Hopkins vs MGH

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Searched and hadn't found a whole lot.

These two programs are near the top of my list and was wondering if anyone had any insight. Both seem very similar in terms of clinical training, fellowship opportunities, reputation, resident personalities, academic research, facilities, and both appeared to work equally hard compared to a lot of other programs (which I'm completely content with). The only differences I can come up with is location (isn't a huge factor to me as long as it's a decent sized city), Hopkins seems to have more emphasis on didactics (College Days), MGH has more emphasis on autonomy, and both have minor differences in case exposure. Does anybody have any other thoughts?
 
I don't know about either really...I'm sure the education and training is great though...
what I do know is that Boston>>>>>>>> Baltimore....

though it's much more expensive as well

drccw
 
I love Baltimore, so I'm biased. The training I got here was outstanding and has only improved with the college days model that wasn't in existence during my training. I was exposed to every kind of case possible and given the appropriate amount of autonomy for my level. The faculty here are down to earth and fun to work with, and I got a great feel for every subspecialty anesthesia field (even though I was on the peds track). I love it so much I stayed.

feel free to pm me for more.
 
Thanks, Michgirl.

Any particular reason for Hopkins or against MGH guys? My hesitation with MGH is that a handful of people have mentioned the service-to-education issue but at the interview it seems like the PD has/is addressing this. My hesitation with Hopkins is pretty much just the location. I'm single and would like a city that offers.... more but think I could make due for 3 years.
 
I've been at both institutions. I can tell you first-hand that the residents at MGH take far more call and spend longer days in the operating rooms. Whether this translates to better Anesthesiology training is up for debate.

MGH appears to provide better exposure to thoracic and vascular cases. Hopkins probably better at cardiac, peds, and regional (given CA-3 elective at HSS).

Depth of cases is equivocal. Academic reputation and ability to secure competitive fellowships are also equivocal.
 
Most would agree reputation/training wise it's pretty much a push. I can't speak for Baltimore but Boston is a great young dating town. One can literally be a dating machine between all the 'fishes' at Harvard, MIT, BU, Tufts, etc... In fact I met my wife while taking tennis lessons at Harvard. Also, MGH is located in a very nice historic area of town Beacon Hill... minutes from Boston Commons, Public Garden, and the Esplanade. When I interviewed at JHU, I couldn't help but feel a bit unsafe-- mind you I grew up in NYC so I don't get frightened easy. Don't worry you'll get plenty of trauma at MGH but you won't be working/living in the middle of a war zone! Just my 2 cents...
 
saratoga733 said:
Most would agree reputation/training wise it's pretty much a push. I can't speak for Baltimore but Boston is a great young dating town. One can literally be a dating machine between all the 'fishes' at Harvard, MIT, BU, Tufts, etc... In fact I met my wife while taking tennis lessons at Harvard. Also, MGH is located in a very nice historic area of town Beacon Hill... minutes from Boston Commons, Public Garden, and the Esplanade. When I interviewed at JHU, I couldn't help but feel a bit unsafe-- mind you I grew up in NYC so I don't get frightened easy. Don't worry you'll get plenty of trauma at MGH but you won't be working/living in the middle of a war zone! Just my 2 cents...
Click to expand...

🙄

Ah, someone had to bring it up. Just take a close look. the surroundings are a little rough around the edges but 8 years here I've NEVER felt unsafe as a woman walking around the campus between 6 a.m.-10p.m. If you need to walk farther out then I would question why, especially with a brand new hospital attached directly by bridge to a brightly lit and patrolled parking garage. if you took the lightrail from BWI to hopkins, it takes you through some not so hot areas-- taking the redline from midway to downtown chicago does the same thing.

So what I'm saying is, please don't let naysayers about Baltimore safety affect you. Talk to those in the know.
 
saratoga733 said:
Most would agree reputation/training wise it's pretty much a push. I can't speak for Baltimore but Boston is a great young dating town. One can literally be a dating machine between all the 'fishes' at Harvard, MIT, BU, Tufts, etc... In fact I met my wife while taking tennis lessons at Harvard. Also, MGH is located in a very nice historic area of town Beacon Hill... minutes from Boston Commons, Public Garden, and the Esplanade. When I interviewed at JHU, I couldn't help but feel a bit unsafe-- mind you I grew up in NYC so I don't get frightened easy. Don't worry you'll get plenty of trauma at MGH but you won't be working/living in the middle of a war zone! Just my 2 cents...
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Disagree. I liked the dating scene in Baltimore more. While Baltimore might have a "rough edge", for the most part everyone is down to earth and easy to talk to. On the other hand, I feel like everyone I encounter in Boston feels like they have something to prove (intelligence, success, toughness, etc ...).

For those medical students choosing between cities - a word of caution: while cities like Baltimore might not have the flashy allure of places like New York and Boston, keep in mind that you are going to be living on a resident salary spending roughly 60 hours a week in the hospital. As an attending, maybe you can exhaust all the 4 to 5 star dining options in Baltimore. But easier to live there on 55k a year resident salary than crammed in a Boston studio paying 2k a month and living paycheck to paycheck. Trust me - Baltimore and the surrounding area (DC) has enough things to do to keep you occupied through a 3 year residency.
 
"I've NEVER felt unsafe as a woman walking around the campus between 6 a.m.-10p.m."

Hmm, so the question begs to be asked... what happens if you need to walk around before 6 am and after 10pm?

"If you need to walk farther out then I would question why..."

Call me unreasonable but my hope is to be able to walk around the city I live ANYWHERE without having to question why.
 
DoctorPain said:
Disagree. I liked the dating scene in Baltimore more. While Baltimore might have a "rough edge", for the most part everyone is down to earth and easy to talk to. On the other hand, I feel like everyone I encounter in Boston feels like they have something to prove (intelligence, success, toughness, etc ...).

For those medical students choosing between cities - a word of caution: while cities like Baltimore might not have the flashy allure of places like New York and Boston, keep in mind that you are going to be living on a resident salary spending roughly 60 hours a week in the hospital. As an attending, maybe you can exhaust all the 4 to 5 star dining options in Baltimore. But easier to live there on 55k a year resident salary than crammed in a Boston studio paying 2k a month and living paycheck to paycheck. Trust me - Baltimore and the surrounding area (DC) has enough things to do to keep you occupied through a 3 year residency.
Click to expand...
I agree Boston is not cheap... but I was able to manage just fine on my measly 50k/yr. Despite high cost of living, always had money to dine out, buy nice clothes, go on trips. Looking back now, the money I would have saved if I had forgone all the niceties would literally be a drop in the bucket. Hey you only live once and one thing you learn to appreciate doing what we do is that life is short.

Anyways, unfortunately that's just the reality of how things work: more desirable a place is to live the more it costs to live there. So if saving some dough during residency is high up on the to do list... go with Baltimore.
 
DoctorPain said:
Disagree. I liked the dating scene in Baltimore more. While Baltimore might have a "rough edge", for the most part everyone is down to earth and easy to talk to. On the other hand, I feel like everyone I encounter in Boston feels like they have something to prove (intelligence, success, toughness, etc ...).

For those medical students choosing between cities - a word of caution: while cities like Baltimore might not have the flashy allure of places like New York and Boston, keep in mind that you are going to be living on a resident salary spending roughly 60 hours a week in the hospital. As an attending, maybe you can exhaust all the 4 to 5 star dining options in Baltimore. But easier to live there on 55k a year resident salary than crammed in a Boston studio paying 2k a month and living paycheck to paycheck. Trust me - Baltimore and the surrounding area (DC) has enough things to do to keep you occupied through a 3 year residency.
Click to expand...

i like you doctor pain. 👍 well said.
 
COL in Boston isn't terrible, you can definitely get by on the 57,000+ MGH pays to PGY-1's. I think Hopkins pays a good bit less, no?
 
I'm also interested in the comparison of these two. Any other comments on the clinical training and environment of the programs? Maybe more (docpain?) regarding service-to-education?
 
saratoga733 said:
"I've NEVER felt unsafe as a woman walking around the campus between 6 a.m.-10p.m."

Hmm, so the question begs to be asked... what happens if you need to walk around before 6 am and after 10pm?

"If you need to walk farther out then I would question why..."

Call me unreasonable but my hope is to be able to walk around the city I live ANYWHERE without having to question why.
Click to expand...

Can you name one city it's 'safe' to walk around everywhere alone at all hours? Didn't say I felt UNsafe walking around alone before 6 a.m or 10 p.m.-- it's just that I HAVENT. I've lived in Chicago, NYC, St.Louis, Baltimore and D.C.-- I use common sense and don't make it a point to walk around alone in the middle of the night in any city I've lived in, let alone my safe haven of a suburb, don't know about you. Anyone who knows Hopkins knows there is really nowhere within a three block radius of the hospital that you would be going to 'hang out' late at night-- unless burger king or dino's gyros is your thing. All the desirable areas to live are either driving or train distance away as are the desirable places to do anything. I love it because it's a small city feel with big city advantages. Hopkins is in the middle of east baltimore, yes. But I took an applicant to lunch today and within six minutes of leaving the parking garage we were walking into the Four Seasons Hotel for lunch overlooking the harbor. Within 10 minutes of leaving the parking garage I am on I-95 driving to DC. Within six minutes at the aquarium in the inner harbor. Back in my clubbing/bar hopping days many moons ago, the sky was the limit. You get the picture.

Can't beat it.

Notice I make no comparison to Boston because I haven't spent longer than a week at a time there. And yes, I noticed that people didn't seem as overtly friendly in Boston as some other places I've been, but I know better to judge based on isolated experiences- my friends and family who love boston love it for a reason. You have to understand, I'm a Ravens fan, so this is a bad time to be asking me about Boston. 😛 Trying to forget there IS a sporting event this weekend.
 
CA-1 salary for MGH residents is 57,000, which is *easily* enough to pay for an apartment within walking distance of MGH. Many MGH'ers live in the Charles River Park luxury apartment complex (about 30 yards from the back entrance of MGH), and, yes, that's a bit more expensive, but still doable on a MGH resident budget. I personally live in the Beacon Hill area, and my one-bedroom costs $1,390 per month, which is par course, and leaves room for expenditures.

I personally had a tough time also deciding between MGH and Hopkins two years ago, and honestly, congrats if this is the hardest choice on your rank list -- both programs are excellent, and I'm sure you'll receive fantastic training both places.

Nevertheless, I've got to say that MGH's location in downtown Boston is about as sweet as it can get -- you've got the Charles River right next to you (it's oddly refreshing to see the crew team rowing from the 18th floor post-call), you can work out at the Harvard gyms, study at the MIT libraries, and chill at many, many attractions around town. I've also got to say that living close to the hospital (and feeling safe) is a huge plus -- you're bound to be working hard during residency, and just speaking from experience from intern year, driving home post-call stinks big-time. At MGH, you'll never feel unsafe walking surrounding streets, no matter how late it is.

Just to give you some objective data on location statistics between Boston and Baltimore, this chart may help:

bb.png


Please PM me if you have any questions! Current MGH CA-1, love the program.
 
"Can you name one city it's 'safe' to walk around everywhere alone at all hours?"

No... but apparently one is almost 4 times more likely to be murdered in Baltimore than Boston according to Checkov's data. You do make a good point though-- if you simply drive from your suburban safe heaven directly to the hospital everyday you can avoid all that mess.

Go Giants!
 
crime and safety debates aside, wanted to shed more light on the actual training at hopkins. The didactics are really fantastic. As an attending now, every other thursday I am either solo in the OR with a ton of my other attending colleagues so the residents can go to college day or I am teaching at college day. The last college day i was a part of the residents rotated through 7 one hour sessions which included multiple high fidelity simulations, airway management workshops, straight up didactics for the board prep, and hands on workshops (i.e. IO placement with EZ-IO and manual with didactics on who what where when why). Every other Thursday. i'm jealous.

The opportunities for research are limitless and the mentorship is well established. Residents have opportunities to start and finish scholarly activity projects to get their feet wet during their training. nice mix of marrieds, singles, kids, no kids, etc.-- very collegial resident groups. workdays are very reasonable and no 24 hour calls. as an anesthesia resident you can get your icu requirement done in a combination any of the SICUs, Neuro CCU or Peds ICU. Great peds exposure, you'll probably do more peds cardiac then you ever wanted to 🙂 Much of my best learning was saturday night trauma-rama- shock trauma is definitely not the only show in town.

Bottom line- if the ability to live 30 yards from the backdoor of the hospital is vitally important to you, then go with MGH. but if you like a reasonable lifestyle and schedule with a collegial atmosphere and supportive faculty, outstanding cases, then Hopkins gives MGH a true run for the money.
 
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checkov said:
Just to give you some objective data on location statistics between Boston and Baltimore, this chart may help:

bb.png


Please PM me if you have any questions! Current MGH CA-1, love the program.
Click to expand...

Looks like Boston and Baltimore are both bad choices if you make decisions based on crime statistics which aren't adjusted to the neighborhoods you will actually choose to spend time in.
 
At MGH the anesthesiologists all ride white unicorns into the OR. The IV bags are filled with sunshine and rainbows.

At Hopkins they only get to ride in on golf carts and use Normosol.
 
Every other Thursday, MGH flies its residents to Six Flags. Each OR room is equipped with a trampoline. The main OR desk has not one, but two warm cookie ovens, but there has been modest discontent about this, and our department is considering installing a chocolate fountain. Didactics occur from 7:00 to 7:05 every March 1st, where big Miller is streamed into your head Matrix-style. Surgeons refer to bucking as 'butterfly kisses'. Every case starts on time. OR nurses never ask you for syringes. Instead of yellow MRSA gowns, we have force fields.

Come to MGH. Come see the future.
 
checkov said:
Every other Thursday, MGH flies its residents to Six Flags. Each OR room is equipped with a trampoline. The main OR desk has not one, but two warm cookie ovens, but there has been modest discontent about this, and our department is considering installing a chocolate fountain. Didactics occur from 7:00 to 7:05 every March 1st, where big Miller is streamed into your head Matrix-style. Surgeons refer to bucking as 'butterfly kisses'. Every case starts on time. OR nurses never ask you for syringes. Instead of yellow MRSA gowns, we have force fields.

Come to MGH. Come see the future.
Click to expand...

This post made my day
 
checkov said:
Every other Thursday, MGH flies its residents to Six Flags. Each OR room is equipped with a trampoline. The main OR desk has not one, but two warm cookie ovens, but there has been modest discontent about this, and our department is considering installing a chocolate fountain. Didactics occur from 7:00 to 7:05 every March 1st, where big Miller is streamed into your head Matrix-style. Surgeons refer to bucking as 'butterfly kisses'. Every case starts on time. OR nurses never ask you for syringes. Instead of yellow MRSA gowns, we have force fields.

Come to MGH. Come see the future.
Click to expand...

I second Harrison. Ridiculous.
 
saratoga733 said:
I agree Boston is not cheap... but I was able to manage just fine on my measly 50k/yr. Despite high cost of living, always had money to dine out, buy nice clothes, go on trips. Looking back now, the money I would have saved if I had forgone all the niceties would literally be a drop in the bucket. Hey you only live once and one thing you learn to appreciate doing what we do is that life is short.

Anyways, unfortunately that's just the reality of how things work: more desirable a place is to live the more it costs to live there. So if saving some dough during residency is high up on the to do list... go with Baltimore.
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1) The Giants suck.
2) My point was not to pick a residency in an undesirable location to hoard money. I simply wanted to point out that given the limited free time and income typical for a resident, life in Boston is not going to be a vast upgrade. You're not going to have a yacht on the Charles. You're not going to have a private table at Grill 23. I really don't care that the Boston Orchestra has better pitch or has a better brass section compared to the Baltimore Orchestra. I don't feel any more invigorated running along the Charles as compared to the Inner Harbor. Most residents just want to grab a beer with their buddies with what limited time they have. In my experience - it's the PEOPLE that make a place fun, not so much the environment.
3) Pretty impressive that you were dating around Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU, etc ... AND also taking Harvard tennis lessons when you were an Anesthesiology resident. Did you take all of these dates to McDonald's? Did you not take call? NOT the case for most single MGH residents that I talk to.
4) See above point (3) and my previous reference about people from Boston that feel a need to prove themselves to others.
 
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DoctorPain said:
1) The Giants suck.
2) My point was not to pick a residency in an undesirable location to hoard money. I simply wanted to point out that given the limited free time and income typical for a resident, life in Boston is not going to be a vast upgrade. You're not going to have a yacht on the Charles. You're not going to have a private table at Grill 23. I really don't care that the Boston Orchestra has better pitch or has a better brass section compared to the Baltimore Orchestra. I don't feel any more invigorated running along the Charles as compared to the Inner Harbor. Most residents just want to grab a beer with their buddies with what limited time they have. In my experience - it's the PEOPLE that make a place fun, not so much the environment.
3) Pretty impressive that you were dating around Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU, etc ... AND also taking Harvard tennis lessons when you were an Anesthesiology resident. Did you take all of these dates to McDonald's? Did you not take call? NOT the case for most single MGH residents that I talk to.
4) See above point (3) and my previous reference about people from Boston that feel a need to prove themselves to others.
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Dude take a deep breath and relax before you stroke out. You dig Baltimore. Great, I get it.

I on the other hand prefer... Boston. Believe me, that's NOT an easy thing to profess having been raised in NYC. No, I'm not independently wealthy. I remember quite well my finances-- it wasn't THAT long along (~3 years out). My 1 bedroom walk up apt in Beacon Hill was 1200/mo. I took home about 3100ish a month. That's nearly 2 grand every month to live life how ever you see fit. Sure it goes quickly when you start adding things up but I got by just fine and didn't have to eat mac and cheese every night. As far as free time go, when not in the ICU I averaged 1 weekend call a month. Rarely you have 2 weekends if things don't work out your way. As far as residencies go, that is pretty sweet! Sure on certain rotations such as vascular/ thoracic you get beat up a bit on certain nights. But looking back I wouldn't want it any other way-- I now realize those were the cases that make me the doctor I am today.

"1) The Giants suck."
Don't be jealous.

"...people from Boston that feel a need to prove themselves to others."
Don't know how to respond to a comment like that... sorry you feel that way.
 
As I've said on another thread the only people who can really make a comparison are people who have SPENT TIME at two institutions outside an interview day. I can only dish on the virtues of the program and city I know well. saratoga733-- you prefer Boston, but compared to what? I can't say I prefer Baltimore to Boston cause I've only spent a few weeks in Boston. I just love Baltimore.

DoctorPain has validity in making comparisons having been at both institutions. You and I, saratoga, can only talk about why we like our cities and programs.

My golf cart is shiny.
 
Magnus67 said:
At MGH the anesthesiologists all ride white unicorns into the OR. The IV bags are filled with sunshine and rainbows.

At Hopkins they only get to ride in on golf carts and use Normosol.
Click to expand...

I remember when this guy showed up to camp with this golf cart.

Probably worth more than all the cars I have ever owned.

dal_g_sandersd1_300.jpg
 
givesmegas said:
I'm also interested in the comparison of these two. Any other comments on the clinical training and environment of the programs? Maybe more (docpain?) regarding service-to-education?
Click to expand...
Attention medical students: - just to recap some very important career advice points from discussion with saratoga733:
1) he dated multiple women across a plethora of college campuses as a MGH resident
2) it is possible to meet beautiful women taking tennis lessons at Harvard
3) these experiences and occasional late nights at MGH have molded him into the great man that he is today

If you come to Boston, you can also date various college students, play tennis, and also become great someday. I assure you that Baltimore has no colleges nor tennis courts. However, it is still possible to become great after living there.
____

Now onto some other points brought up previously ... To answer the question regarding service-to-education - there are huge differences between Hopkins and MGH. Obviously college days are unique among residency programs, and it is nice to get out of the ORs every other Thursday. There are obvious benefits to reading, journal clubs, and clinical workshops during these college days (ultrasound, cricothyrotomy lab with ENT, anatomy workshop, etc &#8230😉 One of the frequent criticisms I hear from residents at MGH is that they never have time to read (boards, ITE, journals), nor do they have an abundance of time to participate in research. Another caveat is that most residents get yelled at for reading in the OR at MGH, while most Hopkins attendings don't seem to care if you are past the CA-1 level (and things are stable).

However, there is also something to be said also about the educational value of doing a lot of cases late into the night. As a practicing Anesthesiologist, you are going to be judged mostly by your comfort in handling sick patients, efficiency in starting cases (airway, lines, turnover equipment), and in waking up the patient. No one cares if you can draw out flow-volume loops or discuss the effects of general anesthesia on FRC. I can tell you that it was not uncommon to see Hopkins CA-3s asking to be excused from college days to do big cases towards the end of training. One of the downsides from being at Hopkins is that by having an inconsistent resident presence in the operating rooms, sometimes cool cases or procedures would be done at the attending or CRNA levels. "I didn't try looking for a resident to do this awake fiberoptic because I never know if there will be one around."

I honestly can't objectively tell you the perfect balance between the two. You learn a lot by working hard and doing a lot of cases. You can also learn a lot by having time to read about complex physiology, from medical journals, or by being able to participate in research. My advice as an applicant would be to think about how you learn best and what you are looking to get out of residency (large number of cases versus sacrificing some clinical experience to read/publish) if you are lucky enough to be debating between these two places.
 
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DoctorPain said:
Attention medical students: - just to recap some very important career advice points from discussion with saratoga733:
1) he dated multiple women across a plethora of college campuses as a MGH resident
2) it is possible to meet beautiful women taking tennis lessons at Harvard
3) these experiences and occasional late nights at MGH have molded him into the great man that he is today

If you come to Boston, you can also date various college students, play tennis, and also become great someday. I assure you that Baltimore has no colleges nor tennis courts. However, it is still possible to become great after living there.
____

Now onto some other points brought up previously ... To answer the question regarding service-to-education - there are huge differences between Hopkins and MGH. Obviously college days are unique among residency programs, and it is nice to get out of the ORs every other Thursday. There are obvious benefits to reading, journal clubs, and clinical workshops during these college days (ultrasound, cricothyrotomy lab with ENT, anatomy workshop, etc &#8230😉 One of the frequent criticisms I hear from residents at MGH is that they never have time to read (boards, ITE, journals), nor do they have an abundance of time to participate in research. Another caveat is that most residents get yelled at for reading in the OR at MGH, while most Hopkins attendings don't seem to care if you are past the CA-1 level (and things are stable).

However, there is also something to be said also about the educational value of doing a lot of cases late into the night. As a practicing Anesthesiologist, you are going to be judged mostly by your comfort in handling sick patients, efficiency in starting cases (airway, lines, turnover equipment), and in waking up the patient. No one cares if you can draw out flow-volume loops or discuss the effects of general anesthesia on FRC. I can tell you that it was not uncommon to see Hopkins CA-3s asking to be excused from college days to do big cases towards the end of training. One of the downsides from being at Hopkins is that by having an inconsistent resident presence in the operating rooms, sometimes cool cases or procedures would be done at the attending or CRNA levels. "I didn't try looking for a resident to do this awake fiberoptic because I never know if there will be one around."

I honestly can't objectively tell you the perfect balance between the two. You learn a lot by working hard and doing a lot of cases. You can also learn a lot by having time to read about complex physiology, from medical journals, or by being able to participate in research. My advice as an applicant would be to think about how you learn best and what you are looking to get out of residency (large number of cases versus sacrificing some clinical experience to read/publish) if you are lucky enough to be debating between these two places.
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I think we've beaten this thing to death so I will summarize my main points and leave it at that. Trying to stay on topic here. OP originally expressed concern about 2 things primarily: 1) Location 2) Being single

I still contend Boston is a nicer/safer/prettier place to live-- especially around the hospital. You can live close by and NOT have to commute. To me that is huge. If you can tolerate Baltimore, so be it. Baltimore has experienced a population decline in each of the last 5 decades. I wonder why?

Young professionals/grad students abound in Boston. Lots of activities/classes/events in surrounding areas to meet other singles. Sure I worked hard but did manage to MAKE TIME to enjoy life. And no, you don't have to like tennis to have a chance to get lucky. Nice single guys/gals in Baltimore? I don't doubt it, but for sure not in as high a concentration and in such a small area.

Sorry, no "college day" at MGH. Although you can still look forward to weekly didactics, grand rounds, m/m, journal club, rotation specific talks, patient simulator lab, etc. PERSONALLY, I still thought there were way too many lectures for my liking-- but that's just me.

"Attention medical students: - just to recap some very important career advice points from discussion with saratoga733:
1) he dated multiple women across a plethora of college campuses as a MGH resident
2) it is possible to meet beautiful women taking tennis lessons at Harvard
3) these experiences and occasional late nights at MGH have molded him into the great man that he is today"

Sounds about right! Good times for sure. Just a minor correction though... a great man, NO... a decent anesthesiologist, I like to think so.

Spezimdoc, I wish you the best of luck. Go with your heart and don't look back!
 
So I am a current resident at MGH and came across this thread. No I am not a chief and no my program did not ask me to write this. I am writing this because I want to give my opinion on what MGH is like.

1) I think the biggest thing that made me choose MGH was the people. I just felt like I fit in on my interview day/pre-interview dinner. As a resident now I can say my hunch was right and that my co-residents and the vast majority of my attendings are awesome. I think its very important to pick a place where you feel comfortable.

2) As far as service to education ratio goes, I feel like we have a great balance. We get relieved by 5pm on most (>95%) days. We only stay if there is "educational value " to our cases (i.e. double lumen tube, cardiac bypass, infant under 3 months, etc.) We have 3-4 hours of didactics a week. Average number of hours per week are around 60 for most rotations.

3) Our program is constantly finding ways to make things better. For example we thought that our 1st call resident (aka team leader) should be able to come in late on call days. Our program responded by making that happen. Now the 1st call comes in at 2pm and stays overnight. We felt that weekend short calls were not ideal, they eliminated Saturday short calls. The program is now working on rotation specific simulations because we asked for them. For example before you start vascular you will go to a simulator and deal with a ruptured AAA.

4) I am not too far into my residency but as far as time for research goes my co-residents seem to find plenty of time. I think of the current CA-3 class at least 60% have already published and many more have things in the works.

5) I used to live in Baltimore and trust me Boston is a much better town. Other than that Hopkins is a great institution and I am sure they have a top notch program.

6) MGH is by no means a perfect place and you will have to work hard here. However, I believe that is going to be true of any top program.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Good luck!
 
Socrates25 said:
I dont know anything about MGH/Boston, but I know that the Hopkins leadership sold out long ago to CRNA propaganda.

There's one particular faculty person there named Pamela Lipsett who is faculty on surgery, anesthesia, and "nursing." She singlehandedly spearheads efforts by multiple CRNA schools to increase access to the Hopkins ORs.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/anesthesiology/faculty/bios/lipsett.shtml
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It's interesting how you are a pediatric chief resident going into pediatric cardiology and you have detailed information on Pam Lipsett (a surgeon) and the CRNA trends at Hopkins, as well as Hopkins Adult GI selling out to NPs
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=11724845#post11724845


It's clear you have an axe to grind with Hopkins. What's the story? 🙄
Unless you are intimately involved with the program, you don't know what you're talking about.

My response:
Hopkins CRNA program is robust and serves to decrease resident workload and do the "everyday" cases so that the residents can do the complex, and more educational cases. Pam Lipsett is one of the best intensivists and educators int he adult ICU world. 1 week on service with Pam and you will be a resident rock star in any ICU. She is hardcore, but fantastic at what she does.

If you have information you feel is true, you have to back it up-- not just throw around some random stuff that has no substantiation. You have made it a point of knocking people/institutions all over this board in various forums. I won't let a program I have high esteem for be tarnished by someone who doesn't know it.
 
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michigangirl said:
It's clear you have an axe to grind with Hopkins. What's the story? 🙄
Unless you are intimately involved with the program, you don't know what you're talking about.

My response:
Hopkins CRNA program is robust and serves to decrease resident workload and do the "everyday" cases so that the residents can do the complex, and more educational cases. Pam Lipsett is one of the best intensivists and educators int he adult ICU world. 1 week on service with Pam and you will be a resident rock star in any ICU. She is hardcore, but fantastic at what she does.

If you have information you feel is true, you have to back it up-- not just throw around some random stuff that has no substantiation. You have made it a point of knocking people/institutions all over this board in various forums. I won't let a program I have high esteem for be tarnished by someone who doesn't know the program.
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Wow Hopkins needs to put you on their PR payroll. In particular, your vigilant defense of their "safe" campus is quite amusing. :laugh:

I'll clear my background up since you are so insistent on separating the claim from the claimant: I applied to Hopkins undergrad and got rejected. I applied to Hopkins Med and got rejected. I appleid to Hopkins residency and got rejected. Therefore, I had to attend a 3rd world ****hole Carribean school and now I have a vendetta to come after Hopkins at any chance I can get. There, does that make you feel better? 😀

I will continue to call out EVERYONE who continues to undercut physicians in this country by training midlevels, regardless of whether they are an "elite" institution like Hopkins or a rural no-name program.

Thanks for reminding me about the adult GI imbecile who wants to train nurse "fellows" to run scopes, you're not really defending that crap are you?

I've got another Hopkins example for you (although its not as outrageous as the adult GI sellout).

Dr Ed Miller (an anesthesiologist) and Dr David Nichols (an anesthesiologist), the CEO and vice dean for education at Hopkins, were featured in a Hopkins magazine story several years ago in which they essentially denigrated primary care as a whole and primary care as doctors' domain in particular. Here is the link:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/F07/circling.cfm#5
 
Socrates25 said:
Wow Hopkins needs to put you on their PR payroll. In particular, your vigilant defense of their "safe" campus is quite amusing. :laugh:

I'll clear my background up since you are so insistent on separating the claim from the claimant: I applied to Hopkins undergrad and got rejected. I applied to Hopkins Med and got rejected. I appleid to Hopkins residency and got rejected. Therefore, I had to attend a 3rd world ****hole Carribean school and now I have a vendetta to come after Hopkins at any chance I can get. There, does that make you feel better? 😀

I will continue to call out EVERYONE who continues to undercut physicians in this country by training midlevels, regardless of whether they are an "elite" institution like Hopkins or a rural no-name program.

Thanks for reminding me about the adult GI imbecile who wants to train nurse "fellows" to run scopes, you're not really defending that crap are you?

I've got another Hopkins example for you (although its not as outrageous as the adult GI sellout).

Dr Ed Miller (an anesthesiologist) and Dr David Nichols (an anesthesiologist), the CEO and vice dean for education at Hopkins, were featured in a Hopkins magazine story several years ago in which they essentially denigrated primary care as a whole and primary care as doctors' domain in particular. Here is the link:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/F07/circling.cfm#5
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Is that what you got out of that article? goodness.
As you have started attacking close personal mentors and friends, I am going to have to stay silent through your mindless crusade. David Nichols is also a pediatrician and pediatric intensivist. But I'm sure you already knew that.

Guess you won't be purchasing

http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Hear...=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329856045&sr=1-9

for peds cards fellowship!

And if people don't want to come to Hopkins because Ed Miller and David Nichols want physicians to step it up and take things to the next level, so be it! The CEO of Hopkins Medicine (Ed Miller) is an anesthesiologist who used to head the department and provide anesthesia in our ORs. Sounds like a huge disadvantage to the department and program.
 
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Hopkins vs. MGH? Its been mentioned a few times before that its a wash. But here are my observations:

Reputation:
MGH=Harvard and all the prestige that comes along with it, you will see this in the residents and attendings. Nevermind that many of them wouldn't have prayer to get into Harvard's Med School, they bandy the "Harvard" name about with pride, and sometimes arrogance. Hopkins guys don't really have the PR (especially in Baltimore itself) to wear the badge with pride. Of course in postgraduate medicine Hopkins>Harvard in almost any physician's mind, but with the lay public it is otherwise.

Clinical:
MGH works hard, Hopkins works smart. CA-3's at Hopkins work as "junior attendings" on call - running cases and working the board, thats where the rubber meets the road. MGH and Hopkins both have great rotations across the board. Hopkins does HSS regional which is the best in the world, so thats the only large difference.

Education:
Hopkins>>MGH. They take entire workdays off to study didactics that have been set up by their PD who is getting a masters in education. They learn directly from some of the best Anesthesiology minds and Surgical/ICU faculty in a classroom setting. No other program can claim that.

Location:
Boston>>Baltimore. Make whatever argument you want, it is what it is.

Research:
Really strong faculty in each department with full professors abound. Pick your interest and your mentor according to your interests. Keep in mind the big guy in the journal may be a different cat when you meet and try to set something up in person.

There, I have wasted some of your time and probably told you something you already knew....
 
RexMorganMD said:
Hopkins vs. MGH? Its been mentioned a few times before that its a wash. But here are my observations:

Reputation:
MGH=Harvard and all the prestige that comes along with it, you will see this in the residents and attendings. Nevermind that many of them wouldn't have prayer to get into Harvard's Med School, they bandy the "Harvard" name about with pride, and sometimes arrogance. Hopkins guys don't really have the PR (especially in Baltimore itself) to wear the badge with pride. Of course in postgraduate medicine Hopkins>Harvard in almost any physician's mind, but with the lay public it is otherwise.

Clinical:
MGH works hard, Hopkins works smart. CA-3's at Hopkins work as "junior attendings" on call - running cases and working the board, thats where the rubber meets the road. MGH and Hopkins both have great rotations across the board. Hopkins does HSS regional which is the best in the world, so thats the only large difference.

Education:
Hopkins>>MGH. They take entire workdays off to study didactics that have been set up by their PD who is getting a masters in education. They learn directly from some of the best Anesthesiology minds and Surgical/ICU faculty in a classroom setting. No other program can claim that.

Location:
Boston>>Baltimore. Make whatever argument you want, it is what it is.

Research:
Really strong faculty in each department with full professors abound. Pick your interest and your mentor according to your interests. Keep in mind the big guy in the journal may be a different cat when you meet and try to set something up in person.

There, I have wasted some of your time and probably told you something you already knew....
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My non contributory note: found that you still have to explain to lay people that MGH is Harvard, especially those not from the northeast whereas Hopkins is Hopkins.
 
While this thread has gotten quite interesting, it's a bummer no one has a word to say about the other 2 Harvard anesthesia programs.
 
That's true, but that wasn't the question I posed earlier in the thread. I was looking for comparisons of the experience / reputation among Hopkins, BIDMC, and Brigham.
 
Bertelman said:
So cross-ref that prior thread with this one.
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People say "go with your gut, go where you'll be happiest." I'm someone who pays attention to the "should haves," also. I don't want to say, "Everyone knows I shpuld have gone to X instead of Y if I actually wanted a better program" - if such objective differences actually are that large.
 
acrolentiginous said:
People say "go with your gut, go where you'll be happiest." I'm someone who pays attention to the "should haves," also. I don't want to say, "Everyone knows I shpuld have gone to X instead of Y if I actually wanted a better program" - if such objective differences actually are that large.
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Everyone here knows. In reality, no one knows. Too many variables. Your happiness is determined by your own attitude, your own expectations, your residency class, the town, etc.
 
Bertelman said:
Everyone here knows. In reality, no one knows. Too many variables. Your happiness is determined by your own attitude, your own expectations, your residency class, the town, etc.
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EXACTLY. These threads have to be taken with a HUGE grain of salt. You will notice that all of my pro-Hopkins posts are exactly that-- pro-Hopkins. Not anti-anything/anywhere else. I defend our program (if appropriate) when someone who has no experience at Hopkins makes a baseless comment (i.e. some that have come up just in this thread). When someone asks, I tell them what I think my program/city has to offer. And that is it. It's MY opinion. Not everyone on this board functions that way. People will tell you what they've "heard" or could be just making stuff up. Why do I feel I need to "defend" when people say baseless things, or ,sing the praises of a program I think is great? After all, I may be a complete poser. Because I know there are impressionable people such as yourself, acro, who put a lot of store in a forum like this to help you make a decision, for good or bad. And the last thing I want is for people like you (and there are many) to "rule out" a strong program because an anonymous person with no info said something to turn you off.

If you are truly having difficulty with the decision, need advice, have questions about comparing a bunch of places-- talk to people who have a face-- department chairs at your school, faculty who have trained/worked at these places, residents at these institutions. Most programs will give out names/emails of residents to any applicant who wants them so you can get the info you need and ask the hard questions. Faculty at your school can give you their thoughts about reputation, etc. Noone wants to have regrets. But to be honest, very few people do when they are dealing with the quality of programs that you are. Once you dive into the work and learning of residency, there will be no time to focus on the "should haves"-- make the most educated decision you can based on a number of factors, and go with it. You'll be fine. I'm always available by PM. Good luck. 🙂
 
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