ROL help!

[onagraceae]

hey folks,
can you help with my ROL?! my top programs: ucsf, seattle, colorado, ohsu, hopkins, children's oakland. (lots of weight on west coast locales). any thoughts on any of those or help with making my ROL much appreciated!!!!!!!! if you interviewed there and have any impressions or know folks at any of these programs that could offer insight please share, thank you in advance!!!

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[michigangirl]

As Hopkins faculty, I'll vouch for Hopkins! A great program, so great I'm still here 13 years later! Happy to answer any questions via PM. Good luck.

 

[physicsnerd42]

What is important to you? I interviewed at most of those programs and I had my ranking, but my advice to you depends on what you're looking for in a residency program. Is an emphasis on primary or specialty care (and which specialties) the most important? What size of program? What location? Research opportunities? Cost of living? Etc.

 

[onagraceae]

location is important (west coast preferable), bigger > smaller city, will tolerate a higher COL as it comes with a bigger city (currently in brooklyn). interested in a place where primary care and specialty care both have good exposure (esp interested in PLUS at ucsf, wwami in seattle), and definitely would prefer larger > smaller program but seattle's class size maybe seems quite large...
anyway, any advice would be really appreciated! being from the east coast and having advisors that don't know much about west coast programs, my apps/interviews/rank list is based more on location preferences and limited interview day info

 

[physicsnerd42]

I was also from an East Coast med school and I'm not at any of the places you're considering so I think I'm pretty impartial. I didn't apply to UCSF or CHO (Oakland) but interviewed at the rest. I really liked Hopkins but it sounds like you're more interested in the West Coast so I'll focus on those.

Of the West Coast programs you mentioned, I'd probably say:
1. Seattle. Great program. I've had several friends go here and love it. WWAMI sounds like an awesome experience no matter what type of peds you want to do. Seattle is a great place to live. Awesome research opportunities.

2. Colorado: huge catchment area. Big hospital. Seems pretty friendly. Denver is awesome. Good exposure to all sorts of peds, both sub specialty and primary care. Awesome research.

Then, 3 and 4 are probably a toss-up between OHSU and UCSF. I personally prefer PDX to SF and the cost of living in portland is MUCH more reasonable. I know you say you're not worried about cost of living, but the rents in sf are higher than anywhere else in the country and a large fraction of your income as a resident will go to rent at UCSF. OHSU is obviously a smaller program with a little less of the super subspecialty peds and research than UCSF. UCSF also just opened their new children's hospital. From what I've been told, UCSF has a much more "east coast" vibe (more formal) than most other west coast programs, and it's up to you what you prefer. At UCSF you're also covering more hospitals.

I hear CHO has really great clinical training but less research than the other places. The cost of living here is more reasonable. I have heard that it has fewer resources than the other west coast places you're thinking of. There's some relationship between CHO and UCSF that I don't really understand but I don't think the two residencies formally interact much.

That would be my recommendation for the West Coast programs. Think about where Hopkins would fit in depending on how strong your west coast preference is. Bear in mind that I never interviewed at (or even applied to) UCSF or CHO.

Good luck with your decision! Any of the programs you're thinking about would be awesome places to train, so it's very reasonable for personal preference for where to live to have a large impact on your rank list.

 

[mwpeds]

I was also from an East Coast med school and I'm not at any of the places you're considering so I think I'm pretty impartial. I didn't apply to UCSF or CHO (Oakland) but interviewed at the rest. I really liked Hopkins but it sounds like you're more interested in the West Coast so I'll focus on those.

Of the West Coast programs you mentioned, I'd probably say:
1. Seattle. Great program. I've had several friends go here and love it. WWAMI sounds like an awesome experience no matter what type of peds you want to do. Seattle is a great place to live. Awesome research opportunities.

2. Colorado: huge catchment area. Big hospital. Seems pretty friendly. Denver is awesome. Good exposure to all sorts of peds, both sub specialty and primary care. Awesome research.

Then, 3 and 4 are probably a toss-up between OHSU and UCSF. I personally prefer PDX to SF and the cost of living in portland is MUCH more reasonable. I know you say you're not worried about cost of living, but the rents in sf are higher than anywhere else in the country and a large fraction of your income as a resident will go to rent at UCSF. OHSU is obviously a smaller program with a little less of the super subspecialty peds and research than UCSF. UCSF also just opened their new children's hospital. From what I've been told, UCSF has a much more "east coast" vibe (more formal) than most other west coast programs, and it's up to you what you prefer. At UCSF you're also covering more hospitals.

I hear CHO has really great clinical training but less research than the other places. The cost of living here is more reasonable. I have heard that it has fewer resources than the other west coast places you're thinking of. There's some relationship between CHO and UCSF that I don't really understand but I don't think the two residencies formally interact much.

That would be my recommendation for the West Coast programs. Think about where Hopkins would fit in depending on how strong your west coast preference is. Bear in mind that I never interviewed at (or even applied to) UCSF or CHO.

Good luck with your decision! Any of the programs you're thinking about would be awesome places to train, so it's very reasonable for personal preference for where to live to have a large impact on your rank list.

Agree mostly with above. I liked Colorado a bit better overall than Seattle and UCSF, especially when you factor in location. After Colorado I'm currently putting UCSF second (at the moment I keep changing!) then Stanford and Washington. Agree the whole Bay area is definitely expensive, but UCSF has subsidized housing options way below market rates, and has a housing stipend as well so you can manage living in the city ok. You also don't need a car in the city which can save $ as well. Addition of new freestanding peds hospital for UCSF is only going to make it stronger too. Stanford also has higher salary/housing stipend as well as some subsidized housing options (Welch Rd apts one resident said was $1600/month for 1bdr?). Only downside is more suburban feel here. People here seemed really nice! After that is Washington which seemed extremely well rounded with great training. CHO seemed okay but they are underfunded and make 10kish less than other Bay programs, and as far as I know there's no subsidized housing. Oakland is not very desirable place to live in, and unfortunately still expensive to live in. I was told if I had student loans to pay or had a kid to support without SO who was working it'd be hard to make ends meet coming here which is ridiculous IMO. Heard it had its share of scut & social issues you have to deal with being a county-ish hospital, but that the people were nice. CHO's going unranked for me or maybe at the very bottom.

I didn't go to Hopkins, but I assume training is among the top tier of programs. I didn't go to OHSU either but have heard they have great people there. Portland would be another fun city, especially if you're the outdoorsy granola type .

In the end I'd say you're gonna get great training at any of these places, just rank based on where you (and significant other) will be most happy.