I interviewed at Christ and loved the program and intended to rank them #1, but since have had a few issues arise that have me thinking. Multiple people at the more academic institutions have said that although Christ is a great program, it is more regionally recognized. If you want a job in the midwest following residency no problem, but if you want to go somewhere else it would be more difficult. Any opinions or experiences?
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Advocate Christ and jobs
- Thread starter EM6771
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I am coming from a similar situation as well and wonder if I am uncertain where I may end up post residency (in terms of location)...and love both Christ and Cook county...what would the pros and cons be to going to one over the other. I know both places are very different and have different resources so beyond that in terms of job placement after wards both in and outside the Midwest.
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Hmmmm...sounds like a great question to ask when you interviewed at Christ. Did you? If not, this sounds like a perfect opportunity to reconnect via email with the PD to ask. This time of year all sorts of emails are coming in, many just voicing interest, but it would be perfectly appropriate to ask a question like this, and would show that you are seriously considering them. If your goal is for a future on the west coast, for example, the PD might be able to give you names of recent alums you could get in touch with (there are at least two of the eleven that graduated last year that are now working in California), to find out how hard/easy getting a job for them was. Or possibly talk with some of the current seniors to see how their job prospects are going. These would be more reliable sources of info than talking to their current junior residents, and certainly more reliable than a random opinion from an outside program. I must also say that no one at a program outside of Christ, unless they at some point worked at Christ, would have ANY IDEA of how the graduates do with job placement, and so they really shouldn't be giving you advice in that regard. But people love to act like experts, so they always do, and always will. Just be smart about it.
Also, after 13 years in academic emergency medicine, I can tell you with full confidence that NONE of the 6 residency programs in Chicago are only "locally recognized." Give me a break. Even Resurrection, the "newest" program, is well known on the national front because of the research that they have done and their presence at national meetings. Christ is one of the OLDEST ED residency programs in the country, let alone Chicago, with alumni all over the map, especially California and Texas. Their research activity and presence at national meetings has grown significantly over the last decade, and although other "academic programs" may wish otherwise their alumni are very active in the "academic" world. In summary, unless a potential employer had no knowledge of the EM WHATSOEVER (picture...long-haired dude in dirty scrubs crawling out from under a rock), they would know about the Christ program.
Email the PD, he's got a mind like a steel trap and will no doubt be able to rattle off many names of alumni in the geographic region you looking at...if nothing else, hopefully that will reduce your anxiety a bit.
Hope this helps! Good luck!!!
Also, after 13 years in academic emergency medicine, I can tell you with full confidence that NONE of the 6 residency programs in Chicago are only "locally recognized." Give me a break. Even Resurrection, the "newest" program, is well known on the national front because of the research that they have done and their presence at national meetings. Christ is one of the OLDEST ED residency programs in the country, let alone Chicago, with alumni all over the map, especially California and Texas. Their research activity and presence at national meetings has grown significantly over the last decade, and although other "academic programs" may wish otherwise their alumni are very active in the "academic" world. In summary, unless a potential employer had no knowledge of the EM WHATSOEVER (picture...long-haired dude in dirty scrubs crawling out from under a rock), they would know about the Christ program.
Email the PD, he's got a mind like a steel trap and will no doubt be able to rattle off many names of alumni in the geographic region you looking at...if nothing else, hopefully that will reduce your anxiety a bit.
Hope this helps! Good luck!!!
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Christ grad...class of 2009 has two grads practicing in Cali (one academic, one community) and one practicing in Florida, class of 2008 has academic at New Mexico, class of 2007 has academic at Loma Linda, class of 2006 has academic at Georgetown
Stanford PD is Christ grad as well
a number of faculty at Christ are from Boston Med and GW with east coast connections
US faculty at Christ are well known around the country
Obviously there are regional advantages of working in a certain area for 3-4 yrs that will give you a knowledge of the lay of the land that if you absolutely need the best job in a particular area it may benefit you to train in that region. That said, Christ is a great program that will more than provide you with the training and connections to make whatever you want out of your EM career. If you feel like its a fit go for it, as the job thing tends to work itself out in the end. If youre motivated to get back to a certain region you will get there. 3 elective months are helpful as well if you really feel a need to check out a certain area for job placement
happy rank list making
🙂
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4th year med student here so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I plan on going into academics myself and am ranking christ at the top of my list for a few reasons. First, their pathology seems awesome since they are incredibly busy there and they manage to steal lots of good patients because of their locaiton outside of the city limits (nursing homes/poor underserved southsiders). Secondly, there residents are awesome to hang out with, and genuinely fun people. Also I have heard form others that their residents have no problems getting jobs in any market, academic/community east/midwest/west coast.
I am planning on moving out of the midwest after residency and getting involved with a university practive and have no reservations of ranking christ at the top.
I plan on going into academics myself and am ranking christ at the top of my list for a few reasons. First, their pathology seems awesome since they are incredibly busy there and they manage to steal lots of good patients because of their locaiton outside of the city limits (nursing homes/poor underserved southsiders). Secondly, there residents are awesome to hang out with, and genuinely fun people. Also I have heard form others that their residents have no problems getting jobs in any market, academic/community east/midwest/west coast.
I am planning on moving out of the midwest after residency and getting involved with a university practive and have no reservations of ranking christ at the top.
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Ditto what dabearsdacoach said, and if he is who I think he is, he should've mentioned that he's working in Arizona...
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Em6771,
Hows it going? I'm currently a 2nd year at Christ. I don't know if I interviewed you while you were here, but if in case I didn't, I'll give you my thoughts. First, I came in EM wanting to do academics, so was looking for a program that would give me this opportunity. I wanted a program that could get me into an academic position, but also a program that would give me the best hands on clinical training while I was there. Although not every Christ grad goes into academics, it is definitely a place with an academic atmosphere and plenty of grads that do go on to academic positions. Ultimately, once that was settled in my mind, I decided it was the best place to train amongst the placed I interviewed. I moved here from out of state and interviewed from coast to coast, so I had a wide variety to compare it to. What makes it unique are the 3 years of access to the sickest patients. It was the only program I interviewed at that lacked the graduated responsibility structure of every other place I interviewed at. Combine that with the wickedly sick, and diverse, patient population, and it makes for a truly unique and awesome experience. I am only half way through residency and already have done more than I can imagine. The lack of other consultants in our hospital makes for a department that truly requires you to function at a high level. Already I have done crich's and floated transvenous pacers on real patients. I have been involved in (though not yet held the knife) on more thoracotomies than I can count. Add that to the sepsis, airways, lines, dysrhythmias, etc that I am already comfortable managing, and I can't believe I still have a year and a half left to keep learning! The final thing I want to try to articulate, but could not appreciate as an applicant until I was actually in residency, was how the atmosphere of autonomy as a department (ie. lack of other residents from other services) truly gives you an attitude of complete responsibility for the patients. You have to be confident in obgyne emergencies, slit lamp exams, complex suturing, dificult foley catheter and suprapubic placement, PEG tube replacements, reductions, and all the other small procedures that go into making an excellent and competent ER doc. Combine all this with a family atmosphere where you go out and have a drink with your attendings after a hard shift, and I cant think of a more unique and well rounded place to train. I consider myself lucky to have matched here. In the end, you gotta go where see yourself fitting in the best and being the happiest for the next 3-4 years. If that is here at Christ, than I'm sure we'd be happy to have you. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions and best of luck in your no doubt very difficult decision.
Sincerely,
ACMC PGY2
Hows it going? I'm currently a 2nd year at Christ. I don't know if I interviewed you while you were here, but if in case I didn't, I'll give you my thoughts. First, I came in EM wanting to do academics, so was looking for a program that would give me this opportunity. I wanted a program that could get me into an academic position, but also a program that would give me the best hands on clinical training while I was there. Although not every Christ grad goes into academics, it is definitely a place with an academic atmosphere and plenty of grads that do go on to academic positions. Ultimately, once that was settled in my mind, I decided it was the best place to train amongst the placed I interviewed. I moved here from out of state and interviewed from coast to coast, so I had a wide variety to compare it to. What makes it unique are the 3 years of access to the sickest patients. It was the only program I interviewed at that lacked the graduated responsibility structure of every other place I interviewed at. Combine that with the wickedly sick, and diverse, patient population, and it makes for a truly unique and awesome experience. I am only half way through residency and already have done more than I can imagine. The lack of other consultants in our hospital makes for a department that truly requires you to function at a high level. Already I have done crich's and floated transvenous pacers on real patients. I have been involved in (though not yet held the knife) on more thoracotomies than I can count. Add that to the sepsis, airways, lines, dysrhythmias, etc that I am already comfortable managing, and I can't believe I still have a year and a half left to keep learning! The final thing I want to try to articulate, but could not appreciate as an applicant until I was actually in residency, was how the atmosphere of autonomy as a department (ie. lack of other residents from other services) truly gives you an attitude of complete responsibility for the patients. You have to be confident in obgyne emergencies, slit lamp exams, complex suturing, dificult foley catheter and suprapubic placement, PEG tube replacements, reductions, and all the other small procedures that go into making an excellent and competent ER doc. Combine all this with a family atmosphere where you go out and have a drink with your attendings after a hard shift, and I cant think of a more unique and well rounded place to train. I consider myself lucky to have matched here. In the end, you gotta go where see yourself fitting in the best and being the happiest for the next 3-4 years. If that is here at Christ, than I'm sure we'd be happy to have you. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions and best of luck in your no doubt very difficult decision.
Sincerely,
ACMC PGY2
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Sometimes, as the astutue med student said, you have to take things with a grain of salt. Every year I hear students who have interviewed at local academic/university based programs who have been told that Christ lacks a national reputation. I think that claim is unfounded.
Last night I wanted to see if there was any validity to what you heard regarding Christ being limited to a regional presence. The question comes down to two things, in my opinion: the network in place through which you get jobs and the national presence.
#1 Network
-Christ has been graduating residents (11 per year) for about 30 years now. Last year 6 of 11 left the state- 2 went out west; 1 went to the southeast. Of the 5 who stayed locally, 3 have gone on to fellowships.
-Christ grads are practicing in over 30 states, Europe, and Canada
-Christ grads are holding positions as program directors, US directors, research directors, in national academic positions, chairs of emergency departments, and obviously, as community docs
#2 National Recognition
-Two years ago Harwood and Girzadas won both PD and assistant PD of the year.
-Christ faculty and residents present at just about every national conference, yearly at the Mediterranean Conference, and give lectures in countries around the world
-This year a Christ resident won the Resident Presentation of the year at ACEP in Boston (out of over 500 accepted publications)
-We have top resident presentations at SAEM and ACEP twice in the last five years.
-faculty member recently named senior reviewer at Annals of EM
-We have had the highest score on the national inservice the last three years in a row.
In the end you really just have to be comfortable with whatever decision you are going to make. The intangibles are so important when looking for a program and in the end it really comes down to where you will get good training and where will you have a good time doing it. The jobs are out there, even in the competitive markets. Good luck in your decision...
Last night I wanted to see if there was any validity to what you heard regarding Christ being limited to a regional presence. The question comes down to two things, in my opinion: the network in place through which you get jobs and the national presence.
#1 Network
-Christ has been graduating residents (11 per year) for about 30 years now. Last year 6 of 11 left the state- 2 went out west; 1 went to the southeast. Of the 5 who stayed locally, 3 have gone on to fellowships.
-Christ grads are practicing in over 30 states, Europe, and Canada
-Christ grads are holding positions as program directors, US directors, research directors, in national academic positions, chairs of emergency departments, and obviously, as community docs
#2 National Recognition
-Two years ago Harwood and Girzadas won both PD and assistant PD of the year.
-Christ faculty and residents present at just about every national conference, yearly at the Mediterranean Conference, and give lectures in countries around the world
-This year a Christ resident won the Resident Presentation of the year at ACEP in Boston (out of over 500 accepted publications)
-We have top resident presentations at SAEM and ACEP twice in the last five years.
-faculty member recently named senior reviewer at Annals of EM
-We have had the highest score on the national inservice the last three years in a row.
In the end you really just have to be comfortable with whatever decision you are going to make. The intangibles are so important when looking for a program and in the end it really comes down to where you will get good training and where will you have a good time doing it. The jobs are out there, even in the competitive markets. Good luck in your decision...
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