Nice locations with good medical centers?

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cleansocks

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Hi,

I would like to know some nice places to live with good, respectable medical centers barring major cities (ie LA, Chicago, Boston, NYC). Denver and Portland, Oregon come to mind. Places like that with decent towns/cities and respectable institutions. I've grown up in LA and gone to school in Boston so I'm fairly ignorant of these types of places! Anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry if threads like this exist already; if so I am apparently search-engine inept.

Thanks.

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It might help if you also list the field in which you're interested. Some programs are strong in one field (e.g. Peds) but weak in others (e.g. IM).
 
Yeah, it is a little tough to just guess. Maine Medical Center? Jacksonville,FL? Tampa?
 
Seattle, Portland, Denver

any ?'s about denver, pm me
 
Thx for replies! Very useful.

I'm going into anesthesia, couples matching with an IMG who is going into EM. But in this thread I'd like to just know nice places with nice medical centers, even if they don't have the best reputation in those particular fields.
 
From my part of the world and maybe places you hadn't thought of.

Maine Medical Center - Portland, ME is a really sweet city if you're a fairly open minded. Don't know too much about the medical center.

UVM (Fletcher Allen)- Burlington, VT is also a sweet city with a gorgeous lake (Champlain) and a solid medical center

Dartmouth- Lebanon/Hanover, NH is a cool place to raise a family. Especially nice if you like to ski. Gorgeous hospital. MUCH MUCH smaller than the above cities.


You probably know about most of these places if you've schooled in Boston.
 
Scott and White: Good anesthesia program in the middle of texas, but close enough to Austin to make it worthwhile. Temple, TX

UAB: One of the top anesthesia programs in the country. City is nice. Birmingham, AL

Vandy: Same as UAB, with better city. Nashville, TN

Mayo-Jacksonville: Average anesthesia program with EM program across town. Jacksonville, FL

University of Kentucky: Lexington is beautiful, good anesthesia program.

I'd echo Dartmouth, although ER opportunities would be very limited, same with MMC.
 
Well, Coastie beat me to it, but I was going to give a general shout-out for the Southeast. Wonderful weather, warm people, and has some great medical centers.

UAB is a *fantastic* medical center, strong in almost every specialty.

Emory (Atlanta), Vanderbilt (Nashville), UT-Knoxville, Duke (Raleigh-Durham), UNC-Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest (Winston-Salem) are all lovely places with top-notch medical centers.

Quite possibly the most beautiful town in the south is Charleston, SC-- MUSC is there.

and I'll echo U Kentucky-- Lexington is a very nice town.

And if you're really interested in going south, there's always Miami (though no EM program) and USF-Tampa.
 
Great replies! This is really very helpful for my upcoming residency application =).
 
Scottsdale.

Wonderful weather ( much better than that icky humidity in the South/SouthEast)).

Great scenery.

Tons of hospitals and residency programs around (in addition to Mayo).

Sitting outside on Christmas day because its a nice day.
 
USF in Tampa is nice....though I'm a bit biased...

there's also Miami, Tulane/New Orleans, etc...
 
Southeast.

Wonderful weather (much better than that "dry heat" in the Southwest)).

Great scenery.

Tons of hospitals and residency programs around.

Sitting outside on Christmas day because its a nice day.

Fixed that for you.

Big ups to BlondeDocteur for recognizing the great state of Tennessee!
 
Albuquerque has the University of New Mexico, which is the only level I trauma center in the state, as well the the tertiary referral center for NM, southern CO, northeastern AZ, and some of the TX panhandle. Albuquerque is a great place to live with spectacular sunny weather and wonderful outdoor activities year-round.

Alternatively, if you like snow, the University of Rochester has excellent training (IM is terrific) and Rochester is a great small city with a lot of fun college-town stuff to do, plus the Finger Lakes, plus easy driving distance to NYC and Toronto.

Pittsburgh is pretty much my favorite place anywhere and it has superb training at the residency and fellowship level in most specialties.

And of course, there's always Honolulu. How could you beat that?
 
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Albuquerque has the University of New Mexico, which is the only level I trauma center in the state, as well the the tertiary referral center for NM, southern CO, northeastern AZ, and some of the TX panhandle. Albuquerque is a great place to live with spectacular sunny weather and wonderful outdoor activities year-round.

Alternatively, if you like snow, the University of Rochester has excellent training (IM is terrific) and Rochester is a great small city with a lot of fun college-town stuff to do, plus the Finger Lakes, plus easy driving distance to NYC and Toronto.

Pittsburgh is pretty much my favorite place anywhere and it has superb training at the residency and fellowship level in most specialties.

And of course, there's always Honolulu. How could you beat that?

While I certainly appreciate and will research your recommendations about NM and Hawaii (!) I must disagree about Rochester being a nice city - I did undergrad there and the 9m of clouds, vacant downtown, and ubiquitous ghetto's prevented me from even considering applying to their (excellent) med program ^^. I do remember there being one area with lots of bars, which I guess is what you meant by the college-town stuff, but I was never much of a bar-hopper.
 
Ugh...that humidity is AWFUL. I feel like I can't breathe. Give me nice dry heat anyday.

But to each his own, I guess (and you still can't sit outside on Christmas Day in Tn).:p

Winged isn't mentioning though the 110+ degrees summers of which I have lived through more than one . . . gotta make the most of early am and evenings if you want to be outside in summer IMHO, just sucks that the rattlers come out around evenings!
 
When I interviewed in Phoenix/Scottsdale I was told that their weather is similar to cold-weather cities in a certain way: in each location you don't go out much for about three months out of the year.

The difference is, you try to stay in during the three harshest months of winter in cold-weather cities, while you try to stay in during the three summer months in Phoenix/Scottsdale.
 
When I interviewed in Phoenix/Scottsdale I was told that their weather is similar to cold-weather cities in a certain way: in each location you don't go out much for about three months out of the year.

The difference is, you try to stay in during the three harshest months of winter in cold-weather cities, while you try to stay in during the three summer months in Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Yeah, Phoenix summers certainly make it hard to get out during the day during really five months:

Average May Phoenix High Temperature: 92.4
Average June Phoenix High Temperature: 102.3
Average July Phoneix High Temperature: 105
Average August Phoenix High Temperature: 102.3
Average September Phoenix High Temperature: 98.2

In October we finally see the heat break usually, plus there are monster Monsoon storms which really make you stay inside, but overall it bakes. At noon each year I like to fry eggs in pan outside using just the sun's heat, . . . once in school I left my crayons in a lunch box outside, bad mistake, they melted!

Like we say locally, in the summer the devil stays in Phoenix and rents outs hell. Right now I am reading a cardiology text, indoors, and it is saturday, . . . maybe a good place to go if you want to read a lot. Phoenix gets much more humidity than Tucson and other areas around the state because of all the man-made lakes
 
Ugh...that humidity is AWFUL. I feel like I can't breathe. Give me nice dry heat anyday.

But to each his own, I guess (and you still can't sit outside on Christmas Day in Tn).:p

I can and have done just that.

And I love the summer heat. You're supposed to sweat outside during summertime. Tennessee is so green and vibrant during spring and summer, and winter's pretty short/mild. The absolute best time of year is fall, though. Fall in the mountains of East Tennessee absolutely can't be beat; perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, leaves changing to every color imaginable, football Saturdays...

From Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga and Knoxville, every part of Tennessee is beautiful and unique in its own way. The mighty Mississippi River in West Tennessee, the Tennessee River in Middle and East Tennessee, the Smokies in East Tennessee...I've never seen a more beautiful state. I've been all over the country, and if I could have stayed in Tennessee I'd have never left.
 
Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, IN) has good programs in both anesthesia and EM as well as a large medical center. The town is friendly and has most amenities you would want. Housing is affordable, and the commute is reasonable (and virtually non-existant if you decide to live downtown, which is still affordable if you get an apartment rather than a house). PM with questions.
 
Average May Phoenix High Temperature: 92.4
Average June Phoenix High Temperature: 102.3
Average July Phoneix High Temperature: 105
Average August Phoenix High Temperature: 102.3
Average September Phoenix High Temperature: 98.2

Eh, May and September don't sound THAT bad. We've been averaging temperatures in the mid-90s here for a while now. Last summer was even worse - temperatures were regularly in the high-90s.
 
Winged isn't mentioning though the 110+ degrees summers of which I have lived through more than one . . . gotta make the most of early am and evenings if you want to be outside in summer IMHO, just sucks that the rattlers come out around evenings!

Honestly, maybe its just me, but the heat doesn't bother me. And its really not THAT hot here; I mean despite what Blade was told, its not like you stay inside 3 months out of the year unless you have some sort of thermoregulation problem. Do we have days that hit 118? Sure, but the average temps tend to be between 98 and 105 in the summer. I know its a cliche, but tell me that 102 with 25% humidity is worse than 90 with 70% humidity.

I cannot stand humidity and while snow is fun to visit, it is much less fun to live in and I get cold easily.

Granted I probably would not want to be a laborer outside in the 110 but last weekend when it was 107, I was walking around outside and driving with the top down and thought it felt nice.

Rattlers, OTOH, would not be a favorite of mine. Fortunately, I live in a somewhat urban environment and have only heard coyotes outside my house.
 
I can and have done just that.

And I love the summer heat. You're supposed to sweat outside during summertime. Tennessee is so green and vibrant during spring and summer, and winter's pretty short/mild. The absolute best time of year is fall, though. Fall in the mountains of East Tennessee absolutely can't be beat; perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, leaves changing to every color imaginable, football Saturdays...

From Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga and Knoxville, every part of Tennessee is beautiful and unique in its own way. The mighty Mississippi River in West Tennessee, the Tennessee River in Middle and East Tennessee, the Smokies in East Tennessee...I've never seen a more beautiful state. I've been all over the country, and if I could have stayed in Tennessee I'd have never left.

Do you work for the Tn Tourist Board?! :p
 
Rattlers, OTOH, would not be a favorite of mine. Fortunately, I live in a somewhat urban environment and have only heard coyotes outside my house.

Everything is rural in Arizona in terms of rattlers, there are always washes or strips of desert in even "urban areas" I have seen them make a nest underneath homes in alledgedly "urban areas"!! . . . but i'm surprised you live in the more urban areas of phoenix, the best places to live have a good chunk of desert around them, worth the occassional rattler or two. Coyotes scare me less than wild javelinas which I have seen on occassion when walking around the desert, (I saw a pack of five of them, a mom and four baby javelinas I guess) those things are nasty! They can supposedly carry rabies and sometimes attack people for the fun of it even they don't have rabies as they hunt in packs. . . Eventually when you live in Arizona a while you will see it all. Once when I was running I came upon a rattler (I think) and simply jumped over it as I was going too fast too stop!!

Roadrunners, bats, and scorpions, Oh My!

One place to visit if you aren't familiar with the creepies and crawlies is down in Tucson:

www.desertmuseum.org/

Its really is awesome!

You have to plan your day well in Arizona if you want to survive the heat. I.e. shop when it is hot during the day, or go to the mall or there are a lot of indoor activities. Morning and evenings are actually pretty decent I think that is when the towns really come alive. And park your car in the shade!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, . . . I know It's a Dry Heat. I had a t-shirt that I wore for YEARS that had a skeleton with a sombrero drinking a margarita and it said something like 118 degree, "At least its a dry heat!" - - - that is how we delude people into living here and driving around with the top down on their cars like it is LA, come September you will be looking at the calendar to try to figure out when things start to "get cooler outside"
 
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Indy anesthesiology is near impossible to get unless you're an IU student, although this is slowly changing.

Make sure to put programs which help the OP (IMG EM plus presumably AMG Anesthesiologist).

Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, IN) has good programs in both anesthesia and EM as well as a large medical center. The town is friendly and has most amenities you would want. Housing is affordable, and the commute is reasonable (and virtually non-existant if you decide to live downtown, which is still affordable if you get an apartment rather than a house). PM with questions.
 
. . . but i'm surprised you live in the more urban areas of phoenix, the best places to live have a good chunk of desert around them, worth the occassional rattler or two.

I don't live in Phoenix, but I have some student loans to pay off before I can afford a home in DC Ranch, PV or Fountain Hills.:p Besides, it didn't make much sense to me to buy a big ol' house just for myself.

Coyotes scare me less than wild javelinas which I have seen on occassion when walking around the desert, (I saw a pack of five of them, a mom and four baby javelinas I guess) those things are nasty!

The coyotes run around the golf course and I occasionally hear a cat, which I fear they are stalking for dinner; that's why I am scared of them.

You have to plan your day well in Arizona if you want to survive the heat. I.e. shop when it is hot during the day, or go to the mall or there are a lot of indoor activities. Morning and evenings are actually pretty decent I think that is when the towns really come alive. And park your car in the shade!

... come September you will be looking at the calendar to try to figure out when things start to "get cooler outside"

I grew up in the central valley of California where it gets just as hot as it does here, so know all the tricks about keeping cool and what to expect. But honestly, I like the hot weather and have never had much of a problem with it...except those leather seats in the car and leaving CDs, lipsticks, etc out in the sun. Remember us girls tend to get chilled more easily.

At any rate, back to the OP's question...
 
I don't live in Phoenix, but I have some student loans to pay off before I can afford a home in DC Ranch, PV or Fountain Hills.:p Besides, it didn't make much sense to me to buy a big ol' house just for myself.



The coyotes run around the golf course and I occasionally hear a cat, which I fear they are stalking for dinner; that's why I am scared of them.



I grew up in the central valley of California where it gets just as hot as it does here, so know all the tricks about keeping cool and what to expect. But honestly, I like the hot weather and have never had much of a problem with it...except those leather seats in the car and leaving CDs, lipsticks, etc out in the sun. Remember us girls tend to get chilled more easily.

At any rate, back to the OP's question...

LOL, well, I have family who have lived in "Scottsdale" since world war 2 back when there was a lot more farm land than now, and they always just say that they live in Phoenix, . . . I lump all of the outlying areas around Phoenix as part of Phoenix, . . . but if you want to think/say you live in Scottsdale and not Phoenix then fine with me.:p Scottsdale has sure changed over the years. . . Size of the house doesn't matter and wasn't what I said when I meant living near desert, location, location, location, there are plenty of places that aren't big, but closer to out of doors that don't cost that much, especially in today's market anywho. Anyway, I think living near a mall you can walk to is the most helpful way to survive the summer. Knowing that in 2 minutes times I can be in a food court/bookstore/movie theatre and without my car is the only way to go!
 
My top 5:

Austin, finest city in the country - several large clinics (like the Mayos) and six new hospitals.

Albuquerque - very nice city to live in, good university hospital with everything.

Seattle - we all know why.

Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham - we all know why.

Gainesville - very nice area, good university hospital with everything, and two oceans 45 miles to the east and west.
 
I am surprised no one has mentioned the research triangle area. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is home to two outstanding universities (Duke and North Carolina) and is a wonderful place to live. EDIT: Actually, BlondeDocteur did, and included Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, where I have never been personally.
 
My top 5:

Austin, finest city in the country - several large clinics (like the Mayos) and six new hospitals.

Albuquerque - very nice city to live in, good university hospital with everything.

Seattle - we all know why.

Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham - we all know why.

Gainesville - very nice area, good university hospital with everything, and two oceans 45 miles to the east and west.

Gainesville sucks and everyone knows it. Stop with your evil lies.

On a related note, if you can tolerate the W-S, then Wake is an awesome medical center. I loved their plastics program. And it isn't too far from Tennessee.
 
My top 5:

Austin, finest city in the country - several large clinics (like the Mayos) and six new hospitals.

Albuquerque - very nice city to live in, good university hospital with everything.

Seattle - we all know why.

Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham - we all know why.

Gainesville - very nice area, good university hospital with everything, and two oceans 45 miles to the east and west.



austin, while lovely, doesn't have an EM residency.
:)

Dallas/houston aren't bad, if you don't mind the heat and they have residencies in both.
 
LOL, well, I have family who have lived in "Scottsdale" since world war 2 back when there was a lot more farm land than now, and they always just say that they live in Phoenix, . . . I lump all of the outlying areas around Phoenix as part of Phoenix, . . . but if you want to think/say you live in Scottsdale and not Phoenix then fine with me.

I usually say Phoenix as well to people who aren't from the area. Was just clarifying that I'm not in downtown, more "urbany" areas of town since you commented on it.

Frankly, its sort of embarassing to live in Scottsdale given the negative connotations some have. But I don't "think" I live in Scottsdale - its an incorporated city, just as much a city as Glendale, Peoria, Mesa, Tempe, etc. are, separate from Phoenix. My mailing address "proves" I live here.
 
My top 5:

Austin, finest city in the country - several large clinics (like the Mayos) and six new hospitals.

Albuquerque - very nice city to live in, good university hospital with everything.

Seattle - we all know why.

Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham - we all know why.

Gainesville - very nice area, good university hospital with everything, and two oceans 45 miles to the east and west.
Austin definitely has nothing like the Mayos, and it may have six hospitals, but only one (the aging county hospital) has residencies - and as roja said, EM and anesthesia are not among them. Great place to work after residency though, and if you want to be close to Austin, there's Scott & White in Temple or UTHCSA in San Antonio.
 
The Austin Regional Clinic and the Austin Diagnostic Clinic were designed to be mini-mayos, and they work very well.

There is no EM nor anesthesia residency here, so my Austin recommendation is moot.

For EM, I would think that one would want to res in a larger city. You can live in Berkeley and work in Oakland, as an example. :)
 
The Austin Regional Clinic and the Austin Diagnostic Clinic were designed to be mini-mayos, and they work very well.
I don't want to belabor this or pick on Austin, but seriously. Maybe they were designed that way, but it's pretty tough to compare local multispecialty outpatient clinics (no matter how good they are) with the multi-state, in- and outpatient Mayo system, which has a medical school, hundreds of residencies, its own journal, research in the top 50 for NIH grant funding, transplant programs, and is a quaternary referral center in 3 states.
 
OK RTrain,

I'm not saying that the Austin Clinincs are the Mayo. Mayo is in its own league. At the founding of the two Austin Clinics they were to mimic the type of care and business model of the Mayo. Doctor owned facilities and doctor managed. For what they do, the Austin clinics do very well, and have a well earned local reputation of giving a patient better comprehensive care than can be found in any another type of similar practice.

I favor the private clinic model of medicine practice for my medical needs. One set of paperwork, integrated consults, doctor familiarity, and the resulting lower costs of it all.
 
OK RTrain,

I'm not saying that the Austin Clinincs are the Mayo. Mayo is in its own league. At the founding of the two Austin Clinics they were to mimic the type of care and business model of the Mayo. Doctor owned facilities and doctor managed. For what they do, the Austin clinics do very well, and have a well earned local reputation of giving a patient better comprehensive care than can be found in any another type of similar practice.

I favor the private clinic model of medicine practice for my medical needs. One set of paperwork, integrated consults, doctor familiarity, and the resulting lower costs of it all.
Agreed. :thumbup: And sorry to hijack, this couldn't be less relevant to the OP's question. :oops:
 
For EM, I would think that one would want to res in a larger city. You can live in Berkeley and work in Oakland, as an example. :)

My S.O. actually wouldn't mind a smaller community ER.

Agreed. :thumbup: And sorry to hijack, this couldn't be less relevant to the OP's question. :oops:

I think it's useful to have people arguing about whether a medical center / city is good or not, though I agree since Austin doesn't have EM / anesth it's less useful in this case =).

Thanks to everyone for continuing to suggest places!
 
Don't forget about UVA. A bit smaller, but respectable medical center in a town with plenty of culture. 15 minutes to the mountains, under two hours to DC and the coast.
 
I'm putting in another vote for Vandy in Nashville. It's hard to believe this place is a trauma 1 center in the middle of a nice campus with preppy kids all over the place, upscale living nearby, and a walkable community so little driving is necessary if you live in the neighborhood and actually use the sidewalks. I was very anti moving to TN, but in retrospect, thank goodness match passed over Morgantown, WV and put me at Vandy instead.
 
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When I interviewed in Phoenix/Scottsdale I was told that their weather is similar to cold-weather cities in a certain way: in each location you don't go out much for about three months out of the year.

The difference is, you try to stay in during the three harshest months of winter in cold-weather cities, while you try to stay in during the three summer months in Phoenix/Scottsdale.

The real difference is that in the North you are cocooning with your honey by the fire with some hot cocoa and schnapps during those three months :love:, whereas in the sticky south and desert southwest you pray the AC stays on for three months so that you can stand to touch each other....
 
I should chime in with a NC recommendation as it's my home and where I did undergrad and med school.


Central NC with UNC and Duke is awesome. Wake is my undergrad home and it's a cool city too. Up and coming with more banking type stuff. Used to be more blue collar than it is now. I did med school at East Carolina and while it doesn't pop up on too many radars the EM program produces good doctors. It's most know, however, for Bariatric surgery and minimally invasive CT surg. Greenville, NC is close to the beach and the cost of living is REALLY low. It gets really hot in the summers.

I'll also echo TN. Awesome state with some great training programs.
 
I will state that TN is a good place for training, however, Vandy isn't too keen on the IMG front (or on the "from Tennessee" front either, as they really wish they were in Cali or the Northeast), and Chattanooga is the only other EM residency in the state, but there is no gas there. So I would tentatively chalk it off the list.
North Carolina is good, because you can both apply to the Durham/Chapel Hill area and have more "live together" options in that you can live between the two and work in both. Big cities help your cause with couples matching.
Norfolk and Richmond might be options.
I'll agree with Dr. Dre and say that no amount of money could make me live in Gainesville. I just don't own enough denim shorts.
Birmingham would be a good option as well. I'm sure there are places in the Midwest that people like, I just can't imagine why personally. Maybe they like the flatness,the hot summers/cold winters/tornados/plagues of locusts.
 
I will state that TN is a good place for training, however, Vandy isn't too keen on the IMG front (or on the "from Tennessee" front either, as they really wish they were in Cali or the Northeast), and Chattanooga is the only other EM residency in the state, but there is no gas there. So I would tentatively chalk it off the list.
North Carolina is good, because you can both apply to the Durham/Chapel Hill area and have more "live together" options in that you can live between the two and work in both. Big cities help your cause with couples matching.
Norfolk and Richmond might be options.
I'll agree with Dr. Dre and say that no amount of money could make me live in Gainesville. I just don't own enough denim shorts.
Birmingham would be a good option as well. I'm sure there are places in the Midwest that people like, I just can't imagine why personally. Maybe they like the flatness,the hot summers/cold winters/tornados/plagues of locusts.

Amen to that...what the hell is it with UF and denim shorts?

Also, it's true that Chattanooga's the only UT campus with an EM residency, but Knoxville has gas and it's about an hour-hour and a half away from Chattanooga. So if you had to end up at separate institutions, that would be far from the worst combo. Plus, whichever one was doing gas would get to live in Knoxville. Bigtime bonus.
 
While I hate to state it because people might actually move there. Look at Denver. There is a anesthesiology residency at the University and EM at DG. The weather is beautiful.

David Carpenter, PA-C
 
worst combo. Plus, whichever one was doing gas would get to live in Knoxville. Bigtime bonus.

What a strange world you live in that thinks K-town is a bonus.
Maybe if you have a side business making and selling traffic cones. Plus, to live halfway would be Sweetwater. Mmmm, underground lake.
 
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