Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
The new chairman is Dr. Peabody, who previously was the chair at U of Chicago. Dr. Peabody is one of the greatest guys I have met in the orthopedic community. He is a great teacher and strong advocate for residents. In the short time he has been chairman at NW he removed the saturday conference day and also has brought in new faculty members. During my rotation there it was obvious that the residents really liked him and met with him weekly to discuss things that worked and didn't work in the program. Dr. Peabody and Dr. Schafer also met with the rotators at the end of the rotation to discuss the program and answer any questions. Both were very nice and seemed approachable and accessible. As for the faculty, I can only speak to the ones I worked with on the Pediatric Orthopedic service at Children's Memorial Hospital and they were also top notch teachers. It seemed like it was a mentorship model, so each resident while on the service works with the attending one on one. As rotators you also meet with Dr. Giegerich, the chair of the admissions committee each week and present cases. He is also a really nice guy and outside of presenting cases to him, he also asks you questions about yourself to get to know you a little better. We also used this time with him to ask about the program.
Didactics / Teaching
Out of all the orthopedic rotations I went on during my 4th year, the didactics at NW are by far the best I have ever seen. You have conference every morning for one hour and one afternoon conference on Tuesdays. There were no Saturday conferences when I was there since Dr. Peabody eliminated it. The didactics are well structured and not malignant. It was very clear that the residents were well versed in orthopedic book knowledge.
Operating Experience
Prior to rotating at NW, I was told that the program was top heavy when it came to the operating room. It was evident that NW is the type of program that wants you to learn the material before you start operating on someone. However, I still saw the junior residents operating, especially at Children's and from what I hear are the same at Cook County and the VA. The senior residents were confident in the OR and very good, so whatever model you want to call it is clearly working.
Clinic Experience
Clinic was very busy and the residents were there once or twice a week. Again, it depends on when the attending you were working with was in clinic. I will say you see a lot of diverse musculoskeletal pathology at children's memorial and the attendings still did a lot of teaching during clinic.
Research Opportunities
In the past research was not as highly emphasized but it seems under Peabody's leadership this is something that will become a great deal of importance. I believe research depended on the resident. The resources are available at NW and you have dedicated research time as a 3rd year resident. There are also some very active ortho research labs like Dr. Hsu's lab. So if you want to do a lot of research the opportunity is available.
Residents
Probably the best part of the program. They are a great group and really look out for each other. I met one resident prior to rotating at their residency showcase and he kept in touch with me from the time I met him at the end of 3rd year, during my 4th year electives, during interview season and all the way up until match day. They really mentor each other and the medical students that rotate at NW. I remember the chief residents emailing us before, during, and after the rotation to assist us in anything we needed. Since they do like to take rotators, I believe it is advantageous for them because they can really pick out people they know and will fit in to their program. They are also the type of group that had a strong work ethic and worked extremely hard. Yet they did find the time to play hard at various resident social gatherings.
Lifestyle
I must agree with other posts that the lifestyle is great. You take nightfloat for 6 weeks as a 3rd year and since there are so many residents the call pool is enormous. By the time you are a senior resident, you really are only coming in to operate. About half the residents are married and a couple with kids. It seemed like they had time to spend with their families and those that were single had the opportunity to enjoy the social life in chicago.
Location / Housing
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is located in the best part of the city in streeterville. Lots of shopping, restaurants, museums etc. Housing was a little expensive in streeterville but I lived in Lincoln Park during my rotation which was a little cheaper and the commute was 20 minutes on the train to NW. However, I was in walking distance to Children's Memorial Hospital, which is located in Lincoln Park but the new children's hospital is opening in June 2012 downtown next to NW. They are also building a Musculoskeletal Institute downtown next to NW that is to be opening in 2013 which will be NW's new orthopedic hospital.
Limitations
I didn't see a lot of trauma while on call at NMH but I believe you get a lot of your trauma experience at Cook County.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Overall was a great rotation experience with a well defined role for the 4th year medical student. You learn A LOT about orthopedics, probably the most I learned during of my away electives. If you are looking for a bigger program with happy residents and a great orthopedic learning environment, NW is the right program. If you are interested, I would highly recommend rotating.
