Agony of commute for UCSF and Stanford couples match

[Radiologyreviews2015]

My partner is matching into a specialty that needs us to be within 20 min of the hospital due to frequent home call. Please advise on how much lower you might rank the combination of UCSF and Stanford versus UCSF-UCSF or Stanford-Stanford assuming the individual program quality was similar. For instance, how much pain would it be to commute by bike/Caltrain from Palo Alto / Menlo Park / Redwood City areas to SF every day, and would it bump it down a rank or two or more?

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[physicsnerd42]

I'm a Stanford resident and know some co-residents who live in SF, so it's doable. I actually knew a resident here who lived in Oakland, but that commute was crazy. If you're a resident, the times you'll be commuting (at least in the morning) shouldn't have much traffic. That being said, the Caltrain doesn't start terribly early so you'll likely have to drive. If you're lucky enough to be in a specialty where you start work late enough to use the Caltrain, you can take advantage of the free Caltrain pass you get from Stanford. You should also consider living somewhere in between (Redwood city and north, and those cities are cheaper to live in anyway). Obviously it's ideal to be in the same city but it's doable with one person at UCSF and one at Stanford.

 

[RangerBob]

I grew up in the Bay Area and I still get shudders from my commutes living there. I've lived in the East Bay, South Bay, and on the Peninsula, and commuted to jobs in all of them.

I used to work at UCSF Parnassus and my commute (door to office) was generally 30 minutes from the Daly City area. That included a a fast-paced 10-minute walk as I didn't get a parking space and had to find parking in a residential area, so having a parking space would certainly help help.

I think I could've gotten to my office within 20 minutes if there was no commute to deal with (which your SO wouldn't have to deal with in the middle of the night...) and they gave me parking.

Remember: 20 minutes to the hospital doesn't mean a 20 minute drive--it means they want you there and ready within 20 minutes. Most people take at least a few minutes to get going and at least a few minutes even with close parking, so your SO may need something closer to a 10 minute drive unless there's some flexibility with the "20 minutes."

If you're SO is at UCSF, then your Stanford commute is likely to be much worse since it'd be a much bigger distance. I agree with the above poster traffic won't be as big an issue if you're coming in really early and leaving really late, but you're possibly talking about a 45-60 minute commute. However--you'd likely be taking 280 which is a really beautiful and relaxing drive. And like at UCSF, don't forget the time it takes to get from the parking lot to your car, as Stanford is also a huge medical center and it's very unlikely you'd be parking that close to where you need to be (unless you're in clinic).

Don't forget there are other sites you may rotate through--Palto Alto VA (easy parking unless they're still doing construction), Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (even further away), etc. The same goes for UCSF (SF Gen, SF VA, UCSF Mission Bay, etc).

If your SO matches to Stanford then those multiple sites are a big issue--basically you have to live in/near Mountain View to be within 20 minutes of Stanford/VA/SCVMC. I did an away rotation and rotated through all three sites and rented a room in Mountain View--it was generally 30 minutes door-to-door during normal commute hours. Mountain View to UCSF would be a huge commute.

Ultimately you two need to think about how much time you mind spending in commute. Personally I'm very happy with my 15 minute commute as it gives me a lot more time with my wife. I'm a PM&R resident, so my hours also aren't too bad. I can't imagine trying being in a busier specialty and trying to do a very long commute and still try to fit in studying, time with my SO, and sleep all in. If you're in a lighter specialty then perhaps it could work, but honestly I'd rather not spend 1.5-2+ hrs sitting in my car each day.

I never used Caltrain so I don't know much about it, but I suppose if it was running during the times you needed it then that would make life much easier as you have a good amount of study time there.