MGH Fellowship

[Guest]

MGH just started a spine fellowship. In general is a fellowship at MGH a good idea? Heard from many different people that their volume is low so curious about what to expect in terms of operative experience as a fellow. Does MGH have low volume in every sub specialty?

[Guest]

It’s at both mgh and Brigham, the combined volume is decent

Although mgh residents may never get to single scrub ever again

[Guest]

Lol, so they even get to single scrub now after that Boston globe hit job shut down concurrent surgery at the partners hospitals? Though let’s be honest—> nobody goes to MGH for the operative experience. It’s for the research opportunities and political connections

[Guest]

If you actually read the Boston globe article it actually raises some valid points, and concurrent surgery is becoming more of a national issue as hospital bureaucracy and insurance companies get more powerful. I’d imagine this will rarely happen in ten years or so. Can you imagine looking your patient in the eyes and telling them they have a deficit because your pgy3 messed up the ACDF or caused a pica infarct? As surgery gets better and patients expect better outcomes, it is harder to justify complications. Unless you live in area where the population is medically illiterate and you can go to sleep knowing that you might have hurt someone but hey at least you got some practice out of it. Eg. County hospitals where patients don’t speak English or are extremely poor

[Focus]

Fwiw I only run one room at a time but I think running two rooms can be done appropriately. A pgy3 shouldn't have the opportunity to hit PICA or botch an ACDF because the attending should be present for the important parts. The important parts should be tailored to a residents abilities.