Programs with unhappy residents??

[tinydancer]

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So I've heard the rumors (UCLA, NYEE, to name a few) about programs with "unhappy" residents, but everywhere I interviewed including these programs I didn't find one resident who admitted to wishing they hadn't ranked a program as highly as they did. Is it just natural to only see the good things in your program when you talk to interviewees?

Did anyone run into residents who flat out said they were not happy at their programs either interviewing or during rotations? For what reasons?

 

[indytx]

i'm using how busy the residents are as a proxy for gauging their unhappiness. if they're stuck in clinic till 7 pm, working on saturdays, with no time to read or do research let alone enjoy life...they may say they're happy at their program, but if it were me, i'd be pretty dissatisfied no matter how good the location. none of the residents i talked to flat out said they were unhappy, so i guess you just have to go with your own gut feeling.

 

[rubensan]

i think it comes down to the age old question of "is the glass half empty? or full?" i am, without a doubt, at one of the busier programs in this country. would i rather be at home at 630 PM instead of in clinic doing a laser PI? sure! at the end of 3 years, will i be better for the experience? i believe so. not everything about a residency program will be fantastic. just like not everything about ophthalmology is great. yes, i do believe that it is natural for residents to "talk up" their program during the interview days. when the applicants ask me, "i heard this place is really busy and sometimes you don't leave until 700PM, is that true?" i answer, yes. "when they ask me are you happy that you ranked this program high?" i answer, yes. am i lying? no. hard work does not equate to being unhappy as long as you were prepared to work hard.

look, there are a million factors that will go into making your rank list. for some, location will be important. for others, it will be prestige that plays a big factor. some will be taken with the 250+ phacos and others will remember a resident saying "unlike other ophtho programs you won't have to work hard here." but for the majority it will come down to a combination of all of the above and what indytx refers to as a "gut feeling." listen to that feeling!

good luck to everyone!

to the other PGY-2s out there, can you believe we are half way through? 😀

 

[ophth_not_opth]

I'll second rubensan's comments. As someone nearing the end of residency, I'll say that being at a busier program certainly has many, many benefits--most significant of which are a broad exposure to pathology and good surgical numbers. The crux of the determination of what is a 'happy' resident is partly related to personality of the resident. Another large component is the upper level or faculty support/respect that is engrained within the culture of the program. Even if, for example, you see patients from 7am to 7pm, but are having questions answered and being taught along the way, I think that is valuable. Less valuable are programs that have their residents see a lot of volume but lack the faculty support(or willingness) to really teach their residents.

I would add that seeing large volumes of patients is a bad thing. In general, private practitioners see many more patients than residents(even residents with techs). I've just recently matched in a retina fellowship, and along the way, I frequently interviewed with retina guys who see between 80-120 patients a day(without fellow/resident help). There's a lot to be said for starting to learn efficiency during residency.

 

[ophth_not_opth]

Sorry for the typo in the first sentance of my second paragraph. I meant to say that seeing large volumes of patients is NOT a bad thing.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

I agree with both ophth_not opth and rubensan. Residents tend to be unhappy when they are busy. UCLA, for instance, keeps residents very busy, but they see a ton of pathology and do a ton of surgeries. The problem really lies in the colleagues that work with you. Your senior residents can make your life suck, or they can really be great teachers. It's a toss up from year to year.

 

[eyerepairman]

Did anyone run into residents who flat out said they were not happy at their programs either interviewing or during rotations? For what reasons?

From my experience, in a number of cases, the residents are under subtle pressure not to savage their program to the applicants. A few residents go overboard in saying how great their program is, to the point of creating a false impression.

Happiness is relative. If I were in a crappy program where residents are intimidated and fearful of their jobs, forced to work with crappy equipment, and where there are no faculty in some sub-specialties, I'd still have some happiness is knowing that I will be an ophthalmologist and not in ___ (fill in the blank) specialty.