Program Name - University of Rochester
1. Ease Of Communication: Very easy e-mail communication with coordinator, who was very nice. Everything very clearly laid out for us.
2. Accommodation & Food: Put you up for night prior to interview in a hotel by the airport, with shuttle service to and from the medical center on interview day. Resident dinner on the night before at a nice place. Lots of residents were at the dinner: two chiefs, two child fellows, one each from the other years. A very relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Lunch was standard deli sandwich catering. Again, many residents were at lunch and were happy to chat, answer questions, share experiences, etc.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day begins at 7:45. Starts with an overview of the department from the Chair: very relaxed, informal. Gives info on the history of the department (“birthplace of biopsychosocial model”) and on their current values (the big one: making sure people have access to community care). Followed by overview powerpoint of the program and the city in general from the PD and Associate PD and then another informal presentation from the Vice Chair and Associate Chair. Q&A encouraged throughout. Four 30 minute interviews throughout the day: one with PD, one with Associate PD, one with a chief resident, and one with a faculty in your specific area of interest. Interviews were almost all of the “Tell me what you want to know about the program”-variety; very relaxed, enjoyable, friendly. PD says he sometimes asks people to talk about a case. No one really had any questions for me apart from wanting to know what I was looking for in a program. Not a day where they want you to sell yourself, but rather one where they want to see if you’d think you’d be a good fit. Lunch with residents after the first couple of interviews, then a tour, and then the last one or two interviews.
4. Program Overview: Academic setting at a university hospital. Emphasis on clinical psychiatry in the training. Almost all of the rotations in the first 2 year are on the medical center campus (or very close by), with more electives in the surrounding community later on. Out of your 4 primary care months as a PGY-1, you do two on the Behavioral Medical Surgical Unit, which is for med/surg patients with serious psych issues. 3 of the PGY-1 inpatient months are on the forensic floor at a state hospital, which residents say is a really interesting, educational experience. Call seems very humane: 4 shifts per month for PGY-1 and 2, 3 shifts per month for PGY-3, and 2 per month for PGY-4. No overnight call. Moonlighting encouraged and easily available (at the medical center’s CPEP): their material says starting in the second half of PGY-2, but a resident said that realistically you can’t start until PGY-3. The hospital has a big catchment area and is the major provider in the region, so there’s supposed to be a good variety in the patient population and they treat the full spectrum of psych issues. Fellowships in Child/Adolescent, Geriatric, and Forensic. No Psychosomatic fellowships yet, but supposedly it’s in the works.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: The faculty I met all seemed very nice. Per residents, faculty are very supportive. The PD and the Department Chair both emphasized the importance they placed on making sure trainees have enough autonomy to learn and make their own decisions, but have support whenever they need it.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Rochester seems like a pretty nice city of its size and type. Lifestyle, in general, seems like a big selling point for this program. They seem to be very family friendly, and not just paying it lip service: many faculty and residents all had specific examples of how the program worked with people to accommodate residents with family obligations, commitments, etc. Seems like a very affordable, livable place to raise a family. Even residents who weren’t excited about moving to Rochester at first say that they’ve come to really like it.
7. Salary & Benefits: Mostly standard. Along with the city, the university offers a $9K incentive if you’re a first-time homeowner buying a house in one of the neighborhoods near the university.
8. Program Strengths: Strong on community psychiatry. Emphasis on the biopsychosocial model. Very family friendly, both in terms of the culture of the program itself and the livability of the city. Great work/life balance. Good support from faculty. Residents all seem very happy to be there. No one acted like they were performers in a Potemkin village. FWIW, the Chair seemed like he would be a really great boss.
9. Potential Weaknesses: Not really a weakness, but… No one really talked about neuroscience at all during the residency dinner or on the interview day itself. No one there seemed that excited about psychopharm either (PD: “What’s the best antidepressant? The one you can get your patient to take”.) This is probably partly just a matter of emphasis, although I think it reflects, not really a weakness, but a genuine sense of what this program puts a high value on (“how can we deliver psychiatric care to the people who need it the most”) over what it places a (maybe only slightly) lower value on (“what’s the specific neurological dysfunction going on in people who need psychiatric care the most”).
10. Overall impression: Very solid program where everyone is very happy. Good camaraderie among the residents, and residents have only positive things to say about the faculty. Sets a high bar in terms of lifestyle, life/work balance.
