From a professional standpoint, I think this is a good rotation. Dr. Smith (the oncologist who both runs the practice and coordinates with you) has made sure the rotation is well-organized. The 5 attendings all seem to enjoy working with residents, and the workflow is very straightforward. I’ve seen a good variety of general Hem/Onc – I would estimate my patients have been approximately 5-10% benign hem, about 30% leukemia/lymphoma, and 60% solid oncology (breast is most common, but they see everything including GYN onc). Especially in comparison to the UW inpatient Hem/Onc rotations, it is refreshing to see how upbeat and generally happy the outpatient oncology world is. Having spent most of my medical training in academic hospitals in cities, this was also an interesting window into community medicine. 4 days a week are spent in Wenatchee and you spend the 5th traveling with an attending to clinic in Moses Lake.

Work-life balance here is also good. Like most ambulatory blocks, weekends and holidays are off and rarely am I in clinic past 6 PM. The logistics of the rotation itself are easy – they take care of most of the paperwork/ID badge stuff, an apartment is provided directly across the street from the clinic, and it is not a far drive (2.5 hrs) from Seattle. Nestled in the foothills of the eastern Cascades, the town is beautiful. It is surrounded by foothills on all sides and the Columbia and Wenatchee rivers slice through town. There is lots of great Mexican food (for a city of 30,000 people, there must be 20+ Mexican restaurants). There are all the typical Cascasdes outdoors activities (camping, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, skiing/snowboarding) which tend to be less crowded than in the Seattle area. Leavenworth is just 30 minutes away. For a WWAMI rotation, the ease and convenience of the rotation cannot be beat.