northwestern anesthesia

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citixen

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guys, what do you know about this program? any info will be appreciated..

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i'm only a med student , but i'll bite.

the PD is a pretty big name in anesthesia, from what i've seen he's a nice enough guy, lots of research under his belt. Great name in the midwest, well respected academically. Some say that training is better at other Chicago programs, but that's relative I guess. In chicago,

U chicago > Northwestern > UIC/Rush > Loyola > Masonic/Cook

( general consensus from what i've seen, though they are all fairly decent programs. )

great opportunities for research, great part of town, hospital has lots of money and technology. some residents find the CRNA's to be militant, others think they are fine, i've heard both sides. If you're into research and the 'name' , it's a great place to be.

also, i know a few years ago there was some shuffling around in terms of attendings, in the past a few have complained about a malignant attitude with some attendings, but i believe in the last few years new attendings have come in, ( their compensation was increased as well ) and they have been excellent.
 
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From my take on the program, it is a decent program. But they definitely are a little deceptive and talk bigger than they actually are. My friend is a CA-2 there. She does like it but says they have pretty tough hours which was more than she expected. There are two philosophies to anesthesia training either work em a lot and have them learn secondarily by seeing many cases while at the same time serving the department. OR give em only cases that are for learning basis and give them time to learn by reading about things they may never see. Whichever is better is subjective but the latter philosophy is rare especially in Chicago. However, the other places in Chicago tell you this exactly and you know what your getting into. They aren't deceptive. NW doesn't tell you this and they act as if they are very resident friendly or they bad mouth other programs. But at the end of the day it is a good program and you will come out competent. My take on the Chicago programs are:

U of C (Great) > NW/Rush (Good)> Loyola/UIC (average)> Cook/Masonic (poor)
 
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I trained at Northwestern. Best program in the city (and I've worked with residents from every program here except Stroger, so I feel pretty comfortable saying that). I don't think there's any deception. I knew I was going to work hard. I did work hard. But I'm well-trained and I think it was worth it.

Strong in regional, peds, OB, neuro, cardiac. No lung transplants or burns. Enough trauma that you know what you're doing with that stuff, but not so much that it ruins every call. PD is a great guy. Good oral board preparation. Hope that helps.
 
I trained at Northwestern. Best program in the city (and I've worked with residents from every program here

Case in point to the talk bigger than they actually are remark. It easy to toot your own horn and say your the best. You ask NW guys and they say they are the best, you ask Rush guys and say they are the best, and so on. Its very subjective with no actual reasoning why they are the best.

However trying to be as objective as possible. I think U of C is the best program in the city. Why? well they are a good balance of didactic and clinical work. They just like NW and Rush are big volume hospitals in the city but they make it a point to balance your education with not just learning by seeing all this volume but by having regular lectures too. They have lectures everyday all three years and they have better hours than NW and Rush to give you time to go home and study. Two other chicago programs, UIC and Masonic, also have daily lectures but they don't have the volume that NW, Rush, or UofC offers. Rush and NW have volume but they don't have the extensive daily lectures all three years and tend to have longer hours. So objectively I think because they have a good balance of both, they are the best program in the city. Then I think Rush and NW come after but that's my opinion and explanation for it.
 
Shaz,

with all due respect, there's no way of knowing if a program has good didactics until you are in it. Furthermore, lectures are a small component of learning... the best learning will come in the OR with your attendings. They may help you get a couple extra points on the ITE, but at the end of the day, your own time you put into reading will get you past the boards. Spoon-fed lectures can only go so far, and i see that now as an intern. I've learned the most on busy call nights in the Units (both CCU and MICU). 5 sick-as-**** admissions in 5 hours, peeps intubated, on pressors, IABP's, impella's, PVAD's, etc will test your endurance, intellect and sanity.

So to get back to the thread, it's impossible for you (or anyone else) to definitively say UofC is definitively better than NW or vice versa. However, the plain facts are that NW has superior CT, OB and pediatric experience, better facilities and a better location in the city. Don't rely on reputation and rumors about programs because they count for D*ick. Look at the numbers: board pass rate (most important, arguably), volume in each subspecialty, fellowship placement, elective time in CA-3 year, opportunities for rotations abroad. If programs don't tell you how many cases their residents log in each subspecialty, they are hiding a weakness. Transparency on the interview day is paramount, and after you've done a few, it becomes easy to identify.

I know it's difficult as an MS4 to see past work hours, but trust me, you'll work hard at any big name program, even in a relatively cushy schedule like they got at BIDMC :)
 
Excellent program. In Chicago there is no doubt. All the other programs envy the location and variety of cases at NW. One of the top OB and Peds speciality hospitals in the country. You will do enough regional to make you sick. More hearts than any other Chicago program (over 1500/year), by far more L and D experience than anyone, (14000 deliveries per year) and of course the best Children's Hospital in the Midwest CMH. Excellent ICU rotation in MICU, NICu and CVICU. But you will work hard and you will not get much rest for 4 years.
 
YMGC

First off, I never meant to say U of C is definitively better than NW. I apologize if it came off that way. I interviewed at both and depending on what I was told and saw I gave my opinion and reasoning why I thought U of C was better. By all means I don't think everyone should agree with me but I just wanted to share my thoughts. Once again I want to reiterate than NW is a great place, as are the majority of programs in the city, and you will come out a competent anesthesiologist with most of em.

With that said, I definitely see your point about being self-motivated in residency. However, I disagree that lectures are a small component. Honestly all most every single program out there has great number of cases and volume of cases to see are rarely ever an issue with at least 60-75% of anesthesia programs. Initially I thought that was great and as long as you went to these programs you were good. However, after talking to many residents and attendings and seeing their take on it, they came to tell me that really after seeing so many of certain types of cases or procedures it doesn't become educational anymore to keep you late to do another one of those cases or procedures. Its just serving the dept. I mean how many central lines do you need to put in to say your good, its not an infinite amount. It's better served to send you home and have your read or maybe its better to give you lecture to supplement the reading you do at home to solidify your knowledge. Keeping that in mind, I don't think its plain fact that NW has superior CT, OB, peds ext. than U of C simply because they have more. I think both places have sufficient amount. I don't think the experience at U of C is lacking to say that. Both places are great, both places you work hard, but I think that the greater amount of didactics at U of C and the less number of hours longed is better medium (at least for me) between the many programs that teach by the volume-driven philosophy (like Rush or NW) or the programs that teach by the lecture-driven philosophy that may lack in volume (like masonic or UIC).

To the OP, interview at NW, it's a great place and decide for yourself what you think works for you.
 
I am recent graduate of northwestern anesthesia. I think it is a great program. True we work very hard, but that was made plainly obvious to me on interview day. The only other thing I have to add is that we do have strong didactics. We have morning lectures Tu-Fri. I can give more details if you want, just message me. True, we do not get reading days, but I never felt that my education was lacking because of the lack of reading days.
 
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