I’m a frequent visitor of SDN and have been for years, but I prefer not to out myself, hence the new nametag.
So, application time is coming up at the end of the summer, and given that I'm done training, I wanted to put a plug in for my home program.
Mayo Rochester doesn't get a lot of love in the "where's the best place to train" lists that come up every August, but it definitely deserves a spot in the top 10 (and in my opinion top 5) programs in the country. We always read the phrase "second to none" when folks post about their training programs, so I will challenge them to post their case numbers so that we can compare apples with apples.
The good:
Case variety: lots of sick patients, you will be comfortable anesthetizing sick, and very sick people. You will also get to see stuff that's rarer. Everyone of in my class has done at least one, usually more than 3 pheos and paragangliomas. Mayo sometimes has a reputation as a zebra mill, but most of the people we take care of are just folks from minnesota, iowa, wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Lots of bread and butter stuff as well.
Regional: Mayo has a very strong regional anesthesia program. By the time I graduated I had nearly 300 peripheral nerve blocks, several hundred epidurals, at least 75 thoracic epidurals, and hundreds of spinals. There are people in my class with over 500 peripheral blocks. These are personally performed, not just " i watched and counted it". You will be very comfortable with ultrasound guided upper and lower extremity blocks, lumbar plexus blocks, nerve stim, catheters, single shot, and land mark techniques. ISB, supraclav, infraclav, axillary, sciatic, fem, pop, ankle are the mainstays of our block program.
Cardiac: We have nearly 3000 cardiac cases a year here,. By the end of residency most of us had well over a hundred pump cases, lots of complex vascular, and thoracic cases. We do a lot of devices (RVAD, TAH, LVAD, ECMO,) here as well, so you will see sick folks as well as routine CABG and valve patients. Great TEE training as well.
Peds: Optional rotation at Nemours children hospital in Jacksonville Fl which is a great way to see different way of practicing. All told, I had about 230 peds cases. Peds isn't a particular are of interest, so I only did 3 months. You are certainly able to get your numbers in Rochester, but going to Jacksonville is a nice way to escape winter in Minnesota.
The PD: Dr. Long is amazing, he’s responsive, he’s down to earth, and he is a normal guy who supports the residents and helps to change things that need changing.
The Bad:
Rochester in the winter is cold. Winter gets started in early November, and lasts through April.
Rochester isn't going to be a bustling metropolis like SF, chicago, New York, Philly, Miami, Dallas, Portland, Seattle. It's about 100K people in southeastern minnesota. The nightlife is better than it used to be, but it's limited. It's also not the easiest place in the world to get a direct flight.
The neutral:
You will be exposed to a supervisory model of practicing, when you’re a CA-3, you’ll be running the board, usually between 2 and 6 rooms running at once. It’s very rare to sit a case yourself while on CA-3 call. You devise the induction plan, monitors, put in lines, and help out with the critical portions of the case, and as the year progresses, most of the staff let you do your thing. You supervise CRNA’s and junior residents. Some here will decry this as awful, that you should be sitting every 3am chole yourself because an academic closure is a time to learn. There are definitely pros and cons to supervising as a resident.
So, if you’re willing to brave the winter, check it out.
So, application time is coming up at the end of the summer, and given that I'm done training, I wanted to put a plug in for my home program.
Mayo Rochester doesn't get a lot of love in the "where's the best place to train" lists that come up every August, but it definitely deserves a spot in the top 10 (and in my opinion top 5) programs in the country. We always read the phrase "second to none" when folks post about their training programs, so I will challenge them to post their case numbers so that we can compare apples with apples.
The good:
Case variety: lots of sick patients, you will be comfortable anesthetizing sick, and very sick people. You will also get to see stuff that's rarer. Everyone of in my class has done at least one, usually more than 3 pheos and paragangliomas. Mayo sometimes has a reputation as a zebra mill, but most of the people we take care of are just folks from minnesota, iowa, wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Lots of bread and butter stuff as well.
Regional: Mayo has a very strong regional anesthesia program. By the time I graduated I had nearly 300 peripheral nerve blocks, several hundred epidurals, at least 75 thoracic epidurals, and hundreds of spinals. There are people in my class with over 500 peripheral blocks. These are personally performed, not just " i watched and counted it". You will be very comfortable with ultrasound guided upper and lower extremity blocks, lumbar plexus blocks, nerve stim, catheters, single shot, and land mark techniques. ISB, supraclav, infraclav, axillary, sciatic, fem, pop, ankle are the mainstays of our block program.
Cardiac: We have nearly 3000 cardiac cases a year here,. By the end of residency most of us had well over a hundred pump cases, lots of complex vascular, and thoracic cases. We do a lot of devices (RVAD, TAH, LVAD, ECMO,) here as well, so you will see sick folks as well as routine CABG and valve patients. Great TEE training as well.
Peds: Optional rotation at Nemours children hospital in Jacksonville Fl which is a great way to see different way of practicing. All told, I had about 230 peds cases. Peds isn't a particular are of interest, so I only did 3 months. You are certainly able to get your numbers in Rochester, but going to Jacksonville is a nice way to escape winter in Minnesota.
The PD: Dr. Long is amazing, he’s responsive, he’s down to earth, and he is a normal guy who supports the residents and helps to change things that need changing.
The Bad:
Rochester in the winter is cold. Winter gets started in early November, and lasts through April.
Rochester isn't going to be a bustling metropolis like SF, chicago, New York, Philly, Miami, Dallas, Portland, Seattle. It's about 100K people in southeastern minnesota. The nightlife is better than it used to be, but it's limited. It's also not the easiest place in the world to get a direct flight.
The neutral:
You will be exposed to a supervisory model of practicing, when you’re a CA-3, you’ll be running the board, usually between 2 and 6 rooms running at once. It’s very rare to sit a case yourself while on CA-3 call. You devise the induction plan, monitors, put in lines, and help out with the critical portions of the case, and as the year progresses, most of the staff let you do your thing. You supervise CRNA’s and junior residents. Some here will decry this as awful, that you should be sitting every 3am chole yourself because an academic closure is a time to learn. There are definitely pros and cons to supervising as a resident.
So, if you’re willing to brave the winter, check it out.
