Hello, I’m Matt Hinderaker, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.  I completed my undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and then later returned to Wisconsin for MS, MBA, and MD degrees.  Prior to medical school I worked first as a chemical biologist for an academic lab, then as a financial analyst from 3M in St. Paul.  I’m married to a kindergarten teacher, and together we are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia.  We enjoy cooking, running the trails around Northampton, and going to the beach on my days off.  We’re looking forward to trying out snowshoeing this winter.

Baystate gives me the opportunity to see a high volume of high acuity patients in the context of a supportive program that cares about my overall wellbeing.  The patient volume, at over one hundred and ten thousand visits per year is enormous.  The “effective patient volume” is even more staggering because, on average, the patients are so much sicker than anywhere else I rotated, likely because of the widespread poverty and lack of access to primary care in Springfield. 

Residents in our program enjoy a high quality of life.  We mostly live in and around Northampton, an artsy college town 20 minutes from the emergency department favored by people who enjoy outdoor activities and restaurants.  From Springfield you can take the Amtrak to Boston or New York.  Our program starts with an orientation month that gives you and your significant other the time to develop new friendships and a support structure before embarking on the core of residency training.   Every year we do a 3-day off site retreat.  The attendings are universally approachable and prone to inviting residents over for fish tacos or a barbeque.  Night shifts are grouped, and we are treated well on off-service rotations.  Our spouses and significant others know each other well and hang out both informally and at structured events. 

I wish you the best of luck in finding a program that’s right for you, and encourage you to give Baystate a closer look!