Bidmc

Gasem,
I am a current resident at BIDMC, and I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the program. I've been here 18 months, and I have had a fantastic experience. There are tons of programs out there that will prepare you to be a great anesthesiologist, and this is one of them. Your job is to find one where you are comfortable and feel like you fit in well. We have a great group of residents and a very supportive faculty. I am amazed at how concerned the attendings (especially the chairman, PD and assoc PD) are about resident happiness. They constantly bend over backwards to make sure we are happy about the cases we are getting, didactics, working hrs/conditions, etc. Residents here are treated VERY, VERY well. Call schedules, working hrs, case assignments are more than fair. Plenty of time to read. Plenty of excellent teaching in the OR. Plenty of high acuity, great-learning cases. It is a big program (about 55 residents), but has a small program feel. ALL attendings are on a 1st-name basis with residents, and by the end of July, there are no strangers. Bottom line....I love my job. Choosing anesthesia has a lot to do with that, but the environment plays a huge role, as well. Please feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.
Good luck.

it's snowing like a mother right now.

could be a negative for you.

Gasem said:

I currently live in a snowy place, so no biggie. I was wondering about the ease of finding someplace to live, general affordability (shelter, food, transportation, etc....can one live reasonable well on a salary of $51,000?), things to do for fun there, diversity, life for singles, that kind of thing.

Thanks in advance

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Finding a place to live: easy , shared apt = around 700 for a room, double that for a 1 bedroom by yourself (same with a hot babe : priceless).
Transportation is good and not to expensive although rates are going up all the time the "Harvard system" has free shuttle buses running all over the place so you should check the routes for the buses available to you. I think you get a reduced price if you get a monthly pass through the hospital (deducted from your paycheck).
things to do for fun there, diversity, life for singles: i would say good
51 grand and single... you'll survive

please BUMP my previous posts

disclaimer: I'm a happy BID resident

one question in deciding which program to go to is: "What will it get me?"

At the end of your residency, you have two choices: job, or fellowship.

1) Job

-Will you have the skills to handle any job?

I believe regional and TEE are the only major anesthesia technical skills that are program dependent. BID grads get TONS of regional anesthesia, and you can do 6 mo of hearts with 1 mo dedicated to TEE. (In this day and age, I believe very few people are going into pain management without a fellowship, so I'm not addressing the ? of being able to do 100% interventional pain after leaving without a fellowship)

-Do BID grads get jobs in competitive markets?

Within the past couple years, I have seen grads get good jobs in Miami, San Fran, Manhattan, Boston, etc So I believe you are just as competitive in competitive markets as anybody from any out-of-town-big-name-program. If you know exactly where you want a job, there's a good argument that you should train there if you can regardless of the quality of the program, but that's another thread entirely). Also people have gotten academic jobs at big-time places too. People have said that being a Harvard program can be a big boost. However, it seems like the market is so open that you may not need that boost.

2) Fellowships

-Pain
Last 3 years people have been offered spots at UPenn, Rush, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, Texas Tech, Stanford, BWH, MGH. The BID pain fellowship also extends offers to a few BID anesth residents every year.

-OB Anesth
Last couple years only 1 resident has done this fellowship (Stanford)

-Peds
Last 2 years: Childrens (many from BID have gone there b/c we do all our Peds there), UCLA-affiliate, Miami. If you want to do Peds, you will have LOR from the biggest names in the field from doing your rotation at Childrens

-Cardiac
Last couple years people have preferred to stay here (great program). A senior got offers all over California, took UCSD

-ICU
The 2 ICU people in the last couple years have preferred to stay here for ICU fellowship




Another perspective is "How will my experience there be?"

-Hours
This is not a malignant program. Vast majority of days out of the OR by 430-530. Call schedule is very, very benign. Starting your second year, you come in at 1200 for general OR call, and 1400 for OB Call. This can really help you get errands done, attend meetings for research, etc. A big benefit of going to a large program is that when you are on general OR call, you don't have to handle everything; there are seperate residents on for pain, OB, liver transplant, and cardiac emergencies who handle those things. It is exceedingly rare that I do not get a 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, and also a 30 minute lunch.

-Research
As this is a Harvard program, there are tons of resources available. If you want to, you can publish papers as a resident.

-Boards
People here rock the boards. I don't know what our pass rate is but I would be very surprised if it's less than 90%...may be 100% some years.

-Atmosphere
Attendings are on a first name basis. Anonymous resident-evaluation-of-attending system that is taken seriously (affects attendings assignments, promotions, etc). Relations with other gas residents, residents from other services are very chill.

-Living in Boston
I live nextdoor to the hospital, so I never look at the weather. Good place to be if you're single (big hospital system). Housing prices will eat your paycheck.

-Miscelaneous(sp?)
We have computerized record keeping, which rocks. 3rd years get an experience running the floor.

What are the drawbacks to our program?

If you are in the <1% of anesthesiologists that will be doing heart-lung transplants after residency without a fellowship, we do not do heart-lung tranplants here. We do everything else. If you want, as a 3rd year you can rotate back to Childrens and do pedi hearts, or to MGH and do relatively rare interventional neurorads procedures. No subsidized housing (not common in Boston).
I'm happy to answer questions. Please post them here (on the forum) so others can learn. If you interview, all the residents are completely honest.

As you'll find out, our program directors and administrative staff are super nice. Please be considerate to them...if you have to cancel, please try do so w/ about 2 weeks advance notice. A lot of people really want to come here, and we're trying to give as many as we can a fair shot. Happy interview trails!

I was quite impressed with this program, but I was wondering if the fact that there is currently an interim chair will have any impact on the strength of the program and/or the program's reputation? Thanks!

senior BID resident here.

what are your specific concerns about the chairmanship change? it may be better to address specific questions rather than speaking in generalizations....

but, in a nutshell, I think the major benefits of doing gas at BID will not change (see my take on those reasons in a prior post)...also remember, the PD (and the very involved assistant PD) are awesome and will still be in those posts...

Do any applicants have any thoughts on this program?

I have my interview there in another week and was looking for some post-interview comments. There's nothing on the Interview thread either.

I know someone who reads this thread has thoughts...time to share...

I really liked the program. everyone seemed very happy, great experience, faculty were great. Residents raved about the program. Probably the best in boston, but it seemed odd that they had a few DO's and a few FMG's as well?

skittlesUofM said:

I really liked the program. everyone seemed very happy, great experience, faculty were great. Residents raved about the program. Probably the best in boston, but it seemed odd that they had a few DO's and a few FMG's as well?

Click to expand...

Losers can slip past the checkpoints man.

skittlesUofM said:

I really liked the program. everyone seemed very happy, great experience, faculty were great. Residents raved about the program. Probably the best in boston, but it seemed odd that they had a few DO's and a few FMG's as well?

Click to expand...

thanks for the review, skittles. yeah, i keep hearing good things over and over. i'm really looking forward to seeing it now.

also, what's odd about the do's and fmg's: the fact that there were any or the fact there were only a few? i wasn't sure how to read that line.

oops...

the reason i wanted to post was also this: did anyone do a prelim year of medicine at BID?

I thought it would make the transition easier if I stayed at any given hospital all 4 years rather than coming in new for my CA1 year...more a convenience thing than anything else.

thanks!

the fact that they have them, you would think such a great program would not even grant them interviews, at least that what it seems like on the interview trail, programs will admit they don't interview do's or fmg's. i suppose its a pro or a con depending on where you went to med school....

"the fact that they have them, you would think such a great program would not even grant them interviews, at least that what it seems like on the interview trail, programs will admit they don't interview do's or fmg's. i suppose its a pro or a con depending on where you went to med school.... "



I like how our Vent approached this indirectly and with humor; I'll hit it more directly b/c I don't want to let this post sit out there without the benefit of more perspective.

most medical students have relatively little exposure to people from different clinical backgrounds, and this changes as you go through internship, residency, fellowship, etc

US hospitals get reimbursed from the government for every resident they train per year. thils reimbursement is less when the hospital trains FMGs versus US medical grads. so why would a reputable hospital take FMGs?

because in today's world, the world's best FMGs are as good, and usually better, (subjectively speaking, and in my humble US MD grad opinion) than the average US medical grad. so a hospital with a solid financial foundation and reputation does not need to fear the implications of taking the best candidates, be they DO/MD/FMG whatever.

all the Harvard anesthesia programs have basically the same demographic representations, and everyone is there for a reason, (not by default) which is often readily apparent after a brief conversation on your interview day.

agree with joshmir. brigham has fmg's. they were freakin cool and knew what they were talking about. i don't think it always indicates any inherent weaknesses in the program- be it X state school, BID, Brigham, whatever.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to thank the current BID residents for answering all of the previous questions, and I wanted to throw another one out there...

i was wondering if any of you received a letter after you interviewed at BID. I know B & W sends out a letter and was wondering if BID did the same thing. I haven't gotten one yet, so i am wondering if they don't love me as much as i loved them

thanks in advance!!