GAS externship at Stanford: best site?

[Ruban]

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Hi all,
I'm interested in doing an externship at Stanford, and there are several sites to choose from. My main goals of the externship are: 1) learn more anesthesiology, and 2) get a LOR from anesthesia faculty.

Can anyone recommend the best sites? The options are:
300A. Stanford Hospital Anesthesia Operating Room Clerkship (Director: Myer Rosenthal)

300C. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Anesthesia Operating Room Clerkship (Director: Kevin Chan)

300D. Kaiser Santa Clara Medical Center Anesthesia Operating Room Clerkship (Director: David Newswanger)

300E. Palo Alto Medical Foundation Anesthesia Operating Room Clerkship (Director: Paul Eckinger)

Thanks!

 

[Skrubz]

I don't know if there's any one best site for #1... The attendings at Stanford can be hit & miss (though more often hits for those that the med students and CA-1s are assigned to) and if you're there early in the academic year, you may be fighting with the CA-1s for attention because they have the med student ride pillion with a resident (try to get with a CA-2 or 3 for maximum exposure to procedures).

VA has less attendings overall and they tend to "babysit" more, especially at the beginning of the month, which can be good because they're around to answer questions and teach. It's also a much slower pace, so there's more time for teaching. You still ride pillion, though, and at the beginning of the year the VA is largely populated by CA-1s. I think some of the people who are assigned to "Stanford" are then sent over to the VA.

Valley is definitely hit & miss. Kevin Chan is a great guy and there are some really good attendings there, but there are also some not-so-good ones. Chan seems pretty protective of the students, though, and tries to get you one-on-one with an attending by the end.

As for #2, Stanford > VA > Valley. If you're really gunning for the LOR, you're probably better off biting the bullet and going to Stanford (the big house). Some of the VA people carry some weight too (Kevin Fish, Steve Howard, Dave Gaba).

I can't say anything about Kaiser or PAMF, because we don't work them as residents.