Types of Residency Programs

[VenusinFurs]

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So, with 13 days to fully figure out where I am applying (clearly I am on top of the ball here) I am sort of wondering:

Theoretically, a program that is OB heavy, procedure-heavy, and unopposed or relatively unopposed would be the best preparation. But what if I am not convinced I want to do lots of OB and am entirely convinced I would not want to be a hospitalist, but would like to be prepared to take call and see inpatients? What if I would like to be in a small community, (meaning I would have to be fairly versatile) but ended up going to a program with less critical care and OB exposure because of location or because I liked the people there? Would this mean I would be terribly unprepared? Would I be able to make up for deficiencies in my training later?

 

[MedicineDoc]

If you want to be prepared why choose some boring program that you don't feel prepares you. Critcal care was and is fun for me. I never cared about ob and am glad to say Bye bye OB and good riddance. My program reflected those sentiments. 25 Bed icu, 410 bed hospital, most obs at my program
Kind of obnoxious and not down with FM being a serious competitor. Great in and outpatient nonpregnant prep.

 

[brats800]

All programs will meet the same minimum requirements (including OB numbers, clinic numbers, inpatient / ICU numbers). The differences between programs will reflect the programs priorities... I looked at programs that had LOTS of OB, something I wasn't interested in but something I wanted to be able to do if "the right job" came up. As it is, the program I went to was more than adequate for OB and I could definitely have done OB if I wanted. The biggest factors (in my mind) differentiating programs is: geographical location, rural vs suburban, opposed vs unopposed. I didn't apply to any opposed programs and I'm very glad I didn't. By being unopposed I was able to take care of patients that would otherwise have been on a different specialty service. Apply anywhere you might want to go. See what interviews you get. Do a bunch of interviews (when I interviewed, the unofficial word was a US grad doing at least 10 interviews would almost certainly match, hopefully in their top 3 slots). Rank every program you could still see yourself going to (there were some programs I didn't rank just because I really didn't like the program, people, program director, etc). Fill out your rank list for YOUR favorites (not who you think is most likely to rank you higher). Any other questions, just ask 🙂

 

[raptor5]

Keep in mind that there are unopposed vs opposed residency programs but also unopposed vs opposed hospitals. Opposed hospitals tend to be smaller non-tertiary care centers in larger cities that have unopposed residencies that compete with larger tertiary care centers or academic centers for patients. Sure you will see bread and butter pathology but may not see complicated cases or pediatric cases that the academic centers will have. Just something to keep in mind. Good teaching will trump many deficiencies though.

 

[peedeeaye]

All programs will meet the same minimum requirements (including OB numbers, clinic numbers, inpatient / ICU numbers). The differences between programs will reflect the programs priorities... I looked at programs that had LOTS of OB, something I wasn't interested in but something I wanted to be able to do if "the right job" came up. As it is, the program I went to was more than adequate for OB and I could definitely have done OB if I wanted. The biggest factors (in my mind) differentiating programs is: geographical location, rural vs suburban, opposed vs unopposed. I didn't apply to any opposed programs and I'm very glad I didn't. By being unopposed I was able to take care of patients that would otherwise have been on a different specialty service. Apply anywhere you might want to go. See what interviews you get. Do a bunch of interviews (when I interviewed, the unofficial word was a US grad doing at least 10 interviews would almost certainly match, hopefully in their top 3 slots). Rank every program you could still see yourself going to (there were some programs I didn't rank just because I really didn't like the program, people, program director, etc). Fill out your rank list for YOUR favorites (not who you think is most likely to rank you higher). Any other questions, just ask 🙂

Just out of curiosity, what counts as a "lot" of OB? I'm looking at different schools' curricula and seeing anywhere between 8 weeks of training up to 24 weeks. I also want to competently practice OB after residency but not quite sure what the average # of weeks/rotations of OB training is.

 

[brats800]

Don't measure the OB volume by number of weeks. You could do a 4 week rotation with 60-80 deliveries or a 8-12 week rotation just to scrape up your 40 deliveries. At my program, most of our graduates came out with 12-15 continuity deliveries as part of our 90-100+ total deliveries after an 8 week rotation. I thought that was plenty but I saw programs that did many more (they claimed the 200+). In my mind, 100 deliveries was enough to do them in the future if I wanted to (I still don't want to) and I could deliver a baby if I needed to in an emergency (taxi, etc...)

 

[peedeeaye]

Don't measure the OB volume by number of weeks. You could do a 4 week rotation with 60-80 deliveries or a 8-12 week rotation just to scrape up your 40 deliveries. At my program, most of our graduates came out with 12-15 continuity deliveries as part of our 90-100+ total deliveries after an 8 week rotation. I thought that was plenty but I saw programs that did many more (they claimed the 200+). In my mind, 100 deliveries was enough to do them in the future if I wanted to (I still don't want to) and I could deliver a baby if I needed to in an emergency (taxi, etc...)

Not many programs advertise on their websites how many deliveries they get. Makes it hard to pick which programs to apply to if I'm looking for high volume deliveries...

 

[VenusinFurs]

I agree. It's really hard to figure what kind of volume of OB you get, how sick your critical care patients are going to be, etc.

 

[Bacchus]

For those opposed programs, I assume its better if there is an FM service in the training institution? Same goes for OB where you're not really competing with the OB interns/residents unless there is an emergency (C/S).