Anyone knows anything about the University of Louisville program: surgical number, etc. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Good luck to all!
Louisville Program
- Thread starter mddr04
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mddr04 said:
I was a medical student there, so my input will only be from a student (not resident) prospective.
I really liked the program, and they have strong leadership at the top in
Dr. Kaplan who was the former chair at Washington University. He is an amazingly briliant man with a vision and plan for making Louisville great. It is an academic type program with many PhD's working in the Lions eye center. As far as residency is concerned, there are 3 major hospitals and one children's hospital to cover, and a Va that is a few miles down the street. All rotations are done in Louisville, so you don't need to go to BFE to get your Cataract numbers. I think the avg number from what I remember was about 120 - 150 cataracts, but don't hold me to it. I think they have most if not all of their bases covered from a subspecialty standpoint, and it would be a good place to train whether academics or private practice in is your future. Hope that helps.
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idoc said:
I will have to respectfully disagree.
There are some really bad stories about Dr. Kaplan's St. Louis behavior but, while possibly true or false, I don't have any experience working with him. Just ask St. Louis people and they will probably be know and might share with you what things happened.
I would also have to disagree that Louisville is a good program. They have holes in coverage such as oculoplastics. They also have had a turnover of some of the respected faculty, replaced with new ones which don't have much name recognition. They did get the old chair from the Univ. of Pittsburgh (who does have name recognition) and who was forced out there before coming to Louisville.
My impression is that they aren't one of programs that belong in the "programs that suck" thread but the program could be much better than it is. On the bright side, they do have quite a bit of basic science research.
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I interviewed there and almost walked out b/c the experience was so bad. I agree that there is a gap in some of the subspecialties oculoplastics and neuro, but they have hired a new oculoplastics faculty and are going to hire a neuro soon. One of the retina guys who interviewed was plain rude to me and several other applicants. The residents did seem very happy, and boasted about their surgical numbers (120+ cataracts). They did complain a lot about call (only three residents for like 4 or 5 hospitals). They might be adding a fourth resident though this year. I ended up ranking it last.
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Just ran across this little thread and wanted to set the record straight. I'm finishing my 1st year at Louisville. I'll admit that, although I attended medical school here, it was not my first choice for residency. That having been said, the program has changed significantly (and in a positive way) since I was in med school. I'll start by responding to two of the prior posts:
I've also heard rumors, but nothing specific. All I can tell you is from my own experience. Dr. Kaplan is one of the best teachers I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He can be hard on you, but he only wants you to be your best and in turn reflect well on the program. He has made great changes here and has essentially turned this program around.
Many programs have gaps, just as they have strengths. It is true that we lack a full-time plastics faculty member, but there is someone who is coming here twice per month in transition to a full-time position. Once he is here, we will be handling a lot of the orbit cases that are now covered by the various "Face" teams. We also work with Dr. Gossman, who is an amazing surgeon and well-known in the Plastics community.
Dr. Foulks ("the old chair from the Univ. of Pittsburgh") is also a great teacher and is well-respected in the Cornea community. I've no knowledge of him being "forced out," but if that was the case, it was definitely our gain.
Louisville definitely does not "suck," and it is better than you give it credit for. Moreover, it continues to improve. In fact, this year we matched 3 of our top 5 choices (Congrats to those who matched!). Lot's of good research here, that's true.
Sorry you had a bad experience, FR. If I'm guessing correctly, the "retina guy" you refer to is actually a great mind and teacher. He has some of the most cutting-edge, though perhaps radical to some, ideas in the field. Granted, he can come off as abrasive, but once you get to know him, you understand where he's coming from.
Correction: we recently hired a Neuro faculty member, and are bringing in a Plastics faculty member (see above).
Yes, we may be adding a 4th resident, but nothing is decided yet.
Our surgical numbers are good, and surgical experience is being introduced earlier now. As far as cataracts are concerned, 1st yrs get at least 3 ECCE, 2nd yrs get up to every-other-weekly phacos (depending on rotation), and 3rd yrs get up to ~3-5 phacos per week (depending on your speed and the rotation you're on). Other surgical numbers (e.g., trabs, muscles, vitrectomies) are variable, depending on your interest.
The call was pretty bad when it was Q3 for the 1st yr, because we cover 2 private hospitals, plus University, Children's, and the VA. We are transitioning to ~Q6 for yrs 1 & 2, making it much nicer. Currently, the 2nd yrs cover TF call, and the 1st yrs cover the rest. Starting July, the 2nd yrs will cover TWF, and the 1st yrs will cover the rest (this will be the ~Q6). That's roughly 1-2 calls per wk over the first 2 yrs, with weekends off in the 2nd yr. Not bad at all. Volume varies with the season, of course. It's always manageable though. Can't beat home call!
I believe Louisville is a good program that's getting better. While I am currently a resident here, I really have nothing to gain by lying about the program. Anyone who wants more information about Louisville can PM me anytime.
Visioncam said:
I've also heard rumors, but nothing specific. All I can tell you is from my own experience. Dr. Kaplan is one of the best teachers I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He can be hard on you, but he only wants you to be your best and in turn reflect well on the program. He has made great changes here and has essentially turned this program around.
Visioncam said:
Many programs have gaps, just as they have strengths. It is true that we lack a full-time plastics faculty member, but there is someone who is coming here twice per month in transition to a full-time position. Once he is here, we will be handling a lot of the orbit cases that are now covered by the various "Face" teams. We also work with Dr. Gossman, who is an amazing surgeon and well-known in the Plastics community.
Dr. Foulks ("the old chair from the Univ. of Pittsburgh") is also a great teacher and is well-respected in the Cornea community. I've no knowledge of him being "forced out," but if that was the case, it was definitely our gain.
Visioncam said:
Louisville definitely does not "suck," and it is better than you give it credit for. Moreover, it continues to improve. In fact, this year we matched 3 of our top 5 choices (Congrats to those who matched!). Lot's of good research here, that's true.
Free Radicle said:
Sorry you had a bad experience, FR. If I'm guessing correctly, the "retina guy" you refer to is actually a great mind and teacher. He has some of the most cutting-edge, though perhaps radical to some, ideas in the field. Granted, he can come off as abrasive, but once you get to know him, you understand where he's coming from.
Correction: we recently hired a Neuro faculty member, and are bringing in a Plastics faculty member (see above).
Yes, we may be adding a 4th resident, but nothing is decided yet.
Our surgical numbers are good, and surgical experience is being introduced earlier now. As far as cataracts are concerned, 1st yrs get at least 3 ECCE, 2nd yrs get up to every-other-weekly phacos (depending on rotation), and 3rd yrs get up to ~3-5 phacos per week (depending on your speed and the rotation you're on). Other surgical numbers (e.g., trabs, muscles, vitrectomies) are variable, depending on your interest.
The call was pretty bad when it was Q3 for the 1st yr, because we cover 2 private hospitals, plus University, Children's, and the VA. We are transitioning to ~Q6 for yrs 1 & 2, making it much nicer. Currently, the 2nd yrs cover TF call, and the 1st yrs cover the rest. Starting July, the 2nd yrs will cover TWF, and the 1st yrs will cover the rest (this will be the ~Q6). That's roughly 1-2 calls per wk over the first 2 yrs, with weekends off in the 2nd yr. Not bad at all. Volume varies with the season, of course. It's always manageable though. Can't beat home call!
I believe Louisville is a good program that's getting better. While I am currently a resident here, I really have nothing to gain by lying about the program. Anyone who wants more information about Louisville can PM me anytime.
