[artichoker]

Im finishing up my residency and can give you some tips. first if you do a 4 year ER program or 3 year IM "YOU SHOULD NOT PLAY POKER FOR THE FIRST YEAR" you will be so tired that the one day a week you get off will be spent sleeping. second you should really not choose a residency based on gaming options in the area. your top priority is to get the best possible education/experience & to be the best possible doctor that you can be. that being said after the fist year you will have more free time. especially if you go the ER route; IM not so much time. I am doing a competitive residency in a field that requires ~40h/week and 1 weekend/month. I live in Los Angeles and go to vegas every 2-4 weeks. I refuse to play in LA for personal reasons (i hate short stack poker) that being said i probably played only once in my intern year. your just too exhausted to do anything but poop and sleep. I believe USC UCI Harbor and Vegas are all good ER programs that will give you access to good poker. but seriously this should be low on your list when picking your residency.

And ive found that many of my patients that play poker are quite excited to find out that their doc has something in common with them. Ive made some great relationships with many patients.