PEDS: ETSU (Johnson city) vs. WMed (Kalamazoo) - ilovekids

[ArchivalUser]

Dear friends, can you please add any opinion or information on these programs?


East Tennessee State Univ ....... vs. ....... Western Michigan Univ
small, quiet town ....... [neighbor] ....... small, quiet town but close to Chicago, Detroit
nicer ....... [weather] ....... snow, snow, snow
6 (smaller) ....... [class size] ....... 8 (bigger)
older ....... [history of med school] ....... newer (1yr old, previously MSU)
bigger ....... [# of faculty] ....... smaller
own univ hosp ....... [hospital] ....... bronson methodist hosp
(so, all the attendings are from the univ at etsu, but not at wmed)
allowed ....... [moonlighting] ....... allowed
not paid ....... [dental insurance] ....... share
25% ....... [fellowship] ....... 28%
DOs, AMGs ....... [residents] ....... USIMGs, DOs


which school is better in general?
thank you in advance.

[ArchivalUser]

ETSU

[ArchivalUser]

I see u r only hesitated cuz WMed is closer to chicago and detroit..right?

[ArchivalUser]

(oh there is an error, sorry about that)
Thank you for your reply, camella ben.

moonlighting is not allowed at ETSU...
dental insurance is not paid by ETSU... (and i have no idea how much this will cost in the US)

any idea?

[ArchivalUser]

Dental & vision insurance is nothing, I wouldn't factor it in....it's always around $25/month. Health insurance is the biggy.

Pediatrics residency is as busy as IM that you have little time for moonlighting until pg3 if program allows.

[ArchivalUser]

in NY and NJ CIR SEIU cober the helath, dental and vision insurance for all residents for free... i am sure there should something similar there as well...

[ArchivalUser]

Thanks a lot, okirika and dradam08.
You guys made many things clear enough for me to make a decision.


one more question,,,
what do you think in terms of size? 6 vs. 8
other programs where I interviewed have at least 15 residents per class, and these two are the smallest for me.

WMU with 8 is bigger than ETSU with 6, mathematically...
but does this mean a lot or not?


Again, any advice, any suggestions or any opinion would be appreciated.
thanks so much, guys!!!