This message is intended for medical students and residents interested in learning more about the Tufts Anesthesia residency program. I am new to the SDN and the forum thing in general. In the interest of transparency- I was encouraged to offer some advice here by my Attending mentors who feel that my experiences in Residency might offer a unique perspective for prospective applicants looking to make an informed choice. I suppose the first thing that I would say is- I feel your pain.
Choosing a residency can be an extremely stressful decision. It seems unreasonable to have to invest all your hard-work and your future career trajectory in programs that- short of doing an away rotation in- you are likely to only have a superficial impression of. The situation is made even more complicated by the interview process, which is typically jovial for Anesthesia- but again rather cursory. You have 15-30 mins with each attending and a scripted presentation to make your decision on; It's not much. Even the interview dinners can be hard to read with everyone trying to make the best impression. Are you among people that you vibe with or not? Hard to tell (although the obnoxious residents can usually be correctly assumed to be even worse to work with). So in that light, I offer you my personal story and hope that it might help.
I matched to a designated Anesthesia position at Tufts from the outset on graduating from Mt Sinai in NY 2012. Since Tufts is a 3 yr program, I had to choose a location for my intern year. I chose to remain at Sinai and complete a year of General Surgery- since I already knew the system and some of the Dept. It proved to be the right choice. My co-residents were awesome. We were all close and have remained friends- particularly my Uro/Ortho/Anesthesia, etc. buddies that were in internship with me. The hours were manageable, the teaching was great, and there was a real sense of team dynamic. I had such a great experience, that I decided to make moves to continue on in General Surgery. In talking to my PD and Attending mentors at Sinai, they were encouraging, but fair and suggested I start Anesthesia and see if it is a better fit- as that had been my plan to begin with.
So I started at Tufts. Loved my co-residents. Again, definitely closest with the people in my year. There is a certain camaraderie in going through stuff together- so you guys will see what I mean when you start your programs. Training was great. The Attendings are very friendly and teach a lot. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses in subspecialty exposure- which is true of most programs. Most hospitals do some things better than others. At Tufts, Neurosurgery, ENT, Ortho, Peds- amazing exposure. Definitely rivals other big names in NY and Boston. The pain service is undergoing an overhaul and seeking to establish a greater presence, but a work in progress. Those that are dead set on pain only as a fellowship track would probably opt for away rotations to get more exposure or pain famous programs- although I would caution those making residency choices with such narrow scope (keep your sights wide- your opinions may change as you train). Despite the paucity of pain service presence Inpatient, the pain Attendings- who also run cases, are among the highest rated by residents in house. Thoracic is almost non-existent, but we have off-site rotations for that and trauma. Over all the training is great and everybody gets along well. Nevertheless, I was bit by the Surgery bug and hell bent on getting a run on the other side of the curtain- so I re-entered the match for Gen Surg and matched to a program in the South.
I am not much for spewing anonymous negativity into cyberspace, so I will be brief about my experience in the South. For those of you interested in gory details, I would be happy to share those in person if we are lucky enough to meet on your interview day. Suffice it to say, the switch was a disaster. Hyper-malignant residents who seemed pretty cool at the dinner- later turned out to be coached to put on a good showing. Work hours were ridiculous, some weeks over 100hrs under the premise of participating in an ACGME study on work hours. Call shifts typically exceeded 30 hrs. Eating was rare. Some would say that's Surgery. Should I not have known better from an awesome experience at Sinai, I might have believed it. This place was just all around bad and the learning amounted to basically nothing amidst the endless scut. I was almost in constant awe of the badness.
Perhaps more poignant, however- and not obvious to me in my time at Tufts, was the degree of training I had received at Tufts in comparison. I saw people going through motions based on algorithms they didn't understand or working with drugs they didn't understand how to use. To me, all those things seemed second nature because of the training I was coming to bat with. I don't think that claim unique to Tufts Anesthesia in any way, b/c the nature of the training we get is to understand medical processes at a level that most don't, but it absolutely speaks to the level of training in the program. You are trained extremely well. So ultimately, facing 5 years of abuse while looking back at Boston to a program full of friends and great training- the answer to me seemed obvious. Thankfully, I was uniquely fortunate, b/c they welcomed me back with open arms, set me on a path for NeuroAnesthesia-ICU, and encouraged me to use my experiences in a positive light.
So I offer this to you all. When looking at programs- go with your gut. Take interview dinners with a grain of salt and appreciate them for what they are- a taste of local cuisine. If you are dissuaded from applying to a program based on an anonymous bashing- you probably don't want to be there anyway. Choose your rank list based on what feels right and where it feels like home, not where you think you can get in. Believe me, resident interactions count for a huge amount- so don't take happy/ friendly resident relationships lightly- they may be a magnifying glass of the program. Lastly, recognizing that this forum is meant to be anonymous- for those of you who do end up interested and interviewing at Tufts- look for me there. I am covered in ink- you can't miss me. I would be happy to help out in whatever way I can in person.
Choosing a residency can be an extremely stressful decision. It seems unreasonable to have to invest all your hard-work and your future career trajectory in programs that- short of doing an away rotation in- you are likely to only have a superficial impression of. The situation is made even more complicated by the interview process, which is typically jovial for Anesthesia- but again rather cursory. You have 15-30 mins with each attending and a scripted presentation to make your decision on; It's not much. Even the interview dinners can be hard to read with everyone trying to make the best impression. Are you among people that you vibe with or not? Hard to tell (although the obnoxious residents can usually be correctly assumed to be even worse to work with). So in that light, I offer you my personal story and hope that it might help.
I matched to a designated Anesthesia position at Tufts from the outset on graduating from Mt Sinai in NY 2012. Since Tufts is a 3 yr program, I had to choose a location for my intern year. I chose to remain at Sinai and complete a year of General Surgery- since I already knew the system and some of the Dept. It proved to be the right choice. My co-residents were awesome. We were all close and have remained friends- particularly my Uro/Ortho/Anesthesia, etc. buddies that were in internship with me. The hours were manageable, the teaching was great, and there was a real sense of team dynamic. I had such a great experience, that I decided to make moves to continue on in General Surgery. In talking to my PD and Attending mentors at Sinai, they were encouraging, but fair and suggested I start Anesthesia and see if it is a better fit- as that had been my plan to begin with.
So I started at Tufts. Loved my co-residents. Again, definitely closest with the people in my year. There is a certain camaraderie in going through stuff together- so you guys will see what I mean when you start your programs. Training was great. The Attendings are very friendly and teach a lot. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses in subspecialty exposure- which is true of most programs. Most hospitals do some things better than others. At Tufts, Neurosurgery, ENT, Ortho, Peds- amazing exposure. Definitely rivals other big names in NY and Boston. The pain service is undergoing an overhaul and seeking to establish a greater presence, but a work in progress. Those that are dead set on pain only as a fellowship track would probably opt for away rotations to get more exposure or pain famous programs- although I would caution those making residency choices with such narrow scope (keep your sights wide- your opinions may change as you train). Despite the paucity of pain service presence Inpatient, the pain Attendings- who also run cases, are among the highest rated by residents in house. Thoracic is almost non-existent, but we have off-site rotations for that and trauma. Over all the training is great and everybody gets along well. Nevertheless, I was bit by the Surgery bug and hell bent on getting a run on the other side of the curtain- so I re-entered the match for Gen Surg and matched to a program in the South.
I am not much for spewing anonymous negativity into cyberspace, so I will be brief about my experience in the South. For those of you interested in gory details, I would be happy to share those in person if we are lucky enough to meet on your interview day. Suffice it to say, the switch was a disaster. Hyper-malignant residents who seemed pretty cool at the dinner- later turned out to be coached to put on a good showing. Work hours were ridiculous, some weeks over 100hrs under the premise of participating in an ACGME study on work hours. Call shifts typically exceeded 30 hrs. Eating was rare. Some would say that's Surgery. Should I not have known better from an awesome experience at Sinai, I might have believed it. This place was just all around bad and the learning amounted to basically nothing amidst the endless scut. I was almost in constant awe of the badness.
Perhaps more poignant, however- and not obvious to me in my time at Tufts, was the degree of training I had received at Tufts in comparison. I saw people going through motions based on algorithms they didn't understand or working with drugs they didn't understand how to use. To me, all those things seemed second nature because of the training I was coming to bat with. I don't think that claim unique to Tufts Anesthesia in any way, b/c the nature of the training we get is to understand medical processes at a level that most don't, but it absolutely speaks to the level of training in the program. You are trained extremely well. So ultimately, facing 5 years of abuse while looking back at Boston to a program full of friends and great training- the answer to me seemed obvious. Thankfully, I was uniquely fortunate, b/c they welcomed me back with open arms, set me on a path for NeuroAnesthesia-ICU, and encouraged me to use my experiences in a positive light.
So I offer this to you all. When looking at programs- go with your gut. Take interview dinners with a grain of salt and appreciate them for what they are- a taste of local cuisine. If you are dissuaded from applying to a program based on an anonymous bashing- you probably don't want to be there anyway. Choose your rank list based on what feels right and where it feels like home, not where you think you can get in. Believe me, resident interactions count for a huge amount- so don't take happy/ friendly resident relationships lightly- they may be a magnifying glass of the program. Lastly, recognizing that this forum is meant to be anonymous- for those of you who do end up interested and interviewing at Tufts- look for me there. I am covered in ink- you can't miss me. I would be happy to help out in whatever way I can in person.
