Educational fund

[Lostin_space]

I'm wondering how much $ others get in educational fund? And do you get it just in your first year? I think our program royally screws us with this.

We don't get anything - they make the claim that they buy us a bunch of books during our first year that cost "thousands" and they pay for two conferences.

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[DrBowtie]

Field dependant. Some need more gear and books than others.

 

[rokshana]

I'm wondering how much $ others get in educational fund? And do you get it just in your first year? I think our program royally screws us with this.

We don't get anything - they make the claim that they buy us a bunch of books during our first year that cost "thousands" and they pay for two conferences.

they pay for two conferences?? dude, your program is not screwing you...and what is a "bunch" of books? sounds like they are treating you pretty proper...you have any idea how much conferences cost??

 

[Lostin_space]

they pay for two conferences?? dude, your program is not screwing you...and what is a "bunch" of books? sounds like they are treating you pretty proper...you have any idea how much conferences cost??

We get 0 funds otherwise. And the 2 conferences are for the entirety of residency not per year! Don't most people get like 1k/year?

 

[rokshana]

We get 0 funds otherwise. And the 2 conferences are for the entirety of residency not per year! Don't most people get like 1k/year?

that would be nice....not sure where those are...got 500/year in residency and they bought mksap for us our 2nd year, 750/year as fellow with conference partially paid( if you presented, amount varied but ~ 700).

 

[Lostin_space]

that would be nice....not sure where those are...got 500/year in residency and they bought mksap for us our 2nd year, 750/year as fellow with conference partially paid( if you presented, amount varied but ~ 700).

You did Medicine right? So you got 500/year x 3yrs. We dont get 500/year. We get nothing/year. Sounds like crap for us.

 

[Raryn]

that would be nice....not sure where those are...got 500/year in residency and they bought mksap for us our 2nd year, 750/year as fellow with conference partially paid( if you presented, amount varied but ~ 700).

That's pretty nice. We get $500/year but no mksap. The typical pattern is to use it to subsidize Step III intern year, MKSAP(plus an acp membership for the discount) second year, and partially pay for the boards third year. I'm quite jealous of our institutions FM program BC they can get their boards entirely paid for by their program.

Separately, we can get reimbursed up to $1200 for a conference if and only if we present at it. One conference per year, though it's really only pgy2 and 3 that ever take advantage of it.

 

[rokshana]

You did Medicine right? So you got 500/year x 3yrs. We dont get 500/year. We get nothing/year. Sounds like crap for us.

yes, then endocrine...

did not have conferences covered as a resident...they easily cost >1500 with hotel, airfare...luckily for residents the registration fees are free...

 

[235009]

We get 850/yr. Having two conferences covered can easily amount to $2k+. While it's less than others it's far from nothing.

luckily for residents the registration fees are free...

Not universally true. Just paid $290 to register for ATS (pulm/CC conference) as a resident on top of the $100 they charged me to renew my "trainee" membership.


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[Lostin_space]

We get 850/yr. Having two conferences covered can easily amount to $2k+. While it's less than others it's far from nothing.



Not universally true. Just paid $290 to register for ATS (pulm/CC conference) as a resident on top of the $100 they charged me to renew my "trainee" membership.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

It's pretty much nothing. Now they are also telling us that they may not pay for one of the conferences because it's too $$. Aren't educational funds part of the money given by GME/residency? Isn't it standard to get that in general?

 

[Winged Scapula]

It's pretty much nothing. Now they are also telling us that they may not pay for one of the conferences because it's too $$. Aren't educational funds part of the money given by GME/residency? Isn't it standard to get that in general?

The GME funding covers salaries and benefits, as well as malpractice insurance. "Perks" such as educational funds, book funds, free meals, parking etc. are not mandated by GME/CMS and instead are decided on a departmental basis (which is why all PGY2 residents will make the same salary but may have different perks). So what is standard for one department may not be for another and it may change from year to year.

 

[gutonc]

It's pretty much nothing. Now they are also telling us that they may not pay for one of the conferences because it's too $$. Aren't educational funds part of the money given by GME/residency? Isn't it standard to get that in general?

My program gave us nothing. No book money. No conference money. No board review materials. Nothing.

If you had an abstract accepted to a regional or national meeting, they would pay for you to go to that, but otherwise, we got bupkis.

My fellowship program (same institution) paid for 1 conference a year, more if you had an oral abstract accepted to another meeting. But also no other ed money, no board review, etc.

 

[rokshana]

Not universally true. Just paid $290 to register for ATS (pulm/CC conference) as a resident on top of the $100 they charged me to renew my "trainee" membership.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

ouch

 

[mvenus929]

We get 0 funds otherwise. And the 2 conferences are for the entirety of residency not per year! Don't most people get like 1k/year?

We get like $250-$350 per year, plus books provided for various rotations and board review. Our PC uses any money leftover as of June 20th or something to buy a bunch of extra books for the program, so it all gets used and everyone benefits regardless of whether or not you actually use it. And we are not allowed to use it to pay for any licensing or exam fees, so while we can use it for our Qbank, we cannot use it to pay directly for Step 3.

Our program has a policy that if we get an abstract accepted to a conference, they will pay for our costs, but I'm not sure where that money comes from, and not everyone takes advantage of it (not everyone presents at a conference).

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I'm wondering how much $ others get in educational fund? And do you get it just in your first year? I think our program royally screws us with this.

We don't get anything - they make the claim that they buy us a bunch of books during our first year that cost "thousands" and they pay for two conferences.

Better than what I got!

I got an iPad when I started (which we never used) and...nothing else. There's no educational fund and neither boards fees, license fees, MKSAP, step 3 nor anything else get covered. There's free food only on call days, and our conference reimbursement is pretty abysmal.

Sounds like you're doing OK, my friend.

 

[Lostin_space]

Better than what I got!

I got an iPad when I started (which we never used) and...nothing else. There's no educational fund and neither boards fees, license fees, MKSAP, step 3 nor anything else get covered. There's free food only on call days, and our conference reimbursement is pretty abysmal.

Sounds like you're doing OK, my friend.

I got no ipad so you are better than me already when it comes to funds!

 

[Lostin_space]

We get like $250-$350 per year, plus books provided for various rotations and board review. Our PC uses any money leftover as of June 20th or something to buy a bunch of extra books for the program, so it all gets used and everyone benefits regardless of whether or not you actually use it. And we are not allowed to use it to pay for any licensing or exam fees, so while we can use it for our Qbank, we cannot use it to pay directly for Step 3.

Our program has a policy that if we get an abstract accepted to a conference, they will pay for our costs, but I'm not sure where that money comes from, and not everyone takes advantage of it (not everyone presents at a conference).

Right so you get a few hundreds bucks/year and books. We get no $ during any of the years and may not even get both conferences. And books just during our first year, no board review books. No qbank here.

 

[DrBowtie]

You know most of this educational fund info is available prior to making your rank list if it mattered that much to you. Some departments are more cash strapped than others.

 

[rokshana]

Right so you get a few hundreds bucks/year and books. We get no $ during any of the years and may not even get both conferences. And books just during our first year, no board review books. No qbank here.

seriously? lots of people have posted what they get...gutonc wins this contest not you...you at least get books and conference coverage (which easily is 1500-2000 bucks) even if its only one.

you do realize that its not like you get cold hard cash handed to you...its either linked to your schools bookstore (like my residency ) or you get reimbursed (like my fellowship)...no place as far as i know is just going to hand you money at the beginning of the year to let you spend it as you wish.

 

[Lostin_space]

seriously? lots of people have posted what they get...gutonc wins this contest not you...you at least get books and conference coverage (which easily is 1500-2000 bucks) even if its only one.

you do realize that its not like you get cold hard cash handed to you...its either linked to your schools bookstore (like my residency ) or you get reimbursed (like my fellowship)...no place as far as i know is just going to hand you money at the beginning of the year to let you spend it as you wish.

Our dept. is one of the highest grossing in the entire hospital - they are making tons and tons of money (per the people who know, not something I made up)
And no not cash handed to us, but typically $ to be reimbursed for things like license, step, etc.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

We got absolutely nothing for the first 3 years of my residency. Then I think they changed it and got us something like $200/year.

 

[rokshana]

Our dept. is one of the highest grossing in the entire hospital - they are making tons and tons of money (per the people who know, not something I made up)
And no not cash handed to us, but typically $ to be reimbursed for things like license, step, etc.

sorry, but IMHO you are being unrealistic about what you are getting...most residents would be ecstatic to have conferences covered...i know i would have traded "book money" for 1-2 conference covered...just because your dept makes money doesn't mean they have to give it to you...you cost them money as it is..

 

[thepoopologist]

Residency $$$ : 1,000/year
Intern $$$: 1,000 /year + board exam
Conferences: 1 national conference (1 week), 1 chief resident conference (1/2 week), 1 other conference (1 week). Fees, rooms, cars paid for and $70/day stipend for food. They'd rent hotel rooms by the airport for early flights the next day

I've bought so many ridiculous books, I don't even know how I'm going to read them all. I used up 700 bucks one year to buy an iPad. This year was a game of buying as many expensive books as possible.

 

[Crayola227]

Residency $$$ : 1,000/year
Intern $$$: 1,000 /year + board exam
Conferences: 1 national conference (1 week), 1 chief resident conference (1/2 week), 1 other conference (1 week). Fees, rooms, cars paid for and $70/day stipend for food. They'd rent hotel rooms by the airport for early flights the next day

I've bought so many ridiculous books, I don't even know how I'm going to read them all. I used up 700 bucks one year to buy an iPad. This year was a game of buying as many expensive books as possible.

you do realize, that you don't *have* to make a point of using the money?

 

[Raryn]

Residency $$$ : 1,000/year
Intern $$$: 1,000 /year + board exam
Conferences: 1 national conference (1 week), 1 chief resident conference (1/2 week), 1 other conference (1 week). Fees, rooms, cars paid for and $70/day stipend for food. They'd rent hotel rooms by the airport for early flights the next day

I've bought so many ridiculous books, I don't even know how I'm going to read them all. I used up 700 bucks one year to buy an iPad. This year was a game of buying as many expensive books as possible.

I know some residents at programs like yours. They'd buy the books, get reimbursed, and then return them.

Not to say that's ethical...

 

[WingedOx]

The year after I graduated my program decided to scrap our educational fund and dumped the money we would have gotten into our salaries, so the base salary went up quite a bit that year. We actually had a nice amount of money in the educational fund (like 1k per year for PG2 and up, and 2k as chief resident) but the problem was that the approval system was so cumbersome and took so long that residents were often forced to front the money for things like conferences ahead of time and wait for compensation later. Also random purchases/fares would be rejected for seemingly nonexistent reasons. This just ended up easier for everyone.

...Now I'll fully expect a similar thread to the OP's complaining that they "get nothing" in a few years.

 

[Crayola227]

I know some residents at programs like yours. They'd buy the books, get reimbursed, and then return them.

Not to say that's ethical...

maybe that's why some programs ask for an original receipt which they don't give back?

 

[Raryn]

maybe that's why some programs ask for an original receipt which they don't give back?

Amazon.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

The year after I graduated my program decided to scrap our educational fund and dumped the money we would have gotten into our salaries, so the base salary went up quite a bit that year. We actually had a nice amount of money in the educational fund (like 1k per year for PG2 and up, and 2k as chief resident) but the problem was that the approval system was so cumbersome and took so long that residents were often forced to front the money for things like conferences ahead of time and wait for compensation later. Also random purchases/fares would be rejected for seemingly nonexistent reasons. This just ended up easier for everyone.

...Now I'll fully expect a similar thread to the OP's complaining that they "get nothing" in a few years.

Our program claims they do this, and we do make marginally (like possibly $1k) more than people at some other programs.

This $1k gets eaten up very very quickly on things that people at other programs get for nothing. I know people that make maybe $1k less than me per year but got reimbursed for step 3, boards, MKSAP, and full licensure plus getting like $500/yr for books plus getting free food daily plus getting good conference reimbursement (ours is ****). That adds up to a helluva lot more then $3k for the duration of our residency.

Our program is so skimpy that they don't even stitch our names on the white coats...every other department in the institution (and the medical students!) get theirs stitched on...not that it matters or anything, but that's just friggin cheap.

 

[thepoopologist]

I know some residents at programs like yours. They'd buy the books, get reimbursed, and then return them.

Not to say that's ethical...

I may consider this. I could buy a Tag Heuer or Hamilton watch with the money.

 

[Crayola227]

Amazon.

I forgot too that some programs will ask you what you want and then go about buying it for you.

Not sure what the resale value of Harrison's is.....

 

[WingedOx]

Our program is so skimpy that they don't even stitch our names on the white coats...every other department in the institution (and the medical students!) get theirs stitched on...not that it matters or anything, but that's just friggin cheap.

Now here's something I've never cared about.

/we also had a "drop your coat off in the basement and pick up a new one whenever" system.

 

[Lostin_space]

Now here's something I've never cared about.

/we also had a "drop your coat off in the basement and pick up a new one whenever" system.

We barely get that! after intern year we have to PAY for our coats

 

[Winged Scapula]

We were required to fashion our own coats from the tear stained sheets of the Surgery Med student call room.

 

[Lostin_space]

We were required to fashion our own coats from the tear stained sheets of the Surgery Med student call room.

Lol. Sorry but you have to admit that not getting any coats after intern year is pretty pathetic.

 

[Raryn]

Lol. Sorry but you have to admit that not getting any coats after intern year is pretty pathetic.

We were given 2 coats intern year and we are responsible to keep them up (washing, ironing, etc) for the remainder of residency. You expect to get new coats every year?

 

[Winged Scapula]

LOL you guys...

Let me try again:

We got new coats every year, embroidered ones but we had to wash them ourselves.

Which wouldn't have been a problem IF WE EVER LEFT THE HOSPITAL (pre 80 hrs)!!!

Top that

 

[WingedOx]

LOL you guys...

Let me try again:

We got new coats every year, embroidered ones but we had to wash them ourselves.

Which wouldn't have been a problem IF WE EVER LEFT THE HOSPITAL (pre 80 hrs)!!!

Top that

I never wore a coat beyond intern year.... yay psychiatry.

 

[WingedOx]

...of course it was also technically a requirement in my program that residents wore a white coat any time we were on the unit. I just kind of stopped one day to see if anyone would notice, and no one ever said anything. I still have a weird aversion to wearing them. I blame Tom Nasca (it's a long story).

 

[gutonc]

Lol. Sorry but you have to admit that not getting any coats after intern year is pretty pathetic.

You must be a lot of fun at parties.

 

[Crayola227]

even with proper care a resident coat can't make it a whole 3 years IMHO
nasty nasty
depends on the specialty I guess

I think 2 white coats per year in a field where you wear it daily is the minimum needed... whether or not they're provided

my med school coat made the whole stretch but not as many clinical hours as a student vs resident