Country club OMFS programs; what does it mean

[Gladiator2020]

Hello, what does Country club OMFS programs mean. I have seen it in some OMFS related posts but I did not understand what it means. Thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Jaa_]

"Country club" refers to programs that offer a more relaxed resident lifestyle. Everyone defines this differently. In general it may include a less busy clinic schedule, 9-5 hours, post call, home call, a relaxed call schedule, less trauma, laid back attendings, etc...

Every program will be challenging at the end of the day

 

[Gladiator2020]

Thank you Doctor! I never thought something like this would even exist in OMFS residencies!

 

[princeafrica]

It's insane that "post call" is considered country club

these OMFS residents are cut from a different cloth

 

[MarcusA121]

MDs do work post call in a lot of programs lol

 

[Ivy.ch]

It's not even about being tough or anything like that, there's no shortage of evidence as to how dangerous it is to work (let alone surgically) after getting no sleep. There's a reason MDs don't work post-call and its not because they're soft.

Our teams are so small, we don’t really have options like MD teams

 

[rotichawal]

Even if you are in a state where OMFS is held to duty hour standards, home call is often used to skirt post-call regulations (which is mandatory if you have in-house call). Doesn't matter if you were in the hospital all night anyways.

 

[stealyoface]

Agree with what others have said. While some programs will be less busy/less call/more laid back culture, you will still be pushed wherever you go. There is no easy route to becoming an OMFS. Some days will break you but your desire to become a surgeon will keep you going. Even when you see all your friends who went general living the high life

 

[Gomphosis]

"Country Club" typically refers to a program that is less intense in terms of work hours, pressure to work quickly, on-call hours and frequency, stress culture, etc. This is commonly used as a term by people at "Stress Programs" when trying to disparage those at "NonStress Programs" but is not always true. There are advantages in both types. However, for me, I enjoyed a happy medium in my Peds residency.

 

[nade0016]

Is my program considered "country club"? I am curious. (U of MN OMS) Compared to where I trained I think it is certainly more laid back and has better hours. So maybe more of a "country club" feel, we have less in-house call, less OR days, but more clinic days full with procedures, consults, etc. I think a better comparison for programs would be surgical focused versus clinical focused. But it is a spectrum between 100% OR and 100% clinical and all programs fall somewhere in between depending on rotation, location, focus, faculty, etc.

This also depends on what you, as a resident or applicant, are looking for. Since greater than 90% of OMS trainees go on to PP with little to no OR. It is not surprising that there are programs more clinically focused than OR focused. As CODA requires a certain number of OR cases and sedations, all programs must train residents to a base level. How they go about doing that is up to each program.

If I was an applicant today, I would look for well rounded program with all the components as evenly distributed as possible. Trauma heavy or Oncologic heavy at the expense of more core OMS should only interest those who know that is what they want to do post residency completion. But who really knows that entering residency. I loved my trauma heavy training program not because of the intensity but because of the people, faculty, and residents. Did I miss out on some education related to sedations, IMPLANTS, cleft, cosmetics. Sure, but I got great basic surgical knowledge that I then used to learn the other aspects of the profession.

What I am trying to say is, go to a program where you feel you fit in, can learn and feel comfortable. That is what helps residents thrive and succeed.