McGaw Medical Center/Northwestern University Residency Reviews

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monkeyarms

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Residents: A smart and happy bunch. Pre-interview was at an attendings house for "Rosen club" where they go over a chapter. Bulk of time was social, academic stuff wasn't broken out until all were appropriately lubed with a drink or two. Residents and faculty seemed to genuinely enjoy one anothers company. Tour of facilities and lunch were with residents, again friendly, laid back, and well spoken. Only potential negative is that there are lots of people who did med schoolin Chicago here.

Faculty: Chair lectured in AM and was present intermittently through the day. I view this as an indicator of interested leadership. Many references were made to improvements he has made fro the program during his tenure. PD and associate PD seemed strong. Both very approachable and very "human." Got the impression that resident faculty relations would be easy here. Only potential problem is general youth of faculty...not a lot of the "old dog" types who have been around the field for 20+ years.

Facilities: Northwestern Memorial downtown is a brand new 60 bed ED, annual volume around 90K. It has an enormous obs unit. Can't remember details about number of beds, but layout seemed user friendly. Level 1 trauma designation and EMS direction site. Children's Memorial in Lincoln Park for 3 ED blocks and a peds ward block. Level 1 trauma, volume quoted at 50K+ annually and has a big nat'l rep as a peds hospital. Evanston Hospital and Glenbrook serve as community style exposures, spend about 8 months between these over 4 yrs, both see integrated peds. Both around 30 minute drive from downtown. During 2nd and 4th yrs do 1 month block on trauma team at Cook County, serve as team leader as 4th yr.

Curriculum: Clearly the strength of the program. Clinical curriculum includes 31 months of ED, 8 months of ICU, exposure to good breadth of off-service, and 4.5 months of elective time. Well-defined graduated responsibility leading up to overseeing the entire dept 4th year. Didactic curriculum is "modular," ie systems based topics covered for full month at a time. Curriculum repeats every two years to ensure exposure to each topic at some point during your 4 yrs. Residents enroll in an academic college beginning 2nd yr in either research, administration, or education. Purpose is to provide mentorship, facilitate development of scholarly project, and help towrds niche development. Also workshops on professional development and sim labs throughout 4 yrs.

Patient population: Pt pop ranges from CEOs in skyscrapers to homeless under bridges at NW Memorial. Children's has standard pop plus tertiary exposure. Evanston and Glenbrook serve more suburban population. Cook is standard county pop.

Shifts: Mixture of 8-10-12 site and year dependent. I believe intern year is all 8's. ED month total hours something like 190/mo yrs 1 and 2, 180 yr 3, 165 yr 4.

City: Chicago is what it is...the booming metropolis of the midwest. Activites and resources of a NY/LA with a nice midwestern personality. Generally young an fun, still actively growing. Killer bar scene, sports, music, theater, shopping galore. Weather is crappy cold windy gray for 5-6 months a year. Lakefront is the summertime is outstanding and there are festivals nearly every weekend. Public transportation exists but is not that great. It can get you around town but stops aren't very well located, particularly in relation to hospitals. Traffic blows. Cost of living high but not as terrible as NY/Boston/Cali.

Overall: I came away very impressed and will rank it somewhere in my top 5, possibly 1st. 4th year is put to good use here and justified in my opinion. Upsides are dedication to education with thoughtful curriculum geared towards professional development, strong leadership, good resident/faculty camraderie, critical care, and multiple practice style exposures. Downsides are overall youth of faculty, preponderance of Chicago trained individuals, lack of consistently integrated peds, some question about patient pop exposure. I have the impression training here would be very comfortable. Probably not the place for people who want to be stretched to the limit or totally autonomous from day one. Trainees will likely leave best prepared for academic, administrative, or suburban community practice.

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Just wanted to add an aside- I'm posting most of my reviews of residencies that haven't been reviewed. I relied heavily on the reviews to do research prior to going to my interviews and even choosing some of the programs to interview at. And I noticed a couple of the programs were not reviewed as much. Thought I could help out. And also- I may have posted my Rank List in another thread but that was my top 10. I didn't include the rest. So the places I reviewed here are on it.

Interview Day/Residents: I love love Chicago. It's one of my all time favorite cities. I make a point to visit it for more than a day. I purposely scheduled my interviews at the Chicago programs so I could make three trips. Went to college there and have a lot of friends in the area. So this interview was an awesome trip. Anyways, the day I went it was frigid. I believe this winter (2008-09) has been the worst in 30+ yrs: both in temps and snowfall. Don't let that scare you at all. I was there for five years. And as a Californian transplant, I survived and loved it.

Anyhow, They have a book club meeting that doubles as a social at one of the assistant PD's house. Ya get to carpool with a resident from the hospital. It was really cold that night so it was poorly attended by the interviewees. As I was walking into the house, I get a tap on my shoulder. There was this goofy looking guy with red hair and a beanie smiling up at me from the stairs. He introduces himself as Jim Adams. I'm like "Hi Jim. Are you coming in too?" We take off our coats and proceed to chat for 15 mins about Chicago and the possibility that Olympics might come there. I walk away to grab a couple beers and as I'm opening one, someone whispers to me. Dude, you have been talking to the chair. It was my first one on one with any chairman. Dr. Adams was hands down, the nicest, most down to earth person I have ever met. He specializes in "organizational performance" and ethics. I would suggest googling him. He's got an extensive background- Major in US Airforce, help create Harvard's EM program, been at Northwestern since 2000.

The night was really chill altho too nerdy for my part- ppl were milling about drinking and eating until the actual learning part of the night: a sorta scavenger hunt where you go to different parts of the room and try to guess what an X-ray is or name an ortho fx or dislocation. I got to pair up with a gung-ho resident. I really most wanted to talk to people but she was intent on learning. It seemed like from the night, I got a sense that Northwestern is heavily bent towards academic. The teaching was top notch. I didn't really mesh with the residents too much except for a couple of them: a chief and intern. The most of them seemed aloof (heard this from other applicants along the trail). I guess it could've been the weather or the interview season was dragging on. But didn't get the recruitment, hey come here spiel. They didn't seem as fun loving as the UofChicago residents or UCI residents. But at the same time, could've been the timing + weather.

They have this map at the ED office where they show where people have gone after graduating the residency- pretty much anywhere and everywhere. Cuz of their academic focus, for the most part, people can pursue fellowships or go into an academic community setting.

Attendings: I have gone on and on about the chair, but the PD was amazing. She was extremely friendly and really laidback. Dr. Collings ran thru the presentation- i think she was tired from doing it the umpteenth time. But we raced thru it in minutes. Dr. Adams came in after it to talk to us. He came in sporadically during the day to just chat. It was a nice touch. I didn't mesh with one of the attendings during my interview. But for the most part, I enjoyed all of the interviews. They made me feel like I could really work well alongside them. They were young and laidback. Unlike the residents, I felt the attendings were more enthusiastic in their recruiting.

Facilities: Having gone to Mayo at the point, I had some perspective to what a jaw dropping facility would look like. Northwestern was a close second. They are located off of Michigan Avenue and blocks from the Lake. The towers are immaculate. There is construction across the ways for a new Peds building. They are not in dire need of money, for sure. The ED was above average. It was a little spartan for me but still really functional. They lost an affliation to UofC- Evanston hospital and are in process of picking up a replacement. Evanston was a great community hospital with a sim lab. It was more of a politics thing outside of EM. Overall, I was impressed. I asked a lot of residents if they needed a car. Most of them drove and lived off the Gold Coast/Lincoln Park area.

Curriculum: Very similar to Upenn's minus the elective time. You get one month of peds floor- which I was iffy about. You get 3.5 mos of elective time. Overall, heavy on the critical care. Overall, I was okay about it, not as super thrilled as I was with UCSF fresno's curriculum. Trauma is sprinkled throughout the years. As a second year, you go to Cook County for trauma and so on. I thought it could've been more emphasized. It could've been me but I felt they were trying to compensate for the image of NW being an EM residency that doesn't see the proper balance in uninsured and insured pts. That its too ritzy. They quoted money spent on the Medicare/Medicaid/uninsured pts from last year. While walking thru the ED, at a Wednesday morning, I saw a good amount of variety. NW's proximity to Lake Shore drive allows ya to be able to see any MVAs. They were heavily involved with the recent Marathon disaster- where temps rose to 90's and it was humid. 300 people were brought to EDs around Chicago and they helped receive a lot of them. So I would say for the most part, ya get a decent balance of indigent and insured.

Overall- I didn't mesh too much with the residents but loved the attendings. This place bumped up in my rankings as I dwelled more on the positives- +Chairman + attendings + research ++facilities + location +job placement. I would be thrilled to be here working with Dr. Adams/Dr. Colllings this July.
 
1. Brigham/MGH: POS: Two amazing institutions, The Name (Partners) which helps if you want to do something in addition to medicine, faculty, resources, admitting powers, off-service education, true SIM-lab along with true integration into curriculum, fellowship in US (not that i'm interested in doing US fellowship, but having a fellowship makes it more likely that we will get a good ultrasound experience), getting an expanded ED at MGH, impressed with 4th years (they get experience running obs unit and getting presentation from PAs- say what you will about the importance of knowing how to run OBS unit and PAs, but all you need to do is look at the news and realize the possible future of EM), can use propofol, You get bread and butter at both hospitals (albeit, you're more likely to see zebras at these hospitals). NEG: Surgery floor rotation (I don't mind medicine floor), only 4 ICU months (I wish there was one more instead of surgery floor), slightly worried about admission pushback (but ED has admitting powers, so it's okay).
2. BMC: POS: "Boston City Hospital"- so many people have trained there, admitting powers, ED is powerful there, trauma is truly run by ED, largest ED visits in the New England area, largest number of trauma (penetrating) in Boston, sees the most number of patients in the New England area, Boston EMS medical control, great number of fellowships. NEG: Ortho experience is what you make of it, POTENTIALLY a weaker peds experience as it's a Level II peds center, limited propoful use, trauma is run sort of inefficiently (3rd year does tube AND leads the trauma, which is contrary to the principles of leadership)
3. UPenn: POS: this place has everything I want (perfect number of ICU rotations), true integration with trauma, residents can use propofol, admitting powers, great off-service rotations, great airway toys, Pharmacy is in the ED to help with codes (drug calculations) and drug questions. NEG: The number of ED visits they see seems a little low, weaker/building from scratch a SIM lab curriculum.
4. NYP (columbia and cornell): POS: Two great hospitals, best peds experience in NYC (which is tough in NYC), subsidized housing available, resources, admitting powers, can use propofol. NEG: relatively new (that being said, it's made a name for itself). High cost of living in NYC
5. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: POS: Academic, 3+1 option, the name, the residents, the faculty. NEG: lower number of ED visits compared to other programs in Boston, many off-site rotations (which are worth it for this program, but driving can be a hassle)
6. UMass: POS: Great toys, helicopter- TRUE integration of residents and nurses as a team, residents, the BEST facilities of any program on my list, PD is AMAZING, busy level 1 adult/peds, great number of fellowships, ED is very powerful here. NEG: location in Worcester (but that being said, cost of living is great with it still being relatively close to Boston)
7. Brown: POS: Amazing number of fellowships in everything you could want to do in the future, VERY busy with large volumes of patients (second largest in New England), Large sim lab, has access to basic science research (if you're into that thing). NEG: location
8. Northwestern: POS: perfect number of ICU rotations, well known, great facilities, great location in Chicago, gets a lot of trauma from the South side of Chicago (since U. Chicago is not a level I trauma center). NEG: No fellowships, except a research fellowship (I'm worried I won't get a good US experience if there is no US fellowship)
 
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Northwestern

PROS: residents are smart, funny, and were a blast to hang out with; grads get great jobs; major ICU experience (over 10 months); get to see sick patients from day 1 and good acuity since only level 1 in downtown (catchment over 1 mil I think); good peds time (integrated shifts with all PEM boarded attendings); very dynamic Chair and PD; progressive responsibility with pgy3s and pgy4s "running the department"; community months at Methodist sounds awesome since no other residents around and crazy stuff comes in thanks to location in Gary

CONS: residents say there is competition for certain procedures at their main site; reportedly tough to get autonomy in their peds ED/PICU experiences since it’s all done at the major Children’s hospital (not uncommon at many academic centers though); one of the interviewers was condescending and odd; 4 year program, but given their offerings it could be worth it for some; extra month of elective time would be nice given a 4 year program
 
Overall
Noticed that this hadn't been updated in some time and thought I would provide updates for what I think is one of the best programs in the country. I'm an intern in the NUEM program and have had an incredible experience in my first 4 months so I thought I'd share. Residents are amazing, everyone is down-to-earth, approachable, and always ready to teach. They preach graduated responsibility and really live up to the term. As an intern I can pick up any patient on the board and will be expected to manage their care to admission or discharge. As intern we're primarily in the NMH ED and I've already gotten a ton of procedures. We also have a very strong didactic curriculum, that occurs weekly over the course of a year that is systems based and incorporates EKG interpretation. As we progress into second year, we are expected to move the department, increase our speed and function autonomously. The last two years are what puts this program a cut above the rest. Our seniors essentially run the department. They evaluate all patients in the ED, hear presentations from medical students, juniors, and APN's as well as are expected to do a great deal of on-shift teaching. I truly believe it's during these two years our seniors learn to maximize efficiency, incorporate ED operations into decision-making, and sharpen attending-level skills that prepare our graduates to move onto jobs at premier academic medical centers.
We also do almost a year of critical care by the end of the four years and my seniors are all extremely well equipped to handle critical care in the ED. The curriculum is ultimately what drew me to NUEM, you spend time at an academic ED and premier pediatric ED, busy upscale community ED in Lake Forest, trauma heavy community ED in Gary Indiana, and do multiple trauma months at Cook County. I look at all the 4th years in my program and they're all extremely well-trained, confident, and have been interviewing for great jobs across the country.
NUEM faculty I believe is second to none. Our Chairman, Jim Adams, a huge name in EM is extremely accessible, vested in our success, and not to mention also serves as CMO for all of Northwestern. Many of the attending's are big names in EM as well and experts in their respective niche of EM and yet are very accessible and always ready to teach. On-shift teaching has happened on every one of my shifts, and is prioritized by the attending and senior resident. Lastly, even in my short time at Northwestern, I've been exposed to a wealth of research and QI opportunities. With our Chairman being CMO, we have an incredible opportunity to take on several hospital-wide projects to make an impact on the quality of care provided in the ED and hospital-wide. I truly believe NUEM offers a unique opportunity to work and train at an academic medical center as well as experience a wide-breadth of EM exposure though multiple sites, and tap into extensive research and admin opportunities. As well as be surrounded by down-to-earth attendings and a cohort of amazing and talented co-residents.
Last and maybe mostly importantly nothing beats summer in Chicago. Great food, great beer, and tons to do!

Please feel free to PM with any questions!
 
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