Pittsburgh Thoughts

[spoonfats]

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I haven't seen much discussion about Pitt's program, and I would be curious to hear others' thoughts about it who have interviewed there or have some familiarity. I was really impressed overall and I think I'll rank it right up there.

Here is my two cents. I was really impressed by the interview and the programs seems to have a lot of big strengths. EMS stuff ("jeep" and helicopter shifts), simulation lab (the finest I've seen anywhere), reputation, several good training sites in close proximity that are a mix of academic/community. Everybody there seemed really cool and laid back, in spite of big academic rep. 10 hour shifts (no 12's as I remember).

Minuses? At the time I didn't ask about it, but I believe I remember being told that trauma airway is shared with anesthesia, at least at one of their training sites. I thought that was a minus. Also, no dedicated peds shifts aside from a few months at big peds hospital (and no PICU months if I remember right). And I noticed that a huge number of their faculty trained at Pitt, so maybe not a lot of "crossbreeding."

I'd be curious to hear others' impressions.

 

[hello23]

Sorry for my ignorance, but why Pitt is SO considered as one of the "top" program at basically everywhere I interview?

 

[ERMudPhud]

As long as you asked, here's why I didn't rank Pitt a few years ago.

1. I wasn't all that thrilled by the Jeep because I thought chasing ambulances around town sounded like a drag so I asked why they did it . They mentioned all the cool procedures they got to do in the field. I asked if they had ever looked to see if their early interventions made a difference in patient outcomes. After all they've got years worth of patient encounters to compare to control patient where the Jeep didn't respond. They basically implied they started to look and then stopped when they weren't finding any difference. Then they further implied that at least some of the cool procedures they did in the field would have been stolen by anesthesia, surgery, or others if left to be done in the ED. Bottom line, if you are a total EMS nerd fine, otherwise its' not worth it.


2. One of the faculty who interviewed me was a real ass and I figured I don't need this for 3 years. I can't even remember his name so don't ask.

3. I didn't really want to live in Pittsburgh

 

[spoonfats]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Anybody else?

 

[bluejay68]

I interviewed at Pitt recently and here were my thoughts:


Strengths:
Pitt has a really impressive history and reputation as a great place to train. They have really smart, fun and nice residents who are very into EM and seem to get along with eachother better than anywhere else I've seen (very social, outgoing, seem to have lots of outside interests, etc).

Also, great stability at the residency director position (2 residency directors in the past 25 years), and in my opinion, one the best prehospital exposure experiences in the country (e.g., several months of physician "jeep" experience).

Pittsburgh can either be a plus or a minus, depending on what you want. Housing is very cheap, and the ability to actually buy a nice place is a real possibility. Seems like it always pops up on other people's lists of the top 3-year programs in the country (when people are forced to make these lists). Only work 8 or 10 hour shifts (never a 12), and don't seem to ever spend more than an hour past their shift (many residents said that at Mercy, where they do half of their EM rotations, they often leave right when their shift ends).

The residency offices are also in a large facility called the "Center for Emergency Medicine", which houses training labs and conferences for all different type of EM-related caregivers, so you benefit from these resources as well.

I also got the sense that the Pitt residents get really great job prospects as well from my conversations with the third years and they feel very well trained at the end (which is nice to hear when it looks like they may be having too much fun).



Weaknesses:
Again, Pittsburgh can be a plus or a minus. The weather is pretty bad for most of the year (very cold and rainy; fewer sunny days than Seattle) and the local economy is better than is used to be but not as improved as most other nearby cities. I think more people die in Pittsburgh every year than are born and they are still recovering from the devastation of the steel industry. Only get 2 weeks of vacation as intern, 3 weeks in PGY2/3 (seem to get 4 weeks every year at most other places).

As an above poster mentioned, the Jeep experience is really just for learning experience and it is questionable whether real added value to patient care occurs (but if you really are learning, as long as it doesn't hurt patients, I still consider it a good thing).

Also, I got a sense that they had very little elective time and their peds training wasn't as robust as some other places I've seen. Most residents have to arrange for an away peds month during their third year because of their relationship with the Children's Hospital (but they do it in really interesting places like Hawaii).



Anyway, I was definitely impressed with their program. Not sure if it will make my #1 at this point, but it will definitely be up there.

 

[EMSnerd]

both rotated and interviewed at Pitt.

The Jeep and flight experience is very much embraced by the residents. You don't chase the ambulances, you run medical command from the vehicle and on scene. At the scene the resident will often jump in the truck and deliver care to the patient on the trip to the hospital only returning later to pick-up the "jeep". It is important to note, the residents also have an active role on the helicopter. Nothing irritated me more than to ask about a program's flight experiences and finding that it was observational.

The recent third year class at Pitt had many residents that opted to rotate elsewhere for their peds EM month. The reason was that scheduling was done by the Peds Chief Resident and they were getting the shaft. The group effort has changed this and now they have much more say in their schedule. How much? I'm not sure, but according to the residents the faculty at Children's definitely got the message.

Had opportunity to use the Wiser Sim Center during my EM rotation and it is second to none. If you think simulation is a valuable tool, this is the place.

I was concerned about the inbreeding at this program as well. I resolved it by noting how over the past 10 years the graduates have gone to more and more diverse destinations after residency. Not sure if this actually means anything regarding the inbreeding.

+/- Pittsburgh. The 'burgh has a rich history, but with that lies in a very old population, the 2nd "oldest" county in the US (Dade Co, FL is #1). There are many folks here that are single and rather unhappy. Others that came from sunny, destination cities and have decided to stay for life. Pittsburgh doesn't have the best of any outdoor activity, but you can still do just about anything you want from hiking, kayaking, boating, skiing, biking, climbing, etc. I grew up around here and the weather isn't so bad. The seasons are a welcome change. I'll be honest... it gets a bit grey from October to March.

I'll probably rank it near the top. If for no other reason, it was the best preinterview dinner I attended. What a great group.