question about Christiana Care

[zurned]

So I interviewed at Christiana recently and loved it! I also noticed that they do 16, 20, and 18 shifts from PGY1-3 and they're mostly 8-9 hours with 12s on weekends.

Compare this with some programs that are known to do 19-20 12s as an intern and one shift less as the years go on. I'm just wondering why the discrepency between shifts and total hours at Christiana compared to these other places.

Wondering what otehr interviewees thought about this. And if there are any Chrsitiana residents here, what do you guys think of this and are the number of shifts enough for you to feel prepared?

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[Tiger26]

What were your thoughts on the area around there? I'm interviewing later in January

 

[zurned]

PM'ed you

 

[pratik7]

Ok ill bite. Im a PGY 1 and 20 12s sounds horrible. Part of learning emergency medicine is seeing lots of patients and forming your clinical judgement and plan. However, in EM there is a lot out there that you will not see, unusual traumas, rare EKG findings, tox, altitude medicine, snakebites, ect. It is up to you to learn and read to have a sufficent knowledge base to treat what comes through the door. Now working 20 12s is a lot. Your work load is even greater if you add weekly conference, journal club, other administrative and personal responsibilies. I think it is important to have the opportunity to read about the rare diagnoses that you will not encounter in addition to the dozens of clinical questions you will have from all the patients you see per week. Thats where the magic happens. The schedule at CC doesnt seem that easy to keep you from seeing what you need to see.

 

[boo2]

You will be more than adequately trained as a graduate from Christiana. You can rest assured about that, as is the case with most other EM programs.

In terms of the number of work hours, it is in the middle of the pack in terms of hours worked compared with other residencies. This program has been around for a long time and I know the administration gives great attention to the details.

All of the people that I trained with there were thrilled to be there. I chose it because it gave me everything I was looking for in a residency with some perks(the icing) and a nice balance of work-personal life.

Good luck!

 

[turtle md]

I am a Christiana grad about 1.5 years out of residency. I feel well prepared and have no regrets about where I trained. CC is a great program and treats its residents well.

Good luck to you...

 

[antiveggies]

im a pgy3 at christiana.

i think some of the discrepancy is that we have such a high patient volume (180k+ between our 2 sites, not counting the peds hospital) that we are able to work less 12s but still come out extremely well trained. i would wager that a 9hr shift at our place is equivalent to a 12 at many other programs.

i feel more than prepared and i still have 6mo to go. we have amazing pathology, we dont have ortho/anesthesia residents so we do all of the airway and fracture care ourselves, and we have superb ultrasound training.

i havent heard any of our senior class say that any job interview was worried that they couldnt handle 12s, or even brought up the subject of our shifts.

hope that helps

 

[Punisher]

I was thinking the same thing when I interviewed there - the program sounds amazing and I have no doubt that you will be well prepared. But can someone comment specifically about the # of hours worked during intern year... I must be missing something.

 

[boo2]

They should have given you a CD with the breakdown of shifts by year.

Intern year is very nice in terms of number of shifts and the hours of the shifts themselves. Second year becomes intense(and fun), and third year lightens up.

At Christiana the first year is about learning to be a doctor, the second year is to refine your EM skills under fire, third year is about polishing things up.

It really is a great place. When I was interviewing and rotating there as a student I did my best to find "the dirt"...didn't find any. Definitely glad I chose to train there.

 

[Kris1]

I've been surprised to find that the majority of places that I have interviewed at do 9 hr shifts with the last hour being overlap; so if you're done at 8 hours then you go home at 8 hours. One of my top choices does 20 12's and I must admit it's tough to turn down 9 hr shifts when compared to that. However, the residents vote each year to keep it at 12 hour shifts. Must be something about it that they like. I look forward to interviewing at Christiana soon. I also would like a PM about the area if anyone is willing.

 

[antiveggies]

re:the area

i think one of my classmates put it best in saying 'Delaware is not in the middle of nowhere, its in the middle of everywhere'
we are within 1-2hrs drive of several major cities and airports, and have trains that run to most of those as well. plenty of people in the program make trips out of state and take advantage of our proximity to places like NYC, DC, boston, philly, baltimore, etc.
the cost of living is very reasonable, the people here are friendly, its a pretty safe place if you have kids, and there are things to do even here in DE. 🙂

if being 15minutes from a beach, or broadway, or a football stadium is your #1 priority in residency then we aren't gonna be your #1 i wanted the best training possible, regardless of where it was located. now that i am here, i really like Delaware and i think you'll find a similar response from the other residents here.

👍

 

[Kris1]

How many months of ER as an intern? How are the off-service rotations? Questions probably better asked at the pre-interview social, but I'm just curious.

 

[antiveggies]

6 months in the ED as an intern, off service is only ICU (no gen floor/gen surg) or other high yield rotations that have had heavy resident input and prepare you for 2nd year when you will run all of the sickest pts in the ED. 2 MICU, 1 CICU, 1 trauma month, anesthesia/ultrasound, and some others are the other 1st yr blocks

http://www.christianacare.org/residentbody.cfm?id=1329

that is the schedule. only no more NICU, now our interns have a peds anesthesia/sedation thing there instead of NICU

off service is good. very little that isnt applicable to EM, and you'll learn a ton

 

[Tiger26]

ummm . . . can we stop talking about how great Christiana is--I really want to go there and I'm getting kinda worried about all this incredible publicity 🙂

 

[It'sElectric]

I've been surprised to find that the majority of places that I have interviewed at do 9 hr shifts with the last hour being overlap; so if you're done at 8 hours then you go home at 8 hours. One of my top choices does 20 12's and I must admit it's tough to turn down 9 hr shifts when compared to that. However, the residents vote each year to keep it at 12 hour shifts. Must be something about it that they like. I look forward to interviewing at Christiana soon. I also would like a PM about the area if anyone is willing.

I wish more of my interviews were at places that did NOT do 12s. It makes it quite difficult when you really like a place, but they only do 12s.

I think the above part I highlighted is more a result of people being incredibly resistant to change. People rarely like to rock the boat. Plus, we really have no idea what alternatives were presented to the residents...was it 24 10s? I wouldn't change either, if that were the case.

Just a thought.

 

[EMMD2009]

Area:
Delaware actually offers many things to do. I've been down to the beach a few times already, hiking in the state parks, college scene by UofD, typical medium sized city venues/attractions in Wilmington, etc...
I have season theather tickets in Philly and go there fairly often and I just got back from a weekend trip to NYC. Furthermore, the interns frequently get together to hang out at each others homes/bars/restaurants.

I'll try to add more responses to the other comments as I get time.
PM me if you have any questions and good luck and safe travels for interview season.

 

[boo2]

I am a single person and I survived living in Delaware. 🙂

People have a lot of negative misconceptions about the area, but you do have to take it for what it is. I'd rather put it out in the open than PM anyone.

Frankly if you want to live in a big city and that is really important to you, then this is not the place for you(unless you want to live in philly and commute ~40min). I wanted an awesome training, and I felt I could get what I needed socially and I have no regrets.

As stated above lots of nature trails for biking, hiking, trail riding. Close to beaches and four major East Coast cities(DC,Baltimore, Philly, NY) and Atlantic City. I easily drove down to DC for the day. Newark is a typical college town and Wilmington is a small city, and then you have the surrounding affluent suburbs where the Bidens live.

Sales tax free. You can do a lot with the relatively generous salary....a lot of people buy- condos, houses with yards, town homes etc. The traffic is minimal and when it is there adds maybe ten minutes on your drive home from a day shift depending on where you live. These things make a huge impact on your life(as I now realize spending 40 minutes to commute 10miles in a big city). If you live in Wilmington the Philly airport is only 25min away.......amazing!

It is a family friendly program, but there are a fair amount of singles and definitely night life, and the classes do hang out.

On your interview day or second look drive around the area, not just where the hospital is, check out Wilmington also to get a better sense of the area.

Well I hope team Christiana has given you an honest assessment of the area.....Good luck.

 

[NeuroSync]

I didn't think 12s were a big deal until I did an away with 12s. They are a total drag, and turn into 13s-14s. 12 hours in a busy ED is a lot. That experience completely changed my rank list. You will see enough regardless of the number of hours per shift. For me, staying happy and balanced greatly improves my ability/willingness to learn and study harder. If you are one of those people who can get by on 4-6 hours of sleep, maybe it doesn't matter...

 

[doctorFred]

I didn't think 12s were a big deal until I did an away with 12s. They are a total drag, and turn into 13s-14s. 12 hours in a busy ED is a lot. That experience completely changed my rank list. You will see enough regardless of the number of hours per shift. For me, staying happy and balanced greatly improves my ability/willingness to learn and study harder. If you are one of those people who can get by on 4-6 hours of sleep, maybe it doesn't matter...

could not agree more.

 

[Neuronix]

I grew up in that area, so I have nothing to gain by promoting, and I really disliked living in Delaware. I mean if you don't mind a giant middle-lower class suburb with terrible public schools, it's not so bad I guess.

Since we're here, anyone care to take a complaint? My mom was seen in the Christiana ED for a broken ankle a few days ago and I can't believe how poor her care was.

 

[boo2]

Sorry that you feel your mother had poor medical care. If you truly feel that she did not receive standard of care medicine, then hopefully you voiced your concerns in the appropriate avenues within the hospital so that the administration can address any deficiencies. I think that route may offer more productive solutions then an internet discussion board.

Though you may dislike Delaware, I know many wonderful "middle-lower class" people and upper class people who proudly call it home. Hopefully you have found some place to live that makes you happy!

I wish you luck in your MD-PHD academic trek.