MGH vs Brigham vs BID review/interview experience help

[DrHeartMD]

Hi guys,

I have these interviews in the ensuing weeks and would REALLY like to hear from people regarding their experiences...in particular would like to hear about the interview days (specifically panel interview at MGH, brigham's interview process and the like). I would also like to hear about the merits of these programs from people's perspective (please no "it's MGH" or "it's the brigham" posts...)we all know the name, but is there substance behind it, and is there malignancy, etc etc...I am just brainstorming my ROL (not saying I will make the program's ROL, but we still have to prepare our own), and I have heard from different posters about interview experiences for every other one of my top choices, but not about these programs...Basically, do these programs offer anything other than the name to attract an applicant away from say columbia (NYC location) or penn (friendly powerhouse) which offer great fellowship placement with some other benefits...

Love to hear your opinions...thanks a lot

J

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[coogmed]

here's my 2 cents- I can only speak to BIDMC and BWH, as MGH decided I wasn't worth their time !!

Firstly, I felt that Brigham deserved the reputation that it has amongst the applicants, usnews, whatever. Everything on display that day was top notch- morning report was exceptional and really shows the depth and breadth of learning at the Brigham and how relaxed the learning environment is- there was ample participation from the intern to senior attentendings, and each contributed equally to the discussion. The leadership of the program is stellar and has been in place for a long time- in fact, longevtiy is really a key feature of all of the faculty- it seems that nobody leaves once they come there, which speaks volumes about the kind of environment they have at BWH. There was a high emphasis on research and international health in the program (naturally) but they stressed that this comes after ensuring that you are an oustanding clinician first- to what extent this is true, I'm not sure.

Only downside I had about the place is that the housestaff seemed a bit aloof (one of those "vibe" things) but friendly nonetheless- not a huge detractor or a major issue in any way.

Techinical interview day stuff: 2 formal interviews, scheduled before or after lunch and 1 "informal" chat with an assoc. PD. which truly did feel informal. A nonmalignant interview exp. with the hardest questions being the typical "why IM" and "why Brigham". Lunch is with the faculty, so you get a great chance to meet the PD, prev. PD, and chief residents.


BIDMC

Very different exp. for me. A big group (40ish) although not as big as MGH from what I hear. I'm sure other people had a much different experience then me at BIDMC and current residents my bristle at my comments when they read this, but I really didn't feel that this place lived up to the name. It seemed that the residents didn't have as much autonomy or ownership of the patients as some of the other places in regards to order writing or procedures- I know that only the intern can write orders, but that can manifest itself in many different ways- from coming up with the plan yourself to just being a stenographer for the private attending, and it seemed to me at least that it was more of the latter here (the private attending/private pt. thing is a huge sticking point for me). The intern I spoke to the night before also had a beef w/ many of the patient and felt that the patient pop. was more "privlaged" and "entitiled" at BIDMC as opposed to other programs in the area and that, she felt that she was overworked (prob. just an intern feeling the stress of an intern...) in comparision to what she though she was getting into- and she was from a program that was used to hard work. While the Chair was AWESOME, the PD seemed distant, thier roles during the day seemed almost reversed compared to other places I've been to, and many of the housestaff said that in many ways the chair is a more visible presence in the program than the PD is.

+'s: Wonderful computer system/ signouts/ pager system- the best I've seen. The chair really is an advocate for the program. Excellent facilites and ancillary services.

Interview day details: 2 interviews in AM, lunch w/ houstaff and faculty, out by 1-2pm!!

I hope this helps, sorry about the lengthy reply!!

 

[DrHeartMD]

Great reply...please dont apologize for length as the more you can say the better it is for any of us who are considering these programs...I am excited to go up there and see these two...anyone have thoughts at MGH also?...thanks again coog for the reply

 

[raph91]

I'll give you what I can ... I ultimately did end up with an interview at MGH, but I didn't receive ones at BIDMC or BWH. I liked the place a bunch, I felt the feared interview wasn't as "to be feared" as people say. I got pimped a bit, but it was related to my research, and I felt it wasn't intentional pimping but interest in my research. All of the faculty were REALLY nice, inquisitive, and all around interesting (which should probably be expected). However, I didn't feel as good of a relationship with the residents (maybe just a bad day?) but I felt like there were some attitudes about being where they are that I didn't get along with. In the end, I walked away liking the place more because of the faculty than because of the residents.

With regards to the Penn, Columbia .... debate, I don't feel like I'm in a position at ALL to respond because I'm not faculty somewhere or on a residency/fellowship selection committee, but I was given "free advice" by one of the MGH faculty I ran into while leaving. He told me that while I'll have a great selection of where to go, the places I'll be choosing between will have minor differences in fellowship placement, education, etc, and that my decision should be based on where I want to be, because of family, friends, or other reasons, and where I "jive" the best with the faculty and the residents. Harvard has more money than the majority of nations and you can do WHATEVER your heart's desire in research if you go there, but there's very little in terms of health-related or clinical research that you can't do at "Brigham, Penn, Hopkins or the other big dogs" (And yes, he said jive and big dogs.)

Hope this helped a bit.

 

[BigBadBix]

I just posted my review of BIDMC in the interview experiences sticky, so feel free to take a look. I did like the program overall, but I can't decide how I want to rank it. I, like coogmed, would strongly prefer a program with less private patients/private attendings so that I could have more autonomy and could really take ownership of my patients. I don't think BIDMC really offers this type of environment except at the VA, and it sounds like that particular VA is a total mess (you literally carry around a bucket of pagers when you are on night float there!). On the other hand, BIDMC does offer great fellowship placement, reputation, research opportunities, esprit de corps, and faculty. I haven't decide if these things will offset the possible lack of autonomy for me.

The interview day and dinner allowed plenty of time to chat with residents and they seemed like a fun, energetic group with a lot of pride in their program. The actual interviews were some of my favorites thus far on the trail - both interviewers were familiar with my file and we had very interesting, laid-back conversations.

I'm headed to MGH on Tuesday so will let you know how it goes. BWH wanted nothing to do with me, so can't help you there.

 

[DrHeartMD]

hiya bix...ill be there at mgh on tuesday too...maybe now I can get to see how big and bad you are as well...its going to be wierd/tough to figure out who you are!!!

btw...thanks for your wonderful review...I appreciate your input and will definitely take a look when im at bid this next week

 

[BigBadBix]

hiya bix...ill be there at mgh on tuesday too...maybe now I can get to see how big and bad you are as well...its going to be wierd/tough to figure out who you are!!!

btw...thanks for your wonderful review...I appreciate your input and will definitely take a look when im at bid this next week

I love how I have just thrown all you guys off by telling you I'm not a guy! I will keep an eye out for you Tuesday, J-Bond, since I'm guessing your username is a hint as to your actual name and I think I've figured out which school you're at. I'll even say hi to you if you promise not to tell anybody about my embarassing username if we end up in the same program next year!

 

[DrHeartMD]

bet you that you haven't figured out much about me, though you think you might have =)...I am working very hard to keep my identity a secret (already had to lie to another user on the trail), but I MIGHT break anonymity if it means figuring out who another random SDN user is...and don't worry Bix, once I figure out who you are, I won't tell another soul...=)

p.s. you going to the dinner tomorrow night? if so see you at 7:07 sharp at Gray hall...

 

[Jo]

Does anyone know which (if any) of these three programs has golden weekends?

 

[2359]

Can someone please speculate on where BIDMC falls in the spectrum of the top IM programs? Top 15? Top 10? I am trying to choose between Penn & BIDMC for my #1 and #2 rankings. I would prefer Boston, but I am not sure if BID is worth passing up on an opportunity at UPenn. Any thoughts?

 

[upekkha]

Can someone please speculate on where BIDMC falls in the spectrum of the top IM programs? Top 15? Top 10? I am trying to choose between Penn & BIDMC for my #1 and #2 rankings. I would prefer Boston, but I am not sure if BID is worth passing up on an opportunity at UPenn. Any thoughts?

I know someone who went to Penn and loved it. The program director is supposed to be amazing. Philadelphia is a great town too. I know people who have really liked BIDMC too.

Maybe you can do a second look? Which place did you feel better at?