Oregon?

I interviewed there so I probably dont have as much info as someone who did...so hopefully they will chime in.
Overall I thought the program was excellent. One of the smaller programs in the west coast (3 residents per year I think). They run the program much like a preceptorship so you get lots of one on one attention from the various attendings. All the attendings I met were a lot of fun and mostly younger people that have other interests outside of medicine and definitely encourage that in the residents. The city is great...but a bit rainy. They get a lot of rotators...especially people from the pac north west that want to stay there or go back there. A couple years ago when they got a new chairman they took a huge step in the right direction...but he left about a year ago and they were actively recruiting a new one during the interview season and claimed to be able to land someone spectacular by the time this class began this summer...but I have not seen or heard anything more about this.

Overall a strong program but not as large, or academic, or as "strong" as someplace like say U of Washington. They ended up very high on my rank list...just FYI

I know the program well. I am not a resident there, but went to med school there and matched at another place. I rotated there for 3 weeks as a 3rd year MS and 4 weeks as a 4th year and did two other 4 week externships at other programs, plus interviews. So I have a pretty good idea of what is going on there.
It is a good solid program. Not spectacular though. Compared to the program I am in currently, the residents at OHSU (Oregon) get to operate more earlier on (as a 2nd year particularly) but don't get as much quality instruction on how to do so. As one progresses in training, ie 3-4-5 years the amount of operating is a wash, but the actual instruction again is not, I believe, quite as solid.
The residents there, in terms of quality of person, are second to none and are the sole reason why I did ortho. People come to Oregon for training not only because they want to be great docs, surgeons, etc but because they want to have fun when they get out of the "house." Ski, surf, windsurf, drink the array of microbrews... Portland offers that and more and the ortho residents (in addition to all specialties) take full advantage.
If you are a research oriented guy, I would not advise on the program. It is literally non existant, at least when I left a year ago. You do 3 months during some year of training, but it is largely an excuse to get up to the mountain more to ski.
The chairman thing sucks. Dirschl was superb, but he got his dream job at UNC and had to take it. I am sure they will get a candidate in his mold: young, energetic, great ideas, etc. They haven't hired yet, so I've heard. The thing is though, I compare the program at OHSU to any mid-major hoops team: the young, stud coach leads the team to the sweet 16 and then bolts for the ACC, Pac-10, Big 12, etc. I see the same thing happening again at OHSU. It's a mid major and a good stepping stone for those chairmen who want to prove themselves for the big names. Hopefully it doesn't, but one can never know.
All in all, a solid program, not extensively academically based but with early operative experience in an awesome, superb, town.

I am currently a resident at OHSU, and just wanted to comment on the program, prior posts, etc.

OHSU is a smaller program compared to UW, etc, which is an advantage and/or disadvantage, depending how you look at it. We have basically a 1:1 faculty to resident ratio, and even higher if you look at Emanuel (the other level 1 trauma center we cover), which means tons of OR time. The quality of faculty continues to improve as newer / younger faculty continue to arrive (8 new faculty in the past 4 years).

First to the positives- As an R2 I did over 12 total knees, 7 acl's, 40 knee scopes, and 25 nails (femur/Tibia/Humerus) as first surgeon- pretty lofty numbers for a 2. Another positive- we have only 1 spine fellow, so you are never 2nd assist on the cases except in spine. That was one of the big reasons I ranked it No. 1. We have about 6 hours of lecture a week- less than Mayo and other more didactic oriented programs, but more than enough. Our call currently is based on a night-float system, but next year we will be going back to a q6 schedule which isnt too bad. I have never gone over 75 hours.

A huge positive is the residents here. I am pretty sure that all of us (except 1 or 2) ranked OHSU number 1, and this year was the first year we went past 5 on our rank list in 4 years (I attribute it to the chairman issue). The residents here love the program, and we all get along, hang out outside of the program, etc. Portland is a great city if you love skiing, biking, etc. 1 hour to Mt Hood, 1 hour to the coast. A little rain, but nothing a nice goretex coat cant handle.

Now for the big question- the chairman issue. I was disappointed when Dirschl left, but I think the 4 candidates we have narrowed it down to are actually vast improvements. They are all top applicants in their respective subspecialties who want to come to Portland and OHSU. OHSU as an institution is in the midst of a $300 million facilities upgrade and I think that also attracted top chairman applicants as well. The reason I say an improvement- Dirschl was good, young and energetic, but he wanted to be chair at UNC (his residency program) all along (he turned down 8 other chairman posts while at OHSU), and I think that is no good for a program to have a chairman waiting to leave. I dont think we are a mid-major program in response to O-pod. We have had 3 chairman in the past 30 years, not exactly high turnover.

The downsides- obviously the chairman issue was a detractor, but it will be an upgrade for the program in the long run I believe. I think we are a little short on Foot and ankle experience, but the new F&A staff member here is great and will replace that deficiency shortly. Portland's cost of living is higher than the midwest, but much less than Seattle, SF, and other comparable "cool" west coast cities.

There you have it. Feel free to fire off additional questions. I recommend rotating here if interested as it is a highly competitive program, but a rotation is not necessary. (3 out of the past 9 have rotated here). Good luck, and congrats to the 4th years who matched (enjoy the next 2 months!!!)
Rendering Error in layout BBCode/Image: Layout 'BBCode/Image:default' Not Found. Please enable debug mode for more information.

BoneQwacker-

I sent you a PM. I don't know whether you got it or not.

orthorun