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any thoughts about the quality of this residency program as compared to others in ER?
Ecmc
- Thread starter Bandit
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East carolina
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Oh, I thought it was the Erie County Medical Center, as part of SUNY-Buffalo.
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Apollyon said:
ECU's hospital is referred to as Pitt County Memorial. The ECU program there in EM is outstanding from what I could surmise during my interview there and according to others I met on the interview trail!
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I rotated at ECU (Pitt County Medical Center) for a month last fall as a 4th year med student, so I'll share my thoughts on the place. The attendings and residents are very sharp and very nice, and seemed to go out of their way to make me feel comfortable. They were a very tight knit group which welcomed me openly. Residents were very friendly with each other and residents from other services. Teaching is great; weekly conferences are relaxed and low-pressure, and everyone participates. There is a sim man setup with opportunities to practice procedures on the conference days. Dr. Robey takes great pride in this and is always looking for ways to make it better. Faculty are very supportive and look to teach often. There are 2 staff toxicologists and tox is a big part of the learning that goes on there. Residents do a rotation in tox during 2nd year.
The ED is brand new last year, and is the nicest I have seen anywhere. 50 beds in 2 major sections, with computer terminals in all major care rooms and many of the minor care rooms. There's a lot of space to spread out there, and a big workroom with computer stations and tables on the "acute" side for consultants to spread out. It isn't as crowded or chaotic as a lot of EDs I've seen. Charting is totally computerized (typed) and all previous ER visits can be viewed and history and exam copied into your note if necessary. All old hospital records, procedures, and EKGs are also available instantly by computer. The deparment lists 40,000 visits, but they say it is now closer to 65,000 patients per year. Trauma service is busy. Usually the trauma team consists of a trauma attending, one surgical resident, and the rest are ED residents rotating on trauma (you do 4 months of trauma in your 3 years). Acuity is very high, since it is the only trauma center on that side of the state, and the closest one is in Raleigh, 90 minutes away. Residents work 18 12 hour shifts per month. The hospital is HUGE; better have rollerblades if you're on the code team there.
The catchment area for this hospital is very large. I was suprised at how sick the patient population is. Even on the non-acute side, I felt as though I didn't get as much of the BS as I've had in some of the bigger city hospitals.
The town is small, and there is not too much to do when compared with larger cities. ECU is there, of course, so there are some cultural events available (and sports), but pretty limited compared to DC or NY or Boston. A handful of good restaurants. I am told by some of the ECU students that there are a number of clubs there, and that nightlife is more than what is apparent (can't really speak to this part, as I didn't go clubbing). 1 hour to the OBX, 90 min to Raleigh. Housing is damn cheap and traffic is nothing compared to any large or medium sized city. Housing prices are increasing quickly, which may be a good indicator of the town's growth in general. I suspect it is where Charlotte was about 25-30 years ago.
Overall, great teaching, great faculty and residents, awesome facility, and a lot of really sick patients. I would have been proud to match at ECU.
'zilla
The ED is brand new last year, and is the nicest I have seen anywhere. 50 beds in 2 major sections, with computer terminals in all major care rooms and many of the minor care rooms. There's a lot of space to spread out there, and a big workroom with computer stations and tables on the "acute" side for consultants to spread out. It isn't as crowded or chaotic as a lot of EDs I've seen. Charting is totally computerized (typed) and all previous ER visits can be viewed and history and exam copied into your note if necessary. All old hospital records, procedures, and EKGs are also available instantly by computer. The deparment lists 40,000 visits, but they say it is now closer to 65,000 patients per year. Trauma service is busy. Usually the trauma team consists of a trauma attending, one surgical resident, and the rest are ED residents rotating on trauma (you do 4 months of trauma in your 3 years). Acuity is very high, since it is the only trauma center on that side of the state, and the closest one is in Raleigh, 90 minutes away. Residents work 18 12 hour shifts per month. The hospital is HUGE; better have rollerblades if you're on the code team there.
The catchment area for this hospital is very large. I was suprised at how sick the patient population is. Even on the non-acute side, I felt as though I didn't get as much of the BS as I've had in some of the bigger city hospitals.
The town is small, and there is not too much to do when compared with larger cities. ECU is there, of course, so there are some cultural events available (and sports), but pretty limited compared to DC or NY or Boston. A handful of good restaurants. I am told by some of the ECU students that there are a number of clubs there, and that nightlife is more than what is apparent (can't really speak to this part, as I didn't go clubbing). 1 hour to the OBX, 90 min to Raleigh. Housing is damn cheap and traffic is nothing compared to any large or medium sized city. Housing prices are increasing quickly, which may be a good indicator of the town's growth in general. I suspect it is where Charlotte was about 25-30 years ago.
Overall, great teaching, great faculty and residents, awesome facility, and a lot of really sick patients. I would have been proud to match at ECU.
'zilla
comparing greenville in any way to boston, ny? c'mon.... greenville is small compared to charlotte and raleigh, even greensboro... not to slight the program in anyway b/c i know nothing about it but greenville is one of the last places in NC i personally would want to live. there is nothing to do there!
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I too did a sub-i out there last summer. I would second what has been said so far by Doczilla.
As far Greenville, no its not anything like Boston or some large city. There are many great EM programs out there - a unique advantage of ECU in my opinion is that you get the experience of working in this HUGE (700+ bed) medical center without having all the hassles of living in a huge city. With the beach to the east, the mountains to the west, and a huge undergrad campus across town, it seemed like plenty to do for me. The cost of living is a lot less as well.
I think this is a good example of an aspect of different programs that is not "better" or "worse" but rather just different... you have to see as an applicant what fits you.
As far Greenville, no its not anything like Boston or some large city. There are many great EM programs out there - a unique advantage of ECU in my opinion is that you get the experience of working in this HUGE (700+ bed) medical center without having all the hassles of living in a huge city. With the beach to the east, the mountains to the west, and a huge undergrad campus across town, it seemed like plenty to do for me. The cost of living is a lot less as well.
I think this is a good example of an aspect of different programs that is not "better" or "worse" but rather just different... you have to see as an applicant what fits you.
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AMBinNC said:
I suspect there's lots to do in Greenville. It just isn't the same stuff as you'd do in NYC. If you're a big city kinda guy, you'll likely hate it, true. On the other hand, I'd hate life if I were in a big city. I like small towns. I like complaining about 'traffic jams' that involve a total of 15 cars.
Fortunately for me, I seem to be in the minority. Great, that means the small towns I love will stay small.
Take care,
Jeff
greenville is predominantly an undergrad kind of town... i've had friends who went to school there for various levels of education and all non-undergrads got away as much as possible. if you want to stay home and watch a lot of tv or whatever i guess it doesn't matter where you do it.
i'm a native of NC and have first hand knowledge of most of the south. just sharing my view, i've lived in charlotte, chapel hill, and winston-salem and my opinion of greenville is as compared to those places. only charlotte is a borderline big city - but i grew up in the 'burbs and charlotte only recently started to "grow up" as a city. i'm making my first move to "the city" for residency so i'm not an entrenched city girl by any stretch of the imagination.
can't say i love winston but at least it's a lot prettier and has more of an identity than greenville. also it's much more accessible to other areas. those of ya'll who think you would like greenville fine - but an outsider's view of a brief visit would be different than someone's who has been there a few times and is able to compare it to NC, Va, SC, etc.
as far as the hospital, its reputation in the state is far below that of the other teaching hospitals (UNC, duke, baptist/wake forest)... i worked at UNC hospital for 2 yrs before med school in an inpatient setting and knew many tertiary care folks who lived in pitt co's catchment who went to UNC b/c of bad experiences and/or lack of the care they needed at pitt.
i have no first, second, or really thirdhand knowledge of the EM residency program. no one i know applied or interviewed there. many of their other programs did not fill, i do know that.
i'm a native of NC and have first hand knowledge of most of the south. just sharing my view, i've lived in charlotte, chapel hill, and winston-salem and my opinion of greenville is as compared to those places. only charlotte is a borderline big city - but i grew up in the 'burbs and charlotte only recently started to "grow up" as a city. i'm making my first move to "the city" for residency so i'm not an entrenched city girl by any stretch of the imagination.
can't say i love winston but at least it's a lot prettier and has more of an identity than greenville. also it's much more accessible to other areas. those of ya'll who think you would like greenville fine - but an outsider's view of a brief visit would be different than someone's who has been there a few times and is able to compare it to NC, Va, SC, etc.
as far as the hospital, its reputation in the state is far below that of the other teaching hospitals (UNC, duke, baptist/wake forest)... i worked at UNC hospital for 2 yrs before med school in an inpatient setting and knew many tertiary care folks who lived in pitt co's catchment who went to UNC b/c of bad experiences and/or lack of the care they needed at pitt.
i have no first, second, or really thirdhand knowledge of the EM residency program. no one i know applied or interviewed there. many of their other programs did not fill, i do know that.
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Bandit said:
Haha suckers! I win!
The "ECMC Program" is the SUNY-Buffalo program that encompasses ECMC, the Buffalo General Hospital, Children's Hospital of Buffalo, and one rotation at the Millard Fillmore Hospital - Suburban. Some of these names may be different due to "window dressing" (such as "Kaleida Buffalo General", as the "Kaleida Health System" united BGH, the two Millard Fillmore Hospitals, and CHOB, and now CHOB is the "Women's and Children's Hospital", which I thought was a blatant ripoff on the "Brigham and Women's" theme - trying to make people think of the Brigham, although not associated at all).
I saw the program start (took first residents in 1994), and followed it somewhat as the time has gone on. There was one FMG in the first class, who graduated after 2 years. Since then, the second FMG was 2 years ago. The first DO was a guy that I worked with when we were EMS - he deferred med school to do a year as a Buffalo firefighter. He finished in 2002, and now the program is DO-friendly. The current EMS fellow is a DO.
I was less impressed with, generally, the residents as practitioners as time went on - their numbers were good (one guy got the Physio-Control fellowship), but the relations with us as EMS went downhill (one resident physically assaulted me - grabbed me from behind and spun me around (and I am 6ft 180lbs) and pushed me - because I didn't immoblize an elderly patient from a nursing home; he later went on to be the EMS fellow).
Why do I keep mentioning EMS? Because they have hung a large number of their hats on it. They have two Expeditions (or may have moved up to something even more lush), and, when they are on the EMS month, one of the fly cars goes to the resident. If a resident is motivated, they can go to any call they hear go out over the air - MVC's, industrial accidents, working fires, whatever - and the SMART car (Specialized Medical Assistance Response Team - that's really it) has bone saws, chest tubes, turnout gear, Class A hazmat gear, and all sorts of other stuff. Of course, no one (to my knowledge) has used a bone saw or put a chest tube in, in the field, and industrial accidents that you picture when you hear that are rare in Buffalo.
The program also has a strong telemedicine service, which works with 31 prisons ranging from the Pennsylvania border to around Syracuse - they have high-res cameras and monitors, and allow a surprisingly large number of complaints to be evaluated remotely (which saves the danger and expense of transporting the prisoner); telemedicine also is used for low-volume hospitals (like, 3 patients a day) that can now be staffed with a PA or a nurse, and that savings.
One other thing is ultrasound, with Dietrich Jehle - he wrote one of the first books on EM ultrasound. They do (or did) an ultrasound month, and the teaching is great.
On the flip side, the program is heavily invested with SUNY-Buffalo graduates as residents. I know one guy that grew up in the area, and was a sub-Olympic class diver (so he knows high stress and competition), who did EM elsewhere, and lasted one year - he thought it was dysfunctional. Apart from the core faculty (who are aging), there seems to be a pretty regular turnover in younger faculty, with the new ones being added being graduates from the program. This leads to the sentiment I've seen in Buffalo - undergrad in Buffalo, med school there, residency there, practice there - never having seen what the "other tribes on the other side of the mountain" do.
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Apollyon said:
Right, the above non constructive critiscisms must be something like; failing to match in EM and then having to scramble into a program which filled 0 slots.
They must be a group of DO friendly people who are afraid of tribes on the other side, huh?
Why don't you do all of us a favor and talk about what you actually know something about...oohh, where's your chief from?
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TraumaJunkie said:
Nice cut and paste job. What is "non-constructive"? Are you anti-DO? Right now, there are several DO residents, as is the fellow. I don't know what you think, but I think that's a good thing.
I did preface what I said as it being in the past.
Anyways, don't speak for "all of us" - you don't.
And, what did I not "actually know something about"?
Oh, and, it's "criticism".
Finally, what chief are you talking about? We (my DO colleague (who thinks you're an idiot) and I) certainly have no idea - and THAT is something I "actually know something about".