Major problems at Colorado

[truth]

I am a 4th year med student at Colorado going into medicine. There are some major problems in the medicine department at Colorado. Some of you have alluded to them already.

1) They fired a very prestigious chairman last year and as a result, the program is having a difficult time hiring anyone from outside. The program is leaderless right now and there is a huge void with regards to leadership. The program looks very unstable for having done that. Furthermore, the program is having serious financial issues because Colorado had to take out over 600 million in loans to build the new hospital Fitzsimmons and as a result, they can not offer an attractive package to a strong candidate. Having a strong chair is very important.

2) While there are advantages to working in 5 hospitals, I can tell you this is just too much. You will be working in two private hospitals and this is a waste of time. None of these hospitals is connected and imagine learning 5 different systems. If any of you have worked in private hospitals you will understand (there is very little teaching).

3) The loss of Dr. Greg Fitz (who became chairman at ut southwestern) was a huge blow. He could have done great things with the dept. but Colorado did not have the vision or wisdom to keep him.

4) Friends of mine are interns here and according to them, intern year is brutal at Colorado. The interns get worked very very hard. Every year, for the past 2 years, 5 people have left the program. Two interns have already quit this year.

5) Colorado is a primary care mecca and if you are interested in going into a specialty like me, there are better places.

6) According to several people in the program I have heard that Colorado is being investigated for work hour violations by the ACGME. There have been allegations that Colorado has retaliated against some of its residents for going to the ACGME and attorneys have been involved. Also, it has been said that it is an almost certainty that Colorado will be put on probation for this. They would never tell you this and during my interview they of course never mentioned anything like this. Probation is very serious and you should not go to a program that is in jeopardy of this.

7) The ER program is very strong here and as a result they dominate all of the admissions( they will tell you who is admitted without your say). You might not think this is important but it is a cause of a great deal of stress for most of the interns and residents I have worked with.

8) There is no diversity at Colorado, everyone at Colorado is caucasian. Diversity is very important as most of you know.

9) While Denver has been nice, I feel that there are just to many problems with the program right now. One of you mentioned that you thought the program was on the slide, I would have to agree.

Good luck everyone

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[avendesora]

Thanks for the info. I have to wonder a bit at your timing -- ie, why are you posting this right before ROLs are due?

I agree with some of what you say, and from talking to various people, I disagree with some.

I will say that when I interviewed, I specifically asked where they were in the ACGME accreditation cycle (3, 4, 5 years, etc) and the person I asked was evasive and I never did get an answer. Working 100 hrs a week does not bother me, but working at an un-accredited program would.

So indulge us a little -- what is your ROL looking like? Are you going to rank CU? I would just hate to think you're saying a bunch of negative things because you're disgruntled about something or, worse yet, to knock down competition.

Seriously, though, thanks for elucidating these points.

 

[R Jeffrey]

I am also a fourth year at CU going into medicine, and I feel that I have to respond because most of what you say is either very strong OPINION or flat out wrong.

Without going number by number, I'll respond to what I think are biggest inaccuracies.

There are currently four candiates up for chair right now. Two from in house and two from other institutions. The interim chair has done a very good job of keeping the department focused and has actually been a boost to the housestaff. Schrier did a lot for the dept and brought in a lot of money, but he was not a strong advocate for the housestaff or program or student education. The vast majority of housestaff would say that they are happier with the interim chair. While we are talking about housestaff, I think most interns would agree that the program is hard. Most medicine interns in academic programs around the country would also agree that their programs are hard. Only one intern has left the medicine program this year and he transferred into psych. To fill his spot, a psych intern who wanted medicine came over. The program DOES NOT lose residents.

The program is diverse. No, it is not as diverse as a program in Boston or NYC, but Denver is obviously not a coastal city and just doesn't have the type of immigration that coastal cities have. That being said, there is a very large Latin American population and a pretty good number of African Americans. It is not all caucasian.

The five hospital thing is up for opinon. I did an externship at an east coast hospital that was only a one hospital program. I like the different hospitals. As far as teaching in the privates, one of the best attendings I had was at a private.

Primary care mecca? More than half of graduating seniors go into fellowship. Most getting their first choice.

Most importantly is the probation thing. After reading your post I looked into this and a few other things you mentioned. CU is not under probation nor is it being threated with this. The residecny review committee is sceduled to visit the program later this year. CU IS NOT BEING THREATENED WITH PROBATION.

Who are you Truth? What you have posted is not the truth. Sure, you can say that what I have responded with is conjecture and opinion too, but I think that you have posted a lot more than that. Your's is simply not right. Not that anyone reading annonymous posts on this board would change a rank list, but I felt compelled to respond. Again, who are you? If what you say is true, who is your source? I have been active in the med dept and trust who has advised me. Who are your sources?

Ryan

 

[avendesora]

So, not meaning to flog this, but "truth", are you going into medicine, or GAS? I ask because your only other three posts are inflammatory posts like this one, but in the Anesthesia forum.

Please, by all means, get back to us.

 

[drchris71]

Interviewed at CU for Psych and my wife for IM. I find most of "truth's" comments to be inaccurate. I noted that the city was very diverse esp. in regards to their hispanic population, there is also opportunities to see American Indians as well. Both programs did talk about the high work load but that comes with a high quality residency.

Sounds to me like "truth" is trying to help his match status for prelim and anesthesia .

 

[truth]

Look guys my post was meant to be informative and truthful. Do whatever you want with it. These are things that I have heard from the residents and interns and have seen for myself. I frankly do not care how you guys ranked your list. I am doing a prelim year in medicine then going into anesthesia. Good luck you all.