Some info for applicants RE: Northwestern

[Lusitropyrounds]

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Hi,

I am a resident at northwestern. Its ok.

Last year, they took away our meal tickets for meals on call, and made up some whacked out system where we get 10 bucks per call on our paychecks once a week. It sucks. Since we are one of the few specialties that are required to be there overnight and not night float, this affects us more than others, so in essence, we got screwed.

Now, we find out that the one HUGE fringe benefit of our residency-free parking downtown, is going the way of the dinosaur.

I think this totally sucks. I have to tell you this is one of the most resident UNfriendly programs.

The didactics sucks, they totally play favorites, ie, if you are well liked by schedule makers you get good cases....if you arent.....well then......dont expect anything interesting to come your way.

I am really disappointed in this program. They talked a good game at the interviews, but the reality is something very different. 😡🙁😕👎

 

[VentdependenT]

I thought I was going to a spa when I visited your anesthesia office.

 

[Lusitropyrounds]

yeah it does kinda give you that impression, but believe me, its a bait and switch.

 

[HotFratBoy]

is it true that Northwestern is no longer paying for a hotel for its applicants?

 

[Ferdie]

My school sends residents to NW to do a month of OB. A few of the residents I talked to said it's a good program, but the feel is very formal and cold and the residents aren't treated that well. That said, I still applied to NW and would like very much if they'd give me an interview...

 

[Lusitropyrounds]

Hi,

Im not sure about them paying for hotels, I wouldnt be surprised if they arent. They are becoming very cheap lately.

In regards to Ferdie's reply, the funny thing is, that the UW residents work in OB, where the attendings are NICER than in the general OR, if that tells you anything.

 

[Lonestar]

residency sucks period. You are a CRNA with much less pay and much less respect. who doesn't want that after many years of education and hard work! Apparently, altruism is not a quality that many academics have.

 

[mmag]

No mention of hotel which means no hotel, but then again U of C isn't putting up its interviewees either.

 

[Lusitropyrounds]

I am not a CRNA. They actually get treated better than the residents here. We are frequently replacing them at 3pm, when our rooms are done and they get to go home.

They have finally started taking some call over in OB, because our volume is getting so high. They will take the scheduled c-sections on the weekends. They work 8-4, saturday and sunday in OB, otherwise, they have every weekend off. Oh, and they get paid extra to take the extra call. Nice gig, huh. I dont think i would be complaining if i were a crna.

 

[Ferdie]

Hmm, here the CRNAs take over for the residents at 4ish, and they work on the weekends, freeing up the residents on evenings/weekends. They also cover the ORs during lectures, giving the residents protected academic time.

 

[Lusitropyrounds]

they changed our lecture schedule to the mornings so that no attendings or crna's would have to cover our rooms in the afternoons. they have hired many more crna's, but the large majority still work 7-3p, a few work until 5p and maybe 2 work until 7p.

the other day when i was working there were 18 rooms still running at 6pm....which is not THAT unusual

 

[urge]

they changed our lecture schedule to the mornings so that no attendings or crna's would have to cover our rooms in the afternoons. they have hired many more crna's, but the large majority still work 7-3p, a few work until 5p and maybe 2 work until 7p.

the other day when i was working there were 18 rooms still running at 6pm....which is not THAT unusual

I heard some anesthesiologists saying NW has a hard time retaining faculty. Do you agree?

 

[cchoukal]

No mention of hotel which means no hotel, but then again U of C isn't putting up its interviewees either.

It's true, the U of C doesn't put up for hotels. I just talked with one of our support people about this. The hospital is really putting the squeeze on departments (even the profitable ones like CV surgery) in terms of cost savings across the board. I was told we have to show that we're spending less each year than the year before on pretty much everything. It's kind of ridiculous. Anyway, I just got the list of recruitment-dinner restaurants, and although I was told we're going down-budget on recruitment this year, the restaurants all sounded pretty fancy (IOW, no old country buffet or cheescake factory).

 

[chrisjohn]

Who's left NW?

 

[cchoukal]

We have 3 who have come from NW over the last 5-10 years. The reasons they have cited to me included production pressures, factory-like atmosphere, malignancy, and inadequate time for research. These people are obviously biased, however. I have a friend who's a CA2 there and really likes it; he explicitly denies being worked too hard.

 

[chrisjohn]

Have any faculty left?

 

[cchoukal]

the three I mentioned above were faculty.

 

[Lonestar]

I am not a CRNA. They actually get treated better than the residents here. We are frequently replacing them at 3pm, when our rooms are done and they get to go home.

They have finally started taking some call over in OB, because our volume is getting so high. They will take the scheduled c-sections on the weekends. They work 8-4, saturday and sunday in OB, otherwise, they have every weekend off. Oh, and they get paid extra to take the extra call. Nice gig, huh. I dont think i would be complaining if i were a crna.

I know you are not a CRNA. But many of your attendings think of you like that. we have the same problems at our program. BUT our CRNAs take no call or do not cover anything beyond 5 pm (3 pm in peds).

 

[hawkdoc05]

I'm also a resident at NW (CA2). I would say that my experience here over the last year and a half has been mostly positive.

1. Didactics were originally changed to mornings last year likely for reasons stated. Our profession normally starts very early in the morning, what's the problem with showing up 20 minutes earlier? I am happy with our didactics and think we get plenty. Teaching isn't always the best in the OR, but I'm sure it is no different anywhere else.

2. Meal tickets - I agree that it was pretty unfair with the prior system of compensation. However, this was a hospital wide issue that has since been resolved. We now receive $16 per call per paycheck.

3. Parking - that is a work in progress. We are the only program in our hospital that gets supplemented. If we lose it then so be it, but it's not lost for sure yet...

4. Hotel compensation - not sure about this one. As of last year it was payed. Not everyone pays for your hotel, so I guess you just need to deal with it if you interviewing. I certainly wouldn't cancel an interview over it.

5. Case scheduling - I have known this to be an issue. Our program is known for being somewhat grueling. Diversity of cases hasn't been that much of a problem. That being said, we were told all kinds of horror stories coming in regarding how overworked past residents were. I would say that has definitely changed for the better. I routinely was out by 5 most days last year. We would typically make it out earlier if not much earlier precall days.

6. Attending retention - that was more of a problem July of 2006. Since that time we have gained quite a few excellent attendings. I believe that their compensation changed.

Try not to form an opinion based on one person's unfortunately seemingly unhappy view.

 

[bullard]

I'm a CA1 at Northwestern. Just wanted to add that since I did a rotation here as an MS4, Northwestern has added somewhere between 10 to 15 faculty and 99% of these new faculty are super-competent and a pleasure to work with. They did indeed raise the pay scale and are now offering a higher starting salary than any other academic program in the city -- even somewhat competitive with private practice when you factor in benefits (and the fact that you're supervising residents and experienced CRNAs so you can sit on your ass all day and drink coffee. )

It's a busy place but it's not malignant like I hear it was 5-10 years ago.

 

[sevo85288]

I am a 2006 Grad from NW. We were worked hard but I loved it. Learned a ton. Doing great in Private Practice and face every challenge in OR/ICU/OB with confidence. My class had 14 residents so the call schedule was brutal. Remember, this is resdiency. It is supposed to be tough.

 

[Ferdie]

I'm glad to hear some positive opinions about the program! It's good to hear both sides.

 

[VentdependenT]

I am a 2006 Grad from NW. We were worked hard but I loved it. Learned a ton. Doing great in Private Practice and face every challenge in OR/ICU/OB with confidence. My class had 14 residents so the call schedule was brutal. Remember, this is resdiency. It is supposed to be tough.

Like I said before, I haven't met one single physician who absolutely loved his/her residency. Why? Cause its grueling.