Ohio Anesthesiology Residency

[c424]

Can anyone offer input on Anesthesiology residency at either Ohio State or University Hospitals? It's coming down to the wire and at this point I'm very confused on which to rank #1.

I think I would be very happy at either, and I'm not sure what my gut is telling me to do. Both programs seem really similar- but I may be completely wrong on that and that's why I need some help! I don't have a preference in terms of which city (Cleveland vs Columbus)- just looking for thoughts/comparisons on the programs themselves.

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[zagazig]

In my opinion, Ohio State >> University Hospitals.

Columbus is a much more fun place to live. It is so much more fun than cleveland. Columbus is a mid-sized midwest city with 50,000 OSU students and there's always something going on.
OSU faculty are down to earth (The Chair takes call).
Plenty of opportunities to do research - but it is not forced.

UH was also very impressive when I interviewed there.
The faculty were extremely down to earth, but I had a few weird interviewers. I felt like it was painful having a conversation with some faculty members.
However, the facilities are beautiful. I don't know much about the research that's happening here.

In the end, I think it comes down to the city - Cleveland such a lost cause that I don't think I'd have fun outside of work! For some reason, OSU tends to attract fun people, and I for one like fun people.

 

[c424]

I agree that Columbus is a much better city, by far. However I can't help but wonder if there will be more options after residency at UH (academics, fellowships) compared to OSU, since UH's program seems more academically oriented than OSU's.

 

[NPO]

In my opinion, Ohio State >> University Hospitals.

Columbus is a much more fun place to live. It is so much more fun than cleveland. Columbus is a mid-sized midwest city with 50,000 OSU students and there's always something going on.
OSU faculty are down to earth (The Chair takes call).
Plenty of opportunities to do research - but it is not forced.

UH was also very impressive when I interviewed there.
The faculty were extremely down to earth, but I had a few weird interviewers. I felt like it was painful having a conversation with some faculty members.
However, the facilities are beautiful. I don't know much about the research that's happening here.

In the end, I think it comes down to the city - Cleveland such a lost cause that I don't think I'd have fun outside of work! For some reason, OSU tends to attract fun people, and I for one like fun people.

Current CA2 @ University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University (CRWU)

I'm sorry your interview experience was suboptimal. We have a fairly significantly sized faculty so as you can imagine, we do have the full spectrum of personality types. With that said, the vast majority of our staff is extremely friendly and very easy to get along with. We interact with our attendings outside of the ORs. Our department picks up the tab for many functions and then we also have residents/attendings doing things like golf/ski/bar hopping.

In terms of research, not mandatory. But the opportunities are certainly there! If there's a field you are interested in, we can chat more about all the possibilities.

In terms of city, don't give up on Cleveland just yet! There are multiple things to do. Sure, we aren't NYC so we don't have the congestion or rush hour traffic. If you're into food, there are multiple farmers markets throughout the city, the most famous of which is the West Side Market. In terms of restaurants, Cleveland is known to be a foodie town. Michael Simon, one of the iron chefs, has multiple restaurants in the city. We can talk much more about this!

Want to do something different? Watch Groupon over the next few days. I check it regularly and it's definitely helped me find out some things to do that I would never have imagined. Flight lessons, sky diving, water skiing/parachuting, horseback riding.

Hopefully my contribution is helpful to anyone considering UHCMC. Please don't hesitate to contact me as there is so much more inside info that I could provide to make your decision that much more difficult.

 

[MatchingGas]

Can anyone comment on hours and workload, specifically call schedule?

Having lived in both Cleveland and Columbus, I agree that I prefer Columbus, but Cleveland does get a bad rap (unless you hate the snow in which case I can understand), it is nicer than it seems, but I love Columbus and would love to move back there.

During my interviews it seemed like the OSU residents were a little overworked. The UH residents seemed to be happier and a more cohesive group. Both programs were impressive and would provide great training. I personally would be happy at either one, but ranked UH higher for spouse employment purposes (and I like the snow).

 

[Notanerd]

UH does seem nice BUT it doesn't seem like they do any transplants there , it seemed like they have minimal cardiac cases and currently there is no trauma experiences. They are becoming level 1 so it's gonna be a mess for a little while.

 

[NPO]

UHCMC

Our program director adheres to and abides by all ACGME rules. 80 hour work rule... We do more like probably 60. We have a voluntary system of moonlighting in which 2 people are paid to stay late at the rate of 65/hr. This is in addition to the call team and our anesthetist force. In this way, we are able to get people out to home.

Call starts off at 5-6 a month for CA1's and decreases as you become a CA3 to only about 3 a month. Also as a CA3, you don't take Saturday call!

 

[NPO]

UH does seem nice BUT it doesn't seem like they do any transplants there , it seemed like they have minimal cardiac cases and currently there is no trauma experiences. They are becoming level 1 so it's gonna be a mess for a little while.

Whoa, before this mis-information gets perpetuated...

Transplants
We do all transplants. Liver, heart, lung, kidney, pancreas, etc. The only ones we don't do at the moment are bowel transplants.

Cardiac
Sure we don't have the volume to support a cardiac fellowship. However when you rotate on your cardiac month you will be doing 1-2 hearts a day every day. You will do cabg, valves, ecmo, VADS, and even minimally invasive stuff like TAVRs. You do essentially 2 months of cardiac plus a separate month of TEE where your primary responsibility is to learn tee. You will go from one heart room to the next doing only TEE. Many of our ca3s end up taking the basic TEE exam which demonstrates our volume. Also during your TEE month, you take liver call. So any liver that comes in, you're front lining it.

Trauma
Rainbow Babies and Children's is part of UHCMC. It is also the only level 1 pediatric trauma center in the area. So please understand that if you come to UH, you absolutely positively will be doing trauma.

Currently, if for some reason you do not get your trauma numbers (which would be rare), we have an agreement with U Cincinnati. Our department pays for your hotel room while you are there. You only do trauma, nothing else. Most of our CA3s have found this to be a great opportunity for study time so they do it even if they've already got the numbers at UHCMC.

In exchange for trauma, we provide U Cincinnati with cardiac. (goes back to our cardiac volume)


Hopefully that clears things up. I would be happy to provide more in depth info to anyone interested.

 

[c424]

Anyone have any input on OSU's schedule/hours?

 

[anesthapplicant]

Current CA2 @ University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University (CRWU)

I'm sorry your interview experience was suboptimal. We have a fairly significantly sized faculty so as you can imagine, we do have the full spectrum of personality types. With that said, the vast majority of our staff is extremely friendly and very easy to get along with.

i'll second the interview experience being suboptimal as you say - though i didn't let it really affect my positive view of the program since i liked the residents and program and nearman seemed like one of the best chairs on the trail

but you guys have to tell nearman to get rid of the old chair cascorbi as an interviewer

he was at best uncomfortable and awkward to speak with and at worst a total jerk according to everyone on my interview day

no reason to use someone like that in the interview / recruitment process when he only puts people off

it's nice that he's a bigtime researcher, but he needs to develop some people skills