Boston/NY programs?

[kaplan]

for those of us applying in GI-- let's talk about the east coast a little bit- any thoughts on the boston/NYC programs? also how many of these places end up focusing on internal applicants? I only have heard about boston stuff since I'm here. any impressions re: new york- i.e. sinai and columbia?

my impressions from prior residents interviewing were:
brigham- good program, no transplant, GI a little weaker than the giant cardiology, oncology, and general IM action there. takes 1/2 internal candidates. GI chair there with mixed reviews re: fellow support

BIDMC- [did rotation here as med student] strongest 'clinical' program- happy appearing fellows- heaviest procedure service in northeast- probably strongest medical department they have at BI. + liver transpant. smaller number of fellows and hard to get an interview spot- often take internal chief residents- didn't interview anyone from my program last year

MGH- strong clinically + good research. big program, brutal first year. + transplant. ERCP experience limited mostly to 4th year 'superfellow' between MGH/BWH.

any thoughts about BU and lahey?

i've got nothing on NYC- feel free to chime in.

thank you!
sk

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[wub00]

Great post. Just want to add a few comments on these programs.

Brigham -- Strong clinical training, with a definite research emphasis (not surprising, given BWH being one of the research powerhouses in the world). Still, training well-balanced between clinical and research. Fellows cover the main Brigham hospital, Faukner, the Boston VA, and Lemuel Shattuck, thus allowing broad clinical experience. The in-patient services of Dana-Farber are also located at Brigham. No liver transplant at Brigham (combined BWH/MGH liver transplant program located at MGH). Fellows rotate at MGH for transplant rotations. Liver training otherwise still strong - Norman Grace, who is the director of hepatology, is one of THE biggest names in liver. Interventional endoscopy probably strongest of the three, with some of the most advanced procedures being studied there (e.g. endoluminal procedures, NOTES, bariatric surgery repair, etc.) Fellows may get ERCP experience at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. ~5 fellows/year.

BIDMC -- Ordinarily, the general perception is that BIDMC is the third of the Harvard-affiliated hospital, with BWH and MGH being way ahead. However, it just so happens that GI is one of the strongest divisions in BIDMC. Therefore, for GI, BIDMC is actually much closer to BWH and MGH. Very well-structured division, with clinical expertise in a broad spectrum of GI/liver diseases. Fellows seem happy and more laid-back then the other two. Large patient volume. Offers liver transplant training, though the volume doesn't seem to be that large (the largest liver transplant center in Boston is actually BU). The PD, division chief, and all the faculty are very nice and laid-back. Beware when you contact their office regarding your application. The person answering seems pretty clueless (or not being very upfront). I'd take what he tells you with a grain of salt (especially regarding the status of your app.) ~4 fellows/year.

MGH -- Largest patient volume (though fellows only cover MGH while the BWH fellows cover three other hospitals). VERY research oriented. More specifically, very BASIC research oriented. Very fronted loaded, with tough first year. No more clinical rotations after first 12 months except weekly clinics --> all research after the first year. They STRONGLY encourage all their fellows to get LAB-BASED research experience, regardless of their future interest. Also STRONGLY encourage fellows to take an extra year or two to finish fellowship to allow more research experience. Apparently, one of their former fellows took seven years to finish (though he is now a very successful and well-known academic GI). Most fellows graduate in 4 years. ~4 fellows/year.

In my overall opinion, MGH would be a great place to train for those whose goal is to do basic research, given their heavy, heavy research focus. Clinical and procedure experience may, as a result, suffer a little since it's all research after the first year. For those primarily interested in clinical training and clinical research, BIDMC and BWH would probably be much better choices. They are both strong clinical programs, with a good, broad-based clinical and procedural experience. In particular, BWH gives the fellows the opportunity to rotate through a wide variety of settings (academic center, community hospital, VA, cancer center), therefore allowing a wide-spectrum of patient experience. BWH also seems to provide a more well-balanced training in terms of clinical and research. All 3 programs allow pursuing an MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health. They all seem to have a lot of interactions with each other. All 3, obviously, are top-notch programs.

In terms of the application, with the re-initiation of the match last year, all programs end up taking more outside applicants. Internal applicants, of course, still have an advantage. From what I heard from the pipeline (don't know if it's true), BIDMC ended up with the most internal applicants this past year, with BWH matching the most number of outside applicants.

Reviews of New York programs to follow....

 

[kaplan]

thanks wub! your comments confirm my general perceptions so far. didn't realize BU had such an active transplant program- their program is notable for a couple of oustanding educators in the department, but I was otherwise unimpressed with the educational/financial/research support available to fellows. the 3 harvard programs are unusually difficult to separate out in GI- unlike other specialities in which 1 or 2 hospitals (usually BWH or MGH) is the clear leader-- they all seem to have significant, but different strengths in GI. I think my leading programs at this point are BIDMC and Penn- both with supposedly strong leadership and supportive faculty. But probably need to be in Boston, so will have to look carefully at all programs that I interview at here. Hearing good things about Mt. Sinai too.... but only 2nd hand.

 

[sweetwater]

Here's my very brief contribution to some of the NYC programs. Sounds like you guys are shooting for the top ones; good luck! The top 2 people in the GI world are probably Mt. Sinai and Columbia. Trailing them are Montefiore and Cornell and in the middle tier are Beth Israel, St. Luke's, St. Vincent's, Lenox Hill and the Long Island programs (LIJ, North Shore) plus Westchester Medical Center.

Mt. Sinai: a decent percentage are in-house, many who were Chief AND did another year of research. Ouch. Lots of great GI history there with huge IBD and their transplant program is quietly back on track. Great hepatologists there. Lots of clinical research. In general I've heard that the hospital is rather "fellow-run"...but take with a grain of salt.

Columbia: don't know much, but a terrific program, historically malignant, the division chair is a big time hepatologist. Depressed location.

Montefiore: Only 1-2 inside/year, so outsiders welcome. Oft overlooked program, but very solid and reputable in academic circles. Busy, busy service. City hospital-like setting. Da Bronx.

BI: several hepatologists on staff. Sweet location.

St. Vincent's: diverse pt. population. Lots of HIV/CMV. Best location.

All the middle tier in NY probably take mostly from inside from what I gather. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Any interviews yet? Please post....

 

[BUW]

How about Tufts?

 

[gej]

Just saw this old thread discussing different programs. As interviews are underway, I figure people may like to discuss their impression of programs that they visited. From what I can find, there aren't too many threads that compare different GI programs, so I feel that reviving this thread would be a good place to start.

I interviewed at a number of the programs discussed in the older posts on this thread, and I generally agree with most of the assessments. What do you all think? Any comments on other programs as well?

Hopefully we can generate some good discussions on here.