Residency in Hawaii

[callhiminsane]

Does anybody know why Hawaii doesn't seem to be a popular place for US grads to do residency? I've looked over the Univ. of Hawaii web site and found that there are a lot of international medical graduates in most of the residencies. Furthermore, some of the positions didn't even fill up last year (or the year before that). Is there something specific that's keeping people away from residency in paradise? I realize that the cost of living is pretty high in Honolulu, but so is it may other parts of the country. Or is it just that Hawaii isn't considered a strong program?

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[Goofy]

From what I understand, the hospital system there isn't exactly held in high regard.

 

[Future GI Guy]

SpaceCadet,

I actually agree with Kleb on this one.

It's difficult to find a great fellowship position after a residency in Hawaii.

There are some other hidden things about Hawaii you should know.

Living there and traveling there are two different things.

My brother lived there for two years and absolutely hated it.

1. It's expensive.

2. It's far from home.

3. It's difficult to travel back home because of #1.

4. When some of the locals find out you live on the island (instead of merely visiting the island), they're not as friendly as you might imagine.

5. It's very small, and Americans are used to much bigger places (Living in San Fran, but still being able to drive to Yosemite). You can't do that in Hawaii.

6. Having a car there is difficult. It costs you to ship it, it's more expensive to buy one, gas is higher, etc.

Hope that's helpful.

Oh, and Kleb, I feel like we're getting closer.

GI Guy

 

[Bernardo_11]

First off, I can only tell about the program I am in, pediatrics. Second, if you open your mind and accept the fact that Hawaii is a community program rather a highly academic university-based one like Harvard or Standford, it's not as bad as people are making it out to be.

As far as the program, there's a whole lot of patient volume, and you work you ass off.

But there are aspects of the patient population here that differs from the mainland. For starters, parents here are definitely more grateful to you than the parents I've dealt with on the mainland. When I did medical school in the East Coast, I remember having to answer for nearly every step of our management.... nothing seemed acceptable. Just to get a blood culture on your patient with a new fever spike was a lesson patient education/persuasion. On the other hand, over here, even those parents that know everything about their child's condition, and have looked up countless articles on the internet about it, they are still much nicer. They do ask questions, mind you, and they should. But there's a certain air of respect they still have for you.

As far as fellowships. Our graduating class put out fellowships in Genetics at Mayo, Cardiology in Children's LA, and a Pediatric ER fellowship in Dallas. Not too shabby for a program that graduates only 6-7 catagoricals each year. The most recent class who took the boards had a passing rate of 100%.

As for living on Hawaii. Everything GI guy said is valid... except for maybe the lack of friendliness from the locals. My experience has been quite the opposite. Like on the road, EVERYBODY yields to each other. Cost of living is rather high. But hey. It's Hawaii. The weather is warm all year round. You have free access to some of the most beautiful beaches which are available to you on any given day.

I guess it's all about give and take. And depending on your personality, what you want from a programn and what you want from a place to live, Hawaii can definitely give you more than it takes.

'Nardo
PL-2

 

[Homunculus]

Tripler Army Medical Center is also in Hawaii . . . But i'm not sure how many non HPSP/USUHS people are accepteed into residencies there, if at all.

take it easy

homonculus

 

[Sandpaper]

I did several elective rotations in Hawaii and absolutely loved it (maybe cuz I took things like rads and pathology). Sure the cost of living is high, but the flip-side of that is having oceans and mountains all within a shouting distance from anywhere on the island. Traffic is not as bad as some places on the mainland, and gas pricing is relatively constant at $1.55/gallon give or take a few nickels, which is not that bad. It's not like you got that much distance to cover; it ain't exactly Montana. And contrary to what one poster said, used cars are as cheap as they come there. Yes, the locals can be rude and nasty at times, but ya get that anywhere.

From what I understand, Peds, OB, and Surgery are brutal there. The whole PGY-2 class in Surgery recently quit, the OB folks look like zombies, and Peds people are just one unhappy lot. On the other hand, the pathology program is relatively cush, and the chairman, Dr. Hardman, is one cool dude.

Bottom line, it's paradise, and I don't care what anyone sez.

 

[Hornet871]

My two cents on Hawaii, based on the experiences of friends who are in residency there:

1. Yes, it is super-expensive, as GI Guy pointed out. But so is Boston (and most of the NE), and that city (most of the NE) is crap. At least Hawaii has great weather, great beaches, and people who are not nearly as rude as those in NY or Philadelphia.

2. The Medicine program there isn't bad, most of the residents there are happy. The Peds program there is just so-so. I think Hawaii even has ortho, but I haven't heard much about it. Psych in Hawaii rules, I am told.

3. To apply to Hawaii's programs, you need to include in your essay a special section on why, specifically, you want to apply there. This might be to discourage people who are applying there for what they think is a 3-or-4-or-5-yr vacation. Then again, if Hawaii is so desperate as to fill much of its programs with FMGs, they shouldn't have this extra admissions requirement.

4. Hawaii is far from the mainland, but close to Asian adventures. Tokyo is, what, five hours' flight away? and a host of other Pacific islands are nearby. That's an exciting prospect to some.

Postscript: I think FMGs are every bit as good as AMGs. Many are better. I'm not starting an FMG vs. AMG debate here. But FMGs are usually looked down upon, and having them in your program is considered a sign of program weakness. This is the word according to residency directors.

 

[callhiminsane]

Sandpaper,

All the second year surgery residents quit?! How can that possibly be. I can understand maybe one resident leaving, but for an entire class to quit would be disaster for the program and all the remaining surgery residents, as their workload would skyrocket. Do you have any more info on this---as in why they all left and how the administration dealt with it (I'm assuming they replaced them with residents from the preliminary pool, but then I looked at their match stats and it doesn't even seem they have enough prelim residents to take over for all the categorical residents that left)???

 

[callhiminsane]

Sandpaper,

All the second year surgery residents quit?! How can that possibly be. I can understand maybe one resident leaving, but for an entire class to quit would be disaster for the program and all the remaining surgery residents, as their workload would skyrocket. Do you have any more info on this---as in why they all left and how the administration dealt with it (I'm assuming they replaced them with residents from the preliminary pool, but then I looked at their match stats and it doesn't even seem they have enough prelim residents to take over for all the categorical residents that left)???

 

[Pinky]

$1.55/gallon for gas isn't that bad. Currently, 87 octane gasoline costs ~$1.69 in Chicago. Back in 2000, it was going for $2.10/gal. And if you factor in the traffic in Chicago.....

 

[dbiddy808]

I'm an IM resident at UH. It is pretty much a community program rather than a university program, despite its name. As far as fellowships are concerned, everyone who wants one gets one in the field of their choice, regardless of whether they are US grads or IMGs. The third year class this year will be sending at least two IMGs to cardiology fellowships (I have not met everyone in the program yet). And as far as locals not being friendly.....true but not true. Hawaii has its own culture and ways and if you are not able to realize this and are unable to adapt, you will rub people the wrong way and will get attitude.

If I had my choice of any internal medicine program in the united states, I would choose UH. There's more to life than prestige.

 

[catzzz88]

Resurrecting an old thread. Have Prelim medicine interview here in a few weeks and I am wondering how the program has changed since this thread was made 15 years ago? Wow... did they even have the internet 15 years ago? Anyways, just thought I was resurrect rather than making ym own thread because otherwise I know you would all get on me for not "using the search function."

 

[Crayola227]

Eh, there are other newer threads around, I'm certain. Because in one I mention that someone committed suicide quite a few years back (scuttlebutt when I went there for my interview), but it's hard to draw too many conclusions from that.

Residency is lonely. Island life can be lonelier and more difficult than typically appreciated. Go, if you can, drive around. I could feel in a short time that island fever, which you'll hear about, is real.