UC Davis vs Vandy vs Pitt vs Indy vs Brown

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turkeyjerky

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Anyone have thoughts on these programs? I have davis and vandy at #2 and 3 right now; pitt, indy and brown are rounding out the top 6, but honestly I feel like the order changes on a near-daily basis (I have christ at the top and feel pretty good about that). I'd be especially grateful if any residents or alumni would be willing to discuss the programs, either on the thread or by PM. I'm especially interested in stuff like the quality of ortho experience (kind of a worry about Davis for me), didactics, getting enough experience doing stuff yourself vs being dependent on consultants and overall atmosphere of the program.

Thanks!

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There is a big sticky at the top of the thread page with tons of reviews of programs. I recommend you start there.
 
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Pitt offers some very unique opportunities in their program. The Jeep is the main one. It gives the residents a level of autonomy that cannot be had in a normal ED setting. When the resident arrives at the call, the buck stops with them. They need to be prepared to make the correct decisions for the patient because the medics are now looking to them for answers. The residents had many crazy stories about things that had happened while they were on the Jeep. The residents also fly on STAT MedEvac as crew members (not an observership). They have 3 sites with different feels and patient populations. It is great for those who do not necessarily know what they want to do in the future. The program director is great. The attendings are great to work with. There is no sense of malignancy there. There is a family environment. Residents call attendings by their first names. The residents are all fun and enjoy hanging out outside of work.
 
Those are all quality programs. Personally, I'd rank Pitt very highly (I ranked it right behind my current program), but that's just my own preferences.

Regarding ortho, even if you don't get a great ortho experience (fracture complex dislocation reductions left to them), you'l be ortho savvy within a month or two of graduating. I know this from attendings who've worked in both environments. I'd caution using that as a primary deciding factor. My own program has this problem (which I inform applicants of), buti put in a little extra time at the community facility, and feel completely comfortable superceding ortho on emergent fracture reductions a week later when i had to reduce a horrible fracture- dislocation of an (twisted >100 degrees with tenting). Some procedures you want access to a lot of them to feel comfortable (intubations, central lines), others you'll find yourself completely fine with after a few times (chest tubes)

Things I would think about more strongly:

Location - do you want rural, suburban, or urban? do you care? and can you live in an area you're comfortable with in terms of area of the country? how far do you want to be from your family or is this not a consideration? are you going to be married and have kids? where do you want them to grow up. Where do you want to work in teh country after residency or are you not sure?

Community facility - are you interested in community medicine, is there a separate community ED you work at?

Peds - is there a separate peds ED with peds EM-boarded people? is it longitudinal, i.e. are you seeing kids throughout the year, or is it a single block during your entire residency? do you want to get semi-comfortable with kids?

Moonlighting - do you want to do moonlighting or not? does the program allow it?

Ultrasound - make sure you have some way of getting facile with this. I don't even know if this is an issue though as most residencies train you in this.

Floor - do you care about floor months? want to avoid them? want to include them?
 
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