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Beware - Tufts Anesthesiology
- Thread starter FedUpDoc
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If it's true, it sounds like your program is a total mess. If you have to send people out to meet your numbers in so many things, they should cut the number of residents or close the shop. Out rotations suck and as the outsider, you're not getting the same experience or opportunities as the home team.
The next time you do faculty evaluations, discuss which ones are the worst and have all of the residents give them bad evaluations supplemented with some comments (no interest in clinical teaching in the OR, unavailable outside of emergencies, difficult to work with, poor role model, disinterested in resident education, etc.). If I got those evaluations regularly I would be flat out fired, let alone passed over for promotion. You cannot be promoted with poor teaching scores, even if your research is strong, unless your school has completely abandoned one of the 3 pillars of academic medicine.
The next time you do faculty evaluations, discuss which ones are the worst and have all of the residents give them bad evaluations supplemented with some comments (no interest in clinical teaching in the OR, unavailable outside of emergencies, difficult to work with, poor role model, disinterested in resident education, etc.). If I got those evaluations regularly I would be flat out fired, let alone passed over for promotion. You cannot be promoted with poor teaching scores, even if your research is strong, unless your school has completely abandoned one of the 3 pillars of academic medicine.
D
deleted171991
I remember interviewing there for residency, and it looked like a mess even back then (literally the department looked like I was in some developing country). They had a pretty narcissistic chair at the time, who was touting his Fenway premium seats, and was sitting at the head of the table like Henry VIII. Their residents had to commute to friggin' Providence for some of the rotations. That's how much I remember, and how impressed I was back then. The only good thing was the neighborhood.
By the way, FedUpDoc, be very-very careful! You are in a small program, and God forbid your PD even suspects you of posting here. PD's tend to care about public image more than about anything else (unfortunately).
Disclaimer: What I described was many years ago, so things might have changed, including my memory.
By the way, FedUpDoc, be very-very careful! You are in a small program, and God forbid your PD even suspects you of posting here. PD's tend to care about public image more than about anything else (unfortunately).
Disclaimer: What I described was many years ago, so things might have changed, including my memory.
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really is it that bad? I sometimes doubt if people who are new here are just bad mouthing the program so that nobody ranks it and they have a chance to match there. How convenient is it that rank order lists starting submission is tomorrow.
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Are you implying that you're the PD there? That would make me lol.
I generally never respond on these forums but as a senior anesthesia resident at Tufts I really don't recognize the program described by
FedUpDoc. Every program has issues, true. But I've always found the relationships between residents and between residents and attendings to be very cordial. Malignant, this place isn't.
To respond to some specific points above...
We do go to outside hospitals to boost our numbers in certain areas and get exposure to different ways of doing things. Many of our seniors get job offers or fellowship places at the places they rotate through. External rotations can be difficult but on balance this seems a good thing to me. For some it can be pretty high yield career-wise. For some, less so, but that is the nature of the beast.
Also, numbers are just numbers. In Boston, a city that is famous for medicine - MGH, Brigham, Beth Israel etc. - Tufts gets the sickest patients. Statistically, the only place which has sicker patients is Dana Farber - a cancer center so not really relevant from an anesthesia residency perspective. I literally can not remember the last time I saw an ASA 1 or 2 patient. I would certainly caution people entering residency against looking at just numbers. You can spend your time doing an awful lot of crappy cases on healthy patients.Save that for later in your career if you want - for residency you need to see worst cases and you need to see lots of them. I don't think anywhere gets more than we do.
Our pass rate on the written boards is better than almost everywhere else in the city, including the Harvard hospitals. We must be doing something right on the education front. Some attendings are better teachers than others (see nature-of-beast, above)
All our residents this year and last year got the fellowships they wanted. Of our graduating class this year, 1 is going into private practice, 1 overseas, and the other 11 into good Pain, Cardiac, Pedi or Critical Care fellowships. Worth considering when choosing residency.
The only reason I'm posting this is to try to set the record straight. Please don't be too easily swayed by a single disgruntled resident. I hope that FedUpDoc , whoever you are - presumably we are friends...or even lovers? (who, oh, who are you?!? Ah, but who am I? How anonymity emboldens one!) - is able to discuss these issues internally as well as on this forum. Perhaps I have an overly optimistic view point. I'd be interested to hear what other Tufts residents or recent grads from the program think.
Anyway that's just my musings...
FedUpDoc. Every program has issues, true. But I've always found the relationships between residents and between residents and attendings to be very cordial. Malignant, this place isn't.
To respond to some specific points above...
We do go to outside hospitals to boost our numbers in certain areas and get exposure to different ways of doing things. Many of our seniors get job offers or fellowship places at the places they rotate through. External rotations can be difficult but on balance this seems a good thing to me. For some it can be pretty high yield career-wise. For some, less so, but that is the nature of the beast.
Also, numbers are just numbers. In Boston, a city that is famous for medicine - MGH, Brigham, Beth Israel etc. - Tufts gets the sickest patients. Statistically, the only place which has sicker patients is Dana Farber - a cancer center so not really relevant from an anesthesia residency perspective. I literally can not remember the last time I saw an ASA 1 or 2 patient. I would certainly caution people entering residency against looking at just numbers. You can spend your time doing an awful lot of crappy cases on healthy patients.Save that for later in your career if you want - for residency you need to see worst cases and you need to see lots of them. I don't think anywhere gets more than we do.
Our pass rate on the written boards is better than almost everywhere else in the city, including the Harvard hospitals. We must be doing something right on the education front. Some attendings are better teachers than others (see nature-of-beast, above)
All our residents this year and last year got the fellowships they wanted. Of our graduating class this year, 1 is going into private practice, 1 overseas, and the other 11 into good Pain, Cardiac, Pedi or Critical Care fellowships. Worth considering when choosing residency.
The only reason I'm posting this is to try to set the record straight. Please don't be too easily swayed by a single disgruntled resident. I hope that FedUpDoc , whoever you are - presumably we are friends...or even lovers? (who, oh, who are you?!? Ah, but who am I? How anonymity emboldens one!) - is able to discuss these issues internally as well as on this forum. Perhaps I have an overly optimistic view point. I'd be interested to hear what other Tufts residents or recent grads from the program think.
Anyway that's just my musings...
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I think the best way to get the down low on a program has to be to pose as a disgruntled resident and trash it. Invariably happy residents post their own impressions of the program in short order.
Of course I'm mostly joking.
Of course I'm mostly joking.
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Yeah, and you just made a new account just now. Why should we buy this again?
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This is my first post at SDN. I have benefited from this forum for long so seems fit to pay in kind.
Disclosure: I am currently a resident at the aforementioned program that "FedUpDoc" seems to be fed up off.
So let's set the recorded straight: We are a small program. We do go outside our walls for rotations. Our program director is young
and (frankly quite awesome) and we do have a new chair...(if > 3 yrs counts as new). Both are excellent people; professionally as well as program leaders. Good teachers and strong resident advocate.
I don't need a lot of insight to figure out that my disgruntled friend in a newbie who just six months ago was an intern and holds an anesthesiology experience of no more than 4 months (not counting foundation ABCs). Calling Tufts, malignant, is like calling the new pope a...."hard ass"....it could be your opinion but not sure if many others will stand by you. Just cause you are struggling and are having a tough time adjusting doesn't make the program poor. But you sure need help so please just ask.
We are by far one of the most well balanced programs out there; a "healthy" case load with one of the highest morbidity index (case mix index i.e), which means you are taking care of very challenging patients right from the start. We have our CA1s doing everything...from Heart room to OB to Vascular/Interventional suite to Complex cases, you name it. ASA 1 & 2s are an anomaly. Our working hrs are better than any other place I know (6:30a-5p) with a light call schedule. We absolutely go to outside rotations but "we don't have to": We comfortably get all our numbers in house (a fact FedUpDoc would have known if he/she had been through these rotations). Personally I have considered them a strength of our program. Let's be frank guys...most of us will not be working at the same place we were trained. Going to other hospitals is a great way to learn and be comfortable in a diff environment, not to mention the contacts you make and the potential to get hired by some of these institutions (our past grads have done so). We go to Lahey as it is one of the busiest liver centers on the east coast. Our own OB is mostly high risk (thanks to a strong MFM Program) so BWH is just a way to see more regular stuff. All this is mentioned to our applicants outright. If this is not your cup of coffee, don't come here.
Out teaching is solid. All seniors feel more than comfortable going out. Our fellowship match rate is excellent. From current CA3 most got in to their top choices including Hopkins, Tufts, Cleveland Clinic, Duke, UCSD, St Luke's etc. I can go on & on but you get the point.
But I do feel we failed one of our colleagues. I wish he/she had asked for help earlier. It's still not too late...
Not-Fed-Up-Dok
Disclosure: I am currently a resident at the aforementioned program that "FedUpDoc" seems to be fed up off.
So let's set the recorded straight: We are a small program. We do go outside our walls for rotations. Our program director is young
and (frankly quite awesome) and we do have a new chair...(if > 3 yrs counts as new). Both are excellent people; professionally as well as program leaders. Good teachers and strong resident advocate.I don't need a lot of insight to figure out that my disgruntled friend in a newbie who just six months ago was an intern and holds an anesthesiology experience of no more than 4 months (not counting foundation ABCs). Calling Tufts, malignant, is like calling the new pope a...."hard ass"....it could be your opinion but not sure if many others will stand by you. Just cause you are struggling and are having a tough time adjusting doesn't make the program poor. But you sure need help so please just ask.
We are by far one of the most well balanced programs out there; a "healthy" case load with one of the highest morbidity index (case mix index i.e), which means you are taking care of very challenging patients right from the start. We have our CA1s doing everything...from Heart room to OB to Vascular/Interventional suite to Complex cases, you name it. ASA 1 & 2s are an anomaly. Our working hrs are better than any other place I know (6:30a-5p) with a light call schedule. We absolutely go to outside rotations but "we don't have to": We comfortably get all our numbers in house (a fact FedUpDoc would have known if he/she had been through these rotations). Personally I have considered them a strength of our program. Let's be frank guys...most of us will not be working at the same place we were trained. Going to other hospitals is a great way to learn and be comfortable in a diff environment, not to mention the contacts you make and the potential to get hired by some of these institutions (our past grads have done so). We go to Lahey as it is one of the busiest liver centers on the east coast. Our own OB is mostly high risk (thanks to a strong MFM Program) so BWH is just a way to see more regular stuff. All this is mentioned to our applicants outright. If this is not your cup of coffee, don't come here.
Out teaching is solid. All seniors feel more than comfortable going out. Our fellowship match rate is excellent. From current CA3 most got in to their top choices including Hopkins, Tufts, Cleveland Clinic, Duke, UCSD, St Luke's etc. I can go on & on but you get the point.
But I do feel we failed one of our colleagues. I wish he/she had asked for help earlier. It's still not too late...
Not-Fed-Up-Dok
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Wow, this is progressing as expected. Immediately everyone in the residency supposedly signs up for new accounts and starts talking up the program while simultaneously bad-mouthing the OP and threatening him. He deletes his post and meanwhile in real life a frenzied search begins for who he is so that retribution can fall on him, possibly some trumped up charge put in his file. What a great program!
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Oh, sure. But my point is that this is why nobody knows what a "good" or "bad" residency is. Every residency is more or less sold the same and you find out what you're in for when it's too late. It's why I always laugh at residency. Why anyone should be terrified to give their opinion of a training program is beyond me. But everyone is. Which says something about our training system. By the way, if those are actually senior residents, they've definitely drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid. Good job, fellas!
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I have to admit that I've read this forum for quite some time now. I've used it to look up what people think of programs, case discussion, career advice,funny topics ect....
I feel obligated to post in response to the op.
I am only a first year at tufts but I have to say that my experience has been totally different than what has previously been posted.
I'll start off by saying to the ms4's out there looking at programs should always take things with a grain of salt.
So far I have loved my experience here.
To address some of the op's comment one by one.
1. Numbers and going to outside programs: I'm not an expert on exactly what numbers we get because I am only a ca-1 but we do rotate out. We do have low volume right now of thoracic and go to Rhode Island to get more. I have yet to do ob, but it seems like the senior residents get plenty of ob exposure. Even if we don't get all of our numbers , I see going to Brigham as quite the privilege. I will say however that a few of residents have commented that they have more autonomy here at tufts and do way more in terms of ob here than at Brigham and would rather stay at tufts for this rotation. I don't know how much of his is true..but whatever. Liver transplant low numbers is probably true. I've seen quite a few kidney and heart transplants come through here but no livers. I haven't done regional yet, but we have a pretty active block team. Three seniors I have talked to had all of their numbers at the end of Ca-1 year. Whether that's actually true I have no idea, but I'll take it with a grain of salt. Overall we have like one of the other posters said, extremely sick patients and good case volume (currently growing). I think its important to know what residents don't like about he program, and I always am honest and tell students that I don't like the idea of having to travel to other hospitals. It'd be more convenient to stay here but there's always positives of going to other hospitals (different systems, networking ect.)
2. The chair. I think he is a great leader. Anybody in a leadership position knows that you can't please everybody and no matter how great a job you do, there will be haters. Our chair is friendly, responsive, supportive of the residents, reasonable, and wants to make changes for the better in the department. We have had several chair sessions. He has very candid meetings with us, listens to all the petty crap residents can think of to complain about....and most importantly fixes things...like within a week or two if possible. To give you an idea of what kind of guy our chair is...I was working late on a research project, deadline coming up soon, I know squat about writing research/stats language...he was walking by in the office and randomly offered to help revise my abstract and run some additional stats on my numbers for me with his own program. He must have done this at around 12 am for me after a 16 hour work day. His suggestions and advice were extremely helpful.
3. The attendings not teaching: in my experience he attending's have always been willing to stick around and discuss topics or show me new ways of doing a case to break up the mundane Asa 2 pt. I believe that residents that intraoperative teaching are those who read the night before and come with specific questions to ask. I would assume residency anywhere is what to make out of it. There probably not many attending's that want to spoon feed residents.
4. The atmosphere amongst residents: this is probably a bold statement, but I would put money on it that he camaraderie amongst our ca-1 class is Better than anywhere in the country. I didn't know anybody on the east coast, and now my co-residents are my best friends. Our call schedule is nothing short of awesome (I work no weekends this whole month and only one next month) and we as residents have a blast together outside of work. I honestly can't say that I don't get along with a single resident in my class. Fun personalities (one of residents even rapped on stage with coolio at a concert because he just decided to jump up there). Our social life is awesome. We have student crnas as well and we even hang out with them outside of work.
5. Atmosphere with the attendings: great. of course every program has some tougher attendings and quirky personalities but for the most part the attendings are super nice to us. For example....I've been sailing with attendings, skiing and weekend cabin getaway ( hosted by an attending for some residents) , beer tasting with attendings, Christmas dinner parties, ect.
6. The chief slamming a piece of wood on the table: 100% true. But know the background, we have an attending that is older and could retire but probably sticks around because he enjoys teaching the residents. He drives over an hour and half in the am to show up for ,key words at 645. For about a week and a half a handful of residents started not showing up to key words...why, not sure...but out of respect for the program, your own learning, and the old guy coming in just to teach we should probably have 100% attendance. Our chief made several nice requests of the residents. When people didn't respond to the initial requests, behind closed doors in a monthly cheif's meeting where we complain about all the little nuances we want changed he yelled at us. Boohoo. Maybe it's just me because I've heard just about it all from coaches in he past, but who cares...he was making a point. He's actually a great guy and cares a great deal about tufts and and getting things done for the residents. He went to med school, undergrad, highschool, junior high and grade school here. Maybe his passion for tufts to be a good residency got the best of him.
I know this is long, but I really like it here and hope more good residents join our program. In short..we get along great, our schedule is awesome and we have great social lives, the patients are sick, your clinical experience is strong, the fellowship match list is great, our pd and chair are truly good people, boston is awesome (but expensive), plenty of didactics, and I enjoy coming to work here.
If you are med student and want to know more feel free to pm me.
I feel obligated to post in response to the op.
I am only a first year at tufts but I have to say that my experience has been totally different than what has previously been posted.
I'll start off by saying to the ms4's out there looking at programs should always take things with a grain of salt.
So far I have loved my experience here.
To address some of the op's comment one by one.
1. Numbers and going to outside programs: I'm not an expert on exactly what numbers we get because I am only a ca-1 but we do rotate out. We do have low volume right now of thoracic and go to Rhode Island to get more. I have yet to do ob, but it seems like the senior residents get plenty of ob exposure. Even if we don't get all of our numbers , I see going to Brigham as quite the privilege. I will say however that a few of residents have commented that they have more autonomy here at tufts and do way more in terms of ob here than at Brigham and would rather stay at tufts for this rotation. I don't know how much of his is true..but whatever. Liver transplant low numbers is probably true. I've seen quite a few kidney and heart transplants come through here but no livers. I haven't done regional yet, but we have a pretty active block team. Three seniors I have talked to had all of their numbers at the end of Ca-1 year. Whether that's actually true I have no idea, but I'll take it with a grain of salt. Overall we have like one of the other posters said, extremely sick patients and good case volume (currently growing). I think its important to know what residents don't like about he program, and I always am honest and tell students that I don't like the idea of having to travel to other hospitals. It'd be more convenient to stay here but there's always positives of going to other hospitals (different systems, networking ect.)
2. The chair. I think he is a great leader. Anybody in a leadership position knows that you can't please everybody and no matter how great a job you do, there will be haters. Our chair is friendly, responsive, supportive of the residents, reasonable, and wants to make changes for the better in the department. We have had several chair sessions. He has very candid meetings with us, listens to all the petty crap residents can think of to complain about....and most importantly fixes things...like within a week or two if possible. To give you an idea of what kind of guy our chair is...I was working late on a research project, deadline coming up soon, I know squat about writing research/stats language...he was walking by in the office and randomly offered to help revise my abstract and run some additional stats on my numbers for me with his own program. He must have done this at around 12 am for me after a 16 hour work day. His suggestions and advice were extremely helpful.
3. The attendings not teaching: in my experience he attending's have always been willing to stick around and discuss topics or show me new ways of doing a case to break up the mundane Asa 2 pt. I believe that residents that intraoperative teaching are those who read the night before and come with specific questions to ask. I would assume residency anywhere is what to make out of it. There probably not many attending's that want to spoon feed residents.
4. The atmosphere amongst residents: this is probably a bold statement, but I would put money on it that he camaraderie amongst our ca-1 class is Better than anywhere in the country. I didn't know anybody on the east coast, and now my co-residents are my best friends. Our call schedule is nothing short of awesome (I work no weekends this whole month and only one next month) and we as residents have a blast together outside of work. I honestly can't say that I don't get along with a single resident in my class. Fun personalities (one of residents even rapped on stage with coolio at a concert because he just decided to jump up there). Our social life is awesome. We have student crnas as well and we even hang out with them outside of work.
5. Atmosphere with the attendings: great. of course every program has some tougher attendings and quirky personalities but for the most part the attendings are super nice to us. For example....I've been sailing with attendings, skiing and weekend cabin getaway ( hosted by an attending for some residents) , beer tasting with attendings, Christmas dinner parties, ect.
6. The chief slamming a piece of wood on the table: 100% true. But know the background, we have an attending that is older and could retire but probably sticks around because he enjoys teaching the residents. He drives over an hour and half in the am to show up for ,key words at 645. For about a week and a half a handful of residents started not showing up to key words...why, not sure...but out of respect for the program, your own learning, and the old guy coming in just to teach we should probably have 100% attendance. Our chief made several nice requests of the residents. When people didn't respond to the initial requests, behind closed doors in a monthly cheif's meeting where we complain about all the little nuances we want changed he yelled at us. Boohoo. Maybe it's just me because I've heard just about it all from coaches in he past, but who cares...he was making a point. He's actually a great guy and cares a great deal about tufts and and getting things done for the residents. He went to med school, undergrad, highschool, junior high and grade school here. Maybe his passion for tufts to be a good residency got the best of him.
I know this is long, but I really like it here and hope more good residents join our program. In short..we get along great, our schedule is awesome and we have great social lives, the patients are sick, your clinical experience is strong, the fellowship match list is great, our pd and chair are truly good people, boston is awesome (but expensive), plenty of didactics, and I enjoy coming to work here.
If you are med student and want to know more feel free to pm me.
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I'm amused at your easy acceptance of the new-account-OP's criticisms but disdain for the new-account-followup'ers who disagree.
As one who did a bunch of out rotations as a resident, I agree that the logistics sucked, but not that it was educationally bad. As someone noted above, there's value in being exposed to different systems as a resident. On one end of the spectrum you've got the traveler with barely a home program, at the other end you've got inbreeding.
The devil's in the details though. Being the guest who's dumped into the wound vac add-on scut pool is bad. Being the guest who gets only major cases in subspecialty X because that's what the MOU says you're there to do is good.
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It has nothing to do with who I believe. It's that anyone should be able to voice their opinions without being terrified of retribution. If they're wrong, just say so. This guy bkell writes a fine post that is just as valid as the OP. But going by the logic of the so-called senior residents, since he's an intern, he knows nothing of the program and is a fool, therefore ignore his opinion. You know just as well as I do, and as well as every person here, that programs hide the negatives and lie about them. Maybe if people were not afraid to discuss them, things would change. Instead, they just continue. But, hey, do whatever you guys want. Every time I read someone unhappy with their program, you think "this guy is a problem" and I think "if you had been honest with him, maybe he would have made a different decision." Who has a better view?
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The post was erased because we had our meeting this morning. The OP is now FEDUP-FP and is on a flight to his 3 yr away rotation in North Dakota.
For the less than quick readers... No, I am not REALLY posing as the PD. I find it a bit sad that I need to make that disclaimer.
For the less than quick readers... No, I am not REALLY posing as the PD. I find it a bit sad that I need to make that disclaimer.
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Woah, burn.
D
deleted171991
You are absolutely right. I remember my program having a similar thread at some point, and a few brown nosers started posting all these denials online. They even made sure that other people in the program knew it was them. Hey, if your Putin's friend, I bet you say Russia is the most wonderful democracy in the world!
Usually, there is no smoke without fire.
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These posts come up on a routine basis. It is fairly obvious that the program is well aware one of their own just went and aired their dirty laundry. Here is my advice for the OP.
Step one: NEVER EVER tell anyone at your program that it was you. Join the hunt to find out who that SOB is who posted that garbage on sdn.
Step two: Go memorize Jets famous post about keeping your head down. All residencies suck. Complaining to ANYONE other than fellow miserable residents will bring you nothing but grief and can potentially threaten your career.
If you truly believe that your program really is that bad, you need to just get through and get board certified. Don't be altruistic. You take all of the risk and receive no reward for warning others.
If you are some shady med student trying to impact other applicants rank lists, then it's not going to work. In fact, if I ever caught someone pulling that garbage, I'd go out of my way to blackball them. That would be the last resident I would want in my program. These forums are not as anonymous as most think.
OP, if you actually are a resident there, then the hunt is on. Join the above mentioned brown nosers and learn from this.
Step one: NEVER EVER tell anyone at your program that it was you. Join the hunt to find out who that SOB is who posted that garbage on sdn.
Step two: Go memorize Jets famous post about keeping your head down. All residencies suck. Complaining to ANYONE other than fellow miserable residents will bring you nothing but grief and can potentially threaten your career.
If you truly believe that your program really is that bad, you need to just get through and get board certified. Don't be altruistic. You take all of the risk and receive no reward for warning others.
If you are some shady med student trying to impact other applicants rank lists, then it's not going to work. In fact, if I ever caught someone pulling that garbage, I'd go out of my way to blackball them. That would be the last resident I would want in my program. These forums are not as anonymous as most think.
OP, if you actually are a resident there, then the hunt is on. Join the above mentioned brown nosers and learn from this.
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Pay for a membership and delete it yourself.
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So interesting to see this thread pop back up. Kind of made me smile because this was such a big deal ca-1 year when we had no idea who had made the post...still don't.
But yes, very happy with my experience.
I think what I posted above turned out to be pretty accurate.
Ob is high risk lowish volume but we cover ob as a senior resident so I have about four times the numbers I need and still have another month to go. We rotate out at Brigham which I didn't do, but residents really Like seeing a different style.
Cardiac is fantastic. Lvads, transplants, mini's, combined procedures, tavr...ect ...only thing we don't do is mitra clip which I think is coming soon. Two new surgeons from Brigham and our volume has exploded this year. Also now doing pediatric hearts at a decent rate....several residents have done close to 10 pedi hearts which is a different. You will hit cardiac numbers in ca-1 year.
Regional: has really picked up over the last three years. I've done three times the required # of blocks and still have another month to go. Several senior residents have done much more than I have .I wish we had a better ultrasound machine but other than hat I have no complaints.
Peds: probably the favorite amongst our residents. The attendings are fantastic and you have exposure to peds sprinkled all throughout your 3 years because of the floating Children's hospital. Now doing pedi hearts in or and cath lab as mentioned above
Thoracic: very minimal volume at tufts but we rotate out at Rhode Island hospital. I hated the idea of this , but it actually turned out to be one of my favorite rotations this far. The attendings here are absolutely fantastic and love teaching. It's a private practice faster paced style which is really nice. Has been such a favorite amongst residents that we have now created a third year elective there (which I am going to do this year). No lung transplant though.
Icu: two months are at Lacey clinic which is a 20 min drive from Boston. Great rotation, absolutely no complaints.
Neuro: you will be sick of cranis by the end of your ca-1 year. Very active neurosurgery department. We have an outstanding anesthesia attending who's main interest is in neuro anesthesia and she is a great source for learning.
I'm sure I'm leaving other rotations off the list but auburn just made this an interesting game with Alabama and I'm rushing.
Hours are amazing. Done between 3-5pm. 730 first case start. Several rotations under 50 hrs. Main OR is 50-60. Call 3 a month. Can't remember the last time I took Saturday call. Come in at noon on most call days.
Most people do fellowship. Pretty strong match in the last few years. Cardiac: Brigham, Hopkins, ucsd, duke , ccf. PEDS: children's la, Boston children's, tufts . ICU: mgh, Michigan, Dartmouth. Regional: Virginia mason ...sure I'm missing some
Internal moonlighting is a huge bonus for me. It's easy money and tons of learning opportunity.
The new chair is a fantastic guy in and outside or the OR. He sits down and has meetings with the residents once a month to ask us what we would like to improve our experience.
Our PD is new but she has been at tufts for a long time and has been nothing short of fantastic so far.
Love my co residents they are my best friends and we have tons of fun together. We probably spent too much social time together.
It's a good place. I'm from the Midwest and didn't really want to move out here, but feel very luck things worked out the way they did.
of course no place is perfect...always ask residents what they dislike about their program....my answer is going to be wayyyy different than some of my friends here. Take everything with a grain of salt and figure out what works best for you. Best of luck choosing the right program!
Oh and pm me if there is anything else, I'm more than happy to share
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So like i said what's bad to me is totally different for other residents....
I wish we didn't have to do out rotations and had everything under one roof. Honestly though that is just more of a convienance thing (traffic can be bad in Boston). The out rotations are actually fantastic and provide good opportunities to network and even find future employment.
Boston overall is a really expensive place to live. I came from the Midwest and it was a huge sticker shock. Im still not totally used to it. Fantastic city though despite the cold winter. Also, Im not positive on the exact figure but we make about 5-7k less than the other residents at mgh bmc Brigham and bi. So that kind of stinks. But we do have internal moonlighting that Pays well and I've made a ton doing this.
We don't have a ton of trauma thoracic or transplant. we are "level 1" though. It comes every now and then but by no means are we bmc or one of the leading trauma centers. We do hearts and kidneys at tufts. Livers are at Lahey during ca-3 year, but I haven't heard of anybody doing a ton of them. No lungs. Plenty of other thoracic at Rhode Island though.
Coming from the Midwest was a huge shock to me in terms of how friendly people are. I didn't realize how true some of the stereotypes would be about east coast nursing/circulator staff. They can be brutal on you as a ca-1 which is really frustrating. I can honestly say though as a senior resident I love the pacu nurses and have a good time working with them. I even joke around with them about their awful Boston accents. It gets better with time as they trust you more.
Remember, these are just opinions and what I say can be totally different than other residents. For example, I love doing the cardiac cases and some of my fellow residents would tell you their biggest complaint is having to do too much cardiac. Some people are born and raised on the east coast and would rather pay 50k a month to live Boston or nyc than have to live in an awful state like Ohio (go bucks!). It just totally depends what works for you.
Overall my experience has been great and what I posted above as things I dislike most could be a whole lot worse elsewhere. I realize that we aren't considered one of the "top" programs, but the clinical training is strong, the hours are great, morale and comaraderie amongst residents is great, and people have found good fellowships/jobs.
There are plenty of good programs out there. Just find the one that works for you...location, interests, ect.
I wish we didn't have to do out rotations and had everything under one roof. Honestly though that is just more of a convienance thing (traffic can be bad in Boston). The out rotations are actually fantastic and provide good opportunities to network and even find future employment.
Boston overall is a really expensive place to live. I came from the Midwest and it was a huge sticker shock. Im still not totally used to it. Fantastic city though despite the cold winter. Also, Im not positive on the exact figure but we make about 5-7k less than the other residents at mgh bmc Brigham and bi. So that kind of stinks. But we do have internal moonlighting that Pays well and I've made a ton doing this.
We don't have a ton of trauma thoracic or transplant. we are "level 1" though. It comes every now and then but by no means are we bmc or one of the leading trauma centers. We do hearts and kidneys at tufts. Livers are at Lahey during ca-3 year, but I haven't heard of anybody doing a ton of them. No lungs. Plenty of other thoracic at Rhode Island though.
Coming from the Midwest was a huge shock to me in terms of how friendly people are. I didn't realize how true some of the stereotypes would be about east coast nursing/circulator staff. They can be brutal on you as a ca-1 which is really frustrating. I can honestly say though as a senior resident I love the pacu nurses and have a good time working with them. I even joke around with them about their awful Boston accents. It gets better with time as they trust you more.
Remember, these are just opinions and what I say can be totally different than other residents. For example, I love doing the cardiac cases and some of my fellow residents would tell you their biggest complaint is having to do too much cardiac. Some people are born and raised on the east coast and would rather pay 50k a month to live Boston or nyc than have to live in an awful state like Ohio (go bucks!). It just totally depends what works for you.
Overall my experience has been great and what I posted above as things I dislike most could be a whole lot worse elsewhere. I realize that we aren't considered one of the "top" programs, but the clinical training is strong, the hours are great, morale and comaraderie amongst residents is great, and people have found good fellowships/jobs.
There are plenty of good programs out there. Just find the one that works for you...location, interests, ect.
