MGH vs. BWH

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Orioles

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Any thoughts on MGH vs. BWH from current residents or people who have interviewed there?

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I'm currently a junior resident at MGH...and an extremely happy one at that. I have to say that this has been an experience of a lifetime. I've thumbed through some of the threads on this board and would like to dispell some of the rumors.

Rumor #1:
MGH is malignant.
--NO WAY!!! (especially since the 80 hour work week). Although I will admit that before the institution of these rules we did frequently work 100-110 hrs/wk...that was tough, but oddly made me strong. The MGH takes the 80 hour work week seriously, especially after seeing programs like Hopkins lose it accreditation.

Rumor #2:
MGH residents are snotty.
--Only a handful of them. What can you expect? Overly confident people exist EVERYWHERE. The majority (90%) are surprisingly down to earth. There is a broad mix of us from the young folks who did combined BS/MD programs (one guy started our program at 23 y.o.) to MD/PhDs (one who was a professional in a non-medical field before starting med school...joined us at 44 y.o.). There is a strong comraderie between all of us. There is no air of competitiveness. Everyone has already proven themselves in med school.

As an aside, being around overly confident people helps to build your own confidence (I came in with zero confidence). You just can't let it intimidate you.

Rumor #3:
MGH attendings are unapproachable.
--I am still shocked to see how down to earth all of the attendings are. They are all so accomplished and knowledgable. That is what really sets this program apart from most others. Yes, a residency is what you make of it/how much you put into it, but hearing lectures from the individuals who have pioneered their respective specialties makes a big difference. It took coming here for me to realize that.

Rumor #4:
BWH is better than MGH.
--Both programs are equally good. They just have different styles. MGH fosters independent thinking and management from the intern year by having interns take call without a junior/senior resident (although, to my surprise, there was always a senior resident who discussed each case with the interns, attempted to review a relevant topic, and was around to answer any questions through the night....the so called "Bigelow Teach" and "Ellison Teach." The BWH is more of the routine system that most of us are familiar with where interns take call with the junior/senior resident.

There are more rumors, but I think this post may start boring some people if I go on. Please feel free to ask me any questions that may be lingering on your mind. I just have to say that this is a great place with a MOST SUPPORTIVE residency director (Hasan Bazari) that places residents in the fellowships/primary care positions of thier choice.
 
Thanks for your comments on the MGH - anybody for the Brigham?

Thanks.
 
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Originally posted by Orioles
Thanks for your comments on the MGH - anybody for the Brigham?

Thanks.

I graduated from the brigham two years ago. The residency director, Joel Katz MD, is outstanding, and a true advocate for the housestaff.

Also, in regards to autonomy, there is plenty of autonomy for the housestaff. However, to paraphrase an idea from our former residency director, if the patient has pneumonia, autonomy is great. if the patient is having hemoptysis from diffuse alveolar hemorrhage after bone marrow transplant and is hypoxic, some help would be nice.

truthfully, if you went to the mgh, bwh, hopkins, ucsf, duke, or any of the top programs, your training will be outstanding. i can't honestly say that any of these programs will train you better than any other program. what i can say is, choose the brigham for an outstanding quality of life, attendings that are awesome, and fellow housestaff you can rely on, trust, and be friends with for life

j
 
if the patient has pneumonia, autonomy is great. if the patient is having hemoptysis from diffuse alveolar hemorrhage after bone marrow transplant and is hypoxic, some help would be nice.

I like this quote! It's very funny. I remember hearing something like that from the PD when I interviewed at BWH a few years back. I'm a 3rd yr IM resident at Hopkins, which does more the MGH system, where the intern is on call alone. I felt I benefitted from that system, but it is very much a matter of your own learning style.

Never would you be expected to bronch a patient yourself at Hopkins, but hypoxia from an alveolar filling process is hypoxia from an alveolar filling process. I certainly have seen it and dealt with it in the middle of the night by myself, with a call to the fellow as an FYI and can you think of anything else I should be doing?

I'm one of those people who will let someone else take the reigns and then not be very involved myself because I don't really feel like I have a role. So I decided I needed to be somewhere where no one was there to take the reigns, the buck stopped with me. It worked for me.
 
When I think of autonomy issues, I definitely don't think of MGH or Hopkins. Especially at MGH where 50:50 service and private. The autonomy issue pops up more at predominantly private hospitals... Some handle it well while others end up leaving the intern as scut-monkey for the private attendings.
 
Can't give you hard numbers other than what's on the census board in front of me (at Hopkins): there are 23 patients, only one is private. It varies week to week, but service outweighs private by a lot at Hopkins.
 
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