Hi, new member here. I'm an M4 researching anesthesiology programs. My husband's doing IM at Northwestern, so I need to stay in Chicago. At least on paper, it seems like Northwestern is a pretty solid program.
I know a program director or chair change is supposed to be a red flag--there's a rumor that the current chair was fired by the hospital, and the interim chair is a radiologist?! Northwestern's website doesn't reflect any of this. I've also heard the program director is interviewing for chair spots elsewhere, and that the residency is on probation. Can anyone at NU shed some light on what's going on there? Should I steer clear?
Thanks.
I'm a CA3 at Northwestern and can answer the OP's questions.
1. NU recently changed the structure of the hospital, with the medical school, hospital, and physician group merging. When this happened, there was a change in the pay structure across all departments. As a result, all mid levels, including CRNAs had changes to their benefits, which resulted in CRNAs getting less than their market value, and a number of them leaving. In addition to increased clinical volume, this resulted in production stress on attendings, and a handful left at the same time (still an overall small percentage of the department, which is large). The department was slow to react, and that is why the chair stepped down/was fired. The "interim chair" is a radiologist, but the reason he was chosen is that he leads compensation for the hospital and he is in the best position to get funds to bring in CRNAs and put together a recruitment program. He is only leading the organizational/business part of the department, and will be replaced by an anesthesiologist after the staffing improves. The clinical aspect is being lead by the vice chair of the department, who is widely respected.
2. No rumors on PD leaving within the residency.
3. We are not on probation, but did have a review. ACGME asked us to rebalance rotations, mostly because we previously had too much OB call and required ICU months. They are currently working on major changes to the education program, which should be reflected by interview season.
As other non-NU posters have mentioned, my classmates and last years graduates have gotten some spots in the best fellowships in the country, and highly desired PP jobs. The clinical volume and complexity is still probably the highest in Chicago, and you would be hard pressed to find someone make a serious case that any other program in town provides better training or resources. Our hours and call responsibilities are around 50th %ile for programs in the city and across the country. I will be out of here next year, so I have no real reason to convince you to apply/interview here, but I would still apply and ask the tough questions come November about how things are going. Right now, it looks like there will be major improvements by that time. Sure would be a shame if you pulled your app and regretted it then. I also was looking for Chicago programs when I was an M4, and would definitely choose this program again 4 years later knowing what I know.
Yes, I am a first time poster. Don't really care about the trolls on this site, won't be responding. By the way, this is not like Yelp vs a restaurant's website. This site is like the discussion at the bottom of a news article. 50% trolls and 50% real, so take things with a grain of salt.
