Review Summary

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Times	0	0	0	14	5
Rating	1	2	3	4	5

Add your own Review!

PGY6 Overall Rating: 03-Oct- 2001 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Expect to work like any surgical program (~100hrs/wk). However, time spent at the hospital is actually quality operative and patient care time. There are no lab draw, transport, EKG, etc. type scutwork duties. The inhouse call schedule is very manageable with q3-4 interns, q5-6 juniors, 6x/month 4th year, and 4x/month 5th year. Chiefs take out of house call for their services 24hrs making excellent continuity of care with miniimal cross-cover. Teaching Excellent general surgery faculty with surgical specialists in liver surgery, obesity surgery, colorectal surgery, breast surgery, thoracic surgery, Level I trauma surgery. Very non-malignant teaching in and out of the OR. Grand rounds, M&M, Surg Onc, Tumor Board, Breast, Basic Science, Vascular conferences weekly (no Saturday conferences). Mainly clinical research opportunities exist (required yearly project), but not a power research institution especially for basic science. Atmosphere Excellent relationships with attendings. Residents work well together and often do social activities together out of the hospital. The time off in the program allows for some social life (work hard/play hard). Many (~50%) residents are married and some have children. The physical plant is fairly nice with general surgery residency computers, resident lounge, etc. Conclusion Standouts: friendly environment, huge diverse caseload Drawbacks: basic science research Prepared?: Very much so Reapply?: Definitely

PGY5 Overall Rating: 31-Aug- 2001 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule As an upper level resident, I am on call for my service 24 hours a day. Usually, I know what problems are happening and do not need to arrive much before 6 am daily. We round until 7 and then go to the OR. In between, we make time for attending rounds, lunch, and 'scut work.' We attempt to give our junior residents and interns at least 2 days off a month. We are currently experimenting with giving the chiefs 2 days off as well. Teaching The faculty here shows great patience. They guide you along, but also allow you to make errors. They generally accept your thoughts and decisions as long as they are medically sound. The operative experience is extensive. All cases large and small. Conferences are well planned, run, and attended. No weekend conferences which means come in, get the work done, and go. Atmosphere All residents see the common goal of becoming good surgeons. No one advances at the expense of another. A bad outcome on the service leads to the whole unit of the team looking bad and vice versa. The attendings give you free reign more or less to do what is right. Decisions to operate are made jointly. The attendings are approachable, dedicated, and available. Conclusion Allegheny General Hospital is a large community hospital in Pittsburgh. It has the long standing reputation in the community as a health provider, but also has some academic ties. Residents are accomplished operating surgeons at the conclusion of their training. All fellowships and practice opportunities are at the fingertips of our residents. I would be happy to answer every and all questions regarding our program. Thank you

PGY3 Overall Rating: 28-Aug- 2001 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule It depends upon what service you are currently rotating on but it averages 12-14hr days. As a surgical junior your job is usually to see the consult service and the unit patients which is then followed by sign-in rounds at 6:15 in the morning. The OR starts at 7:30 which usually gives the chief resident time to go over complicated patients and to do morning rounds with teaching. Attending rounds vary and depending on the rotation you are on; they are daily or they exist as formal teaching rounds weekly. As the surgical junior on some services you will lead the attendings around when they become available during the day. Clinics are present with almost every service ranging from trauma, vascular, general surgery and transplant. Call schedule varies but is on average q4 or better. Call is usually a learning experience every time I am on since you cover all general surgery, vascular surgery and trauma and have plenty of opportunity to experience new and interesting admissions and consults. You always have backup with the chief resident (home call) and the attending surgeon whom you call to discuss the admission/consult. Teaching The faculty overall are excellent and actually some of the them are quite "famous" and are nationally known. Core lecture requirements are basic science, M&M and grand rounds, these conferences are then supplemented by vascular, chest and tumor conference. This amount seems to be about right so that there is almost always a session daily except fridays. Also no weekend sessions. Atmosphere The residency director (Dr. Cobb) and Sue Gardner the General Surgery Coordinator are the 2 main people that make this program excel in every aspect. All relationships with attendings are positive- they all teach have patience and want you to excel. The program sponsors gatherings with attendings and residents which usually turns out to be quite rewarding. Everybody's concept of what having a "life" is different- but overall in my opinion you have time to do what you want and to study when budgeted appropiately. The program provides almost 30 days of vacation and usually 1-2 days off/month. Conclusion I compared this program to the 3 other programs in the Pittsburgh area and after interviewing at all of the them, I found Allegheny General Hospital to have the best atmosphere to work in, non-malignant- The most "academic community program" I have seen. Probably the best surgical experience (no shortage of any case). I feel that when I graduate that I would be extremely prepared to be a community general surgeon if I so chose or would be more than capable for any fellowship as already shown by our last and present chiefs (pediatric surgery, colorectal and cardiothoracic surgery) Negatives- It really depends- If you are looking for research- there is some opportunity (there is a 1 year research built inbetween 3 and 4th year). Another area which is both a +/- is that the program is looking for a new minimally invasive surgeon director, but on the positive side the hospital just built an almost one of a kind million dollar minimally invasive suite which is amazing to see. Other positives included 30 days of vacation, free garage parking and free meals. Overall I think that this is a great place to train/learn with very few negatives and that when you graduate you will be more a than competent general surgeon ready for practice or fellowship. Another example of the strength of the surgical program at Allegheny General is that for a "community hospital" we perform kidny and pancreas transplants, we have a cardiothoracic fellowship program and a level 1 Trauma ER. I would choose this program again- most definitely If you have questions, I would be more that happy to respond

PGY3 Overall Rating: 23-Aug- 2001 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Typical day. Hmm. Like most surgical programs, I suspect, a typical day here begins early, about 5am, with call ranging between q3-4. However, the attending staff is very good about scheduling cases around teaching conferences, etc. Scutwork is minimized with excellent ancillary services. As an intern here, you will be busy, but for the most part, efforts are made to minimize the non-medical garbage which unfortunately accompanies much of modern medicine today. The atmosphere is, for the most part, non malignant with attendings and senior residents very approachable. Teaching Teaching at Allegheny has been and continues to be a top priority of the program. Conferences are designed to conflict as little as possible with clinical duties. Furthermore, conferences and teaching sessions in areas like Trauma, Vascular, Surgical Oncology, lapararoscopic surgery are all lead by senior attendings in their respective fields. Teaching on rounds is of course attending dependent, but most are willing to teach and it's the rare attending who expects work from you without giving back in return. Research is encouraged in all years, and in fact, some original research is mandatory. Atmosphere Surgery residency. Having a life. By its nature, surgery residencies do demand a lot in terms of time and mental energy. Although time demands are significant, 3 nine days of vacation and 5 days or so around christmas do help. Attendings, as previously mentioned, are approachable and for the most part, non malignant, provided you do your job and seem willing to learn. Often members of the senior staff will eat lunch with residents in the physican dining room. As for your peers, you will establish strong relations with them. You will come to rely on eachother. Generally, people will treat you as you treat them. The mentality here is of a team effort, not cut-throatedness. It makes residency much more tolerable. As for work area, we have state of the art lapararoscopic suites, extensive OR facilities, a busy surgi-center, separate ob-gyn ORs. Call rooms are functional and unfortunately have phones. Conclusion What stands out? This is a place that demands a lot, but unlike other programs, will reward you for your efforts. Malignant attendings and senior residents are rare here. You will see and operate on a tremendous amount of pathology given that we are a level 1 trauma center and a major referral center. You also have strong exposure to cardio-thoracic, transplant, and plastic surgery. And the food is not bad. Parking is free. The steelers play here. Drawbacks. call rooms could be nicer. if you are a super researcher, you may be better served at a university center. Allegheny Surgery is known for producing polished and solid general surgeons. It's graduates have had no problems matching in fellowships. Last year, 2 of 4 went into cardiothoracics, 1 is in the navy, and 1 is doing colorectal. Our current seniors have matched in pediatrics, cardiothoracics, and the others will be general surgeons. Our attendings are known nationwide. Yes, I would rank this place first. If you have any further questions, I would be willing to answer them.

PGY3 Overall Rating: 23-Aug- 2001 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule The average day varies from rotation to rotation. For the most part the day starts between 5AM and 6AM and we leave by 6PM on most days. The call schedule is q3-5 as an inter with q2 only during rare vacation overlaps. As a 2nd and 3rd year its q4-6. As a 4th and 5th its q5-8. Teaching The faculty at AGH is the greatest bonus. We have board certfied internationally known figures in liver resection and thoracic surgery. We have the highest volume colorectal surgery department in the city and the attendings are cleveland clinc trained. Lectures are given by our attendings and they are of good context and low key without uncomfortable pimping. No staurday conferences thus making it possible for everyone not on call to have 1-2 days off during the weekend. Atmosphere I have made many friends in the program. We go out and our spouses like each other as well. I wish we had more mandatory social gatherings just to get better crowds out to the department sponsored pirate games and social mixers. All of our attendings are sociable and of the 15 that we work with regularly only 1-2 of them can be tempermental. They are always available and anyone from the intern to chief level is well received when asking for advice or guidance. Conclusion The combination of caliber of attendings, case load, and work schedule is the best thing about AGH. There are not many programs that you can be on call as infrequently as we are but still do a liver resection, a total abdominal colectoy and a neck exploration in a single day and call it a normal experience. You need this healthy mix of a lot of bang for your buck. The drawback to the program is the endoscopic exoperience. While we do EGDs for PEGS on or own we do few diagnostic studies and our colonoscopies are probably limited to around 30. I would feel very prepared coming out of this program. Last year's chiefs 2 went to cardiothoracic surgery and one to the cleveland clinic for colorectal. This year's one is doing pediatric surgery, one is doing CT surgery and one is interviewing for minimally invasive surgery. The other two chiefs are completing military obligations. Those that have chosen private practice are busy with fairly lucrative practices. I would rank this program number one this time as opposed to number three. My first two choices were the Oschner Clinic and LSU. Again, the operative experience under very respected attendings with a q 4-6 call schedule on average for your residency can not be beat by anyone. No university program in the country can offer this mix. I know for a fact that my medical school never even posted cases the extent that we do day in and day out. I hope that any applicant that is interested calls me or writes me regularly. Our coordinator is fantastic and she could hook you up with anyone. Please stay posted for our program website which we are constructing as we speak