Program Review
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.
