Rainbow Vs MCW

[smiledoc86]

Does anyone have any opinions about residency at Rainbow Babies vs MCW ( Children's of Wisconsin)? I liked them both, but I think they are pretty different.

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[dramaqueen114]

Any thoughts on these 2 programs? I guess I actually thought they were pretty similar, other than location of course (size of program and stuff) and am struggling with which to rank higher. I liked both programs a lot. The only things that stand out to me are slightly nicer/newer facilities at MCW and perhaps Rainbow Babies having a little better of a reputation?? Would love to hear other people's thoughts as well..

 

[smiledoc86]

Rainbow seems to draw residents from a bigger variety of med schools, while MCW seems to be mostly Midwest. I got the feeling on my interviews that although they are similar sized programs and hospitals, Rainbow somehow seemed smaller and more of a community feel. At the same time, I thought the dinner was a bit awkward at Rainbow and really loved it at MCW.

 

[bonsaipalmtree]

I really liked both of these programs, overall. One thing that I noticed was that at Rainbow, they implemented the silver team, to give 2nd year residents some more autonomy- I didn't get a clear picture as to whether MCW residents feel like they have autonomy or not. Loved MCW's 16th Street Clinic, since I'm interested in working with a Spanish-speaking population. I liked that Rainbow residents got a ton of electives in their 3rd year... at MCW you spent like 5 months as the ward senior in 3rd year, and I think I would want more elective time that year, before graduating.

Rainbow surprised me with their phlebotomy schedule... someone mentioned that they don't have night phlebotomy coverage in some units (NICU I think), so I guess residents might have to do blood draws then? (Pretty minor).

I thought everyone I met at both programs was really nice and everyone seemed pretty happy. I got the impression that I'd be happy at either program, though I liked Milwaukee more than Cleveland in terms of quality of life.

 

[smiledoc86]

I actually did a 2nd look at MCW and thought it was a little strange that they split their Gen Peds/hospitalist teams by age. So one team sees all the babies and the other team sees bigger kids. It seemed like on the baby team during the winter all you see is RSV/bronchiolitis, which to me is extremely boring for every patient to have the same illness.

At Rainbow the phlebotomy service comes 4 times a day, but I also got the impression that a resident would be responsible for blood draws needed outside of that schedule.

I also like the flexibility of Rainbows schedule as a senior more than at MCW. Rainbow gives you 7 months for electives as a senior, MCW gives you 4 months.

The residents at both places seem happy and love their respective programs. I definitely like Milwaukee better than Cleveland, but I'm still having a really hard time choosing between the two!