Boston Medical Center

[nocallaochicas]

Is anyone on here a BMC resident?

The place seems great to me. Seems to have everything, yet no one talks about it and many of my attendings (in the west) have never heard of it. What's the deal?

Has anyone rotated there? I read Dr. Will's review (thanks, Dr. W) --> is the only drawback the 2-4 format?

Please help. I am likely to rank it very highly, but I want to be fully informed.

Thanks, ncc

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[positiveaob]

Is anyone on here a BMC resident?

The place seems great to me. Seems to have everything, yet no one talks about it and many of my attendings (in the west) have never heard of it. What's the deal?

Has anyone rotated there? I read Dr. Will's review (thanks, Dr. W) --> is the only drawback the 2-4 format?

Please help. I am likely to rank it very highly, but I want to be fully informed.

Thanks, ncc

I'm not a resident there, but I rotated through for a month as a 4th year med student, then did my prelim there as a medicine intern during which I spent another month in the ER. Real nice place, the 2-4 format is the only real drawback I can think of, if that format bothers you. And I recommend the internal medicine program there for your internship if you do go there.

 

[StudentDoc327]

I dont know much about the place and I didnt apply, but it seemed a lot of other students I met on the trail who interviewed there were talking about how much they liked it... 2-4 probably scares some people off but who knows maybe you will be a little more polished when you get out.

 

[Dr. Will]

The place is awesome. For me, the drawback is the format. Speaking to the residents, there were a few complaints, but they aren't that huge, in my opinion. They felt the peds experience was just average (meaining just real bread and butter stuff), but you get chances to moonlight at Boston's Children...which seems to make up for it. Also, the other complaint they mentioned was that the other services are pretty good at taking care of their procedures, so you have to push hard to do them.

With all this being said, the faculty I met there were great, some of the best on the trail. They were all FUN during the interview...which was not the at some places.

 

[nocallaochicas]

Thanks, folks.

(weak attempt at bump in case anyone else has opinions or is a resident there who visits this site less frequently than the rest of us) ...but the 'thanks' is genuine.

ncc

 

[Emergen-C]

i agree. i rotated there and loved it. the 2-4 sucks which is why it will be in the middle of my list and not the top. i plan to write a nice long email to teh PD after match explaining how they are losing great candidates who aren't up fo the medicine intern year--in addition i encountered many people on the trail who didn't know that you can automatcially match for their PGY1 year w/o interviewing

 

[southerndoc]

i agree. i rotated there and loved it. the 2-4 sucks which is why it will be in the middle of my list and not the top. i plan to write a nice long email to teh PD after match explaining how they are losing great candidates who aren't up fo the medicine intern year--in addition i encountered many people on the trail who didn't know that you can automatcially match for their PGY1 year w/o interviewing

I think all the 2-4 programs will be 1-4 in a few years.

 

[deleted109597]

I think all the 2-4 programs will be 1-4 in a few years.

As do I, but I wonder, how are these places paying for these residents? At one place, the PD stated that Medicare will only pay for the minimum number of years you need to be board certified, which in EM is 3. That is why a lot of places went to the 1-3 format (Jacksonville, EVMS, Augusta).
I could see how places like Cinti can afford it (they're oozing money at the seams), but some of these other places? And then, why do they continue to do it, as an attempt to thumb their noses at the 3 years? Not all of the 4 year programs are skewed heavily towards academics, so that isn't it. Maybe it is just because that is the way they do it, and that will be how they always do it. Who knows.

 

[membsr-8890]

I'm one of the few that thinks an intern year doesn't sound like a bad idea. I actually love medicine (eep). The only problem was that I didn't anticipate this and neglected to apply to any prelim programs (again, eep).

I also loved BMC - fantastic faculty, sexiest trauma in Boston, rock-solid well-rounded clinical and academic program, minus the minor peds issue previously mentioned. But I'm not loving the idea of BMC's famed scut-ish prelim year, so I will sadly end up about half-way down my list.

My advice: if you're considering BMC, Cook County, USC, etc. do it up right - apply to several transitional/prelim programs that suit your interests so that you have the freedom to rank the 2-4 programs appropriately without the fear of scrambling for a prelim.

One last thought is, if you don't mind training 4 years instead of 3 make sure to compare the curriculum of 2-4 to 1-4 programs. You'll probably find that, even with the prelim year added in, they often end up having nearly equal amounts of total off-service time. BMC in particular very heavy with the ED time. In essence, the 2-4 format (aside from the separate match issue) is just sort of semantics for front-loading the program with off-service rotations.

Whew I think this is the most I've ever written. Accolades, please 🙂

 

[Emergen-C]

************BMC does NOT require you to interview for their prelim year. You just check the box and apply on ERAS and then rank them on NRMP. If you match in the EM program, you automatically match for a PGY1 medicine year with them (if you've checked the box on ERAS and ranked it on NRMP) if you so desire.**************** Alternatively you can do a prelim year anywhere you want. They argue that this is nice if you have a sig. other in the class behind you and want to wait for him/her to graduate, etc or if you just plain don't want to do the BU prelim year which is reportedly tough.

 

[Dr. Dukes]

And then, why do they continue to do it, as an attempt to thumb their noses at the 3 years? Not all of the 4 year programs are skewed heavily towards academics, so that isn't it. Maybe it is just because that is the way they do it, and that will be how they always do it. Who knows.

I asked this same question to an MGH attending about the HAEMR (MGH/BWH) 4 year program, and how others are three years. He said within a recent time frame (don't remember, maybe 10 years or so) the body of EM knowledge has grown so much that 3 year residencies are forced to basically teach cookbook medicine (this is how you rule out an MI, this is how you rule out PE...), which four year residencies can actually let people learn medicine, not protocol. He said there is about 3.5 years needed to become a "good" EM doc during residency, so if you do a 3 year residency its a crunch, and if you do a 4 year residency you have more time to learn whatever it is you don't understand.
That being said, he works att MGH in a 4 year residency (he was also a HAEMR resident), so it could be that he's giving me the party line and you can learn everything in 3 years.
Again...Who knows.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I asked this same question to an MGH attending about the HAEMR (MGH/BWH) 4 year program, and how others are three years. He said within a recent time frame (don't remember, maybe 10 years or so) the body of EM knowledge has grown so much that 3 year residencies are forced to basically teach cookbook medicine (this is how you rule out an MI, this is how you rule out PE...), which four year residencies can actually let people learn medicine, not protocol. He said there is about 3.5 years needed to become a "good" EM doc during residency, so if you do a 3 year residency its a crunch, and if you do a 4 year residency you have more time to learn whatever it is you don't understand.
That being said, he works att MGH in a 4 year residency (he was also a HAEMR resident), so it could be that he's giving me the party line and you can learn everything in 3 years.
Again...Who knows.

There is something the PD from SL-R wrote about 3 yr vs. 4 yr that I think is really helpful. Maybe roja could post a link if she sees this. Remember, the majority of the programs in the country are 3 year. A lot of the 4 year programs give you the the same or close to the same number of EM months, but more elective and off-service rotations. While off-service rotations certainly have their value, I'm not convinced I want to do THAT many of them! (With that said, I'm an MS2, I don't know what the heck I want...)

 

[southerndoc]

Bobcat, I do agree that the EM body of knowledge has grown a lot in the last ten years, and as a resident in a four-year program, I'm highly supportive of four-year residencies.

However, I do not think three-year programs generate cookbook doctors. That's ridiculous. I wouldn't trust anyone who told me that. For one, a lot of what we do in emergency medicine is cookbook. That doesn't mean you don't learn about the underlying condition. It doesn't mean you don't learn how to differentiate things outside of the cookbook. I've met plenty of three-year graduates who were well trained.

I would remain suspicious of anyone who mentioned that to me.

I'm a strong supporter of four-year programs, and I think eventually we will adopt this as the new standard in ten or fifteen years. Our neighbors to the north require five years of training.