I spent a month a The Brigham for an anesthesia elective. I absolutely loved it there. They do everything there except Liver transplants. Ob experience is the best in the world. Peds you goto Boston Childrens. Great regional anesthesia. Only cons are cost of living and ICU, but ICU is on the rise. The biggest con is they are looking for a new chairman because the current chairman is being promoted to a dean position at Harvard Med. Everyone is on a first name basis, it's like a family atmosphere. I signed out of the match this year and will be starting at the Brigham in 2003.
PROS: Very good reputation. Obstetric experience is very strong. Excellent basic science research opportunities. Strong peds. Good resident camaraderie. CONS: Inferiority complex compared to Mass General, Hopkins, UCSF. There are some holes in the clinical training one would not expect from a prestigious program: no liver transplants, little trauma, weak critical care component. Very resident dependent program - CA-3s still get assigned boring cases like gynecology and optho. Residents are not happy with quantity/quality of intraoperative teaching because attendings are too busy. Boston is ridiculously expensive in light of what the city offers.
