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Intern Overall Rating: 25-Aug- 2006 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule I start at 5pm every day and usually go home about 6:30. The services that I have been on were both very busy. The 80 hr work week is strictly adhered to and you must swipe in and out. Scutwork is minimal. As the intern you must manage the floor patients and scrub in on minor cases. There is a night float system with one day off per week. I have gotten at least one day off per week with a weekend day off every rotation. Teaching Faculty is excellent. The general surgeons were very good, doing a lot of cases. The colorectal surgeons are top notch, very well trained, and operate a lot. All the faculty are approachable and willing to teach. I have had no problem asking any of the attendings a question. The services that I have been on so far have had teaching during rounds and impromptu teaching sessions with med student and resident presentation. Interns have lectures 2x a week and M&M once a week. M&M is very interactive and Attendings ask a lot of questions, but M&M is not malignant at all and the attending staff teaches a lot during the M&M cases. Atmosphere All the residents get along very well. Attendings are very approachable. The hospital has an nice computer system that you can access labs, radiology and pt information. All orders are handwritten. I have a life outside of work. I enjoy my days off and have enough time to get my laundry and shopping done with a little time for outside activities. I stress that this is a surgery residency and you will work very hard. Conclusion AGH residents get a very large amount of procedures before they graduate. My senior residents operate every day and as an intern I have a good amount of operating room time doing minor cases. I have friends at other institutions that haven't even seen the inside of an operating room. Great learning experience overall. Research is available but not stressed. When finished a general surgery resident at AGH will be very prepared. Pittsburg is a great city to live in. Lots of things to do. I would definitely reapply here.

PGY2 Overall Rating: 23-Aug- 2006 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule The hours are very reasonable. Depending on the service anywhere between 5 and 6 AM is when you arrive. You leave at 6 pm because you are relieved by night float. We always get 4 days off a month, but when you are not on call on the weekends you just round early in the morning and basicaly have the rest of the day off. We are never in any violation of duties hour, and that is for real. We have to swipe time cards so everything is recorded and we are checked every week by our director. Teaching The faculty is ver good. It is different because outside of the OR or rounded you are treated more like a peer then a resident. We have our main teaching day is Tuesday with the M and M an grand rounds and then their is scattered lectures on monday and fridays each week(tumor boards, absite review, ect). The this that is great about our M&M is you learn, alot of places it is just "beat on the resident time". I was shocked to see how things are explained and something can be learned from each case by each resideent at each level. Atmosphere The relationship is very nice. There is not much competition between eachother, which is great. Everyone is ready to help you at anytime. The attendings are great they treat you with respect and it is not always just busines conversations, sometimes they will just want to see how your doing and so on. There is plenty to do outside of the hospital, we are two blocks from PNC park and Heinz field and their are many great resturant and bars. What is really great if you don't want to live right next to the hospital there are many awesome communities within 10 minutes. Conclusion To me this program is very unique, I did my PGY1 at a large university in town and it was great but had many drawbacks which we do not have here. The program and hospital are as big as any major university center without too many fellows or too much reasearch. We don't fight to operate with fellows. The drawbacks are for someone who is heavy into research.... there are opportunities but not nearly as abundant as universities. I would definatly feel prepared. I would choose this program for sure. Most senior go on to fellowships from what I know alot go into Peds and Non-cardiac thoracic.If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

Intern Overall Rating: 22-Aug- 2006 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule the program is extremely strict about the eighty hour work rule with one day off per week. We get our schedules in time to plan out the upcoming month. the program has a night float system so the hours are never bad, especially if you keep in mind this is a surgery residency. Teaching the faculty is excelent. the faculty and the senior residents are very much into teaching. you can ask the most ridicullous question and wil get a very detailed and serious answer. If you compare the M&Ms on your interview trail, i can safely say that AGH surgery M&Ms will stand out. Atmosphere THis is truly aband of brothers (and sisters). i have not come across a single hiccup in any relationship in my time here so far. i have no other call rooms and stuff like that to compare to but i think its ok. one or two ofthe restrooms for residents do need some attention. i am a an FMG and there are others too, i do not have a percentage on me. I do have a life outside work. so far i have spent most of my weekends with friends.. if friends come over to stay i do get to spend time with them. Conclusion 1. Allegheny county now has the largest numbers in terms of geriatric population.2. it is a Level I trauma center with helicopters coming in every few minutes with trauma and 3. the number of AAA flying in also collosal ( i don't have a number on me).4. Also AGH is host to the headquarters of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, the nation's largest breast cancer study, which is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. 5. it has all the elements of a general surgery program with only two outside rotations (burns and Peds). 6. the program does not have too many fellows so you get to do alot of operating. 7. other community programs you apply to or will interview at mostly have a skewed graph i.e. the hospital might be big on bariatric surgery but hardly any exposure to transplant, neck or hepato biliary. 8. Laproscopic exposure is great here, as Laps are a relatively new phenomenon there is an age group of surgeons who have seen enough of it and are perhaps at their peak in terms of skill; you will find that exposure here. 9. in a matter of months AGH will start liver transpant. 10. I may sound like a sycophant now, but it will sure help you to decide, the Executive editor of "Annals of Surgical Oncology" is here. 11. not too many community programs can boast an invention, the Macgovern heart valves were invented here. Draw backs 1. No animal/ skills lab.. may be they think its not needed but still... 2. Pittsburgh is crazy about footballand i am not... it is the smallest city i have spent so much time in... i hear the winters are realy bad. 3. Pennsylvania is a very conservative state, but i don't see how that can affect a surgery resident too much yes u think everyone i have asked, feels they are well prepared at the end of their residency... but again on your interview trail 99% of the residents you'll meet will say that... just as about 70% of the residents will say they are in the best possible program and another high percentage will say that they would reapply and come here again. i think most people do fellowships and do get into fellowships... i honestly don't know if they get into prestigous fellowships or not... that is such a loose and relative word... i do know by the end of a general surgery rotation ideally you shouls not be thinking of spending extra years for more exposure in things like oncological or breast surgery and the like.. i think i have answered most of the questions given here... you may contact me if you are dying to find out some particular aspect... good luck and hope to see you this season

Intern Overall Rating: 14-Nov- 2003 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Depending on the service, pre-rounding can start anywhere from 4-5:30 am. The chief or senior sings in around 6:30 am after which you have time to put in any orders, finish any notes, or look up any pending labs. There is more than adequate OR experience in your intern year, and the remainder of the day is following up studies, covering cases, consults, and other typical floor work. No scutwork as an intern. I've transported a patient twice and that was from the ER straight to the OR. I have NOT started and IV, transported a patient to radiology, drawn stat labs, etc. since being here. The ancillary services are fantastic. Hours do significantly differ from service-to-service, but the 80 work week is enforced and apllies to everyone. Attendings are also wary of the hours and have sent residents home. Teaching 95% of the faculty is approachable and 100% of them are excellent teachers. M&M, Grand Rounds, Basic Science conference (weekly systems-base review for the in service exam), Vascular Conference, and Trauma conference are the major weekly conferences. In addition there is a Journal Club (with a catered dinner!), Tumor Board, and Breast Conference. That being said, there is anywhere from 3-6 hours of didactic sessions per week in addition to attending rounds. There are no malignant pimping sessions, but faculty is always available and willing to answer any question. Atmosphere Camaraderie among peers is excellent - from interns to chiefs almost everyone get along with each other. Attending-resident relationships are also very goood as well. The facilities are excellent, though newer computer would be great - the other day I think I printed my patient list off of a Commodore 64... 2 of the 21 categorical residents are FMG's. Life outside of work is still a BS question for surgery - 80 hours is still technically working 2 jobs in terms of hours. Sure you have more time to run your errends, read up on something, or buy food, but I don't think anyone is going out every night. Conclusion This program stands out because its clinically very busy with hardly any scutwork. Furthermore, research opportunities are certainly available, but it is not required for you to serve a 2-3 year sentence in the labs - you know what programs I'm talking about. Drawbacks - i wish there was more to do in Pittsburgh. The program has prepared me well so far, I guess I can really answer that in 5 years. I would definitely reapply here again and rank AGH high on my list. The breakdown is 50% to fellowships. This year 75% of the chiefs are going for a fellowship, with one already matched in CT. I welcome any inquiries. Good luck.

PGY2 Overall Rating: 31-Oct- 2003 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Typical day begins with sign-in between 6 and 6:30. We do pre-round here. The day ends at 6 (this is when the night float team comes on). Sometimes you get out a little earlier, sometimes later, depending how busy your service is. After sign in, it is typically off to conference (basic science conf., or grand rounds, or truama conference, depending on the day). Then off to the OR. With the 80 hour work week, there are plenty of cases to go around. In between cases as the day goes on is the time to get up to the floor to take care of work, or follow up on films, studies, see consults, etc. Around 430 to 500, it becomes time to start running the patient list and making sure the day's work is done in preparation for sign-out. Teaching The faculty here are overall very excellent. There is a great blend of younger and older faculty here, giving us as residents a broad spectrum of different perspectives. Some of the new faculty that have come during the past year have been great additions. Teaching takes place in multiple settings. One on one in the OR. Formal rounds once-twice/week with attendings. Didactic basic science conferences once a week (which are excellent) and grand rounds with M&M once a week. Also, once a week there is vascular conference (excellent) breast concerence, tumor board, and a well organized trauma conference. The faculty, for the most part are very dedicated to resident education. Atmosphere Overall the environment is good here at AGH. The physical work environment is good. The camaraderie is good amongst our residents. I do have a life outside of work, although in a limited fashion. That's just residency. We all get at least four days off a month now. I am less tired when I am away from work, which is obviously good. Conclusion This is a great place to train. The clinical experience is excellent. That is the strongest point of this program. The faculty are very strong, and enjoyable to work with. There are opportunities for research experience, if one so desires, though this program is obviously not a high powered basic science research engine. The graduates form here have been able to do what they want to to do. Last year two did fellowships, and two joined private practices. So far I am happy with my choice to come here, and would make the same choice again.