University of Chicago program vs other Chicago programs

[bestcoast]

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I just want to hear some fresh opinions about the UC program in comparison to the other programs. In the past, people have mentioned about CAP faculties leaving, etc.
What's the situation now? (my Chicago interviews are all in Jan)

 

[Shufflin]

I'm biased, but you would do well looking at Northwestern's program which I found to be the strongest one in Chicago. Breadth of exposure, balance of therapy and pharmacology, new hospital floors, dedicated faculty and leadership, high morale, protected didactics, exposure to VA and county patients in addition to middle and upper class clients, and overall strong vibe and a chair who is elevating the program makes it #1 for me in that region. They also recently recruited a few big names in psychiatry as well, and are expanding their fellowships. I met the interns and was very impressed with them as colleagues and in achievements - AOA, research, top med schools.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Northwestern and UIC are nationally respected programs. I loved NW's pd. People I knew in Chicago thought okay of Loyola and Rush, but those are local reputations only.

FWIW, based on nothing objective except reputation:

I believe the zeitgeist around University of Chicago is "avoid it like the plague." Reputations are what they are, whether they are based in any present reality or not. The department has reputations for mass exoduses, near collapses, and the last conversation I overheard about UC was whether it was even still ACGME accredited or not. I have not been able to find anything that says they lost their accreditation, but you probably are not going to hear that sort of gossip about NW or UIC.

It's also good to note that reputations are frequently based on the state of a program 10-20 years ago. It may be a lovely program now and it continues to be severely punished in reputation for no good reason. Parts of Hyde Park are pretty nice, it's an excellent academic medical center, and Chicago is arguably the most underrated city in the US. So it might be a total bargain program and the rest of the world might be missing out. Who knows.

 

[bestcoast]

Northwestern and UIC are nationally respected programs. I loved NW's pd. People I knew in Chicago thought okay of Loyola and Rush, but those are local reputations only.

FWIW, based on nothing objective except reputation:

I believe the zeitgeist around University of Chicago is "avoid it like the plague." Reputations are what they are, whether they are based in any present reality or not. The department has reputations for mass exoduses, near collapses, and the last conversation I overheard about UC was whether it was even still ACGME accredited or not. I have not been able to find anything that says they lost their accreditation, but you probably are not going to hear that sort of gossip about NW or UIC.

It's also good to note that reputations are frequently based on the state of a program 10-20 years ago. It may be a lovely program now and it continues to be severely punished in reputation for no good reason. Parts of Hyde Park are pretty nice, it's an excellent academic medical center, and Chicago is arguably the most underrated city in the US. So it might be a total bargain program and the rest of the world might be missing out. Who knows.

That's quite concerning. These are NOT questions one can ask during an interview.
Any recent or current UofC residents here?

 

[DandelionMed]

ACGME lists University of Chicago psychiatry residency as accredited with a 5 year cycle length.

I know nothing else about the program, but it sounds like it doesn't have any current problems with accreditation.

 

[splik]

let me put it like this: even as an IMG no one advised me to apply to UofC (no one told me not to either), UIC I think has a good research program but I am not sure about it clinically and it did not fill twice in the past 5 years (including 2011). OTOH Northwestern has a tiny but thriving psychiatry dept and I think what they lack in research they more than make up for in education. It may even be one of these 'cush' programs!

 

[DieselDoctor]

Seems like all of the residents there are happy with the program. The call requirements are probably the best in the city from what I can tell, which might be a part of why the residents are seem happy. They have a 10 year ACGME acreditation for their program. When I reviewed my rank list with the residency director from my medical school, he had no problems with it being in the top 3 on my list.

 

[Merovinge]

U of C lost their inpatient psychiatric unit which is why they had the exodus of attendings (various stories exist as to why this happened). They now instead rotate on, I believe, 2 different community inpatient locations instead. My friend is a resident there and seems pretty happy though, so I would at least check the program out.

NW and UIC have rich psychoanalytic histories but have modernized very well and are both quite balanced from what I have observed. NW has much nicer facilities, fully protected full day didactics, the only forensic psychiatry fellowship in Chicago, and generally a very strong class if you base strong on board scores and class rank. Work load may be a bit more "cush" then UIC, but is certainly not a cush program as far as the broad spectrum of psychiatry residencies go.

UIC has a well known and respected neuropsychiatry fellowship and emphasis, women's psychiatrists/fellowship, generally sickest-of-the-sick style caseload which is great for some and not so much for others. Research is strong, but not a requirement. This past year was 100% US MD fill, so that is one concern I would not have about UIC.

Let me know if you have any other chicago area questions!