Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
petersometimesclimbs
Trad climber
boston, ma
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 2, 2016 - 11:52am PT
|
Can you stay in Europe? Might be your best bet...
it's a possibility but that involves a marriage that i'm not ready to commit to...i didn't say that.
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
i'll be looking to start surgical residency.
Don't sweat this decision. You won't have time to be going climbing. Not if you are in a serious program. I'd strongly recommend a large county hospital, like Fresno, Bakersfield (I did Fam Pract in Bakersfield).
You shouldn't skimp on your clinical exposure during residency, and if you are in an academic or private center, you won't get nearly the same experience. If you want to go into clinical practice, it won't matter where you are from (but what experience you bring), but if you want to go into academic medicine, then the pedigree can matter.
At Bakersfield, all the residents moonlight in area ERs, and make a lot of money doing so. Most paid off all their debt. No Fellows stealing your cases.
I put in more swans as an intern, than one of my classmates who went to UCLA in his entire residency and fellowship in cardiology. If you go to a community county center, you'll operate. If you go to a private or academic, you'll spend years holding retractors.
|
|
petersometimesclimbs
Trad climber
boston, ma
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 2, 2016 - 12:36pm PT
|
Thanks Ken for this very heartfelt advice - i have heard it before about country hospitals and will take the advice very seriously. As far as not having time for climbing, it is a major concern. I'm taking some time off now to pursue some serious objectives that have been on my mind for some time so i should be more at peace later. Perhaps I can steal a few hours not moonlight to climb a bit - one of the major perks of going to an European school is that I have very little debt. Thanks again!
|
|
Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
|
|
You're blowing it. Marry the richest EuroBabe you can find.
Or go to Vancouver.
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
Good on the debt front, but when faced with a potential income stream that can cost you thousands, just to take a couple of days to go climbing, it is hard to give it up. It's that way in practice, too.
G'luck.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
I earlier mentioned the Montrose/Ouray area as a possibility. The hospital may not be big enough....Grand Junction another hour north might fit the bill.
If you need a large metro area the Boulder/Denver area is FAR superior to areas in California, Washington or Oregon. You would be living at some altitude with far better access to climbing and skiing. I have pursued climbing throughout the West for the last half century and have spent time in or near most venues mentioned. Forget Vegas.
|
|
steve s
Trad climber
eldo
|
|
Forget Vancouver too! Health care system is amateurish. Beautiful city though.
|
|
jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
|
|
. . . a progressive mindset in the community
Montrose & Grand Junction?
Boulder & Denver much better choices IMHO.
|
|
Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
|
|
i'll be looking to start surgical residency Dude, you are f*#ked for the next 7 years. I did only 3 years.
Don't turn into the typical as#@&%e surgeon, please, the surgical hazing has a nasty way of making that happen. keep your perspective and don't let the sleep deprivation destroy you. I often got only 25 hours of sleep a week. For some stupid reason, they expect you to learn and function as a walking zombie.
|
|
altelis
Mountain climber
NM
|
|
Hey man, Im in year 4 of 5 of my orthopedic residency, plus looking at one more to do a fellowship in ortho trauma.
I'm currently at UNM, in Albuquerque. I would second survival's suggestion. Regional Level 1 trauma center. The hospital is the ONLY trauma center in the state, and takes patients from CO, TX, AZ. We see pathology here that you won't see anywhere else given the massively poor, rural and indigent population we serve.
You can climb outside or mountain bike within 15 minutes of the hospital every day Spring-Fall, and many winter days. Alpine trad routes in your back yard. Unbelievable skiing and alpine climbing are available but take a weekend to do.
I absolutely LOVE the orthopedic department here. If you are going into general surgery, I would strongly recommend the city and the pathology seen. The gen surg program can be a bit, well, "east coast'ish" (and i know this first hand, having done med school in DC), and works worse longer hours than we do in Ortho.
My other suggestion is to find a program/setting that makes you happy first of all (that is where you spend majority of your time), and then offers SUPER EASY access to 1-2 of the sports you love to do.
I spent many years between undergrad (as a philosophy major, so didn't really work all that hard) and med school doing nothing but climbing/skiing/biking/living. You need to really pare down what you do during residency, at least the majority of the time. Maybe you can't jet and alpine climb most weekends some places, but hey, maybe you are able to climb or bike many days after work. Or maybe you can alpine climb every weekend, but the trade off may be that you spend most days after work in the gym.
I've done the same search as you (though again, Ortho and Gen Surg positions are different and in different places), and the above is the realization I came to rather quickly.
Climbing/skiing/what have you is important to keep up, but truly don't underestimate a department that is supportive, values what you value, and gives you time to be human. I purposefully avoided Colorado's ortho program because of just those issues, despite it being the only Ortho program in Colorado.
If you're interested in chatting about the town and the hospital lemme know.
|
|
petersometimesclimbs
Trad climber
boston, ma
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 3, 2016 - 10:52am PT
|
Altelis, yes I would absolutely love to chat!
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
And a question for the OP: Are you able to live in Canada? Not that there aren't great places that match your criteria in the US, but your options increase substantially if you look north of the US border as well.
I think a bunch of us are headed that way David, after the current political Mickey Mouse Show comes to it's final conclusion. Depending on how it goes, it will involve completely different sorts of people, though. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. :-)
|
|
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
|
|
I am living in NM for work these days. There is good access to alpine climbing and skiing. Tons of rock climbing. No crowds (or really any other people at all).
I wouldn't say ABQ Is a particularly charming city but I live in Santa Fe so I might be missing something. Also NM is a poor rural state and has all of the problems that go along with that. Probably good for someone studying trauma!
|
|
JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
|
|
If by "progessive mindset," you mean fashionably left of center, neither Bakersfield nor Fresno qualify. We tend to elect "Valleycrats" and "Valleycans," and those tend strongly toward the center.
In addition, both areas, but particularly Fresno, require quite a drive to get to good alpine routes. They do, however, offer great surgical training, I'm told (my lifelong best friend is a radiologist here, and through him and my wife (a former surgical nurse), I've gotten to know a great deal about the local medical scene). They also offer proximity to first-rate rock climbing of all types. My friend the radiologist did his residency at U Dub in Seattle, and it's hard to beat that area for mountaineering proximity to a major metropolitan area.
If you're interested in central California, I'd contact Ken M, who not only has experience as both a climber and a doc, but is also extremely intelligent and helpful, despite his tendency toward differing from me politically at times.
John
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
<blushing>
|
|
Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
|
|
Ghost wrote:
"Are you able to live in Canada?" Major Ontario hospitals reserve 15 to 20% of all positions for out of country qualified residents.
At the same time Ontario doctors are without a contract for the last few years because Ontario government is running out of money.
Use Google to learn more about these negotiations.
I suspect that situation in BC or Alberta is pretty similar.
|
|
Impaler
Social climber
Oakland
|
|
Salt lake city would be a REALLY good choice for recreation. I would totally move there if I could find a job there. I wouldn't worry about progressive community. Sure, it's a very red state, but it's a very clean city, people are super nice, breweries are awesome (don't listen to what people tell you about the weak beer) and there is definitely a small subset of population who are definitely very progressively minded and have moved there because of the amazing recreational opportunities. You can be bouldering, sport climbing, plugging gear into cracks, or backcountry skiing within 15-20 min of the city. Within 1-2 hrs you have a lifetime of climbing.
By the way Bakersfield and Fresno have the worst air quality of the entire country:
http://www.valleyair.org/waaqs/naqiapp.aspx?a=Bakersfield,%20CA,%20United%20States
Drought is making San Joaquin Valley's bad air worse
|
|
Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
|
|
This is the city. Los Angeles, California.
You'll find a level 2 trauma center, or two. You have surfing, and rock climbing all around you. Tahquitz and Joshua Tree are just a couple of hours distant. A few hours drive has you at the greatest range of mountains in the world. There's a 10,000 foot mountain complete with bighorn sheep within 20 miles of downtown LA.
I can head out my front door and in 10 minutes strolling be walking on mountain trail that can take me all the way to Canada.
And unlike those toothless redneck backwater burgs out in BFE everyone else is trying to get you to move to, you have culture. Diverse world class food, music, theater, and museums abound.
|
|
Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
|
|
Totally! Go to L.A.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!