Boston Programs?

[dharmabum7]

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Is BI Deconess any easier to get in than MGH or Brigham/Women...or are they all just hard?

How are the other program in terms of competitiveness? BU? Tufts?

Thanks.

 

[Renovar]

My ranking from Boston area academic programs:

MGH
Brigham
BU
NEMC
BID

edit:

The top 2 are traditionally elite. Be prepared to show off your top grades/scores/pubs. The next two down are very good above average university programs with considerable reputation. Because of their location in Boston, I would guess you will need at least average credentials to get it if you are from a good medical school, or above average credentials if you are from a lesser known school. BID has a bad inferiority complex, and is generally not considered to be that good. I'd say their selection criteria/quality of education is slightly below BU and NEMC.

 

[dharmabum7]

thanks that was really helpful...

 

[bluechip]

not to add fuel to any fire.... but a lot of people feel that Brigham is ahead of MGH- at least in terms of admission competitiveness- Brigham has the reputation for getting nearly every student they rank highly- MGH does this too, but not to the same degree. I think the programs are equally strong- MGH may be even a little more rigorous-- but Brigham attracts the best because of how well they treat their residents.

 

[Lara]

Any other input as to BID vs. BU vs. NEMC? Also, how do Mt. Auburn and Cambridge fare in comparison? Obviously Brigham and MGH are tops, but I'd really like Boston and have to be realistic...thanks. 🙂

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by Lara
Any other input as to BID vs. BU vs. NEMC? Also, how do Mt. Auburn and Cambridge fare in comparison? Obviously Brigham and MGH are tops, but I'd really like Boston and have to be realistic...thanks. 🙂

Those other ones are considered community-based or city hospital-based programs, and they are reasonably good, but they are not considered legitimate academic university programs, which means 1. they are probably easier to match at, with some DO's/IMG's, 2. they probably wont help you if you want to continue your training with fellowships and 3. probably prepare you a little better if you want to go straight into practice in the boston area which will allow you to plug right into their system.

In terms of those 3, as I said before, I'd rank BU>NEMC>BID. Of course that's just my opinion. I'd say if you are average to above average graduate of any American med school you'll have a legit shot at any of those. Remember this is medicine, not dermatology or orthopedic surgery.

 

[makimo]

Since I did the entire interview circuit in Boston, I thought I'd chime in 🙂.
I agree that Brigham is the stongest, followed by MGH. They are both excellent (excellence in clinical skills, research opportunity, and didactic sessions), but different atmospheres. BWH is known to be more resident-friendly, though personally I have found them both to be. BWH is a program from which you can do anything (they have 2 great primary care programs and a fantastic fellowship placement history). MGH is one of the few programs left (along with Hopkins, etc) that still have interns taking overnight call and doing admissions "alone" (a resident is always nearby) pretty much from day one. Great for those who like to work independently. Good primary care track and excellent fellowship placements.
These are followed by BU and NEMC, both of which you will work hard and learn alot. NEMC is unique in that you the hospital is arranged by specialty (so when you are on wards you will be on GI vs Renal vs onc, etc) and you are learning from specialists in the fields. BU is unique in that it is our last city hospital and the residents really regard it as such; thus, you see a large portion of the indigent population here. BIDMC is also very good. Great for primary care and they seem to be recovering from financial problems relatively well.

Some other programs that are just outside the city:

Lahey Clinic is by far the strongest program in this category. If it were in the city I think that it would be on the same tier as BU, BIDMC, and NEMC. It is unique in that it is a smaller program that all the Boston programs (about 30 residents). Good primary care training and good track record for fellowship placement (cards, GI, etc). All the workings of a major "city" hospital (in terms of 24 hour ancillary support, radiology, tertiary referrals etc) in a suburb.
Cambridge is a good program, just very small in terms of resident number and hospital size and functioning. Good primary care training. Mount Auburn is also a nice program, a bit larger than Cambridge. Also good for primary care.

Hope that this helps! 🙂

 

[Lara]

That's interesting, since Temple has had a number of IM matches at BU the past two years and only maybe one per year at Beth Israel. I figured BID was much more competitive (which I still imagine despite the opinions on this thread), but I wonder now if some applicants might have preferred BU. I spoke to a Mayo resident this summer who'd interviewed at BID, and he hadn't been too impressed.

Keep the info coming! 🙂 btw, is there one hospital in particular which would give the most access to Hispanic patients? I'm part Puerto Rican, and would like to put my Spanish to use as much as possible. I guess I should add that I'd definitely want a fellowship afterwards, but I'm considering endocrine rather than GI or cards.

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by Lara
That's interesting, since Temple has had a number of IM matches at BU the past two years and only maybe one per year at Beth Israel. I figured BID was much more competitive (which I still imagine despite the opinions on this thread), but I wonder now if some applicants might have preferred BU. I spoke to a Mayo resident this summer who'd interviewed at BID, and he hadn't been too impressed.

Keep the info coming! 🙂 btw, is there one hospital in particular which would give the most access to Hispanic patients? I'm part Puerto Rican, and would like to put my Spanish to use as much as possible. I guess I should add that I'd definitely want a fellowship afterwards, but I'm considering endocrine rather than GI or cards.

I think in terms of the competitiveness of the applicant pool - BID, NEMC and BU is about similar, but obviously BID is backed by Harvard and people might rank it higher because of the name. In terms of hispanic population, I may be wrong, but I'd imagine it is not a very big hispanic town. If being able to use your fluency to your advantage is a big thing for you, look Cali, Florida or NYC instead.

 

[makimo]

I agree w/ Renovar about the BIDMC and also in regards to the fact that none of our Boston hospitals serves a large hispanic population. Tho only hospital in this area that does is Lawrence General (30 miles north of Boston) and it only has a family medicine program. Good luck!