Henry Ford vs Univ of Mich

[derm2011grad]

Hello,

I am a rising MS4. I really want to be in Michigan for residency and am trying to decide where the best place to do an away rotation would be. I am not from Michigan, but my husband is and would like to move back in the coming years.

I was wondering what your thoughts are on the derm residency programs at Henry Ford vs Univ of Michigan. I know they are both large programs with good reputations, but can anyone elaborate on positives or negatives of either program?

Thanks!!

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[ChocolateKiss]

UM has more basic science research and NIH funding and is a better "name" nationally. Henry Ford has more diversity, friendlier faculty, more flexibility in the curriculum. Henry Ford is well known within the dermatology community as a good program, but there's not much national name recognition.

 

[derm2011grad]

Thanks for your reply. Anyone else? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post negative or potentially identity-revealing info on the public forum.

 

[MsMacey]

well if ur application is strong enough where u can get into either program if you rotated there an were offered an interview, then i think u of m would naturally be the way to go..

 

[skin tag]

well if ur application is strong enough where u can get into either program if you rotated there an were offered an interview, then i think u of m would naturally be the way to go..

First of all, you can't go wrong with either program. But I'm not so sure UM would "naturally" be the way to go. Certainly UM has the better overall name recognition in academia, however, I'd be willing to bet that Henry Ford has the better reputation in the dermatology community. In my candid observations, I've seen a lot more publishing from HF than UM. Not to mention, the chairman of Henry Ford, Dr. Lim, is a mega-rockstar and probably one of the most respected names in the whole field. An LOR from would probably go a very long way. Also, keep in mind, UM is an inbred program, so you're chances may be slim even if you do an away rotation. Henry Ford, on the other hand, interviews widely and matches residents all over the country. Just something to think about.

 

[starbuckscoffee]

First of all, you can't go wrong with either program. But I'm not so sure UM would "naturally" be the way to go. Certainly UM has the better overall name recognition in academia, however, I'd be willing to bet that Henry Ford has the better reputation in the dermatology community. In my candid observations, I've seen a lot more publishing from HF than UM. Not to mention, the chairman of Henry Ford, Dr. Lim, is a mega-rockstar and probably one of the most respected names in the whole field. An LOR from would probably go a very long way. Also, keep in mind, UM is an inbred program, so you're chances may be slim even if you do an away rotation. Henry Ford, on the other hand, interviews widely and matches residents all over the country. Just something to think about.

I agree. Look at this year's match list. UM pretty much just took people from the Midwest, whereas HF took a broad range of geographic applicants (and matched more prestigious schools than UM).

UM: UM, Iowa, Penn State, Univ Wisconsin, 2 Medical College of Wisconsin, Univ of Chicago.

HF: Harvard, U Penn, UM, Jefferson, Univ of Arizona, Med College of Wisconsin.

 

[reno911]

Certainly UM has the better overall name recognition in academia, however, I'd be willing to bet that Henry Ford has the better reputation in the dermatology community.

You would lose this bet. If you asked all dermatologists, all derm program faculty, or just all derm program chairs who had a better reputation, UM would win in a landslide.

In my candid observations, I've seen a lot more publishing from HF than UM.

Your observation is wrong. It's the other way around and not even close. You can confirm this in about 30 minutes by doing some pubmed searches on the faculty at each institution.


Despite the above, both are very good programs and both would provide excellent residency training.

 

[sushi69]

I don't know enough to compare the two, but I do know that Henry Ford Dermatology docs are a group of hard working and talented people. I have a friend who is going there and he is extremely driven. The program is very well respected around the country and has produced many leaders in our field. Henry Lim is the chairman at Ford and he was recently elected as president-elect of the American Academy of Dermatology.

 

[Dral]

Solid necro bump...solid.

I know someone who is a resident there now...cool person.

 

[Tamahawk]

Not even close. UM is a top 10 program easily. Even top 5 perhaps. And it's training is even better than its perceived ranking. I've spent time at many of the other top 5 programs for various periods of my training, and none is better than UM. Henry Ford is certainly good, but nowhere close to being in the same league as UM. Such as comparison would be akin to UC Davis (good program) and UCSF (top 10)

 

[dermie1985]

After going through the entire interview trail and seeing graduating residents from bottom-tier programs getting faculty positions at top-tier programs and seeing many residents from top-tier programs just going into standard private practice gigs, this whole reputation/prestige thing seems silly to me. Just pick a program you like the most and think you'd be happiest at (geography, people, etc.).

These debates about prestige and ranking seem rather pointless in the end, because they don't really seem to affect your career to a meaningful extent. The competition isn't so fierce in derm in either academics or private practice that it really matters all that much where you go to residency. This is the luxury of only having ~400 new dermatologists trained annually when there honestly should be many many more.

 

[PatsyStone]

Not even close. UM is a top 10 program easily. Even top 5 perhaps. And it's training is even better than its perceived ranking. I've spent time at many of the other top 5 programs for various periods of my training, and none is better than UM. Henry Ford is certainly good, but nowhere close to being in the same league as UM. Such as comparison would be akin to UC Davis (good program) and UCSF (top 10)

I ranked Henry Ford higher on my rank list that UM, and having talked to other applicants on the trail, I was not alone.

UM has incredible resources: a deep faculty, tons of research money (as well as countless opportunities to get involved in basic projects and clinical trials), and great mentorship. Additionally, if you look at a lot of the big names and program directors across the country, many of them trained at Michigan.

So why did I rank Heny Ford higher? Because the faculty and residents were happy and the breadth/quality of training is incredible (also UM is weak in peds and has virtually no cosmetics). Interviewing at UM reminded me of when I interviewed at U Chicago for undergrad (the "level of hell Dante forgot"): everyone look tired, and people seemed unable to talk about anything other than how much they studied.

Life is short, and if you are able to get fantastic training with nice people in a cool city, then you hit the jackpot. However, I am sure all of us struggled with how to rank top-notch programs versus other programs that were middle-of-the-road but had a good location or feel. I would never argue that Henry Ford is a better department than Michigan, but to some applicants, Henry Ford may be a better fit.

 

[Decicco]

UM is a bigger name to the lay public. HF however is the better program. Faculty are better known, residents are happier, education is broader (peds, cosmetics). End of the day: either way you're a dermatogist.