delicious said:
Hey tjb. Are you married? And do you have a family? Just curious about mayo.
Yes I am married and within this week or so will have an official family.
Mayo is a program many overlook. Unless you spend some time there, it is hard to get a good feel for the program. I'm originally from the midwest so the city of Rochester is perfect. They have 5 full-time attendings which work exclusively for the clinic, which are all great personable people. The private practice training is by far the best I have seen. When I externed, they were doing at least 3-4 3rd molar cases morning and afternoon as well as other procedures (implants/biopsies/extractions), they placed ~350 implants last year and the outpatient clinic runs 5 days/week. There is no dental school or for that matter many oral surgeons in the city, so the majority of everything comes to the clinic. The outpatient clinic is brand new, as well as the entire Oral surgery dept as of Nov. People who have interviewed this year can attest that it is likely the best resident working facilities in the country. The OR cases go 5 days per week with a whole array of procedures, the week I was there I saw a rib harvest/graft, amealoblastoma resection, 2 double jaws, temporal bone implants, 2 total joint replacements, free fibula flap and a few other small things in terms of consults (ex. Treacher Collins). Now they have a new cancer attending that did the fellowship in Oregon which has taken off better than most imagined. In the next few years it will only get better as they are considering a head/neck fellowship. The medical education is by far the most broad and thorough of other OMS programs since there are only 42 students per class and you have to do the first 3 years of med school. People will say that the trauma is weak and it may be, but you are sent to Jacksonville for 3 months to do strictly trauma which sounds much better, unlike at most programs where you can get rundown and play catch-up with all the trauma that comes through taking away from your other procedures. The perks of the program are unmatched, such as free med school, etc. The thing with Mayo is they are content with how others observe them and don't get all caught up in the "we're more hardcore than you" thing. The residents are trained to do well in private practice or in academics and the Mayo name doesn't hurt. The patient population is the same you will see in private practice, which is important. Lastly, family life is possible at Mayo. No traffic, home call for the most part and affordable housing make it a very unique program. Others will disagree with things I have said, but everyone has different professional goals, Mayo just seemed to fit me best.
tjb