Two University of Cincinnati residency programs ranked third in the country by Doximity

University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine has had two residency programs ranked third in the nation by Doximity’s 2022-23 Residency Navigator.

The two programs that were named were the Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program and the  Emergency Medicine Residency Program.

Arthur Pancioli, MD, who serves as the Richard C. Levy Endowed Chair for Emergency Medicine, was quoted on UC’s news website on the naming, saying, “We are a proud program where Emergency Medicine residency training began. Our first resident was in 1970, so we are the oldest program in the country and, as the cradle of the specialty, it is certainly our responsibility to maintain that special place. While these survey methodologies are highly imperfect, it is nice to be recognized as one of the apical programs in our field. There were 276 programs ranked so it’s nice to be in the top echelon.”

Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Program, Erin McDonough, MD, was namchecked by Pancioli as a major reason for the program’s success: “Dr. McDonough and our five assistant program directors are a team of absolute rock stars.”

Pancioli also spoke very highly of the rest of the department faculty, calling them “the best,” and noted the university is constructing an expanded Emergency Department facility that will only make the program better. The new facility will be nearly 80,000 square feet and has been designed to maximize not only patient care, but also the educational quality for the students, and a state of the art research center. 

He also gushed over the quality of the students themselves: “Year over year, the thing that has been just stunning to me, is how every class of residents makes the place better. With 14 residents in a class, their collective efforts and the constant level of attention that they put not only on their own education but on making the place better just warms my heart.” He adds that he still reads the applications for every person who interviews for a residency position and talks with every applicant “because I want them to know that from the top of this program all the way we all care that much.”

Jennifer O’Toole, MD, is a professor in the department of Internal Medicine and the department of Pediatrics. She also works as the Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program director. Speaking with UC’s news, she credited the current and past residents as the best recruiters to the program, saying, “All of our residents are amazing, passionate, and dynamic individuals that are extremely committed to their patients and to each other. When applicants meet them, they are immediately drawn to their energy and spirit – they truly are our best recruiters and are the reason we have the reputation we have nationally.”

Currently, the Medicine/Pediatrics residency program has an annual class size of seven residents and has two tracks: acute care and primary care. Those working as residents see patients at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and UC Medical Center. At Cincinnati Children’s, they work with patients who have rare diseases alongside subspecialists on top of the types of patients who have more common treatment needs. 

O’Toole spoke highly of the partnerships connected to the program: “Our Med-Peds residency is extremely lucky to be paired with two outstanding categorical programs and health care systems that offer our residents a broad array of clinical experiences during their four years of training. A Med-Peds program cannot exist without strong support from the departments of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine; so, we are grateful for the strong, continued support from our chairs, Drs. John Byrd and Tina Cheng, and our partnering categorical program directors, Drs. Eric Warm and Sue Poynter-Wong.”

O’Toole also added that the high ranking by Doximity indicates the quality of the relationship UC has with the students who participate in the program. “I think this ranking does represent our reputation with students and other programs across the country, which is very flattering. Currently, three of our residents, Drs. Maria Siow, Salima Sewani and Nicole Demari, are serving on the Board of Directors of the National Med-Peds Residency Association and our faculty have local and national reputations for their work in medical education, DEI efforts, and population health,” said O’Toole.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital also had their Pediatrics and Child Neurology programs rank third in the country. 

Doximity is an online networking site for American physicians. It determined its ranking by asking verified physician members of its network who are either current residents or recent graduates to review and rate their experiences at their residency. It also took into account other data like research output from each program’s current residents and recent alumni, and more factors.

The only two programs that were ranked higher than UC's Emergency Medicine Residency Program are the Denver Health Medical Center residency program and the University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical Center program in Los Angeles. The two programs ranked ahead of the Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program are the Women’s Hospital/Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School program, and the University of North Carolina Hospitals.

The University of Cincinnati also offers many programs for those interested in the medical field, and a complete list of their related programs can be found here.

Students interested in attending the University of Cincinnati can find more information about the school on its admissions page.