Wash U prgm??

[ordinary guy]

Is Wash U considered a power house anesth prgm? Is their prgm resident friendly and are the residents happy? I'm thinking of applying there for anesth in future but don't have much knowledge of the anesth program. I know their medicine dept is robust. Thanks in advance.

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[Ventil8]

Be prepared to work hard, but residents are happy. They struggle with softball though....

 

[DrRobert]

I would agree that they work hard. I would not agree that residents are generally happy.

To the OP: Unless you know some residents in the program, I would suggest maybe doing an away rotation to obtain as much knowledge as possible.

 

[Idiopathic]

I would agree that they work hard. I would not agree that residents are generally happy.

To the OP: Unless you know some residents in the program, I would suggest maybe doing an away rotation to obtain as much knowledge as possible.

I can kind of agree with this. I was very impressed with BJH and the city, but I found that the residents and faculty were a little off-putting. Some residents actually used the term 'bitter'. They worked a lot (but moonlighted in house, also)

As far as powerhouse, I think that WashU is a major institution and a research behemoth, but anesthesia is sort of the kid sister of the surgery program. I would be happy matching there, just because I know the training will be excellent, but have my reservations about the 'happiness' there.

 

[Hockeyguy]

this is one of my top programs. i had reservations as well because of the work too hard reputaion. i pinned down director and he provided hours logs that showed that over the three years the average is more or less 60 hrs week. if they showed me print outs that said 78 hours i would be suspect they overwork residents. but seeing 60 hours seems reasonable to me, why would they lie? it seems like 50 - 60 hours per week is the average around the programs i have interviewed at so it is at the higher end. i had a hard time believing it given their rep so i actually e-mailed a number of random residents and they all replied and said very positive things and said 60 hours is about average. that doesn't include their very lucrative moonlighting package which is about 1000k for 24 hours (icu shift or beeper call). i know there are better moonlighting programs out heir but not with the WashU rep. also i think st louis is an underated city. i have friends and family that live there and i have had a kick a$$ time whenever i am there. plus cost living is so cheap. I came to the conclusion that i would rather live in an good city where my money will go further rather than overpay in a great city. plus i have a kiddo and a few of the residents there did too. when i make attending money then i will live in the overpriced city and be pissed about it.

mario

 

[Crash cart]

this is one of my top programs. i had reservations as well because of the work too hard reputaion. i pinned down director and he provided hours logs that showed that over the three years the average is more or less 60 hrs week. if they showed me print outs that said 78 hours i would be suspect they overwork residents. but seeing 60 hours seems reasonable to me, why would they lie?

mario

Dude, that was a ballsy move asking the PD about work hours. I hope you didn't give him the impression you were a slacker by pinning him down on THAT issue... I'm not sure I would have taken that tact, but I respect your courage for doing so. I also appreciate the info. When I was in the Marines we used to say that the advanced scout had the best and worst job of all... Best because they got the info before anyone else and got the true scoop. Worst because they're most likely to get killed...

I agree with most of your post, and I interviewed there as well. I really liked the program and I think the reputation is second to none. You will be able to go anywhere and do anything after your finish there. They do work hard and I got variable answers to my querys. One resident said around 60, another said pushing 80 and another said 60 -70 with more hours as you progress through the program. I did not get the feeling that any residents there were bitter based on work hours because they are a very high quality applicants who want to work hard because they see the benefit in that. But make no mistake, it is not a "lifestyle program."

St. Louis is a fine city and it would be easy to live there. Great real estate for the money and the city has a great personality. Very hot and humid in the summer, but it has everything you would want/need in a city.

Summary: one of the very best programs in the nation, will prepare you to be on "the inside" of job opportunities upon graduation. You will be a rock star when you finish there. St. Louis is the hard part because if you don't have family/friends there it just seems so random, but do-able.

 

[BubbleHead]

Dude, that was a ballsy move asking the PD about work hours. I hope you didn't give him the impression you were a slacker by pinning him down on THAT issue... I'm not sure I would have taken that tact, but I respect your courage for doing so. I also appreciate the info. When I was in the Marines we used to say that the advanced scout had the best and worst job of all... Best because they got the info before anyone else and got the true scoop. Worst because they're most likely to get killed...

I agree with most of your post, and I interviewed there as well. I really liked the program and I think the reputation is second to none. You will be able to go anywhere and do anything after your finish there. They do work hard and I got variable answers to my querys. One resident said around 60, another said pushing 80 and another said 60 -70 with more hours as you progress through the program. I did not get the feeling that any residents there were bitter based on work hours because they are a very high quality applicants who want to work hard because they see the benefit in that. But make no mistake, it is not a "lifestyle program."

St. Louis is a fine city and it would be easy to live there. Great real estate for the money and the city has a great personality. Very hot and humid in the summer, but it has everything you would want/need in a city.

Summary: one of the very best programs in the nation, will prepare you to be on "the inside" of job opportunities upon graduation. You will be a rock star when you finish there. St. Louis is the hard part because if you don't have family/friends there it just seems so random, but do-able.

Too funny,

I remember that line about the advanced scout from our interview.

Dude, I can't believe you wouldn't have asked that question. You and the PD acted like old war buddies, I thought he was going to break out the Scotch and kickback for a little while. Actually the Chairman too, I thought you were a Wash U student the way you were connecting with the brass there.

What kind of feedback did you get if you don't mind me asking. I'd like to compare it to what they told me and see if I'm on the right track here.

Thanks

 

[ahumdinger]

my dad did his anesthesiology residency at BJC (he finished in 2000). As far as I remember, his schedule was not overloaded. I got to see him as much as any other working father. It was surprising enough to me for me to make a mental note to do my residency at BJC if I went into anesthesiology.

Also, the dept chair, dr. evers, ROCKS.