Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Dr. Yoo is a major presence in the program. He attends fracture rounds every morning and has a great attitude. He is committed to improving the program from attracting new faculty to picking competitive residents that work well as a team. Most of the newer faculty followed Dr. Yoo from Case Western and are a true benefit. Dr. Friess and Mirza head up the trauma team and enjoy teaching the residents. Dr. Mirarchi and Orfaly are great for Hand and Drs. Huff and Vigeland make up a solid joint service that is looking to increase its volume.
Didactics / Teaching
Historically a weakness of the program. I found this not to be true. There are weekly conferences for Hand, Spine and OITE review along with the usual grand rounds and fracture conference.
Operating Experience
All the faculty I worked with were interested in teaching the residents and most allowed residents to do a decent amount in the OR. Not a huge volume due to SLOW turnovers in the main OR (45-90 min). Turnovers in the outpatient OR are much faster (10-20 min)
Clinic Experience
It has been said before but the clinic is located in a beautiful LEED Platinum certified building on the riverfront. As with most programs clinic is highly variable from attending to attending. No surprises here but a good experience overall.
Research Opportunities
Another historical weakness of the program that has improved. Residents are active in research projects and have dedicated research blocks. Many of the younger faculty are not established names in their respective fields so it will take time before they start pumping out articles.
Residents
Great group of residents. Have varied interests outside of the program but they all seem to enjoy the outdoors. Some are not as responsive to medical students but I found them all to be helpful during my rotation. They all seemed happy. They have some odd numbers in the chief and R2 year due to a chief being held back but I don't this is a reflection of any weaknesses in the program.
Lifestyle
Average. Night float is here to stay and seems to work well. Residents rotate on night float for a total of 10 weeks during the R2 year. Hours are long on Spine and Trauma but the rest of the services are fairly laid back.
Location / Housing
60 minute to Mt. Hood, 20 Minutes to the Columbia River Gorge, 90 minutes to the Coast. Portland is an amazing city with excellent public transportation, and thriving a beer culture and food cart scene downtown. The farmer's markets are impressive.
Limitations
After reflecting on my rotation the only major drawback to the program is the slow OR turnover in the main OR. This must be detrimental to resident caseload. Turnovers at the CHH OR are great and I hear they are good at St. Vincent.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Dr. Yoo is committed to improving the program and is starting to deliver. It takes time but he is attracting more away rotators, more competitive residents and expanding the faculty. This would be a great program to get into now as they are on the verge of becoming a top-tier program on the west coast.
