Spaulding/Harvard PM&R

[jessica99]

I just got an interview to spaulding/harvard rehab program. Does anyone have any information on the program- ie what do they look for in an applicant what would increase my chances? Any information would be helpful.
Thanks,
jess

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[Stinky Tofu]

I'm currently a resident in the program. Every year that I've been here, it seems that each group of residents are really different. I think that there are a few characteristics that the program director looks for. He does a ton of research and my inclination is to say that he favors medical students who he thinks will actively participate. My feeling is that medical students who are outgoing and interested in academics would also do well. Starting with this application cycle, we have an Assistant Program Director as well so I think that this may also add a different spin to the way future residents are chosen. I'm not involved with the selection of residents, so these are just my personal impressions. At the AAPM&R website, you'll find the e-mail addresses for the former chief resident (graduated last year) and possibly the next chief. Don't be shy about e-mailing them because they listed their e-mail addresses there to help answer questions from medical students. They would probably give you a better idea as to what the committee is looking for when making a rank list.

http://www.aapmr.org/medstu/resmedment.htm

If you are looking for information about the program itself, I could probably better help you in that regards. Feel free to send me a PM as well. Good luck and let me know how I can help.

 

[tempperson]

Hi Tofu,

I heard from someone that Harvard focuses more on integrating acupunture into pain mgtmnt more so than other PMR programs. Do you know anything about this? Is there a push to use alternative therapies in medical practice. I'm a med student right now, and I seen the baylor dept, and it doesn't seem have a pull towards using acupuncture.

thanks

 

[Stinky Tofu]

I guess the good thing about the Harvard system is the wealth of resources even beyond the Physiatrists in the PM&R department. If you are interested in acupuncture, Dr. Audette would definitely be the attending to rotate with. There are also other attendings who do acupuncture as well, but not as much. On the other hand, we have attendings (both Physiatrists and Anesthesiologists) where you literally do interventional pain procedures all day. In fact, you could spend most of the 4th year doing your own personal fellowship in whatever area of Pain Management you wanted. There are a few residents who did just that and that's probably why they felt they didn't need to do a fellowship after residency. During your PGY-3 year, we do three required Spine rotations that mainly focuses on an intensive spine therapy program and injections.

So basically, if you wanted to, you could spend most of your 4th year being a disc jockey, treating chronic pain, or doing acupuncture. That would be at the extreme of things, but hopefully you'd be motivated to find a good balance. Our program is unique in the number of electives you can do inside the Harvard system or if you wanted to you could fly out to Baylor, Hospital of Special Surgery, Kessler, Stanford, etc. We don't rely on PGY-4s to cover clinics, inpatient rotations, or try to keep them inside the system. A program actually loses money when residents rotate outside the system that's why it is usually kept to a minimum. These are questions that may not seem important now, but when interviewing ask about the number of electives and selectives you can do.

 

[tempperson]

Hi Tofu,

THanks for your response, it was informative. I definitely want to have a program that gives a lot of leeway as to what area of PMR I can focus on 4th year.

Eventually I want to practice in CA, and I haven't checked the laws as to what kind of licensure/training is requisite to practice acupuncture simultaneously in your practice. I know in Texas you have to have licensing at an accredited school of acupuncture, which can take up to 2 years to finish.

 

[rehabdoc]

I also think that the Harvard PM&R program is an excellent teaching program. Agree with Stinky about advantages of electives. Just wanted to make it clear that trying to initiate your practice especially in the area of interventional spine with a few months of electives and observerships is only asking for trouble down the line. There are lots of reason to do a fellowship in an interventional pain/spine program. One being your protection in court of law if something goes bad. Also you are limited in the number of procedures and in sophistication of technique that you could perform, if you have not completed a formal training.

The reason that I am emphasizing on this is that we have med students and junior residents that are learning about our field and I feel responsible to educate them about proper training for more specalized areas of Physiatry.