Programs in the Southeast

[Pegasus]

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Hey Guys,

I was wondering if someone can give some insight to programs such as workload, procedures (do you do them or does surgery), ect for programs such as Fl, Tx, SC, Ga, NC. (for instance, I saw an old post that said that Emory folks are overworked...see, I would never have known!) 😱

I realize that some of this info is only from word of mouth, but of course it wont be posted on their website, and I am trying to narrow down my list for applications this year.

I would appreciate any knowledge.
You guys have been awesome on here and very helpfu!

Thanks
Pegasus

 

[sweetfynesse]

Pegasus,

I did an away EM rotation at Univ of Florida-Jacksonville this winter. It was assume. It is a very strong program, been around a long time, and has a great reputation. The ED is divided into sections of critical care, trauma, fast-track, general, and peds. OB/Gyn has their on emergency department, so you won't see too many known pregnancy patients. The ancillary staff is wonderul, thus it eliminates the need for residents to do blood draws, transport patients, gather suturing supplys, etc. Plus, they're pretty nice about it, too. All procedures-chest tubes, intubations, central line placements, LPs, suturing- are done by first year residents and medical students. As a second year resident, you will run all the codes and traumas yourself. The traumas are shared with surgery team. EM residents and surgery residents alternate airway management on even and odd days. During your days, you have complete control. As a third year residents you have more administrive work in running the ED and time management. During my month, the residents seems extremely happy. They work eight hour shifts, which was great. They have pretty good didactics. Plus they round on patients at the start of every shift which makes for really good learning. The ED is usually really busy, with residents seeing a large variety of patients and complaints. I absolutely loved the program, but couldn't imagine living in Jacksonville-ever.

 

[wthomp03]

Sweet,

Just out of curiosity, why did you not like Jacksonville?

 

[sweetfynesse]

Originally posted by wthomp03
Sweet,

Just out of curiosity, why did you not like Jacksonville?

Personally, I need constant entertainment. I need to be around diverse group of people, and I need to know that there's something going on any day of the week. I need the big city. And although Jax is the largest city in square-feet, it feels like a big town. Most of the residents enjoyed Jax (the beach is a big plus), but those that were used to city life felt that it was lacking in a good social scene. I guess with anything,...if you don't need that kinda stuff, it's perfect...

 

[Scrubbs]

Just out of curiousity... when I interviewed at Jax, I got the impression that attending supervision was a little "lacking". It was the only complaint I heard from residents, and the Assistant Director actually told me that the attending to resident ratio was hovering around the minimum RRC requirements (1 : 2.8 or so) - and that they were happy with that. Thoughts?

Pegasus... you should also consider LSU-Charity. I didn't rotate there, but it was my 2nd choice. I loved the program and people!

 

[Pegasus]

Thanks for the information guys. I do want a big city, but compaired to Chapel Hill, Jax will be a big change!

Can you give me more info about Charity?

Thanks 😎
Pegasus

 

[Scrubbs]

Preface.. this is based mostly on interview day perceptions...

Charity is a huge ED... sees over 200K pt/yr. One of the oldest hospitals in the country (not a pretty place, fair warning). The residents all seemed pretty laid back and chill, very happy. The attendings were great. A lot of them are specialized - critical care, hyperbarics, JD, etc. Lots of research and well known for it. The PD was really cool. I also loved New Orleans.

I'm not sure what you're looking for, and this was just my experience... but I interviewed up and down the East Coast, and Charity was the only program in my top 5 that was away from Philly. I just really connected with the people, thought I'd get a great education there, and you can't beat the location. Only downside is that its a 4 year program. I'm heading towards academic EM, and will probably do a fellowship, so I couldn't get over that hurdle in my head. If it had been a 3 year program, it would have been my first choice, instead of my second.

 

[anonymousEM]

I rotated at UT-Houston (Hermann Hospital) and really enjoyed my month. The dept is split into Trauma/Minor Trauma on one side, Medical on another then Peds and FastTrack have thier own areas. At night when the PA run FastTrack closes, most of Minor Trauma is fast track. The residents and students all work 12s starting at the 7s (except a few resident midshifts). Students split time evenly between Med and Trauma and then maybe one or two Pedi shifts.

My experience of working in the dept was that it was always busy (60k in the main ED I think) and I was given the opportunity to do lots of procedures. More suturing than one could ever ask for! Conferences were pretty good and med student conference twice a week at starbucks was very laid back but educational!

The program's had some struggles. Last year they received RRC/EM reaccrediation after administrative problems, but I think that they are on track to be an excellent program. They are looking for a new PD last I heard and also have a new stroke/neuro/EM fellowship. Faculty are young and diverse and very excited about teaching.

 

[sweetfynesse]

Originally posted by Scrubbs
Just out of curiousity... when I interviewed at Jax, I got the impression that attending supervision was a little "lacking". It was the only complaint I heard from residents, and the Assistant Director actually told me that the attending to resident ratio was hovering around the minimum RRC requirements (1 : 2.8 or so) - and that they were happy with that. Thoughts?

There is a great deal of autonomy for the residents. The attendings were around enough, in my opinion. They certainly don't hold your hands by any means, yet they have didactics during rounds/shift change. The residents are so strong by their second and third year, that I didn't think it was problematic. I think after rotating at home where attendings were always in site, to a program where attendings rarely taught and the residents were totally overworked, to Jax--somewhere in the middle--I was highly impressed. That's all.

 

[kickbackdude]

Wake Forest has a great schedule: 18-19 shifts per month (most are 8 hours except for weekend shifts which are 12s). PGY II's are on the airway for traumas and procedures are performed by both EM residents and the trauma surgery team. There are a lot of great things about this program and I would definitely give them a look.

Duke has the following schedule: Five 12 hour shifts per week (so about 22 per month). Regarding procedures, a couple residents said they did a lot and a couple said they did very few.

 

[anonymousEM]

Wake Forest was among my top 3 choices. I agree with the above, as well as a commitment to research that they plan to bolster now that they have their new chairman, Dr. Hoekstra. The residents did say that it's not a great town to be single in, however.

 

[Pegasus]

I did undergrad in WS and will probably move back there to raise my family. Loved the town, but not much to do for sure...it is too bad, but it is close to both of our families.
I wanted to go to a big town, but I love Wake Forest too, Im definately applying there.


Thanks
Pegasus

 

[DrQuinn]

I interviewed at UF-JAX and agree w/ sweetfynesse wholeheartedly. It was my #3 choice.

I matched at USF/Tampa General Hospital. Tons and tons of incredibly varying pathology. You'll see a cornucopia of stuff at TGH... its in an odd location, you'll see anything from Yuppie CEO's with MIs to the local crackhead/prostitute, from the soccer mom's cut finger to your 10th bleeding vagina of the day. At the other two places i rotated at (Univ of MD and Albert Einstein in Philly), both were very heavily urbanized, lots of drug use/poverty/uneducated. Dont' get me wrong, TGH has its boatloads, but you also see a more suburban/yuppie part too, which is kind of nice (and gives you variety). Cons would be if you are applying next year, its a brand new program (hopefully I'll whip it into shape). If you're looking for a big name like Charity or Univ of FL, you won't find it at USF, as its brand new, but it should be a very good program once it gets established. 6 spots per year, 3 year program.

Q

 

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by kickbackdude
Duke has the following schedule: Five 12 hour shifts per week (so about 22 per month).

It's 6 10 hour shifts per week, so the hours are the same, but it seems like more (to appease the surgery bosses - Duke folks are the definition of workaholic; until last year, general surgery did 24 on/24 off in the ED - the new PD said "that's too much", surgery said "no it's not", and, push came to shove, and surgery just stopped working in the ED); there's a trick, though - almost all adult ED shifts are scheduled during conference or journal club, so you're excused...so you're not doing the true 60 hours.