Resident/Fellow Benefits and Resources

BIDMC offers a broad-based benefits program for employees, with choice and flexibility to meet diverse needs. The benefits summarized here are available to residents and fellows in budgeted positions who regularly work 20 or more hours per week. Benefits become effective the first day of employment.

• Medical Insurance: Through Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, we offer three plans with providers and hospitals placed into Tiers based on the cost of services. Please visit Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for more information regarding health plan coverage and Tiered providers.
• Prescription Drug Coverage: When you elect one of the BIDMC health plans, you are automatically enrolled in prescription drug coverage administered by Caremark. The Medical Center contributes about 80% of the cost of medical coverage for full time employees; your share of the cost is pre-tax.
• Dental Coverage: Through Delta Dental, we offer plans with 100% preventive care with varied levels of coverage reflective of the plan cost. This is a pre-tax, employee-paid plan.
• Vision: Through the EyeMed Vision Plan, you have coverage for your eye wear materials: frames and lenses, including contact lenses. (Eye exams are covered through the medical plans.) This is a pre-tax, employee-paid plan.

Note: You may enroll your spouse and your dependent children, for medical, dental and vision coverage.

• Disability Insurance: BIDMC house staff automatically enrolled in trainee Short Term Disability (STD) Salary Continuation Plan at no cost. Generally, the plan will pay 100% of your regular base pay for weeks 1-12 and 60% of your regular base pay for weeks 13-26 if you are out of work and unable to perform all the duties of your job due to a non-work related illness or injury.
  • For maternity leave, there is a salary continuation policy and would provide you with compensation as outlined above for 12 weeks.
  
  
  • If you become disabled and are unable to work, please contact your Program Director or Chief, and BIDMC's Leave Program Administrator.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: You may set aside money, pre-tax, to pay for certain out-of-pocket medical care and dependent day care expenses with tax-free dollars.
• Supplemental and Dependent Life Insurance: You may purchase additional life insurance for yourself, from ½ up to five times your annual base pay (in ½ pay increments). You may also purchase life insurance coverage for your spouse and dependent children. For your spouse, you may purchase $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000; for your children, $10,000 per child.
• HIV Supplemental Benefit Plan: This plan, fully paid by BIDMC, provides financial assistance and other services if you become HIV positive as the result of a work-related incident.
• Voluntary 401(k) and 403(b) Savings Plans: You may save pre-tax money for your retirement through BIDMC's 401(k) and/or 403(b) savings plans. You choose where to direct your 401(k) and/or 403(b) contributions from a wide range of funds offered by Fidelity Investments.

Questions? Email the Benefits Office or call 617-632-9400.

BIDMC provides each trainee with an annual contract. This is signed by both the trainee and the program. These are two standard contracts that describe briefly the terms and conditions of the appointment, what the trainee can expect from the institution, and the expectations by the institution for the trainee.

• BIDMC ACGME Trainee Agreement
• BIDMC Non-ACGME Trainee Agreement

BIDMC Graduate Medical Education Salary Information

*Salaries cap at PGY7, except for Chief Residents

• BIDMC's Office of Academic Careers and Faculty Development supports faculty in the Harvard Medical School promotion process, provide academic career counseling and advice.
• BIDMC's Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (CDEI) partners with Harvard Medical School's Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership to offer lectures, programs and mentoring.
• The Shapiro Simulation and Skills Center is a state-of-the-art facility offering the latest advances in medical and surgical simulation technology.

• BIDMC Families: This social network is available for the spouses and partners of medical interns, residents and fellows. If you are a spouse or partner of a medical intern, resident or fellow, please email us to get involved.
• Care.com: This program offers employees backup childcare or adult care services for those times when regular childcare or adult care arrangements are unavailable. Visit Care.com or call 855-781-1303 for more information.
• Lactation Pump Rooms: Staff returning to work after maternity leave have access to private pump rooms on the East and West Campuses. Please contact Rachelle Fortune at 617-667-2249 for more information.
• The Parent Connection: This free service is for first-time parents who deliver here at BIDMC. Learn more and read our Baby Know How blog.
• Harvard Office of Work/Life: This office serves the faculty, staff, post docs and students of Harvard Medical and Dental Schools, Harvard School of Public Health and participating affiliated institutions. Whether you're looking for child care centers, after school programs, summer camps, in-home child care providers or information about public or private schools, the Harvard Office of Work/Life can provide you with the resources you need to find the situation that works best for your family.

• On-Call Rooms: Physicians and staff who need to stay overnight or sleep during the day because of fatigue from call duty may use an on-call room. Rooms are available on both East and West Campuses and contain one or two single beds, a night stand, desk and telephone. Shower and restroom facilities are located nearby, along with a linen cart with additional sheets and towels.
• Program for House Staff Well-Being: This program provides a confidential assessment, evaluation, and referral for psychiatric service, if necessary. Contact Michael Kahn, MD, Psychiatry, for more information.
• Recognizing Signs of Fatigue: Fatigue can cause issue for physicians-in-training, compromise patient safety and increase potential for medical error. Now included in ACGME program requirements is a limit on resident duty hours; trainees cannot work more than 80 hours in a week and must have time off between shifts. Review sleep deprivation data to learn more.
• Physician Health Services: Provided by the Massachusetts Medical Society, confidential consultations and support are available to physicians, residents and medical students facing health concerns. Learn more.

• BIDMC Lease Guaranty Program: This program is designed to help trainees with the potentially high, initial lease expense that is often required in order to secure rental housing in Boston and the area. Prior to entering into any lease agreement, please complete and submit the following:
  • Lease Guaranty Procedure
  • Indemnity & Salary Deduction Authorization
  • Lease Guaranty
• Boston Rentals:
  • CityofBoston.gov
  • Chestnut Hill Realty
  • Harvard University Housing
  • Jamaica Plain (JP) Rentals & Sales (617-524-2787)
  • The Longwood (866-781-9775)
  • Fenway Triangle (877-383-1237)
  • 1330 Boylston (877-232-2635)
  • VanNess (617-424-1335)

• MBTA Pass Program: BIDMC offers a subsidized MBTA pass for eligible employees. Cash sales are subsidized at 45 percent, and passes purchased through payroll deduction are subsidized at 50 percent, up to $120. Contact the BIDMC Commuter Services department to learn more.
• Taxi Vouchers: BIDMC residents and fellows are eligible to receive a taxi voucher for Boston Cab Company if s/he has worked an extended shift and feels it is unsafe to drive home, or a shift has required the trainee to leave the hospital during off hours or when it is unsafe to walk home.