I was hoping to do a 4-week rotation at the University of Chicago but unfortunately the spots are all full. However, they do have spots available at one of their other affiliated hospitals: Lutheran General in Park View, IL. I would love to go to U of C and will do what I can to improve my odds, but I'm not sure if I should do this rotation at a hospital that appears to be 20-30 minutes outside of Chicago. They told me that it would give me the same opportunities as the students rotating at the University of Chicago hospital in the city, but I don't know if this is true. If any of you are familiar with Lutheran General, how good of an experience would I get there? Is it worth the trouble of going out there for 4 weeks? I'd appreciate any advice on the matter.
U of C externship question
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cipher said:
If you really want to improve your odds at the U of C, there's no reason why you shouldn't rotate at LGH. It's an integrated part of the residency program. If you really can't stand the commute, then perhaps you'd like a different program better. Why not just do the rotation and find out for yourself?
I rotated at U of C in my fourth year, but didn't do any shifts at LGH. If I had to do it over, I would have pushed harder to get up there to see what it's like.
I just liked Hyde Park too much, I guess. 🙂
I've done several rotations at LGH. Just an FYI it's a lot farther than 20 minutes. I'd say the average commute is about one hour from the city, depending on where you live and what time you leave. On paper it's only about 17 miles from downtown but expect to spend a good 1.5 hours during rush hour....
It is a good place to do rotations- the docs/staff are good, it's a Level I (mostly blunt trauma), it's located in a upper/middle class north shore suburb. U of C is also affiliated with mount sinai which I believe is an inner city hospital, also Level I (more penetrating trauma)....
It is a good place to do rotations- the docs/staff are good, it's a Level I (mostly blunt trauma), it's located in a upper/middle class north shore suburb. U of C is also affiliated with mount sinai which I believe is an inner city hospital, also Level I (more penetrating trauma)....
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A U of C audition rotation would be important since it is a competitive residency location. If you are very interested in going to U of C then I would do the LGH rotation. You need to get face time with the U of C program director though. I would accomplish this by trying to attend all of the weekly EM grand rounds at U of C proper. It is important to be very polished and professional whenever interacting with the U of C staff, especially the PD.
As far as the rotation at U of C goes it should be considered primarly an audition rotation or as an excuse to try to fly (helicopter). The U of C ED in Hyde Park is small and doesn't see that much acute pathology. It does not recieve trauma. Peds is seperate and a completely different rotation. If you are trying to learn something from your patients then there are probably better student rotations in the Chicago area.
As an alternative you may try to do a rotation in Peds EM at U of C hospital proper. I think that this may be through the department of peds. I have no experience in that peds ED but it is probably a great rotation since it is a large peds ED population. You may not get as much face time with the adult ED staff but it would probably be a better learning rotation, though not as good of an audtion rotation. Again I would try to attend all EM lectures and get your name/face out there as much as possible.
I would also look at how competitive you are when considering this rotation. If you do not have a USMLE score above 235 (Step 1 or 2) then I wouldn't bother doing a rotation there since your chances of matching are small.
As far as the rotation at U of C goes it should be considered primarly an audition rotation or as an excuse to try to fly (helicopter). The U of C ED in Hyde Park is small and doesn't see that much acute pathology. It does not recieve trauma. Peds is seperate and a completely different rotation. If you are trying to learn something from your patients then there are probably better student rotations in the Chicago area.
As an alternative you may try to do a rotation in Peds EM at U of C hospital proper. I think that this may be through the department of peds. I have no experience in that peds ED but it is probably a great rotation since it is a large peds ED population. You may not get as much face time with the adult ED staff but it would probably be a better learning rotation, though not as good of an audtion rotation. Again I would try to attend all EM lectures and get your name/face out there as much as possible.
I would also look at how competitive you are when considering this rotation. If you do not have a USMLE score above 235 (Step 1 or 2) then I wouldn't bother doing a rotation there since your chances of matching are small.
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I would go ahead and schedule the LGH rotation for like August or September, but at the same time keep checking in with U of C to see if any of the Hyde Park spots open up. LGH will be a good experience, but I think the main hospital would definately be better. When I was scheduling my M4 rotations, it seemed like spots tended to open up a couple weeks before the rotation was set to start. Good Luck.
Side note: LGH is pretty good ER and it would def be valuable. Its just that I think at Main Hospital it would be easier to get to know key faculty.
Side note: LGH is pretty good ER and it would def be valuable. Its just that I think at Main Hospital it would be easier to get to know key faculty.
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It's true that LGH is quite a commute from Chicago, but I think it would be a great place to rotate through. It's not as crazy as the Mitchell ER, and you will work directly with the attendings. Most of the attendings are great teachers, and many of them are graduates of U of C program and hence are quite involved in the interview proocess.
