Best West Coast Peds Residencies in Preparation for Critical Care/PICU Fellowship

[Putkernerinthehall]

Interested in Peds and leaning toward Critical Care for career. Any thoughts on best places to do residency if ultimate interest is Critical Care? Strong preference for west coast.

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[GoSpursGo]

I suspect the answer is more or less the same as the best peds residencies in general. I tend to think of CHLA and Seattle as the two programs that immediately come to mind, but UCSF, Stanford and OHSU are very strong too.

UCLA has name recognition, but I think CHLA tends to get the higher acuity patients.

 

[MDMechEngr]

UW
Stanford
U Colorado
UCSF
CHLA
Utah
UCLA
CH-Oakland
UCSD
Phoenix CH

Can't go wrong with any of these programs.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Does anyone know which programs, if any, offer rotations in the PICU during intern year? I guess I can dig that up on their websites. Are any of these really geared toward critical care training? I have heard that Children's Hospital of Oakland (UCSF affiliated) is strong in this regard.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

UW
Stanford
U Colorado
UCSF
CHLA
Utah
UCLA
CH-Oakland
UCSD
Phoenix CH

Can't go wrong with any of these programs.

Are any of these really geared toward critical care training?

 

[Rachapkis]

Adding Seattle Children's Hospital to the mix.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Are any of these really geared toward critical care training?

Obviously this is one subspecialty where there isn't an established ranking from USNWR (which is flawed in and of itself, but it's nice to have a place to start discussions. But I think you can use the other subspecialty rankings as something of a proxy, because if a program is highly ranked then they likely have high acuity patients and thus close collaboration with skilled intensivists is key. All of the programs listed here are thus likely to have very well run PICUs. You would need to look into the programs to get a sense of what the experience is like from a resident education perspective. And keep in mind that your residency training isn't the be-all/end-all, you'll have a whole fellowship to turn you into a good PICU attending.

I think most peds programs generally have PICU in 2nd+ year, but if there are a few that let you do it in intern year you'd have to go hunting for that info.

Adding Seattle Children's Hospital to the mix.

That is UW 🙂

 

[SurfingDoctor]

No residency program is "geared" toward PICU training.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

No residency program is "geared" toward PICU training.

Right - the word "geared" is imprecise. I guess I'm looking for programs that provide ample opportunity for PICU rotations and strong training (high acuity. volume, etc), including time in the PICU during intern year. Programs that have a track record of graduates going into PICU fellowships - a higher % than the average, would be nice to know. I think the feedback is that any of the 10 or so west coast programs noted above would be good options. I think I will need to dig a little deeper on some details beyond what this board can offer.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Right - the word "geared" is imprecise. I guess I'm looking for programs that provide ample opportunity for PICU rotations and strong training (high acuity. volume, etc), including time in the PICU during intern year. Programs that have a track record of graduates going into PICU fellowships - a higher % than the average, would be nice to know. I think the feedback is that any of the 10 or so west coast programs noted above would be good options. I think I will need to dig a little deeper on some details beyond what this board can offer.

You won't go wrong with any of those programs. Apply to all of them and make your opinions after interviewing

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Right - the word "geared" is imprecise. I guess I'm looking for programs that provide ample opportunity for PICU rotations and strong training (high acuity. volume, etc), including time in the PICU during intern year. Programs that have a track record of graduates going into PICU fellowships - a higher % than the average, would be nice to know. I think the feedback is that any of the 10 or so west coast programs noted above would be good options. I think I will need to dig a little deeper on some details beyond what this board can offer.

Many places, especially high acuity places don’t put interns in the PICU. Frankly, that seems dangerous.

As to your other point, they are all fine programs. That being said, I didn’t go to a big program for residency, and I turned out okay (…at least that’s what my mom tells me). It’s far more what you make out of it as opposed to what is handed to you.

Of those, the ones that have the most academically oriented fellowships would be Stanford, UCSF and Utah, though that also doesn’t usually matter to most trainees for some reason.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Many places, especially high acuity places don’t put interns in the PICU. Frankly, that seems dangerous.

As to your other point, they are all fine programs. That being said, I didn’t go to a big program for residency, and I turned out okay (…at least that’s what my mom tells me). It’s far more what you make out of it as opposed to what is handed to you.

Of those, the ones that have the most academically oriented fellowships would be Stanford, UCSF and Utah, though that also doesn’t usually matter to most trainees for some reason.

Right, I believe Children's Hospital of Oakland (CHO) which is affiliated with UCSF has an intern year PICU rotation.