Chair Leaving UCLA for UPMC - Why?

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Soparklion

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Why does a guy spend his whole career in LA, then move to the midwest?
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Don't think it's a rumor. In fact, people at UPMC have the exact same question as the OP posted...
 
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His UC Salary is public record. He didn’t have to rent. I imagine he got a 7 figure offer. The University of California doctors are often some of the highest paid in their respective cities. He has speaking and business endeavors as well.


He has moved halfway around the world and lived on both coasts of the United States. LA to Pittsburgh may not be such a big move to him. He’s doing okay for an FMG😉


Dr. Aman Mahajan Appointed New Department Chair Effective August 1, 2018; Department Renamed | Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine | University of Pittsburgh
 
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Appointed July 9th and starting in a new Chair position less than a month later is a bit quick right? Especially as a Chair to Chair position, makes you think he was leaving UC he just didn’t know where he was going....
 
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I don't think there is any amount of money that would make me want to take the Chair position at UPMC. Maybe it's changed in the past couple of years, but before that the political landscape there with the CRNA/SRNAs was a nightmare
 
Chairs are like socks. You should change them every now and again.

Still though, if someone's annoying enough you either promote, transfer, or recommend them highly to the next sucker right?
 
Money.....until proven otherwise.

California is becoming more and more a very difficult place to live and a doctor, especially Chair salary, in a lower cost of living area can make life a LOT better, just so long as you dont mind winter.

The ONLY reason to live in CA, pay CA taxes, and put up with CA people is the weather.
 
Orin said:
Chairs are like socks. You should change them every now and again.

Still though, if someone's annoying enough you either promote, transfer, or recommend them highly to the next sucker right?
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Did you mean to say that Chairs are like diapers, and should be changed often, and for the same reason.

*credit to Mark Twain
 
Spectator sports are for people with nothing else to do with their lives ;-) As for the official version of regions: The US Census Bureau has Pennsylvania (that does include Pittsburgh) as the Northeast Region (https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf), as does the US Geological survey (USGS.gov | Science for a changing world) and the National Geographic Society (United States Regions).
The GSA has it as a Mid-Atlantic Region state (GSA Regions). According to the NEA, it is the Mid-Atlantic division of the Northeast Region of the US (Regions and Divisions of the United States). Business Insider magazine argues Pa is in the "Yankeedom" subdivision (This map shows the US really has 11 separate 'nations' with entirely different cultures).
Instead of spectator sports I spend my time researching trivial nonsense such as this 🙂
 
Money. Career advancement.

From the perspective of a lowly resident (who admittedly doesn't know all the attending-level politics that go on at a big academic center), everything seemed fine. No indication that he was leaving until he sent out an email that he was done and moving on to another "opportunity". Came out of the blue, rumor mill wasn't talking about it at all. Since he announced he was leaving on our last day of residency, my class now likes to joke that we were so terrible that we were the straw that broke the camel's back. 🙂

I wish him all the best, he was a good chair while I was at UCLA. Worked with him maybe 5-6 days in the OR, doing cardiac cases. He was well-liked by everyone and there were no major red flags with him or the department. It will be interesting to see who the new chair ends up being.
 
rakotomazoto said:
Money. Career advancement.

Came out of the blue, rumor mill wasn't talking about it at all.
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I think that’s why the rumor mill will begin. He either got an offer he couldn’t refuse or something is up to quit out of the blue and already have another gig lined up. I knew the chair of my program was going to leave when I was a resident but it didn’t actually happen until after I graduated fellowship, so the secretive nature of it is interesting to say the least.
 
rakotomazoto said:
Money. Career advancement.

From the perspective of a lowly resident (who admittedly doesn't know all the attending-level politics that go on at a big academic center), everything seemed fine. No indication that he was leaving until he sent out an email that he was done and moving on to another "opportunity". Came out of the blue, rumor mill wasn't talking about it at all. Since he announced he was leaving on our last day of residency, my class now likes to joke that we were so terrible that we were the straw that broke the camel's back. 🙂

I wish him all the best, he was a good chair while I was at UCLA. Worked with him maybe 5-6 days in the OR, doing cardiac cases. He was well-liked by everyone and there were no major red flags with him or the department. It will be interesting to see who the new chair ends up being.
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And usually “out of the blue” and “keep it on the QT” job changes means he could have been asked to leave (by someone Im not sure who) if they knew he was looking at this Pittsburgh gig or at least started a replacement chair search while he was still at UCLA but not certain he was going to get the Pitt gig
 
Psai said:
Why you trying to spread rumors tho
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Spreading rumors would be like suggesting he's being chased out of town by a woman threatening to accuse him of something.

On a more serious note, as someone already noted, he's moved around a lot, and he might just want to go someplace where he's a big fish in a small pond. People who know him say he's a brilliant man, always pushing the boundaries of what anesthesiologists can do. I listened to one of his grand rounds (I can't share the link cuz my like to post-radio is low, but just google wisconsin grand rounds mahajan) and that was quite evident. Maybe they're giving him more money for research or lab? Either way, I always think it's good when ambitious people in academia are not afraid to move, keeps things competitive and fight in-breeding.
 
chocomorsel said:
I have, and still think it’s the NE.
But have had this same thought before and been schooled on how wrong I was.
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I thought North East was what people from New Jersey called where they live.

Pennsylvania is Mid-Atlantic, right?
 
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nolagas said:
I thought North East was what people from New Jersey called where they live.

Pennsylvania is Mid-Atlantic, right?
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When I think of Mid-Atlantic I think more of MD/VA/DE/N.C./SC. Pennsylvania is a stretch, but arguable I guess...

NY is decidedly northeast.
 
Twiggidy said:
It has its pros and cons
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Pittsburgh is 40 mins from Ohio. It’s not NE in your typical sense. If you count rural Vermont as NE, then I can see the resemblance.

NJ is the Garden state, not known to be the armpit of America for nothing.
 
urge said:
Who would ever want to live in California?

Yuk!
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I wonder about this myself. It’s getting really hot here, even on the coast. We actually need air conditioning which wasn’t the case 20 years ago. Makes me wonder about all those “what are my chances for California?” threads😵

I totally understand Mahajan’s decision. If you’re gonna need AC anyway, might as well move to Pittsburgh.
 
nimbus said:
I wonder about this myself. It’s getting really hot here, even on the coast. We actually need air conditioning which wasn’t the case 20 years ago. Makes me wonder about all those “what are my chances for California?” threads😵

I totally understand Mahajan’s decision. If you’re gonna need AC anyway, might as well move to Pittsburgh.
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Lol, that’s quite the jump in logic going from “I want AC when it’s 80 degrees” to “let’s move my family across the country to the second or third greyest city in the country where it’s cold for 6 months”. Maybe he developed a sun allergy.
 
AdmiralChz said:
When I think of Mid-Atlantic I think more of MD/VA/DE/N.C./SC. Pennsylvania is a stretch, but arguable I guess...

NY is decidedly northeast.
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Yeah but people from New York say New York and people from New England say New England not North East, right?
 
nimbus said:
I wonder about this myself. It’s getting really hot here, even on the coast. We actually need air conditioning which wasn’t the case 20 years ago. Makes me wonder about all those “what are my chances for California?” threads😵

I totally understand Mahajan’s decision. If you’re gonna need AC anyway, might as well move to Pittsburgh.
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More than anything housing prices. In desirable CA cities, and we know which they are, it's 2 million for a house that needs repair most likely and I'm sorry, you don't move to CA to live in Stockton or Modesto. Additionally, as Salty will tell you, there's good ol' CA taxes which screw you and don't even pay for the Uber home. There will be a CA shortage of doctors in the future because they won't be able to afford to live here, either that, or that state needs to fix it's infrastructure, ie high ways and public transportation that you wont get killed.
 
Twiggidy said:
More than anything housing prices. In desirable CA cities, and we know which they are, it's 2 million for a house that needs repair most likely and I'm sorry, you don't move to CA to live in Stockton or Modesto. Additionally, as Salty will tell you, there's good ol' CA taxes which screw you and don't even pay for the Uber home. There will be a CA shortage of doctors in the future because they won't be able to afford to live here, either that, or that state needs to fix it's infrastructure, ie high ways and public transportation that you wont get killed.
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Yes, housing is expensive, but you're way over-exaggerating, plus you're looking at it at a peak time. If you wanna live by the beach, yes you're looking at least $1.4 mil. Plenty of other more "affordable" (700k+) if you look in parts of San Diego or LA. Then there's always Sacramento for NorCal and more in-land areas in SoCal like Claremont, Loma Linda, Redlands, the valley etc--all of are quite family friendly. The OC is also surprisingly "affordable."

I've never seen a state that so many physicians are dying to move to (i get messages from people all the time for jobs) and yet has so many haters. #hatersbehaters
 
chrisv said:
Yes, housing is expensive, but you're way over-exaggerating, plus you're looking at it at a peak time. If you wanna live by the beach, yes you're looking at least $1.4 mil. Plenty of other more "affordable" (700k+) if you look in parts of San Diego or LA. Then there's always Sacramento for NorCal and more in-land areas in SoCal like Claremont, Loma Linda, Redlands, the valley etc--all of are quite family friendly. The OC is also surprisingly "affordable."

I've never seen a state that so many physicians are dying to move to (i get messages from people all the time for jobs) and yet has so many haters. #hatersbehaters
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Right....because when I think “Let’s move to California” my first thought is....Loma Linda.
 
Twiggidy said:
Right....because when I think “Let’s move to California” my first thought is....Loma Linda.
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You may not and most don't either, which is what makes it a hidden gem. To each his own, but living within 1-2 hr driving distance of beach, mountains, big city life in a safe, family-friendly highly desirable for many people.
 
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