Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Like most places some of the docs were great, some not so much. They seemed to be the extremes of the spectrum with Dr. Faerber the PD oscillating between the two. Dr. Powers is a sports guy that used to be a QB for Ohio State. Some days I half expected him to crack open a beer and hand me one in the clinic he was such a nice stand-up guy. Dr. Caputo is also very nice but pretty quiet. Their joints guy is a prick and I watched and just stared down students and treated them like garbage. Dr. Faerber is a hot or cold guy that one second will praise you for an excellent read on x-ray and then chastise you for breathing too hard (maybe not that extreme!) The peds guy is very efficient and expects the best out of you and can be harsh at times but all in good fun.
Didactics / Teaching
Didactics were short but effective. Their residents seemed to be on top of each session and routinely score in the top percentiles of the OITE, though whether or not this is due to their own excellence or didactics is probably mixed. Wednesdays the peds guy shows up and really takes control of didactics and is a huge plus for the program. He offers insight into how to diagnose and treat various pathologies while making it fun at the same time (fun if you have thick skin.)
Operating Experience
I was there when it was apparently the "deadest its ever been" so OR time was pretty limited. Most surgeries 80% or more were either trauma or and I&D of some sort. I think I saw two ACL repairs when I was there. They operate everyday. Most students I have talked to said they worked 100+ hours as a student and was in the OR all day and night so my experience sounds like it was not the norm. Good peds experience throughout which is uncommon with other programs.
Clinic Experience
Wowzas a lot of clinic. 4 days a week of clinic where they see 80-120 patients a day. 50% speak spanish and of those probably 50% speak ONLY spanish. This made it difficult to do an H&P, although they had a phone interpreter that you could use its still impossible to do a provocative test and get "real time" results. I initially hated having to do so much clinic but learned that there were a lot of gaps in my knowledge that were filled in during clinic days. Also its the first time I felt like a real physician. You get a lot of autonomy as a student and see patients on your own on day one. By the end of the month you see patients, read the x-rays, chart your SOAP note then present to the attending or senior resident and they just sign the chart (county hospital.)
Research Opportunities
Most the residents have some sort of research going, one of the interns worked as a biomechanical engineer so I would be interested to see what sort of things he dreams up. Another resident has a project that involves multiple centers. I felt that research is becoming more of an emphasis with the peds guy (hate calling him the peds guy but cant remember his name). The attendings seems to be more open to participating and developing research projects with the residents.
Residents
A good mix of guys. It seemed to be the most malignant program I had been to with residents quick to poke fun and mock students if they missed a pimp question rather than identifying the gap in their reasoning and using it as a learning experience. I am from the midwest and many of the residents and attendings are from the coast so this may be why I viewed it as a more malignant program.
Lifestyle
As a student apparently it is not good but residents adhere to the hour restriction. The second year seems to be the worst with two of the residents rotating call in 12 hr shifts each week and 24hr call on the weekends. But honestly I would rather do that then doing primary call as a PGY3 or PGY4.
Location / Housing
Riverside itself is not the best area but its central location is great. 4hrs from Vegas or Pheonix, 1.5hrs from LA, 2 hrs from San Diego. The closest airport is 45 minutes away. Although CA felt the housing boom the cost of housing is still higher than in the midwest region.
Limitations
Their joints and sports are done at Kaiser so I cannot speak to those, though the residents say its a great experience and feel they are more experienced than the MD residents that rotate through there as well. Most of their hand, peds, or other is somehow associated with either trauma or infections.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
I absolutely hated this place my first week but it grew on me a lot after that. I think it was due to all the down time and rudeness of the OR staff. I think that anyone graduating from this program will have a "mini-fellowship" in trauma training and will have no problem handling trauma call at any center. Experience in the other "bread and butter" orthopedics seemed like it was limited.
