University of California (Davis) Health System

[Andrew_Doan]

Ophthalmology Residency Program Compendium Table of Contents

University of California Medical Center
4860 Y Street
Suite 2400
Sacramento, California 95817

http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ophthalmology/

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

.

UC Davis - another great location (2 hrs to the mountains, the beach, tahoe, and SF); awesome surgical volume (~200 cataracts starting your first year) with good autonomy; you work your tail off first year(q3), but reap the benefits the next two years; strong faculty with big names; overall - bound to be a top-ten program in the next few years - a clinical and academic "pre-powerhouse"

 

[Andrew_Doan]

.

Based on my experience interviewing 2 years ago, I would say that UCSD would better prepare you for an academic career, (though the environment there is definitely more "hard core" in terms of faculty-resident interaction)

However, you can go wrong with UCI if you are interested in academic glaucoma (given Dr. Baerveldt, of BGI fame, is a faculty member there)

 

[eyeguy81]

Anyone have any info on recent fellowship matches from UCD?

 

[eyeguy81]

Anyone have any info on recent fellowship matches from UCD?

bump..

 

[ophtho_ophtho]

Very strong program that is just below UCLA, UCSF

Pros
-Amazing chair and PD who ensure the program is resident centered and foster a great environment
-Happy residents
-Not malignant
-Very strong clinical program with great surgical numbers but also strong in academics
-Good work/life balance

Cons
-Sacramento isn’t for everybody but it’s also not that bad, Davis is nearby which is a vibrant college town
-Nothing else really, one of the best programs in CA

 

[Eyeguy40]

I know someone doing residency here. They say the program is starting to go down hill. Dept chair is entirely focused on building new eye center so all his efforts are centered on that, and he is really just waiting on that so he can retire; as a result he has really stopped caring about residency education. The culture is changing and a few new attending have resulted in a more malignant environment. Residents aren't happy and feel like their education does not come first anymore.

Although apparently still a strong surgical/clinical program, just not the happy friendly place it used to be.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

This one sounds a little biased to the positive.

Very strong program that is just below UCLA, UCSF

Pros
-Amazing chair and PD who ensure the program is resident centered and foster a great environment
-Happy residents
-Not malignant
-Very strong clinical program with great surgical numbers but also strong in academics
-Good work/life balance

Cons
-Sacramento isn’t for everybody but it’s also not that bad, Davis is nearby which is a vibrant college town
-Nothing else really, one of the best programs in CA

 

[xyz34486]

I wrote in another thread about Stanford vs UC Davis but thought I would include in this sticky thread for future reference (Just putting the relevant stuff):

A few years ago they were pretty equal, but Stanford is the better residency now (and will be the better residency for awhile). I have friends in both departments, so I have some idea what is going on (I interviewed at both places a few years ago and I have friends who matched there) although my residency isn't on the west coast.

Stanford is a step behind UCLA, Casey, USCF but I think with all the changes taking place at Stanford, the expansion of the residency, the addition of new faculty, etc its going to be on that top tier soon. Loma Linda and UCD seem like the two weakest on the west coast from what I have heard from my friends in California--basically they operate like community programs like CPMC, although CPMC provides as better experience than both.

.....

There was another comment on SDN about how UCD doesn't care about their residents (in the thread about each program), and that is what I have heard. It does not seem like a malignant place where attendings physically attack you, but I head its not very supportive either--the residents are just there to see patients and be in attending clinics. It is a pretty small program (probably a little smaller than Stanford now, but Stanford is also expanding a lot). I heard the surgical experience isn't that good (average-to-good numbers for some things, but very low in several others). It seems more similar to some community programs I saw on the interview trail. I heard the teaching is not very good--seems like the residents I know there are just waiting out the clock until they leave. The overall impression from talking to current residents I know there is that its a pretty lifeless department.

 

[Eyefixer]

I am a practicing ophthalmologist. Without revealing too much about myself, a close relative of mine recently finished UCD Ophtho residency. Training at UC Davis was outstanding. UCD is the only game in town other than CPMC and UCSF up North, so they have breadth and volume of pathology. Attendings are actually fantastic- it's not unheard of for Dr. Mannis, the chairman, to come in in the middle of night to see a patient with a resident. I've heard that if a patient doesn't want a resident on their case, they are told to go elsewhere for surgery. I can surely compare this to my training at a top 5 program back East where my "attending" most of the time was the Will's Eye Manual. More recently, two of the recent graduated came back as attendings (glaucoma and cornea, I believe), so faculty is getting younger. Overall, even though I didn't train there, UC Davis appears to be a hidden gem of CA programs.

 

[Bubchik]

I am biased. Graduated Uc davis a few years back- matched in fellowship of my choice and now in academics in a location/ place of my choice. My surgical training: 200 plus cataracts where I was primary, not doing just part of the procedure, 20 glaucoma cases:tubes/trabs, 3 pkp, 1 Boston kpro, numerous blephs/entropion/ectropion. All as primary. I chose a malignant high volume fellowship and had no trouble functioning as an attending and primary surgeon in high stress county pts. No wonder Uc davis grads are snatched before graduation : fellowship va Kaiser ( seems Kaiser prefers Uc davis/USC grads), just look at people that work there. It is a bread and butter place; as well as family oriented. I still call/text faculty with questions. I doubt much has changed in a few years I have been out.

 

[Picklez]

Davis is a very strong program. The residents/fellows i've interacted with from there were always very proficient and spoke very highly of the program. They have fantastic clinical training and a very supportive program headed by a great PD and chair. It's a great place to train with happy residents.

 

[marfy]

Looks like UC Davis has an immediate opening for a PGY2 to start this year.

 

[DrZeke]

Seems like PGY2 are dropping like flies these days

 

[ophthofun]

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm writing to ask what anyone knows about the accreditation warning UC Davis got. The ACGME site says the warning was effective as of 3/30/17. I've heard it was related to low resident satisfaction survey results (due to lecture schedule/optics lecture quality) and/or low OKAPS scores. Can anyone verify either of these or does anyone have any further details about the underlying story?

Davis seems like an awesome program with really nice people, but the warning is a bit scary and hard to decipher what's really going on. Is this a cause for concern moving forward/indicative of possible negative program direction, or is it a minor issue that has been resolved?

Thanks a lot!

 

[twinklingeyes]

I heard the warning was based on some of the stuff you mentioned. The new PD has made major changes and the residents are much happier overall it seems. They sent a letter that states that have their full accreditation now and it seems the whole thing blew over pretty quickly.