USC

Chairman: Michael Patzakis
PD: David Thordarson
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Spots: 10

Reputation: Known as a good "down and dirty" large, high-volume program at a county hospital where residents get a lot of operative experience. Trauma heavy, team-oriented, and somewhat chaotic.

Pros: Good all around program with good reputation. Very heavy on trauma (16 months) with exposure to all major specialties. Lots of operative experience with opportunity for autonomy in the OR. New hospital is being built. Los Angeles is a great city with something for everyone. You can't beat the weather or the women in LA.

Cons: Large program, somewhat chaotic county hospital with images offline that need to be carried by hand. More trauma exposure than other programs at the cost of other elective time such as Hand and Foot/Ankle. Residents outnumber attendings and many residents operate with little supervision. Hospital is not located in the best part of LA. Traffic is a bear throughout all of Los Angeles. 

Final Word: Good program with a good repuation in sunny Southern CA. If you can handle training at this program, you will be a strong Orthopaedic Surgeon that can handle anything.

Website: http://www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/departments/orthopaedic_surgery/index.html

Rotation Information: Favors rotators and is known to be a program where you can earn your spot if you rock your rotation. Because of this, there are lots of rotators. It's not the top choice of every Southern California rotator, thus they are known to go down pretty far on their rank list, so it is worth it to rotate here.

Interview Dates: 2007 - 12/15 & 1/2

If you are a student, resident, attending or have recently rotated, please feel free to post any information, additions, changes, or comments.

Chairman: Michael Patzakis
PD: David Thordarson
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Spots: 10

Reputation: Known as a good "down and dirty" large, high-volume program at a county hospital where residents get a lot of operative experience. Trauma heavy, team-oriented, and somewhat chaotic.

Pros: Good all around program with good reputation. Very heavy on trauma (16 months) with exposure to all major specialties. Lots of operative experience with opportunity for autonomy in the OR. New hospital is being built. Los Angeles is a great city with something for everyone. You can't beat the weather or the women in LA.

Cons: Large program, somewhat chaotic county hospital with images offline that need to be carried by hand. More trauma exposure than other programs at the cost of other elective time such as Hand and Foot/Ankle. Residents outnumber attendings and many residents operate with little supervision. Hospital is not located in the best part of LA. Traffic is a bear throughout all of Los Angeles. 

Final Word: Good program with a good repuation in sunny Southern CA. If you can handle training at this program, you will be a strong Orthopaedic Surgeon that can handle anything.

Website: http://www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/departments/orthopaedic_surgery/index.html

Rotation Information: Favors rotators and is known to be a program where you can earn your spot if you rock your rotation. Because of this, there are lots of rotators. It's not the top choice of every Southern California rotator, thus they are known to go down pretty far on their rank list, so it is worth it to rotate here.

Interview Dates: 2007 - 12/15 & 1/2

If you are a student, resident, attending or have recently rotated, please feel free to post any information, additions, changes, or comments.

Comments

[Kathy]

Did you honestly put that you cannot beat the women in LA in your assessment of USC's program? That's ridiculously lame. Way to go gunner.

[Mike]

One of my top considerations ;)

[Simon]

I rotated here in Fall 2010, though as with all rotators was only exposed to trauma. The new county hospital is up and running, and is a surprising nice facility considering it is LA county. R2s were very busy with consults and didn't get any OR experience while on trauma. However, R3s are remarkably confident and competent in the OR, so other rotations must make up for that lost operative time. USC fosters a team atmosphere second to none. The residents were more close knit than any I've seen, and all were very happy. On trauma, call is twice per week (q3/q4) and no shift went beyond 30 hours. Though R2-5 takes the same call schedule, R3-5 gets to sleep most of the night. It would be quite a stretch to call it "chaotic," non-emergent cases are frequently tabled to the next day when arriving after 7pm. Still not big on didactics but certainly improving. A great experience all around and one of my top choices.