Orthogate  Residency Reviews
Reviews written by JThompson
Northwestern Review, Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Chairman is Michael F. Schafer, MD. He is a sincerely nice person, former team doctor of the Chicago Cubs, does spine and sports, has done a nice job over the years with this program. He will be stepping down as chairman over the next five years but is not leaving the institution. He is looking to have a very smooth transition and is committed to "doing things right". Most likely, the next chairman will be Alan W. Yasko, MD, MBA, FACS, a tumor surgeon who came from MD Anderson a few years ago. He shows great potential. He is a great surgeon, well published and generally gets along well with residents. He expects you to know your stuff (anatomy for student, everything pertinent for resident). Otherwise, staff surgeons at Northwestern are generally very approachable and friendly. There are several sites that residents rotate at so it's hard to know everything about the staff. However, there are many, many surgeons on staff for this program who have teaching responsibility. There is a university based practice who plays a bigger role in education, but there are also many private docs with operating privileges at NW. This could potentially create a situation in which resident doesn't know attending and patient as well and attending is less likely to let resident do full cases. More on this to come. Overall though, very competent, kind, humane attendings who are decent at teaching.Didactics/Teaching: Didactics is known to be a strength at NW. They used to have Saturday AM conference every week but now it is only every other week. Didactics are most days of the week at 6:30 AM, some are service specific, some are for everybody. There is also fx conference at 5PM once/week. Grand rounds/M&M occurs once/week in the morning. Teaching is unparalleled at these conferences. In the OR and clinic, teaching will vary. I would say it's above average, but not superior. NW residents are known to "know their stuff" and do well on OITE. Residents from other chicago programs are often impressed at how much they know. Operating Experience: This is one red flag that people talk about with this program. Given the nature of the large amount of private practice attendings and all the different rotation sites, many people think the residents have a subpar operative experience. However, they are known to have a phenomenal arthroscopy experience, which yes, is very important, especially for the community orthopedist. Joints and spine are known to be subpar in terms of operating. Many, many patients, and very little autonomy, though there are some gems in the joints department like Dr. Stulberg (who may be the best known surgeon at the program) that are at least enjoyable to work with and very friendly. OR experience has always been a concern at this program and it's probably a difficult one to solve given the way the program is organized. Luckily, there are no fellows at all to get in the way. Clinic Experience: From what I observed clinic experience is good. Residents either shadow or see their own patients. Teaching is pretty good. Clinics are beautiful. Again, I only saw a snapshot, but this was my impression. They probably spend 40% in clinic and I think they value the time. Research Opportunities: Despite having the Northwestern name, the ortho program doesn't have a very good musculoskeletal research infrastructure. Of course, you can find things to do without a problem. But this is not an academic/research powerhouse. There is not an emphasis on publishing for the faculty. Again, there are some exceptions like Yakso and Stulberg, who throughout their careers have been intimately involved in the research community. Residents: They take nine per year. Makes for a big group which of course has its pros and cons. Luckily, no fellows. The residents tended to be very nice, approachable, interested in teaching, interested in making you (med student) look good, etc. I think they do a good job of selecting smart people with quality personalities. Lifestyle: I don't know if you'd call this a gentleman's program, but it is known to have a rather good lifestyle. I saw some of the rougher rotations like joints and spine, but I think in general, residents have a fair amount of free time, the intern year is "not bad at all", second year is rough (they have night float), and things get pretty cush 3,4,5. I would rate lifestyle overall as excellent. Location/Housing: Located in the "nicest part of Chicago". It's literally downtown amongst all the skyscrapers right off Michigan Ave. Facilities are amazing. NW as a whole has a lot of money. Just built new woman's hospital. Children's Memorial Hosp is moving right next to NMH (northwestern memorial hospital) in a few years. NW just has beautiful building after building. A nice condo/apt. won't be cheap but better than NY, SF, or LA. Chicago is an amazing city, very green, voted best place to eat in America I think, ranks up there in all categories every year. The lake is amazing. Amazing neighborhoods. A couple downsides: can get very cold, can get very hot, highest tax in the country and they just increased it more this year, etc. Limitations: Operative experience overall may leave you "needing" a fellowship. This isn't just my opinion. I have heard this from many people and seen it first hand to some degree. This is not a research powerhouse but you will have no problem finding opportunities. They don't have many "big names" but they have a few. Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Despite the few limitations I discussed, this is still a very sought after program especially for those wanting a nice lifestyle, an amazing location and who are not quite as academic/research minded (though you can definitely do it coming out of this program). For med students, you do 2 weeks on one serive and 2 weeks on another. You cannot request what service you want to be on. Admissions comittee includes: Michael F. Schafer, MD, Bradley R. Merk, MD, Lalit Puri, MD, Nasim A. Rana, MD, Clare R. Giegerich, MD (head), Brian J. Hartigan, MD, Steven D. Levin (Evanston), MD, Erik C. King (Children's), MD. Overall, I worked very, very hard (harder than any other rotation in med school) but can also say I had an enjoyable time. Of the interviews offered, 90%+ are to rotators. If you are at all interested, you must rotate to have a chance. Fellowship placement is good (SCOI for sports, UW for shoulder/elbow) but also saw some PGY4s a little frustrated during the interview process for sports. I would say an excellent fellowship is not guaranteed coming out of this program but is very likely. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation: July 2007
Loyola Review, Monday, 03 March 2008
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Terry Light is the chairman. He strikes me as a good guy and he is a very well known hand surgeon. I think he has a good relationship with fellow faculty and residents and he seems to be very dedicated to improving and growing as a program. I liked how they had "chairman's hour" amongst other lectures on Thur. mornings. This was a time in which they took care of houskeeping and gave people a chance to speek up about issues. A very collegial and warm, open environment. All faculty seemed to be approachable, good with students, patients and dedicated to their work. They have a few gems in their program like Dr. Bednar, a big hand guy, Dr. Hopkinson, a military trained wonderful, very respectable joint guy, Dr. Marra, a young columbia shoulder trained awesome surgeon and teacher. I know spine and trauma are solid too but I didn't get to know them as well. It's a very solid group but they have had some turnover lately.Didactics/Teaching: One of their strengths. Protected Thursday mornings consisting of high quality lectures delivered by residents, faculty and guests. Like I said, they have chairman's hour as well which is nice. Lecture schedule is planned out in advance and very organized and relevant. Operating Experience: Some say operative experience is only solid in the area of trauma at this program. I think it's safe to say trauma is an excellent experience, wide variety of cases, level 1, great attendings, etc. All other operative experiences are probably average. I observed 4 people often scrubed on joints cases. There are a bunch of young attendings so perhaps they are a little more apprehensive to let residents do the whole case. This has to be taken with a grain of salt though as a 4 wk rotation is just a snapshot. I'd say based on what I saw and heard, operative experience is average, but on trauma it's excellent. Clinic Experience: Probably a strong point. Residents and med students get nice autonomy. Nice facilities. Great help from nurses and staff. Fair amount of teaching. Hosital has all computerized med records and notes which is great! Research Opportunities: This is a clear weakness, but you can certainly find things to do. There is some infrastructure, just not a focus. They do have a 20 week!!! research rotation which is cush! Residents love it. They will even support you to go overseas. One resident as a 3 went to south africa and had his own OR for one month. Residents: An obvious strength. I'd say they have above average knowledge and excellent personalities and cohesion. They get high marks for this category. A fun group to work with. Lifestyle: Pretty cush I'd say. Could be a downside though. I think with turnover of attendings, there was a slight shortage of work lately and residents really should have been busier. However, I think these residents still get the training they need, are very happy, and have a nice lifestyle. Location/Housing: Well, it's in a western suburb of Chicago about 20 min from downtown with no traffic. That area itself is not nice, but most people live in the City and as most people agree, Chicago is a top notch city. You can just consider Loyola as being a Chicago program. You will reap all the benefits of the city. If you want to live a little closer to the hospital, try Oak Park, the quaint suburb known for its Frank Lloyd Wright houses and young, diverse population. Limitations: Faculty turnover, minimal research, not a big name program Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Overall, it was a wonderful experience. As we know, you have to find the program that fits you. This program is for the person wanting friendly, humane attendings, a great bunch of residents who will have your back, a nice lifestyle, great didactics, proximity to a world class city, and to come out as a solid surgeon with the option to get a good fellowship. They have some good pipelines in hand, shoulder, sports (columbia, Kerlan-jobe). Don't pick this program if you want "big names", extreme prestige, big NIH funding, and a more stuffy environment (hey, some people like that). This program is looked very favorably upon especially in the midwest. If it's your flavor, I think it's a really, really nice place. They are building a new OR building. They have a great gym right on campus. Everything is in close proximity. You get to work at VA and shriners. Again, a solid, solid program. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation: 2007
Wash U Review, Sunday, 02 March 2008
Program Information Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Dr. Gelberman, the chairman, has set out to make this one of the best programs in the country. He is a very agressive leader in the field, former AAOS president, and very serious about research and raising the next generation of leaders in the field of orthopedics. He has surrounded himself with an outstanding staff who are also leaders in their respective fields, have diverse personalities and are dedicated to resident education. Truly an outstanding group to learn from.Didactics/Teaching: One of the main strengths. Faculty run didactics 3 days/week. High quality lectures. Expect residents to know their stuff but not in a malignant way. Wonderful facilities/conferece rooms. Brand new $250,000 audiovisual system installed at new outpatient center so residents can participate without having to commute from the main hospital in the "central west end" neightborhood to the outpatient center in Chesterfield (20 min away). Operating Experience: People have said operative experience can be "late" at Wash U. I think this is somewhat true but they have moved to a mentorship system which will probably build more trust and improve upon the operative experience. Clinic Experience: Wonderful facilities/clinics (new, beautiful, state of the art). This program is VERY well rounded and while we all want to be surgeons, they do spend 40-50% of their time in clinic which is probably a plus especially in the ever-more specialized world of orthopedics (meaning most people will do fellowships so it's important to be a good clinician and know when to operate and when not to operate). Teaching was excellent during clinic. Volume of patients was high but attendings found time to provide pearls about specific cases. Research Opportunities: It's a powerhouse. There is so much money at this institution and as we know, Wash U in general, is a mecca for medical research. Ortho is no exception. You will have plenty to choose from both in the realm of basic science and clinical research. This program will get you on your way to an academic career or provide the community bound surgeon with some nice high quality research which will stimulate life long learning. Residents: Some words that come to mind: diverse, intellegent, collegial, supportive. This is a diverse group in terms of ethnicity, gender, race, med school, educational background, marital status and I think it's a real strength. I found the residents to be very friendly and people I could see myself working with. It's a nice variety. Lifestyle: A lot is expected of the residents but I'd say lifestyle is on par with the national average. Location/Housing: Some people are scared to spend 5 years in St. Louis but I think it's a great town with a mix of big city and small town components. It has the biggest city park in the country which is awesome for outdoor stuff and concerts. Speaking of warmer months, St. Louis is actually more mild than a lot of the northern states in the US which could also be viewed as a plus. Sports and culture are great. Crime seems to be somewhat of a problem though (getting cars broken into). I guess you just have to be careful in certain areas. Overall though, this hospital and university have really energized this city in the last several years and St. Louis is a VERY livable place especially for such a great residency program. Limitations: As I discussed, late operative experience which is being addressed, average lifestyle (residents expected to "work hard" but when are you not?), and lastly it's not NY, LA, or Chicago, but in my opinion still very very livable. Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: Truly an academic atmosphere at one of the most esteemed medical centers in the country. Faculty-leaders who are "big names" and who are also dedicated to teaching and creating new leaders. Amazing facilities. World renowned hand, shoulder/elbow, spine with a smattering of "big names" in all other specialties. They are working on improving sports and joints which are still very strong as they are. The new outpatient center opened this past summer and everything is state of the art. Barnes Jewish Hospital is a mecca and the ortho department floors are amazing. Beautiful clinics, conference rooms, arthroscopy lab. This is well accepted as a top 5 academic program and like someone else said in a previous post, Wash U can be compared but can't be beat. This is a very desireable and sought after program. Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation: 2007 << Start < Prev 1 Next > End >> Results 1 - 3 of 3 |
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