Mass General Peds vs Boston Childrens

[khaya42]

Forgive me if this post is somewhere else, but has anyone heard about the MGH peds program and how it compares to Boston Childrens' (prestige, diversity of patients, resident experiences)? Are they equally good? Any ideas why one would chose one over the other? I've heard MGH is a less malignant program, but it's hard to judge that based on just one or two reports.

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[chhsu]

Both are excellent programs. Both are associated with Harvard. Boston Children's Hospital is usually ranked among the top 3 peds programs in the country. MGH is usually ranked in the upper teens so this tells you about ranking and prestige. As for research output, BCH is definitely the powerhouse in peds. They're both great programs but BCH is more reputable probably because it's a hospital solely dedicated to children. Of course, the most important factor in any program is how you feel it fits with your personality, goals and needs. I don't know that much about the malignancy in the programs so perhaps someone else can comment. I hope this helps.

 

[CTWhale]

Hi Khaya,

Both are great programs, but they are different in a number of ways. MGH is a much smaller program, which has both benefits and negative aspects. You'll get more of a feel for this as you go on interviews. That said, it still has exposure to very complicated patients, so you're not missing out on much.

Children's has a better academic reputation, based on the amount of research that comes out of the hospital and the fact that it is a referral hospital for, in some cases, patients from all over the world. Whether this translates to better resident training is a subject that different people have very different opinions about. Again, you'll have to get a sense for how important that is to you.

Lastly, lifestyle-wise Children's is, I think, a harder residency, in that patient loads tend to be higher, patients a little more complicated, and there is less call-free time. There is no way I would call it malignant, as the residents are generally happy there and the administration is very friendly and supportive. But if the most important thing to you is maximizing your free time, it might not be the best option.

With all that said, I don't think you can go wrong with either program. People tend to do extremely well getting jobs/fellowships coming out of both, and you'll get great training at either. It's just a question of which seems to fit you better.