Snacker said:
Just wanted to get people's thoughts regarding Arizona vs. New Mexico.
My Opinions:
Location: neither great
Reputation: even
US: edge Arizona
Faculty: edge New Mexico
Facilities: edge New Mexico (new ED done one year from now)
Residents: loved both
Trauma: edge New Mexico
Schedule: Edge new Mexico (PGY-3, work 15 shifts/month)
Off Service: edge Arizona
I interviewed at many places where it is competitive to get an interview (Maricopa, UCLA Harbor, UC Davis, Hennepin, Indiana, Pittsburgh, NM, AZ, OHSU etc) and ended up ranking Arizona # 1 and UNM # 3. I would do the same again. Using your list of important attributes I will tell you why.
Location: Tucson is better than Albuquerque because it is easier to get into the mountains because Tucson is surrounded by them. The weather is generally nicer. It is much closer to large cities such as Phoenix, LA, or San Diego and not nearly as isolated as Albuquerque. Monsoon season is a thing to behold. The down side to Tucson is that due to housing market increases it is probably cheaper to buy in Albuquerque than in Tucson. As far as the location thing goes, my wife summed it up best when she said, "I'd prefer not to live in Albuquerque."
Reputation: Probably even. Reputation is always hard to gauge. Tucson has been around a bit longer I believe and so has more grads out there. Very helpful in getting competitive jobs in the West.
US: Edge definitely Arizona. You will learn ultrasound here, whether you want to or not.
Faculty: I can't believe you gave the edge to UNM. Peter Rosen himself gave me a free copy of the new rosen's last month. Harvey Meislin was in the first class of the second oldest program in the country. Sam Keim has been the head honcho of the council of residency directors. We have three RDMS certified faculty. John Sakles teaches national airway management courses. Frank Walter teaches international toxicology courses. We also have lots of new young, fresh blood. Don't get me wrong, I liked the guys at New Mexico too, but I don't think the two programs are anywhere near even in this regard.
Facilities: As of 3 years ago, AZ was 3 times better than UNM. UNM didn't even have electronic x-ray capability. Things may have changed. Both facilities have broken ground on a new ED, but UNM's will probably be finished first. The rest of UNM hospital is still a county hospital though.
Residents: Also loved both.
Trauma: Not sure what you're looking for. Personally, I can't imagine getting more trauma training than I've gotten at Arizona. To get anything more I'd have to take away from learning about something else. I think 4000 traumas a year is sufficient. Not sure how many UNM gets, but as I recall it was less.
Schedule: Arizona works 22 9 hour shifts as an intern, 21 as a junior, and 20 as a senior (chiefs work 17). They are true 9 hour shifts and your replacement comes on at 8 hours, so you have 1-1.5 hours built into the end of your shift to clean up. There is an excellent sign out culture. You do a total of 6.5 months of call, 3.5 in your first year, and 1 in your third year. I'm not sure how long UNM shifts are, but 15 shifts a month is still painful if they're twelves. We also get a full month of vacation, which I have stretched into 40 days this year. UNM gets 3 weeks. I dunno, I thought schedule was a big strength for Arizona.
Off-service: I can't recall anything about UNM's off service rotations. I do recall this being one of the most difficult areas to evaluate as an applicant.
Pay and Benefits: Definitely edge Arizona. There is a bit more money floating around here than at UNM. That actually does affect your education.
Good luck with your decision. You won't go wrong at either place.
