My partner really wants me to rank UMich Peds #1 but I'm worried about what I've heard on the trail. Has anybody had a similar experience? It's hard to discern truth in the whispers but I've heard that the chair is on thin ice given probs with faculty retention, poor faculty reviews, failure to fill in the match a few years ago. An M4 from Michigan told me that the hospitalist division has been decimated and she's disappointed because they're great teachers. Sounds like a department/program on the downswing?
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Heard very similar rumors, especially about them having multiple unmatched spots secondary to a very mean chief 4 years ago. On my actual visit I thought they were very nice and it's a wonderful area. I agree that they maybe on the downswing and I would be concerned. Without these issues I would put them solidly with washu and vandy, but with these issues I think I'd put them slightly lower than places like utsw and ucla. Depending on what other kind of places are on your list I don't think a number one rank is too unreasonable, they seem like an overall decent program all things considered
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The University of Michigan beats all comers in every field when it comes to one key criterion: institutional narcissism. When you interviewed there I am sure you heard ad nauseum ad infinitum that Michigan's program is the best in every regard. In fact Michigan's pediatric residency wouldn't be the third best program in Ohio. Cincinnati Children's and Ohio State's Nationwide Children's Hospital both rank in the top 10 in the US Blues and World Distort rankings. Do you think you'd get better training at Mott than you would at Rainbow Babies?
Michigan's failure to match 8 of 22 slots occurred in 2014. That wasn't a century ago. If that chief acted like a jerk, why did the administration allow it to happen?
Michigan's failure to match 8 of 22 slots occurred in 2014. That wasn't a century ago. If that chief acted like a jerk, why did the administration allow it to happen?
Keep in mind your long-term career goals and your priorities in life. For example, if you plan to pursue fellowship, it really won't make a difference when applying whether you come from Michigan vs. a Northwestern or WashU for the name of the program itself (aside from having an advantage of matching at the home institution). It will be much more about you and not where you trained. The Michigan program obviously is not going anywhere and still has a great reputation, and I assume provides equivalent training compared to other programs you are considering. Looking at where graduates matched for fellowship the last two years, it looks like a large number of them stayed on at Michigan, which is generally a really positive sign about the institution. http://pediatric-residency.med.umich.edu/scholarly-activities/fellowship-opportunities
If I were you, I think getting advice directly from the current residents would be most helpful. I would ask them if and how the institutional politics affects them. It's hard to speculate from the outside.
That said, if I were applying and thinking of ranking Michigan #1, given what you said about the politics, I would be asking the same sorts of questions!
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