wondering what you guys have thought of the following programs post-interview:

u of chicago vs. northwestern

u of wisconsin vs. u of virginia vs. pitt

wash u vs. vandy

struggling with my ROL,
-s.

I interviewed at U of C, NW'ern, Wash U and Vandy.

I liked U of C over NW'ern. I think their fellowship placement was probably a little better (as is their "reputation" whatever that's worth). Mostly though Northwestern just seemed a bit too cush for my tastes (q 10 overnight call, give me a break).

As for Wash U and Vandy, I'd call it a draw. Loved the computer system at Vandy. The multiple research track options at Wash U were nice. I liked both programs, but I liked the people at Vandy more.

Of those four, Vandy is highest on my ROL. Hope that helps.

Well, out of all of your programs, I only interviewed at Wash U, so I can offer my thoughts on it. One drawback that I saw while there was that their computer system is very out-dated. You can't even write orders on the computer. Different labs come in on different systems, meaning that you have to find a certain terminal to get some labs. A resident remarked to me that the nurses there seem pretty busy, so even though they will usually do your orders, this resident mentioned that you frequently have to check up to make sure that your orders are being done because they will get out of doing whatever they can. I suppose it's that way for most hospitals these days though, with the general nursing shortage. The VA hospital that they rotate through one month during intern and third year sounded like a nightmare. A senior resident told me that they had to make daily morning blood draw labs because everyone just ignores their orders there; if you want anything done, you must do it yourself. In Barnes, your patients are not geographically confined to one floor per team, which wouldn't be a big deal if not for the lack of computer ordering system. And even though they have a night float, they are still having their interns do overnight call just to cover for their own patients for some reason. This seemed kind of weird to me, because an intern was telling me how they'd normally just get called 2-3 times per night, they usually were able to get 4-5 hrs of sleep on call at night. Personally, I'd rather go home to sleep 4-5 hrs though, rather then having to be there for those 2-3 nursing calls. Anyways, I know that I sound very negative about Wash U, but it's not all bad. They do very well when it comes to fellowship placement, and their research opportunities and faculty seem excellent. I was just very surprised by how under-whelmed I was by a top 5 school I guess. I was planning on ranking them number two, but after visiting, I think that I will just keep the program in my top five.