There's been discussion of LA programs recently but want to give my thoughts on SF programs and see what people thought of their visits this year. I've looked at past threads which have some info but thought I'd start a thread specifically comparing these 3 programs against each other since I assume many people like me are doing that when thinking about their rank lists. I interviewed at all 3, all great programs with some unique strengths and weaknesses. All seem to offer good clinical training. Would be eager to hear others thoughts regarding any of them from students, residents, or attendings.
Highland: County, 4 year, primarily 1 site
+: Friendly "family"-like residents and faculty who all seem to get along well and hang out outside of the hospital, nice ED, big dogs in the hospital, lots of procedures and autonomy, county population, GI rounds, mellow and friendly vibe that isnt as academic as the others but still some great academicians on the faculty, old established well respected program with alumni all over the bay area
-: off service rotations relatively weak compared to other bay area programs, not a level 1 trauma center (does this matter? probably not), no longer rotating at SFGH, location isnt great, less resources, cant leverage resources of major university if you have interests beyond just EM, potentially clicky as in either you are a highland person or you're not
Stanford/Kaiser: 3 year, 3 sites
+: fun outdoorsy residents, a few big name faculty members, just raised a bunch of money, Kaiser and SC Valley seemed like great experiences, good fellowships that like to take their own residents
-: small cramped Stanford ED, not a ton of respect in the hospital (not a department), have to drive a lot, no longer rotating at SF General, 12 hour shifts (unlike UCSF and Highland which are 8s). I also heard from a few people on the interview trail that Stanford has a relatively poor reputation in CA compared to some of the powerhouse programs. If you look at faculty lists at the top academic places in CA, Stanford residents dont seem to be very well represented. Can anyone confirm if this bias exists? It seemed unwarranted to me but sometimes old reputations die hard.
+/-: palo alto. Would be difficult to live in SF if a resident at this program.
UCSF: 4 year, 2 sites
+: great off-service rotations, SFGH in particular seemed like a great experience for residents, amazing residency leadership (including SDNs Roja!), smart smart residents and faculty, location in the heart of San Francisco, unique area of concentration may help create academic niche without doing fellowship
-: still fighting with other services (only do trauma airways during the weekends for example), not a lot of space in the hospital and logistics of going back and forth between hospitals seem challenging since residents dont get parking, no alumni to grease the wheels post residency, although residents are extremely smart I dont get the sense that they all hang out together like Highlands residents do, seems to be an institutional bias against international medicine- can anyone confirm this?
+/-: The residency director. Some love her, some hate her, but everyone seems to have an opinion. Personally I liked her and thought she was seemed very competent and appreciated how involved she was on the interview day, but I can see how she might rub some people the wrong way.
Highland: County, 4 year, primarily 1 site
+: Friendly "family"-like residents and faculty who all seem to get along well and hang out outside of the hospital, nice ED, big dogs in the hospital, lots of procedures and autonomy, county population, GI rounds, mellow and friendly vibe that isnt as academic as the others but still some great academicians on the faculty, old established well respected program with alumni all over the bay area
-: off service rotations relatively weak compared to other bay area programs, not a level 1 trauma center (does this matter? probably not), no longer rotating at SFGH, location isnt great, less resources, cant leverage resources of major university if you have interests beyond just EM, potentially clicky as in either you are a highland person or you're not
Stanford/Kaiser: 3 year, 3 sites
+: fun outdoorsy residents, a few big name faculty members, just raised a bunch of money, Kaiser and SC Valley seemed like great experiences, good fellowships that like to take their own residents
-: small cramped Stanford ED, not a ton of respect in the hospital (not a department), have to drive a lot, no longer rotating at SF General, 12 hour shifts (unlike UCSF and Highland which are 8s). I also heard from a few people on the interview trail that Stanford has a relatively poor reputation in CA compared to some of the powerhouse programs. If you look at faculty lists at the top academic places in CA, Stanford residents dont seem to be very well represented. Can anyone confirm if this bias exists? It seemed unwarranted to me but sometimes old reputations die hard.
+/-: palo alto. Would be difficult to live in SF if a resident at this program.
UCSF: 4 year, 2 sites
+: great off-service rotations, SFGH in particular seemed like a great experience for residents, amazing residency leadership (including SDNs Roja!), smart smart residents and faculty, location in the heart of San Francisco, unique area of concentration may help create academic niche without doing fellowship
-: still fighting with other services (only do trauma airways during the weekends for example), not a lot of space in the hospital and logistics of going back and forth between hospitals seem challenging since residents dont get parking, no alumni to grease the wheels post residency, although residents are extremely smart I dont get the sense that they all hang out together like Highlands residents do, seems to be an institutional bias against international medicine- can anyone confirm this?
+/-: The residency director. Some love her, some hate her, but everyone seems to have an opinion. Personally I liked her and thought she was seemed very competent and appreciated how involved she was on the interview day, but I can see how she might rub some people the wrong way.