Hi!
I am a Tufts resident. We have 3-4 residents per year. Our program has undergone quite a few changes the past few years, and I think that overall they are for the better. For example, we had one rotation that most people dreaded, but now we don't even go to that hospital. We have hired new faculty, and the new rotations give earlier EMG exposure (PGY-2), and increased exposure to ultrasound.
We rotate at several hospitals aside from Tufts, including the VA in West Roxbury (Spaulding rotates with us here) and New England Rehabilitation Hospital. Rotating at different sites has its obvious pluses and minuses, such as exposure to different settings and travel, respectively. I live in Boston, and it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to the other sites (except the VA, which takes about 30). Aside from SCI, on our inpatient rotations, we are technically consultants and essentially co-managing patients with Internal Medicine.
Regarding call: depending on the rotation, we have either in-house call or home call. For in-house call, we essentially do med reconcilitation on new patients and take care of emergencies. We are not responsible for H&Ps. We get free food. We get to go home at 7AM on the dot. For home call, most issues can be taken care of over the phone. Rarely do we have to go in. For Tufts home call, rarely do we even get paged.
The main cons to our program, in my opinion, are: 1. we are not so strong in research, and 2. we do not have our own fellowships. That being said, we certainly have the opportunity to do research projects, and have a department that is dedicated to helping us (statistics, analysis, design, etc). We are beginning to take better advantage of this. As far as fellowships, while our department does not have its own programs, I believe that all of our graduates have gone on to fellowships in their field of choice, including pain and sports.
Overall, I am happy with the program and the direction it is headed. We have no malignant attendings or rotations. We have plenty of time to study, do research, moonlight, and take advantage of Boston. Please let me know if there are any other specific questions!
edit: as far as choosing where to do an away rotation, do it where you want to match more
