community programs in illinois

[ResidentMD]

Hi,

I wanted an opinion of good community/univ-affiliated programs in illinois if possible. By good, I mean diverse types of illnesses and good fellowship opportunities (coming from a community program). Cook County appears good. Any others?

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[chitown82]

Hi,

I wanted an opinion of good community/univ-affiliated programs in illinois if possible. By good, I mean diverse types of illnesses and good fellowship opportunities (coming from a community program). Cook County appears good. Any others?

in my opinion, the best ones are northshore university (previously evanston northwestern, now affiliated with u of c), advocate christ (affiliated with uic), and advocate lutheran general (the hospital is affiliated with multiple universities - not sure which one sponsors the IM residency). all three places have fellowships available in-house. cook county has good training and decent fellowship placements- the majority of the residents are IMGs.

 

[ResidentMD]

in my opinion, the best ones are northshore university (previously evanston northwestern, now affiliated with u of c), advocate christ (affiliated with uic), and advocate lutheran general (the hospital is affiliated with multiple universities - not sure which one sponsors the IM residency). all three places have fellowships available in-house. cook county has good training and decent fellowship placements- the majority of the residents are IMGs.

Okay thanks - what aspects besides the fellowships did you like about advocate christ and lutheran? (of course, fellowships are probably one of the most important issues - just gauging other factors).

Thanks!

 

[adam6]

I've posted a bunch about NorthShore (again, formerly Evanston Northwestern). It has ended its affiliation with Northwestern and is now affiliated with the University of Chicago.

One correction from a previous poster - it does not have in-house fellowships. However, the fellowship matches are quite good. For example, this past match cycle, they had matches at:
1. Northwestern (NMH downtown): rheumatology x 2 people, heme/onc x 2
2. NYU: heme/onc
3. Georgetown: rheum
4. U of Arizona: renal
5. William Beaumont: onc
6. Tulane: cards
7. Lutheran General: cards
8. U of Colorado: allergy

There may have been others that I've forgotten. A few examples from the previous year: Duke (PCC), Northwestern (allergy), U of Nebraska (GI), U of Arizona (cards) etc

Anyway - it's a terrific program and definitely worth a look!

 

[chitown82]

Okay thanks - what aspects besides the fellowships did you like about advocate christ and lutheran? (of course, fellowships are probably one of the most important issues - just gauging other factors).

Thanks!

I'm only a med student but I have rotated at Christ and Lutheran General.

Christ has a great PD who seems very involved in resident education. They have a diverse patient population - being in the south side of Chicago, they see a lot of low SES patients and minorities but the hospital borders several affluent neighborhoods so you will see these types of patients as well. Their ED is one of the best/busiest in the city so a lot of good cases come through the doors and end up being admitted.

As far as Lutheran General goes (my experience is limited to ambulatory medicine), the teaching is good, diverse patient population (less so than Christ in my opinion), and good fellowship potential. I did round several times with my attending and one thing I noticed was less autonomy when it comes to some attendings. Can't really comment further.

Both have a good reputation for community programs. They don't have as much of an academic slant at the university programs and probably have less research opportunities, and less residents going onto fellowships. Nonetheless, they are the two of the better community programs in Chicago.

Most of what I know about NorthShore is second-hand but it also seems like a strong community program. Perhaps better fellowship matches than Christ/Lutheran General? Not sure.

 

[ResidentMD]

extremely helpful! thanks

 

[ULTRA nerves]

NorthShore has started offering interviews but have people gotten interview invites from Advocate Christ or Lutheran General hospitals?

 

[chrisv]

hey guys, so I have a general/broad questions...are Illinois Internal Medicine residency considered to be competitive compared to other states?

I'm in med school in CA right now, and I know that CA and CO residencies are considered to be competitive in general. I would imagine that the IL residencies are not too competitive being the cold mid west and all (no offense to anyone, I'm looking into moving there myself LOL) but then I would also imagine that a lot of people from the smaller cities in the mid west would want to flock there. Any thoughts? A rank list of top to bottom?

 

[adam6]

Obtaining a position in an Illinois IM residency will not be difficult. Fortunately, I believe that the Chicago area has a number of very good programs that provide quality training and plenty of career opportunities. Northwestern and University of Chicago have good regional/national reputations so they prove to be competitive and are clearly the premier programs in the area. If you are a solid candidate, for everywhere else (U of I, Rush, Loyola, NorthShore, Lutheran, etc) it is really an "applicant's" market - so just a matter of finding a good fit.

 

[Darlene]

any new thoughts on northshore,UofC. do they allow their residents to rotate through the uofc in chicago? how strong is this program compared to rush and uic?

 

[keaneintheblock]

Question: are there IMGs at North Shore program?

 

[IMdocT]

from what i remember at my interview there, there was a mix. a DO program, and 1-2 FMG and 1-2 carribean per year or something like that

 

[docscience]

I went for an interview at UIC/Advocate Christ Hospital last week and was not very impressed.
- The program is in a south western suburb of Chicago and it would take at least 20-30 min every morning and about 30-60 min in the evening if one were to live in Downtown Chicago.
- The hospital is very small and cramped (compared to my home institution). The residents seemed somewhat happy. They were a lot of FMGs. The chief was an AMG who was very pleasant.
- The highlight seems to be the program director who is incredibly nice and was very patient. She seems to be very interested in the well being of residents.
- Fellowship opportunities seem to be in the Chicago area and probably seem to take a lot of work.
- Cardiac heavy hospital/transplant center/busy ER.

Overall I was not impressed. But having said that, if you want to live in Chicago or as mentioned above, the Chicago area, I think it would be a pretty good program to pursue.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[palidaddy]

I went for an interview at UIC/Advocate Christ Hospital last week and was not very impressed.
- The program is in a south western suburb of Chicago and it would take at least 20-30 min every morning and about 30-60 min in the evening if one were to live in Downtown Chicago.
- The hospital is very small and cramped (compared to my home institution). The residents seemed somewhat happy. They were a lot of FMGs. The chief was an AMG who was very pleasant.
- The highlight seems to be the program director who is incredibly nice and was very patient. She seems to be very interested in the well being of residents.
- Fellowship opportunities seem to be in the Chicago area and probably seem to take a lot of work.
- Cardiac heavy hospital/transplant center/busy ER.

Overall I was not impressed. But having said that, if you want to live in Chicago or as mentioned above, the Chicago area, I think it would be a pretty good program to pursue.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

hey docscience thanx for the info i have an interview at UIC/Advocate Christ Hospital next month and i was wondering if you can share any info about the interview liek what kind of question they ask and what they expect , its on the top of my list since my wife is from oak lawn and i have alot of family from there
thanx again