Pennsylvania Programs

[bruinkid]

Is anyone from PA out there?
Just wondering which program is better....Drexel or Hosp of UPENN.

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[Pfannenstiel]

Well, if no one's biting, I'll take a stab at this one. First, in response to this type of question, the answer would have to be that the "better" program is whichever program better suits your needs and preferences. That said, I have heard that HUP is an excellent hospital and that Penn residents are very smart, hard-working, and fairly happy. Penn is also a very academic program, big center for research, etc. I honestly don't know that much about Drexel... but I think of it as being somewhat less rigorous than Penn. All in all, I'm pretty sure that Penn has the stronger reputation. I'll be interviewing at both. I'd definitely be interested in hearing more input from Philly folks...

 

[bruinkid]

Thank you for a response Pfannenstiel.
I agree with your thoughts...and I just wanted to make sure of it.
Thanks again.

 

[Pfannenstiel]

Can anybody offer any insight into the non-Penn Philly options, specifically: Pennsylvania Hospital, Drexel, and Jefferson?

 

[drmom2007]

I asked a ob/gyn that has been practicing in PA for years about the residency programs in PA and here is what he had to say. (I removed some identifying information for his privacy.) He ranked them in order of his preference.
Drexel - Good academic program connected to a medical school (used to be named Hahnemann). Has had a lot of transition in recent years. Small & somewhat young faculty. Big true clinic population with all that goes with it. In downtown Phila, which would be good for some & bad for others. Owen Montgomery was just named Interim Chair.
Hershey - Academic program connected to a medical school. Hospital is run like a big clinic. Mainly a referral center therefore not a lot of "normal" bread & butter stuff. Clinical material is definitely somewhat low as the volume is low. This has always been a program. 60 minutes west of Reading & 120 minutes from Phila out in the country among Amish farms, again good for some & very bad for others.
Hospital of the Univ of Penn - need to look at since it is a major academic center in downtown Phila. Mike Mennuti's hospital.
Reading - The top of the community programs. Very strong academic program with a very large surgical volume. About 3400 deliveries per year. Extremely good hospital overall. Very involved private practitioners. 4 residents per year. Residency programs in Family Medicine & Internal Medicine also.
Lehigh Valley - The primary competition to Reading's program. A good program with good clinical experience. 45 minutes away from us & 60 minutes from Center City Phila.
Lankenau - Continues to be a very strong program. Suburban Phila, close to Center City Phila
Abington - Need to consider. Strong program in suburban Phila 40 minutes from Center City Phila
St. Luke's - No

 

[MichiMO]

Thanks for all the input drmom...I actually just discovered Lankenau today...don't ask me why I didn't realize that program was in Philly. I am thinking of applying, even though it is late. Their deadline isn't until 12/15 so I guess it can't hurt.


Oh, and bruinkid see my thougts on the interview thread on which program I think you should drop

 

[mjzoey]

I guess I should write something on this thread, since I am from Philly.
I only did ob at my school's hospital, so academic and real expireince wise, I can only say basically about temple. I heard few things about other programs in philadelphia/suburbs, and some info I gather from APGO website.

• Temple, which is in north philly, good case volume, great chair, FMG~40%, you work hard, but will be very well trained. (I wrote more about this program on another thread)
• Drexel- kind of borders north philly and center city, I talked to one student who goes there, and he told me the L&D nurses weren't very nice, and he recommended against applying there (i did anyway becuase it's so close to home) FMG~50%, and hopefully, they are all done with transition of the hospital stuff. couple years ago, it was owned by different company and backrupts and stuff, but seemed to have settle down. I heard from one ob/gyn I know who told me that this program could be in most danger of not surviving for long in Philadelphia (his oppinion was that other programs in the city have their own nitch, HUP is U of Penn, they kind of own university city(for thos who know, HUP is on the other side of the river), Jeff is one of the oldest, and they take care of the center city populations, Temple takes care of the north philly, and drexel is kind of stuck in the middle, and Penn Hospital is part of HUP so they are not going anywhere)
• Jeff- in center city, this is one the program I know least about. I think it's slightly bigger program. But I do like location of the hospital.
• Penn Hospital- in center city, affiliated with U Penn, i heard it's very good program, and heard someone descirbe as "workhorse for HUP"
• HUP- UPenn, I guess this is the "best" program is philadelphia. working here carries the prestige of being part of UPenn. I heard the residents are friendly. one thing i heard that since there is/are fellowship in this program, as a resident you might not get as many cases as you would if the program doesn't have one.
• Abington- in suburb north of Philaelphia (20 mins away from center city), actually affiliate of Temple's. have a lot more private patients. i heard that residents are kind of mean (at least that's what I heard from other students who did their ob/gyn rotation from my school). I actually did not apply here eventhough I probably had a better chance with this program being an affiliate of my school because I personally wanted to work with more inner city population
• Lankanue- this hospital is at a suburb south west of the city. I don't know too much about this program, except it's located at much more affluent part of town, which probably means more private patients. Smaller program (I think 3 per year)
• Lehigh Valley- it's at allentown. the hospital is BEAUTIFUL (i did my med II here), associated with Penn State. I don't know too much about the program, but the hopsital is very nice. each resident gets there own small labtop, so one could put order, and check labs and stuff while walking around the hospital. patient population is interesting, there are a lot of hispanic population here, some private patients, inner city populations, and farmers.

Hope this helps. If any ?'s don't hesitate to ask.

 

[mjzoey]

I guess I should write something ont this thread, since I am from Philly.
I only did on at my school's hospital, so academic and real expireince wise, I can only say basically about temple. I heard few things about other programs in philadelphia/suburbs, and some info I gather from APGO website.

• Temple, which is in north philly, good case volume, great chair, FMG~40%, you work hard, but will be very well trained. (I wrote more about this program on another thread)
• Drexel- kind of borders north philly and center city, I talked to one student who goes there, and he told me the L&D nurses weren't very nice, and he recommended against applying there (i did anyway becuase it's so close to home) FMG~50%, and hopefully, they are all done with transition of the hospital stuff. couple years ago, it was owned by different company and backrupts and stuff, but seemed to have settle down. I heard from one ob/gyn I know who told me that this program could be in most danger of not surviving for long in Philadelphia (his oppinion was that other programs in the city have their own nitch, HUP is U of Penn, they kind of own university city(for thos who know, HUP is on the other side of the river), Jeff is one of the oldest, and they take care of the center city populations, Temple takes care of the north philly, and drexel is kind of stuck in the middle, and Penn Hospital is part of HUP so they are not going anywhere)
• Jeff- in center city, this is one the program I know least about. I think it's slightly bigger program. But I do like location of the hospital.
• Penn Hospital- in center city, affiliated with U Penn, i heard it's very good program, and heard someone descirbe as "workhorse for HUP"
• HUP- UPenn, I guess this is the "best" program is philadelphia. working here carries the prestige of being part of UPenn. I heard the residents are friendly. one thing i heard that since there is/are fellowship in this program, as a resident you might not get as many cases as you would if the program doesn't have one.
• Abington- in suburb north of Philaelphia (20 mins away from center city), actually affiliate of Temple's. have a lot more private patients. i heard that residents are kind of mean (at least that's what I heard from other students who did their ob/gyn rotation from my school). I actually did not apply here eventhough I probably had a better chance with this program being an affiliate of my school because I personally wanted to work with more inner city population
• Lankanue- this hospital is at a suburb south west of the city. I don't know too much about this program, except it's located at much more affluent part of town, which probably means more private patients. Smaller program (I think 3 per year)
• Lehigh Valley- it's at allentown. the hospital is BEAUTIFUL (i did my med II here), associated with Penn State. I don't know too much about the program, but the hopsital is very nice. each resident gets there own small labtop, so one could put order, and check labs and stuff while walking around the hospital. patient population is interesting, there are a lot of hispanic population here, some private patients, inner city populations, and farmers.

Hope this helps. If any ?'s (about different programs or city itself) don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Pfannenstiel]

mj, thanks so much for your input. I have a potential scheduling conflict for Pennsylvania Hospital and Drexel... I was leaning toward Pennsy - but even more now. Thanks.

 

[burlypie]

Einstein in North Philly -- I have friends who have completed their OBGYN rotations there and have said the program is awful. The FMGs are imcompetent (can't communicate w/ patients, poor bredth of medical knowledge), there is low volume, and "they don't treat the patients very nicely" according to what I've heard. Again, this is only heard on the streets so to speak so if anyone knows anything different please correct me!

Lankenau, on the other hand, is always a favorite clinical rotation. Happy residents, good volume, nice location, etc.

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

what about the western and central portions of PA? There is life beyond the east coast Any good ones over here?

 

[bellalou]

Part of Univ Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh. Just interviewed there and LOVED the program. Really high-volume ob and gyn, very academic, extremely cool residents, lots of fellowships. Mix of private and staff patients. This is definitely at the top of my list. I had no idea that it was such a top notch program.

Good luck!

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

Part of Univ Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh. Just interviewed there and LOVED the program. Really high-volume ob and gyn, very academic, extremely cool residents, lots of fellowships. Mix of private and staff patients. This is definitely at the top of my list. I had no idea that it was such a top notch program.

Good luck!

I had both my babies there Could bring back "painful" memories. Haha

 

[thjulia]

All i know from philly progrma sis to avoid EINSTEIN MC=SUCKS
most of residents are incompetent ( except for maybe 3-4) / some of them can barley speak english/cant even comunicate with pts/ they dont get along they just talk about each other/ dont help each other / no respect for team work= they just leave hanging in there....
the program has no structure whatsoever and its VERY disorganized ( seems like residnets do what they want with no consistency and no consequences from their actions = there is no discipline )
their clinic is also very disorganized and the digital chart systems is PAINFULL
the patient population is very ghetto/not cooperative

only pluses are : some of the attg are very nice and they are into teaching/ the program director is also nice...
I did my obgyn rotation there and it was chaos I dont recomend this place to anybody unless you are a FMG and are desperate for a visa or something like that
AVOID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ObToBe]

Hey,
Does anyone know anything about jefferson?? I saw that they lost 10 residents in 5 years...any ideas as to where it is right now?!?!

Thanks!

Happy travels everyone!!

 

[burlypie]

Did my 3rd year rotation there. I loved it, honestly, and would consider it for residency (if I decide to go into this field). All the residents I encountered are nice (don't know where the biz-natch obgyn resicent stereotype comes from) the attendings can vary but there are some very solid ones and some very NICE ones. work hours seem reasonable (in fact the dept. chair wants to make a 65-hour workweek goal for next year) mostly 12-hour days with a day of 24 hour call thrown in (as far as I could tell) Subspecialists there are amazing. Seriously not a bad place. Love center city, too. Oh, plus a good mix of guys and gals in the program.

 

[ObToBe]

Did my 3rd year rotation there. I loved it, honestly, and would consider it for residency (if I decide to go into this field). All the residents I encountered are nice (don't know where the biz-natch obgyn resicent stereotype comes from) the attendings can vary but there are some very solid ones and some very NICE ones. work hours seem reasonable (in fact the dept. chair wants to make a 65-hour workweek goal for next year) mostly 12-hour days with a day of 24 hour call thrown in (as far as I could tell) Subspecialists there are amazing. Seriously not a bad place. Love center city, too. Oh, plus a good mix of guys and gals in the program.

thanks so much! its good to hear that the program is solid!

 

[rabok416]

I am bumping this thread to see if anyone can comment on any of the programs in Central PA (or I guess non-Pittsburgh or Philly). Has anyone had experience at Penn State Hershey, Reading Hospital, York Hospital, Bethlehem (St. Luke's), Lehigh Valley, or Geisinger? How would the programs and cities compare? Does anyone know how the cost of living is in these places?

Background: I am married and will have 3 kids when residency rolls around, so if anyone knows anything about the schools in these areas and the cost of living, especially housing, in these areas, that would be great. Also, does anyone know how malpractice is in central PA? I know that Philly area is notoriously bad but I don't know if that translates statewide.

Sorry for all of the questions, and thanks in advance for your insights.