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What is your in-state status?:
Out of state
On what date did the interview take place?:
2/1/2008
How do you rank this residency among ALL other residencies?:
7 out of 10
How do you rank this residency among other residencies to which you've applied?:
8 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's facilities?:
10 out of 10
What is your ranking of this program's location?:
8 out of 10
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?:
7 out of 10
What was the stress level of the interview?:
7 out of 10
How do you think you did?:
5 out of 10
How did the interview impress you?:
Neutral
How long was the interview?:
20 minutes
How many people interviewed you?:
2
What was the style of the interview?:
One-on-one
How was your interview day? Please summarize.:
The Bottom Line/Impression: A decidedly nonacademic program, good at some things, terrible at others, a gateway to LA private practice.<p> Lodging/Dinner: No hotel (nearby Best Western, though), night-before happy hour/snacks.<p> Schedule: Starts at 0645 and no one tells you if you can eat or not (apparently it was for faculty, so we didn’t eat, and most applicants didn’t get bagels/coffee even if they were for us…). Sit in on grand rounds where our presence is both unnecessary and disruptive. Rest of the day is a tour de conference rooms – over to one for the PD and chair to talk informally about the nitty-gritty (PD) and philosophy (chair). Chair makes a point of it being a Dept. of Anesthesiology not “Anesthesiology & CCM” or “Anesthesiology & Pain” but it was not at all clear why this is good. Seems like a solid dude but he had to run off to be chief medical officer (!). 2 conference rooms later, lunch on a table that looked like it’d been greased up with butter and was so shiny you could see yourself in it. Weird. The coordinator was trying her heart out but the day was disorganized nonetheless. You only have 1 proper interview (called by random order), everyone also sees Dr. Patel (PD, again, in random order with no itinerary) for 5-15 minutes depending on how long you can tolerate silence between questions. No kidding.<p> Program Info: 18 residents a year, all advanced. Cardiac, pain, and peds fellowships only. You cover LA County (“LAC+USC”), University (the private hospital), Norris cancer hospital, and go to LA Children’s for peds. Notably: no overnight call Sun-Thurs; Friday is regular 24-hour call and Saturdays is 12-hr shifts. This is due to weekday nightfloat.<p> Pros: It’s in LA. You have an exceptional trauma and transplant experience and see everything from celebrities to homeless crackheads. New LAC+USC hospital opened in November 2008 and looks amazing. LAC+USC and University are being bought by USC from Tenet – good or bad I don’t know. Residents were friendly for the most part, were apparently majority Asian, seemed to hang out a lot with each other, were a tad informal for my taste on an interview day. Placement into LA private practice is a done deal – huge alumni network in the region.<p> Cons: Do not come here if you see fellowships and/or academia in your future. No – and I mean zero – research. In the past 2 years, 6/36 grads have done fellowships, rest straight into PP in LA area. It’s in a sh*tty unsafe part of LA. Traffic. The weakest ICU I’ve seen – they cover an 8-bed post-surg-onc ICU as the consultant team. Why even bother at that point. One of the interviewers apparently pimps everyone and has for decades, but still – is that really necessary? Report as inappropriate
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