I’m David Krahm, a Massachusetts native who is both thrilled and somewhat surprised to be in residency at Baystate. I grew up in the Berkshires which are about 45 minutes west of Springfield, and left Massachusetts nine years ago to venture out and see what else the world had to offer.  I did my undergrad at Tulane University in New Orleans and then med school at LECOM in Bradenton, Florida.  Four years later I found myself applying to emergency medicine programs with my fiancé, who I had met in med school and was also applying for emergency medicine residency.  We applied to a large number of programs and as you are finding out, many places will start to blur together, but there were definitely things that were striking about this program.

Baystate has a great exposure to both blunt and penetrating trauma (the manufacturing center for Smith and Wesson, Colt and Savage Arms). The catchment area is geographically massive, but also encompasses tremendous variety:  Springfield’s gang violence, blunt trauma from our proximity to the mass pike and I-91 intersection, interesting rural exposure to agricultural injuries. We get very sick medical patients not only because of our cutting edge care but traveling west…the next interventional cath lab is in Albany, NY.  That is a large funnel that empties into our ED, and you get as much of the flow as you want.

Although sufficient experience is essential to good training, there are numerous programs that offer this. What makes Baystate a unique program is that 20 minutes away from the hospital, you can be in the small quaint village which you call home, or decompressing from a hard shift by hiking Mt. Tom or cross country skiing in the woods.  Being surrounded by college towns has advantages as well: You could go eat some Turkish food, hear some live music or sample some of the great local breweries all in the same night.

When I realized that Baystate offered great exposure with a balanced life style I was very interested. After spending some time here and getting to see how much the attendings were involved in teaching and how much I enjoyed the residents here I was sold.  I hope that you find a place that works for you like Baystate has for me. Good luck with the match.