As the title says, I am having trouble deciding between Duke and Wake Forest to put at my #1 spot. I was really impressed by both programs, and I am having a really difficult time deciding which may be best for obtaining both my personal and professional goals. As far as career goals, I am strongly considering pursuing a fellowship in cardiac, critical care, or pain. Also, I think there is a good possibility I will choose to stay in academic medicine. In the immediate future my wife and I plan to try to have children starting when I am late PGY1 or PGY2.
Wake Forest: I have that “gut feeling” that Wake is a better fit. I feel like I got along better with the residents and faculty at Wake during my interview, and the culture seemed to be more welcoming and laid back. They seem to offer a pretty great work-life balance and were really family-friendly giving my wife and I more ability to try to start a family. Wake appears to offer great clinical training (I think their airway training is top of the field) and a variety of complicated cases with the exception of liver transplant. Both cardiac and pain fellowships are offered, and they have a decent record of matching to other strong programs if so desired. The biggest drawback for me is their critical care experience which is an admitted weakness. They only rotate through MICU as an intern and CT-ICU in the CA years.
Duke: Duke seems to offer superior clinical training, and during my interview I really couldn’t identify a glaring weakness in the program. Duke also has the brand name, but I’m not sure how much stock to place in that. They offer great cardiac, critical care, and pain training with fellowship programs offered in all of these specialties. Unfortunately they don’t offer a chronic pain rotation until CA3 year, so there is less early exposure and opportunity to decide if that is something I would like to pursue. During my interview day, I don’t think I clicked as well the residents. My limited grasp of the culture was that it was a little more high strung and in some people I got this sense of superiority which left a poor impression.
Winston-Salem vs RTP: The RTP area seems to offer more amenities, but WS was more than adequate and seemed really family friendly. The housing market seems to be blowing up in Durham giving WS a little cheaper COL. My wife plans to go back to school when we move for residency, and it appears that there are more options for schooling in the Triangle. Overall, I think my wife and I could really be happy in either place.
Ultimately, training at Duke seems like it may help me to better achieve my professional goals and is currently sitting at #1, but I really don’t know. I assume that both would be fantastic places to train. I’m curious for your collective thoughts on these programs, any additional aspects that I should be considering, and general advice. Thanks in advance!
Wake Forest: I have that “gut feeling” that Wake is a better fit. I feel like I got along better with the residents and faculty at Wake during my interview, and the culture seemed to be more welcoming and laid back. They seem to offer a pretty great work-life balance and were really family-friendly giving my wife and I more ability to try to start a family. Wake appears to offer great clinical training (I think their airway training is top of the field) and a variety of complicated cases with the exception of liver transplant. Both cardiac and pain fellowships are offered, and they have a decent record of matching to other strong programs if so desired. The biggest drawback for me is their critical care experience which is an admitted weakness. They only rotate through MICU as an intern and CT-ICU in the CA years.
Duke: Duke seems to offer superior clinical training, and during my interview I really couldn’t identify a glaring weakness in the program. Duke also has the brand name, but I’m not sure how much stock to place in that. They offer great cardiac, critical care, and pain training with fellowship programs offered in all of these specialties. Unfortunately they don’t offer a chronic pain rotation until CA3 year, so there is less early exposure and opportunity to decide if that is something I would like to pursue. During my interview day, I don’t think I clicked as well the residents. My limited grasp of the culture was that it was a little more high strung and in some people I got this sense of superiority which left a poor impression.
Winston-Salem vs RTP: The RTP area seems to offer more amenities, but WS was more than adequate and seemed really family friendly. The housing market seems to be blowing up in Durham giving WS a little cheaper COL. My wife plans to go back to school when we move for residency, and it appears that there are more options for schooling in the Triangle. Overall, I think my wife and I could really be happy in either place.
Ultimately, training at Duke seems like it may help me to better achieve my professional goals and is currently sitting at #1, but I really don’t know. I assume that both would be fantastic places to train. I’m curious for your collective thoughts on these programs, any additional aspects that I should be considering, and general advice. Thanks in advance!