Maricopa Medical Center vs St. Joseph's Hospital (Phoenix, Tucson: dermatology, insurance)

[Poppy517]

I was wondering if there were any opinions about Maricopa Medical Center versus St. Joseph's Hospital. I will be a medical student and I am able to choose between West Valley (St. Joseph's) and East Valley (Maricopa). I have an interest in specializing maybe in dermatology or pedicatrics, if anyone has any specific advice. Any opinions or advice on the general differences between the two hospitals? I do not know the Phoenix area at all but I would be living in Glendale.

[observer53]

Well, first of all, the two hospitals are only about 28 blocks apart. I would not call their locations East Valley and West Valley at all, as both are pretty central. I assume you are living in Glendale because you have family there, since you don't know the area. Depending on where you will be in Glendale, it's a bit of a drive to either, but you may not be traveling during normal rush hours, which will help.

St. Joseph's is the better known of the two hospitals, particularly due to Barrow Neurological Institute, which is famous worldwide. Maricopa County Hospital is widely known for its burn unit; beyond that, the patients there are there because they cannot afford to be anywhere else, either by insurance or private pay. So, the two would offer a very different experience. St. Joseph's would be somewhat closer to your location.

[Nanny Goat]

St. Joe's

[ji603]

St. Joe's at 350 W Thomas is much better than County at 2400 E Roosevelt. County's famous for their burn ward, but I think St. Joe's is much nicer overall.

I'm at both places - ER and Trauma several times a month.

[azriverfan.]

Both hospitals are in Phoenix so neither is in the East or West Valley. Also, neither hospital has a dermatology residency or fellowship. St. Joes pediatrics program is being shut down and will essentially be taken over by Phoenix Childrens.

In general, Maricopa is good teaching hospital in the sense that you will see a lot of pathology as is typical of most county hospitals. It also means you will endure the worst treatment and their system is a bit antiquated. Overall, the best balance is probably Good Samaritan as it provides adequate pathology with a more humane environment and modern system.

The Mayo Clinic provides the most cush program and has an excellent reputation among the lay public however it's not a great teaching program because the patient population is wealthy and skewed and so you don't see a lot of pathology so much so that Mayo residents rotate through Maricopa for some months. Mayo has a derm program.

St. Joes is an okay program. They don't have any fellowships and their pediatrics program does not have a NICU. The exception of course pertains to neurology and neurosurgery which of course is exceptional. However, what the public often thinks is because it has Barrows that the entire hospital is excellent which is not the case. In fact outside of Barrows, one could argue St. Joes is quite mediocre. For examples, Joes was still using paper charts when the Banner system was paperless and having their physicians place orders in Cerner.

None of the Phoenix area hospitals are truly academic and they are all community hospitals. The closest thing we have to a true teaching academic hospital that one sees on the coasts is UMC in Tucson. I've taught at all of the 4 Phoenix hospitals listed above and teach at two of the hospitals now so I have an insiders view of all of them. But for the public's sake, academic vs community is more less meaningless and often times the community hospitals are superior because of the amenities afforded one.

[Poppy517]

Thank you for all of your help!