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Any reviews about the combined UNMC creighton peds program ???
UNMC Peds
- Thread starter sleepysoul
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Not from UNMC but decided against going there
Cons
1 inbred program
2 malignant, heard they have thrown residents out (though not confirmed)
3 lots of internal politics, chief/pd not at all involved in residency program
4 this year's chiefs are arrogant
5 have to work a lot with private attendings who treat u like S***
6 have to work at 3 hospitals spread all over the city
only reason i would have gone there was if i was from omaha and had family there,
or if i was fat,arrogant and wanted to be a CR 😉
Cons
1 inbred program
2 malignant, heard they have thrown residents out (though not confirmed)
3 lots of internal politics, chief/pd not at all involved in residency program
4 this year's chiefs are arrogant
5 have to work a lot with private attendings who treat u like S***
6 have to work at 3 hospitals spread all over the city
only reason i would have gone there was if i was from omaha and had family there,
or if i was fat,arrogant and wanted to be a CR 😉
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Was UNMC med student, so maybe I feel the need to defend it, though it's a program that does have some issues.
In terms of what's listed above:
1) Define inbred...UNMC/Creighton generally do not do a good job of keeping their students at home. Most people who end up doing peds will go elsewhere unless they have family reasons keeping them in Omaha. However, since most people who stay in Omaha stayed for family, that means that 3 years later they are also looking to stay in Omaha when it comes time to find a job, so a fair number of people will stay in the Children's system.
2) Not particularly malignant. I'm unaware of them throwing residents out.
3) There were a lot of political issues several years ago and the Department Chair was very absent in terms of the residency program, but the new Chair (been there for 2.5 years now) is pretty involved and last I'd heard had set some pretty high aims for the program.
4) They'll be gone by the time you start residency so what does it matter?
5) The set up with "private" attendings is somewhat of a strange beast as Children's operates a pretty large number of gen peds clinics in Omaha (probably a majority of all general pediatricians in Omaha are employed in these clinics), and all those "attendings" are affiliated with the hospital even though most have zero contact with the residents. Honestly, I don't ever recall any issues as most generalists were happy to have the hospitalists running the inpatient services. However, my aloofness may have been due to me being a student and not necessarily paying attention.
6) Very true as you spend time at Creighton, UNMC and Children's. However they have consolidated most of the training to Children's (I think there's only like 2 months at Creighton during the entire 36 months). The 3 hospital setup becomes an issue while on specialty services mainly (like ID).
Notable cons from being a student:
- limited fellowship opportunities
- poor fill rate in the match
- quality of other residents widely variable
- limited research
- personally was not a fan of the program size (wanted to go someplace bigger)
Pros:
- beautiful hospital including new specialty clinic building
- Omaha is actually a pretty nice place and has a lot more going on than you'd expect, and also an extremely physician friendly town
- wide catchment area
- all specialties represented
- salaries were very much on the higher end, and particularly impressive when combined with Omaha's low cost of living.
- training was good and board pass rates were in line with national averages - there should be no concerns about that.
I am currently a resident at the UNMC/Creighton program and was disappointed to see the above comments. The person who wrote this was obviously not very familiar with the program and must have been basing his/her comments off of a very limited exposure to the residency program. I would like to address the above concerns so that those who read this here will be better informed.
1 inbred program - Untrue. I did not go to medical school here and many others did not as well. Most programs accept more candidates from within that otherwise, but our program has a wide variety of residents from a wide variety of schools. This information is available on the website.
2 malignant, heard they have thrown residents out (though not confirmed) - this is also untrue. No resident has been "thrown out" of the program in any recent years. The program is very helpful with residents who struggle and makes full accomodations to help them succeed.
3 lots of internal politics, chief/pd not at all involved in residency program - We just got a new program director who is very involved in the program and enthusiastic about helping the residents. The chiefs are also intimately involved and are approachable and available at all hours.
4 this year's chiefs are arrogant - the chiefs are definitely not arrogant, and like the above UNMC student mentioned, it doesn't matter to you anyway because they'll be gone when you get here. Next year's chiefs are awesome and already working really hard to make sure this will continue to be a great place to do residency.
5 have to work a lot with private attendings who treat u like S***- All of the attendings we work with here, including privates, are carefully screened by the program director and chiefs and evaluated quarterly by the residents. All are great teachers who enjoy educating, and if they are not, they are removed from the teaching service and cannot admit to the residents. I have NEVER been mistreated by a private attending. They are all more than happy to work with residents and appreciate our help.
6 have to work at 3 hospitals spread all over the city - This is the ONLY statement that has some truth to it, but I would say we GET to work at 3 hospitals. The variety of patients and attendings from hospital to hospital is great and provides lots of opportunities for learning. Also, the hospitals are not far apart and you can get to and from any of them in less than 10 minutes.
Also, regarding the student's comments above, some additional clarification:
- limited fellowship opportunities - About 50% of each of our classes apply for fellowship and every year they get in. Outgoing third years this year are going to well-known programs including the NIH.
- poor fill rate in the match - My year, we completely filled (no scramblers), not sure about others
- quality of other residents widely variable - We have great residents here and I truly feel we are all a big family. I have felt extremely supported and at home here. Like I said before, those residents who do struggle get personal support and help to get them up to speed.
- limited research - Definitely not true. The nice thing about our program is that you are not required to do research, so if you don't want to, you don't have to. However, there are ample opportunities available to those who are interested. Many of our faculty members are world-renowned and have won multiple research awards. They are all excited about working with residents if you just express interest.
- personally was not a fan of the program size (wanted to go someplace bigger) - you definitely have to find the program size that is right for you. I enjoy working at a medium-sized program where the call is not overwhelming like in a small program, but the program isn't so big that you don't know the people you are working with. Like I said before, our program is very close and feels like family.
Please, when you are posting comments on here for or against residency programs, make sure you are providing truthful and useful information and not just a bad one-time experience you may have had. Also, when you are reading information that people have posted on here, remember that you need to seek out information from reputable sources who actually know what a program is like.
Overall, I have been extremely happy at UNMC/Creighton and pleased with the quality of my education so far. It is a great program with great people! Every program has problems and residency isn't perfect no matter where you go. The important thing is finding a place that feels right to you, where they treat you well, and where you can learn to be a great doctor. For me, that was here and I encourage you to come take a look for yourself.
1 inbred program - Untrue. I did not go to medical school here and many others did not as well. Most programs accept more candidates from within that otherwise, but our program has a wide variety of residents from a wide variety of schools. This information is available on the website.
2 malignant, heard they have thrown residents out (though not confirmed) - this is also untrue. No resident has been "thrown out" of the program in any recent years. The program is very helpful with residents who struggle and makes full accomodations to help them succeed.
3 lots of internal politics, chief/pd not at all involved in residency program - We just got a new program director who is very involved in the program and enthusiastic about helping the residents. The chiefs are also intimately involved and are approachable and available at all hours.
4 this year's chiefs are arrogant - the chiefs are definitely not arrogant, and like the above UNMC student mentioned, it doesn't matter to you anyway because they'll be gone when you get here. Next year's chiefs are awesome and already working really hard to make sure this will continue to be a great place to do residency.
5 have to work a lot with private attendings who treat u like S***- All of the attendings we work with here, including privates, are carefully screened by the program director and chiefs and evaluated quarterly by the residents. All are great teachers who enjoy educating, and if they are not, they are removed from the teaching service and cannot admit to the residents. I have NEVER been mistreated by a private attending. They are all more than happy to work with residents and appreciate our help.
6 have to work at 3 hospitals spread all over the city - This is the ONLY statement that has some truth to it, but I would say we GET to work at 3 hospitals. The variety of patients and attendings from hospital to hospital is great and provides lots of opportunities for learning. Also, the hospitals are not far apart and you can get to and from any of them in less than 10 minutes.
Also, regarding the student's comments above, some additional clarification:
- limited fellowship opportunities - About 50% of each of our classes apply for fellowship and every year they get in. Outgoing third years this year are going to well-known programs including the NIH.
- poor fill rate in the match - My year, we completely filled (no scramblers), not sure about others
- quality of other residents widely variable - We have great residents here and I truly feel we are all a big family. I have felt extremely supported and at home here. Like I said before, those residents who do struggle get personal support and help to get them up to speed.
- limited research - Definitely not true. The nice thing about our program is that you are not required to do research, so if you don't want to, you don't have to. However, there are ample opportunities available to those who are interested. Many of our faculty members are world-renowned and have won multiple research awards. They are all excited about working with residents if you just express interest.
- personally was not a fan of the program size (wanted to go someplace bigger) - you definitely have to find the program size that is right for you. I enjoy working at a medium-sized program where the call is not overwhelming like in a small program, but the program isn't so big that you don't know the people you are working with. Like I said before, our program is very close and feels like family.
Please, when you are posting comments on here for or against residency programs, make sure you are providing truthful and useful information and not just a bad one-time experience you may have had. Also, when you are reading information that people have posted on here, remember that you need to seek out information from reputable sources who actually know what a program is like.
Overall, I have been extremely happy at UNMC/Creighton and pleased with the quality of my education so far. It is a great program with great people! Every program has problems and residency isn't perfect no matter where you go. The important thing is finding a place that feels right to you, where they treat you well, and where you can learn to be a great doctor. For me, that was here and I encourage you to come take a look for yourself.
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I should clarify these two points:
When I graduated, UNMC only had one peds fellowship (in GI). I know that the Peds Dept Chair had plans to increase the number of fellowships, and I've heard that a couple new ones have started related to genetics (which probably is one of strongest aspects of Nebraska Peds). Having moved on to a peds residency program with lots of fellowships, I think there are some advantages to having fellows and fellowship program directors available for guidance and mentoring, as well as getting to stay in one place if you so desire. While I enjoyed my time in Omaha, let's face it, Omaha is not the sexiest pick in terms of location (though the town is underrated) and if you think you're headed towards fellowship, having to - by definition - move in 3 years can be a major turnoff. With more fellowships available in the future, and being able to stay for 6 years instead of just 3, it may help the program with recruitment.
In terms of filling in the match: going back to 2003, the NRMP publishes that data and there have only been 2 years in which they've filled through the Match without having to Scramble: 2007 and 2009.
Links:
2003-2007 http://www.nrmp.org/data/programresults2003-2007.pdf
2006-2010 http://www.nrmp.org/data/programresults2006-2010.pdf
And while there are a number of reasons why people have to scramble, and it's certainly possible to find very well qualified residents that way, I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that a program that consistently needs to scramble like UNMC has is able to deliver anything but a group of residents that is widely variable in terms of quality.
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