UIC vs. University of Chicago

[EctopicFetus]

hey man i sent you a PM

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[JkGrocerz]

I'm starting to assemble my rank list and I'm having a hard time deciding which of these to rank above the other. I was hoping I could get some perspective from other applicants and/or residents.

Just for some background info on where I'm at:

From a gut feeling point of view, UIC definitely felt more like a group of friends and family on my interview day. I had a great time at the dinner and met with tons of residents. U of C was not quite the same, only saw a couple of residents (no dinner the night before). The faculty and residents at UIC seemed much more laid back and cohesive as a group, and I felt much more "at home" at there because of this. U of C felt a lot more formal.

UIC - Great PD, varied clinical sites, solid reputation, lots of critical care, awesome group of residents, more or less located close to downtown. My only concerns are that there are possibly too many clinical sites, that the main hospital is the weakest of the sites, only having one elective, and having to do medicine/peds/ob/surgery floor months.

U of C - Solid reputation, no floor months (all critical care), flight program with fixed wing moonlighting, three hospital system, very well connected PD, peds trauma. Concerns are that each site is located kind of far from downtown (esp Lutheran General), 3rd years get dumped with pts when 2nd year flies, 2nd year who flies has to drop pts abruptly, and U of C seems to be a bit more disconnected from the EM world than other programs (but not nearly as much as Northwestern).

Any thoughts on this? I'm worried that my instincts are telling me UIC but that I am somewhat star-struck by U of C. Anyone willing to say this early on which they are ranking higher and why? I guess I'm just looking for a different perspective, since I've been going through this in my head for a month now and still don't have a solid answer.

this is a good question... I would like some more info about University of Chicago also. I almost never hear about it and the reviews on scutwork are like from 2002. If anyone has any real insight about U of C's program please post!

Thanks!

 

[EctopicFetus]

I worked with some of the UC residents. Real good, happy and smart. if rxfudd wants to forward my PMto you that would be ok with me. I dont really want to get into a ton of specifics.

 

[rxfudd]

PM forwarded - by the way EF, I didn't get a chance to thank you for your message. I have lots of thinking to do over the next few weeks, all the programs in Chicago have very subtle (and some not so subtle) pros and cons.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Yeah good luck with your ROL, Ill be curious to see it.. obviously once ROLs are done and submitted!

 

[quideam]

Would someone be able to post the information about U Chicago? Especially any info you have about their flight program experience? I'm very interested also! Thanks

 

[Daiphon]

shanley -

i couldn't've said it better myself. d=) as to the OP, I hear ya... very similar situation. the reason I ranked UIC first, though, was ultimately b/c of the "gut feeling" i got when i interviewed about the residents being the kind of people i wanted to be around for 3 years.

and, having already killed off my medicine and surgery floor months, I'll say this - they were a lot more useful than i thought they'd be. surgery gives you a good idea of what is/isn't surgical (and what the surgeons like to hear when you're trying to sell them a patient). medicine was exactly like shanley said. OB's OB... can't get around it... but it's only 28 days, and it goes fast.

good luck with the ROL... it's a tough decision. but ponder this - did you apply to chicago programs to get to chicago, or b/c they were what you were looking for academically? if the latter, then keep this in mind - what kind of environment is better for you to learn... you gotta be happy with your co-residents for 3 years... trust your gut.

my $0.02 (actual cash value 1/20th of a cent)...
-t (intern #11)