Baystate

Baystate Medical Center- in Springfield, MA- is home to the 3rd oldest med-peds program in the nation. They are unique in that they are the only community-based med-peds program we are applying to. The rest are all university based. Because of this they have a real commitment to primary care that some of the university-based programs lack. They are also the sole referral center for all of Western Massachusetts, which seems impressive until you look at how small Massachusetts is on the map.  Baystate wins the "best program director" award.  He was super-nice, committed to recruiting humanistic residents, knew a ton about med-peds stuff, and was a fascinating speaker.  Unfortunately Baystate also wins the "worst weather" award because we got stuck in a blizzard while we were there.  We actually got there early so it would snow while we were safe in the hotel instead of out on the road.  We then had to drive 200 miles south to avoid the next wave of snow that came in over the weekend. This was my first experience "digging out" a car and I don't look forward to repeating it.