Academic insitutions on the west coast

[JumpingFrenchmn]

I'm an MS3 planning on going into rad onc. Seems like one drawback to rad onc is that few, small, competitive programs means it's harder to live exactly where you want. I've lived and trained in the northeast all my life thus far. I'd really like to live in northern cali/pacific nw at some point (San Fran, Seattle being the obvious destinations). From perusing the rankings/interview impressions threads, it seems like in general, people are less impressed by UCSF, UW etc. relative to the big players on the east coast. Basically, I'm interested in hearing anyone's personal experiences with training or practicing on the west coast. Particularly if you've also trained or practiced on the east coast. Thanks very much!

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[clintpark]

I'm an MS3 planning on going into rad onc. Seems like one drawback to rad onc is that few, small, competitive programs means it's harder to live exactly where you want. I've lived and trained in the northeast all my life thus far. I'd really like to live in northern cali/pacific nw at some point (San Fran, Seattle being the obvious destinations). From perusing the rankings/interview impressions threads, it seems like in general, people are less impressed by UCSF, UW etc. relative to the big players on the east coast. Basically, I'm interested in hearing anyone's personal experiences with training or practicing on the west coast. Particularly if you've also trained or practiced on the east coast. Thanks very much!

I don't understand why UCSF is not getting much love on this forum. Maybe it's not living up to its glory years in the past when they were unquestionably one of the top few programs. Maybe people are looking for reasons to hate it because its location makes it so so desirable and competitive.

Based on my personal experience of having gone to UCSF for med school and rotated there, I can tell you they always end up recruiting the top candidates year after year and the residents end up getting the best jobs in the country, whether they choose to stay in academics or go to private practice. In my book, that makes for one heck of a program.

 

[deleted4401]

I know, UCSF is pretty horrendous, but I think you'd manage to do alright coming from there. That's a joke, btw. I hear they do some decent work at Stanford, not bad for a podunk institution. UW is good, people seem to get get jobs from there, and Seattle seems lovely. OHSU is in a very desireable location and I have heard the chairman is excellent. I see research come out of there. Cal-Pac is community, but in a great location. UC-Davis has a new chairman, but its in a kind of depressing area.

I can't think of any other residencies out that way.

Don't worry too much about people being impressed by your pedigree. Anyone who isn't is a douchebag, and anyone who is ... well ... is a douchebag.

-S

 

[Gfunk6]

Yeah, UCSF is a hole. Take it from the chief resident

UCSF and Stanford are clearly the powerhouses of the West Coast no doubt about it. OHSU is also quite good, particularly for research as SimulD pointed out. UCLA is making a resurgence I understand as is UCSD who is trying to put together a Rad Onc residency program. Other programs on the West Coast I know little about include California Pacific Medical Center, UC-Davis, University of Washington, City of Hope and Kaiser LA.

As far as personal experiences, as clintpark states our placement of graduates speaks for itself. I think it is fairly safe to say that UCSF grads have the best employment opportunites on the West Coast. Recently our residency has shifted to emphasize research heavily so with the current PGY-4 class you may see a resurgence of academic placements.