UC Irvine

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I'm one of the CA-3's at UCI and would be ahppy to answer any questions you might have about our program.🙂
 
Listen,

I have done alot of research into the uci program. I am from cali and uci is a good institution but the anesthesiology program is weak.

It has always been a lower cali program and now people are just noticing because of all the controversy. People at irvine of course have good things to say but dont be fooled. This programs accredidation is going down the drains.

Sure you will find a job when you raduate but not the best one and not in the best place...

Do your research before wasting your time and money there...

good luck to all on your interviews
 
Listen,

I have done alot of research into the uci program. I am from cali and uci is a good institution but the anesthesiology program is weak.

It has always been a lower cali program and now people are just noticing because of all the controversy. People at irvine of course have good things to say but dont be fooled. This programs accredidation is going down the drains.

Sure you will find a job when you raduate but not the best one and not in the best place...

Do your research before wasting your time and money there...

good luck to all on your interviews

Hello first time poster,

How desperate are you to match in CA this year?

Perhaps you are for real - but without telling us more about what you know, and how you know it (beyond "alot of research"), you aren't helping anybody.
 
Can any of the UCI residents post on here publicly, to advocate or (god forbid) criticize their program? Just saying "I'm a resident at UCI, here's our website" doesn't do us much good.

For example:
-Clinical strengths and weaknesses
-Working relationship w/ attendings, nurses, and other departments in the institution
-Formal didactics
-Research
-Resident lifestyle/camaraderie
-Hours/call system
-Perks or lack thereof
-Postgraduate resident destinations i.e. PP in-state/out-of-state, fellowship, etc
 
I would appreciate this information too. I think a lot of people are concerned about the negative press from the program recently, but I am not all that interested in hearing about that. Rather, I would like to hear about what Fakin listed. Thanks in advance.
 
Look I have been following SDN since undergrad. I have followed these gas forums since second year.

I am at Geffen and I do think we hae the best program in socal...and your right I am desperate to go to a cali program but not UCI

I applied to all the cali programs in cali and have interviews from all but 2 of them so far,,, I have an interview invitation from uci and cancelled already... I never realized how bad the situation was until recently

I have a close family friend who is an attending there who is quietly transferring his job... That is my only source... He is a young attending so if you see him leave soon then you will know who i am talking about..I cant give you more then that...I know all the residents have to defend their program and I would too...I am sure they are all good candidates and I genuinely feel bad for them...

Im just telling those who have many choices at good programs I dont think you should waste your time... im sorry if i offended anyone but I had to make my post...

If you have only a few choices I would go on the interview. good luck to all...
 
Really? Do you guys actually call your school by the music guy who donated the $$$ ?

Someone told me his donation was the largest ever to a medical school. Aren't most buildings at you school named after the rich person who donated the most money?
 
Someone told me his donation was the largest ever to a medical school. Aren't most buildings at you school named after the rich person who donated the most money?

Yup, largest donation ever. Everyone also calls USC Keck, which was a donation from a businessman also. My buddies at UCLA call it Geffen too. Nothing wrong with that. I think people pay money for that and if it buys them a name and the school/community/students benefit, I'm all for it. I highly doubt that a music mogul or a businessman would be able to influence the academic curriculum of a school, but instead would allow newer facilities, more research funding, and better faculty.
 
I know this thread is a little old but thought I'd pass along some info. If you are a DO, foreign grad, or need a visa in any way shape or form they will NOT even consider you for their program. Just a heads up for those of you thinking of applying
 
I know this thread is a little old but thought I'd pass along some info. If you are a DO, foreign grad, or need a visa in any way shape or form they will NOT even consider you for their program. Just a heads up for those of you thinking of applying

Funny, I see a DO listed as a CA3 and a St George's grad in one of the other years, too.
 
I am interested hearing any current information about this program.. if someone could post on here or PM I would greatly appreciate it.
 
even people who have interviewed this season...any thoughts?
 
I interviewed at just about all the California schools and did a few aways as well. I know UCI has had a bit of controversy in the past. That is, by now, well-known public knowledge. But since their new chair (Kain from Yale), they have made huge strides into improving their program. And I would say they have just about recovered from all the bad publicity. I think from a national reputation, everyone knows UCSF/Stanford are the best in California (and among the top programs in the nation). In southern Cali, it's a little more difficult to discern. My opinion, after reading years of posts on SDN, talking to past applicants and current residents, doing aways, and interviewing, is that UCLA is the next best academic institution in California and the best in southern Cali. After that, I think many will argue for or against some order including UCSD/UCI/USC. They all have very different flavors to fit different styles.

But all in all, I was very impressed with my interview at UCI. They really go above and beyond other programs in taking care of their applicants. A small anecdote: when you enter your hotel room (which they pay for), you will see a small goody bag with a personal note from the PD, which includes her personal cell phone number. Small things like that are sprinkled throughout the day. Now I know some will say this could be a compensation for weaknesses in their program or to pamper the applicant to entice them to come to a weaker institution. But in any case, they are technologically very progressive (a big goal of the chair), they have a brand new hospital that is beautiful, and many young attendings that are passionate and personable. Research is also a pretty big thing there. I think they mentioned they had more published works in the ASA this year than UCSF/Stanford. To me, it seemed that any previous controversy in the department had stabilized. I would not worry about that when rank comes around. And if you want to stay in Irvine/Orange, there is no better choice than UCI. If you want to stay in LA, I'd probably go to UCLA but UCI is still well-connected in LA.
 
thank you. so you think their past troubles are a thing of the past?
 
I don't know much about the actual anesthesia traning, but if the fellowship there offer any insight, their fellowships in anesthesia are not that good, so if you are looking at doing something along those lines it may be something to consider
 
I heard older faculty members keep leaving and that they have hired a new batch of young attendings. Wonder what is causing the flux.
 
Hi, I know this is a super old thread but I just wanted to provide an update as our program has changed a lot since the above posts were made! Im a current resident at UCI (2016). To answer some of the above, yes there was an influx of younger attendings a few years back and several of the older faculty left all at once. This was largely due to changes instituted by Dr Kain (which I know very little about since this was many years ago now). There is now a good mix of young and older faculty, and very low turnover of faculty. We now have more of a slow growth, adding new attendings every few months. Departures are very rare nowadays. The new ones tend to be both older and younger, keeping the ratio about the same, maybe slightly on the younger side. Regarding fellowships, it is true that we have fewer than many other programs bc we are a smaller program overall. That said, most of us are happy about that bc we never have to worry about interesting cases getting stolen by fellows. Residents get to do everything here! For the few fellowships that we offer, for example regional, there are plenty of cases for both the fellows and residents to get way more than the required numbers. One of my coresidents posted a huge update on the program recently which Ill post a link to when I get a chance. While I agree that some of the above comments were true a decade ago, the program is far different now. I would defintiely come here again and our fellowship and job placements are outstanding. Feel free to pm me any time if qs!
 
Hi, I know this is a super old thread but I just wanted to provide an update as our program has changed a lot since the above posts were made! Im a current resident at UCI (2016). To answer some of the above, yes there was an influx of younger attendings a few years back and several of the older faculty left all at once. This was largely due to changes instituted by Dr Kain (which I know very little about since this was many years ago now). There is now a good mix of young and older faculty, and very low turnover of faculty. We now have more of a slow growth, adding new attendings every few months. Departures are very rare nowadays. The new ones tend to be both older and younger, keeping the ratio about the same, maybe slightly on the younger side. Regarding fellowships, it is true that we have fewer than many other programs bc we are a smaller program overall. That said, most of us are happy about that bc we never have to worry about interesting cases getting stolen by fellows. Residents get to do everything here! For the few fellowships that we offer, for example regional, there are plenty of cases for both the fellows and residents to get way more than the required numbers. One of my coresidents posted a huge update on the program recently which Ill post a link to when I get a chance. While I agree that some of the above comments were true a decade ago, the program is far different now. I would defintiely come here again and our fellowship and job placements are outstanding. Feel free to pm me any time if qs!

Hello!

What is UCI's take on DO students and those applying from DO programs? Do you know if your PD is open to accepting any or what kind of STEP score we would need to match here? I'm from the region and would LOVE to go back to Irvine. 🙂
 
Hello!

What is UCI's take on DO students and those applying from DO programs? Do you know if your PD is open to accepting any or what kind of STEP score we would need to match here? I'm from the region and would LOVE to go back to Irvine. 🙂


Unfortunately, UC Irvine has not had a DO or IMG resident in over 5 years. Might be hard, UCI gets a lot of great applicants so you would need to stand out somehow with high test scores, letters, etc. DO's are not by any means excluded though.
 
Top Bottom