I just returned home from an interview at Harvard South Shore. I have heard mixed things about the program and wanted to see if anybody else has interviewed there and has any thoughts. The people I met with were very friendly and there seem to be an abundance of opportunities. I did not meet any of the residents though. I am trying to figure out if this program truly shares the esteem and resources of the other Harvard programs or if it is fairly isolated. At the end of training, do you share the same Harvard on your CV as those at Longwood? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Nobody responded to this and it was posted yonks ago but if anyone has any thoughts...

I just returned home from an interview at Harvard South Shore. I have heard mixed things about the program and wanted to see if anybody else has interviewed there and has any thoughts. The people I met with were very friendly and there seem to be an abundance of opportunities. I did not meet any of the residents though. I am trying to figure out if this program truly shares the esteem and resources of the other Harvard programs or if it is fairly isolated. At the end of training, do you share the same Harvard on your CV as those at Longwood? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

If you did not meet any residents, you should wonder. Please go back to them and meet residents if at all possible. They are completely separate programs at Harvard, no two are similar. I have heard that residents there are unhappy, please check it out in detail before ranking. I don't know personally, but have read stuff on sites like this etc....

i have an interview there soon and i was also having the same questions.

but i did read the review in scutwork and it is not good at all, i emailed the PGY3 who wrote in scutwork and he/she didnt get back to me.

i am seriously contemplating the idea of not even going at for interview.

i think it is important to always go for an interview if you are unsure. it recently happened to me that i almost cancelled an interview and it is my top choice now. i had been misinformed about the program. if it is a financial burden to go, that is another question, also if you have 2 or three other places that you would be okay going.... MAKE SURE TO MEET RESIDENTS.

blatant bump

I don't know much about the program, except that my advisors and med school program director felt that it was not in the same "tier" as the other Harvard programs. I haven't visited there, though, so I don't really know.

I agree with the above poster who urged caution about a program that did not encourage interaction with existing residents, so I would ask about that if you go and visit.

If you are interested, definitely go for an interview and ask to meet residents - that is the best way to know if you would fit in there.

Hi! I'm a psychiatry resident with the Harvard South Shore program and although I would agree that the program is not perfect, (I venture to say that no program is) I would like to address certain points made in the message by J Sanchez. It is true that the program is mainly based in a VA hospital, however we do rotate in many other settings which include McLean, Cambridge and Beth Israel. There are many good things and bad things about being in the VA setting so this really depends on what would be a good fit for you. It is not true that the program is only taken seriously by the people in it. As far as I know, every resident who has applied for fellowship at MGH has received an interview. Last year alone, the residents went on to fellowships in forensics at UMass (arguably the best and most competitive one), CL at the Brigham, Child fellowship and also a staff position at MGH, psychosomatic med and child fellowship at Cambridge and a child fellowship at the Children’s Hospital in Boston. This is of course a testament to their own hard work and abilities as it is to the resources that have been made available to them as part of being in the HMS network. This also suggests that institutions such as MGH, UMass and Brigham to name a few, do take the program seriously considering that they accept our graduates. As to the character of the program director, it sounds like whoever J Sanchez talked to is not a happy customer, but in the end this is still just hearsay. The best way, I believe, to find out what kind of person he is would be to talk to him and interact with him yourself. And the best way to find out how the residents feel about the program is also to apply, go to the interview and talk to them personally. The website is www.harvardsouthshorepsychiatry.org (http://www.harvardsouthshorepsychiatry.org)

I hope this post has been helpful. Good luck in your quest to find the program for you!


Way to take the high road. If the author of this thread is any indication of the type of residents that this program attracts, then sign me up!