Hi all,

I'm looking to stay in the Philly area. I've interviewed at 5 of the 6 Philly area programs (didn't apply to CHOP)...I liked duPont and St. Chris, but I don't know how to rank Cooper, Einstein, or Crozer-Chester. Did anyone go there? Any opinions about the smaller three programs?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I have interviews in Philly and need to be in the area for family.

I have scheduled interviews at CHOP and St Chris and would appreciate any info on either of these programs or interview impressions especially from those of you looking at both programs.

I am interested in a career in academic general peds or ID.

Thanks in advance!

Dr. Sarah Long (on red book committee/wrote the Peds ID book) is an attending at St. Chris. I did a rotation with her and it was by far my best rotation of medical school; she is brilliant, but kind and down to earth. I learned so much, and during that month somewhere, I actually began to see myself as a future doctor instead of a medical student goof-off. I too want to do Peds ID because of the influence of this excellant rotation and excellant attending. I have an interview at St. Chris next week, so I can't really speak about the program as a whole as of now. Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks waverider- :)

I also wanted to find out a little more about the quality of life at the two programs- are residents happy?

Also I am a little concerned about the N. Philly area and the safety there.

Where do most of the residents for each place live?

Thanks to anyone who can answer!

Thanks waverider- :)

I also wanted to find out a little more about the quality of life at the two programs- are residents happy?

Also I am a little concerned about the N. Philly area and the safety there.

Where do most of the residents for each place live?

Thanks to anyone who can answer!

I think that North Philly is safe. I understand that the real problems are in West Philadelphia, where the Fresh Prince was born and raised (on the playground is where he spent most of his days; chillin out, maxin, relaxin all cool, and shootin some bball outside the school).

That's where a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in the neighborhood.

sorry for that utterly useless post.

I have no idea what North Philadelphia is like.

north philly as actually worse than west philly, that was why fresh prince lived in west philly...

From what I have seen areas surrounding the hospitals and university centers are generally safe. Once you venture away from the hospitals certain neighborhoods are less desireable than others.

I am very familiar with Cooper as I did all of my clinical rotations there during 3rd and 4th year. The area around Cooper is generally safe and well lit. Security is very helpful and can provide an escort if you are walking to the student or physician parking lots. There is construction around the hospital as they are building a new bldg and new parking garage. Broadway is the main street near the hospital and that is where the train station is. During the day its cool, at night less desirable. Certain areas of Camden are great and have undergone new development such as near the aquarium. Others I would stay away from.

HTH.

I interviewed at both CHOP and St. Chris, and I really liked both. CHOP obviously has amazing facilities, and everyone was very smart. It is pretty fellow-driven, and of course all the residents there say they prefer this, because it allows them to go to a fellow for teaching and to call in the middle of the night, rather than having to disturb an attending. It's a personal preference. St. Chris residents seemed to have much closer relationships with the attendings, which I kind of prefered. The facilities are good there too (free-standing, etc). One down side I would say is that all orders at St. Chris are hand-written at the bedside, rather than on the computer. At CHOP, all that stuff is on the computer, and apparently by the end of 2008 they are going to have all notes on computer too.

As far as the neighborhoods go, St. Chris is right near the ghetto. The residents said they never felt unsafe or anything, which I understand because it's not like you go hang out down the road from the hospital. It has a very high Spanish speaking population as well. CHOP was closer to the center city and right down the street from UPenn, which is a pretty nice area. I think a few blocks the other way is less nice, but I didn't see much of it. I think either way you're going to have pretty impoverished patients, but I think you'll feel safe no matter what.

Oh, one last thing...St. Chris pays for parking for the residents, at CHOP they don't. Let me know if anyone has any specific questions about either of the programs (I'm not interviewing anywhere else near Philly) and hopefully I can help.

So I can pretty much answer any question you have about CHOP.


Most CHOP residents lived in university city, center city, the museum area, or in manayunk. A few residents and a good number of fellows also live in New Jersey. I lived in university city approx 3 blocks from CHOP and could walk to work in 7-15 min depending on my pace. Rent was on the expensive side, but the convenience and ammenities(covered parking, 24hr concierge, central air +W/D) of the apartment building more than made up for it.

In general I would say that the residents at St. Chris were happier for a variety of reasons. However, I did notice a lot more anxiety in regards to successfully applying for fellowships. This is not an issue at CHOP.

If you are interested in academic gen peds or ID, CHOP is the better program. The CHOP ID folks are nice, down-to-earth, easy to work with, and undoubtly leaders in the field, esp Louis Bell and Paul Offit.

Rank of the philly programs based on comments from attendings/ residents as well as general reputation:
CHOP
St. Chris
Crozer
Dupont
Einstein
Cooper

Hi guys, So I'm a 4th year med student at Drexel, therefore I've spent all of my peds rotations at St. Chris, and trying to spend most of my 4th year there. I absolutely LOVE St. Chris. The attendings are awesome! I actually high five the attendings in the halls...they are so approachable, friendly, funny and also great teachers. The residents seem really happy too. The only draw back is that they still have paper orders. But for me, since it's all I've ever known, it didn't seem too difficult during my SubI.

Location is definitely not the best. However, I never feel unsafe. Everyone drives to work, and the parking lot is well lit and directly across from the hospital. In fact there's a big grassy area between the hospital and the parking lot where the residents had a "field day" to raise money for some pediatric charity. They have BBQs there and all kinds of events...so I really don't think safety is ever an issue.

Hope this helps

Hi, I also did most of my pedi rotations at St. Chris as well as away rotations in the west coast. With regards to St. Chris, while some students enjoyed their experience there, I was one of those students who did not. While some attendings were nice enough, many of them emphasized hierarchy and were difficult to approach. Someone mentioned Dr. Sarah Long, and I have to say my experience with her is exactly the opposite of what that person said. I learned very little on my ID rotation and rather felt like a worker bee, and most residents and medical students are very intimidated by her.
Strangely (or not so strangely) enough, a lot of students and residents who were not satisfied with their experiences at St. Chris went to West Coast programs and like it here. So I think St. Chris appeals to students looking for certain types of programs.
This is purely my observation but if you want a training program befitting Sparta that will get you in line for an academic career, then St. Chris probably will not disappoint.
I just wish I would stop hearing comparisons to CHOP or Boston and the self esteem issues associated with it.

Oh and the neighborhood is on the edge of ghetto. Residents do not recommend street-parking nor walking on the street. If you take Broad street, downtown is twenty minutes away. Many residents live in the city or around twenty minutes from the hospital. Food is okay (could be better but seriously what hospital can't have better food?), and nurses are very nice and helpful, and they have paper orders.

I am a resident at Cooper hospital and I would just like to state that it is simply horrible. Poor teaching, long long hours (with loads of duty hour violations), and a somewhat hostile environment.

Although I am just a medicine resident, I have interacted with the other specialties. In general, the feel the same way.

I would stay away from Cooper at all cost

If you a us-grad, there is no reason at all to even take a look at cooper

I did want to throw in a comment in agreement with mangotango - some people loved it at St Chris, but I was one of those who absolutely hated it.

Residents, as well as attendings, can be very hierarchial, to the point where students were confined to the backroom of the clinic unless called out to go see a patient. One time a conference was cancelled and several residents and I ended up sitting around for a few minutes before we figured out the change in schedule, and those residents were accused of sneaking out in the middle of working day. One of their outpatient clinic is closed recently too, from what I have heard - still, in Philly that is the only other children's hospital program other than CHOP I suppose.

I am curious why several people have ranked Crozer over Dupont. I should say I have been to neither, but just have heard anecdotes as I am getting ready to do some electives summer. I thought Dupont was a large university program associated with Thomas Jefferson, and Crozer was a small program that only takes a few applicants a year that is not associated with a university ( realize they send people to CHOP for a few months). Again, I don't know much about the program, but would think the larger would have more academic resources, more exposure to pathology, etc...

whoa! is cooper that bad an option??!!!

I haven't rotated there or anything, but my interview day at Crozer-Chester was really weird. I really liked the attendings. Just based on the chats I had with them during interviews they know the residents well and are supportive. However, the residents were arguing with each other and not nice to each other during morning conference.

Dupont is definitely going higher on my rank list than crozer or st. chris. Haven't interviewed at CHOP yet, but all my friends say it is a love it or hate it environment. I also don't care about living in philly proper. If you do, then the commute to dupont can be annoying so maybe that is affecting some people's lists?

nvm