2014-2015 Psychiatry Interview Reviews

[hamstergang]

I feel that I learned how to do scut work in pgy1, how to become a psychiatrist in pgy2, how to be thoughtful in pgy3, and how to be a leader in pgy4.

Unless that's you coming back from the future to make that post, something's wrong.

I am a PGY2

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[member2721]

Unless that's you coming back from the future to make that post, something's wrong.

Sorry good catch. Meant to say I think I will learn how to be more thoughtful and lead the next 2 years. Time.. Er mental .. Lapse. Honestly I am frustrated at how I don't have enough time to fully reflect and learn other skills as a pgy2. But it's a step learning curve I guess, learning how to be a "good" resident.

 

[notdeadyet]

You will work hard at the truly great programs like MGH. If you're not willing to work hard, look for other programs. Nothing comes for free...

 

[SmallBird]

Sorry good catch. Meant to say I think I will learn how to be more thoughtful and lead the next 2 years. Time.. Er mental .. Lapse. Honestly I am frustrated at how I don't have enough time to fully reflect and learn other skills as a pgy2. But it's a step learning curve I guess, learning how to be a "good" resident.

Are you actually at MGH? Sorry I don't mean any offense - your descriptions of the program just seem very vague... you said the MGH residents typically have strong medicine backgrounds? What does that even mean?

 

[member2721]

That they want to have true medicine internship experience, or at least willing to tolerate a few months of it. 4 at MGH, 10 at NWH, 2 at MGHfC

 

[SEPsych]

You will work hard at the truly great programs like MGH. If you're not willing to work hard, look for other programs. Nothing comes for free...

After doing all my interviews I'm a little confused by this conventional wisdom. In my experience it seems like the upper middle tier programs (often state universities) have worse hours than the elite programs because the middle tier programs are more strapped for cash and need the residents to function as a hospital.

However the big name places seem to have tons of cash to do stuff like hire moonlighters to round on inpatients on weekends, cover extra ER or float shifts, have more in house attendings overnight/weekends, etc.

 

[notdeadyet]

After doing all my interviews I'm a little confused by this conventional wisdom. In my experience it seems like the upper middle tier programs (often state universities) have worse hours than the elite programs because the middle tier programs are more strapped for cash and need the residents to function as a hospital.

Careful. To say that most of the best programs have residents work hard does not mean that every program that works its residents hard are among the best residencies.

However the big name places seem to have tons of cash to do stuff like hire moonlighters to round on inpatients on weekends, cover extra ER or float shifts, have more in house attendings overnight/weekends, etc.

Yep. But I think most of the top programs get that reputation by producing the best psychiatrists. You can best achieve that by residents working a wide variety of cases in a wide variety of environments. this is very hard to do on a 9 to 5 schedule.

Anyway, I don't mean to detail the thread. This topic just comes up again and again. It seems that with each passing year, more and more applicants want best in the world training combined with best in the world hours. Folks need to prioritize their priorities, and find the sweet spot. Psychiatry is just like hobbies, sports, and relationships: what you get out of it is mostly depending on what you put into it.


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[johnhoedack]

Does anyone have any thoughts on Emory? It is my last interview. I've heard some people from previous application cycles rave about it, and some say hey avoided applying to it based on past hearsay. I haven't heard anything specific in recent years. The location is excellent for me, so I'd be curious to see what people's more current perception of the program is.

 

[wannabie]

t seems that with each passing year, more and more applicants want best in the world training combined with best in the world hours. Folks need to prioritize their priorities, and find the sweet spot. Psychiatry is just like hobbies, sports, and relationships: what you get out of it is mostly depending on what you put into it.

What exactly makes "best in the world training"? Is a program staffed by Ivy League schooled and trained faculty better than that staffed by a less prestigious University schooled and trained faculty?

 

[notdeadyet]

What exactly makes "best in the world training"? Is a program staffed by Ivy League schooled and trained faculty better than that staffed by a less prestigious University schooled and trained faculty?

Ivy league is a term really reserved for undergraduate education, no? The top 10 medical schools are not a very tight relationship with the Ivy league. I'm not really sure how tight the Ivy League is with the top 10 undergrads either, come to think of it; that was so outside of the realm of possibilities for me, it never came up…

The top psychiatry residency programs tend to have teams of great faculty, diverse training environments, excellent research possibilities, and content rich teaching.

I don't really know how useful a heuristic "top training programs" really is. The top 10 psychiatry residency training programs for YOU is and should be a different list from the top 10 psychiatry residency training programs for ME. That list is the result of factors like teaching philosophy, rotation opportunities, clinical emphasis, philosophy, geography, and fit. It is a highly personalized process and preference. It's like judging the best kiss.


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[lyla]

Kaweah Delta (Visalia, CA)
1. Ease Of Communication: Easy communication via e-mail.
2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed at Comfort Suites in Visalia. Would not stay here again if given the choice--hotel room did not feel very clean, lighting was dim. Food provided during interview day was Panera Bread boxed lunches (sandwich, cookie, bag of chips).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): One 30 minute interview with two faculty members, read from a prewritten list of questions. Standard interview questions with no curveballs. You also had 30 minutes to speak with the current PD, which I suppose is another interview in itself.
4. Program Overview: Inpatient, consult/liaison, and ER psych are all combined in the first two years of the residency program. You may start your day at 7 am in the ER, go to inpatient psych around 10 am, head back to the main ER to do more ER patients/consults. Days typically end no later than 6:30 PM I was told.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: I was told by current residents there are roughly four attendings for the psychiatry rotations.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Rural. There is some outdoors stuff near by (i.e. Yosemite), and it's about a 45 minute drive to Fresno and 3 hours or so drive to Los Angeles.
7. Salary & Benefits: Standard UC salary (52kish for PGY1?) due to its affiliation with UC Irvine.
8. Program Strengths: New program, which might be a unique experience for some if they want to shape a new psychiatry residency. Have ties to UC Irvine. "Not resident dependent" per attendings.
9. Potential Weaknesses: Rural location. Small number of psychiatry attendings. Residents stated the program was still disorganized (at which point one attending promptly interjected it was not a disorganized residency program). Residents do not have unlimited access to doctor's lounge, and typically hangout in the hospital library. PD is technically interim (as I was told).

 

[SmallBird]

4. Program Overview: Inpatient, consult/liaison, and ER psych are all combined in the first two years of the residency program. You may start your day at 7 am in the ER, go to inpatient psych around 10 am, head back to the main ER to do more ER patients/consults. Days typically end no later than 6:30 PM I was told.

Its worth pointing out that 7 am to 6.30pm is an extremely long day for psychiatry. Somewhere closer to 8.30 - 5pm is more average I would imagine.

 

[skunky386]

Its worth pointing out that 7 am to 6.30pm is an extremely long day for psychiatry. Somewhere closer to 8.30 - 5pm is more average I would imagine.

When I interviewed at Kaweah Delta I was told that residents generally start their day in the ED around 6:15 and go home around 7pm. Yes, they're longer days than most other programs, though at Kaweah you apparently always get your weekends off and there is no call.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

7am to 6:30pm sounds almost unnecessarily long. When I was on the Consult Service in Psychiatry - considered to be one of the more time-intensive rotations in a psych residency - we started around 8:30am and finished around 4pm. Or 5pm on busy days. Add mandatory calls and a 7am to 6:30pm day will be painful.

 

[notdeadyet]

I agree with Leo. You're looking at a 55-60 hour week for the first two years (and this is not including the medicine months, which will likely be heavier). This is more than the average hours at the more busy programs even INCLUDING their call.

Also, Kaweah Delta's inpatient psych unit is not on the same site as the medical hospital. They're only 4 miles apart, but going back and forth each day in your car sounds painful.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

This smells very distorted. Any place that needs you to work 12 hour days five days a week, but no weekends and no overnights would have to be the definition of disorganized. So what could this look like? There are so many patients( be them inpatients or consults) that an average human couldn’t possibly see them all in 8 hours, or you are sitting around titling your thumbs for most of the day, but something may come in at 6:30 PM so you better still be at work because there is no coverage then but overnight and weekends are miraculously OK. I don’t doubt that skunky386 is accurately reporting what he/she was told, I just have trouble believing that a service demand could be so bad and good at the same time.

 

[notdeadyet]

This smells very distorted. Any place that needs you to work 12 hour days five days a week, but no weekends and no overnights would have to be the definition of disorganized.

Keep in mind that they are a brand-new program but at a long running department of psychiatry. That schedule is likely to very much be in a state of flux.

I used to work there just before the residents started. They have psychiatrists on the inpatient unit working business hours with NPs doing overnight evals and docs taking home call to staff admissions in the morning. Weekend is covered by moonlighters.

They could integrate the residents into day-to-day operations M-F for now. I have a hunch that in the future they will start having them do more overnight call and weekends. But it makes sense to integrate residents into the system iteratively.


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[johnhoedack]

Does anyone have any thoughts on Emory? It is my last interview. I've heard some people from previous application cycles rave about it, and some say hey avoided applying to it based on past hearsay. I haven't heard anything specific in recent years. The location is excellent for me, so I'd be curious to see what people's more current perception of the program is.

Bump. It would really help to hear some opinion. I'd really appreciate it.

 

[ari202]

One of my buddies interviewed at Kaweah Delta awhile back and they told me that the residents worked pretty hard (for a psych program).

Not sure if im still gonna go to the interview tbh.

I do need someones input on UCSF-Fresno ASAP, if you could please message me if you dont feel comfortable, I would appreciate it. thanks

 

[Nasrudin]

Fresno is a great program in all aspects and suffers only the fate of being in Fresno.

 

[notdeadyet]

I do need someones input on UCSF-Fresno ASAP

Ari- nothing personal, but you've made a bunch of posts looking for reviews and info about various programs without posting any reviews yourself. How come?

This thread was really helpful back in the day. It had a real sense of community and pooling of information. Every year it gets weaker and weaker with fewer people helping. There are always a handful of folks posting reviews and helping peers, but they're a smaller and smaller bunch.

But come March day, count the number of folks posting their info there. It's sad...

This isn't directed at you, Ari, just a trend I've noticed. I'm not sure if it's a reflection on the generation of applicants, the demographic of personality types attracted to psych, of the changing makeup os SDN.


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[MacDonaldTriad]

There probably is paranoia about posting critical reviews right after interviewing. I think the fear is that program directors might smell out who it is and be less excited about someone who was critical. There are many flaws in this fear and it is probably unfounded.

For one thing, only inexperienced directors would change their list based on “enthusiasm” information. In addition, if you wait three or four business days (or not but maybe you did), it would get very hard very quickly to identify someone unless a very specific interaction was described in the post. Programs that interview three or four applicants a day would quickly cover over who says what. Programs that bunch up 20 or so a few interview dates a year would have an even harder time. Lastly, who has the time?

We are talking about hundreds of applications. It is always informative to see reviews about our specific programs and I do like the feedback, but life is too short to take it the next step.

 

[notdeadyet]

There probably is paranoia about posting critical reviews right after interviewing. I think the fear is that program directors might smell out who it is and be less excited about someone who was critical. There are many flaws in this fear and it is probably unfounded.

Agree with this. Many (I'd argue even most) PDs aren't even aware of SDN. Of those that are, few read it and even fewer pour through it. Even if PDs wanted to identify individuals, it would be near impossible based on reading a review and I'd argue that no PD out there is going to look through someone's post history to try to divine who they really are and use it for evaluation purposes. That's just silly. Who has the time is right.

 

[ari202]

Ari- nothing personal, but you've made a bunch of posts looking for reviews and info about various programs without posting any reviews yourself. How come?

This thread was really helpful back in the day. It had a real sense of community and pooling of information. Every year it gets weaker and weaker with fewer people helping. There are always a handful of folks posting reviews and helping peers, but they're a smaller and smaller bunch.

But come March day, count the number of folks posting their info there. It's sad...

This isn't directed at you, Ari, just a trend I've noticed. I'm not sure if it's a reflection on the generation of applicants, the demographic of personality types attracted to psych, of the changing makeup os SDN.


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fair enough. I'll try and compile a review for a program when I get a chance. I'm doing my surgery sub internship right now for fourth year and have been busy with stuff at home. also, I'm quite superficial in my reviews, and did not go in depth into the nitty gritty of things, call schedule etc, because its not going to be that awful wherever you go in psych (i don't think it should be a factor in decision making for this specialty).

my preferences are based on location, happiness of the residents, and the organization of program.

 

[notdeadyet]

Yeah, sorry, ari, I didn't mean to pick on you specifically. It's just a changing culture on SDN that I find a little sad. Nothing to do with you specifically.

Incidentally, I train in California and haven't heard anything about UCSF Fresno other than multiple people saying it's "fine" (a la UCI, UCLA SFV, CPMC, etc). Nothing bad, nothing amazing. Worst thing about it, as Nasrudin mentions, is location. I know nothing beyond that, didn't interview their myself back in the day...

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

So MS-IVs are going to 20 programs and spending 5 or 6 hours listening to attendings and residents who describe their programs as the best thing from sliced bread. No wonder these are not the most useful way to pick programs when neither side has much chance at influencing the outcome.

Unfortunately, we wish we could have a rotational encounter that was impressive and meaningful for you, but you only have one of two of those you can actually do a rotation with so the numbers become unlikely but the intent is honest on both sides. Unfortunately, our medical student rotation directors have little to do with program directors and even if they did, medical schools are unwilling to rank anybody who wants to come rotate so it is an open game in the Wild West. It ends up very draconian. No IMGs because the school says so, or IMGs OK? NO D.O.s because the school says so or D. O.s OK?

Here is the issue in my mind; these hard fast levels of OK or not OK could be penetrated if schools could provide data about early level performance. OK, we will let your students here if they do X well on Y, but otherwise we just say no. The devil is in the detail, who wants to give us some idea of measurements. I’m all ears. We want good people and are capacity is fixed. Let’s arm wrestle. What do you think the algorithm should be? I want to know. I continue to believe that late bloomers can be impressive, but our data is ERAS driven. I'm all ears, but I'm still going to go for the best I can, and so are you.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Long week?
That was kind of a ramble there, MacD.
(Not that I disagree...)

 

[microshar88]

Fresno is a great program in all aspects and suffers only the fate of being in Fresno.

I never received an interview from them. But as someone who has lived in Fresno (granted I was little), it is not a bad place to be. It's certainly smaller than LA, but there are worse places you could be. For that matter, I also think Visalia is a decent place to be in California. Living in the big cities (SF and LA is extremely pricey) so if you have loans to pay, and other stuff to deal with, I think its a good place to be.

 

[Nasrudin]

I never received an interview from them. But as someone who has lived in Fresno (granted I was little), it is not a bad place to be. It's certainly smaller than LA, but there are worse places you could be. For that matter, I also think Visalia is a decent place to be in California. Living in the big cities (SF and LA is extremely pricey) so if you have loans to pay, and other stuff to deal with, I think its a good place to be.

I agree. I'm thinking more generally and less personally. In other words you take the same PD who is in it for the long haul and works hard to make the program educational as possible, good but small group of attendings, super sweet coordinator and so on and so forth and put it in a magnet coastal city and put university big money behind it, it'd be on everybody's list.

Fresno like other mid paced mid sized cities, in the midway between this and that other place. With agriculture as stand out feature. Will give you less of the panache but more of the practical. Better turn of coin on your salary. Innumerable moonlighting opportunities from people desperate for coverage. And so on.

In some ways I'm very envious of these preeminently practical advantages that are also in nice but not hotly contested pieces of real estate.

And I've got half a mind to settle down in one for a time after I graduate.

 

[Mass Effect]

fair enough. I'll try and compile a review for a program when I get a chance. I'm doing my surgery sub internship right now for fourth year and have been busy with stuff at home. also, I'm quite superficial in my reviews, and did not go in depth into the nitty gritty of things, call schedule etc, because its not going to be that awful wherever you go in psych (i don't think it should be a factor in decision making for this specialty).

my preferences are based on location, happiness of the residents, and the organization of program.

I don't know about that. I interviewed at several places in the same region and they all seemed to be pretty organized with happy residents. The call schedule certainly mattered to me. But then, you're doing a surgery sub-I for some reason, so I think we just have different priorities. LOL

 

[ari202]

UoA South Campus
1. Ease Of Communication: Easy communication via e-mail. Sweet PC
2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed at Quinta Inn ( was about 2 months ago so it was just the one they recommended)
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 4 15-20 minute interview sessions with CHEIF, PD, Faculty member and current resident, then we had lunch with the happy PGY 2's and 3's, loved the fact that they didn't have a pre-interview dinner as my husband had to work and we drove in late that night.
4. Program Overview: honestly, it was pretty standard, i think they had less reserach opportunities than the main campus, residents seem very happy with the pathology. It is more of a community program with a university affiliation in my opinion. Pretty substantial psych er.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: abundant faculty and supportive faculty. the pd was regarded very highly amongst residents. she seemed super sweet and really receptive to feedback.
6. Location & Lifestyle: I liked Tucson quite a bit. Very trendy area in my opinion. Cost of living is quite reasonable and there are some nice places to live. felt like it had a goo Good amount of hispanic population (I grew up in a similar environment and would like to practice in that type of area).
7. Salary & Benefits: honestly, I don't remember much, I think they were planning on increasing it.
8. Program Strengths: very supportive faculty and good patient diversity.
9. Potential Weaknesses: I feel this is highly subjective, and I am inexperienced to comment on this. I could not find anything that would be considered as weak. Maybe Tucson isn't for everyone if you don't like a community type of program, but there are definitely research opportunities. I felt like it would be a good fit, but since my husband's family is mostly in southern california, it would be hard to see the kids regularly for his parents.

All in all, it is a wonderful program in my eyes. Reasonable hours, chill and supportive faculty/staff, Tucson is a great place to live as well. I interviewed almost 2+ months ago, but nothing really stood out as negative. I'm just being honest.

 

[slappy]

Anonymous Review: Brown-research

1. Ease Of Communication: Easy communication via eras.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Breakfast of baked goods, eggs, yogurt and coffee provided. Good Indian food for lunch. Dinner night prior in restaurant-very good.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Interviews all scheduled in afternoon after lunch and van tour which I didn't love. I prefer to interview early in the day. Typical day 730-530. 5 interviews with no down time between. No weird questions. Some questions about background and mostly research and clinical interests. Interviews were conversational and low stress.

4. Program Overview: Program offers multiple amazing training sites (Butler, Bradler, Hasbro) and a lot more research than I realized from perusing the website. All clinical sites are very close to each other so you never have to commute far but most residents have cars. Program has R25 grant for protected research time for residents that increases each year. PGY1-4 months of peds or IM or FM at Lifespan or Memorial Hospital. 2 months of Neuro, 6 mo psych (DD, Geri), 12 months of longitudinal outpatient primary care clinic which I thought was a real perk. PGY2-3 mo inpatient, 1 mo assessment, 1 mo emergency psych, 4 mo child psych (1 mo child CL included), 3 mo CL, outpatient continuity clinic, outpatient family therapy. PGY3-outpatient 12 mo, longitudinal continuity clinic, longitudinal family therapy and group therapy. PGY4-2 mo forensics, community psych and electives. I didn’t take careful notes on call and night float but I don’t think PGY1 do nights except on medicine and PGY2s do either 6 or 8 weeks of nights total. PGY3s have 2ish weeks of nights. Call was reasonable/average but I didn’t write down specifics and it didn't strike me as particularly heavy or light. Residents were really happy and most PGY3s and 4s moonlight in house and emphasized that call was manageable and educational. Psychotherapy director talked about therapy training with seemed strong with mix of MD and PhD supervisors. Residents could get training in DBT and other modalities if interested.

5. Location & Lifestyle: Providence is a small, manageable city with a nice arts/music scene, great food and family friendly. Parking is easy and cost of living is good. Most residents live in Providence but a bunch commute also. Happy residents who emphasized ability to pursue research and other interests. Normal call schedule. Tons of in house moonlighting opportunities. Most upper levels moonlight. Close to Boston, NYC. Nice beaches. Lots of residents have kids.

6. Salary & Benefits 54-62 PGY1-4 with time for moonlighting. Several residents mentioned doubling salary. 3 weeks vacation time. Accomodations for maternity/paternity leave have been made in the past.

7. Program Strengths: great mix of varied clinical training sites (Butler, Bradley, VA, Hasbro, Women and Infants) with protected time for research. Training is customizable within reason. Call schedule is fairly standard and in-house moonlighting opportunities are plentiful. Good research opportunities within collegial and friendly environment, happy residents.

8. Potential Weaknesses: No addiction fellowship (I think). Providence isn’t for everyone. Have to get used to multiple hospital systems and EMRs (everything is supposed to go to EPIC in 2015).

 

[slappy]

Anonymous Review: UPenn

1. Ease Of Communication: Easy via eras

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations or parking validation provided. I missed dinner the night before but heard that it was well-attended by residents.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 8:30-5ish. Starts with program overview and PPT presentation followed by 5 interviews mostly 30 min 15 min with PD. Talked about research, background. No weird or unusual questions. Interviewers were very nice. No down time between interviews so use the bathroom prior.

4. Program Overview: PGY1: 4 months of inpatient psych at Penn Hospital (includes Geri, Mood/anxiety and psychosis teams) and VA medical center (general and addictions). Good support staff. Work 1:1 with attendings, admit most days. Schedule 8-5ish. No nights, weekends or major holidays except when on call. 1 month of emergency psych at Psychiatric Emergency Evaluation Center (PEEC) at HUP. Locked unit separate from ED. Intern has direct attending supervision from attending. Can take consults with consult service if things are slow in ED. Shifts 8-530. 4 months IM at HUP and PAH in teams of attending senior resident and 2 interns. 4 day cycle of addmissions. Start at 7 end btwn 4-9pm. Work 1 weekend day. IM includes 2 weeks of night float at HUP. 1 month EM at HUP with 18 12h shifts. 1 month neuro on consults at HUP with no nights, weekends, or call. CAP track: 1 month adolescent medicine at CHOP, 1 mo pedi neuro at CHOP, 1 month pedi EM at CHOP, 3 months of medicine at HUP. VAMC, PAH, 5 months psych. PGY1 call 4-5 in house/month with 3-4 of these short call (530-10) at Crisis Response Center with supervision from attending or senior resident. 1 weekend call/month 8am-10pm with supervision from senior resident or attending. Covering ER, consults, psych units. Senior resident present in house. PGY2-inpatient psych 6 mo (VAMC (dual diagnosis and general), PAH (psychosis, mood, geri) supervise interns ans students, co-lead inpatient group therapy, begin psychotherapy with 1 patient. CL-3 months 2@HUP, 1@VAMC, neuro 1 month consults at PAH, psych call (no neuro call). 1 mo CAP 2wk @@pah, 2wk@CHOP. Call-no weekday, weekends 8-6pm or 8-10 pm 1-2/month I think. 6 weeks night float. 2 24h shifts/year at VAMC 8-8 covering ED and inpatient units. Weekly supervision for I+IIs. Didactics are protected 4h Wed afternoon after resident lunch. Unit-based didactics rest of the week. PGY3-ambulatory with direct supervision 8h/week. General-1day, CAP 1/2day (9 mo), SA ½ day (6 mo), Didactics ½ day, assessment ½ day, elective ½ day, RPP/CBT 1 days, community ½ day. Access to almost any elective you can think of. Assessment clinic ½ day/week with one way mirror and videotaped with direct feedback from peers and faculty. Call in house 1/mo until 10 pm. 3 24h calls/year. Outpatient phone coverage from home. PGY4 is all elective with no call. No in house moonlighting opportunities but senior residents have made connections in community with moonlighting available out of Penn system.

5. Location & Lifestyle: Philly. Most resident live in center city. Call schedule standard and not too bad.

6. Salary & Benefits: 53,600-60,700 PGY1-4 with low cost of living. 4 weeks vacation time, 10 days off btwn PGY1 and 2 in addition. Flexible with maternity leave (one resident took 5 months). Free parking or transit pass on campus. $200 professional expense, Dental, vision, etc.

7. Program Strengths: Mid side residency (10/year) in huge department within massive medical center. Variety of sites. Supervision in CBT/DBT and dynamics. Broad range of interests of current residents. One of the best places for cognitive therapy and Aaron Beck remains involved in resident training. Collaboration with Psychoanalytic Center of Philly. ECT, TMS, VNS, hypnosis training. PD seems very invested in customizing training based on resident interests and residents seems extremely happy. Good quality of life and cost of living. Call is educational and not laborious.

8. Potential Weaknesses: Not everyone is into philly. No in house moonlighting. Many sites means learning different EMRs and systems. Honestly can’t think of many weaknesses as this program is so strong in so many areas with such amazing resources and run by people who seem very invested in resident education.

9. Tips: Traffic in philly is pretty brutal so arrive early if driving.

 

[slappy]

Anonymous Review: Maine Medical Center

1. Ease Of Communication: Easy via eras and PC responded to emails quickly.

2. Accommodation & Food: Nice B+B paid for by program night before <1 block from interview site.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 8-3. 1h interview with PD and 6 30 minute interviews (2 residents/fellows) and 4 faculty members. Interviewers wanted to get to know me, my interests in psychiatry and interests in the program at MMC. They interview one applicant per day which is unique and has pros and cons IMO.

4. Program Overview: Since I was the only applicant there wasn’t a program overview ppt but PD and residents gave me a good idea of what to expect and details online are up to date (I was told). Call is very light and numerous residents take advantage of in house moonlighting + opportunities nearby that pay better. Most night float is 16:00-24:00 and minimal overnights required. Again, details are hazy. Morning was at Maine Medical Center, which seemed pretty nice and modern but I didn’t get a tour. Afternoon was at Spring Harbor Hospital which is 10 min away and nice new free standing psych hospital that’s close to ½ and ½ adult/child. There is one geri psych unit at MMC. Spring harbor is a pretty impressive place with one of the only DDU child-adolescent units in the country. Long-time PD is retiring in July and I met with new PD also who has been there for 12 years and is very well-liked by residents and currently runs the psychiatry clerkship. He seemed very invested in resident education and I didn’t feel like this was a major deterrent given that he is very embedded in the program already.

5. Location & Lifestyle: Portland is a cute little New England city with a lot of good ethnic food and arts scene. Lots of hiking/skiing nearby with good cost of living and good schools in nearby towns. Residents seemed really happy, diverse and really close-knit. Cost of living is pretty good.

6. Salary & Benefits: Standard benefits-see online. Vacation 4 weeks I think. They’re accommodated maternity leaves in the past (6-8 weeks paid?). Residents get $1500 allowance/year to pursue personal therapy.

7. Program Strengths: Program is stong in child esp in Autism/DDU. Very friendly people, happy residents who feel well-supported by attendings. Light call schedule leaves time to pursue personal or professional interests. Portland is a nice place to live that’s affordable on residents salary. In house moonlighting available as well as nearby.

8. Potential Weaknesses: smaller program (5 residents) with only child fellowship in house. Didn’t get to see facilities at MMC. Research available at research institute 5 miles away and some residents are involved but need to be more proactive than other places.

9. Tips: Dress for cold weather and comfy shoes.

 

[slappy]

Anonymous Review: Yale-research interview

1. Ease Of Communication: Communication was good but given the size of the program, I was contacted by numerous people in an effort to secure dates, RSVP for dinners and confirm research interests. Given everything else going on, this felt more disjointed and stressful. That said, while I prefer communicating with one person, I understand why that’s not possible for a program this size.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided but the Yale rate for the New Haven Hotel is cheap (I stayed with family). A car isn’t needed but parking was validated both days. First night had walking tour of undergrad campus with a lot of cool history followed by dinner at a really nice restaurant. First day has Bfast/coffee in the am, lunch at a local pizza place, wine and cheese in the afternoon and a nice dinner. Bfast, lunch and coffee/pastries in the afternoon were provided for day 2 as well. I was very well fed at Yale.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): First day included an overview by PD and APD of curriculum at and history of Yale. Didactics are collaborative and group-based (as opposed to ppt/traditional teaching, which isn’t consistent with good long-term retention). Interviews were all prior to lunch and 30-45 min each. Questions were fair, standard and format was conversational. After lunch, we had a tour of the facilities, which were nice-mix of newer and older-nothing super old. Day 2 was a research day with an overview and history of program, meetings with researchers, tour of research facilities and presentations about different types of research at Yale. The interview days were a lot of fun but pretty long and tiring.

4. Program Overview: Research track a has a lot of flexibility CASE for all residents is 3 months of elective time in PGY2 year. Residents have taken electives abroad, worked on research, done whatever they want (within reason) with this time. PGY1 year has 6 months of peds or medicine but refer to website for specifics. Didactics have recently been revamped and are very PBLish with rave reviews from residents. I’m not the best person to comment on the structure of the program since my interview days focused on the research track. I can comment on the fact that for such a huge program with lots of $$$ and prestige, the feel of the program is very warm, collegial and close knit. Numerous residents I met have kids, took medical/personal leaves and emphasized how much they were supported. The residents are diverse in age, race, background etc and seem close to each other and with residents in other departments. These were some of the nicest, happiest residents I’ve seen on the interview trail. Most residents do research of some type but it’s not required. Residents rotate through nearby VA and community site. PD and APDs seem very invested in helping residents pursue their interests within psychiatry and are really respectful and considerate of demands on residents and make changes to the program in real tie based on feedback. Psychotherapy training is strong with local psychoanalytic institute and opportunities for additional training if one desires. Residents can do psychodynamic cases with Yale graduate students, which sounds like a good experience.

5. Location & Lifestyle: New Haven has a lot of great food and culture but it definitely has some rough parts. Yale has tons of resources that you have access to as a resident. The undergrad gym is ridiculous and costs 20-30/month for residents (can use med school gym free). Library is beautiful as are the undergrad facilities, art gallaries. Salary is among the highest I’ve seen with a pretty standard call schedule-check online for specifics. Residents are often able to sleep on call. There are tons of in house moonlighting opportunities and many residents moonlight and double their salary in house or at VA which pays better. Residents were some of the nicest, happiest and most down to earth I’ve seen on the interview trail. A lot of residents live in New Haven and don’t have cars but a large number live nearby and drive.

6. Salary & Benefits: Intern salary 64ish, highest I’ve seen and New Haven is very affordable. Good health insurance that covers own psychotherapy if interested. Access reduced price arts tickets, Yale gym and other perks.

7. Program Strengths: Amazing research opportunities with lots of support and mentoring. VA exposure. Good community psych exposure. Warm and friendly atmosphere. In house moonlinghting with high base salary. Program is very flexible and responsive to resident feedback. Strong in addiction and child.

8. Potential Weaknesses: New Haven isn’t for everyone. Not sure about forensic exposure. I’m pretty blown away by how awesome this place is and really didn’t detect any major weaknesses.

9. Tips: Dress warm. It was chilly!

 

[SmallBird]

Anonymous Review: Yale-research interview

1. Ease Of Communication: Communication was good but given the size of the program, I was contacted by numerous people in an effort to secure dates, RSVP for dinners and confirm research interests. Given everything else going on, this felt more disjointed and stressful. That said, while I prefer communicating with one person, I understand why that’s not possible for a program this size.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided but the Yale rate for the New Haven Hotel is cheap (I stayed with family). A car isn’t needed but parking was validated both days. First night had walking tour of undergrad campus with a lot of cool history followed by dinner at a really nice restaurant. First day has Bfast/coffee in the am, lunch at a local pizza place, wine and cheese in the afternoon and a nice dinner. Bfast, lunch and coffee/pastries in the afternoon were provided for day 2 as well. I was very well fed at Yale.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): First day included an overview by PD and APD of curriculum at and history of Yale. Didactics are collaborative and group-based (as opposed to ppt/traditional teaching, which isn’t consistent with good long-term retention). Interviews were all prior to lunch and 30-45 min each. Questions were fair, standard and format was conversational. After lunch, we had a tour of the facilities, which were nice-mix of newer and older-nothing super old. Day 2 was a research day with an overview and history of program, meetings with researchers, tour of research facilities and presentations about different types of research at Yale. The interview days were a lot of fun but pretty long and tiring.

4. Program Overview: Research track a has a lot of flexibility CASE for all residents is 3 months of elective time in PGY2 year. Residents have taken electives abroad, worked on research, done whatever they want (within reason) with this time. PGY1 year has 6 months of peds or medicine but refer to website for specifics. Didactics have recently been revamped and are very PBLish with rave reviews from residents. I’m not the best person to comment on the structure of the program since my interview days focused on the research track. I can comment on the fact that for such a huge program with lots of $$$ and prestige, the feel of the program is very warm, collegial and close knit. Numerous residents I met have kids, took medical/personal leaves and emphasized how much they were supported. The residents are diverse in age, race, background etc and seem close to each other and with residents in other departments. These were some of the nicest, happiest residents I’ve seen on the interview trail. Most residents do research of some type but it’s not required. Residents rotate through nearby VA and community site. PD and APDs seem very invested in helping residents pursue their interests within psychiatry and are really respectful and considerate of demands on residents and make changes to the program in real tie based on feedback. Psychotherapy training is strong with local psychoanalytic institute and opportunities for additional training if one desires. Residents can do psychodynamic cases with Yale graduate students, which sounds like a good experience.

5. Location & Lifestyle: New Haven has a lot of great food and culture but it definitely has some rough parts. Yale has tons of resources that you have access to as a resident. The undergrad gym is ridiculous and costs 20-30/month for residents (can use med school gym free). Library is beautiful as are the undergrad facilities, art gallaries. Salary is among the highest I’ve seen with a pretty standard call schedule-check online for specifics. Residents are often able to sleep on call. There are tons of in house moonlighting opportunities and many residents moonlight and double their salary in house or at VA which pays better. Residents were some of the nicest, happiest and most down to earth I’ve seen on the interview trail. A lot of residents live in New Haven and don’t have cars but a large number live nearby and drive.

6. Salary & Benefits: Intern salary 64ish, highest I’ve seen and New Haven is very affordable. Good health insurance that covers own psychotherapy if interested. Access reduced price arts tickets, Yale gym and other perks.

7. Program Strengths: Amazing research opportunities with lots of support and mentoring. VA exposure. Good community psych exposure. Warm and friendly atmosphere. In house moonlinghting with high base salary. Program is very flexible and responsive to resident feedback. Strong in addiction and child.

8. Potential Weaknesses: New Haven isn’t for everyone. Not sure about forensic exposure. I’m pretty blown away by how awesome this place is and really didn’t detect any major weaknesses.

9. Tips: Dress warm. It was chilly!

Glad to hear of your positive experience! To answer the one thing you seemed unsure about - forensic exposure is really great. We have an extensive forensics seminar run by Dr Zonana who has been a forensic psychiatrists for decades and is an excellent teacher. He brings a large part of his department along to these seminars which includes a number of forensic psychiatrists, psychologists and lawyers. Residents rotate at a jail diversion clinic at our CMHC, and a really cool thing was that we got to be expert witnesses for moot court at the Yale Law School - one of the highlights of my didactics last year! And then of course there is a forensic fellowship that is very popular and quite competitive. Hope that's helpful.

 

[serimeri]

I agree. I'm thinking more generally and less personally. In other words you take the same PD who is in it for the long haul and works hard to make the program educational as possible, good but small group of attendings, super sweet coordinator and so on and so forth and put it in a magnet coastal city and put university big money behind it, it'd be on everybody's list.

Fresno like other mid paced mid sized cities, in the midway between this and that other place. With agriculture as stand out feature. Will give you less of the panache but more of the practical. Better turn of coin on your salary. Innumerable moonlighting opportunities from people desperate for coverage. And so on.

In some ways I'm very envious of these preeminently practical advantages that are also in nice but not hotly contested pieces of real estate.

And I've got half a mind to settle down in one for a time after I graduate.

At least with agriculture you mention, you can get a good serving of vegan, wholesome organic food? j/k

But I will say that Fresno, is a practical place, and I can at least say that you don't have to worry about crime as much as you would the area around USC or even some parts of Torrance a la Harbor UCLA. This is just my opinion.

 

[dochtuir]

I don't know if it will be regarded by many (or any) as helpful, but my own review system does not fit well with the standard 9 question system; so I'm going to submit the reviews I've completed a bit differently. I apologize if it is not helpful, but I wanted to contribute.

Program: NYPH-Cornell

Inpatient psychiatric beds: 282; 250 @Westchester; 32 @Payne Whitney Manhattan.
Inpatient psychiatry specialty units: 16; 10 @Westchester, including Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders; 6 @PayneWhitney.
Outpatient psychiatry specialty clinics: 26+.
Outpatient psychiatry visits/year: Not stated.
PES visits/year: New CPEP; 90,000 ER visits (PES visit # not stated).

Full-time faculty: 160 full-time (some said "nearly 200"); 400 voluntary.
Didactics: 3 hrs/wk protected plus grand rounds, etc.; weekly therapy case conferences as PGY3; Professor's Rounds with stand-out clinicians; numerous other weekly specific conferences residents may attend (including personality disorder research conferences).
Medicine training: 11 wks inpatient at NYPH or Memorial Sloan Kettering; 4-5 wks in urgent care ED setting.
Psychotherapy: CBT, DBT, IPT, long-term psychodynamic, group, couples/family.
Supervision: 6-7 hrs/wk; meet with a "meta-supervisor", scholarship supervisor, and therapy supervisor.
Research: Required scholarly paper for all residents; extensive support from faculty.
Leadership training: 2 chief resident positions; Clinical Scholar Initiative starting this year with new PD, focus seems to be on personal career development as an academic psychiatrist.
Neuroscience curriculum: Yes; neuroscience and psychotherapy have a "common language".
Call schedule: Night float system; 4 weeks PGY1.

Chairman presence: Dr. Barchas sits down with applicants as a group and delineates his vision for the future of the department and the field; quite well-connected and accomplished.
Program director: Dr. Penzner took over for Dr. Auchincloss this year; Dr. Auchincloss remains present, now a Dean for education overseeing the program; PD was quite dynamic and is implementing the Clinical Scholars Initiative, previously for faculty development, for residents.

Cost of living: Rent is $1800+ (studio) in hospital-subsidized housing located on Upper East Side.
Vacation: 4 wks/yr
Moonlighting: Yes; at Westchester

Post-graduation plans: Mostly attending/fellowship positions at other NYC hospitals (including NYPH-Columbia, NYU).
Fellowships: 5, including psychooncology with MSKCC.

Bonus points: 3-5 wks elective time as PGY2; scholarly writing seminar.

 

[dochtuir]

I don't know if it will be regarded by many (or any) as helpful, but my own review system does not fit well with the standard 9 question system; so I'm going to submit the reviews I've completed a bit differently. I apologize if it is not helpful, but I wanted to contribute.

Program: NYPH-Cornell

Inpatient psychiatric beds: 282; 250 @Westchester; 32 @Payne Whitney Manhattan.
Inpatient psychiatry specialty units: 16; 10 @Westchester, including Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders; 6 @PayneWhitney.
Outpatient psychiatry specialty clinics: 26+.
Outpatient psychiatry visits/year: Not stated.
PES visits/year: New CPEP; 90,000 ER visits (PES visit # not stated).

Full-time faculty: 160 full-time (some said "nearly 200"); 400 voluntary.
Didactics: 3 hrs/wk protected plus grand rounds, etc.; weekly therapy case conferences as PGY3; Professor's Rounds with stand-out clinicians; numerous other weekly specific conferences residents may attend (including personality disorder research conferences).
Medicine training: 11 wks inpatient at NYPH or Memorial Sloan Kettering; 4-5 wks in urgent care ED setting.
Psychotherapy: CBT, DBT, IPT, long-term psychodynamic, group, couples/family.
Supervision: 6-7 hrs/wk; meet with a "meta-supervisor", scholarship supervisor, and therapy supervisor.
Research: Required scholarly paper for all residents; extensive support from faculty.
Leadership training: 2 chief resident positions; Clinical Scholar Initiative starting this year with new PD, focus seems to be on personal career development as an academic psychiatrist.
Neuroscience curriculum: Yes; neuroscience and psychotherapy have a "common language".
Call schedule: Night float system; 4 weeks PGY1.

Chairman presence: Dr. Barchas sits down with applicants as a group and delineates his vision for the future of the department and the field; quite well-connected and accomplished.
Program director: Dr. Penzner took over for Dr. Auchincloss this year; Dr. Auchincloss remains present, now a Dean for education overseeing the program; PD was quite dynamic and is implementing the Clinical Scholars Initiative, previously for faculty development, for residents.

Cost of living: Rent is $1800+ (studio) in hospital-subsidized housing located on Upper East Side.
Vacation: 4 wks/yr
Moonlighting: Yes; at Westchester

Post-graduation plans: Mostly attending/fellowship positions at other NYC hospitals (including NYPH-Columbia, NYU).
Fellowships: 5, including psychooncology with MSKCC.

Bonus points: 3-5 wks elective time as PGY2; scholarly writing seminar.

Before I submit any more, it'd be good to hear if this consolidation of information is useful or not. Thanks!

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

Before I submit any more, it'd be good to hear if this consolidation of information is useful or not. Thanks!

Your review is great, I would like to know what your opinions and feel of the residents and closeness as a group are as well.

 

[dochtuir]

Your review is great, I would like to know what your opinions and feel of the residents and closeness as a group are as well.

A caveat before answering: I think any interview day is limited in its ability to faithfully answer your question by the small sample size of residents we are exposed to in such a short period of time.

That said, the residents who stand out in my mind are a few PGY4s. The chief residents were quite impressive; thoughtful, empathic, diplomatic, with outstanding potential to lead. I met two others who were less impressive, likely because their career goals matched less well with my own. These impressions are based upon an interview with one of the chiefs, a brief intro at the start of the day with the other chief, and a 20-minute conversation with the other two over lunch--so I'm more confident in my assessment of the one chief who interviewed me than in the others.

I didn't interact with the residents as a group; their focus during the lunch was intermingling with the applicants. So I can't accurately assess that aspect. Hope that's helpful.

 

[dochtuir]

Program: MGH-McLean

Inpatient psychiatric beds: 201; 24 @MGH; 177 @McLean.
Inpatient psychiatry specialty units: 16+ at McLean including Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders; MGH's Blake 11 has very medically ill psychiatric patients.
Outpatient psychiatry specialty clinics: 42, including accredited school for child/adolescent patients at McLean.
Outpatient psychiatry visits/year: 188,000; 58K @McLean, 130K @MGH.
PES visits/year: 6K.

Full-time faculty: 250 full-time; 400 part-time; "100+ teaching faculty" (unsure about this distinction).
Didactics: 5 hrs/wk protected plus grand rounds, etc.; plus psychopharm cases/didactics on Tues AM during PGY3.
Medicine training: 6 months inpatient at MGH or Newton-Wellesley.
Psychotherapy: CBT, DBT, psychodynamic, group, child/family; Program in Psychodynamics track.
Supervision: 3 hrs/wk PGY2-4; meet with 2 general, 1 CBT, 1 group, 1 child supervisor.
Research: Required scholarly project for all residents; extensive faculty network; numerous opportunities to continue research work into fellowships.
Leadership training: 12 chief resident positions; Chief resident leadership seminar taught by PD; all PGY4s design and submit fourth-year curriculum with clearly outlined career trajectory.
Neuroscience curriculum: Yes.
Call schedule: No call PGY1 while on psych; 6 wks night float PGY2; PGY3-4 call is q3-4 wks.

Chairman presence: Chairmen (MGH or McLean) were not present for either interview day.
Program director: Dr. Smith (PD) and APDs Drs. Beach and Vestal are all young, approachable, and appear invested in resident success; have established a mentorship model with an assigned "training" mentor to serve as a first advisor to incoming PGY1s; aware of and addressing weakness in forensics rotations.

Cost of living: Rent is $1200+ for 1-bedroom in Somerville (cheaper option, but still a decent neighborhood).
Vacation: 4 wks/yr
Moonlighting: Yes; at McLean.

Post-graduation plans: 30% attending/fellowship positions at MGH or McLean.
Fellowships: 9, including schizophrenia, neuropsych, and perinatal.

Residents: (please make standard "small sample size bias" assumption in reading) quite impressed with residents; appear congenial, collaborative, interested and interesting, curious, hard-working, driven; did not have a negative interaction over the two-day interview.

Bonus points: 10% of general inpatient admissions to MGH receive psychiatric consults; programs for residents with interest in psychodynamics, clinician-educator training, and research; chiefships available for nearly every service.

 

[notdeadyet]

Your review is great, I would like to know what your opinions and feel of the residents and closeness as a group are as well.

I'd caution against putting too much stock in this.

Aside from getting only a random sampling of residents to meet on interview day that will skew your impressions positively or negatively, class closeness isn't so much a representation of that program as it is of that CLASS. Of which you will not be a part.

The fact is that almost every program out there has close/tightknit classes and classes that don't quite click.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dochtuir]

Program: NYPH-Columbia/NYSPI

Inpatient psychiatric beds: 123; 58 @NYSPI (Eating Disoders research unit, Psychosis, Affective, Addiction, Community); 65 @NYPH.
Inpatient psychiatry specialty units: 5 at NYSPI.
Outpatient psychiatry specialty clinics: 23 at NYSPI.
Outpatient psychiatry visits/year: 180,000.
PES visits/year: 6.5K in NYPH's CPEP.

Full-time faculty: 450 full-time; including researchers, 600+.
Didactics: once weekly didactic series for PGY1; daily 1-hr didactics in PGY2-3; twice weekly in PGY4.
Medicine training: 4 months inpatient IM (can include ICU); 1 month EMed.
Psychotherapy: CBT, IPT, DBT, dynamic, supportive, family; psychotherapy track available PGY3.
Supervision: 8 hrs/wk; video supervision highly utilized with every resident's office equipped.
Research: Available research track with extensive faculty network; new building for the Zuckerman Mind, Brain, Behavior Institute.
Leadership training: Early career planning in PGY1; mentorship program from day 1 with faculty chosen from those with at least a decade in the department.
Neuroscience curriculum: Yes.
Call schedule: No call PGY1 while on psych; 4 wks night float PGY2; 4-5 wks night float in CPEP, weekend call q4wks PGY3; no PGY4 night float, but weekend daytime C/L call.

Chairman presence: Chairman briefly addressed applicants during breakfast.
Program director: Dr. Oquendo (PD) is running for APA presidency and is considered accomplished as a leader of the program; Co-director, Dr. Arbuckle, is a warm, thoughtful, enthusiastic, education-focused leader, and during my interview was able to sell moving to NYC quite well.

Cost of living: Rent is $1200+ for studio in nearby neighborhoods (this is listed in the provided packet, may be higher).
Vacation: 4 wks/yr
Moonlighting: Yes; in CPEP or outside hospitals.

Post-graduation plans: 25% attending/fellowship positions at Columbia; noticed many taking faculty positions around NYC (at NYU, Cornell).
Fellowships: 8, including psychoanalysis and emergency psych.

Residents: (please make standard "small sample size bias" assumption in reading) impressed with residents overall; personable, thoughtful, excited about the program.

Bonus points: Likely one of the cheapest living options in NYC; tons of supervision; early and active career planning; LOS at NYSPI is mostly physician-determined; strong public/community psychiatry focus.

 

[dochtuir]

Program: UPMC-WPIC (Pittsburgh)

Inpatient psychiatric beds: 310 @WPIC; 446 total psychiatric beds; 5700 inpatient psychiatric admissions/yr.
Inpatient psychiatry specialty units: 11+
Outpatient psychiatry specialty clinics: 57+
Outpatient psychiatry visits/year: 392,000.
PES visits/year: 12K in WPIC's freestanding PES.

Full-time faculty: 220 full-time.
Didactics: 6.5-7.5 hrs/wk (3 hrs protected and lumped); online access to video recordings of key didactic/grand rounds material.
Medicine training: 3 blocks inpatient Family Med (change from IM 2/2 desire for general medicine rather than specialized medicine); 1 block Medical Care of the Psychiatric Patient at WPIC.
Psychotherapy: CBT, IPT, dynamic, motivational interviewing; family/group therapy option; Pittsburgh psychoanalytic institute is accessible.
Supervision: individual supervision for dynamic; group for CBT, IPT; can get more; MI supervision from national leader, Dr. Douaihy.
Research: Available research track with extensive and collaborative faculty network; #1 NIMH funding; excellent support for paper/grant writing.
Leadership training: AACE (academic administrator/clinical educator track) with didactic series; support for writing and career planning; mini-MBA a possibility (done by junior faculty); may learn alongside leaders of one of the largest psychiatric clinical operations in the country.
Neuroscience curriculum: Yes; PD especially invested in this.
Call schedule: No call PGY3-4.

Chairman presence: Chairman addressed applicants in the AM, specifically discussing his open-door policy.
Program director: Dr. Travis is dynamic, thoughtful, and clearly devoted to providing an outstanding educational experience; has a well-articulated vision for advancing the field and UPMC's program.

Cost of living: Rent is $700+ for 1-bedroom.
Vacation: 12 days +5 days educational leave PGY1; 17 days +5 days educational leave PGY2-4
Moonlighting: Yes.

Post-graduation plans: 25-50% attending/fellowship positions at WPIC.
Fellowships: 8, including sleep, pain, and community psych.

Residents: (please make standard "small sample size bias" assumption in reading) impressed with residents overall; personable, thoughtful, excited about the program; diverse interests; enjoyed pre-interview dinner conversations.

Bonus points: unique provider/insurer healthcare system; administration is very thoughtful about mentorship; online educational material; suboxone and ECT certification.

 

[Amygdarya]

dochtuir, thanks so much for your reviews and congrats on interviewing at all these wonderful programs! You must be one hell of an applicant!

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

A caveat before answering: I think any interview day is limited in its ability to faithfully answer your question by the small sample size of residents we are exposed to in such a short period of time.

That said, the residents who stand out in my mind are a few PGY4s. The chief residents were quite impressive; thoughtful, empathic, diplomatic, with outstanding potential to lead. I met two others who were less impressive, likely because their career goals matched less well with my own. These impressions are based upon an interview with one of the chiefs, a brief intro at the start of the day with the other chief, and a 20-minute conversation with the other two over lunch--so I'm more confident in my assessment of the one chief who interviewed me than in the others.

I didn't interact with the residents as a group; their focus during the lunch was intermingling with the applicants. So I can't accurately assess that aspect. Hope that's helpful.

I'd caution against putting too much stock in this.

Aside from getting only a random sampling of residents to meet on interview day that will skew your impressions positively or negatively, class closeness isn't so much a representation of that program as it is of that CLASS. Of which you will not be a part.

The fact is that almost every program out there has close/tightknit classes and classes that don't quite click.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm just a scared 3rd year who has finally committed to psych and now i'm scavenging for any information that I can get from programs not through their website.

Thank you both for your help and guidance that you provide on this site!!

 

[dochtuir]

I'm just a scared 3rd year who has finally committed to psych and now i'm scavenging for any information that I can get from programs not through their website.

Thank you both for your help and guidance that you provide on this site!!

I can empathize with the fear. It'll get better.

To your point about information beyond what is available on the website: you're absolutely right that you'll need more resources to make an informed decision. Program websites are--simply put--lacking, poorly maintained, and sometimes inaccurate. Objective information about core rotations, electives, supervision time, psychotherapy modalities, patient volume, specialty floors/clinics (if specifically provided at all) is usually found only by painstakingly extracting it from large blocks of text, video montages of short bumper-sticker quips, or tables that have been constructed for other purposes than information-gathering; the page tabs are usually poorly thought-out, with some links leading to non-existent webpages and others to departmental webpages for patient use (rather than for prospective residents). Few and far-between are the websites that feel clean, well thought-out, and user-friendly. It's unfortunate given how a well-put-together web presence can really sell a program (or at least attract more interest), especially when you otherwise get only a snapshot on your interview day. PD's seem to be aware of the issue, but haven't got the time/resources to improve them (yet).

 

[NickNaylor]

I can empathize with the fear. It'll get better.

To your point about information beyond what is available on the website: you're absolutely right that you'll need more resources to make an informed decision. Program websites are--simply put--lacking, poorly maintained, and sometimes inaccurate. Objective information about core rotations, electives, supervision time, psychotherapy modalities, patient volume, specialty floors/clinics (if specifically provided at all) is usually found only by painstakingly extracting it from large blocks of text, video montages of short bumper-sticker quips, or tables that have been constructed for other purposes than information-gathering; the page tabs are usually poorly thought-out, with some links leading to non-existent webpages and others to departmental webpages for patient use (rather than for prospective residents). Few and far-between are the websites that feel clean, well thought-out, and user-friendly. It's unfortunate given how a well-put-together web presence can really sell a program (or at least attract more interest), especially when you otherwise get only a snapshot on your interview day. PD's seem to be aware of the issue, but haven't got the time/resources to improve them (yet).

Agree with this. For me, I valued the input from our clerkship director (who served as our application mentor/advisor), who I trust and is an advocate for us students, wherever we want to end up. As for @DuskPhilosophy, you'll start to get a sense of differences in programs after going on a few interviews (similar to the experience of going on medical school interviews if you had a similar experience). I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Think about areas of the country you want to end up in, draft up a list of programs in those areas, and talk with someone you trust - ideally someone who knows something about psych programs across the country - and start whittling your list down. I'll be honest and say that with few exceptions, I applied to programs strictly based on location and places at which I thought I would be reasonably competitive. There was no real thought into my initial application list beyond that.

You could go crazy trying to rationalize applying to some programs and not others. While some degree of research and thought might be helpful, I think a lot of that time would ultimately be wasted.

 

[slappy]

Anonymous Review: University of California Irvine (UCI)

1. Ease of Communication: email

2. Accommodation & Food: Hotel recommended across the street was convenient and discounted. Happy hour with appetizers on Thursday evening at restaurant across from hospital, night before my interview day. On interview day, had lunch with residents. There are 2 interview days, thurs or fri. I did my interview on the FRiday

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Morning interviews then tour in the afternoon. Overview with powerpoint given by chief resident. Interviews were mostly casual. Lunch. Chief resident gave impression that program was catty, kept going on and on with examples of how her class was better than the other classes, my applicant group started joke about how weird it was bc so uncomfortable. Overall experience on the interview day was not positive.

4. Program Overview: Intern year 4 months medicine. 2 of neuro. Interns complained of long hours, only have 8 residents in their class. Said their class did not fill 3 out of 9 spots last year, and someone fired. They do 6 weeks of NF. Hours on psychiatry rotations long, some months get to work at 6:30am. Residents complained of poor teaching. Chief talked about multiple attendings leaving, and new attendings hired are recent graduates so not much teaching. Lectures are 2 hours each week, and interns said they are not helpful. Second year with consult rotation, forensics, adolescent, geriatrics. The seconds years seemed disappointed with their experiences, program director difficult to work with, described as not being interested in feedback and having favorites. Third year: 5 half day clinics at VA, UCI and another site all outpatient, not much clinical stuff. Fourth year with county clinic and outpatient options, nothing unique. Commuting between sites seems fair but not great. There is an interim chair. Seems like program does not prepare for fellowships, when I asked about fellowships afterwards resident said that of 6 residents that applied to child only 3 matched and other 3 didn’t match anywhere.

Faculty: not many faculty, recent grads, quite a few have quit. PD has mixed reviews with some unprofessional relationships with residents, heard she acts like wants to improve program but does not want feedback from residents. She seems aloof, not interested in education. Interim chair. Residents describe learning as needing to all be done on own.

5. Location & Lifestyle: most live in Orange, walking distance to hospital, in new apartment complexes with pools. Call has 6 wks NF intern year and weekday call. 2nd year-weekends and weekday call, and 3rd year- weekday call. 4th year-no call. Interns talked about being too busy on call, I asked them how many new patients they typically see during shift and they see less than I see as a med student so seems like weak training. Can start moonlighting internally 2nd year, and externally 3rd year.

6. Salary & Benefits- uc salary, No housing stipend, educational/travel funds. Decent insurance. 4 weeks of vacation

7. Program Strengths:
---Location in southern California
---big class size
---internal moonlighting
---4 weeks of vacation per year

8. Potential Weaknesses:
---Resident run department with little teaching
---Few faculty, most recent grads, inexperienced
---PD not well liked, interns felt misled, catty, not academic
---interim chairman
---not able to match into child fellowship only 3 out of 6 applying matched
---unfilled last year, 3 open spots, residents getting fired or leaving is red flag
---limited clinical electives/rotations