Hi! Got an invite from Jackson-Memorial, wanted to know about the program...camaderie among residents? would you consider it malignant? how approachable are attendings? Do they send out a large number of interview invites? What time do residents arrive in the morning and go home? What is a typical call like? I'm interested in either critical care or trauma eventually and that's part of why I'm so interested in the program. What about the PICIS system? Where are the residents from, mostly UM students? I couldn't find a list of residents online. I
Camraderie...We are allegedly now the biggest program in the country, so as you can imagine there is plenty of opportunities to make friends conversely with a program of this size you are bound to have personality issues with a few people. All in all camraderie is here.
Malignant...There are +/- 80 attendings on faculty plus others at outside hospitals we rotate through. In my experience I have not had a "malignant" one, a few lazy ones, a few who dont care but majority are willing to teach if you are willing to learn and come prepared to learn. I think attendings have bonuses tied to evals by residents!
Attendings are generally cool, and few you will go out and party like a rockstar with, seriously!
PICIS- are in every OR at Jackson. Its ok. The main benefits are obvious but there are downsides. First, you have to open it up and get it running, which is not fun when you have a trauma patient with an open chest that is flying back to the OR. It records everything, everything, everything, and everything.
Residents(~100)- I would guestimate that a 1/4 to 1/3 are UM grads. The rest are from all over the US. And a small minority from outside the US( India, Lebanon, Belgium, Europe, Cuba, Brazil). All in all a diverse group, with some interesting backrounds.
Dynamics of program....basically broken up into monthly rotations
CA-1
1. Trauma-Trauma here has its own hospital(ICU's/wards six OR's/etc..), call is Q4, as a junior you come in on your call day at 2pm, see preops and if on Tuesday go to lecture from 3:30-5. Then you work! Call is often very busy lots of blunt and penetrating trauma. P.S.-great rotation to get friendly with highway troopers and cops- helps if you have a lead foot...lol/jk
2. Main OR- the beast of all beast..26 ORs, Q4 call. When on call you come in and start your 7:30 case. At 3ish you will get relieved to eat, sleep, study, surf the internet, fix drug discrepencies, smoke, etc...Then depending on how busy it is you will get called back to work usually no earlier than 7:30. When not on call you generally will get relieved at 3:30 to see you preops for the next day and then go home. MOR can be very busy until 11 or so, then it seems to shut down. But you can and will have cases i.e transplants of all various ilk going in the middle of the night. Nothing like starting a bean at 4AM! P.S- there is a preopclinic for AMB/AM admits which you dont rotate thru, in which an electronic eval will be generated and e-mailed to you, including labs and studies(this is a good thing)
3. VA- Well its the VA. 8 ORs Q5ish homecall except saturdays. You will be last out on call and first out postcall. No postcall day off unless you work past 9ish or so. Very good rotation, daily resident driven morning conferences.
4. Slyvester Cancer center- 4 ORs. You see and get to intubate lots of funky airways. The call is q4. It is home call. In general no cutting on weekends, so they are free. Downside is you often find yourself stuck in a room at 5pm "postcall".
5. Bascom Palmer eye Institute-q4 ish homecall. In general free weekends. You will become a MACdaddy at this place.
6. Mt. Sinai- 14 ORs. q5 in house call, postcall day off. You see how private practice is, with quick turnovers, lots of LMA's and relatively quick surgeries. Busy.
7. ICU-
a. VA- anesthesia run, absolute tremendous rotation. You get a tremendous amount of teaching, lots of lectures, and great attendings. Q4 call
b. Trauma ICU- surgery/anesthesia run. This rotation is plus minus depending on your personality and what attendings are rounding that month. In general can be a great rotation in terms of running codes, placing CT's, bedside trachs and central line placement.
And well that is the scoop on the core stuff here at UM. Unfortunately my fingers are getting tired, but if you want to know about subspecialty rotations or anything else let me know.
