Loyola's Program

Current senior resident here.  Loyola is a well-rounded 6-year program (1+4+1) that is clinically very strong and has enough academic energy to satisfy all but the most academically-oriented individuals.  Chicago is a great place to spend your residency - big enough to be interesting, but not unmanageable in terms of expense or transportation.  In terms of program style, many people compare Loyola to Lahey Clinic in Boston.  The program is busy but you WILL learn to operate and manage patients -- the department is very resident-oriented and collegial from top to bottom.  Good mix of older and younger faculty who care as much about your education as they do about their research, reputation, etc (relatively hard to find among top-tier places).  Didactics are taken seriously and are not marginalized in lieu of low-yield clinical duties.  Fellows are endourology and female urology -- minimal impact on resident operative experience.  The VA experience is very strong (4-6 major cases per week, 8-12 endoscopic cases per week) and has an up-and-running robotic program.  Program strengths are oncology, endourology, minimally invasive surgery, female urology, and pediatric urology (split between Loyola and Children's Memorial where you work with Northwestern attendings and residents from 3 other Chicago programs).  Reconstruction is above average and there is a dedicated reconstructionist who has a part-time appointment and is excellent (you also do quite a few recon cases at VA).  The only clinical weakness is infertility, though an interested resident could pursue an outside experience at a more developed infertility center such as UIC or Northwestern.  Bottom line, it is an excellent resident-oriented program located in a great city.  You will graduate with more than enough experience to land a top-notch job or fellowship. Hope that helps

I interviewed here and was surprised by how much I loved the program...it ended up being in my top 5:

1) Chicago: one of my favorite cities; its actually about 15-20 mins outside the city but a lot of residents live in the city nonetheless

2) Collegial: residents were awesome; really easy to get along with and really seemed to care for each other; all staff (secretarial to physicains) were extremely pleasant and nice

3) Surgical experience: seemed to have a great balance of variety and good amount of autonomy...you would come out of there as a confident surgeon; also has strong VA experience; and very busy

4) Attendings: some of the best interviews I had; great atmosphere; could really see myself working alongside them and being happy

Thanks for your great responses.  Looking hard at the midwest and every little bit of info helps.