St Christopher in Philadelphia

[nomore]

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While often overlooked compared to its stepmom Chop, I was wondering if anybody out there had info on St Christopher's in Philadelphia. It seems like a solid program although not in the nicest neighborhood. The residents appeared to be happy and competent and the academic schedule appeared strong. Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

 

[peds_doc]

While often overlooked compared to its stepmom Chop, I was wondering if anybody out there had info on St Christopher's in Philadelphia. It seems like a solid program although not in the nicest neighborhood. The residents appeared to be happy and competent and the academic schedule appeared strong. Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

I did a rotation there. The residents look happy but I don't think they really are happy. The computer system sucks. You have to wait turns and not all the computer works. For radiology you have to go to the rad dept and they don't have all the films you want to see. Teaching is ok. Attendings did not seem to that approachable when I was there. Overall it is a ok program.

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

I did my MS III-Peds, Peds sub-I, Peds ER, and Peds-Psych rotation there and I loved it there! The hospital has a pretty kid-friendly atmosphere (although it isn't a particuarly new hospital if you know what I mean), and I found all the attendings easily approachable. I will say that it's true there never seem to be enough computers around, so when you come in you may need to wander around a little to find an open one - they're there but they may not be where you are at the time! I do remember going down to radiology for rounds in the mornings, but the radiologists are fairly nice (one in particular was incredibly nice and loved to teach - I'm still constantly surprised he remembered my name as a puny MS-IV and would say hello in the halls) (of course the other one was kind of cranky sometimes...)

The hospital is at the joinings of some, ahem, less prosperous neighborhoods, but you will see lots of CF and sickle cell (as well as all the more prosaic illnesses), and there's an HIV clinic poking around in there somewhere (I was only there once or twice while I was on Psych). Unfortunately you will also see some of the things that go with poorer neighborhoods (parents using the ER as a PCP, rule out child abuse, one sexual abuse while I was there, one time some idiot girls saw a drug user injecting himself and then promptly stuck each other with the used needle, etc. etc). Overall I liked the hospital and the residents, and there are little Drexel Med students wandering around (the medical school is ~20 minutes away). Living-wise, there are lots of options - Center City if you like the big city scene (blah, parking SUCKS in Philly!) or places like Manyunk/Roxborough for the quieter peoples.

Overall it was pretty high on my list (although keep in mind that list only included PA schools since I only applied to 6 programs what with HPSP match looming over my head!) (The prize for most out of the way program: Geisinger in Danville!)

 

[pedsman4u]

think twice about st chris

 

[pedswannabe]

(This message is from another thread, but I wanted to reiterate that I respectfully disagree with the "beware of St. Chris" comments 🙂 )

I have done several rotations at St. Chris, and from my personal experience, I could not DISAGREE more with the previous post.

The PD is a GREAT guy. I know from personal experience that he goes to bat for his residents, and that he is a great asset to have because he knows almost EVERYONE in academic pediatrics (he's on the board of the national association of Peds PD's, and I got asked about him on almost every interview). There is a reason St. Chris residents do so well with fellowships. I actually rotated with him as an MS-3, and while he is incredibly bright and does expect a lot, I found him to be a great teacher and not malignant at all.

In general, I think St. Chris is an AWESOME place to train. There are certainly negatives (lack of computerized orders/notes, fairly high pt volume, not many "perks"), but in my opinion, it is one of the stronger programs on the east coast. The lifestyle isnt even all that bad (after all, its still Peds). St. Chris is known for training excellent general pediatricians. Coming out of this residency, I truly believe you would be able to handle almost anything and will be an awesome physician. And as I said, those who want to do fellowships go to the top places, even in the competitive fields (cards, ER, allergy). While the location is not that great, the hospital is kind of on its own campus, so the "rough" neighborhood is not an issue. And most residents live in great areas of Philly, only 10-15 mins away. I know MANY residents here, and they are all very happy (even the interns!) and get along extremely well. Like any program, there are a couple of malignant faculty members, but they are few & far between...most are extremely nice and very eager to teach.

I'm seeking a residency in NY for family reasons, but if I were staying in Philly, I would have definitely gone to St. Chris. I also think that DuPont is a really good program, and CHOP obviously speaks for itself. But in my opinion (albeit a biased one ), you can't go wrong with St. Chris. Hope this helps!

 

[nomore]

I cannot speak too much for the program as I only interviewed there and have friends there but I can say this. The chief resident that interviewed me there did not seem lazy at all, but was one of the nicest most genuine people i encountered on the trail. SHe was the only person I knew of that actually read my file completely and knew it cold. She wanted to genuinely know who I was as a person. So you can say what you want about St Chris, but from what I can tell of youre post in another section about dupont vs st chris, it seems like there may be some personal vandetta against the people mentioned in poor manner above.

 

[pedsman4u]

honestly i have no Vandetta against anyone
But I also know many st chris residents-especially in the 3rd & 1st
year class. And if you ask most of them, they would agree
with my observations.
Ask current residents OFF record (not on an interview day
or a recruiting event) and most will tell you the truth!