Meet the Resident: Ben Borokhovsky, MD

Get to know Ben Borokhovsky, MD, internal medicine resident.

Career goal: My goal is to work in cardiology.

“Being a resident at LVHN means that you are happy to wake up and go to work because of the impact that you are making in your patients’ lives.”

What makes your LVHN training program different from others across the country? 

LVHN is a community hospital with a large university footprint. As someone who is interested in fellowship, I am confident that LVHN is invested in my success and will provide me with the connections that I need to make that happen. The fellowship match speaks for itself. LVHN residents consistently match in the most competitive fields such as cardiology, gastroenterology and pulmonary critical care.

LVHN does a great job of balancing support with autonomy. Support is always available even during overnight and weekend shifts. Fellows and attendings are always happy to answer a question or lend guidance whenever needed.

The program’s leadership is genuinely interested in what residents think about the program and ways to improve it. A little over two weeks into my internship, I was invited to dinner with the president of the hospital to discuss ways that we can create solutions to the barriers that impact the discharge of our patients. Leaders genuinely care about what they can do to make my time at LVHN more efficient and enjoyable.  

What has been the most extraordinary part of your training experience so far? 

I think the biggest aspect of residency that stood out to me thus far was the level of feedback and availability of support that I had access to. Attendings, fellows, seniors and even my own fellow interns would reach out to me multiple times a day to ask if I needed help with anything or just to hang out outside of the hospital. It’s important for me to connect with my peers in the hospital and also build long-lasting connections with them outside of medicine.

What is one memory you have from your training so far that will stick with you for your career? 

I was born and raised in South Jersey, went to school at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden and was 15 miles outside of Philadelphia my whole life, so I naturally thought that I would end up at a residency program in Philadelphia. The LVHN interview changed everything for me. After the interview, I felt like LVHN was my home. It truly felt like a familial environment of mutual collaboration and had the group mentality of helping each other grow.  

Being a resident at LVHN, I can confidently say that the way I felt during interview day is how I continue to feel. LVHN colleagues genuinely care about my success, and I’ve seen a level of authenticity that other places only try to mimic. It is very empowering to know that there are so many people that have my back and want to see me succeed.  

What is one piece of advice you would share with someone as they select a training program? 

Listen to that gestalt gut feeling that you get after each interview and try to cast your ego aside. It’s super helpful to objectively assess your career goals and compare the results of various programs. If your goal is fellowship, look at the program’s match list and the number of residents that stay at their home program, as this is a very good marker for how happy they are at their program.  

When making that final rank list, focus on what you want in life. There will be an objective “best version” of your rank list when it comes to program prestige, research robustness and program outcomes; however, I urge you to use discernment when thinking about all the elements that look good on paper and to never discount your visceral feelings of each program. The best program for you might not be the objectively best program that you interviewed at. Instead, it might be the one that you know you will perform better at because the environment is better fitted for you.  

What does it mean to be a resident at LVHN? 

Being a resident at LVHN means that you are happy to wake up and go to work because of the impact that you are making in your patients’ lives. When you think about it, medicine is one of the most humbling jobs, as clinicians are blessed to have meaningfully deep impactful conversations.