Input

[pinbor1]

HI All

Ranklists are coming down to the wire and I was hoping for some perspectives on the following programs. I would especially appreciate any pro/con input from residents or students that have rotated at these places

Christ
Hennepin
Loma Linda
Maricopa
MCOW
OSU
UIC
U Pitt

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[DrQuinn]

After being on this website for about 4 years now, and posting extensively this past interview season on this specific topic (EM), I've realized that this website is so much more take-take-take than give in regards to information. So many people post an original topic and don't contribute to it at all, and originally I had a feeling this was a similar thread.

However, I've noticed that you've been a great poster as of late...
unfortunately, I can't give you much information about the programs you requested as I turned down the interviews to go there (didn't want to travel). Good luck, though.

 

[tonem]

Pittsburgh is probably the best EM residency as far as EMS is concerned. There are tremendous research and academic opportunities. The faculty is well known and still manages to be very down to earth. The residents all seem to be very happy. Off-site rotations are top notch, particularly in surgery, ICU, etc... Encourage moonlighting as a means of learning what its like to be on your own. EMS exposure (helocopter, jeep) puts you in a position where you're pretty much the man (or woman) supervising paramedics, flight nurses in the field.

Cons: No real "County Hospital" experience.

Thats really the only program that you mentioned that i have any experience with.

 

[pinbor1]

Hi QuinnNSU and Tonem

Thanks for the input, I wish you luck in this year's match.

 

[sundermannr]

I am trying to be a better giver and less of a taker. I have to be careful because I don't want to say too much because I made the mistake of making my screen name my real last name. Now, I don't know how to change it to something more anonymous.
I saw your list. I visited Loma Linda and have to say that it is really high on my list. ( I won't say where). I posted another one talking about their International Med and Tactical and pediatrics and teaching and location etc etc. It has a great combo of the county in Riverside as well as the Tertiary in LL. You probably already know this if you rotated there.
Christ is pretty shwanky. They have a great rep and great teaching. Good experience in many environments. It is Chicago, if you are single that's OK. Otherwise, pretty expensive and bad traffic. Tons of fun though.
I guess you guys know about the rest of em as much as I do since I did not rotate at some and did not iterview at others.
Incidentally:
What is the big draw to EMS with so many people? It is great to get to know how the system works but why do people want to have such a role? I can understand if you had prior experience as and EMT. Iwas a paramedic and love working with the guys and women that do the job, but is there an academic or financial incentive to really run the EMS? Or is it just a personal interest that many of you have? Paramedics are really good at what they do and I think some of them would feel like they were being encroached on if they were too heavily "supervised."


Whew!
Sorry 'bout that.
Any more questions?
RKS

 

[tonem]

Well since you asked...

I'm interested in EMS because of my background. I'd like to go back to my old job as the medical director some day. (Incidently, the financial "rewards" aren't too shabby...the current director works about 16 hrs a week and makes $80,000). Pittsburgh is good for that because the city EMS and EM residency are so closely tied together that doing a fellowship after residency would be a "waste of time" as so many graduates of the program put it. For me, running around code 3 on the jeep would be cool for old times sake. I think the value of their EMS experience for the average resident with no interest in EMS is that it puts you out there on your own during your second year, you're making all the decisions without an attending looking over your shoulder. I remember during my anesthesiology rotation thinking how easy it was to intubate someone who was unconscious on a table after having to do it laying in broken glass on the side of a freeway. The EMS exposure at Pitt does the same thing for the residents there. I also remember wishing that more ED physicians knew what it was like outside of the ED. I think Pittsburgh's EMS providers appreciate that the doctors in the ED know what its like out on the street (I hate that expression). Pittsburgh EMS and the EM residency kind of "grew up together" so I don't think there is much animosity on the part of EMS. Anyway, thats where I'm coming from.

 

[pinbor1]

I for one have never had any real EMS experience, I was a late bloomer when it came to finding EM.

I think tonem pretty much sumarized my interest in EMS, I think it gives you an oppurtunity to test your skills and to develop some autonomy. Even though you have back up over the radio, you are the only doc in the field so ultimate responsibility is up to you. I imagine it must be a scary experience, but if you can intubate anyone in the field, I'm sure you won;t have a problem in the ED.

My biggest worry about going to a program like U Pitt is my lack of EMS experience. They tell us that we get introduced to the system, but it's got to be nuts trying to respond to calls if you don't know the city and never drove with sirens.

I haven't decided how much EMS experience I want and where I would prioritize it when i finalize my ROL in a week, but it seems that U Pitt offers a very unique experience.

Thanks for all the giving

 

[edinOH]

pinbor,

I had some significant experience in EMS before medical school and I also had the opportunity to participate in EMS during my EM months earlier this year. From what I can tell, the EMS experience in most residencies consists of a good amount of pt. care responsibility on the helo, often times depending upon your year of training, or riding around in the back of the bus trying not to loose your lunch!

While it would of course be kind of fun, I doubt you will be handed a map and the keys to the batmobile! Most of the time your EMS time will be essentially as an observer. Primarily because there really is a limited amount of care as well as complex decision making to be made in the field. Essentially all EMS care is protocol driven. Aside from resuscitation, it's pretty much IV, O2, a med or two and then transport.

 

[kickbackdude]

pinbor,

I rotated at Madigan. If you want my take on the program, look at the U of Maryland thread. It's about the fifth reply down. Anymore questions about Madigan, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.

kickbackdude

 

[DrQuinn]

EDinOH is right. Generally, EMS is very cookbooky/protocolly. As a resident, if anything you would basically approve any meds given (mainly nitro/morphine (maybe), ASA, lasix). If something cool does come along, like a need for a needle decompression or something, well, I guess you would have a go at it... but EMS is really stabilization and transport... so there's only a minimal amount a physician can add to the ambulance-based medicine. Although it is fun (I have a background as an EMT).
Q

 

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
so there's only a minimal amount a physician can add to the ambulance-based medicine. Although it is fun (I have a background as an EMT).
Q

The SMART car at SUNY-Buffalo has amputation saws and some other funky stuff...but, in my 10 years of 'ghetto medic', I've never EVER needed to cut a leg off.

I DO know that, after my second year of med school, the EMS fellow went on a call we (as EMS) were on, and I impressed the hell out of him; afterwards, I told him that I wasn't just a 'paragod'.

 

[-=[BJIC]=-]

Yes, this subject sounds interesting, indeed.