Can anyone tell me what they know, heard, or think about these two programs. Thanks.
little rock and SLU
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see cinncinati thread below
Razorback,
Are you a resident there? I am trying to decide where to put little rock in my rank list, and interviewed there a long time ago. What do you know about the program? Are the residents happy? Is the schedule brutal? Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Are you a resident there? I am trying to decide where to put little rock in my rank list, and interviewed there a long time ago. What do you know about the program? Are the residents happy? Is the schedule brutal? Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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I am not a resident, but an M4 at Arkansas. I can tell you that the Program Director is great and a resident advocate; the Chair is relatively new, within the past few years. Attendings trained at places like Columbia, UVA, Duke, Northwestern, Florida, all over; so your training is diverse. Residents are happy...a large percentage are Arkansas graduates. This is not a malignant program. The PGY1 year is tough, but gives a background relative to Anesthesia. Strong points are OB, Neuro and especially Peds at Arkansas Children's. The Pain department is headed by a great guy from Mayo. You will meet all numbers required and then surpass them.
Myth: Arkansas is the armpit of America- you would be pleasantly surprised to see how nice our city is...Gang Banging in Little Rock no longer airs on HBO, there is a nice social scene, shopping, etc. We have at least 1 of everything you need...except churches, we have 1 on every corner. The hospital is great, even compared to some big name private places I have visited.
However, like everything on this forum, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Myth: Arkansas is the armpit of America- you would be pleasantly surprised to see how nice our city is...Gang Banging in Little Rock no longer airs on HBO, there is a nice social scene, shopping, etc. We have at least 1 of everything you need...except churches, we have 1 on every corner. The hospital is great, even compared to some big name private places I have visited.
However, like everything on this forum, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
I am not a resident, but an M4 at Arkansas. I can tell you that the Program Director is great and a resident advocate; the Chair is relatively new, within the past few years. Attendings trained at places like Columbia, UVA, Duke, Northwestern, Florida, all over; so your training is diverse. Residents are happy...a large percentage are Arkansas graduates. This is not a malignant program. The PGY1 year is tough, but gives a background relative to Anesthesia. Strong points are OB, Neuro and especially Peds at Arkansas Children's. The Pain department is headed by a great guy from Mayo. You will meet all numbers required and then surpass them.
Myth: Arkansas is the armpit of America- you would be pleasantly surprised to see how nice our city is...Gang Banging in Little Rock no longer airs on HBO, there is a nice social scene, shopping, etc. We have at least 1 of everything you need...except churches, we have 1 on every corner. The hospital is great, even compared to some big name private places I have visited.
However, like everything on this forum, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Arkansas used to be good years ago for training, but in the past few years, it has gone through the drain, especially Arkansas Children's Hospital Pediatric Anesthesia department. There is no leadership & it is not an academic setting anymore... The faculty have no time to teach.... they are running around like a headless chicken....
Good Luck there
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Someone sounds like they have an ax to grind.
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Can't speak to Arkansas but remember SLU being incredibly strong clinically. Outside of the high volume trauma/transplant its especially ICU and Peds strong. If you are looking to do some serious research though WashU is the game in town.
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I trained at UAMS in anesthesiology in the 1980s. It was the knife and gun club, with a higher per capita murder rate than most other US cities including Washington DC making it fantastic for knife and gun trauma (and the occasional ice pick to the carotid or heart). Parts of Little Rock were absolutely beautiful places to live, work, and play. They had a community chorus that I was involved in (loads of fun), a wonderful orchestra, and many wonderful large churches. I did not have the funds for restaurants so cannot comment on their quality. Although I enjoyed the residency program immensely, it is useless for me to speculate on the quality of the current program. LR is isolated in the south, not really close to anything, but there were some entertaining places to visit such as the Eureka Springs Jazz Festival.
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I interviewed at nearly 30 programs b/c I was doing a competitive couple's match. SLU was 1 of 3 programs I refused to even rank. Unless you have to be in St. Louis, you can find better midwest programs in most states
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There are lots of IMGs at UAMS, so I don't think its a competitive program, what was your step 1 score?
UAMS is a decent program that has its problems but at the same has a committed chair and some pretty good attendings. It's no where near Harvard/ top tier but if you have slightly below average to average step scores and an interest in peds you could do worse. It has a mix of IMGs and AMGs similar to most middle tier programs in the south. I think they filled 100% of their spots this year.
The children's hospital has had some turmoil but they are actively recruiting new Attgs. They lost their peds chief and are looking for someone new. The salary package and benefits for new hires seems to be pretty competitive so I hope things will get better. Don't know specifics but I heard salary is above 350 to start, with really good bennies, retirement, etc. I think associate professors are making 400+. Not too shabby in academics. It's a work in progress but as a resident you do get exposed to a lot of high acuity peds cases.
Adult cardiac continues to be a weakness, but ob, regional and peds are pretty good. Surprisingly they have a stronger peds cardiac program than adult and they recently hired a new surgeon. In the last few years people have been able to get competitive fellowships in peds, ICU, cardiac, and pain. As long as you have decent ite scores and good recs getting a fellowship doesn't seem to be a problem.
Little Rock is a quiet town that is good for families. While it ranks at the top of a few "most dangerous city" lists, that's secondary to its low population. As long as you stay out of southwest LR or certain parts of North Little Rock you are fine. I had way more incidents with crime when I was in bigger cities like Dallas, LA, NY and Chicago.
Bottom line, if you are a below average to average AMG/DO with an interest in peds it's a program that should be on your list. As anesthesia has gotten more competive (mostly due to more medical schools opening up/ applicants) I think the only thing that would be a red flag would be failures on steps, clinical rotations, etc. Not sure about IMGs as I'm not one. It seems like the ones I know did well on steps though.
Just wanted to give an honest opinion about the program.
The children's hospital has had some turmoil but they are actively recruiting new Attgs. They lost their peds chief and are looking for someone new. The salary package and benefits for new hires seems to be pretty competitive so I hope things will get better. Don't know specifics but I heard salary is above 350 to start, with really good bennies, retirement, etc. I think associate professors are making 400+. Not too shabby in academics. It's a work in progress but as a resident you do get exposed to a lot of high acuity peds cases.
Adult cardiac continues to be a weakness, but ob, regional and peds are pretty good. Surprisingly they have a stronger peds cardiac program than adult and they recently hired a new surgeon. In the last few years people have been able to get competitive fellowships in peds, ICU, cardiac, and pain. As long as you have decent ite scores and good recs getting a fellowship doesn't seem to be a problem.
Little Rock is a quiet town that is good for families. While it ranks at the top of a few "most dangerous city" lists, that's secondary to its low population. As long as you stay out of southwest LR or certain parts of North Little Rock you are fine. I had way more incidents with crime when I was in bigger cities like Dallas, LA, NY and Chicago.
Bottom line, if you are a below average to average AMG/DO with an interest in peds it's a program that should be on your list. As anesthesia has gotten more competive (mostly due to more medical schools opening up/ applicants) I think the only thing that would be a red flag would be failures on steps, clinical rotations, etc. Not sure about IMGs as I'm not one. It seems like the ones I know did well on steps though.
Just wanted to give an honest opinion about the program.
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I interviewed at 12 programs and SLU is the only one I didn't rank. I didn't like it at all, and I LOVE St. Louis.
Be aware.... It is not about the salary, UAMS & Arkansas Children's Hospital are extremely unfair places to work at. There are few faculty, who are doing all the heavy lifting every day and then there those who are the "Chosen One" who are reaping all the benefits. Arkansas Children's Hospital hired three new people last year and all of them have left within a year along with a few seasoned faculty.
This culture of inequality is not going away anytime soon......
These are honest evaluations..... Good Luck
Be aware.... It is not about the salary, UAMS & Arkansas Children's Hospital are extremely unfair places to work at. There are few faculty, who are doing all the heavy lifting every day and then there those who are the "Chosen One" who are reaping all the benefits. Arkansas Children's Hospital hired three new people last year and all of them have left within a year along with a few seasoned faculty.
This culture of inequality is not going away anytime soon......
These are honest evaluations..... Good Luck
This culture of inequality is not going away anytime soon......
These are honest evaluations..... Good Luck
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wow
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Man, bummed to hear about UAMS and SLU getting a bad wrap. They're high on my interest list (haven't got an II there yet) and haven't heard much bad about them until this. Rotated with great attendings from both programs. Starting to wonder if you'll read dirty laundry about any residency program on here or if things like this are legit.
Tell me a place where there is not someone who feels like he or others work more than others and earn less than they should. Those generic complaints shouldn't really persuade anyone.
Well Be my guest... looks like that parcus is one of "those" guys who is getting a good deal by not working and getting all the perks...... So he is not gonna complain ..... Good luck....
By the way... it is not about one or two persons... It is a widespread part of the culture at UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital....... Wish you good luck
By the way... it is not about one or two persons... It is a widespread part of the culture at UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital....... Wish you good luck
By the way.... an update:
The chief of Pediatric Anesthesia was fired from Arkansas Children's Hospital about two months ago... and guess what.... where did he go as a new chief.... to SLU ( St. Louis University) Children's Hospital..... Good Luck to the people at SLU Children's Hospital.... Be ready fo a rocky ride and I will not be surprised if this guy is not fired again in the next one year......
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Regardless of program, there will be bad attending. The separation between a good or bad program is which is in the majority. If you're stuck in a program with bad attendings 2/3 of the time, it is going to be a long three/four years.
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Most of what I have heard about SLU from attendings and residents (from non-SLU programs) has been in the neutral-negative range, not positive.
If you can add more details, why was he fired and what makes him so intolerable?
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Are you sure it's SLU? Is it Cardinal Glennon? Or is it St. Louis Children's? Because those are separate institutions. Cardinal Glennon is linked to SLU while St Louis Children's is linked to WashU.
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It would be nice to know. Also, some insight into the program from current or recent attendees would be helpful to shed more insight. Assuming they interview me, it will be nice to see how the residents describe the program during the night before and on interview day.
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Have't received an invite yet, but would love to hear your thoughts on the program. Strengths and weaknesses?
He was fired because of his in capabilities. He was not a goods administrator at all, he got a job as a favor from his friend..... No one in the pediatric anesthesia department liked him. Clinically, he was "0" and had a lots of complication..... And this became the bases of his being fired.
Good luck with your career.
