Leaders in Neurosurgery = people that don't know how to operate and hide into the politics of organized neurosurgery or inside a basic science lab.
Neurosurgeons = people that will operate your family member with a neurosurgical condition.
Rotated both at NW and rush. Was really impressed with my time at Rush. Operatively the chiefs and their r3s at the time were really impressive. However it lacked the research aspect that many high ranked institutes had. North western also was also a good option and it had many of those research opportunities. Many of their cases we double scrubbed and I didn't feel nearly as welcomed. At the end of the day you will be well trained anywhere you go. If you want to do research northwestern will offer more options but if you just want to work hard and operate, rush is your place.
Sub-I’d at Northwestern two years ago and it was a complete shithole— full of incompetent people with bad attitudes. The facilities and surrounding neighborhood were stunning, though. Loved my interview day at Rush although I didn’t get a chance to rotate there. Did not rank Northwestern but ranked Rush highly. Rush is not a research institution, though, so you’ll have to keep that in mind.
A good way to compare would be looking up where their recent graduates went for fellowships and jobs. Isn’t that a simple enough idea? Opinions are like ass holes, everyone has one.