King/Drew Program Closure

[Juicyfresh]

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I'm currently a PGY1 resident completing a pre-lim year in Internal Medicine and matched at the infamous King/Drew program last year. I desperately wanted to be in California (family reasons) for ophthalmology and after interviewing at eight programs across the country, ranked this program very highly mainly because of location. Due to many legitimate reasons, King/Drew is down-sizing many of its services including ophthalmology. The ACGME has declared this to be a catastrophic event and I've been talking to them as well as my current Program Director in addition to our GME Director about future plans for current residents.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kingdrew27sep27,1,7843732.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drew27oct27,1,4172393.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/printed...3463435.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

I've been advised to find another ophtho program in order complete my training. I'm still waiting for ACGME support to help me achieve this and also hoping my program director and GME director can support me in such an endeavor, but so far there is still nothing concrete from them and I keep waiting and waiting as I read the articles in the LA Times everyday. Its extremely stressful and frustrating to be in this position, especially during my PGY1 year when I haven't even had a chance to start ophtho and that's all I've ever been looking forward to since starting med school!

If anyone knows of any programs that can accept a PGY2 starting July 2007 (I don't think my funding should be an issue because its already allocated) or can give me ANY insight, advice, or hope, please feel free to PM me at anytime! Thanks so much in advance and best wishes to all during this year's match!

 

[Olddog1]

This happened two years ago when UT-Chat closed. I think the ACGME worked with other programs to land the residents Ophtho spots, and I think eventually they all found new homes (2 residents per year). This was done as some programs were expanding and picked up one of the residents, or for the upper levels, some were picked up by larger programs. I have no idea what the situation is in Cali but I would stay in touch with the PD to make sure they are making inquiries. Good luck.

 

[indytx]

wow, i'm really sorry that happened to you. i'm not sure if you still have to stay in california, but ut southwestern is adding a 9th spot which i understand is intended for pgy2's. don't know if this is going to be available by july 2007 but you could give them a call. GL to you!

 

[Juicyfresh]

As of this morning, King/Drew will officially be withdrawing all of its residency programs from ACGME and this will unfortunately affect 251 residents. I really appreciate all the feedback so far from SDN posters.

If anyone knows about any programs that may be expanding in the future or have the capacity to accomodate a PGY2 starting in July 2007, please PM me ASAP. Any help would greatly be appreciated during this frustrating process!

Many thanks!