Ranking: USC vs Cedars-Sinai

[yalee]

Hi all. I'm having trouble deciding where to rank USC vs Cedars Sinai. Here are my thoughts so far:

USC: +very clinically oriented, +superb pathology, +/- county system, +/- large patient volume, +/- very busy program, -research opportunities/interest among residents appear limited, -surrounding area

Cedars: +brand new facility, -brand new program, +/- patient demographics unclear (possibly mostly private), +a lot of elective time (for research, or subspecialty electives), +/- home call throughout residency (in house only during ICU blocks), +strong reputation within community, +surrounding area

Any thoughts? What would you do??? Thanks!

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[MassiveAttack]

That is a tough one, for Cedars I think though that the interview day elucidated that you do get to see a good amount of diverse patients. What I liked about Cedars was the ICU education exposure and also the fact that they have P M and R as rotations. But I feel you, it does concern me that it is a new program and also the psychiatry program was cancelled due to lack of funding. I would do Cedars over USC

 

[typhoonegator]

That is a tough one, for Cedars I think though that the interview day elucidated that you do get to see a good amount of diverse patients. What I liked about Cedars was the ICU education exposure and also the fact that they have P M and R as rotations. But I feel you, it does concern me that it is a new program and also the psychiatry program was cancelled due to lack of funding. I would do Cedars over USC

The Cedars psych program seems to have been a disaster long before it "lost funding". A search on the psych forum will provide additional info.

 

[hereIcome]

I interviewed at both also. I was very impressed with Cedars, but I definitely think it would take some maturity to deal with the kinks of a new program. Also, though they do have great exposure, they are not an academic program and the opportunities for research may be more limited by that.

USC was very impressive also in that the faculty were very enthusiastic and the residents seemed very happy. I think the benefits of learning pathologies at a County hospital probably outweigh the reputation of it possibly being a busier program. One of the senior residents I spoke to said she did extremely well on her boards without extra studying because she had just seen and managed everything.

In the end, either place would be great to train at. But I went with USC over Cedars. Good luck with your choice!

 

[hereIcome]

Also, I am partial to the east side of Los Angeles. Many USC residents live in Pasadena, South Pasadena, Los Feliz, and Downtown. Those are all really nice parts of town. I think the west side is way too crowded.