Michigan vs. Northwestern vs. U of Chicago

[kb7878kb]

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Was wondering how others would rank these. Hoping to get a fellowship in GI. To me it seems like Michigan would be regarded as the top program among these three followed by U of Chicago and then Northwestern. I was wondering if others feel the same way. U of Chicago and Northwestern may be able to recruit better residents because of location. The fellowship placement seems to be pretty comparable for all three.

 

[Salsero]

Well I was told during my interview at U of Michigan that for GI NW > U of Chicago. And of course, I was told U of Michigan was stronger than both. You can't go wrong with any of these programs. If I wanted to stay in a big city, I would definitely go with NW over U of Chicago (nicer hospital, residents seem nicer). Good luck and go with your "gut" (you should be good at that 🙂 ) Just out of curiosity, have you gotten any sort of correspondence from any of these programs post-interview?

 

[kb7878kb]

Hey Salsero,
Thanks for the reply. I did get a quick email back from the PD at NW after she received my thank you letter and a thank you letter from one of the associate PDs at Michigan. Nothing from U of C.

 

[bbtbay]

Was wondering how others would rank these. Hoping to get a fellowship in GI. To me it seems like Michigan would be regarded as the top program among these three followed by U of Chicago and then Northwestern. I was wondering if others feel the same way. U of Chicago and Northwestern may be able to recruit better residents because of location. The fellowship placement seems to be pretty comparable for all three.

I am not from the midwest, but think that the people here are amazing/friendly and i think it'd be a great area residency. I am also considering GI, and here's how I broke down each place.

Michigan --- very nice, well-funded "healthcare system", program director is GI and is well known academic researcher (good contacts for GI research fellowship), strong midwest reputation, top 10 NIH research dollars, tertiary/quartenary care for all of Michigan, Ann Arbor (if you are married excellent, small city/college town feel), great computer medical records system (everything is computerized).

Northwestern --- very well funded, posh-feeling hospital system, PD has a lot of energy, seems very personable, GI/Allergy are strong here as well, call system does not seem as tortuous as other places (no ward overnight call), residents/interns seem like they have lives outside of hospital, great downtown location (if your single ideal), majority fellowship match in midwest

UChicago --- within Chicago considered to be the top clinical/academic internal medicine training program, strong national reputation as well, older hospital, academic/research-focused, very strong GI-IBD service, PD is very nice/approachable, good opportunities for research, also fellowships seem to stay in Chicago-area as well, q4 overnight-worked harder, alot of underserved/uninsured patient population (Hyde park area), residents/interns I've worked with are very impressive/well-read doctors-in training

If you're single, I agree with other response, I'd chose Chicago. Northwestern is the more ideal location, but a good number of itnerns/residents live in Chicago-downtown also. From speaking with others in different institutions across the country west and east-coast, I feel like UChicago is looked more highly upon as being the "better" out of all 3. Personally, I think it comes down to gut feeling and what kind of doctor you want to be...academia vs. clinician vs. combination. If I was married, doing academia or combination, reputation means more I feel --- I'd go Uchicago > Michigan > Northwestern. If I was single, wanted to be more of a clinician --- I'd go Northwestern~UChicago > Michigan.

Just my personal thoughts after going through this interview trial. PM if you had any thoughts like this for yourself.

 

[nasdr]

Well I was told during my interview at U of Michigan that for GI NW > U of Chicago. And of course, I was told U of Michigan was stronger than both. You can't go wrong with any of these programs. If I wanted to stay in a big city, I would definitely go with NW over U of Chicago (nicer hospital, residents seem nicer). Good luck and go with your "gut" (you should be good at that 🙂 ) Just out of curiosity, have you gotten any sort of correspondence from any of these programs post-interview?

i always thought that U Michigan = U Chicago > NW for GI. U Chi's GI match list includes BWH, U Chicago, UTSW, UNC, Rush. It's hard to interpret NW's since they hand out a list that includes the last 6 years.

 

[BaylorLion]

I would respectfully disagree with kb and say that Michigan > Northwestern=Chicago in terms of reputation. Whether by research dollars or by academic reputation, there are very few (if any) people who would say the Chicago programs are *stronger* than Michigan, many people who would say they are equal and most people would say Michigan is the strongest. Moreover, most people at the top-tier programs outside the Midwest at which I interviewed universally (and yes, I mean *universally*) said Michigan was stronger. They're all great, but I think it's inaccurate to say either Chicago program is stronger.

 

[drjitsu]

I don't know for GI, but for internal medicine (that is what were matching for right??), Michigan is far superior to these Chicago programs.

In my opinion, NW is too cush and UoC is antiquated. That is, paper charts, outdated infrastructure, and just outdated approach to graduate medical education. Michigan is on the cutting edge, end of story.

Now, Ann Arbor and Chicago could not be different. So where do you want to live? Look, you'll get a GI fellowship from any of these programs, so focus on superior internal medicine training and where you want to live.

 

[kb7878kb]

Thanks for all the great responses. Your feedback has been quite helpful.

 

[CANE4LIFE]

With the recent news of Uchicago's financial problems, how do pple feel about NW vrs Uchicago?

 

[rCubed]

With the recent news of Uchicago's financial problems, how do pple feel about NW vrs Uchicago?

So, given all the news coming out of UChicago, I was seriously thinking about re-considering NW. But after talking to advisors and residents it comes down to this: UChicago faculty is still the same, and the residents are the same. The degree of autonomy is better, and the pt population is still a little more diverse. One of my faculty members mentioned alot of other programs that had had trouble for one or two years in recruiting/ faculty changes/ ACGME violations/ etc. But the quality of the residents remains the same, in his mind, and the overall experience is the same.
I understand that UChicago is in a more financial crunch, but I think comparing the two programs during interview day, I knew that UChicago doesn't have the funds compared to NW or many of the other programs I looked at.
Just my 2 cents, and I def think NW is worth (re)considering.

 

[tibor75]

So, given all the news coming out of UChicago, I was seriously thinking about re-considering NW. But after talking to advisors and residents it comes down to this: UChicago faculty is still the same, and the residents are the same. The degree of autonomy is better, and the pt population is still a little more diverse. One of my faculty members mentioned alot of other programs that had had trouble for one or two years in recruiting/ faculty changes/ ACGME violations/ etc. But the quality of the residents remains the same, in his mind, and the overall experience is the same.
I understand that UChicago is in a more financial crunch, but I think comparing the two programs during interview day, I knew that UChicago doesn't have the funds compared to NW or many of the other programs I looked at.
Just my 2 cents, and I def think NW is worth (re)considering.

True, but the faculty won't be the same for long if they continue to do poorly.