jail ED, commitment to indigent care, in SoCal. Cons: 12 hr shifts all 4 years, maybe a little too autonomous for my taste, can only do international rotations on your vacation time, LA is not my favorite city.

9. BWH Pros: amazing resources for international EM, great U/S program, friendly, well-connected faculty, great opportunities for research and an interesting mix of pathology, shifts are a mix of 8,9, and 12 hrs. Cons: residents were the geekiest bunch of the trail (but seemed very happy!), greater focus on research, Mass Gen's ED felt very cramped, COL in Boston, 4>3 yrs.

10. Emory Pros: great service commitment, huge county program that is also academic, diverse residents and patients, busy ED. Cons: the number of patients I saw in hallway beds!, not as much international support, very county feeling, strange interview.

11. Harbor UCLA Pros: amazing country program in LA, great training, well-respected, good autonomy. Cons: not much international support, LA.

12. Baylor Pros: amazing county hospital with incredible pathology and young, enthusiastic faculty. Shifts 8's on weekdays, 12's on weekends. Cons: too new of a residency program.

13. Duke Pros: Dynamic PD, good mix of faculty, happy residents, time for scholarly track, COL. Cons: not very diverse, Durham, still young residency program, hard PGY1 year with lots of off service rotations, not as many intl opportunities.

Would be thrilled at any of my top 5, especially top 3. Kind of wondering if I should have ranked Vanderbilt higher in retrospect. I was extremely impressed by that place (they pretty much have it all!) but just didn't feel like I could legitimately pick Nashville over LA or Boston...oh well, too late now! And I really do love LA, not so sure about the south. Why can't Vanderbilt be in a bigger city?!? Anyway, we will see what happens on Match Day.

1- LAC/USC: +top-notch clinical experience, +tons of procedures, +very hands-on, +autonomy, +work in jail ED, +residents a lot of fun, +EM is top program in hospital, +brand new enormous ED, +/-tons of Spanish speaking patients, +intern year months alternate ED and offservice, -pods isolated (i.e. in one shift, only work in resuscitation area), +ED residents get all ED procedures except thoracotomies, -all 12 hour shifts all 4 years, -attendings are reportedly hit or miss in terms of availability, +love LA (and family in area), -not that many opportunities for research

2- BWH/MGH: +tons of amazing, cutting-edge research (affiliation w/ MIT, so tons of biomedical technology), +supportive environment, +big names in EM, +/-two pretty diverse clinical sites (trauma, more county-style at MGH and lots of cancer/gyn/superspecialized stuff at BWH), +great didactics, +strong reputation, +other top residency programs at the hospitals, -floor months, -Boston is a little oversaturated in terms of hospitals so not your "typical" EM experience, +Boston, -tons of PAs in the EDs, -not nearly as much trauma as my #1 and #3, +spouse prefers Boston

3- Vanderbilt: -NOT a county program but +they get all the trauma in Nashville (lots of penetrating), +outstanding program leadership, +incredible didactics, +residents exceptionally happy, +great reputation, +really really sick patients in busy ED, +no floor months and lots of ICU experience, +/- nearly all at one site (exception- community EM months), +get tons of procedures, +trauma time is ICU only, +/- Nashville (seems like very nice city, good COL and weather, but not as exciting as LA or Boston), +strong and integrated peds EM experience, strong EMS

4- UCLA/Harbor: +getting a nice new ED in 2013ish, +residents live by the beach, +plenty of autonomy but attendings are available and involved, +county experience but big name, +great reputation, +very appreciative patients, -transitioning from 3 to 4 years, +trauma, +LA (lived there before- love it), +changing/improving didactics, -not as intense a clinical experience as USC.

5- Cincinnati: +Love the flight program, +/-pretty intense residency, +great reputation, +faculty are great, +1st/4th year mentorship, -not ideal place to live, +/- nearly all at one site (exception- community EM months), -might kind of suck to get pulled out of your shifts to fly

6- Maryland: +Shock Trauma is incredible (but -separate trauma months), great program leadership, residents happy and friendly, +no floor months, -Baltimore, -Hopkins interaction seems a little odd

7- Indiana: +great county and academic experience, +Methodist and Wishard very close together, +friendly residents, +well-known program, +huge patient volumes at the two hospitals combined, -Indianapolis is kind of blah, -ready to get out of Midwest, -liked Cinci a bit better when comparing Midwestern programs

8- Maricopa: +location (family in area), +autonomy, +residents very nice, +program leadership impressive, -facilities, - offservice rotations, -other residencies in the hospital

9- Carolinas: +great atmosphere, +great reputation, -floor months (medicine and peds, I think), -not as much trauma and medically sick patients as my top choices, -honestly thought Vanderbilt was a stronger program when comparing Southern programs

10- Bellevue: +autonomy, +great reputation, +lots of ICU time, -peds experience, -trauma experience, -cost of living (decided NYC is not for me)


Plus a few others...

..

Hi, since it's been a while since the last major update/review, can someone familiar with the program (preferably a current resident or recent grad) comment on the following?

• Are shifts still 12 hours all 4 years? What is the average number per month for each PGY year. Is there enough time to pursue academic/professional/extracurricular interests?
• Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, is trauma only seen during concentrated blocks of training or throughout the entire residency experience in the ED?
• Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?
• Is there frequent commuting between off-site locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)?
• Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?
• How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).
• Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?

Thanks so much for your help!

rocketfrog03 said:

Hi, since it's been a while since the last major update/review, can someone familiar with the program (preferably a current resident or recent grad) comment on the following?

• Are shifts still 12 hours all 4 years? What is the average number per month for each PGY year. Is there enough time to pursue academic/professional/extracurricular interests?
• Are shifts stratified by acuity (e.g., “trauma” shift or “resuscitative” shift), or is the entire spectrum of pathology seen on each shift? In other words, is trauma only seen during concentrated blocks of training or throughout the entire residency experience in the ED?
• Which team runs the trauma? Is it an alternating schedule with the surgery residents? Who does the procedures (intubations, chest tubes, resuscitative thoracotomies, etc), is it shared with anesthesia/surgery residents based on odd/even days or MRN numbers? Are there any emergency procedures that EM residents are not allowed to do (RSI, thoracotomies)?
• Is there frequent commuting between off-site locations (outside of the dedicated training blocks)?
• Is there an EMR? Is it Epic quality or a horrendous excuse for a computer program? Is there still paper charting?
• How is the scut work for EM and non-EM months (e.g., transporting own pts to CT, obtaining vitals).
• Is the environment family friendly? What percentage of the residents are married, have children?

Thanks so much for your help!

Click to expand...

• 12h shifts all 4yrs. I believe interns gets 17-18 shifts/month. PGY4s have more elective time.
• There are 6 zones: (1)resuscitation (2)medical emergencies (3)optho/ENT/gyne/MSK emergencies (4)fast track (5)peds (6)jail
• EM ran all the traumas. The only procedure not done by EM residents is left-side thoracotomy.
• No frequent commuting between training sites.
• They just started using Cerner.
• Reasonable scut work.
• Many of the residents are married and have kids. They look happy.

Little drop of rain said:

• 12h shifts all 4yrs. I believe interns gets 17-18 shifts/month. PGY4s have more elective time.
• There are 6 zones: (1)resuscitation (2)medical emergencies (3)optho/ENT/gyne/MSK emergencies (4)fast track (5)peds (6)jail
• EM ran all the traumas. The only procedure not done by EM residents is left-side thoracotomy.
• No frequent commuting between training sites.
• They just started using Cerner.
• Reasonable scut work.
• Many of the residents are married and have kids. They look happy.

Click to expand...

This is mostly right, but just wanted to clarify a few things.
1. Yes, most shifts are 12 hours throughout the four years, but there has been a concerted effort over the last year to address this and cut down on them. Some of the limitations are in the simple fact that with the staffing needs of a huge ER, it's just not possible to move away from mostly 12 hour shifts, even when we have 68 residents in the program. But many changes have been made to cut shifts during the 2nd year which has been identified as a particularly difficult and hour-heavy year to 10 hour shifts where possible. Also, many of the peds shifts are 8 hour shifts. During the 4th year, the number of shifts drops dramatically to 13-4 with many of those being peds shifts, a lot of elective time, and just a few night blocks.
2. Nothing to add here except that the "fast track area," also called East, is attending only run and is there to siphon off some of the less educationally rewarding cases.
3. We do run all the traumas and all procedures are ours, everyday 24 hours a day except left-side thoracotomy. With that being said, I personally did two left-sided thoracotomies (in addition to a handful of right sided thoracotomies throughout my time here) because surgery couldn't make it down fast enough or because we got multiple traumatic arrests at the same time. Those numbers were middle of the pack for my class. One of my badass classmates last year did a left sided thoracotomy on a 3 year old traumatic arrest (trauma didn't make it down fast enough) and saved the kid's life...walked out of the hospital a few weeks later neurologically intact. You will get a lot of procedures in this program.
4. Almost all of your rotations throughout the four years are at LAC+USC, with the exception of OB/GYN for 3 weeks at a community hospital nearby, community EM/peds EM/PICU (3 months total) at a community hospital that is pretty far from our primary training center (but these are valuable learning experiences for us and we mostly don't mind the commute).
5. I agree with TimesNewRoman...we just switched to Cerner from Wellsoft 6 months ago. To say that it has been a challenge is an understatement. I have nothing more to add to that.
6. To say that we have "reasonable" scut work is actually a little unfair. To clarify, we have NO scut work. You will NEVER have to draw your own labs, get your own EKG, wheel your patients to xray/CT (although I would do this in the fast track area because it's literally right across the hall and it was faster for me to just walk the patient over myself), etc. For a county place, it's remarkable how almost nonexistent this is. We are very lucky to have some awesome nurses and techs.
7. By my rough count, about half the residents are married. About a handful have kids.

Hi! Question for a current resident - what do most residents go on to do for the electives and do they have to be completed at LAC-USC or can they be completed at other institutions/other cities?

Hey everyone! First post here. I am strongly considering ranking this program first. However, it is coming at the cost of potentially having to be in a long distance relationship for 1 (or more) years. I am trying to figure out the actual logistics of how feasible a LDR would be. I have a few questions that I would really appreciate any insights into:

1) Is it possible to have 2 consecutive days off during a 2 week period on off service rotations? Is it possible on EM months?
2) Are the 12 hour shifts true 12 hour shifts? Or do most residents end up staying past shift for 2-3 hours?
3) Are any current residents in long distance relationships? How have they made it work?

Thanks for any help!

EMTA457 said:

Hey everyone! First post here. I am strongly considering ranking this program first. However, it is coming at the cost of potentially having to be in a long distance relationship for 1 (or more) years. I am trying to figure out the actual logistics of how feasible a LDR would be. I have a few questions that I would really appreciate any insights into:

1) Is it possible to have 2 consecutive days off during a 2 week period on off service rotations? Is it possible on EM months?
2) Are the 12 hour shifts true 12 hour shifts? Or do most residents end up staying past shift for 2-3 hours?
3) Are any current residents in long distance relationships? How have they made it work?

Thanks for any help!

Click to expand...

1) Is it possible to have 2 consecutive days off during a 2 week period on off service rotations? Is it possible on EM months?
-ICU months: unlikely
-Ward month: unlikely
-Other off-service rotations: absolutely
-EM blocks: you can trade your shifts easily (days much easier than nights)

2) Are the 12 hour shifts true 12 hour shifts? Or do most residents end up staying past shift for 2-3 hours?
-Yes, but its highly dependent on how efficient you are at charting.
-Some days I leave right after signout and some days I stay about 1 hr after to chart
-Never staying 2-3 hrs, thats outrageous
-Not all shifts are 12 hrs now but the majority are

3) Are any current residents in long distance relationships? How have they made it work?
-A couple have done the long distance and it worked out

Recently interviewed here, here's what I thought/found:

LA General + USC: One of the few programs in the country that truly have full autonomy. All ortho reductions, all trauma procedures/airways, every ED procedure and ED patient is YOURS. Dedicated ophtho rooms for ocular US and slit lamp exams. High volume, very high acuity. “Code bag” resident runs their respective part of ED and also responds to all codes (except ICU) in the hospital (airway, run the code, etc.). They have some EM-CCM faculty and are matching residents into CCM. Resident-run program = you will get out of it whatever you want to get out of it, everything is available to you. Underserved population and active social EM division. It is a 4-year program with an average amount of elective time, there is a shift reduction but I couldn’t tell you how much, night shifts and day shifts are blocked in 2-week increments. the ultrasound division is enthusiastic but the machines are kinda older compared to other programs. Working on getting TEE privileges in ED. can’t moonlight until PGY4. Work a LOT which I don’t mind, but that’s the mantra here, learn by experience; however this means less time to pursue extracurriculars/professional development