- Staff / Faculty / Chairman
-
Staff is diverse with regards to fellowship training (specialists and generalists), age (wide spectrum of young to senior surgeons), and personalities. All are very supportive of resident education and wonderful teaching with a commitment to the residents.
- Didactics / Teaching
-
Weekly protected educational time every Wednesday morning from 7:30-12pm with lectures, interactive response, OITE review sessions, and in-lab cadaver anatomy dissections and surgeries. Monthly journal club hosted by faculty, and individual rotation journal clubs and teaching sessions.
- Operating Experience
-
Definitely a highlight of the program with a great mix of county hospital (UCSD Hillcrest), VA Medical Center, Childrens Hospital, Private Hospitals (Scripps), etc. Independence in the OR is granted based on experience and preparation, as would be expected.
- Clinic Experience
-
Like the OR experience, a broad clinical experience with many patient demographics.
- Research Opportunities
-
A true highlight of the program, all residents have a fully funded PGY 2 research year. Most residents have multiple publications and prepare themselves well for fellowship applications.
- Residents
-
Awesome group of diverse residents with different strengths. Come hang out with us and you'll know why we love it here.
- Lifestyle
-
It's a West Coast program - so definitely more of a "laid back" culture. Residents are expected to be self-motivated learners and there is not much "hand-holding."
- Location / Housing
-
Come on... it's San Diego! This sells itself. Perfect weather, 5 minutes from the beach at any of our hospitals, great quality of life. How can you go wrong?
- Limitations
-
Not many. Every resident I know thinks this is the best program. As noted above, there isn't much hand-holding, so if you're the kind of person who needs personal attention in order to do your homework, this isn't the place for you. Rather, if you're self-motivated and create your own study schedules (and stick to them), you'll have no problem.
- Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
-
Overall, UCSD is a 10/10 experience for education, lifestyle, and general life-goal preparation. Residents and staff are happy, smart, relaxed, and provide the ideal environment for training and career development.
