I interviewed at all four of the programs you listed. I ended up ranking them all below where I matched (bc I didn't want to be in Chicago) so I don't really have any skin in the game.
Here is how I ranked them.
UChicago > NU >>> UIC >> Rush
Uchicago v. NU
- Clearly the top tier in Chicago. I put Uchicago > NU because NU was still having issues with their academic chair (I think the interim chair was a radiologist). That made me feel pretty uncomfortable about the program. I had also heard that several attendings left NU from sources outside of SDN because they were pretty unhappy with the way the department was run (something about financials, can't remember the details). While that doesn't directly affect residents, if the current attendings are unhappy that will translate into poor teaching. Not sure if this has been resolved in the past 9 months, but it was certainly a factor in me ranking U chicago > NU.
NU Pros:
NU's physical plant is absolutely beautiful. It was my first Anesthesia interview and no hospital on the trail beat it. They definitely have perks at this hospital. ABP meal cards being one of them the hospital looks like a shopping mall. Streeterville is the Beverly Hills of Chicago. All the residents live in the area.
Fellowship: From what I understand NU has pretty strong fellowships if you want to stay in Chicago, and based on what they told me at recruitment day they tend to pull from their residency class.
They hire their own!! A lot of young attendings were staying on at Northwestern, so despite the fact that some were leaving I think it's a good sign that 1. They hire their own and 2. the residents WANT to stay. The young attendings that I interviewed with also seemed really cool and would be people I would hang out with.
Unique opportunities: I only remember a little bit about this but there was something about some guy taking time off to work for a start-up and he got to finish residency on time (I think the PD let him use research time), there were tons of international opportunities and it seemed like the PD was extremely flexible.
PD is a big deal at the hospital. While the academic chair position seems to be in flux, the PD is on some big hospital committees - don't remember the details, but I think he has a bit more power than most PDs do and he seemed like he would stand up for his residents.
NU Cons:
- I think I addressed this above - mainly the concern with the academic chair, leaving attendings.
- There was some concern that residents were overworked in OB, not sure how true that was.
UChicago: Went to this interview in mid/late Jan because they sent out interview invites late so I was exhausted and had long since stopped writing notes at this point so this might be a little brief.
Uchicago Pros:
Once again, beautiful physical plant though not quite as nice as Northwesterns .when you go on the interview they take you to something called the sky lounge or something it's got a great view of Chicago. The hospital is a bit older and that shows, but overall still very nice. (probably my #3 NU>UCLA>UChicago)
Name recognition: I think this one wins over NU for name in Chicago. A CA-3 told me at the interview dinner that they get the better jobs in Chicago hands down, and that if you want work in chicago go to MGH, SF or Uchicago. Of course you have to take that with a grain of salt, but no one at NU said that?
Fellowships: Don't remember too much about this, but I think the fellowship list was pretty impressive. I feel like they didn't have as many fellowships (??), but the places people were getting fellowships across the country were pretty impressive.
Uchicago Cons
- PD seemed really nice, but definitely not as experienced and a bit more softspoken than the NU PD. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I think for a PD I want someone who will command attention and fight for residents in whatever committee meetings school BS they go to.. I just felt the NU PD was very charming and persuasive, did not get the same feel from the Uchicago. Then again, I only met them both for like 30 minutes.
- South side? Definitely not as nice as working in Streeterville.
UIC/Rush
UIC - I'll be honest I did not like this program from the moment I walked into the interview. I'm not sure why, but something just didn't sit right with me. Maybe it's the fact that the state of IL is broke and I knew going here would be a clusterf*** of a residency. I really felt the interview day was disorganized and just not on the level of the above programs.
With that said there were a few pros:
Faculty were nice on the whole. I really felt I connected with one faculty member, and she seemed one of many that were eager to teach.
PD - I think she's young and hungry to really build this program into something better than it currently is. She actually really did stand out to me as someone proactive and willing to work for her residents even after 21 interviews I still remember her. With that being said I think she's limited by the massive weight of the bureaucratic sh**hole that is the corrupt state of illinois, so I'm not sure how much will change under her guidance
Cons:
Residents covering for cRNAs: in my research an attending on here made a good point that residents that are covering for cRNAs regularly are probably not at an institution that values their education. I think that's a really good litmus test for a program. I had a resident tell me that he regularly did cover for cRNAs so they could go home. I think this single handedly
Physical plant - it's an old hospital
Perks: I don't think there were too many mentioned, welcome to Illinois
Rush
This was my last anesthesia interview of the season. I was 100% exhausted and really only went to the interview out of courtesy. I've heard this is a workhorse program and their not filling for several years virtually eliminated it from my list even before the interview. I ended up not ranking this program because I honestly felt I would rather try again than end up here for 4 years (I also didn't want to pay NRMP 30 more dollars). The anesthesia department seemed to have a very limited presence in teh hospital and there were virtually no residents taht came to the "lunch." My honest opinion is only come here if you have to be in Chicago.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You would also be wise to consider Wash U which in my opinion was probably the best program I interviewed at. If it was on a coast I would have ranked it #1 without a doubt. As an example of its awesomeness the anesthesia department has a multimillion dollar endowment that pays the salaries of the attendings. They actually have fewer residents than ACGME has offered them so the residents they choose can get the best learning opportunities available. The chair is supposedly legendary in the anesthesia world, and I remember the PD being pretty great. If you are OK with STL consider it.
Sorry for the disjointed rambling wall of text, I am a very tired intern. I will edit/update PRN. Good luck!
