University of Illinois Chicago

[Elahuhu]

Maybe someone has already talked about UIC, but has anybody either rotated thru there or interviewed there? I did not apply there because of several negatives I had heard (FMGs, malignant), but a buddy interviewed there and loved it. So I ended up sending an application, but now I'm not sure if I should schedule an interview or not-- I'm getting pretty tired of this interview trail!

Please let me know what any of you think/know about UIC.

Thanks.

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[Xigris]

I'm currently a fourth year med student at UIC. I've done my M3 clerkship here and my sub-I at the VA. I've also done a GI consult month, a Pulmonary consult month, and a Renal consult month all at the UIH.

The medicine program here is great. I'm ranking it second behind University of Chicago and definitely ahead of Northwestern.

The residents are good and there's a really laid back atmosphere. They're all really nice and quite friendly. I actually hang out with many of the interns and they always seem to be doing stuff together outside the hospital. The faculty tend to be fairly young, especially at the VA. Everyone gets their work done, everyone learns, but it's all done in a really relaxed environment.

Call is q6 on the floor and q4 in the units. Talking to many of my med student friends from other Chicago schools, I'm convinced that UIC is the easiest university program in Chicago. In fact, I heard that the PGY-3s take the least amount of call of any university medicine program in Chicago.

As for FMGs. I don't know why that would be a negative, but I haven't met any in the program. In fact the interns are all from American med schools. However, I've been told that this program has a tendenecy not to interview or even accept osteopathic applicants. I'm not sure how true that is, but I haven't met any in the program.

Anyway, here's a link showing where the current intern class is from.

Link to UIC Intern Class Roster

 

[jdaasbo]

Xigris and all,

I don't know where you get your information from about interviewing and accepting DO applicants but it is not true. I interviewed at UIC last year, as did almost everyone I know in my class who applied there. I met more than a few DO applicants when I was there during my interview day. Of the people in my class who did medicine, I don't know of anyone who ranked UIC's program highly. Perhaps this is why there are no DO applicants there this year.

To say there are no DOs in the program is one thing. To say that they do not interview or consider DOs is another, and is frankly inaccurate. UIC is a fine medicine program, and I don't see how FMGs or DOs or whomever being part of the internships class has any bearing whatsoever on that.

 

[Xigris]

Yawn. Another pissing contest between DOs and MDs. Frankly, I don't give a rat's a$$ where anyone comes from as long as they can hold their own. Hell, I come from UIC, which isn't even close to being a good med school (You can thank Dean Moss and Sandlow for that).

The reason I brought up the whole osteopath thing is that several acquaintances of mine from CCOM and Kirksville were disappointed at not getting offered interviews at UIC even though they are really good students.

Remember, I am not the one choosing candidates for the program. I'm only a med student who has done several medicine-related rotations. I can only report on what I see from the intern roster, who I interviewed with on the interview trail, and what I've heard from the grapevine. And what I've heard is that this program would rather not accept osteopathic candidates if there was a choice between equally qualified allopathic vs osteopathic candidates. I have also not met any osteopathic candidates interviewing THIS year. You may have evidence that completely refutes everything that I have said, and that's fair. However, let me also point out that in the same way that your friends may not have ranked this program highly, the program may not have ranked them highly either. I interviewed at U of C for medicine but I know that I have no chance in hell of being ranked highly by them. It's how the match works. Funny that.

Am I biased? You bet. I like the program and I'm friends with many of the current residents. In the end, I suggest that anyone who is interested in the program do a rotation here and interview here. Otherwise everything you read here is just hearsay. We all have different personalities and just because this program is a good fit for me doesn't neccessarily mean that it's a good fit for everyone.

Good luck to you all.

 

[Cards Guy]

I interviewed at UIC. It was nice and the call is great. But I have heard that the chairman is kind of "wierd." Can someone comment on this? Also, can someone comment of Rush in Chicago and the rumors. It was kind of disturbing that they said as residents, you would have to rotate at cook and the fellowships will be combined! Comments please.

 

[jdaasbo]

Xigris, no pissing contest. I have nothing to prove to you.


Cards guy, private me if you have questions about Rush.

 

[Xigris]

I've only seen the chairman during the few times he has led morning report. That said, I think that he is kind of weird and aloof. He seems really full of himself and doesn't really have the best social skills. He seems more the administrative and research type.

 

[smackdaddy]

UIC has a fine residency program. When I was interviewing for residenc, I interviewed at all the programs in Chicago. I can assure you that clinically you will be very astute. Both my wife and I went through the program, and having been at 2 other outstanding institutions afterwards I can say that the training we received there is first rate.
The research is not quite as strong. You do have an option of as much as 2 months of research. There is certainly no guarantee of publishing anything at the end of those two months.
They have historically been very good at placing people into fellowships. Recently, GI and cardiology, have not been as successful as in the past, more due to the increased competition for those fields in general.
Depends on what you want. Don't worry about the quality of training.

Department chairman-you will never see him don't worry about it. Certainly not in any important capacity. I don't know of many institution where the department figures greatly into the day to day runnings of a residency.
he is kind of a freak though. but a famous freak, and has a body of work which allows him to be. believe it or not, this is the much improved version.

as for DO, they certainly interview and rank highly qualified applicants. In fact my co-intern went on to be a chief resident there.

what else was asked, i don't remember-oh yes, IMG. They have a history of taking IMGs but have been moving away from that direction, prob due to funding issues. Occassionally i imagine they would accept one or two outstanding students. But really, these IMGs are people who blow away (sometimes because they have much more experience) the rest of the residents in knowledge and can provide different perspectives on how to do things.

 

[Xigris]

smackdaddy,

you were co-interns with the famous Dave W?

"That's faaantaastic!" He was an attending at VA when I did my month on the floor there. He was awesome. He, Jeff R, and Helio were a fun group of attendings.