Disclaimer: I'm a 4th year at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and I'm heading into pediatrics. I've spent time on the general wards, Peds H/Onc, Peds Neuro, PICU / step down unit, and Peds Surg/Neurosurg. And apologies for the length!
I think the peds program here is fantastic.
From a pt population / complexity, there is a very diverse patient population here with a large African American population. The complexity ranges quite a bit and I think you can get a good mix. The one thing to note is that there is a shift moving towards more complex patients in the hospital so I'm not sure how this will affect seeing the "bread and butter" (the ER/outpatient clinics will continue to see all patients). I doubt it will change too much but I think it is important to know that.
We have an amazing Program Director who not only manages the program but is the head of Critical Care and is an anesthesiologist. In anycase, she is an advocate for the residents and medical students as well as a great teacher. She was my attending for 2 weeks in the PICU, it was a blast.
As for the faculty - I can only speak for the services I have had above but I have had a lot of great experiences with them. My mentors have been really supportive of what I have wanted to do and if you show an interest in something, the attendings and staff go out of the way to keep you involved. At the same time, we are weak in Cardiology. I know that we are in the recruiting process for cardiology and that our Cards ICU is gaining momentum again so that is an area of weakness that they are actively working on.
With respect to the research opportunities (which is what I'm really interested in), you have the peds department and the rest of the University of Chicago at hand. This is awesome. I did my research in Internal Medicine while my classmates went to the business school, public policy school etc... and it is all right next door. Also a new peds research facility will open in the next 6-8 months.
The facilities I think are great. New hospital (with a second part being built out right now) with the adult hospital & outpt clinics next door. Call rooms are right by the floors. You have Crerar library a block away which houses tons of journals (which you can get electronically) and books. As for electronic records, that is something that the hospital is working on. Supposedly, the first phase is supposed to occur in the next 6-8 months.
So I've saved the most important (for me at least) for last... the residents. Fortunately, I think the fact that we are all in peds, we are all good at working with each other and helping each other. It is no different at UChicago. As a med student, they spent time teaching me even when they had a lot on their plate. Hopefully you got a chance to hang out with them during the social gathering and got a sense if this group of residents was a good fit for you.
Whew. Sorry for the length but I hope this helps. If you have other questions, let me know.
