Duke , Orlando, UVA, Pittsburgh??

[EMhopeful2012]

okay so i've just started trying to put my list together.. I was hoping some sort of epiphany would hit me at some point over the past couple weeks but that never happened.. and now I'm having a bit of trouble deciding.

i'm a single guy, and city / atmosphere / night life / fun things to do / meeting new people and maybe a gf are really important to me. but at the same time I want to make sure when i'm done I wont be limited on my options of where i can work... and (obviously) want to be well trained. which luckily I dont think will be a problem


1 - Duke - great area, name, training, etc... i sometimes worry about the autonomy and how much independence the residents have. the chair at my institution wasn't too high on Duke .. but I mean, cmon.. its Duke.

2 - Orlando - awesome town, fun etc... i worry about ability for job placement out of Florida when I'm done, because I'm fairly certain I wont wanna live in FL afterwards

3 - UVA - love everything about it.. mainly worried about volume / trauma experience; and i keep getting mixed reviews about how fun charlottesville is

4 - Pittsburgh - concerned mainly about fun factor of city / how well i meshed with residents there


these are my top 4, and depending on what hour you ask me, they have been in every order possible. any one else have any trouble deciding between these 4?

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[turkeyjerky]

I don't really get the whole "c'mon--it's Duke (or insert name of any high powered academic institution)" attitude. It just doesn't make sense to me for this field. If you were like "c'mon--It's Cincy", then I'd understand, but Duke?

I only interviewed at Orlando (assuming ORMC) and Pitt. I loved the orlando program--busy, high acuity academic-community ED. To me, the major negative there is actually the city, I just thought Orlando seemed like not that great of a city and that pushed it down to my lower half. I did also get the sense that most grads stayed in Florida or the SE. They also get worked (20 12s per mo as an intern). The people seemed fantastic though, and the PD is easily the nicest I've come across.


I actually like Pittsburgh a lot as a city. Have you spent any time there outside of the interview, or are you just basing your opinion on it's reputation as a rust belt city? I think it's a great city, low COL, lots of cool little neighborhoods w/ tons of bars and restaurants, two major universities w/ the corresponding arts scene, lots of college and pro sports teams, fantastic biking right outside the city. The program seems top-notch to me, but the major prehospital focus doesn't really fit w/ my own goals.

 

[Conch Doc]

I don't know anything about the program at Duke, but Turkeyjurkey is exactly right regarding the dangers of associating the quality of an EM program directly with the reputation of the institution as a whole.

I am biased to ORMC (current PGY-3), but it's an excellent program with great people and everything you could possibly want in a program director. Orlando is an amazing city with something for everyone (music, sports, beach, weather). Most of our residents come from out-of-state, but many of our graduates stay in Florida because they love it so much. Don't confuse that with an inability to obtain jobs elsewhere. We have graduates all over the country and in some of the most competitive markets out there. You won't have to stay in Florida or the southeast, but once you get used to 76 degree winters you may not want to go anywhere else.

In terms of "getting worked", you must always read the fine print. Our intern ED schedule is based on the concept of a 20-shift calendar month (not 4 weeks like some places). They are mostly all 12-hour shifts, except for the 9.5-hour shifts if you are scheduled to work on a Tuesday or Thursday conference day. You have 5 ED months as an intern: Orientation Month (10 shifts), 2 ED Vacation Months (16 shifts), and 2 non-vacation ED Months (20 shifts). To summarize, that's only 2 months with 20 shifts. It's not a fun 2 months, but I definitely would not miss out on a great program over 4 total shifts during your intern year.

Remember, we get 4 weeks of vacation a year. We also have a number of lighter intern rotations that are not vacation months (OB, Anesthesia/US, Ortho). Don't even get me started on the ways the new work hours have improved the Trauma and ICU rotations. Bottom line, our interns work hard but they still have a great quality of life.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any more questions about ORMC, and good luck to everyone in matching with the program that is best for them. It's almost over.

 

[EMhopeful2012]

ya i guess (in reference to the ORMC people staying in Orlando / possibly not getting jobs outside of florida) I was just looking at the web site and it has a section about last years grads (not any other years really) and every single one of them stayed in Florida... and most in Orlando.. so i was just wondering / hesitant about that. i couldn't find that same info for previous years and I couldn't remember from interviewing about job placement, so thats why I brought it up.

and pittsburgh is a great city. i hvae spent a little time there other than interviewing. the weather was pretty miserable while I was there so that turned me off a bit. and the whole pre-hospital thing doesn't quite do it for me personally like it might some other people.

i guess this thread is pretty pointless so i apologize for even making it... probably more of an excuse / way for me to justify my own opinions publicly for some reason or another... oh well.

 

[ER1]

Hey Im a resident at UVA and just wanted to give my pitch for the program.

While our penetrating trauma volume is lower than spots like ORMC (a great program that I considered quite a bit when ranking) we definitely get enough of it, and we get tons of blunt trauma. Every third year right now feels very confident with their experiences and are getting offers from every region of the country. One thing that sold me were the impressive academic opportunities here in addition to the clinical experience. The options are there if you want them with absolutely no pressure to get involved, which I thought separated it from other big academic programs (most of our residents go into community). Weve got some big names in things like tox, emergency cards, and emergency neuro, but you would never know it by working with them, everyone is very down-to-earth. We are one of six CIREN centers, so if you are into trauma research we have some cool stuff to get involved with.

The residents definitely enjoy life here. Charlottesville is a very unique city with truly a lot to offer for single 20/30 somethings, couples, and families. I think one of the best things about the program is how well all the residents get along with each other and after reading some posts on this forum, I realize how lucky I am to be a very resident friendly spot.

In the end, it seems you have some really great options- all are awesome programs.
I can really only speak to UVA, which I feel is a very strong program that will give you unique opportunities to develop as an EM physician or any field within the specialty. Charlottesville is a great town with a thriving music, outdoor, and restaurant scene.

Also, we have scribes! Come on, thats awesome.

I hope this all helps with everyone's decision. Best of luck in a few weeks!
Please PM me with any questions.

 

[la gringa]

scribes in residency would be a negative imho... you may not always have them and need to learn to chart yourself.

as far as duke... 2nd from the bottom on the rung of NC residencies. i'm a native and went to med school in NC, but trained in another region. just came back the attitude at duke is enough to nauseate many...

 

[cbscl]

Hey Im a resident at UVA and just wanted to give my pitch for the program.

While our penetrating trauma volume is lower than spots like ORMC (a great program that I considered quite a bit when ranking) we definitely get enough of it, and we get tons of blunt trauma. Every third year right now feels very confident with their experiences and are getting offers from every region of the country. One thing that sold me were the impressive academic opportunities here in addition to the clinical experience. The options are there if you want them with absolutely no pressure to get involved, which I thought separated it from other big academic programs (most of our residents go into community). Weve got some big names in things like tox, emergency cards, and emergency neuro, but you would never know it by working with them, everyone is very down-to-earth. We are one of six CIREN centers, so if you are into trauma research we have some cool stuff to get involved with.

The residents definitely enjoy life here. Charlottesville is a very unique city with truly a lot to offer for single 20/30 somethings, couples, and families. I think one of the best things about the program is how well all the residents get along with each other and after reading some posts on this forum, I realize how lucky I am to be a very resident friendly spot.

In the end, it seems you have some really great options- all are awesome programs.
I can really only speak to UVA, which I feel is a very strong program that will give you unique opportunities to develop as an EM physician or any field within the specialty. Charlottesville is a great town with a thriving music, outdoor, and restaurant scene.

Also, we have scribes! Come on, thats awesome.

I hope this all helps with everyone's decision. Best of luck in a few weeks!
Please PM me with any questions.

What kind of shifts do you work throughout your UVA residency (in terms of hours and number a month)? Also, what are your thoughts on the condition of the ER itself?

 

[Hamhock]

scribes in residency would be a negative imho..

except if scribes were available only when you were a senior resident, for only a few shifts...then it must rock (I never had this pleasure)

HH

 

[la gringa]

i'd agree there hamhock... though in general i find scribes are like midlevels.... if you have a good one you're golden, but if not they're actually making work for you!!

 

[EvoDevo]

Eh, they're great when they're good, merely okay when not. We don't always have them, and never overnight. Hence I've become quite the efficient charter.

*shrug*

 

[EMbrand]

Ok, I'm a grad of duke and get tired of hearing this bogus attitude towards their EM program. I feel like i was very well prepared when I graduated and had a really good time while I was there. Here's the deal - people want to hate on it bc it's only 10 years old and yes, in a powerful academic hospital. That being said, our faculty are awesome (from those places everyone raves about - cinci, shock trauma, Emory, Pitt, Henry ford, etc) and really laid back actually - good amount of autonomy. They always say you don't get trauma or autonomy at duke which is just flat wrong. Durham is half ghetto and you are running a section of the ER your first day of PGY2. Problems with duke - pedis exposure is probably average or just below average. Respect from the medicine people is just lacking, but that's likely a universal attitude towards EM, particularly academic centers. Durham is not the coolest city. Overall, you get a very wide array of cases and are procedurally competent when you graduate - and sick patients. . . Much worse than i'm now seeing in the community. Volume isn't an issue as you have 80K visits spread out over only 9 residents per class - you'll definitely learn to be efficient so you can "move the meat" when you graduate and want to work in the community. Anyhow, feel free to PM me - If I had to do it over again, I'd pick duke no 1 just like I did 4 years ago.