How many years is the program?

• BIDMC is a 3-year residency program but offers an optional fourth-year after you graduate in a junior attending role. This optional fourth year allows graduates to remain in the BIDMC ED for a year after graduation in a unique role that allows you to work as an attending physician with further training in a specialized area of academic or professional interests. Please see our Resident Curriculum page for more information.

How many residents are in each class?

• There are 13 residents per year.

Who will my ED attendings be?

• There are over 60 attending physicians at BIDMC that you will work with over your three years. A unique aspect of our staffing model is that the majority of our BIDMC attending physicians also work shifts at various BIDMC-affiliated community Emergency Departments in the greater Boston area. This means that the attending physicians that you work with are not only great teachers, but they are also expert proceduralists because they are responsible for all of their own procedures at these community sites where they work without residents. 

What is the patient population like at BI?

• BIDMC cares for a medically and socioeconomically diverse patient population of the greater Boston area. As a quaternary care center that is also the only liver transplant center in Boston, BI receives many transfers for patients needing higher levels of care which broadens the catchment area to all throughout New England. We rank near the top in the country for acuity, admission rate, and ESI 1s+2s, and rank near the bottom in low-acuity ESI 4s+5s.  

Are there different acuity zones in the ED?

• The Core (Rooms 1-16) and Red Zone (Rooms 17-23)  are our two higher acuity zones. All residents and attendings sit in the core so it can be quite busy! We also have a Clinical Decision Unit (CDU), more commonly referred to as our Observation Unit for patients. We do not have a fast-track section. 

How are the teams divided in the ED?

• There are multiple care teams in the ED (Teams 1, 2, and 3). Each team has one attending and multiple residents. Being on a specific team does not restrict you to seeing patients in specific zones. Any team is able (and encouraged) to see patients in any area of the emergency department.

What are the roles of each PGY in the emergency department?

• PGY-1 residents are able to see any patient in the ED, however when patients come in and are activated as a trigger (eg, patients with unstable vital signs, or trauma, stroke, or STEMI activations), those are seen by the PGY-2 residents. However, if as a PGY-1 you see a patient and they decompensate while in the ED and then get triggered, you will keep the patient and perform all necessary procedures. PGY-3 residents serve as a supervisory role in the ED and go to all triggers with the PGY-2. 

How are traumas managed between surgery and EM?

• Traumas are split at BI. On even days, the EM resident will do procedures (FAST exam, central lines, chest tubes, etc), while the Surgery resident will run the trauma (primary exam, secondary exam etc). These roles flip on odd days. This split is fantastic because it clearly delineates who is doing what and avoids any “stealing” of procedures.

Who does airways?

• The EM team owns all airways for all of our patients!

Is pharmacy available in house?

• An ED pharmacist is available every day from 7am-11pm. After hours, the pharmacist covers both the ED and the ICU, so is always available but may not be sitting in the ED like during daytime hours.

Do you have social work and case management in house?

• Yes! We have social work and case management from 7a-11p 7 days a week in the ED, a SANE nurse available 24/7, and an in-house social worker who is available 24/7 in the case of overnight emergencies. 

What is the pediatrics ED experience like?

• You'll gain diverse pediatric experience through formal rotations each year and by treating children at community hospital sites. As a PGY-1, you'll complete 4 weeks at Boston Children's Hospital and 2 weeks at Tufts. During your PGY-2 year, you'll spend two, 2-week blocks at South Shore Hospital plus an additional 2 weeks split between Boston Children's Hospital and South Shore Hospital. In your PGY-3 year, you'll have 4 weeks at Boston Children's Hospital and 4 weeks in the Boston Children's Pediatric ICU.

• While the Beth Israel ED does not treat children, you'll see many pediatric patients during your community hospital rotations throughout all three years. At these sites, you'll often manage some of the sickest children you'll encounter, working one-on-one with the attending physician since there are no other residents present.

What EMR do you use?

• Epic! All community sites use Epic as well!

Is there dictation software?

• Yes, all BI ED workstations have Dragon.

What are the different clinical sites?

• Please see our page with descriptions of our Clinical Sites

Do I need a car to get to the clinical sites?

• It is not required to have a car. Many of our sites are very easily accessible by public transit. However, it does make life significantly easier, and many residents do have a car. 

How far are the clinical sites? And do residents like the different community rotations?

• The majority of clinical sites are within 30 minutes of the hospital and usually closer depending on where you live. The two exceptions are South Shore where you will go for 6 weeks broken into 2-week blocks during PGY-2 which is roughly 45 minutes from the hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital where you will go for one month during PGY-3 year, which is about 60 minutes from BI. Because St. Luke's is further away, we will reimburse for gas/mileage for your commutes, and also offer to pay for a hotel when you have consecutive shifts to help minimize commuting.  While getting to these sites takes more time, they are routinely our highest-rated rotations, because you get to work in a high-volume community ED without any residents and you get to do many, if not all, of the major procedures in the EDs. Additionally, during your PGY-3 year, you will spend 4 weeks rotating at the Brockton ICU (BRICU), which is about 30 minutes away from BIDMC. We offer free Lyft transportation to and from the hospital during your month. The BRICU is nearly universally our best-rated rotation of residency!