Short answer: UPMC Mercy is like working in the ghetto vs UPMC Shadyside is working in a hospital that is well known in Pittsburgh and also in the nicest area of town very desirable by young professionals..
Long answer:
UPMC Mercy and UPMC Shadyside are very different hospitals. UPMC Mercy was purchased by UPMC <6yrs ago. Whereas UPMC Shadyside has been under UPMC Umbrella for a long time. UPMC Mercy is a catholic hospital (still don't allow to do tubal ligations). Whereas UPMC Shadyside has many Jewish physicians from the community (put up a big menorah during holidays).
Upmc Mercy is located in uptown area of Pittsburgh, in one of the poorest areas. Literally people get shot and walk into the front doors. There is no place to live near by as it is so dangerous. There is an apartment complex, but it is extremely isolated, dangerous to walk form, and overpriced. I wouldn't walk by myself at night more than 50 yeards from the hospital. The IM residency there has shown up on SDN list of malignant programs. So in terms of living you will need to drive there from some other part of the city, and traffic in that area is quite heavy as it is next to downtown. Once UPMC purchased it, it started pouring tons of money so things seem new. Even though it has the UPMC name it does not have that history. It seems that most residents there just keep their head down and put their 3 years in and get out.
UPMC Shadyside is pretty much a landmark hospital in Pittsburgh. It is well known and well respected. It was founded by physicians after which there are streets named in the city. It has a long legacy of having the best known physicians of the city work there. It is basically #2 hospital after the UPMC Presbyterian hospital (their flagship).
It is located in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. This neighborhood has a high concentration of young professionals, has many apartments to rent, and is the place where young professionals hang out on weekends. For example its the only place in all of the city that has an apple store. You could rent and walk or bike to work every day. There is whole foods/trader joes/nice giant eagle near by. Again, nice area to be in. The IM residency there is more prestigious than at Mercy. There is a lot more money being poured into that hospital than Mercy.
I would go to UPMC Shadyside hands down; as your quality of life will be much better.
Not to judge these posts, but I have noticed stuff like this always starts popping up in February when people are interested in ranking certain programs higher and lower.
As a current TY at UPMC Mercy I want to clarify a lot of what this above review states.
Quick Summary: I ranked Mercy number 1 and would rank it 1 again. It's totally worth two moves (and you have the last week off anyways to allow for that). They also give a $1600 food stipend that pretty much covers you for 1/2 - 3/4 of the year I would guess. Some people ran out halfway, some people still have a ton of money left. Either way it helps financially.
Also, you will get excellent training at any of the UPMC hospitals.
Comparison: Keep in mind I do not work at Shadyside so I cannot comment on their work.
Detailed Breakdown.
Location: I live 7 minutes from work - door to door in a super nice area. I drive to work. In the freezing cold weather and snow I do not plan on biking or walking regardless of how close I live. Mercy gives you included parking right next to the hospital.
West of the hospital is nice and East is bad. West is Duquesne University. East is Hill District. The bad area is about 3-4 blocks North and East. You really do not come in contact with that area.
Traffic is not bad at all unless you are trying to cross one of the few main tunnels. Most people go out in Southside which is 3 min South of Mercy once you cross the Birmingham Bridge.
Regarding Shadyside Hospital - I agree that Shadyside is a beautiful area but for me they are both driving distance regardless of where I would live. I live in downtown at River Vue apartments. Expensive but I live pretty well. Some of my friends here live in Southside and Shadyside. Everyone is happy because everyone has their choice of bars, grocery, etc. Driving 2 miles to work daily to wake up and happily go to work is a small price to pay. I personally do not mind driving a whole mile and half extra for groceries, because I have all the time in the world outside of the hospital
Cush/Malignant: Definitely Cush. I would compare it to my 4th year of medical school, but getting paid to do it. I text message my attendings. I have been to bars with a few of my attendings.
I have never been "pimped"...and a good amount of attendings take you out to lunch some days just to say "thank you."
FYI we met all the TY's from all of the programs at the UPMC orientation and message all TY's to come out with us. Out of everybody the Mercy TY's are the only one's that go out very frequently (almost every night someone is out). We talk to the Shadyside and Presby TY's when they go out on the rare occasion and I truly believe we are the happiest residents out of the TY programs in Pittsburgh and Shadyside is a close 2nd.
The key is the 13 blocks as opposed to 12 months. 12 weeks of floors and 4 weeks of ICU sold the program for me. It actually turns out better than expected because out of the 3 floor rotations you get at least one (if lucky then you get 2) private service which is a touch easier than the hospitalist service (turnover is slower, but less learning - more autonomy). You will never get overwhelmed with work because the attendings and the senior residents will text you asking if they can be of any help and if there is ever lots of work, the senior will ease the burden because their only job is discharging and oversight.
Hours: Floors - 65 to 70 hours a week for 12 weeks total. Electives/Ambulatory ~ 8am-4pm (Lots of study/Ping Pong/research time in between). Your purpose is to learn, not be a scut monkey and the attendings make a big deal out of that. I am going into radiology so on electives my attendings have me see only patients with imaging. Pretty cool.
Religious Affiliation: I did not do a tubal ligation this year...nor do I want to do one. I am not Catholic and I have not been negatively affected by a chaplain saying "good morning doc" to me when being passed by in the hallway
Newly under UPMC umbrella: Awesome because you get the ancillary staff of a private community hospital doing all of your scut work, and the name of UPMC to flaunt.
Prestige: The prestige of Mercy vs. Shadyside is subjective and I cannot comment on that because I have a biased opinion in favor of Mercy. Mercy is older and has a longer tradition. Both are community programs and under the very large UPMC umbrella. In response to the above post - Shadyside was purchased in 1997, Mercy in 2008. That fact did not play a role in my rank order list.
PD: Great guy, gets things done. Stoic demeanor when you first meet him, but super chill. I think people have a misconception about him because he is a very good boss. A good boss will expect that you show up and do your work. If you do not show up you will be in trouble. I have read some posts giving him a bad rep for that. I show up everyday, do my work, and go home...haven't had a problem yet. In fact, I asked for new ping pong equipment and he gave the Mercy credit card number to the PC to order whatever stuff we wanted. Pretty cool in my opinion. Your interaction with him is as much or as little as you want.
PC: Won the rookie coordinator of the year award for being so helpful to the residents. I think that speaks for itself. If you are nice to her she will hook you up with an awesome schedule. She hangs out with us outside of the hospital occasionally which is super cool of her. Again, your interaction is as much or as little as you want with her.
Overall: There are "Cush-er" programs out there, but they are not in Pittsburgh. I came here just for a year. I am learning how to be a good doctor while not getting overworked like a typical intern. I feel like I am here getting privately tutored.
This place has the ideal balance of working, learning, and free time.
PM with any serious questions about the program.
