Well, I done graduated residency a month ago... but its a slow night in attendingville across the river, and I happened across this thread.
"Hi all, I had a question about BIDMC Boston. I was wondering if anybody has done a rotation there or goes there for residency. I'm heading out for a rotation in a month and although I've read the interview review, was hoping someone had some advice for me? Are they 8 or 12 hour shifts? Do they like scrubs or professional dress? Any quirks I should know about? Where's the best place to get a slice of pizza?"
I think the only BIDMC people who speak on this board are myself (just finished) and HAEMRHEAD (el jefe).
My information is approximately 6 weeks out of date (forgive me).
(1) How long are the shifts??
Shift lengths vary widely. @BIDMC they are:
-- On the low-acuity side, scheduled for 11hr but sometimes stretching to 12, this is mostly for interns.
-- On the high-acuity side, 8hr for interns, 9 hour for 2's (that way you get an hour overlap so you can sign out more easily), and 8hr for 3's, except the 3's do 12s on the weekends to get more days off.
And remember we rotate through a lot of other EDs; most of those places have us do 9 hours shifts, but each is unique, and sometimes shifts are varied by days (longer on weekend, shorter on conference day). As far as I recall:
Needham 9hr shifts
Mt Auburn 9hr
Childrens variable, from 8-10 usually.
St. Vincent 9hr
St. Luke 10hr
Tufts... I cannot remember.
Hoooowever... Students pretty much work 8 hour shifts at BIDMC.
(2) Do they like scrubs or professional dress?
I like football jerseys, but almost everyone in the ED wears scrubs. A few attendings wear white coats. Two of them wear shirts and ties. Some awesome residents wear orange crocs. You should just wear scrubs unless you really like dressing fancy and having the nurses look at you funny.
(3) Any quirks I should know about? HH was right: go to journal club, go to a sox game, go to Needham for a shift or two. Have fun. Your job is to be eager and to learn and to help out how you can. And if you perform multiple rectal disimpactions in a shift, you get crazy mad props (true story).
(4) Where's the best place to get a slice of pizza? This is Boston, not New York. UpperCrust has a following, if you like overpriced fancy pizza (it does taste good). However they have some shady labor practices, if you are socially conscious. I can't vouch for many other pizza places. HOWEVER there are a ton of great food spots all over this city. If we are doing BI-themed, you have to get Fugaku Sushi and/or beer and chicken nachos at the colidge corner clubhouse after a shift. Or try Zaftigs for breakfast after working a night shift (don't open 'til 8am, but it can be worth the wait).
If you have questions on cuisine other than Pizza, let me know. Or more ?s about BI, of course.
