UC Davis

The interviews are over! The last one was today: UC Davis in Sacramento. It's a nice program, fairly small, and everyone seems very happy here. The hospital is beautiful. Apparently UC Davis is the only of the UC hospitals that is making money. And since they are a non-profit, they keep investing that $25 million annual profit in their hospital and educational resources.

Sacramento is a growing city, but it seems very suburban. Lots of sprawl (which I guess is easy since it is surrounded by nothing), new housing developments, new restaurants. When I ask the residents what they think about living in Sacramento, they inevitably answer "it grows on you." I've also heard it described as "a nice place to raise a family" which usually means "boring." It is a good location though, less than two hours from Tahoe, less than two hours from San Francisco. So there would definitely be ample opportunities for weekend adventures--a very important consideration when planning where to spend my years as a resident. They encourage research by their residents, although most do clinical research. While this is something that I think I would like to explore more, I'm not sure I want to completely give up on the idea of bench research. I don't know if this is the right place for me. I did enjoy my interview, and definitely enjoyed staying with Scott and Kathy Nichols (Dad's fraternity brother from his college days), but I just can't seem myself living in Sacramento at this stage in my life. I'm still young (yes, 30 is considered young) and I'm not ready to live in a city that is good for raising a family.

Now I have to come up with a rank list. The first two are easy--I want to stay in Seattle, and if I can't stay in Seattle I want to go to San Diego. But then I'm torn between OHSU and Dartmouth. Right now I'm leaning towards OHSU, because it is close to home, and it's a city. I'm not sure I'm ready to settle down in Hanover. I've done my time there. I love the snow, but I like living where it doesn't snow and being able to drive to the snow. But the Dartmouth program is fabulous. All of the residents are happy, they get along well, and they are smart. The faculty is there because they choose to be. They are good at what they do, and they enjoy teaching. And I love Hanover. The location is great--right in the mountains (small mountains, yes, but montains nonetheless), close to skiing, hiking, Boston. But it too is a good place to raise a family (boring), and I'm not sure I'm ready for small town life yet.