I did not do any aways in the Boston area (have spent time there working before which I mentioned) but gold signaled and did get interviews from MGH/BIDMC (noting that MGH does not do signaling i guess), I really liked BIDMC as a program culture - they seem to work hard but everyone was really friendly and seemed to love being there, also really liked the med ed aspects. MGH seemed super workhorse and not sure how the Bigelow model works in real time (task oriented rather than team members taking specific patients); they tout their 24 hour shifts which are not appealing to me lol. I didn't end up matching at either d/t preferences but overall would have been really happy to be at BIDMC. Gold signaled but did not get II'd at BWH

Matched last cycle, have friends at both programs. BIDMC has great culture but you will basically be doing a categorical IM intern year with only 3 - 4 weeks of elective time that has to be taken in random medicine fields that may not be relevant to derm (though one friend had 1, only 1!, week of derm in the entire year). The program has no other time off or research time for prelims and scheduling STEP 3 studying and time for prelims is notoriously difficult for prelims here (my friend had to take their STEP 3 during vacation, no thanks!). In contrast, MGH culture is a little more intense but prelims get an assigned mentor in their PGY2 field there (which could be useful for fellow and research projects!) and have like 3.5 months throughout the year for research/elective. Overall I think MGH is a better program for prelims as it is built as such, BIDMC program is basically a categorical IM intern year.

Great points thank you for addressing the elective time difference (reply #1 here lol), that is a huge consideration!!

intern here doing a prelim that's basically a categorical IM program (not in Boston). My program sounds basically identical to what the poster described for BIDMC. In retrospect, I would 100% take a program like MGH (even if there are Q24hs here and there) vs. my current situation. Not having time off to decompress from the B.S of wards and medicine has really made me jaded this year. I genuenely think 6 months of medicine throughout the year is enough for a dermatologist, suffering through an extra 6 months has taken a toll on my mental health. If I was you, I would highly consider doing an away at MGH or BWH vs. BIDMC (after reading about their prelim programs) and rank them accordingly if you get to interview there.

Intern here doing a prelim that's basically a categorical IM program (not in Boston). My program sounds basically identical to what the poster described for BIDMC on reply #2. In retrospect, I would 100% take a program like MGH (even if there are Q24hs here and there) vs. my current situation. Not having time off to decompress from the B.S of wards and medicine has really made me jaded this year. I genuenely think 6 months of medicine throughout the year is enough for a dermatologist, suffering through an extra 6 months has taken a toll on my mental health. If I was you, I would highly consider doing an away at MGH or BWH vs. BIDMC (after reading about their prelim programs) and rank them accordingly if you get to interview there.