University of Southern California--impressions of the program?

[MedicinePowder]

Just curious what any of you guys know/heard about the anesth program at USC.

i'm local but at a near by school and from the friends that attend their, they aren't even going to rank the program. just curious what others have heard

thanks

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[aredoubleyou]

I second that - considering cancelling my cali interviews

 

[ripped cheese]

had interview out there in nov.

pros- weather, all lifestyle choices, trauma is top notch
cons- lots of FMGs, in that i had difficulty understanding some of the attendings, and not top choices of most residents. didactics seemed sorta weak, not the best connections to private practices and fellowships from word of mouth.

all in all, definately the weakest of the socal programs imo.

 

[aredoubleyou]

C'mon 40 people view this page at any given time and no one else has anything to say about USC?? C'mon lurkers, just register and post - it only takes like 30 seconds

 

[me454555]

Why is having FMGs or DOs always considered a con for a program? Why can't it be a pro as in they take a wide variety of residents. If there were a program that took only white men, we'd say that was a con but when a program only takes USMDs its a pro? C'mon.

I'd also be interested to know more about SC as it is a program I am strongly considering in the future. Ripped cheese, can you elaborate on the lack of fellowship/private practice connections? Their website says they have a few fellowships and they've gotta have a ton of grads who go into private practice

 

[ripped cheese]

c'mon, i thought the fmg/do thing was pretty well hashed out. imo, having fmg and do residents in general mean that the program is less competitive and have to take people from a larger, generally less qualified pool. plus USC is an MD hospital, so i believe they'll take MD over DO/FMG anyday they can. just as an example, on my interview date, there were multiple DO residents around (all very cool, nice, i'm sure great residents), but there were 0 DO or FMG applicants around.

many of the programs i've looked at around the country (NW, u chicago, BID, baylor, etc) all had great connections to solid fellowships and had multiple residents go get jobs in competitive cities (not including their own city) (SF, LA, NYC, chicago). USC, when i tried to probe about it, did not have that distinction, and some residents even said that it's been a bit tough looking for jobs. i spoke with 3 about this, and it was a common theme. they had stuff lined up, but only in the southern cali area.

like i said, nice program...maybe different in a few years time, but again, lowest in quality of socal programs, imo...

 

[me454555]

having fmg and do residents in general mean that the program is less competitive and have to take people from a larger, generally less qualified pool. plus USC is an MD hospital, so i believe they'll take MD over DO/FMG anyday they can

I think the above statement is a common misconceptions that many people have. DOs have matched at many of the top anesthesia programs. A good example of this is JHU which has taken at least 1 DO resident ever year for the last 3 or 4. Everyone agrees that JHU is a top program and I find it very hard to believe that they did not have a excess of qualified USMD applicants last year. When they chose a DO it was b/c he/she was the best candidate and not b/c they ran out of quality USMD applicants. To say that b/c they have DOs, JHU is a less competitive program is not only a slight to DOs but a slight at one of the top anesthesia programs in the country.

USC had 500+ applicants last year, I'm sure they rejected a few quality USMDs and opted to take a DO instead for whatever their reasons. If we were talking about a residency program in the middle of nowhere that has trouble filling every year, I think your argument about taking FMGs and DOs holds more weight as they were likely taken b/c of lack of qualified MD applicants.

Ripped, thanx for the info about USCs fellowships and job prospects. It was much appreciated and something I need to take into consideration for next year. Any more info from anybody else or has this been the common theme for people who interviewed this year?

 

[deleted50478]

USC had 500+ applicants last year, I'm sure they rejected a few quality USMDs and opted to take a DO instead for whatever their reasons. If we were talking about a residency program in the middle of nowhere that has trouble filling every year, I think your argument about taking FMGs and DOs holds more weight as they were likely taken b/c of lack of qualified MD applicants.

You are familiar with the statement, "The exception proves the rule" right? I don't know the specifics at USC, but lots of FMGs and DOs = less competitive as a rule.

It's not that a program lacks qualified USMD applicants. The problem is that those applicants probably rank other programs higher and match there. I would imagine that the best applicants to USC also interview at UCLA, UCSD, etc. and rank them higher. I'd be interested to know how far down their rank lists different programs go before they fill. Sure a great DO or FMG can top the rank list, but they probably tend to cluster toward the bottom of rank lists.

 

[me454555]

I'd be interested to know how far down their rank lists different programs go before they fill. Sure a great DO or FMG can top the rank list, but they probably tend to cluster toward the bottom of rank lists.

You're right. The only way to really settle the debate is to figure out how far down the list they went before they filled and where on the list those DOs rank. You're also correct that a lot of these same people prolly ranked and matched at other so cal programs which is why I used JHU as my prime example.

I feel its easier to make the statement about JHU choosing DOs instead of being forced to take them or risk not filling b/c their reputation is what it is. They had a lot of qualified applicants who ranked them #1 and I have to believe they didn't have to go very far down the list to fill.