Hi Pedsguy,
I rotated at CHLA (also USC, CHOC, UCSF-Fresno) and I loved it. It is a very intense, tertiary care center, but the pathology is pretty amazing. All of my attendings were very nice (as most peds are), and tons of lectures. I think the CHLA residents are some of the brightest I have met, and there seems to be good comradrie there as well. Big program, 27 per class. They do have one of the toughest call schedules of most peds programs, q 4 for 8-9 months, but their board passing rate has been 100% x 5 years! Their big selling point for me is the paperless system! It is so much more efficient not having to hunt for the chart, or having to decipher the consultant's recommendations. It is a pretty tough residency program, but I think the pros outweigh the cons. I think a misconception is that at CHLA, they only see very involved children, not alot of bread and butter peds, but it just depends on which rotation you are on. I think I would rather feel more comfortable managing complicated kids then bread and butter peds (which I think you get enough of anyway).
Good luck and you can PM me if you have anymore questions. Maybe I'll see you there next year (I am ranking them #1 too)!
