Hey all. 4rd year very curious about the Ventura (VCMC) FM program. I know it's training is second to none especially for someone interested in rural and international work. I've scoured the forums looking for more specifics about the "day to day" there. Most of the info is from venturaresident, who seems really smart and stoked about his training.
My question is a soft one admittedly: I'm not applying to any program that isn't going to bust my a** but is quality of life something that should factor into choosing residencies or is qol something that is earned after training? Specifically, all the information regarding VCMC is regarding its amazing training, does anyone have any insight into hours and potential toxicity of residents/admin culture? Not looking for a "fun" residency but I'm also not looking for a place where the residents are miserable.
Apologies for any offense (and the repost...).
Ventura(VCMC) is a great program, agreed, but there are a number of programs where you can get super solid training for international & rural work, and "second to none" is going to depend on how well a particular program in that tier/with that focus is a fit for you. (Unless you are talking about US News & World Report rankings, which last year ranked us #1, but I don't put much stock in those.)
Likewise, there are different things that help people feel happy. The work is hard here, but in general people here have a sense of purpose, feel like they're in it together, are committed to underserved medicine, and know they are getting solid full-spectrum training; if those are important aspects for you, you'd likely be happy here, despite the grueling hours (details vary in how much people work, but all the schedules meet the acgme requirements). Being in SoCal with lovely weather year round doesn't hurt either. If this location would take you too farm from family, or you need every weekend off to feel happy, or you don't like taking care of homeless folks or farm workers, you'll likely be unhappy here. And even if you love most things, here, like anywhere, you'll find something to get under your skin (our cafeteria closes way too early!), because no residency is perfect, but it's a question of what works for you and what are your non-negotiables. When I was making my rank list, I struggled with the question of program strength vs unknown program culture - you can't do audition rotations everywhere, and I'd just interviewed rather than rotating here. I was concerned this might be a program full of gunner or cowboys or jerks, but decided that even if that was the case, I'd tough it out for the benefit of the training. As it turns out, nothing could be farther from the truth. The people in my class and other classes have been incredibly kind, fun, badass but simultaneously humble about it, easy going, and invested in each other's learning and well-being.
There are no other residencies based at VCMC. The newer local FM program in our town that has other residencies is through Community Memorial Health, and was established as an AOA program, and while I'm sure they are lovely, the program does not claim to do any sort of full spectrum medicine.
