Boss- I'll help you out since no one seems to be responding. I rotated there this summer.
- Very impressed with the clinical experience. Tons of operating experience during PGY2-5. Interns run the ortho ER with assistance of PGY-3, and by week 4, the intern was pretty much running the show. Lots of trauma comes in from everywhere (South America, Carribean, etc.) There is a PGY2,3,4and 5 on service- PGY-5 gets his own room like a junior attending.
- Felt that all the residents were strong- seems like the program like assertive types that are ready to accept early responsibility. Seems like you would be almost fellow-level in terms of trauma after residency.
- Very well connected in Spine and Sports- seemed like residents would be able to write their ticket to whatever fellowship program they wanted with a little support from Eismont (spine) or Uribe (sports). Also seemed to be very strong in Tumor. Foot/Ankle and Hand was about average. Joints are a weakness- Was told by numerous residents that if you know joints are your thing, MIA is probably not the best place for you (though they are improving in that area)
- Intern year is very cushy Basically there are 3 months of vacation/very easy rotations (MS rads, anesthesia, rehab,etc
- The culture is one that values work hard play hard. Some call this "fratastic"- really it is just that they like people that want to spend time in and out of the hospital- that means at clubs, going out on boats on the weekends, whatever. Bottom line- I have never worked so hard but had so much fun at the same time. The closeness of the residents translates into senior residents sticking around to help out junior residents in the ortho ER just because they are like brothers. I was on call one night and a chief who was supposed to be taking off decided to stick around to teach me and a PGY-2 how to repair an extensor tendon lac- at 2AM! My home program is known for its friendly residents, and these guys by far were a tighter group.
-Weakness: some (including myself) prefer a more academic program. These guys were plenty smart (they like applicants with big numbers) but in general were not into research or didactics. For those that don't want an academic career, this may be a strength. That being said, there are research opportunities there if you want (in particular, Eismont is fairly prolific).
- Jackson is somewhat of a dump. ORs are actually very nice (part of new multimillion dollar DTC center). Trauma bay is also very nice with big modern ORs. The rest of the hospital is fairly crappy. Doesn't seem to affect their education.
- MIA is ALOT of fun. I'm from newyork, and after spending a month in miami, I've decided the party scene down there is even bigger and better.
- MIA isn't as expensive as the northeast corridor (BOS, NYC) or LA.
That's about all I can think of right now. Hope it helps.
