Penn vs. Columbia vs. Duke strengths

[academicalias]

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I am looking for applicants thoughts on these three cardiology programs. They are all top notch places, but each program has its own strengths. Just trying to get a feel for these fellowships by others - particularly what are the potential weaknesses.

My initial impressions:

Penn:
-great EP
-good reputation with strong IM residents
-HUP, Presby, and VA

Columbia:
-great structural and interventional exposure
-good reputation with strong IM residents
-Presbyterian and Allen pavilion
-high volume

Duke:
-DCRI
-good reputation with strong IM residents
-Duke north, VA, durham regional
-high volume

 

[HarryGary]

All three are excellent. How they compare is applicant dependent.

Penn may have the best EP department in the country. They do the most cutting edge VT ablations; they train a lot of academic leaders in EP.

Columbia has one of the best interventional departments in the country.

Both Penn and Columbia have strong HF units, but with Columbia doing significantly higher volume.

Duke may have the best all-around cardiology fellowship in the country and with the most opportunity to do significant research.

They are 3 programs among many that are outstanding places to train.

 

[academicalias]

Thanks for your insightful post. Thoughts on any potential weaknesses for each place?

 

[HarryGary]

Thanks for your insightful post. Thoughts on any potential weaknesses for each place?

I think it's splitting hairs. I liked Duke and Columbia better than Penn on my interview day. I'm sure there are people who saw it the other way.

One plus for Penn is that they let you finish your sub-specialty training in 4 years. Duke asks you to do an additional 2 years of research. 6 years in Durham may be tough for some people.

 

[anonymousdoc]

I think it's splitting hairs. I liked Duke and Columbia better than Penn on my interview day. I'm sure there are people who saw it the other way.

One plus for Penn is that they let you finish your sub-specialty training in 4 years. Duke asks you to do an additional 2 years of research. 6 years in Durham may be tough for some people.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Is it true that Duke didn't fill its cardiology fellowship a few cycles back? I was told that the IM program there didn't fill about 5 cycles back (seems like a strange outlier year); and I also heard this was the case for the cards program - any more information on this rumor? I guess Durham can make it tough to recruit, but the DCRI is an amazing resource. Can't believe everything on this board at face value obviously. Just probing a little to see what second hand info is out there.

 

[In the Cards]

True for IM program 5 cycles back as well as cards program. Word on the street was that they were too picky in terms of offering interviews to applicants that had the right 'fit', did not have the most pleasant/amicable interview day (this has changed), and had almost non-existant post interview communication (changed). All this plus location probably added up to these results but of course it's impossible to know what happened for sure. Also consider that other top programs sometimes encounter similar issues (for example Brigham GI didn't fill in 2010). Hope this helps.