1. What makes your program different from
other programs, or what made you choose your program?
The attendings here are awesome! They are great teachers, we get
great supervision, and they are fun people to work with. You
get to see a lot.
Tampa General
Hospital sees both indigent and private patients, so there is a
good mix; and, there are plenty of patients to go around. The
staff is superb. The nurses are very good and they work well
with residents. The residency staff is out of this world!
Everyone truly cares about the residents and their well-being.
2. If not
answered above, what's the best aspect of your program?
To be honest, everything I mentioned above is the “best aspect” of
this program.
3. Are there
any major upcoming changes to your program?
We are building a brand new Emergency Department with new CT
scanners in the department, OR’s and angio suites. It is due to
be completed in the Fall of 2007.
4. Is there
anything you would change about your program if you could?
No.
5. How much
are you responsible for blood draws, putting in IVs, etc.?
We are not responsible for any of this. Our nurses are excellent
at what they do. Of course, if there is someone that is a “hard
stick,” we can always help out by placing central lines or IV’s
by ultrasound.
6. Do you
learn mostly from attendings, other residents, or textbooks?
Does this vary when you do off-service rotations?
We learn from everyone, along with books. Our attendings make it a
point to teach on every shift and you can always learn something
new from your fellow residents. We have morning report, which
is usually a case presentation, so there is always learning to
be done from the resident presenting. If there is something you
don’t know you can always ask or look it up in the textbooks.
We have monthly quizzes, so you have to stay on top of you
reading. As far as off-service rotations go, the same applies.
7. How does
EMed rank in your hospital's hierarchy?
Even though we are a new program (I’m in the second class to
graduate), everyone respects us. We get a long with the other
residents in the other departments. I wouldn’t say that there
is really a hierarchy in our hospital, but rather that everyone
works together and respects other departments.
8.
What are the perks that your school provides (PDAs, textbooks,
conference fees, meal tickets, etc.)?
We are provided with books,
some of which are a Tintinalli and a Washington Manual. Meal
tickets are provided, and that is KEY. I don’t have time to
cook, so I’m always eating at the hospital, and we have a Taco
Bell, Sbarro, Subway, and Morrison’s. The word is that they
will be building a new cafeteria when the new ED comes out.
All seniors get to go to a conference with fees paid. Residents
get free parking in the parking garage.
9. How do you
rate your rotations outside of the emergency department?
Great! We do two weeks of
anesthesia, which is awesome for practice with intubations. We
get to use LMA’s, intubating LMA’s, the fiberoptic scope and
other goodies. Ortho is good because the residents here are
very nice and they love to teach and work with the EM
residents. We also do Pediatric ICU, which is a perk because
you get to work with very sick children, which I was never
really comfortable with. I could list all the off-service
rotations, but to be honest, they are all very good.
10. What's
the best elective you've done?
We don’t do “electives” until
our third year and I have not done mine yet. In fact, none of
the new PGY 3’s have done their electives yet.
11. How much
does your program focus on research?
We are required to do a
scholarly project and we get plenty of help from our research
director. However, they basically leave it up to you to decide
what you want to do. They are good about not pushing anyone
into doing something they are not interested in. But, if you
have an interest, there are plenty of projects.
12. What do
you love and hate most about the city you're in?
There is nothing I “hate” about
Tampa. I’m from
Los Angeles, so I’m used to being around the water and the sun. I
love the fact that the hospital is located in a nice area. I
will say this, if you love the sun and the water,
Tampa
is located on the bay and Tampa General Hospital is located on
an island on the bay, so you can’t beat its location. I live
about 1.5 miles from the hospital in a really nice
neighborhood. There are plenty of restaurants, cafés,
activities, and
Clearwater beach is only about 30 minutes away.
13. Please
describe your typical month in terms of work hours and days off.
PGY 1’s work ~ 56 hrs/week.
PGY 2’s work ~ 52 hrs/week.
PGY 3’s work ~ 46 hrs/week.
It works out to be about 20-21 shifts for PGY 1’s, 19-20 shifts for
PGY 2’s, and 18-20 shifts for PGY 3’s. PGY 1’s do almost all 12
hr shifts. PGY 2’s do mostly 12 hr shifts, and some 8’s and
10’s. PGY 3’s do mostly 10 hr shifts, some 8’s and occasionally
12’s.
14. How much
time do you spend off-duty with the other residents?
We usually hang out at dinners or parties that are being thrown
throughout the year for different occasions. I also hang out
with other residents from other departments. It’s good to get
to know other residents from other departments and build
friendships so that it makes your work environment much easier.
15. Do you have any
international experience?
Yes. One of the residents in my class has put together a US-India
Emergency Medicine Summit. It started last year and will be
annual. It’s an international conference on Emergency Medicine
between the two countries and some of our residents attend.
They are also working on putting an elective together in
Turkey
and our department is open to creating your own international
elective during your elective time as a PGY 3.
16. What are your
plans after residency?
I am thinking about doing a Sports Medicine Fellowship.
17. How
prepared do you feel?
I feel prepared and I think that this last year will make me more
confident.
18. Do you
have any advice for current applicants, or is there anything you
wish you'd known when you were applying?
Get to know the programs you’re applying to because you will be
there for three years. Make sure the faculty is good because
you will be emulating them in several aspects, and it’s always
important to have good role models. Have fun, but be ready to
work hard. Residency can be very straining, but remember you
are here to learn as much as you can because once you’re out in
the real world you are on your own. Don’t forget to put aside
time for yourself, friends, and family. It will help keep you
sane!
