Cedars-Sinai

[CCMD2005]

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How is this program? There is not much information about it on the web?
-CC

 

[longQTc]

How is this program? There is not much information about it on the web?
-CC

from people i know who are there for residency, its a nice community program, but a lot of the benefits of the past are now gone. several of their key faculty members have left the program to go into private practice, so they are lacking in some key areas of cards training. as a result, many of their own residents are looking elsewhere to do their training. its being thought as a program in the "rebuilding" stage.

 

[CYRAX]

I am from the program. The new changes: Most good attendings are gone for private practice. There is no more paid moonlighting (as you had to moonlight for private attendings and get paid for it, this is no longer true.). You have overnight call inhouse at least for the first year. The "big names" don't really work with residents and only some fellows. And now the program is joined with WLAVA so there is a lot of responsibility at the VA and its clinics and it is unknown how this merger will affect the program. Overall, decent program, not as academic as people. especially people from the big east coast programs are used to.

 

[CYRAX]

To clarify, I am not a fellow, but a resident.

 

[CCMD2005]

I am from the program. The new changes: Most good attendings are gone for private practice. There is no more paid moonlighting (as you had to moonlight for private attendings and get paid for it, this is no longer true.). You have overnight call inhouse at least for the first year. The "big names" don't really work with residents and only some fellows. And now the program is joined with WLAVA so there is a lot of responsibility at the VA and its clinics and it is unknown how this merger will affect the program. Overall, decent program, not as academic as people. especially people from the big east coast programs are used to.

I have actually noticed alot of people in academia recently leaving their posts to pursue private practice interests. I think these days for many people, the financial incentive for joing a private practice or industry job far outweighs the prestige of being an academic physician. Business savvy, private practice cards are making TONS of money right now and everyone wants to get into the game (not unheard of both NON-invasive and Int. guys taking home 1 million + in certain locations (Florida, Georgia, Texas). Case in point, BWH (Dr. Baim left for Boston Scientific, and some guy from Duke also went into industry). I think money is a STRONG motivator for anyone, and after years of hard work to get where they are, I don't think they are being greedy at all (we all deserve to give our families all that they desire).

In terms of adding a VA, I actually think that makes a program clinically stronger for a number of reasons. 1. Fellows in VA typically run the show almost exclusively (including caths, interventions, pacers, etc.), and that's what you want in a fellowship to get independent, hands-on training so that when in practice you are already fairly savvy. 2. Cards is a procedural specialty, the more of anything we do, the better we will get, it's that simple, so I say bring on the VA! Especially, a VA in a beautiful area - who can beat Beverly Hills and Hollywood! 3. I understand that as a resident having a VA stinks, because you have to do a lot of scut work, but as a fellow with residents who do the scut, the VA is a great!

-CC

 

[longQTc]

In house call for the fellows?? No one mentioned that at the interview. Are you sure?

 

[CYRAX]

I am positive that the incoming first years will have in house cal., they were talking about taking it off the table but it is still there. I really do hope they abolish it, but it is unlikely since 90% of the call is in the first year!!

 

[E Yorrick Davis]

Does anyone have an opinion on Marban's move?

 

[arrhythmia7]

There is alot of bad information on this thread.
1. I interviewed at this program, and have one friend from my residency who is actually a first year fellow. For all applicants- *call is home call as long as you are within 10 minutes of the CSMC to activate the cath lab* This is not hard, as there are alot of good places to live in the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood areas.
2. Also, moonlighting is still in full effect. The fellows do well, and there are a ton of moonlighting opportunities in LA outside of CSMC as well (Kaiser, etc.).
3. The combination with the West LA VA will be good, and will give the fellows a whole new range of experiences - the imaging department at the WLAVA is actually pretty good, and there are a ton of good EP research opportunities with the faculty there.
4. Finally, there has been alot of unecessary hype about a few EP attendings leaving CSMC - this place has more money than god, so it is only a matter of time until they recruit a few new big names. One thing held constant on the fellowship interview trail, and that is that there seems to be a constant efflux of people from everywhere, so don't base your decisions on that.

 

[CYRAX]

I did not just interview at Cedars, I am from Cedars.
In terms of living within ten minutes, you are absolutly right, Bev hills/hollywood is around and the avg rent for a one bedroom (if you are single) is $1800-$2200 and for two or more bedrooms is $2000 to $4000. so yes you could live within ten minutes but you have to be able to afford it. In terms of moonlighting, I don't think anybody ever said you can not moonlight. you CAN moonlight, even at Cedars, but only on your own time. The days that you used to be paid for your REQUIRED calls are over. In terms of Cedars being rich and EP not being a problem. One of the third year cedars fellows is my close buddy, got accepted to Cedars EP (which of course is tough to get) but gave it up for a smaller program because he knew that the future is uncertain. The EP spot went to one of the WLA VA fellows who happens to be a D.O. (a good one). And Cedars is a rich hospital, but only in terms of private issues. Why do you think Cedars Internal Medicine program had to merge with west LA VA (Cedars kids hate to be there, because there is too much work compared to Cedars)? because the Department of medcine was almost out of money but they said they want to enrich the program! right! If they wanted to get a big name EP person, they would have done so and would not advertise to new EP grads as they are now. Either way you have to go where it is a good fit for you and your future plans. After all it is another 3-5 years of your life and the rest of your career starts from here. Good luck to everyone. BYT arrhythmia7 I have nothing against what you are saying, I am just calrifying some of your points.