NoCal Prelim Programs

[swman]

I am trying to apply to 5 prelim programs in Northern CA and would appreciate if current/past residents, or maybe just people who interviewed there, could weigh in with pros/cons. I am choosing from this group:

San Joaquin
Alameda
Kaiser-Oakland
CPMC
Kaiser-SF
St. Mary's
Santa Clara Valley
Kaiser-Santa Clara

Thanks!

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[cartoondoc]

I am somewhat familiar with all these programs and very familiar with a few:

Alameda: Low income area, lots of hands on stuff, call fairly infrequent, but you deal wiith a huge amount of social issues which can be frustrating

Kaisers: All seemed like nice facilities. SF seemed like objectively the best. SC had issues in the past but seems like they've cleaned up their act. Oakland seemed okay, but was in Oakland.

CPMC: Good teaching, one of the most prestigious non-university programs in NoCal

Santa Clara Valley: Lots of hands on stuff, get to see all the bread and butter stuff, need to deal with a lot of social issues, 50% non-English speaking patients