Harvard or Columbia?

[Nameless33]

Hello,
I am about to become a resident in cardiology and have a unique opportunity to attend either Columbia or Harvard for a month.

Here is what I know:
- Columbia is affiliated with one of the best cardiovascular hospitals in America (New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s walls, ranked 3rd best medical center in Adult Cardiology & Heart Surgery)
- Harvard is the best in the research department and their internal medicine programs are ranked in the top 3. However they doesn't seem to focus on clinical skills all that much...

I understand that each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses, but unfortunately I do not know exactly what type of cardiology I want to practice yet.

What would you choose?
Do you have any other statistics that would help me make a decision?

Thanks in advance for your help

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[gutonc]

What are you even talking about? Nothing in this post makes sense.

 

[Nameless33]

Sorry about that, I'm actually applying for an international exchange residency program and can choose either Harvard or Columbia. I don't know which one offer the best training in cardiology though - any ideas?

 

[IM2GI]

Still doesnt make sense.

Are you in med school? Is this essentially an away elective for a few months? You made it sound like you are short-tracking and have some pre-match offer for a 5 year cardiology program.

To sit here and argue about which program is "better" for an away elective is asinine. Pick whatever city you would rather visit from abroad. I'd go with Boston.

 

[Nameless33]

Yes, I’m currently still in med school but this won’t count towards any credits. The exchange program will be a short clinical clerckship for only a month or two.

Which one do you think would give me the best training in such small amount of time?

 

[gutonc]

Yes, I’m currently still in med school but this won’t count towards any credits. The exchange program will be a short clinical clerckship for only a month or two.

Which one do you think would give me the best training in such small amount of time?

It doesn’t matter. As a med student , you won’t really learn s*** at any away rotation.

Decide based on NYC or Boston.

 

[IM2GI]

Yes, I’m currently still in med school but this won’t count towards any credits. The exchange program will be a short clinical clerckship for only a month or two.

Which one do you think would give me the best training in such small amount of time?

This forum drives me nuts sometimes. Should I get the Audi or the BMW as my rental car on my vacation??? Who cares, they are the same for your purposes.

It's an away rotation, youre not gonna learn that much. Frankly I think it would be much easier to live in Boston for a month as a non-american.

 

[nlax30]

I agree, as a med student who will be there for a month or so the training subtleties between the two programs will not be an issue for you. At your level with that amount of time honestly for the program honestly you could go to just about any cardiology program and get basically the same experience/exposure.

So I would pick on wherever you’d be more interested in visiting.

 

[ROBINHO]

In terms of training they are both excellent with great exposure for a medical student.
Harvard Medical school has three different hospitals. Beth Israel, Brigham and WOmen , and Mass General Hospital. They have separate cardiology divisions and should probably not matter to you.

For your level you should make the decision based on the city. Where would you want to be for a month.

New York- you see everything that foreigners want to see in the USA. But it is very expensive (so if money is a factor for you then you should think carefully)
Boston- New England has its charm. Also very expensive but not as much as new york.

 

[drk]

The guy is clearly from outside of the USA and does not fully understand the system here. Jumping on him for that makes no sense. These are forums...on the internet...where dumb questions are standard. Many countries have different designations for resident and intern and where those fall in your spectrum of training. intern year is apart of MBBS in many countries, for example.

That said, they are correct, as a medical student you will be doing very little, I would guess even less at those particularly highly academic centers. If you want to apply for residency in the USA and are looking for letters, either of those place will have great faculty. If you are seriously looking to learn Cardiology as a medical student well...it would probably better to do it in your home institution which would allow you to do way more I would assume...as a student at least. Most internal medicine residents can't even read an EKG properly at the end of their 3 year residency.

 

[Medstart108]

The guy is clearly from outside of the USA and does not fully understand the system here. Jumping on him for that makes no sense. These are forums...on the internet...where dumb questions are standard. Many countries have different designations for resident and intern and where those fall in your spectrum of training. intern year is apart of MBBS in many countries, for example.

That said, they are correct, as a medical student you will be doing very little, I would guess even less at those particularly highly academic centers. If you want to apply for residency in the USA and are looking for letters, either of those place will have great faculty. If you are seriously looking to learn Cardiology as a medical student well...it would probably better to do it in your home institution which would allow you to do way more I would assume...as a student at least. Most internal medicine residents can't even read an EKG properly at the end of their 3 year residency.

At the same time, it is well known that these away rotations can look great on a CV for the person when they apply for positions in their home country. Regardless of whether the applicant learns much vs staying at home, they will gain a different perspective by learning about the healthcare system in the US and specifically at top US hospitals.

I recommend going of course, I myself did an international elective and had a great experience. No question, I would have learned a lot more at home, but also no question it may have been the best month of my life.

In terms of where you choose, it doesn't matter, you should choose based on city, if you can't decide just pick Harvard. Literally, anything with Harvard in its name just sounds better to people from whichever country you are from. You are not going to notice any difference between these hospitals at a medical student level.

 

[Nameless33]

You're right, I didn't even think about the advantage having this appear on my resume! Which one do you think would look best on a resume, Columbia or Harvard?

 

[IM2GI]

You're right, I didn't even think about the advantage having this appear on my resume! Which one do you think would look best on a resume, Columbia or Harvard?