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Hi there. I was just wondering if there are any physicians here (especially those who have recently completely residencies) who could tell me about the differences in quality of training between 1. non-university affiliated community hospitals, 2. university-affiliated community hospitals, and 3. university hospitals. I am at an osteopathic school and my parents (both MDs who completed their residencies back in the 1970s) have encouraged me to pursue allopathic residencies at university hospitals. They say from their personal experiences (my mother split her residency between both a community and university hospital) that the university hospitals have much more solid programs, and that you learn much more as you are presented with much more difficult cases. (Though I wonder... theoretically if someone actually wanted to work in community-based settings in the future, wouldn't they do better training in a community hospital versus a university one? My parents didn't seem to think so, which I had doubts about.) Although I do value their input very much, I still am uncertain about their advice as they completed their residency training over 30 years ago. I'm not sure if things would be better today. In fact, when I was applying to DO schools, I was told in interviews that much of medicine and health-care is moving towards a community-based model... unless that was all marketing. 😕
Are there certain ways in which community hospitals have advantages over university hospitals and vice versa? What about non-university based community hospitals versus university-affiliated community hospitals? Are the university-affiliated hospitals as good as the university ones? (For instance, aren't the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic both university-affiliated community hospitals with outstanding reputations?) I was just hoping some people could share their experiences or thoughts here. For those who did their residencies at community hospitals (and then worked in university hospitals later), could you also share your perspective if you felt you had any deficiencies coming in or any inadequacies in training compared to fellow physicians from university based residencies (if you'd be so kind to admit)? Even though I still have a few years before applying, I'd value any input at all. I'm thinking to go into residency in IM at a university hospital and possibly pursue a fellowship later (though my interests could certainly change in the next two years). Thanks!
Are there certain ways in which community hospitals have advantages over university hospitals and vice versa? What about non-university based community hospitals versus university-affiliated community hospitals? Are the university-affiliated hospitals as good as the university ones? (For instance, aren't the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic both university-affiliated community hospitals with outstanding reputations?) I was just hoping some people could share their experiences or thoughts here. For those who did their residencies at community hospitals (and then worked in university hospitals later), could you also share your perspective if you felt you had any deficiencies coming in or any inadequacies in training compared to fellow physicians from university based residencies (if you'd be so kind to admit)? Even though I still have a few years before applying, I'd value any input at all. I'm thinking to go into residency in IM at a university hospital and possibly pursue a fellowship later (though my interests could certainly change in the next two years). Thanks!
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