Medium-sized city aside, what have your opinions been
about Case vs. Pitt not that we're post-interview.

-S.

Well, I can't recall if I already responded to your post about Pittsburgh or if it was someone else, but I will re-post my thoughts on it. I was definitely not very impressed by the program. They get pushed around by surgery way too much to call themselves a prestigious IM program. I was told that their new MICU was in the process of being moved to another building because some new transplant surgeon decided that he would like to use the space for his patients; and several of the interns and residents flat out told me that Pittsburgh was a surgical hospital where surgery runs the show and they admit a good number of patients that should go to surgical services. They're PD seems kind of creepy to me too; I don't think that I would be comfortable working for him. They don't get to see patients in the ER prior to admission, so I think that's unfortunate in terms of getting to make those intial management decisions. It seems incovenient to have the ER in a separate building then the medicine floors too. They seem to do alright when it comes to fellowship placement, and their GI service is very busy because of all the liver transplants that they do there (huge transplant center if you are interested in transplant medicine); but overall, I didn't really like the place. I might have ranked it lowly had I liked the city at all, but I really didn't like Pittsburgh as a city too. The traffic was bad, the streets too narrow, and it still just seems like a huge engineering/steel town which isn't the type of atmosphere that I'd like to live in. Didn't interview at Case so I don't know too much about that place. Anyways, sorry if you have already heard my ramblings on Pittsburgh before, I know that I wrote it here before but I don't recall who it was directed at.

On the other hand... my advisor has a high opinion on Pitt. She is "in the know" about residency programs since she is the PD of nephrolgy at my insitution. She said it is an underated a tier one program and will only get better with time. I didn't interview there so I don't know anything else more specific than that. Its your choice who you want to believe.

THanks, guys. I have heard mixed things about both and left both with mixed feelings after the interview days. However, the residents seemed happier at Pitt, for whatever that's worth. I think both do OK with fellowships. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are comparable in lifestyle. -S.