ohsu (oregon) question

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emoptions

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does anyone else find this review alarming?

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does anyone else find this review alarming?


I'm a med student at OHSU and a former EMT. I did EM for a month here and while I would agree that many attendings were quite obviously D*cks there were two or three I worked with that were outstanding. I didn't think too highly of the residents in the program at all.

There did seem to be a lower volume of cases during my month there and definately a lack of trauma, but the residents rotate at different ED's in the city such as Legacy Emanuel (the other Level 1 in the city) and Prov. St. V's (apparently the "busiest" ED in the city if you believe them).

Overall, I think it would be an average experience in a great city. While initially interested in EM I switched paths to IM during third year, but not due to my month rotating in the ED. I just did EM as a non-required fourth year rotation.
 
i appreciate the reply. this worries me, and i will need to talk to some of my classmates who also interviewed there. thanks.
 
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i am surprised no one has come to the defense of Oregon. It might be that their residents don't frequent this site; however, it would be encouraging for someone with experience to correct the two negative reviews posted here. I know to take everything on the internet with a grain of salt, but the EM forum is pretty honest and will jump all over you when something is incorrect. All of the other 4 programs I am interested in have not received nearly the negative criticism as Oregon. This program is one of the most competitive in the country, but I keep hearing that this is due to location and not the program itself. I want great training and don't want to sacrifice this for location. When 5 different programs have been sitting in my #1 spot, small things really do matter. I hope to hear otherwise but this program is getting some bad PR.

If you saying this in reference to my post at all I will correct you. I didn't give OHSU a negative review.

I noted it was most likely an average program in a great city and it's the only EM program in the entire NW.

You also rotate at many different hospitals in the city with the program that I've not had the pleasure of observing or of working with their attendings or staff.

Secondly, I haven't seen other EM residency programs in the country, I've just been a medic and have frequented ED's in both WA and OR.


I don't think anybody needs to come to the defense of OHSU with regard to my post except that I really didn't think much of their residents.
 
You also rotate at many different hospitals in the city with the program that I've not had the pleasure of observing or of working with their attendings or staff.

You rotate at Emanuel ED (and several others but Emanuel is the best) just across the river. Emanuel is a great environment with high acuity and several very good attendings who like to teach. At both places, you'll likely be intubating and placing lines on a somewhat regular basis. It just won't be on trauma patients very often. More likely heroin addicted or drunk diabetics. The OHSU ED residency continues to turn out good doctors who pick up jobs in town with a couple very nice groups. I think the MS4 review was a little skewed.
 
You rotate at Emanuel ED (and several others but Emanuel is the best) just across the river. Emanuel is a great environment with high acuity and several very good attendings who like to teach. At both places, you'll likely be intubating and placing lines on a somewhat regular basis. It just won't be on trauma patients very often. More likely heroin addicted or drunk diabetics. The OHSU ED residency continues to turn out good doctors who pick up jobs in town with a couple very nice groups. I think the MS4 review was a little skewed.

Have you done an EM rotation at OHSU or Emanuel?
 
bump...

Can anybody else chime in about OHSU? I'm looking to do a rotation there this fall, and wondering if anybody can comment on their experience rotating or interviewing there. There isn't a lot of info on SDN or scutwork about the program.
 
Ditto that. I'm working on the application now.
 
Hoping for more (and more recent) input on this situation.

I am all about moving back to Oregon. I regret ever leaving in the first place.

However, a former OHSU EM attending recently told me he wouldn't recommend training at that program for a number of reasons, most of which are brought up in this thread.

I would love for any OHSU residents, attendings, alumni, etc to address these objections and make me feel better!

More to the point, do you think OHSU EM residency provides you with "ready for anything, anywhere, anytime" kind of training that so many of us aspiring EP long for?

Thanks
 
Hello,
I’m an intern at OHSU and posted a rather thorough review last fall. The link is: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=772086
I also posted a review of the away rotation at:
http://www.scutwork.com/cgi-bin/links/review.cgi?ID=1206&d=1
I’m not sure why OHSU gets such a bad rap on this website. These posts are several years old and seem to get recycled. If you look at the various threads they all seem to stem from one overly negative review from a disgruntled rotating student years ago. Lots of vague, third hand comments have been posted following that review. OHSU traditionally is not an aggressive recruiter for its own program and I think that plays a role into why this vague negative information perpetuates. Also, I met a number of competitive west coast applicants on my interview trail who were denied OHSU interviews. There was a palpable resentment with this rejection and maybe that plays out here. Personally, I had a bad away rotation at a well respected west coast county program that receives rave reviews on SDN. It simply wasn’t a good fit for me. I did not however write a slamming rant about that program. Even though I did rank it last.
I do think there is a strong county program preference on EM SDN. This is fine, just remember there are great academic programs out there. As I have mentioned before, be careful getting advice from anonymous peers in a competitive environment because hardly any of the information is verified. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and find SDN to be entertaining reading, but I hope no one is making career decisions from chat rooms.
I would like address a few things brought up on this thread. I can only relate my specific experiences to counter the comments previously posted. I absolutely do not feel the attendings are rude/unapproachable/etc. I think this partially comes from some VA attendings who are a bit crusty. Visiting students spend half their time at the VA and it can be a bit intimidating. The VA staff fits the patient population – hard to explain but you know it when you see it. When I started as a resident, those same attendings were warm and welcoming and have been great teachers. There also is a difference in the involvement and investment of attendings with rotating students who are present for 28 days and residents whom the program has selected and are around for 3 years. I have found attendings to be enthusiastic teachers, provide great insight whether it be regarding patient care or career advice, and give appropriate autonomy. You will literally work side by side with founders of our specialty, including former presidents of ACEP and ABEM. Two of the six authors on the current Tintinalli are teaching attendings. I particularly found the dually trained attendings to be a great resource. Whether it be EM-ID, critical care, toxicology, IM, peds, research, international, administration (to name a few at OHSU) – all offer additional expertise that only one gets from years of experience and training. I’m very happy to be at a program where I don’t have to staff with senior residents. I strongly feel my education is better served discussing patients with people who have decades of experience – not a year or two more than me.
The program has been amazingly supportive of me during my intern year. They completely funded my travel and conference expenses so I could present my first poster. I received leave without question for medical reasons. And other residents stepped up to cover my shifts (and feed my dog) without a second word. We’ve been rafting, had parties for sporting events, and are going on a beach trip together at the end of the year.
In reviewing my procedure log this year, I have almost double the required intubations for the RRC requirement for the 3 years of my residency. I’m 3/4s of the way to the required number of joint reductions, central lines, and LPs. I’m halfway to the number on chest tubes and interns don’t even run traumas. I’m short on deliveries, but my rotation was cut short for personal reasons. I’ve run codes on my own, diagnosed a AAA on ultrasound, managed STEMIs, hypoxic PEs, strokes, you name it. I had a acute type B aortic dissection, severe lithium overdose, and a hypotensive Afib patient – all at the same time at one of the community hospitals. I ultrasound everything I can find and get quality assurance feedback. Like when I thought the colon wall was cholecystitis (heard from the rads resident first when the formal scan was done, then the US attending the next week). This is all during 6 months of ED time of my intern year. For complete disclosure, I included my off-service rotations on my procedure inventory.
I hope this provides some additional perspective. Feel free to contact me if you would like more information.
 
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