kaiser LA vs SF vs. santa clara vs. oakland?

[bulldog]

can anyone comment on these various kaisers? I have interviews at them but wasn't sure what was strengths/weaknesses of each, particularly norcal ones.

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[smid]

I don't know too much about them, but would like to hear what others say...

I know that they are divided up into "centers", so Kaiser-SF is the Cardiac center and does all of the caths and CABG for northern california. Oakland is the Spine center and Redwood city (no residency program I don't think) is neurosurg. There are no fellowship opportunities and as a resident you consult attendings, not fellows--this is good/bad depending on who you ask. Compensation is better than other res programs (at least 50k compared to UCSF--something like 38-40k).

A lot of residents are from nor cal, which is why they are choosing Kaiser. They seem like they are very bright and just know that they want a more "laid back" atmosphere to train in. There is always an internist in house, so you have back up if you need it, but it is run pretty much like an academic hospital.

sorry that this wasn't more coherent, just some thoughts...

 

[formerlurker]

Bump-- anyone have updated thoughts on kaiser oakland vs. kaiser sf? If I only had time to interview at one, which one do I choose?

 

[Hassler]

Bump-- anyone have updated thoughts on kaiser oakland vs. kaiser sf? If I only had time to interview at one, which one do I choose?

BUMP. Same question as the above, but add in Cal Pacific as well. If I can only interview at one of them, which one should I go to?

FYI: I'm interested in Heme/Onc and am aware that it's not available in those programs, but applied because they are solid programs and I want to be in California.

 

[gutonc]

BUMP. Same question as the above, but add in Cal Pacific as well. If I can only interview at one of them, which one should I go to?

FYI: I'm interested in Heme/Onc and am aware that it's not available in those programs, but applied because they are solid programs and I want to be in California.

CPMC is a solid program, probably one of the best community programs on the West Coast. If you only have time for one of these places, CPMC would be my choice. One of the current first-year fellows in my Hem/Onc program went to CPMC and a friend of mine went there, then to Stanford for ID and now has his own lab and is tenured at Wisconsin.

 

[WayChanger]

can anyone comment on these various kaisers? I have interviews at them but wasn't sure what was strengths/weaknesses of each, particularly norcal ones.

Sorry I can't comment on the NorCal Kaisers in much detail - I applied to all of the CA Kaisers, and hope some other posters contribute to this thread.

I'm not sure if this is helpful, necessarily, but there seems to be a general consensus that Kaiser LA is the most reputable and competitive out of the 4 programs. I've heard of Kaiser LA spoken of on par with Cedars-Sinai, the other popular community program in Los Angeles. Looking at the housestaff listings available on the respective Kaiser residency websites, it certainly appears to be the most selective, as all or almost all of Kaiser LA's many residents are US-trained MD's. IMGs and DOs seem to make up much of the resident cohorts at the other Kaisers, so you can take that for what it's worth.

As to the actual *reason* for this difference, I could perhaps speculate regarding location (LA!) and the UCLA-affiliation, but maybe some other posters could shed some light on this.