As a recent graduate from MGH Institute of Health Professions, I can speak to many of the topics presented in this thread. First, MGH IHP has limited fieldwork opportunities as they are the smallest of the OT schools (Tufts and BU have claimed many contracts) and are a new program, therefore they are still working on increasing their fieldwork base in the area. MGH IHP uses mainly the Partners network, which includes some big names, however feels very limited considering the vast number of medical/rehab-based institutions in the Boston-metro area. Many of the fieldwork placements require a student to have a vehicle, as they are quite far from the city in rural areas. Many people within the Partners network and/or MGH Hospital are not aware that there is a "sister" (as they are separate entitities) school; I cannot tell you how many times on fieldwork and/or while living in Boston I educated people on the IHP school. This was disappointing to me as the health professions school has been around since 1977 and should have loudly and proudly been able to make a name for themselves by now. Within the school, trying to gain preferred fieldwork placements required a lot of brown nosing and the 2 fieldwork coordinators clearly played the favorites game and many students noted this in conversation. They say its a "lottery system" and random, however certain people in the class ALWAYS received the most desirable fieldwork placement. Very unprofessional. Competition post graduation in Boston is fierce and very cutthroat. Additionally, if you are a person of color, good luck finding desirable work, as the city of Boston is very stuck in the past in terms of equality among all persons. There are clear and objective signs of racism in the city, the politics in the region, the institution and among persons who live in Boston. I though Chicago was a very segregated city, until I moved to Boston for school, which was very disheartening considering there are so many higher education institutions in the region. As far as employment assistance post-graduation, there is ONE (yes, only ONE) career counselor and only one of the OT professors are from Boston, therefore their network is very limited.
As far as the university staff being supportive, I truly experienced that this is only the case for some persons (students). Honestly, if you fit the prototype of fairly well off white female you are golden in terms of support received. This institution is not prepared, nor equipped to deal with low income students, students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with differing ideologies from the white-male-cis perspective. I am a very poor student with a mental health disability and I struggled a LOT at this school. The one person I was referred to as a "counselor" sort (Mike Boutin) has actually been accused of sexually assaulting several children (but was not caught). Otherwise, support is only provided offsite. This is the first school I have ever attended that has NO guidance counseling department and students are supposed to refer to their teachers for assistance. Well, who is one supposed to go to for advice if the teacher IS the issue? Additionally, anything said to one professor is told to all of them; things I said in confidence and asked not to be repeated were in fact repeated to me by professors I never told in a confrontational or "aww, poor thing" manner; very unprofessional. Lastly, if your professor is the one grading your performance, yet they know a lot about your life, how can they be unbiased in grading?
I feel that this program will be great in 10-15 years, however currently it is not an optimal school option and had I done my OT school career all over again, I'd have opted to go elsewhere. The major reason for this is the program costs far too much in comparison to similar programs and falls short of being able to offer a complete, well-rounded, highly-informed curriculum and support to all students regardless of ability. Neither school-based pediatrics nor vocational rehab were covered (despite having a pediatrics class; no voc rehab courses were offered) leading to a ton of self-study in these areas.
Lastly, I would highly advise against having Andrea Fairman as a mentor, especially if you have a disability, mental health issue, or family issues. She is not supportive of life stuff and does not follow her own deadlines for projects and assignments. I would highly recommend Diane Smith, as she is very well-versed and well-rounded as a professor, mentor and fellow human being.