My residency at Lutheran General Hospital was an incredibly positive experience. You are in a community based hospital that let's you get to know the staff in each of the areas and really feel part of a well organized multidisciplinary team. At the same time, with multiple university affiliations and a broad range of specialist your patients get the best, most up to date care. The department of Family Medicine itself gives you a stong, broad base to work from and encourages all residents to cultivate further any areas of interest. I felt fully prepared to launch into the next phase of my career after completing my FM residency at LGH.

LGH provides an excellent site to learn and provide medical coverage for patients with all backgrounds. I have made several strong bonds with fellow colleagues and faculty members that will remain for a long time.

The teaching faculty are phenomenal. My three years at Lutheran prepared me for a lifetime of success. The teaching is ongoing and prepares you for what medicine has to bring.

This program has the best faculty. They teach you more than just medicine. Here you will have a chance to see and learn a lot about humanity and yourself.

This is without a doubt and outstanding overall experience. I cannot say enough good things about the program and the faculty. They are like family away from home.

Lutheran General Hospital FP Residency offers a great variety of specialty rotations, a large amount of outpatient clinic exposure while at the same time offering a close knot program of faculty and residents in a community based hospital. I feel very well supported and very well prepared for future practice.

Top notch education in a nationally ranked hospital with a supportive environment. The advantage of specialists forefront in their fields in the context of a community hospital.

Sense of camaraderie and closely knit team. My colleagues are always willing to help. Faculty members from different backgrounds offer diverse clinical management approaches.

Lutheran General Family Practice Residency Program is an excellent program. I feel very comfortable moving on in my career as an attending physician. I believe that my training was complete from business aspects to clinical aspects. The faculty members are an excellent resource for all professional aspirations.

Good variety of cases involving the common and uncommon. Excellent consultants and state of the art facilities. Strong continuity clinic that gives you enough time to treat entire families. (Evelyn Figueroa, MD Class of 2002)

You have the best of both worlds by training in a community, tertiary care hospital. There is a good sense of community with great outpatient services, but also the luxury of great specialists and a children’s hospital and trauma center.

I think of LGH as a community hospital with tertiary back-up, all in the same location. Excellent faculty with varied interests help drive, motivate, and educate the residents in a fun environment. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely do my residency at Lutheran General again.

Excellent faculty. Outstanding outpatient experience. Hospital with multitude of clinical resources.

"The experience has been rewarding. The program is flexible and very resident friendly. The director and teaching faculty go well beyond the call of duty to provide a friendly training environment and support residents in their professional and personal lives."

Kristin Scott, MD, Class of 2000:

"I learned how to prioritize my time and juggle inpatient/outpatient schedules and women in labor, all simultaneously, like I will have to do as an attending physician. The hospital is wonderful and has good people to work with. I feel I am able to independently make decisions on patient care. However, if I need assistance, I have more than enough peers, resources and consultants I can look to for help"

Derek Clevidence, MD, Ph.D: Class of 2000:

"Lutheran is a unique blend of a community hospital with a university flair. You get the experience of primary care community based practice with the resources and multidisciplinary referral networks of a tertiary care referral center all in one location.  The interaction is notably pro-educational, enthusiastic, and collegial.  The specialty physicians are excited to have an enthusiastic resident work with them.  I have had several make personal arrangements to help me learn procedural skills or patient management strategies.  The "conflict" I have seen at other hospitals is replaced by teamwork here.

David Duff, MD: Class of 2000:

"In the midst of what is possibly the most challenging time of my career, I found I was able to rely on the support and friendships of my fellow residents and faculty.  I know they want me to become an excellent physician, but I know they were more concerned about me as a person. Having now experienced a number of different environments, both in the US and abroad, I realize how well Lutheran General Hospital has prepared me to enter practice.  Not that I have an exhaustive knowledge base, but that I am comfortable with a strong foundation of skills that will enable me to enter a field demanding lifetime vigilance in learning."

(And, after being in practice, David said the following:) Just having entered a small group in rural practice, I have been impressed that the training I received equipped me to deal with the variety of patients and illnesses that come to our office.  I am encouraged to utilize a full range of medical and procedural skills here: OB, endoscopy, colposcopy, office surgery and have been prepared to do so by our residency.  What is also unique is the closeness and support of our class.  I am still corresponding with my classmates every week.  It helped during the difficult times in residency and it continues to help.

Julie Shapiro, MD: Class of 2000:

"I had the unique opportunity to work with developmentally disabled adults.  Lutheran General Hospital has the only clinic in America dedicated to this cause.  It was a life changing experience. I will be doing a fellowship in adults with developmental disabilities and I am already considered advanced in this field due to my Adult Downs Syndrome Center experience."

Jason Johnson, MD: Class of 2000:

"Facing going out into practice, I'm very happy I graduated from Lutheran General.  I couldn't imagine having gone anywhere else and feeling as ready as I do for the 'real world.'  And taking call from home second and third year was really nice too. Also, I feel the Sports Medicine Program is a real advantage to the Family Practice Department.  A thorough understanding of the musculoskeletal system is a must for a primary care physician. My experience at Nesset, our outpatient center, has left me feeling more than adequately prepared for a smooth transition into private practice. 

Aaron Michelfelder, MD: Class of 2000:

"Here at Lutheran General Hospital, you see everything.  It’s a great place to learn. I felt my residency training prepared me for any type of practice, from rural practice to academic medicine.  The people of LGH are what makes this program the best!"

E.J. Ward, MD: Class of 2000:

"Besides giving me the confidence to practice family medicine right out of residency, LGH enabled me to make contacts with other graduates of the program.  As a result of this, I found a job that I am very happy with."

Nora Gomez, MD: Class of 1999:

"Lutheran is an excellent hospital for learning and for patient care. The faculty is very supportive and committed to teaching. Having other specialty residencies in addition to family medicine in the same hospital has allowed more opportunities for social activities and academic growth. Our family medicine training is ideal at Lutheran General because it is all geographically localized to one area which encourages continuity of patient care. I am most prepared for post-residency practice by the volume of patients at Lutheran which provided me with more diversity, learning opportunities, and a good experience of future expectations."

Alex Tambrini, MD: Class of 1999

"The LGH FP Program emphasizes real world medicine.  Outpatient and inpatient experiences have been invaluable learning tools.  The faculty goes the extra miles/mile to help residents be all they can be.  In short, I am pleased with skills in my first year of practice.  It has been fun and I would recommend the LGH family practice residency program to anyone."

"Top quality hospital , excellent teaching staff, great camaraderie, work load appropriate and not overwhelming."

Anthony Tedeschi, MD: Class of 1992:

"LGH was an ourstanding preparation for me. After establishing a solo FP rural practice and growing the practice quickly, I found the required time committment to be similar to intern year. After 3 years of "burnout," I returned to the Chicago area and became involved in Occupational Health and Urgent Care. My focus over the past four years has been an expanding into the area of medical management. I believe that my experience at LGH prepared me well for all aspects of practice, and left me adaptable in this ever-changing healthcare environment."

Joel Shoolin, DO : Class of 1979

"My education was top notch.  I continue to be amazed at the high level of graduates from this program now 20 years after completing it.  It is one of the reasons I remain committed to LGH."