UCLA and Utah

[ZoidbergMD]

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Hey everybody, I hate to do this, but does anybody have any thoughts about UCLA or Utah. I've already interviewed at UCLA and liked it, but I am about to interview at Utah and haven't heard much about it.
I've tried the SDN interview review site, but there is only one review for UCLA and none for Utah...come on people enter your thoughts to help everybody else!
Thanks😎

 

[Gimlet]

Hey everybody, I hate to do this, but does anybody have any thoughts about UCLA or Utah. I've already interviewed at UCLA and liked it, but I am about to interview at Utah and haven't heard much about it.
I've tried the SDN interview review site, but there is only one review for UCLA and none for Utah...come on people enter your thoughts to help everybody else!
Thanks😎

I've heard good things about Utah from other applicants on the interview trail...definitely have heard people saying they'll rank it highly. Personally, I haven't heard much about the program except that it's a TEE powerhouse. Can't beat the access to the slopes there, too! Hopefully someone who's actually been there will chime in (or review it!).

 

[positraction]

Utah just started teaching echo to CA-1 residents by letting them do TTE on paid "models" in preop clinic. They will also be doing it on preoperative patients (when needed) supervised by an echo-certified attending anesthesiologist. TEE and TTE may well be the modern stethoscope in the operating room and ICU. If it is, you will learn it at Utah first. I would give it 2 👍.

 

[deleted162650]

Since we're talking about TEE, at UCLA, anesthesia does all the TEE for the entire hospital. They claim this is because they do it better than cards.

 

[positraction]

Since we're talking about TEE, at UCLA, anesthesia does all the TEE for the entire hospital. They claim this is because they do it better than cards.

Are the residents at UCLA learning and doing these TEEs or is it just attendings?

 

[deleted162650]

Posi,

Don't recall for certain, its been over a month since I interviewed there. I want to say the residents participate in the floor TEE's while on their cardiac rotations. Don't quote me on that though. If you're really interested ask Hawaiian Bruin.

 

[positraction]

Thanks Salty,

Residents seem quite happy at Utah's program. They get together a lot, know each other well, and are upbeat about everything. I know they get a lot of echo but also do quite a bit of regional and are protected when they rotate on those services. Bright bunch of residents they have there!🙂

 

[huktonfonix]

Fellows do the TEEs on the floors and ORs. However, there is plenty of TEE experience available during open hearts both at the main campus and the VA. Usually it will be attending-fellow-you doing the exam. This of course is dependent on how much interest you show. You usually wont be doing floor TEEs since these are usually under sedation and a pain in the ass which doenst lend itself well to a protracted examination. You can probably observe if the cardiac service is really slow, but that rarely happens.

 

[OB1🤙]

Agree with the above, but TEE experience should not be the decision maker between these programs (not that the OP even mentioned it, just saying).

We're awesome, in my completely biased opinion. I know nothing about Utah besides the fact that it's a half hour away from world-class snow, but that shouldn't be the decision maker either. I'm sure it's an excellent place. Got a hell of a football team, too.

Where you think you fit in better after interviewing at both places is what really matters. That and where you want to live when you're done with residency.

 

[indo]

With Utah, you might have to decide if you will really fit in to that environment (society, not program).

 

[ZoidbergMD]

With Utah, you might have to decide if you will really fit in to that environment (society, not program).

do you mean like snowboarding/skiing and hiking with a diversity of nice people while rooting for the arguably number 1 football team in the nation?


Thanks for all the insight so far, does anybody have any info outside of ucla and utah's TEE (case load/diversity, numbers, icu, crnas, level of independence/teaching, etc)

 

[huktonfonix]

As far as UCLA goes, caseload and diversity are ridiculous. You'll get to take care of the sickest patients in both the OR and ICU. Teaching and independence will depend on how good and proactive you are. You just have to figure out the right questions to ask to the right people. Everyone has their own special expertise and interests and once I got past the initiation phase of the CA1 year, I would figure out what questions to ask based on what attending I was working with (if I was with one of the regional gurus for a straight forward case, I would spend time after induction asking all the random regional stuff I was wondering about). Caseload includes, transplant (lung, heart, liver, kidney, SB/panc, etc.....), cardiac both peds and adult, peds including NICU, a rapidly expanding regional program (formerly a weakpoint, now quite good), and the other services (neuro, vascular, thoracic, ortho, uro, etc..)

 

[indo]

do you mean like snowboarding/skiing and hiking with a diversity of nice people while rooting for the arguably number 1 football team in the nation?


Thanks for all the insight so far, does anybody have any info outside of ucla and utah's TEE (case load/diversity, numbers, icu, crnas, level of independence/teaching, etc)

Ha, I mean living near people who are delusional enough to ever think that either Utah team could be #1.

 

[bubalus]

I've heard a lot of good things about Utah. I think it's a very good program that can be easily overlooked. Since echo has been mentioned, I don't think there's any other residency program that comes near the echo education that Utah offers. While echo isn't everything, it is one of a multitude of things to consider.

In the end, your decision is going to be based on the package deal--pros and cons of the residency program, location, personal issues, etc. and the most important factors will be different for everyone. As long as you get the training to make you a solid anesthesiologist who can pass the boards, you'll be OK.

Please post your impressions after the interview.

 

[justtesting]

do you mean like snowboarding/skiing and hiking with a diversity of nice people while rooting for the arguably number 1 football team in the nation?


Thanks for all the insight so far, does anybody have any info outside of ucla and utah's TEE (case load/diversity, numbers, icu, crnas, level of independence/teaching, etc)

i work at the u of u hospital currently as an icu nurse but previously as an anesthesia tech for three years so maybe i can answer some questions:
diversity is plentiful- there are the standard cardiac, ortho, plastics, ent, neuro, ob, etc. its a trama 1 hospital so you get some pretty good cases at the main hospital not to mention rotating at the huntsman cancer hospital, the u of u orthopedic hospital, shriners childrens hospital, VA, pain, and you do a 'killer' surgical ICU rotation that is the most hated rotation of all time. some residents also rotate through a shock trauma icu in a neighboring hospital.
the u employs about half a dozen (maybe eight at most) full time CRNAs but you wont interact much with them and they do their job well. an adjoining eye hospital (moran) employes another half dozen part time crnas as well.
they have grand rounds for an hour every week and have case studies and lectures they go over. and they provide a sweet breakfast that day (best day of the week) i wouldnt be surprised if they do more education, i just dont know...
as far as independance, i have nothing to compare, but i have never heard of any residents complain of not getting enough or getting too much of it. (minus the occasional bad day complaint) seems like the attendings have it figure out pretty well.
also, as mentioned above, it is a fun group. they try to do a lot of activities outside of work together (ie skiing, shotgun shooting, soccer, etc)
hope that helps

 

[ZoidbergMD]

Ha, I mean living near people who are delusional enough to ever think that either Utah team could be #1.

Don't get me started on the atrocity that is the BCS (esp the Big east and ACC), along with the east coast bias, a utah/florida (maybe even usc) would be an excellent exciting game that could go either way, easily!

 

[Muadib]

Hey everybody, I hate to do this, but does anybody have any thoughts about UCLA or Utah. I've already interviewed at UCLA and liked it, but I am about to interview at Utah and haven't heard much about it.
I've tried the SDN interview review site, but there is only one review for UCLA and none for Utah...come on people enter your thoughts to help everybody else!
Thanks😎

You're right the interview review site has been somewhat lacking. i think things worked better when people reviewed programs as part of an ever increasig thread. 😎. n e way you've already been to UCLA and liked it. i remember it as being a great program and was in the thick of things in the top 3 on my list, if i hadn't wanted to go back to NoCal so bad i prob would've ended up there. the best advice i could give you would be to check out utah and see what you think.

i've got a couple of friends in the prog there and they generally seem okay with it. they of course like the tee experience and what everyone says is right its prob the best place in the country for echo training. that being said one friend pointed out to me they have an echo fellowship but no cardiac which means you'll be great at reading a tee, but not to great at actually doing a heart case. they've both also said they've had some probs with the ct department and their case load is way way way low with a lot of the senior residents rotating at outside hospitals to get their pump numbers. other than that what they tell me doesn't sound too off the norm. they work 12+ hr days m-f, my one friend said he's avg something like 65-75/wk depending on the rotation. like our prog they're pretty restricted on senior electives with something like 3 or 4 during their ca-3 yr which is still better than some other places. they do the 3pm-7am call thing which they both like. my other friend hated the icu month when she did it she somehow ended up q2 for like 1 or 2 weeks i forget what the deal was with that, but if i were you i'd ask that when you interview. from my experience talking with them it sounds like your avg prog though they both have recently said they felt like they wished their was more direction on education, guess they're left to their own devices as far as learning. they love the mtns and the prox to skiing, biking, hiking, etc which is prob one of the biggest draws to that area. of course the whole watered down beer thing and weird liquor laws are a good joke for us to laugh at when we visit and vice versa apparently it's okay to have fun but not too much fun. 😀

 

[positraction]

Cardiac cases seem to be picking up with the addition of two new cardiac surgeons to replace the one really busy one who left a couple of years ago. VA hearts seem to be on the upswing as well. Mechanics of doing a cardiac case may not be as valuable as knowing how to manage the patient using TEE. That is where the residents learn a ton.

As far as education, they keep trying new things and tweak it in the right way. More is not always better, but you do have to study on your own. It aint med school anymore.

Hours I heard were more like 55/week except on ICU. It appears to be more a front-loaded residency with CA-3s having a lot of good rotations and flexibility.

They pay $$$ for books, a decent computer and have some travel money. If you do well on the in-service exam, you get some extra bonus money to use for paying academic stuff like licenses and real boards.🙂

 

[japhy]

i was a med student at utah. i have several friends who have been, or are current, chief residents. the residents are as a whole very happy and satisfied with the program. greath interaction as a group and with the faculty as well.

get money for books, $2K for a computer as CA-1, there is a great echo conference in park city every year. lots of regional, amazing, amazing echo training. if anything is lacking it is ICU training, particularly with anesthesia run ICUs. that being said, it is still a valuable experience at the u.

and then there is all the fun you can have in the mountains. it is 30 (yes 30!!!) minutes to the best skiing in north america. it is not all that uncommon to be able to get 70-80 days of skiing even as an intern. people have been known to break the 100 day barrier. great biking, hiking, etc close by. plus we get amazing residents from out of state that like to play as hard as they work. it really makes it a happy and exciting place to be.

oh and there is good beer here too...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/travel/25journeys.html

PM me with any more questions

 

[bubalus]

The Park City conference isn't an echo conference. It's an anesthesia conference. There is virtually no echo in it anymore. Check the program this year. That said, it's still a good conference.