ENT at UC Davis & SUNY Buffalo

[indytravl]

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Is UC Davis a good program? How does it rank (top, mid, lower 1/3) compared to others?

How does SUNY Buffalo rate?

thanks, [email protected]

 

[Bovie9]

Buffalo didn't have an ENT program as of a few months ago. They HAD one, but it was cancelled a couple of years ago - I am not exactly sure why, but as far as I know it was certainly not because of violations or anything like that. I heard they attracted a new Chair, and they are hoping to start a new program.

I did an ENT rotation at the Buffalo VA, lots of pathology- I really liked it. Buffalo has a HUGE variety of hospitals including a stand-alone children's hospital, Rowsell Park Cancer Institute, a County, Privates, and a VA.

I just graduated from med school there, and now I am doing gen surg.

 

[Leforte]

I interviewed at UC Davis last year and was very impressed with their program. They have a very strong presence in the hospital and do a lot of procedures that many other programs do not do - tons of OMFS type stuff as well as all the clefts, etc. The residents spend alternate days with clinic and the OR and residents graduate with around 2400 cases. One thing I learned from the trail was that although many people (myself included) tend to look exclusively at the case numbers (with the average around 1500-1600), it is equally important to get clinic experience, since it was told to me that only 1 of 11 ENT clinic appointments will result in a surgical intervention.

They have a H&N fellow, which although I was worried about cass being taken away from teh residents, was asssured that is not the case and in fact the fellow adds to the surgical volume for the residents.

Sacramento was actually a pretty nice place, and close enough to a variety of things to keep you busy.

They are thinking of adding a resident in the near future to go 2/3/2/3 or 3 per year.

Currently they have an exception from ACGME to the 80 hr week and are approved to 88 per week.

I would have been extremely happy to match there and ranked it highly.

Good luck in the process this year.

 

[Apollyon]

They HAD one, but it was cancelled a couple of years ago - I am not exactly sure why, but as far as I know it was certainly not because of violations or anything like that.

I'm from Buffalo (but didn't go to med school there), and I thought there WAS some problem with violations or the like, and that's why it was shut down mid-year.

I'll see if I can find anything.

 

[eilis721]

I go to SUNY Buffalo and am doing a rotation in ENT right now. From what I've heard, the residency program was ousted due to budget problems. But there's a plan in the works to bring it back soon...

 

[OtoNerd]

I did a sub-I there last year. It is true, there is A LOT of work out there. You will probably log a lot of cases. I, however, was concerned that the program did not have OMFS or plastics taking face trauma call. In fact, it seemed every night of the four weeks i was there, at least one mandible fracture came in (in addition to occasional Le Forte's, etc). The program logs 8X the national avg for mandible fx! This is an operation you want to stay away from in private practice. Also, you drain dental abscesses, and treat any other dental emergency because there is no OMFS. Call is as frequent as possible and you always stay until at least noon the following day because you have clinic. The days usually start around 4:30 and end around 6:30 or 7 when you are not on call. There is a serious shortage of manpower for the amount of work to be done.

The attendings are great, each of them prominent in their specific areas. The residents are good folks. I believe that residents graduating from the program are quite proficient. I ended up ranking the program quite low, however, based on quality of life. You are going to spend 5 years, and for most of us that is our late twenties to early thirties, at a place, then one of your goals should be happiness. For me, I knew it wasn't there. I was glad I rotated there to experience it first hand.

It's a great program if you're single, no kids, and plan to keep it that way for another 5 years.

Best of luck!

OtoNerd
PGY-1, Otolaryngology

 

[neutropeniaboy]

This is an operation you want to stay away from in private practice.

I wouldn't say that, OtoNerd. Remember, as a private practice physician, if your call schedule premits, of course, you can refuse and take what you want in many cases. It's an unfortunate reality that all the uninsured mandible fractures come to us at the university, which kills us as residents, and all those mandible fractures with good insurance somehow stay out in the community.

Mandibles are good cases. ORIF of a mandible fracture requires some skill, and if you're doing external approaches, you go through the neck, and that's always good anatomy there.

If you're interested in surgery for sleep apnea, it's all related.

Besides, mandibles pay a good amount if the patient is insured.