I have been meaning to post reviews for awhile, but after writing a lengthy review of University of Arizona in the past - I have procrastinated on writing more, as it is time consuming. As such, I'll keep things in my own format, and just write my perceptions on programs. Disclaimer: these are my impressions of programs, and I may be prone to error. Some of the reviews below contain some factual info, and others contain more feelings and opinions. For those who are applying this coming year, please corroborate my information with other sources.
Also, for DO students, a point to note is that I only took the COMLEX and these places all granted me interviews.
Kansas University - Wichita:
The program paid for my hotel stay. The faculty seemed really warm and friendly. The PD and chief residents even came to our hotel to meet us, which was super nice. After our interview the next day, the PC even dropped us off at the airport. Interviews were really laid back, and I felt the program went out of their way to be warm and friendly. They have a faculty member, Dr. Preskorn(?) who does psychopharm and has been teaching for nearly 30 years, I believe. He seemed amazing, and he even gave us a copy of his book on depression as a gift. Although I was treated wonderfully, I did not rank this program as high on my list, because I was concerned about the downsizing of the resident body from 6 residents last year to 4 this year. (I don't know if that is something to be concerned about or not). Also, Wichita is a small city, and if you are coming from a larger city, you might feel like there isn't that much to do here. But I really liked how nice everyone was. I do not recall this program having any psychiatry fellowships (though a quick glance at their website shows that they have a neuropsych fellowship). However, I know their graduates have gone on to other fellowships (like child) at decent programs.
Case Western - University Hospitals:
This was one of my favorite programs. This place had the midwest charm and friendliness, while at the same time seeming more formal like the east coast. Residents and faculty that I encountered seemed more intellectual here, compared to other programs I interviewed at. I loved their elective opportunities, and the fact that you get to do 2 electives in your 2nd year (instead of having to wait until 4th year). The PD seemed very gracious and kind. And I enjoyed my interviews with the other faculty, and had a particularly fun intellectual conversation with one of the fellowship directors. They have very cool electives in things like marital/sexual health, college student mental health, ethics, etc. They also were only 1 of 2 programs I interviewed at that had every fellowship available in psychiatry. Their forensic psychiatry is very renowned, especially having Dr. Resnick there. I felt like the program was heavy into teaching. Cleveland is near the lake, and their winters are pretty darn cold. The weather is also overcast most of the time. One of their inpatient psych units is a good drive from the rest of the hospitals.
University of Alabama - Birmingham:
I was surprised at how much I loved this program. It's amazing. The PD and faculty who I interviewed with seemed very friendly and approachable. For my interview, I had to pay for my own hotel, and the hotels in the area that were recommended were very expensive (like $120-160). All of the hospitals are next door to one another, so you can park at any of them and walk to the other. I was told that one of the residents doesn't have a car, but she manages to live nearby and can walk to work. However, the area near the hospital is pretty expensive to live. They do not have all of the fellowship programs, but they do have several. The clinical training seemed strong, and they even have a research track if you are interested in that. Residents were very friendly. I was a bit afraid of the conservative culture of the south, as I had never lived there - but Birmingham is a more diverse city (having people at UAB from different walks of life), so I was pleasantly surprised. The weather in Birmingham is also much nicer than many of the frigid midwest programs I interviewed at. Post-interview, I did receive an email from one of the chiefs, telling me that they were interested in me, and wanting to know how I felt about their program.
Ohio State University:
I really liked the PD. She has a reserved demeanor, but she is very kind (and very resident-focused, from what others have told me). At my interview, she seemed genuinely interested in my interests, and even told me that she'd be willing to help me obtain a 4th year elective outside of the psych department (the elective I was interested in was offered through family med). The PC was very friendly also. The program offers several fellowships, though not all (although I think they were hoping to have all of the fellowships in the near future). They also have 8 incoming interns. Most of the hospitals were also very close to one another, with the main hospitals being on the OSU campus. Columbus is also a great college city, with plenty to do. It is warmer than other midwest cities that I interviewed at, as it is farther from the lake. I also remember the residents talking about how you can get free dry-cleaning any time you want here, and you get a good number of psychiatry books purchased for you from the program.
Medical College of Wisconsin:
I really liked this program a lot as it was one of my favorite programs, and felt that I would get great psychotherapy training here. Unlike most programs, they have the psychotherapy year in year 2 instead of year 3 - as this gives greater longitudinal care. Since I'm very interested in therapy, I really liked this approach as I felt like putting in outpatient psych in year 2 would reduce the chances of me getting burned out with inpatient psych if I had 2 years together (like other programs). Part of the reason why the clinical training is so great here is that they have a variety of settings - you get the county hospital experience with the severely mentally ill, the VA experience with PTSD and substance abuse etc, and a psychotherapy center with many psychoanalysts. They have some research opportunities (like HIV psychiatry), but are otherwise somewhat limited in research. The chair even told me that if someone was very interested in research, that this program may not be the right fit, as strong clinical training was their focus over research. Milwaukee is on the lake and it does get very very cold in the winters. The hospitals are also pretty spread out in the city, so it's impossible to live next to all of them - however, they are all within a 15 minute drive of each other. Compared to other programs, the starting salary is high here (mid-50s), and I believe there are moonlighting opportunities starting in 2nd year. This was the only other program that I interviewed at (in addition to Case Western) that had ALL of the psych fellowships, so you will get great exposure to specialists here. By the way, this program also pays for most of your interview day hotel stay expense as they reimburse you for the pre-tax portion of your room (so you essentially just pay the tax on the room).
Maricopa County, Arizona:
This is a county program, and as such, you will see a great amount of pathology. I know people who have gone through the program, who were very satisfied with their training. They also have a child fellowship here. The PD came off as being a bit reserved. The PC was friendly on interview day (however, I knew her in the past, and have very mixed feelings, as she would ignore my emails prior to my application). My interviewers were all very friendly. The only reason I ranked this program lower on my list, is because they prepare graduates for a career in inpatient psychiatry (being a country program). Even their outpatient year focuses more on underserved, and their didactics are geared towards CBT (as I was told that learning psychodynamic psychotherapy is not as conducive to helping an underserved population with severe mental illness). So if your goal is to have a cash-based practice someday treating the "worried well" with psychodynamic approaches, this is likely not the best program for your interests. On the other hand, I know others who ranked this program #1 as the SMI population exposure is exactly what they wanted. Phoenix is also a very large metropolitan with numerous resources. Weather is hot and dry in the summer and fall (from May - Oct) and can get up into the 110s to 120s. But it is very pleasant the other months with no snow, as it rarely goes below 30 degrees Fahrenheit even in the coldest months.
Banner Good Samaritan, Phoenix AZ:
This is the other community program in Phoenix. You will spend most of your time at the Banner Good Sam hospital, with a few months at the VA. (You may also have opportunities to get a rotation at the children's hospital, the state hospital, or community outpatient clinics in your 4th year.) This hospital has a great reputation of attendings liking to teach during rounds. Residents here told me that they are very happy with their program. However, the unfortunate part is that there is no county experience (as the Maricopa country psychiatry residents take that). If you want to see more mentally ill, there is a rotation at the state hospital. But overall, one of the downsides is that you have less exposure to severe mental illness, compared to other programs. You also have far less formal didactics than other programs, as it is a single hour per week. Additionally, didactics are repeated in year 2 (with the same didactics in year 1), and you can fill in the gaps on the didactics you missed the first time around. What I mean by this is that psychiatry didactics are not protected in your medicine and neurology months, so in year 2, you can sit in for those didactics that you missed in year 1. This issue of didactics being only an hour a week is something that (I believe) was just changed this year, so it is a new thing. I talked to a resident who didn't mind the one hour didactics, as she said she prefers to read on her own anyways, and less didactics was good for her since she didn't want to spend as much time away from the patients (since she'd have the same amount of work to do whether she was on rotations or on didactics). Another thing is that all residents have to stay until 4:30pm each day (even if they finish work earlier in the day) to hand off the pager to the next resident. There are only 5 residents, and the group is very close knit. There is no night float in psychiatry (though there is night float in your medicine months). The nice thing about having all rotations in the same hospital (except your VA months) is that you will keep in close contact with other psych residents for support, and will keep seeing other residents from other services there too - which makes it easy to feel at home quickly. Research opportunities overall are limited. However, there is the Banner Alzheimer's institute that you can get involved with. Also, you can start seeing a few outpatients in year 2 for a more longitudinal therapy experience. No fellowships in-house, though it hasn't been a big deal of residents finding fellowships if they wanted.
University of Nevada - Reno:
I just remember how laid back and friendly everyone was, especially the PD. I mistook him for one of the residents.
Residents seemed very happy. All of their call was home call, and they only had to come in to the hospital if needed (but usually not). There is not much to do in Reno, though there are several casinos if that is your thing. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you can do some of your 4th year electives at the Las Vegas program, if you'd like.
Louisiana State University - New Orleans/Oschner:
I remember how nice everyone was, from the chair to the PD to the PC to the residents. Very laid back interview day. New Orleans is a fun city, and there is a lot of pathology here. This program does not rotate through the VA (as I believe Tulane rotates at the VA instead). The one thing that stood out to me was that they had a half day a week for the duration of 3rd year in which you could pick a specialty clinic to rotate through - such as a bariatric clinic, a gastroenterology clinic (seeing irritable bowel etc). I hadn't seen those types of specialty clinics at other programs. As far as interview day goes, my hotel stay was paid for by the program - and the hotel was part of the Oschner hospital, which was nice as the interview location was a 5 minute walk from my room.
University of Arizona - South campus:
This is the sister program of University of AZ main campus, both of which are in Tucson about 6 miles apart. I wrote an extended review of the U of A main campus earlier in this thread, and many of the features are the same (same pay, vacations etc). The chair of the program is the same, although there are 2 separate PDs. However, each PD regularly travels to the other location, so there is huge collaboration between both programs. (There is rumor that these 2 programs may merge in future, although there is no set date at present.) Each program has 6 residents. Although I expected that many people would prefer the main campus (since it is a university program), there were actually many applicants I encountered who actually preferred the south campus better, as it is a blend of community and university. You get the community hospital, which is a county experience with many involuntary patients and a psych ER. There is also a court house in the hospital. Since you have most of your rotations at this hospital, there is much less time at the VA (as the main campus has many more VA rotation months). Being that this hospital is in south Tucson, you are a bit removed from the research department at the main University Medical Center (main campus); however, you can choose to do research with those faculty if you'd like - although you have to commute more to access them. The didactic half day is shared between both campuses, and usually it is on the main campus, so you will get to know residents from the main program as well. Although you will get family therapy in both programs, I heard that the south campus has more training specific to marital therapy than the main campus, as they have a faculty there at south campus who teaches that. I had a resident at south campus confess to me that sometimes the attendings at south campus are more overworked than main campus, and thus have less time to teach on rounds as they are spread too thin. However, patient load is capped at (I believe) 6 patients per day on psych months, and 4(?) patients on medicine months (which is less than main campus) - so at least residents aren't too overloaded.
Texas A&M - Scott and White:
This program is in Temple, Texas about an hour drive away from Austin. I interviewed there during the snowstorm in December, and the city was entirely unprepared for the snow as they hadn't seen such weather in many many years. There is no direct flight to Temple, so if you are coming from out-of-state, you either need to come through Austin or Waco. I made the mistake of coming through Waco (a small airport), which left me stranded there for 2 additional days due to inclement weather. Despite Temple being a small city, I still liked the environment better than many other of the small cities I interviewed at. Hotel for the night before the interview was paid for by the program, which was very kind of them. Pre-interview day was a bit rough for me, as this was the only program in which I was not offered a ride by the residents to the dinner - so I had to find my way there to the faculty's home (over 15 miles away), and I ended up getting lost on the way. I was sick during interview day, but the PD was so kind and thoughtful, and left mid-interview to get me water. I felt the PD and chair (and even the child fellowship director I interviewed with) were extremely approachable and that they really cared about resident well-being. One of the chief residents told me that this program gives current residents a lot of input in selecting the new class of interns. She told me that there aren't many set 4th year electives, but that the program will help put together electives for the resident tailored to their interest. Although there aren't many set research options as they don't consider themselves a research program, they'd be happy to help a resident find research opportunities if he/she desired. Most of your rotations would be at the main Scott and White hospital, though there is also a VA. They have a child fellowship as well. Some weeks after the interview, I was told that the program was interested in me and I was offered the option for a second look, although I was not able to take up on it. I truly felt that I'd be very happy at this program, and would be well supported to becoming an excellent doc. The main reasons why I ranked it slightly lower on my list (compared to the program I matched at) was nothing the program could change... as if this program had been in a city like Austin, it would have likely been a top choice. For instance, because there is no airport in the city, my relatives who came to visit would have to drive an extra hour, as would I when I went to visit family. Also, this program has a lot of young married couples and families - so if you are single and looking to mingle (as I am), you will likely have less options in meeting other single folks than in a larger city. I met another residency applicant on the interview trail (a med student at S&W) and she told me she was eagerly awaiting moving out of the city so that she could find a place to meet single men, as that wasn't going to happen in Temple.
West Virginia University:
I am embarrassed to say that I don't remember a huge amount about my interview experience. I remember everyone was nice and friendly (esp the PD), and the residents said they felt very happy at the program and the support they were receiving. They have 3 fellowships (child, psychosomatic, and forensic). I also remember feeling impressed with the education that I'd be receiving. Flights to Morgantown were super expensive, so I had to fly-in to Pittsburgh and drive to West Virginia. The program paid for 1 night's hotel stay in Morgantown for me. Morgantown is a nice college town, though still a fairly small city. However, there are many larger cities within a few hours drive away - so you could make day trips elsewhere, if you needed to take a break and get out of town. It does get warm and humid in summers and snowy in winters.
Wayne State/ Detroit Medical Center:
I had this interview scheduled in January, and almost missed the interview as my inbound connecting flight from Chicago was cancelled, leaving me stranded (which is something to consider for those scheduling winter interviews). Luckily I had a friend in the area who was able to pick me up from another airport (Toledo, which I could fly to), and drive me to Detroit. So trying to get to Detroit was difficult in inclement weather, and luckily there was no pre-interview dinner. Apparently they do have a few pre-interview dinners during interview season, but not for all interview dates. Hotel was not covered, although they give you some suggested hotels that give discounted rates to residency applicants. I had heard scary things about living in Detroit, and there are some bad areas, but residents said they knew which part of town to live (most lived in Royal Oak). My interview day was laid-back (as were all my psych interviews). I found myself being amused by the PD's dry sense of humor, though I also found him difficult to read. This program also has a LOT of research opportunities, for those who are interested in research. They also have a sizeable Arab-American population in the area, for anyone who wants exposure working with this group - as they even have opportunities in counseling Middle Eastern war/torture survivors. There are also fellowships in child, geri, and addiction psych.
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio:
I ranked this program highly as there were many features about it that I liked. I liked San Antonio as a city, as it is warm (though humid). It is also only 1 of 2 programs in the country that works with active military. You get training with active military, the veterans population, as well as the general population. This program is also one of the largest programs in the country, as the residents include both civilian and military. I believe there would be 16 incoming interns this year, with 10 civilian and 6 military (at least that is what I was told). As far as interview day goes, my hotel was paid for by the program, which was nice. The PD also has a reputation for being amazing, and also leads the geriatric psych fellowship (and his wife, also a psychiatrist, is part of the child psych fellowship). According to the website, the program has fellowships in child, geri, and psychosomatic... but I had an interview day mishap, as the PD told me during my interview that they didn't have psychosomatic but that they had addiction (I think?? I was really confused here?), which led to some awkward silence and my interview was over with him too fast as he likely thought I didn't come prepared. I don't think I did anything wrong as I just went off the website, but I think someone should confirm with a resident what fellowships they have, so that they don't have the same awkward experience that I did. My other interviews at the program went extremely well (and another faculty even mentioned how much he loved talking with me, and that the interview flew by way too fast). Although it didn't go so well with the PD, I still have a favorable impression of him from all the great things I've heard. I have some interest in eating disorders, so I asked a resident about that, and was told that they used to have someone there who taught eating disorders, but that faculty had left. So you may not get in-depth exposure to eating disorders if that is your interest, but you will incidentally see some of it, as you have a lot of young people in your care who will also be suffering with eating issues. I was also told that if you can find elective or research experiences for your 4th year, that the program would be open and supportive of it.
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I'm not sure if these short blurbs help future applicants or not, but I hope so!
