the OP asked if one would be disadvantaged for fellowships by doing residency at BID versus BWH or MGH...good question...
My short answer: absolutely not....
(..rememeber though that if you want a fellowship at a certain program, you a get a leg up on the competition by doing your residency there, so the only exception could be if you had your heart set on doing a BWH or MGH fellowship)
Longer answer: see my previous post, copied beneath
if you look hard enough, you can find 2 posts on here from Boston medical students who rotated through all 3 departments, and essentially concluded that you can't go wrong with either one...
*******************************************
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!
