Rush Univ. Pathology?

[ThUnwantedBeing]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys,
Does anyone have any info on the pathology program at Rush University in Chicago? I received an interview offer a bit late in the season, and its going to be difficult for me to schedule another trip to Chicago. Based on the little information I have, it seems like a good mid-size diagnostic training program with decent volume and supportive faculty. Besides this, I haven't found much info on the program on this site or others. Has anyone interviewed there to get a feel for the program? Any current residents? Feel free to respond publicly or via PM.
Thanks all - Brian

 

[pathstudent]

Hey guys,
Does anyone have any info on the pathology program at Rush University in Chicago? I received an interview offer a bit late in the season, and its going to be difficult for me to schedule another trip to Chicago. Based on the little information I have, it seems like a good mid-size diagnostic training program with decent volume and supportive faculty. Besides this, I haven't found much info on the program on this site or others. Has anyone interviewed there to get a feel for the program? Any current residents? Feel free to respond publicly or via PM.
Thanks all - Brian

It's probably the 3rd or 4th best program in Chicago. The location is good with a blue line subway stop virtually in the hospital. But U of C is probably the best program in the city and Northwestern is probably in the best location but judging from the fact that they have openings in every year, their program NW must be a mess. Loyola is in the burbs. Cook County is one to avoid as is the Metroplolitan General Hospital community program, even though location wise they are second after NWH downtown. NW evanston is a skipper too.

 

[elburrito]

I .

 

[Patholo-gyst]

I did my residency there. It is challenging at Rush and we worked very hard there, but my colleagues and I all got great fellowships. More importantly, when we arrived at the fellowships we felt that our training had been on par with the big name programs. The faculty and resident group is extremely diverse, with people from all over the world, both men and women. I'm not sure who got the impression that diversity is a problem, but I can't imagine where that is coming from. It is true that there are several good Chicago programs, but Rush is absolutely one to consider carefully. If you have the desire to go further in your education while you are there, the faculty supports you 100%. I had lots of USCAP presentations and papers published, all with support and collaboration of the faculty.

Don't overlook Rush because it isn't as famous as University of Chicago. Take a look and see what they have to offer. I got a great education there.

 

[srdlm]

To provide more info on Loyola:
-Loyola is located outside the city in Maywood, IL. This leaves residents with the option of living in the city or in the burbs, which is kind of nice
-We have moved into the new tower, with a brand new grossing area and 4 new grossing benches. We use telepathology to consult on frozens and it works great.

To talk more about Rush:
-I also interviewed there, and liked the program quite a bit -- even went back for a second look visit. But there were two big factors that made me choose Loyola over Rush:
1. As mentioned before, Rush does not have fellows. The fellows at Loyola are really a great resource for the residents. They have their own didactic sessions with us and it's great having them around.
2. I felt that Loyola was stronger in CP. The residents at Loyola traditionally do very well on the CP portion of RISE, and we have an excellent boards pass rate.

 

[Patholo-gyst]

Part of the reson I chose Rush is the fact that they do not have fellows. YOU are the 'fellow,' meaning that there is nobody sitting between you and the attending during sign-out. All of your teaching comes from the attendings, not from fellows with less experience. Sure, there are great fellows out there, but I think that it was a good experience for me not to have them around during residency. All of the cases on the service were MY cases, not a fellow's cases, and I was responsible for crafting the diagnosis before showing it to the attending--I couldn't just tag along and see what the fellows wrote down. I communicated directly with the surgeons and clinicians and I was responsible for keeping track of my own caseload.

CP is tough to teach. You can get a great CP education at Rush, especially in blood banking/apheresis and micro, but some of the other CP disciplines could be addressed better. They are working on this, and they are listening to our recommendations. My year all passed AP and CP boards.

 

[TypicalTuesday]

Part of the reson I chose Rush is the fact that they do not have fellows. YOU are the 'fellow,' meaning that there is nobody sitting between you and the attending during sign-out. All of your teaching comes from the attendings, not from fellows with less experience. Sure, there are great fellows out there, but I think that it was a good experience for me not to have them around during residency. All of the cases on the service were MY cases, not a fellow's cases, and I was responsible for crafting the diagnosis before showing it to the attending--I couldn't just tag along and see what the fellows wrote down. I communicated directly with the surgeons and clinicians and I was responsible for keeping track of my own caseload. quote]


How big of a deal is this? It seems that at most of the programs I've interviewed at that have fellows, the residents still had more than enough responsibility, and if anything, felt like the fellows were a good resource/go-between. But I'm curious to hear from actual residents, if they have/don't have fellows and if they feel that is good/bad (sorry to hijack the thread, for what it's worth, I interviewed at Rush and was extremely impressed with them in all aspects).

 

[elburrito]

for outside fellowships.

 

[longlakeboy]

I'm a first year at Rush, very happy so far. The attendings expect a lot out of us right off the bat, but there's nothing malignant. We just work hard. As far as volume, it's excellent - I can't imagine we couldn't handle fellows given the volume that we have. The volume and breadth we get, especially in gyn, breast, bone and soft tissue, and head and neck, I have a hard time believing that there are programs that blow us out of the water in that regard.

It's a great group of residents... The comment about lack of resident diversity is a strange one, and one that I think is completely off base.

There are plenty of good programs in Chicago, but when it came time for me to rank, I didn't even consider putting anyone ahead of Rush. It's just the place that I felt most comfortable at. And honestly, I would think any academic institute is going to have enough volume for you to learn if you work. I went with the program I felt most comfortable at...

 

[Doctor Zaius]

Not having fellows is a plus in some ways. It assures that there is usually not going to be someone in a position to poach cases from the residents. ie. If you have a breast fellow, chances are they will take a lot of the in house breast material.

 

[listeriaismfb]

No fellowships can be both good and bad.

I went to a program where certain fellows, the rat bastards, did almost no teaching and scutted the residents out big time. I also had the pleasure of neglecting an organ system entirely until I rotated off-site because the fellows were hoarding.

The drawback is that some programs are pretty incestuous and prefer their own candidates - so if you want to eventually be a fellow it might be better to go to a place with fellowships.

Just like everyhting related to the match, what's right for one person may be totally wrong for another.