Resident Life & Groups
Your Experience Starts Here
BIDMC aims to provide each resident with a well-rounded educational and clinical experience. The Internal Medicine Residency Program is recognized for outstanding clinical training, patient safety and quality improvement innovation, research opportunities and exceptional mentorship from world-class generalists. The program has a supportive and encouraging environment between BIDMC faculty and residents that pushes residents to become future leaders in medicine.
What Sets BIDMC Apart
When asked what makes this program special, the resounding answer from our house staff is "the heart and camaraderie of the program." The workplace and learning environment is supportive, collegial and fun. Residency should not be about simply surviving but, rather, thriving professionally and personally. Residents truly enjoy their years at BIDMC and graduate with not only outstanding clinical and academic expertise but also a network of professional colleagues and friends.
Living in Boston
Boston is an intellectual, vibrant city which hosts diverse sets of students and cultures at renowned academic centers and institutions. It's also a city with old roots and a storied past.
As a BIDMC resident, your Harvard ID grants you free access to museums like the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts. Other popular outings include Shakespeare on the Common, a free summer event held each year in the United States' oldest city park. As a biotechnology and medical hub, you can also take advantage of unique opportunities for education and innovation – pictured to the right is a resident who worked with MIT students to host BIDMC's first hackathon.
Additionally, your BIDMC badge gives you a taste of Red Sox nation with $5 tickets available on game days. Residents also enjoy spectating the Head of the Charles Regatta, the world's biggest rowing competition.
Throughout the city, you'll find different neighborhoods with different personalities and flavors. Some of our residents' favorite food outings include visiting breweries, grabbing dim sum in Chinatown, trying Boston's famous seafood, and checking out different food halls.
Our residents love Boston's prime location in the Northeast, in close proximity to both nature and other cities. North of Boston, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire offer some of the highest peaks in the area for hiking and skiing. Drive south and you'll hit Providence, New Haven, and New York City. Some of our traveling traditions include an end of year intern trip and an annual trek to Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park, Maine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the housestaff up to when not working?
All kinds of fun activities in and around Boston! The housestaff camaraderie is one of the best aspects of the BIDMC program. Each year the Department of Medicine pays for a formal holiday party with coverage provided to allow all housestaff to attend. The intern class also has department sponsored events during orientation, including a clam bake and harbor cruise. During the year, interns are provided coverage to attend two intern retreats, one in the fall and one in the spring. There are multiple other department sponsored dinners and events throughout the year. Residents have weekly ambulatory happy hours, potluck dinners, a program wide softball team, movies, BBQs, local sporting events (walking distance to Fenway), hiking, biking, and everything in between.
How well do the housestaff get along?
The housestaff relationships are one of the best aspects of the BIDMC program. Residents function as a team, whether it is consulting a colleague on nightfloat regarding treatment decisions, celebrating each other’s success or supporting one another through challenging clinical scenarios. There are innumerable stories of residents stepping outside their dedicated role to help another resident who may be overwhelmed or overworked due to unforeseen circumstances. As an example, Dr. Smith recently sent a note to thank a resident who volunteered to help out a colleague and she responded: "Thanks Dr. Smith, but I wasn't doing anything different than what everyone around me is doing! Pretty amazing place to work..."
Can you afford to live in Boston?
Yes. Although it is expensive to live in Boston, our salaries are appropriately adjusted to the cost of living. Although most people rent, there are also a number of housestaff who have been able to purchase condos in parts of downtown Boston as well as nearby Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Newton, and other close suburbs. For more information please take a look at the benefits page.
Do you get any holidays off?
Holidays are divided into three 5 day blocks over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Interns get their first choice and one holiday off. Junior residents have one holiday off which is often their first choice as well. Senior residents get last choice but in exchange, they have two holidays off. This holiday time is in addition to dedicated vacation time.
Where do people live?
Most people live in walking distance from the hospital in Fenway, Brookline or Brookline Village. If you have a car, Jamaica Plain is a popular location. In addition, residents live everywhere from Cambridge to the South End and even outside the city, such as Chestnut Hill.
What will my meals be like at BIDMC?
The BIDMC internal medicine residency program provides outside catered food each day for lunch, including Mexican and Indian food, salads, gourmet sandwiches, and pizza. The program also provides meal cards with money allotted each year to be used in the cafeterias on the east and west campuses, cafes, as well as the coffee shop in the Rosenberg building. The hospital provides free food to housestaff on call on the weekends. The internal medicine housestaff are lucky enough to have a dedicated housestaff lounge with a Flavia machine. Between the two campuses, there is a Pret a Manger, Caffe Nero, B. Good, Clover (great for vegetarians), and a food court where you can buy anything from McDonald's to burritos.
Learn more about various community groups available for residents throughout their time at BIDMC.
Resident Community Groups
The Beth Israel Deaconess Innovation Group (BIG) provides community, resources, and training for residents interested in improving medicine and healthcare delivery through innovations in technology, business, and health systems. To join BIG, please email us here.
The Resident Information Services Committee (RISC) gives housestaff a voice in transforming health information technology at the medical center, including electronic health records and mobile apps.
The House Officer Council (HOC) improves resident quality of life with wellness traditions and initiatives such as the annual Big Little Sib program.
The Katherine Swan Ginsburg Writing Group hosts creative writing workshops for residents and faculty.
The LGBTQ Housestaff promotes community with social events and furthering causes that support our LGBTQ staff and patients. To join the LGBTQ Housestaff, please email us here.
The House Officer Quality Improvement Council (HSQIC) works across different departments to develop and implement quality improvement projects at the medical center.
The Peer Support Group is a multidisciplinary BIDMC-wide group which provides residents with access to a confidential resource when if need of extra support. Residents also have the opportunity to be elected by peers to participate in this program as a peer mentor.
Harvard Medical School’s Mentorship Program allows residents to act as mentors to medical students while on their internal medicine clerkships. It pairs residents who are not direct supervisors to the students with mentees to provide a bias-free resource to students and allows residents to develop teaching and mentorship skills.
The Resident Recruitment Advisory Committee (RRAC) gives residents an opportunity to shape the Internal Medicine Residency program and welcome new trainees.
The BIDMC GME Trainee Wellness Committee serves as an interdepartmental platform that works to support wellness across the institution in multiple domains, specifically focusing on community building, career and professional development, healthy lifestyle, and promotion of resiliency. To join the BIDMC GME Trainee Wellness Committee, please email us here.
Resident Wellness Activities
Maintaining healthy levels of work-life balance and a positive mental mindset can often be a challenge in residency training in the United States. At BIDMC, we pride ourselves in creating a happy, supportive environment where residents can thrive professionally, academically, and personally.
We have a number of programs in place to support residents’ wellness. For example, this year all residents were given tickets to attend the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition, we carve out protected time for wellness afternoons, yoga and guided meditation.
A hospital-wide program that provides extra training to resident peers to provide support for such issues as identifying resources for coping with stress, processing stressful situations, and whatever else may be helpful to colleagues. Big/Little Sibs Program: An idea brought about by two recent residents, this program matches incoming interns with a junior or senior resident based on similar occupational and extracurricular interests. Our big sibs serve as mentors and guides throughout the very first days of internship and beyond.
During the Internship, residents have the opportunity to participate in Intern Forums and Intern Retreats to bond with colleagues and faculty and to reflect on their experiences. Learn more about unique Internship Year activities.
Housestaff have several Flex Days that can be used throughout internship and residency to enable them to make it to important family events, doctor's appointments, etc.
When residents are applying to fellowship or interviewing for jobs, the Chief Medical Residents play a very active role in getting them coverage and making sure they can get to interviews without excessive struggle. We are one of the few residency programs nationwide to offer this and it saves our residents many hours of finagling their schedules.
BIDMC residents work hard! We do not allow the year to pass without celebrating the passage of time, holidays and accomplishments. Interns begin their year with a tour of the Boston Harbor aboard a harbor cruise-ship. An annual holiday party is held for all housestaff in December where hospital-wide overnight coverage is provided by recent BIDMC graduates who remain in the Boston area. At the end of the year the interns are treated to the Sidel Dinner at the Harvard Club to mark their accomplishment and bid farewell to their preliminary-intern colleagues as they move on to their specialty residency programs. Senior residents are similarly celebrated with graduation events prior to moving on to fellowships, research positions and practice.
Residency requires balance and maintaining a healthy mindset and healthy lifestyle. The Chief Residents thus organize Residency Adventures, which include several active events around the Boston area. Prior events include a bike ride through the historical Minuteman national parkway, several 5K runs, a rock climbing night, and Downhill and Cross-country ski days. The Residency leadership generously supports these healthy and fun endeavors.