So as someone who interviewed at both of these programs and has rotated at DuPont I can share my thoughts...
For starters, I think both are strong programs that will prepare you for either a competitive fellowship or a career in hospitalist medicine or primary care. Both are free standing children's hospitals with a high volume of patients and plenty of learning opportunities. Both have a fair number of fellows/fellowship programs but aren't necessarily "over-run" by fellows.
Some basic differences that come to mind:
1. I think DuPont has a more diverse patient population than St. Chris. While the vast majority of St. Chris patients are from urban underserved communities DuPont sees urban underserved patients from Wilmington/parts of Philly/Chester as well as upper-middle class suburban families, rural families from Southern Delaware/parts of PA, Amish families, and a large hispanic immigrant population (which St. Chris probably also has).
2. You absolutely must have a car as a DuPont resident. Whether you choose to live in Wilimington, Philadelphia, or any number of the surrounding suburbs you will need your own car. Commuting from Philly to DuPont can take anywhere from 30 min- to over an hour depending on traffic. Inpatient months traffic isn't so much of a factor because you miss rush hour both ways but on elective months/PICU etc I've seen residents who finish their days around 5 and choose to stay and work on notes/do other things and leave around 6-6:15 to purposely miss rush hour if they are commuting to/from Philly. Many residents cite this as something they don't like about the program but tolerate because they are otherwise happy there. At St. Chris it did not seem like a car was necessary and most residents live in any one of the Philly neighborhoods and take public transportation to the hospital. This is something to think about for the added expense and time factor.
3. If you have large loans (like I do!) then it is important to know that DuPont is a not-for-profit hospital that qualifies you for the 10-year income based repayment/loan forgiveness plan. St. Chris is a for-profit hospital so you would be ineligible to participate in this program. Granted, the program might not still be in effect 10 years from now when our loans would be forgiven but it is something to consider.
Some more insider things from having rotated at DuPont:
1. DuPont has had a 100% pass rate (!) on the boards for the last couple years. I know there are options to take a board review course and I honestly can't remember what other kind of board review they offer but it must be pretty good to have that kind of track record.
2. On inpatient months, noon conference truly is protected time. I've seen it in action. Residents show up to noon conference and the chief residents and program directors (!) answer their pagers for an hour while the conference happens. Also, there is free lunch at noon conference every single day so that if need be teams can round/work until 11:58 and still make it to conference and be well-fed and well-informed. Morning report is also consistently very well attended and sometimes there is breakfast there too. I wouldn't be surprised if this has an effect on the awesome boards performance.
3. I've worked with many different attendings there- most of whom have been truly invested not only in their patients but also in resident education/teaching. There have been 1 or 2 attendings I could have done without but I think that will be true everywhere you go.
4. The only consistent complaint I've heard from residents other than the commute is that some residents feel like their resident classes aren't as well unified as they'd like them to be. This is not to say that the residents don't get along or work well together-they absolutely do!!- but because there are a significant number of months not spent at DuPont (NICU/well-baby nursery/some outpatient months/etc.) plus the residents live in many different places some residents will say they feel disconnected from their class- particularly when on rotations not at DuPont. However, there are efforts made to overcome this included class retreats and organized social events. I also found that I heard this more from non-Philly area native residents or those who seemed to have less friends/family in the area outside of the residency program. I did not sense that this was an issue at St. Chris since rotation sites are much closer together and most residents live in Philly.
I can't really give feedback on St. Chris since I didn't rotate there ...But those are just some of my general thoughts/insights
