Harvard vs Iowa

[AIV10]

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Hi all, my Harvard and Iowa interviews are on the same date and I need to cancel one in the next couple of days. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[DrZeke]

Iowa has a huge catchment area and high surgical volume. Supportive environment with great faculty. Don't know much about MEEI except I imagine the name would go quite far.


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[dri]

I interviewed at both and I preferred Iowa in terms of training and culture. Better numbers and more autonomy and I felt the faculty were more invested in the residency. This is just my opinion however, and so should be weighed accordingly. I was not too enamored with Iowa City, but a friend of mine who did an away there did enjoy it.

 

[kiwi-doc]

I'll preface this by saying that I am also in the process of interviewing so I don't have the most experience, but I think it depends on what you are looking for long term. I spent a good amount of time at Mass Eye, and I loved it. It is definitely more academic leaning from what I saw. So if you want to work in academia, the name will take you far. That's not to say Iowa won't also do the same (name is also great), but in my experience, the residents at MEEI are set up to publish like crazy. That said, clinically speaking, my general impression (as limited as it may be), is that Iowa is stronger for residents from the clinical perspective. Also, Boston > Iowa City, but that is a personal preference.

 

[gregoryhouse]

I did an away at MEEI and I enjoyed it a lot. I was with a 2nd year resident in July and I felt like they got to do a lot in the OR and on call. Clinics were super busy and it seemed like the residents get a lot of clinical experience and it seems like they definitely work hard. There is a lot of trauma, I think the resident says they get a globe almost every day. The faculty I worked with were big into research and were always looking for residents to help. I don't know how much surgical experience the residents get, I do think the program lends itself to being a more academic program with the expectation residents will likely go into fellowship. And Boston is a great place to live IMO although fairly expensive. All in all it was my favorite rotation I did.

I don't know anything about Iowa so I can't compare.

 

[100D]

One good way to look at programs is to see what their graduates do. Same when looking for fellowships.

Iowa: https://gme.medicine.uiowa.edu/ophthalmology-residency/our-recent-grads
MEEI: http://www.masseyeandear.org/educat...y-program/meet-the-residents/recent-graduates

As people mention above, Iowa can take you to either comprehensive or fellowship (looks like half half). Most graduates from MEEI go into fellowship, but at the top notch programs in all subspecialities. I think it's what you want to do in life. Can't go wrong with either program though.