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mcrr

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Can anyone tell me anything about UPMC's anesthesia residency program? I heard it was "malignant" but the person who said that did not elaborate. Anyone else hear anything similar?
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mcrr said:
Can anyone tell me anything about UPMC's anesthesia residency program? I heard it was "malignant" but the person who said that did not elaborate. Anyone else hear anything similar?
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There are a few of us on this forum that did residency there (me, bigdan, and sethco come to mind; I graduated in 2012). Frankly, I'm not sure how someone got the impression that the UPMC residency program is malignant. That's the last word I'd use to describe it. I thought that it was a really well rounded training program with a clear focus on resident education. If you search some of my old posts, you'll find more detailed thoughts about it.
 
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Just finished residency at UPMC in July. Yep, I never heard anybody say anything about it being malignant. Very good well rounded program with no glaring weaknesses. In particular, strengths include regional experience, critical care, OB, peds (very strong), and cardiac. Fellowships include CC, Cards, Peds, OB, Regional and Chronic pain. I will agree with IlDestriero that the location can turn off some applicants, but still the program is highly competitive despite this. The program director and assistant PD are big resident advocates. Good didactic program. Large number of different hospital systems experience. Ability to do a 2 month cardiac rotation in Italy or mission trips. Very flexible CA-3 rotation schedule. Close-knit among the residents, but still family-friendly. I felt the program gave me excellent training. If anybody has any questions about the program feel free to PM.
 
mcrr said:
Can anyone tell me anything about UPMC's anesthesia residency program? I heard it was "malignant" but the person who said that did not elaborate. Anyone else hear anything similar?
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So you came to an anonymous internet forum to get a second opinion?

The fact alumni of the program took more thought and time to answer your question than you put into asking it should let you know it's not malignant.
 
Sorry I'm late to this party.

I graduated with sethco, and one year behind LushMD. I echo their thoughts. I spent A LOT of time at the recruitment dinners last year, and was a huge cheerleader for the program. I actually thought the program was too soft if anything (overnight call is 3p-7a, and if it's not an "educational case", you can sleep while CRNA sits in the room, broken out 2-3x/wk EVERY WEEK for lectures, etc) never in my mind did I think it was malignant. Most importantly, the Program Director & Associate Director are very interested in resident education, and guide the program accordingly.

I think you're making a poor choice if you skip applying to Pittsburgh based on a single, random comment.
 
Pitt is solid. 100%

Ohh... and you can strap on a snowboard during the winters!
 
Pitt is the type of program where those with average anesthesia Step Scores can receive Outstanding Training on par with the "brand name" programs everyone talks about on SDN.
 
Graduating from residency at UPMC as well, I let out a little chuckle when I read the OP's post. UPMC was probably one of the most non-malignant programs out there. Wide variety of cases, plenty of time for reading, decent didactics, residents get good fellowship positions.

And Pittsburgh is underrated as a place to live, especially if you like to eat. The foodie scene has been on the rise for a few years....👍
 
what is st lukes roosevelt's reputation for regional btw?
 
tooshay said:
Graduating from residency at UPMC as well, I let out a little chuckle when I read the OP's post. UPMC was probably one of the most non-malignant programs out there. Wide variety of cases, plenty of time for reading, decent didactics, residents get good fellowship positions.

And Pittsburgh is underrated as a place to live, especially if you like to eat. The foodie scene has been on the rise for a few years....👍
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I hadn't really given much thought to Pitt (outside of knowing I'd apply there, in general) until a resident at my home institution actually was talking about how much he loved it when he interviewed, about how he liked living in the city for undergrad, and the rotations/electives/peds exposure/international options/etc that were available to the residents...he matched elsewhere because of his wife though.
But it sounds like Pitt has some really great points to it that other places either don't have, or let their big rep get in the way of, haha. 😉
 
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UPMC goes toe to toe with any program in the country.
No significant weaknesses, and you can tailor your training to meet whatever niche (+/-) fellowship you would like.
Pittsburgh is a great city, with a great cost of living, and most residents can easily buy a home in a good school district if they choose to do so.
One would really be missing out if they did not take a strong look.
IMHO, if UPMC were in Northern Cali, or had a "pedigree" it would be extremely difficult to land a spot.
But to answer the initial question, it might be one of the most resident friendly programs out there.
 
OffPiste said:
UPMC goes toe to toe with any program in the country.
No significant weaknesses, and you can tailor your training to meet whatever niche (+/-) fellowship you would like.
Pittsburgh is a great city, with a great cost of living, and most residents can easily buy a home in a good school district if they choose to do so.
One would really be missing out if they did not take a strong look.
IMHO, if UPMC were in Northern Cali, or had a "pedigree" it would be extremely difficult to land a spot.
But to answer the initial question, it might be one of the most resident friendly programs out there.
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I agree with you. If I was going into anesthesia today and my Step scores were good but not Great (225-235) UPMC would be one of my top 5 programs.
 
bigdan said:
Sorry I'm late to this party.

I graduated with sethco, and one year behind LushMD. I echo their thoughts. I spent A LOT of time at the recruitment dinners last year, and was a huge cheerleader for the program. I actually thought the program was too soft if anything (overnight call is 3p-7a, and if it's not an "educational case", you can sleep while CRNA sits in the room, broken out 2-3x/wk EVERY WEEK for lectures, etc) never in my mind did I think it was malignant. Most importantly, the Program Director & Associate Director are very interested in resident education, and guide the program accordingly.

I think you're making a poor choice if you skip applying to Pittsburgh based on a single, random comment.
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from a current CA-2/pgy-3 at upmc....nothing to add except +1 to comments above from bigdan, sethco, LushMD, and tooshay

Regional is solid, and you'll have ample opportunity to become deft with the landmarks, needle, and ultrasound machine well before you leave.
 
When I interviewed at St Lukes the program director said Pitt had about 10-12 regional fellows, so good luck actually doing a block solo. I know all the cheerleaders post on here, but one of my friends matched there, he likes the cost of living in the city but says the program is only so-so. Complains about not having much exposure/responsibility due to the academia, too many fellows and large class size/no attending knows you. My take when I interviewed at Penn and UPMC was that PA programs are overrated. Take this with a grain of salt though, as all opinion should be
 
Each of the residents average 400 blocks by the time they graduate with the opportunity to do an additional elective for more. Each of the 15 fellows average 1500 blocks. Residents and fellows do not perform blocks together.

As for doing blocks solo, an attending is always present for key portions of the blocks and a block nurse is always present.
 
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When you leave UPMC you will be able to do any type of block with any technique (US/landmark,etc).
Competition with fellows is not an issue.
Very few if any will give you the regional experience offered at UPMC.
 
Malignant? I disagree with you wholeheartedly, sir. I recently graduated from Pitt and only have high praises for the program. The majority of the attending are pro-residents and are great teachers. Yes you have a few bad apples but that's no different from most programs. The hours are more than desirable; CA1/CA2 you are probably doing around 60 hours and less as a CA3. 3-4 weekday call/month and 1 weekend a month. And the best part of UPMC is the city...Pittsburgh is a hidden gem
 
OffPiste said:
UPMC goes toe to toe with any program in the country.
Click to expand...

I don't think that is a statement that almost any 1 individual can make since none of us can comment in an educated fashion on every other program out there.

Not a knock on Pitt, just saying it's not possible for an individual to compare Pitt to everywhere else. People that have been there and at 1 or 2 other places could probably compare and contrast them adequately, but not between 100+ other places.
 
Well, sure, if you frame it in such a way. If one had the luxury of rotating time as a resident between 10-15 different programs, and could pick and choose an amalgam to form the absolute best, well yes, I agree. Most of us get only one.
Point being, there are only a handful of programs that have very few, if any real weaknesses, and consistently produce well trained anesthesiologists who could walk into private practice or academia.
I consider UPMC to easily be in that echelon. The perception of less desirable location (even though Pittsburgh is a great city) and lack of pedigree are the only downside.
 
OffPiste said:
Point being, there are only a handful of programs that have very few, if any real weaknesses, and consistently produce well trained anesthesiologists who could walk into private practice or academia.
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I don't know about that. I could probably name 30-50 programs that fit such criteria.
 
Libertas said:
50 programs? so basically half the programs that exist have no weaknesses? Seems unlikely haha.
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Thanks for not actually reading anything and jumping in with a half-cocked reply.

I said 30-50 programs have few weaknesses and regularly produce residents that can walk straight into private practice or academia. Do you disagree?

Geographically and off the top of my head...

Maine
BWH
MGH
Columbia
Penn
Penn State
Pitt
Hopkins
UVA
UNC
Duke
MUSC
Emory
Florida
Miami
UAB
Baylor
UTSW
Vandy
Michigan
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Iowa
Washington
UCSF
Stanford
UCLA


That's just about 60 seconds off the top of my head and 27 names. I'm sure I could think of another 10+ that slipped my mind if you'd like.

Do you disagree in any way?
 
Mman said:
Thanks for not actually reading anything and jumping in with a half-cocked reply.

I said 30-50 programs have few weaknesses and regularly produce residents that can walk straight into private practice or academia. Do you disagree?

Geographically and off the top of my head...

Maine
BWH
MGH
Columbia
Penn
Penn State
Pitt
Hopkins
UVA
UNC
Duke
MUSC
Emory
Florida
Miami
UAB
Baylor
UTSW
Vandy
Michigan
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Iowa
Washington
UCSF
Stanford
UCLA


That's just about 60 seconds off the top of my head and 27 names. I'm sure I could think of another 10+ that slipped my mind if you'd like.

Do you disagree in any way?
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Yes, actually I did read. He said programs with very few weaknesses; having interviewed at a bunch of programs on your list in the last couple of years, there are a bunch on that list that have significant weaknesses in various areas. Some of them barely have residents meeting minimum case requirements. Agree or disagree, that is my impression. UPMC was an extremely well rounded program. Thats all.
 
Libertas said:
Yes, actually I did read. He said programs with very few weaknesses; having interviewed at a bunch of programs on your list in the last couple of years, there are a bunch on that list that have significant weaknesses in various areas. Some of them barely have residents meeting minimum case requirements. Agree or disagree, that is my impression. UPMC was an extremely well rounded program. Thats all.
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So would you like some more names? Yale, WashU, Chicago, Georgetown, Mayo, Wake Forest, Dartmouth, Cornell, Cleveland Clinic, Cincinnati, Case Western, OHSU, MCW, etc. Don't think I listed any of those the first time.


Are you honestly telling me you can't find 30 programs with very few weaknesses? Really? Because I've interviewed at a bunch of those places, I've met/worked with graduates of a bunch of those places, and I've interviewed/hired people from a bunch of those places.
 
I interviewed at UPMC but ended up at one of the other Pittsburgh programs. From what I heard and saw regarding their residency, it truly is one of the most resident friendly programs in the country. In fact, I have several friends from there who had a step DOWN in quality of life after starting a real job!

Regarding the city if Pittsburgh, I can say that it was pretty awful. The weather is really lousy (most cloudy days in the country), traffic sucks due to all of rivers/tunnels/bridges, people are NOT friendly, dirty city, the steelers suck, etc. And housing is cheap because nothing has been built since 1960 or earlier. Expect to pay at LEAST 3% property taxes and you get to pay 3% of your income to the corrupt city government. Did I mention that the Steelers suck?

That said, UPMC seems like a good enough program to put up with all that is ****sburg.
 
That's funny, when I interviewed there for a faculty gig they tried to sell me on how it was a really friendly mid west kind of city.
Nice pay, but way to far from the coast for me.
And the whole cold, cloudy, seasonal affective disorder thing. 😉
 
I truly did not believe in seasonal affective disorder before Pittsburgh.

I now live in the sunshine state. Don't underestimate the importance of vitamin D.
 
Maverikk said:
When I interviewed at St Lukes the program director said Pitt had about 10-12 regional fellows, so good luck actually doing a block solo. I know all the cheerleaders post on here, but one of my friends matched there, he likes the cost of living in the city but says the program is only so-so. Complains about not having much exposure/responsibility due to the academia, too many fellows and large class size/no attending knows you. My take when I interviewed at Penn and UPMC was that PA programs are overrated. Take this with a grain of salt though, as all opinion should be
Click to expand...
 
Okay, I have to jump in on the regional thing. I'm a UPMC CA-1, not even halfway through the year, and I've already done a number of epidurals and spinals, as well as a few intrascalenes, lumbar plexuses, femorals and sciatics. I was all set up to do a TAP today, but had to get my tuchus to lecture. There may be quite a few regional fellows, but they don't rotate at all the same hospitals we do, and regional is integrated nicely into the program. You will not have trouble getting the blocks you need - and then some. Most of the CA-3s have told me that there was no way they would do a regional fellowship since they already have done all the blocks they would need to graduate fellowship.
So, I would definitely not change your ranking on that basis.
 
I'm also a recent Pitt grad. Anybody that thinks this program is malignant has never had a real job! Unfortunately 1 or 2 clowns have chosen the program in recent years primarily because they heard you get out at 3:00 every day, and then of course they become quite disgruntled when that is not the reality. The clinical experience is solid without excessive reliance on residents as the work force to get all the cases done.

As for competition from regional fellows, I didn't really think it was an issue because there were plenty of blocks to go around. They have recently increased again the size of the regional fellowship , but they are spread out across at least 6 different sites.
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
I interviewed at UPMC but ended up at one of the other Pittsburgh programs. From what I heard and saw regarding their residency, it truly is one of the most resident friendly programs in the country. In fact, I have several friends from there who had a step DOWN in quality of life after starting a real job!

Regarding the city if Pittsburgh, I can say that it was pretty awful. The weather is really lousy (most cloudy days in the country), traffic sucks due to all of rivers/tunnels/bridges, people are NOT friendly, dirty city, the steelers suck, etc. And housing is cheap because nothing has been built since 1960 or earlier. Expect to pay at LEAST 3% property taxes and you get to pay 3% of your income to the corrupt city government. Did I mention that the Steelers suck?

That said, UPMC seems like a good enough program to put up with all that is ****sburg.
Click to expand...


And yet the City gets voted, year after year, as the most livable city in the Country....thank your for your opinion though.
 
Femtochemistry said:
And yet the City gets voted, year after year, as the most livable city in the Country....thank your for your opinion though.
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Voted.... By who exactly? If you found it in an internet article then it MUST be true!

My experience is that born and raised Pittsburgh people seem to really love it there. Most people from other areas of the country tend to dislike it quite a bit.

I have never quite understood the strange protective nature "yinzers" have over their less than awesome city. Who cares if someone doesn't like it there? UPMC is still an awesome program and worth putting up with the utopia of "****sburgh."
 
where do people end up? around the area or scattered nationally? how do you guys like your reputation nationally?
 
Most recent graduating class had 14/20 going on to fellowship.
-1 to critical care in PA
-2 to combined CT/CC in MI, TN
-1 to chronic pain in PA
-4 to CT in PA, TX, OH
-6 to Peds in PA, MA, OH
-Rest PP in WV, MD, NY, and PA

I thought the reputation was very good.
 
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