Cleveland Clinic, Mt. Sinai, and Mayo Florida locations. Are they really that bad.

[Magyarzorag]

I've been hearing that these programs are generally very weak from other forums and even worse off than lesser known private or state university hospitals. I'm mainly drawn to them because they seem more relaxed, their emergency rooms don't get the worst trauma cases, and they pay a few grand higher than other hospitals in Florida. They also don't seem as competitive. Like half of Mayo Jacksonville's Anesthesiology residents were Carribean grads.

But they still seem more prestigious than say University of Central Florida.

I guess while Mayo Minnesota is like a Mercedes S-Class, Mayo Jacksonville is like a Mercedes A class. Still a Mercedes, but less prestigious and has less features than a Honda Accord (which would be University of Central Florida)

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[InternistDO]

Personally, I'd drive a Honda over a Mercedes any day of the week.

Mount Sinai Miami has no affiliation at all with Mount Sinai New York. The only similarity is they were both started by Jewish doctors who named their hospitals after the same biblical mountain. For what it's worth, the IM residents when I was there did not seem relaxed at all. Hard to beat the location though.

As for the others, who knows. Maybe they're more relaxed than at the U or USF but it probably depends on the specialty. Whether that makes it worth it to you depends on what specialty you want and if you want to subspecialize afterwards. Most of the debate about these programs probably comes from IM people where subspecializing is important--going to a Florida Mayo may make students think they're going to be more competitive than they really are for cardiology or GI on the future.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Regarding both Cleveland and Mayo Clinic, the Florida locations are considered full extensions by their respective "mothership" institutions, which means that you can likely have access to many or all of the amenities associated with training at these places. This includes the prestige of saying you trained under these names. It's not like when a community hospital partners up with Cornell, calling themself "Sacred Heart/Cornell Medical Center." Even if they are in Florida, if you train at them, you'll be able to put their brand on your CV.

Having interviewed at both these locations, and subsequently interacted with associated faculty at research conferences, the academics appear to still be intact. They don't seem to be off-brand to me.

 

[shouldigomd]

Be careful what you read online. Especially here on SDN where everyone is ivy league trained. Also don't let prestige dictate your choices. Find the place that will make you happy and allow you to achieve your goals.

I interviewed at both cleveland / mayo in florida for IM and cardiology. They are solid programs with good training and as mentioned... supported by their mothership programs. That being said they are definitely lower volume centers with an older / richer demographic. They are also not big referral centers. For those reasons it may not be the best for specialties like ER / trauma surgery / etc. Really depends on what you want to do.

 

[longhaul3]

In small surgical specialties they are definitely off-brand, at least to this point in their brief existence. Our world is all about individual chairmen, faculty, labs, etc., none of which carry over to the fair-weather outposts.

 

[llanoestacado]

I interviewed at Mayo-Jax for a surgical sub-specialty, and it was as good if not better than the state programs I interviewed at in Florida. I can't speak for any other specialties, but case volume/variety were good, academics were as good as anywhere else, and you had the support that came with being at Mayo without having to live in Rochester

 

[libertyyne]

In small surgical specialties they are definitely off-brand, at least to this point in their brief existence. Our world is all about individual chairmen, faculty, labs, etc., none of which carry over to the fair-weather outposts.

Not to mention volume.

 

[NVO]

You brought up anesthesiology as your example so I'm here to tell you they are definitely off-brand and not comparable at all to the mothership institutions.

I'll also tell you that UCF isn't much better either. You focus on Florida, which is home to all the janky HCA programs. HCA Largo shut down last year and it had an anesthesia program. I'll be honest when I say that most of the programs in FL aren't that great.

 

[longhaul3]

Not to mention volume.

I personally agree with this, but there are a number of highly respected academic programs that have pretty low volume.

 

[Flodaddy]

I'm a resident in the SE, so I interviewed at and know residents at most of the Florida programs. Mayo in Florida doesn't cover some of the subspecialities in my surgical field and has a small faculty. They don't do trauma, their patients are all wealthy, and call is light, so it's not the best representation of attending jobs. The Mayo mentorship model gives great training though. None of the Florida programs are academic powerhouses. Mayo-Fl isn't weak, but it's an average program with good resources that will make you a great surgeon. It's not at the level of the main Mayo

I'd say it's tied for 3rd out of the 5 Florida programs in my specialty. The state programs (UF and USF) are stronger if you ask me. I have no idea how they compare for other specialties.

(I reread your post. Not getting the worst trauma isn't a positive. You want a trauma center in residency because it's your one chance to learn with help and supervision. You don't want your first trauma exposure to be as an attending on call)