To head off any public relations trouble, HMS Associate Dean of Student Affairs Nancy Priol circulated a memo to colleagues at other medical schools on Jan. 22.

“BIDMC will continue to provide your graduating medical students with the opportunities for the best possible postgraduate training,” the memo said.

“I thought media coverage might have had people worried,” Priol said. “A local article can make things sound very different than they are. I wanted to set the record straight.”

The efforts of HMS and BIDMC administrators seem to have paid off. As the deadline for applying to resident programs approaches on Feb. 22, BIDMC has not yet seen a decrease in number of resident applicants.

The long-term effects, however, are still unknown. For now, students said they see BID’s troubles as a symptom of the times.

“We thought that we were insulated from [the recession],’’ said Miller. “The bottom line is, you do have to face this. The general student sentiment here is, ‘isn’t this a mess?’”