University of Washington thoughts

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Jay82

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Hey guys. This is probably a horse beaten into asteroid. I was wondering if you guys have any recent info on UW's program? How's the resident cohesiveness in this large program? Quality of training or any weakness (besides the play of the Seahawks)? Still considered malignant?
 
Hey guys. This is probably a horse beaten into asteroid. I was wondering if you guys have any recent info on UW's program? How's the resident cohesiveness in this large program? Quality of training or any weakness (besides the play of the Seahawks)? Still considered malignant?

As a student here I can offer up my two cents. As far as what you will be exposed to, there really aren't any major weak points. Trauma exposure is huge, peds is great with SCH and you will get lots of CT/neuro/ASA 3/4 at both HMC and UWMC. You will manage some of the most challenging cases and come out ready to handle anything. The faculty are great. I have found most of them care a lot about the students and residents and they love to teach. Residents work hard but I didn't hear much in the way of complaints. The PD is wonderful. She will do just about anything for her residents. The chair is very research oriented and has done an impressive job in recruiting some great new faculty. Regional is probably the weakest area but that continues to improve, i think some of the most eager to teach faculty are the pain docs. You also can do elective regional rotations at VM which is great. When you say malignant I'm not sure what you are referring to but I havent heard the residents complain about much. The surgery program is known to be pretty malignant but I think that is changing, which makes our lives more enjoyable. I have heard some very experienced faculty say the most accurate comparison to other programs is Penn. Overall, homer biased aside, I think it's one of the top programs on the west coast and you will come out ready to handle just about anything that comes your way. It is a big program so a lot of what you get out of it is what you put into it. You can definitely fly under the radar and get by but also plenty of opportunities to gain faculty trust and become very independent with your cases. If you have any specific questions I would be happy to offer my thoughts.
 
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As a grad of the program I'm biased. I think the training is great, and it isn't malignant. I agree with the above assessment. It is a bigger program, so there isn't as much individual attention compared to smaller program. It will take longer for everyone to get to know you. You can definitely fly under the radar if you want. You will have great exposure to large variety of cases. You'll be very comfortable working a variety of environments, since you'll work in a variety of hospitals that don't all do it the same way. Having in practice now for short bit I can tell you I feel very comfortable dealing with anything that gets thrown my way, and doing it in a tent in the desert fresh out of training.

I will add however that several years back, like back when I was a med student, things were different a bit different, First, a disgruntled former resident left a few inflammatory posts on the few residency review sites that existed at the time. They've gotten a lot of play over the years. They are probably over 10 years old by now. The program was a bit more of a workhorse, and a bit old school. But that was then. The current PD has been in her current role 7 years now, maybe a year longer. She's very dedicated to education and the residents. The new chair has a strong research bent, but she's very committed to having a strong faculty base. Its a good combination.

As far as resident cohesiveness, I think that's more of a function of the class than the program. The classes are big, odds are good not everyone will want to be friends or hang out. Some people are local and socialize with their friends, some have busy family lives at home, the group is usually diverse. Plus the training is spread out in the city, and you're in your own rooms like all anesthesiology residents are, you don't see your whole class that often.

My $0.02
 
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