2015-2016 Interview Reviews

[neolandrover]

Program Name: Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

Program Communication: No problems with scheduling or communication. Both PC and assistant PC were very welcoming during interview day.

Accommodations: Discounted hotel offered across the bridge from downtown ($89). I chose the Holiday Inn Express (slightly more expensive) right by the medical campus due to ease of getting downtown and ability to walk to interview.

Dinner: Very nice Italian place downtown. Many things on the menu were very pricey ($30 entrees) and they had carafes of wine. Gotta love these dinners. There were 5 or 6 residents at dinner, from all years. There were also nine applicants plus some SOs, which by far was the largest dinner I had been to as of yet. It rather limited who you could directly interact with. Residents were good about it though, they moved around so they got a chance to talk to everyone. They seemed very happy and well-rested. Easy to talk to and very willing to answer questions.

Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Start time 8:00, arrive a few minutes beforehand. They had bagel sandwiches with cream cheese and stuff. The residency program has its own building where people take call, relax, do notes etc. Little lounge area with N64 (obviously very important).

8:00-9:15 Overview from PD and chief.
3 interviews spread throughout day (1 PD or aPD, 1 faculty in area of interest, 1 resident/fellow) - They are really good about pairing you up with people in your field of interest. I had stated child and ECT as my interests and was able to interview with people in those departments. PD's personality is very calm, perhaps a little on the drier side. He is clearly very invested in his program and cares deeply about his residents. I believe his background is in C/L, and he is very active in the community with regards to crisis management. PD also has a service dog so don't let this catch you off guard. He is very calm and friendly and I had to resist wanting to pet him during the interview.

Interview questions were very standard, nothing deeply psychoanalytical or difficult. Just trying to get to know you.

11:45 - 1:00 Lunch at this cool old fashioned southern home converted into a restaurant. Had a lot of salads and sandwiches. Order whatever you want off the menu. Again, it is evident that the psychiatry department has a lot of money. $11 for a salad. Another chance to speak to a different group of residents. ~5 residents for lunch.

1:00-1:30 Tour - Got to see some of the psych floors in the Institute of Psychiatry. They are shaped in a semi-circle and are very large and modern. Each floor is a different unit and is decorated accordingly. Went to nice gym on campus which residents get free access to. Large pool, weight rooms, racket ball courts etc. They explained that it would be otherwise difficult to afford such nice facilities on a resident's salary. Apparently Bill Murray works out there too. VA is on campus although we didn't go inside.

Day ends around 2 or 2:30 based on how your interviews were set up. Very manageable and not fatiguing at all.

Program and Curriculum Overview
~16 residents per year, 1 of which is Neuro/Psych, 2 are Med/Psych
PGY-1: 4 blocks medicine (1 inpatient VA, 1 inpatient MUSC, 1 outpatient, 1 ER), 1 block inpatient neuro, 7 blocks psychiatry (3 inpatient MUSC, 2 inpatient VA, 2 night float)
Night float consists of 15 hour shifts from 5pm - 8am. One of these months is lighter (15-17 shifts per month), one is heavier (17-20 shifts). Responsibilities are crisis and admits. The benefit of this is there is no call during psych months. Standard 8-5 days. Some days they finish earlier than 5. You do round on the weekends, but if you round past 1pm, you get a free day off for later use that doesn't count in your standard vacation days. These days off you can save up and use like rollover minutes.

PGY-2: 1 block C/L neurology, 5 blocks inpatient psychiatry (general/ect, acute, va, geriatric, addiction), 1 block addiction outpatient, 2 blocks C/L, 2 blocks night float, + VA outpatient 1/2 day a week

No call. Weekend rounding when on inpatient rotations. Opportunities to moonlight in mid-late PGY-2.

PGY-3: Outpatient year. Call ~2 days/month supervising junior residents. Post day call off.
PGY-4: Outpatient + electives

Program Feel and Culture
MUSC is one of the higher ranking programs in the south, top 10 for NIH funding for psych, and #1 funded PI in psychiatry (2014). There is certainly the option to do research, but many of the residents just want clinical experience. Either way, you probably get the best of both worlds in terms of research resources and clinical training. If you are at MUSC, psychiatry seems like the THE program to be in. You are respected as one of the larger departments at the hospital - none of the "oh, psych's here (eyes roll)". One resident had said that psych applicants tended to have higher credentials (step scores) than applicants in other programs. Residents seem very laid-back, casual, and personable. They said that when you are doing off-service rotations, people understand that you are here to do psychiatry, and treat you as such without being malignant about it. Many had said that the attendings are very friendly. While we had break time between interviews, residents walking in the door would always say hi and welcome as they were going to didactics. Random people outside would say hi and welcome us when we were on the tour. Psychiatry is consistently voted the best medical school clerkship, and residents are expected to be teachers to students.

My advisor had said MUSC was heavily biological, and while they certainly are on the forefront of a lot of biological research, I felt the training program itself was pretty balanced in terms of pharm/therapy.

Working hours are not USC or San Mateo, but not Duke either. Most residents had said that they thought medicine and night float was going to be worse than it really was. My feeling was you'll work hard, learn well, and still have time to enjoy life.

Location & Lifestyle
Charleston has been voted #1 city for 5 years in a row and friendliest city in the US. There's tons of stuff to do downtown and a lot of historical ambience. There are building ordinances that prohibit how high you can build so there's a lot of cool stuff to look at. You could live here for residency and never go to the same restaurant twice. There's beaches, water activities, historical sites etc. Also a lot of touristy stuff like horse carriages.

Residents live in many places including downtown, West Ashley, Mt. Pleasant. Traffic is an issue if you don't live on the peninsula and are commuting in/out during business hours. Housing is probably more expensive than average (although cost of living index is ~100, compare to D.C. ~140 and Manhattan ~220). I think if you want to live in a slightly nicer area and home befitting a young professional, you will be paying more than in smaller cities. Overall still seems pretty affordable.

Weather is hot/humid for June-September - fairly nice for the rest of the year. I'm from the north so I would be happy not dealing with snow for the next 4 years. Flooding can be an issue due to rain and tides.

Salary & Benefits
PGY-1: 49,223
PGY-2: 50,914
PGY-3: 52, 570
PGY-4: 54,059

Paid membership to gym, paid parking in best parking garage (not standard for residents in other departments), monthly meal allowance, free ipads (although since most people have their own, department is considering something else), step 3 cost covered, 2 days of resident retreat

Program Strengths
+Friendly people all around
+4 fellowship programs (child, forensic, addiction, geriatric) + 1 non accredited brain stimulation (ECT/TMS/DBS) fellowship
+Nice resident benefits
+Top research facility
+Facilities on one campus
+Nice weather, fun location for young professional
+VA

(Based on personal preference)
+/- 4 months night float in exchange for no psych call
+/- Large class sizes
+/- Charleston is not a metropolis

Potential Weaknesses
-Population not as racially diverse as other cities
-Traffic if you don't live downtown
-Charleston psychiatry job market seems saturated
-No in house moonlighting

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[clausewitz2]

Emory
1. Ease Of Communication:



Prompt and via email. Had a schedule of interviews a couple of weeks before go time.



2. Accommodation & Food:

List of hotels provided, but I stayed where it was convenient for me.



Dinner the night before was at the low-key outpost of a fancy restaurant empire that happened to be located in an industrial park. The private room was set up to be a central buffet of mostly upscale Italian-ish dishes, but the few tables pushed against the wall were quickly colonized and circulation was thwarted. Very good resident attendance, however.



Breakfast rather elaborate, with many pastries, fruit, and biscuit sandwiches from some place in town known for its biscuits. Keurig coffee, tea, and hot chocolate available ad libitum all day.



Lunch from Newks, so a tad gross, but so many people seem to like them in points south. Salads for vegetarians.



3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):



Four half hour interviews in the morning before tour of the major sites and a couple neighborhoods of Atlanta in the afternoon. Most of my interviewers were extremely personable and asked questions suggesting that they had least read my application once. My last interviewer clearly had no idea who I was and also had clearly not glanced at my CV. No especially personal or tricky questions, but a lot of “so why Emory” and “why Atlanta?”



4. Program Overview:



Instead of regurgitating information on the program website, I will share what I think are the major important points. In the first year, neurology months are primarily outpatient and only one month of inpatient internal medicine is required, thus seriously minimizing off-service call. Inpatient psych months are done at Grady Memorial, which is the biggest county hospital in the country by some measures. If you like working with an underserved population, this is the place to be. Georgia did not expand Medicaid so the state pays for treatment here, meaning that documentation standards are a bit more lax by all accounts. You also get a month of Community Psychiatry in the first year, mostly focused on sending you to the sites where you are going to be referring people for follow-up, which I thought was actually rather a good idea.



Second year, everyone agrees, is harder. You start doing inpatient work at Emory University Hospital's inpatient unit, which is a strictly-good-insurance sort of place, so a very different (and much whiter) patient population than at Grady. Night float is 6-7 weeks in 3-4 week blocks. You will also rotate at the VA, during which time call is q6. The bane of many people's existence is home call, primarily because you do not get a post-call day afterwards, even if you had to come in for many hours the night previously.

You pick up your first therapy patients second year, and therapy training was generally felt to be strong, with an emphasis on -T therapies. Some connections with Carter Center means an international elective sending you to Liberia or Ethiopia to train mental health providers is available. Many collaborations with school of public health and the CDC focusing on outcomes-based research in the community. There is also a big primate research center which is a possible place to do a project.





5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:



Three program directors, one of whom has been in the position since 1985, so a very long institutional memory, for better or worse.



6. Location & Lifestyle:



Atlanta is a sprawling mess of a city, but it's big enough that almost anything you might want is available and cheap enough that residents definitely can afford to buy. People moan endlessly about traffic but it is really nothing next to LA or DC. Public transit is a joke. Mental health care for the indigent outside of the Grady system is mostly nonexistent.



A much more diverse place than it is often given credit for; doubters can simply visit Patel Plaza or drive down Buford Highway and go into literally any strip mall to find it dominated by Chinese and Viet businesses.



7. Salary & Benefits:



Pretty standard



8. Program Strengths:

-many research opportunities, especially in mood disorders and anxiety

-strong commitment to underserved populations via Grady

-very strong exposure to severe and persistent mental illness

- two different inpatient populations at Grady v. Emory

- whatever fellowship you want is available

- Atlanta's cost of living is low and it is a big place

-integrated analytic institute if that is you sort of thing


9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Atlanta is sprawly and hot

- probably harder work than the median psych program


- residents and faculty scattered across different sites, not clear how cohesive the program is socially

 

[clausewitz2]

Instead of regurgitating information on the program website, I will share what I think are the major important points.

1. Communication

You will receive a link to a series of videos a week prior to interview that replace an orientation they used to do Sunday nights. They got feedback that nobody liked this, so the PD has clearly put a lot of time into making these videos as a substitute. They answer a lot of basic questions an give a really good overview of the structure of things.

2. Food and accomodation

Stayed in the hotel five minutes walk away from WPIC, got a discounted rate.

Dinner the night before was at a restaurant on the South Side that the program had rented out, with a really nice fixed menu. They were very solicitous about dietary restrictions beforehand, which was appreciated. The dinner has assigned seating (!) and at first I thought this was going to be terrible because I was stuck at one end of a long table cut off physically from everyone else by two residents having an animated conversation about someone's dog. But they turned out to be perfectly lovely people and could be redirected to other topics. The residents play musical chairs three times during the evening while the applicants remain seated. Wine flowed freely.

Breakfast deliberately spartan, as the PD says that no one ate more elaborate breakfasts because they were generally too nervous or ate a big breakfast before coming. I believe that in another life the PD was a cruise director. Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate available ad libitum thanks to Keurig.

Lunch was catered by some cafeteria in the university system but they had mini-cannoli so all is forgiven.

3. Program Overview

WPIC itself is the most immediately impressive thing. It is the largest freestanding psych hospital in the country, 17 floors with each floor a different specialized unit, 310 inpatient beds and a psych ER on the bottom floor. It is big enough that it has its own Family Medicine inpatient coverage, and yet manages to be the smallest hospital in a five block radius. UPMC is a huge complex, is what I'm saying.

Off-service wise, all your neuro months are on consults, which residents seem to prefer. Medicine is on a Family Medicine service at a nearby hospital, but if you want to go CAP, it is possible to substitute pediatrics for all of this (and child neuro for adult neurology). There is also a one month block providing for the medical needs of the patients in WPIC – with over 300 patients, some of which are on a dedicated geri floor, this is not trivial. Three months of your first year psych months are spent on the Dual Diagnosis Unit, which by reputation is MI all day every day. Psych ER has separated child and adult areas has 24/7 SW coverage. Four total weeks of night float, but interleaved with neurology so that you never do more than two weeks of float at a time.



You will pick up at least one psychodynamic and one interpersonal therapy case in your second year. The program is satisfied if you never pick up more therapy patients than ACGME requires, on the rationale that it is a waste for people who don't intend to do much psychotherapy in their career. However, they are happy to hand you more therapy patients if you want to go that route, and there is at least a truce with the local psychoanalytic institute and some residents do spend a fair amount of time over there.



Second year is organized into 10 week blocks spent on different units – Child and adolescent, Geri, Mood Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, etc. For research minded people, you can push one of these blocks into your fourth year for a dedicated ten week chunk of research time in your second year.



Fourth year is “entirely up to you”. The PD says that if you have an idea for an elective “that is even vaguely plausible” then you will be able to do it. I met a PGY4 who had spent two months on an elective she designed that basically consisted of working very closely with the pharmacists. Some people do the bulk of the unaccredited Public Service Psychiatry fellowship during fourth year, and most of them get trained in ECT as well.



All five accredited fellowships are available. Department also has a robust array of T32 grants to support early career development for research types and has an 87% K-award success rate.



4. Interviews:

This one was a bit of a marathon, with 6-7 25 minute interviews squeezed in around lunch and a brief tour of the facilities AND a group Q&A about the tracks available. They used to do 9 per applicant (!) but again cut this down in response to feedback. They also do not do any kind of end of the day wrap up activity because everyone hated it when they tried it several years ago.

I didn't have a single bad interview here. I got paired with people either based on a shared interest or institutional connections in common, and this worked out really nicely. The PD meets with everyone and makes sure that at least one of a trio of faculty members meets with everyone. Everyone also interviews with at least two residents.

Frankly, given the point in the interview season, I was kind of amazed that time in interviews flew by for me here. The PD had a huge sheaf of notes he had taken on the applications of all the candidates, paired with a photos, and filled another page with scribbles while we were talking. I think he cares a lot about getting people who are as enthusiastic about the program as he is and word is he will definitely go to bat for you with other parts of the institution.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:



Over 200 faculty in the department. Consistently #1 in NIH funding since the 80s. Stupid numbers of research projects that residents can join and hit the ground running. TWO highly structured mentor programs: one for those interested in going for K awards and R01s as their career, and one aimed at people wanting to be academic clinician educators and administrators.





6. Location & Lifestyle:



Pittsburgh is cold and hilly and there's no getting around it. It does, however, have a terrific and profoundly affordable housing stock, and most second years and up seem to have bought houses. Could definitely be more diverse, and a couple of residents of color complained to me that there is a distinct dearth of minority professionals in the area.



Program is large enough that it is not the end of the world when a resident has a kid, and everyone says they are very family-friendly and will work with you. Everyone generally gets off the weekends they want off, although the schedules are determined a year in advance. By default, call-wise, you alternate black and golden weekends while on psych, but you can usually switch off with someone if you prefer to break things up. Many holiday parties and events hosted by the PD.



Residents seemed to talk enthusiastically with each other about topics that were not related to work. Even the interns seemed very happy and mostly chillaxed.



7. Salary & Benefits:



Starts at 54 K and goes up.



Health insurance for resident and dependents covered entirely by UPMC



6 dollars per call shift for meal tickets, which apparently stretches pretty far



Parking is 6 a day at a lot very close to WPIC, this can be taken out of your paycheck and paid pre-tax



8. Program Strengths:

- Research out the wazoo

- if it exists in psychiatry, there is almost certainly someone doing it at UPMC

- incredibly supportive PD and genuinely collegial faculty

-WPIC is kind of incredible

-many, many dedicated specialty units

-very strong community ties and a broad spectrum of outpatient services that residents can get in on

-embedded psychiatrists/therapists in all pediatric clinics and they are working on making this happen on the adult side

-all the fellowships and an FM/psych residency if that's your thing



9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Pittsburgh is hilly and cold

-therapy not the strongest suit (but the department seems genuinely dedicated to working on this)

- population mainly Medicaid (not a problem for everyone)

-left-leaning and very academic, so probably if you are planning to vote for Ted Cruz you are going to get strange looks

 

[FlowRate]

Emory

Clausewitz again did a great job with a lot of the particulars.

At this point in the process, a lot of what I'm going off of is vibe of a place. There are only a few program details that really matter to me and they're not very applicable to the average candidate.

What I do want to remark on is that I had a different experience than C. when it comes to interviewers:

Interviewer 1: Required (they told me) to ask canned "interview" type questions. At the end of the interview they sort-of remarked that they were skeptical that I was really considering the program, but based off factors related to the "strength" of my application, not the content of that interview.
Interviewer 2: PD. Had read my application, asked good questions, overall positive experience.
Interviewer 3: No indication that they had read anything about my application, started with "do you have any questions?"
Interviewer 4: The long and short was that it was sort-of a negative experience. Hadn't read my application until during the interview and focused on the couple of negative things about my application. By the very end of the interview it felt like we had warmed up a bit, but was a little too late.

Three of four interviewers also brought up something that I think I've only actually been asked about one other time on the interview trail. Not necessarily negative, but just something I noticed.

Residents feel like second year was particularly difficult, but it sounds like some changes have relieved some of the difficulty.

So unfortunately, I left this interview with a more negative feeling than usual, but it may be an experience isolated to my own set of interviews / residents.

USC - Palmetto

I don't feel like going through all of the details. The major difference between Palmetto and most other programs is that second year is the therapy year and third year is the inpatient/consult year. They do keep a select number of psychotherapy and most of their psychopharm patients through the third/fourth years. Something really cool about the third year is that they do integrated clinic with womens' mental health and VA primary care and are looking to start up other integrated ventures, such as with neurology. Fourth year has fewer electives than most programs (only 5 blocks), but it is cool that they rotate back through child, neuro, etc. Very strong in forensics, also opportunity to be almost-ECT certified (in SC requires an additional 1-week course on top of the residency training experience, if log is kept.) Also strong in addictions, geri, child.

Famous for not having any overnight call, they do have (overnight/weekend) pager call ~q7 in the second year.

Residents tend to moonlight, as early as the second year, with rates ranging from $55/hr (second year, reportedly very easy work where one can study while working) to $160/hr.

The program directors were all super friendly and fun to interview with. One of the residents had on his psychoanalyst hat during the interview (blank affect while I answered questions), which doesn't lend a feeling of warmth, but he and the other residents were all very friendly otherwise.

Vacation can be taken in flexible quantities (days or weeks).

Most residents are married or soon-to-be married. 2-4 out of 6 residents tend to be from USC every year.

Overall I feel like the program provides strong clinical training in a supportive, close-knit environment and a good work-life balance. Research is encouraged but limited opportunities for the gung-ho future R01 type.

 

[clausewitz2]

I am not sure this is the fairest assessment. clearly Grady is not full of analysts, but Emory is probably (one of )the most analytically oriented departments in the South. Emory is to my knowledge the only psychiatry department outside of NYC to have its own analytic institute (not affiliated, actually part of the department). And the interim chair before Rapaport (when they were trying to heal from the Nemeroff affair) was an analyst. Although one could argue installing a psychoanalyst as chair is a sign of a traumatized department, it speaks volumes they thought an analyst would be more likely to unite the faculty than a biological psychiatrist during those years. I have heard of a resident starting their analytic training in 2nd year at emory which is pretty much unheard of.

Good to have that perspective. I was only going off of what the residents I talked to were telling me. I will edit my review to reflect this information.

 

[Psychotic]

Program Name: Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

-Charleston psychiatry job market seems saturated
-No in house moonlighting

"Seems" saturated? It is saturated, no need to mince words.

The first thing causes the second thing...a very tough city to "stay" in after residency ends. Residents who want to moonlight travel for it.

Plan to have to move away after residency, and then consider the program compared to other places and how much this matters to you. It mattered a great deal to me...YMMV.

 

[Freddie Mercury]

"Seems" saturated? It is saturated, no need to mince words.

The first thing causes the second thing...a very tough city to "stay" in after residency ends. Residents who want to moonlight travel for it.

Plan to have to move away after residency, and then consider the program compared to other places and how much this matters to you. It mattered a great deal to me...YMMV.

That's surprising, I figured the psych market would at least be "OK" everywhere. What are some other saturated markets? What are good ones (besides rural)?

 

[Leo Aquarius]

"Seems" saturated? It is saturated, no need to mince words.

The first thing causes the second thing...a very tough city to "stay" in after residency ends. Residents who want to moonlight travel for it.

Plan to have to move away after residency, and then consider the program compared to other places and how much this matters to you. It mattered a great deal to me...YMMV.

I'm surprised. Even San Fran and Los Angeles are not saturated. Charleston must have a chip on its shoulder.

 

[Psychotic]

I'm surprised. Even San Fran and Los Angeles are not saturated. Charleston must have a chip on its shoulder.

Charleston is a highly desirable place to live. The program there cranks out a bunch of new shrinks every year, and a bunch of them stay in the area. People who do residency at MUSC and love Charleston are more likely to leave the state than move somewhere else in South Carolina - meaning that there are plenty of people not from the area who would love to live in Charleston who would NEVER choose to live anywhere else in South Carolina.

When I interviewed there 2 years ago, they were "working on" having some in-house moonlighting. Evidently they are still "working on it."

The program is pretty open and honest about the psychiatry market saturation. Something to consider for most people - I did - I liked the program, loved the city, but because of the saturation issue, I ranked the place accordingly and wound up somewhere else (where there is a shortage of shrinks and all kinds of docs, NPs don't have any traction in psychiatry, and there is abundant high paying in-house moonlighting for residents).

 

[SEPsych]

"Seems" saturated? It is saturated, no need to mince words.

The first thing causes the second thing...a very tough city to "stay" in after residency ends. Residents who want to moonlight travel for it.

Plan to have to move away after residency, and then consider the program compared to other places and how much this matters to you. It mattered a great deal to me...YMMV.

Not sure if I was being told the full story, but back when I interviewed they said every resident who has wanted to stay in Charleston has been able to. The attending said it was surprising that charleston supports that many psychiatrists but somehow it does. Seemed like the majority of the VA psych department was MUSC grads based on what another interviewer said so that probably contributes. MUSC has a huge psych faculty too. Also sounded like there are a lot of the "cash only" type practices in the affluent suburb.

 

[splik]

I'm surprised. Even San Fran and Los Angeles are not saturated. Charleston must have a chip on its shoulder.

charleston is much smaller so you would expect that it would be easier to become saturated. there aren't a lot of other desirable places for psychiatrists to live round there so they probably all flock to the area. I have no idea whether they are saturated or not, just making the point that the "even san fran and LA" argument is not really a valid argument given those are much, much larger cities with other desirable places to live close by.

 

[notdeadyet]

have no idea whether they are saturated or not, just making the point that the "even san fran and LA" argument is not really a valid argument given those are much, much larger cities with other desirable places to live close by.

Particularly because SF and LA are much more affluent, so it can support a lot more psychiatrists.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

charleston is much smaller so you would expect that it would be easier to become saturated. there aren't a lot of other desirable places for psychiatrists to live round there so they probably all flock to the area. I have no idea whether they are saturated or not, just making the point that the "even san fran and LA" argument is not really a valid argument given those are much, much larger cities with other desirable places to live close by.

Well my my. Ain't Charleston a nice little ditty. You learn something new every day.

 

[lockian]

Not sure that this is a totally fair characterization. What's the worst possible case scenario for any PD? They get fired and end up with a raise and have to spend more time seeing patients. They can still live and work pretty much anywhere. What's the worst case for an applicant? They go unmatched and are saddled with debt. Less bad things include moving all over the country, serious financial/logistical issues with children/sick family members. Not great things including being stuck in a malignant program for 4 years. Even small increases in the applicant pool size create drastic increases in the number of applications per applicant as the bottom has to apply very broadly and eventually this creates upward pressure. Additionally, the incredible "noise" in the applicant pool makes it hard for the majority of applicants to stick out, so applying broadly gives them their best shot. This is just like some old economics game: yes, the best outcome overall would be if everyone only applied to 10 programs. However, the best outcome for any individual is to apply to 100, and I doubt Dean's advising students to apply to 10 would prevent some from getting an advantage by applying to 100. Further, while top candidates would be helped by everyone applying to 10, a certain % of middle "noise" candidates would probably be hurt unfairly. Finally, as I've said before and will say again: without fully disclosing all information about your program (which no PD wants to do) including the statistics (with ranges) of the current residents, there is no good way for students to make better application choices. Despite speaking to a ton of "advisers," I have no idea why certain places love me and others didn't offer interviews. I have no clue what statistics of residents at any specific program really look like. Applicants are playing blind and we loose nothing by over applying and risk everything by under applying. I don't think it's fair to put this on Deans who are providing advice that is consistent with the best interest of the individual students. If PDs want a better process, they should be more transparent.

Yeah, this is why you talk to your home program's residency training director, not your dean. The former is much better positioned to tell you how to go about applying to psychiatry; the dean (unless they happen to be a psychiatrist) just deals in generalities.

 

[lockian]

*sigh* I'm sorry, guys. I can't write reviews. I *wanted* to give back and help y'all by giving you the benefit of my experience, but after the first few interviews (and yes, I went to 20, and will go to more... *waits for the shoes and rotten tomatoes to fly*), I literally stopped caring about the minutiae of call and program structure. I mean, call will exist anywhere you go, and IM will probably be brutal everywhere, and with a very few exceptions that I was fast to toss out***, the residents will sing praises of the program and tell you how they're all happy and faculty are great and that they're learning a lot. When it comes to therapy, every place is going to do at least what the ACGME requires and the range of pathology that you see depends largely on catchman area and geography. Even research is also an option everywhere -- though in community programs you might need to be more motivated to actually do it.

In the end, it's all about vibe. Sometimes, underwhelming facilities were enough to ruin it -- and before you knock me for being superficial, you're going to be spending up to 70 hrs of your life a week in those walls, so I think that they look like is pretty important. Sometimes I walked out of a place and felt like the people were not my people and no number of redeeming features would turn this around for me. And needless to say, I have inherently higher standards for places that are in cold locations than places that are in warmer ones. In fact, I may or may not have cried leaving after my interview in Hawaii. I got along great with the residents and faculty (the extent to which they share my interests both clinical and not is amazing), the hospital was amazing and the idiosyncrasies of the population right up my alley, but due to some **** that literally just happened in my family, moving away that far and with the higher cost of living and moonlighting not allowed, that dream is just going to have to wait.

(***if anyone's interested, for me these were MSU and Nebraska: the lack of enthusiasm among residents was actually palpable. In addition, UNM had a relatively poor turnout of residents, the Colorado peeps were chatty with each other but awkward and distant with the applicants, and the chiefs at JPS asked me awkward questions trying to probe whether I was using them as a safety -- but otherwise everyone was great.)

 

[OldPsychDoc]

@lockian
Understood--and thanks to the ACGME, we are mostly more alike than different (an opinion I now see that splik doesn't share with me! )
Maybe you could post a couple of highlight/lowlight lists that help you zero in on some of the distinctives (other than weather ) that will help you decide? I'm sure your specific criteria will be different from many, but since you've had the "pleasure" of seeing 20+ programs up close and personal (which few of the rest get to do), I'm sure any further details you'd care to share would be helpful.

 

[lockian]

I dont thing people should be obligated to post the detailed reviews using the format above if it feels too onerous. Just a one paragraph summary highlighting your take home on each program would still be useful.

It is a bit naive to think that the ACGME requires anything or that you'll get the same anywhere. As I've mentioned elsewhere at many programs residents don't do things are technically residency requirements such as community, forensics, addictions, emergency psychiatry, or geriatrics. And many programs do not even bother to teach psychodynamic therapy while others still lack people who can teach CBT. It's very easy to claim things on paper. It sounds like you are burning out on the whole dance of this - and it is true there is a lot that is similar, but there is enough that is different - which may mean you are not as observant about the differences than if you had gone on fewer interviews.

Perhaps I'm cynical about the applicability of therapy to modern practice. Or perhaps we're taught so little in medical school about what therapy actually IS that we underestimate its importance. I honestly don't even know what makes for good therapy training and I know I'll be freaked out by the learning curve no matter where I go.

And yes, I don't think I would've gone to as many programs in hindsight and yes I may be burnt out, but I have such low self esteem that I feel the need to hoard options. I mean, I am still having nightmares of failing CS and everything going to the dogs.

 

[lockian]

Review: University of Colorado-Denver

There are two excellent reviews here (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...ew-thread-2011-12.862811/page-4#post-12169359) and here (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...ew-thread-2011-12.862811/page-5#post-12278802), so I won't be as extensive in my summary and just post a few of my impressions

Obligatory disclosure: I was suffering from altitude sickness during my interview day, so that may have colored my impression negatively.

1. Interview accommodations/food -- Stayed with an alumni connection, no hotel offered. Dinner the night before at a new place downtown. We got to sample some in-house craft beers (free alcohol!) and there was a set menu with several options for our group.

2. Interview day -- There is a new PD (rumor has it that the old PD was a big part of the problem), and he seemed like a very nice guy. He had a great sense of humor during the welcome, but when I interviewed with him the conversation was very stiff and formal. It was one of those interviews where they ask you the canned questions, acknowledge your answers minimally, and move on to the next question. During the interview with the chief resident, I got asked some unique questions, including "what's something you saw your seniors on the wards do that made you think, 'I'm never going to do that in my practice'?". The other chief resident I met later in the day seemed not to have read my application at all and lead with "do you have any questions for ME?" *siiiiiiiiiigh* Lunch was with a large number of residents with all years represented, and they seemed like pretty cool people overall, but they seemed inordinately chatty among themselves and included the applicants much less.

3. Program overview -- I did not get the sense that the program was "malignant," and residents cited pretty average work hours to the tune of 50-60 hrs per week and good mentorship from the faculty. Psychotherapy is pretty heavily emphasized, starting with a 1/2 day in the second year. The program has everything and the kitchen sink as far as opportunities -- including a well-known ED inpatient facility, forensics, telemedicine, and the like. The catchman area is HUGE, which means you'll get a large range of pathology. Denver and Albuquerque, NM is basically where everything from the mountain west goes. The VA is not your typical VA because there is a military base nearby, so you will see all ages including active duty servicepeople and women. The fact that marijuana is legal changes your practice landscape in some interesting ways, and there's some serendipitous research going on.

4. Faculty -- see kitchen sink comment above.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. -- Yes, the cost of living is growing, and yes there is traffic but not as bad as LA or Chicago, and yes, you have to search and pay for parking downtown. However, the chief resident cited some very specific numbers, including the fact that she pays $1200 for a two bedroom apartment and NO, she does not live in Aurora. Also, her s/o was out of a job for a while and they did well on just her resident's salary. The city is a very "young" city with lots of yuppies and outdoorsy types, and the restaurant and microbrewery scene is well-known. Interestingly, you have to drive 2 hrs to get to the good skiing, though.

6. Facilities -- beautiful for the most part, except I got lost and ended up going into building 5 (I think that's where the interview day started?) from the back and it looked rather shabby. But hey, it was also being renovated.

 

[lockian]

Review: University of New Mexico

Excellent review here (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/interview-review-thread-2010-11.775229/#post-10429368), so as above, I'll just hit some highlights

Disclosure: Once again, I was suffering from altitude sickness (fun fact: ABQ is at a higher altitude than even Denver), and it was cold and had snowed (!!!), which put me in a rather bad mood.

1. Interview accommodations/food -- Got put up at a really nice hotel near campus with shuttle service to airport and interview (!) I didn't even need a rental car for the visit. Pre-interview dinner was hors d'oerves at the hotel bar, but it was enough food for a dinner if you're not a big eater like me. Lunch with residents was catered and delicious, featuring local delicacies such as enchiladas and green chile.

2. Interview day -- Interviews were staggered with tours of facilities, which gave us some nice breaks. There were three interviews with faculty as well as a group interview with the PD. There were only four applicants, so we all went around and talked about where we were from, what made us interested in psychiatry, and what brought us to New Mexico. Then we got to ask questions. Personally, I didn't really like this setup -- I couldn't help comparing myself to other applicants and wondering if I stood out enough. Later, we got driven around by the program coordinator and her assistant to the various interview and tour sites, so I got the impression that things were a little scattered. But even so, the driving wasn't bad -- 10 minutes max from location to location -- and probably speaks more to the organization of the interview day than your actual working experience.

3. Program overview -- Strengths include psychotherapy including group and family, child and adolescent services, and addictions research (Meth jokes appreciated, but bigger problem-drugs are actually opiods). As others have said before me, this is a great academic program if you're interested in Native American and Latino populations. There are ample opportunities to do rural work and telemedicine, as well as a dedicated rural track. In the city, there's a sizable Vietnamese and Somali immigrant/refugee population. Overall, the catchman area is huge, including some of Colorado and West Texas. The only significant weakness was that there isn't much dedicated forensic exposure apart from the routine competency hearings, but they are instituting a relationship with the county corrections facility starting next year, and a forensics fellowship has been greenlighted.

4. Faculty/people -- Very involved in publishing and medical education. They recognize that you're there to learn and on didactic days will take over ALL your work, including note-writing. One of my interviewers said her goal is to get residents to call her by her first name.

However, I had an interview with the child and adolescent fellowship director, and she struck me as strange. Half the time, she looked at me like she was in pain. It only got less awkward toward the middle of the interview. It might've been my fault, though, idk.

The other slight red flag was that there wasn't much of a resident turnout either at the reception before or the lunch. At the former, there was one resident from each year, and at the lunch, there were three third and fourth years.

Another weakness is that supervision in past years was described as "stretched thin" due to an insufficient number of attendings per resident. A few years back, they lost several faculty due a combination of conflicts with the department chair and personal/family/health issues. However, new attendings are actively being hired, including recent program grads.

As an aside, I found it interesting that the residency has 2 dedicated second year spots for people transferring in from other specialties or re-training. I met some cool folks including an anesthesia convert and a man who had had a whole career in pulmonary critical care before making the switch over. I think this adds some nice diversity to the program.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. -- ABQ is an interesting city: quite architecturally homogenous with a unique pueblo-inspired style. I'm told there is a Breakin Bad bus tour if anyone is a fan. Cost of living is below average nationally, and there are lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, including skiing and hiking. There's a new mall with some nice stores, great Mexican food, Broadway shows that come though, and a local opera in the open air, which is supposed to be breathtaking to watch during sunset. Overall, though, the high-brow stuff is not as in plentiful as some other places.

6. Benefits: $1-2 K lower than most programs, shared cost health and dental (Blue Cross Blue Shield, which I believe pays for everything 80/20 and has a deductible). Parking isn't free, but cheap. Overall, a decent setup given the low cost of living. Some of the residents have even purchased houses.

7. Facilities -- The university outpatient facility made me cry... cinderblocks galore. However, the VA was amazing as far as VA's go: lots of windows, a garden, and custom architecture reflecting Native American and south-of-the-border influences.

 

[notdeadyet]

This year's participation on the Interview Review thread has been really impressive. Much more content than in many years past.

There's also a greater diversity of programs being reviewed. You folks are all doing a great service to folks who will be starting the process of trying to figure out where to apply. Kudos...

 

[technopoly]

University of Wisconsin-Madison
1. Ease Of Communication: The coordinator was lovely and scheduling was easy; she and the other staff were very well organized before and on the day. I got my interview schedule at the hotel the night before.
2. Accommodation & Food: You are put up at the downtown Hilton which is very nice and right next to the capitol and on a lake. The day I interviewed was a bit dreary and I forgot my winter coat for reasons that are incomprehensible to me as I live in the NE... I also couldn't find my way out of their grocery aisle sized airport, so I was clearly not at my best. There was an hors d'oeuvres and beer cocktail hour the night before the interview and the turnout was actually really great. I had an interesting conversation with a physicist who works on fMRI research in the department and it was cool to meet some psychologists and other professionals who work at their outpatient clinic site where the event was held. Coming from a foodie city, the beer was excellent. This was followed by an optional dinner with residents at a bar/restaurant downtown that serves one heck of a burger and great craft beer. Hello, Midwest. On the day, there was a light continental breakfast provided and a deli-style lunch offered on the medical school campus that was yummy. And, playing to their strengths, it featured a cheese plate.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The interview day consisted of 7 15-30 minute interviews with various residents, faculty, the PD, assistant PD and the Chair. All were one on one and I found all the residents very down-to-earth and people who I could see myself spending time with outside of work. Very friendly and chill. What impressed me about the PD and faculty the most was how thoughtful they are- questions were answered frankly and without fanfare and I speculated with several people who interviewed me about different theories in psychotherapy. I very much enjoyed the interviews. My only complaint is that the day was long, but they acknowledged that. I was wiped out by the end, but I appreciated their effort to introduce us to a diverse array of people. At the end of the day, there was a brief theoretical lecture offered by one of their faculty who has published widely in psychodynamic psychotherapy. This was a highlight.
4. Program Overview: http://www.psychiatry.wisc.edu/uwpResProgram.html

There are a few unique aspects to the program that stuck out to me. First, you are outpatient starting second year. Second, medicine months include pediatric heme/onc rather than a general pediatric floor experience. Neurology is completed outpatient in third year.

There are research, public health, community and clinician educator tracks available to residents after intern year. I was most interested personally in the community psychiatry track and asked the most questions about this; I was impressed by the variety of clinical sites across the state at which you can rotate, including at VA clinics and their state PACT program which involves case based and intensive outpatient management of clients at the community level. As for research, they are very strong in fMRI research and there are also faculty in bench and clinical research if that is your thing.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Again, strong in bench and fMRI research. The chair has a strong background in neuropsychiatry research. Dr. Gustafson, mentioned above, is widely published in psychotherapy theory and practice. The program has about 30-40 full time faculty from what I could tell and the residents spoke to faculty availability to them and high quality supervision.

6. Location & Lifestyle: I was surprised by Madison. It is a happening city with the benefit of small-town safety. Bike lanes everywhere, which is a huge plus, and bike paths along the lake by which people commute. Being used to brain-breaking New England real estate prices, I was encouraged to learn that many residents owned homes/condos. Also lots of great food available and with the university in downtown there's arts, theater, music, etc.

7. Salary & Benefits: In the 50s and with increases each year. Unfortunately I did not take notes on benefits beyond this, but I don't recall anything unusual and residents seemed happy with their health insurance, sick leave, etc.
8. Program Strengths: OUTPATIENT. I really liked the amount of outpatient time the residents have as opposed to inpatient psych the first two years. The faculty here are amazing; what I most appreciated is how bright and motivated everyone is and also approachable and kind. No noses in the air here. Also, the residents, as previously mentioned, seem tight and are happy with Madison and with the program. This is an amazing location for people who enjoy the outdoors, good food, and culture in a university town.

9. Potential Weaknesses: I personally like the idea of medicine electives in the first year, including neurology, thought that is just personal preference. Would also prefer a general pediatric rotation over peds heme/onc, though the residents seem to like it and commented that the psychosocial experience on that floor is very relevant. Compared to some programs there are fewer faculty as it is a smaller city and therefore a smaller array of research/ niche interests available, but as mentioned above, there is great quality research here in their areas of strength. It is COLD here. If you are not used to it, the first year might be tough.

 

[Lhiver]

Program Name: Emory

Program Communication: No problems with scheduling or communication.

Accommodations: Emory provided discounted rates at several area hotels. Closest hotel is the Courtyard Atlanta Executive Park, directly across from the interview site (<5 minute walk) ~$105/night + tax w/ breakfast included. Uber to the airport was ~$30. If you do not have a car or someone w/ whom you can carpool, need Uber to get to dinner as well.

Dinner: One of the best dinners of interview season. Open bar with large platters of sushi as appetizers. Easy to meet residents since we mingled while standing with appetizers/drinks. Later sat down and ordered more appetizers, entrees, and desserts.

Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):Start at 7:30 am with extensive breakfast spread, which included bagels, smoked salmon, pastries, fruit, and coffee. Start with overview of the program from PD and Chairman. 4 interviews ranging from 15-30 minutes, including at least one with the Vice Chair for Education, PD, or one of the APDs. Interviews were conversational with standard questions. Only one interview felt psychoanalytic in style with interviewer who was aloof and unresponsive to my answers. Lunch at Grady Hospital with selection of sandwiches and good resident turnout. We toured Grady after lunch. It is an old southern public hospital serving predominantly underserved patients. 23 psych beds, mostly psychotic patients. No ECT at Grady yet. Tour of Atlanta in between sites. Then toured Wesley Woods, a newer hospital with 16 acute psych beds and 22 bed medical behavioral unit. Mix of psychotic, mood, and geriatric patients. ECT and TMS available on site. Ended with a wrap up session with Chief Resident to answer final questions. We did not tour the VA hospital.

Program and Curriculum Overview
~11 categorical spots, 2 med psych. PGY1 year- standard mix of med/psych/neuro mostly at Grady. PGY2 divided between multiple sites (Wesley Woods, Grady, VA). Residetnts start 4/wk of Outpatient therapy in their PGY2 year, allowing for 3 years of continuity. PGY3- outpatient at Grady, VA or Emory Student Health as primary site, PGY4-elective. Protected half day of didactics on Wednesday morning for all classes. Research Track (new this year) and Psychotherapy Track are available.

Program Feel and Culture
Vibrant, diverse, social group of residents with a wide variety of interests. Some of the interns mentioned emotional drain from working in an under-resourced public hospital. Residents from all classes felt their experience was incredibly positive overall with good supervision from faculty. Work hard, especially during the first 2 years. 3rd/4th year are more relaxed (as with most psych programs). Residents have an overnight retreat each year.

Location & Lifestyle
Residents seemed to enjoy living in Atlanta and are engaged with the city. Enjoy going to restaurants, hiking outside of the city, volunteering in free clinics, etc. Like most Southern cities, Atlanta lacks robust public transportation. Residents drive, though at least one resident mentioned biking. Residents live in a variety of neighborhoods. Residents with families own houses and live further away from Grady, some in the suburbs. Other residents live in apartment buildings in Midtown, which has a more “city-like” feel and is closer to training sites. Half of the residents are single and half couples/families in all classes. Reasonable cost of living per residents.

Salary & Benefits
PGY1 $53,990
PGY2 $56,738
PGY3 $58, 515
PGY4 $60,984
3 weeks of vacation + 2 weeks of sick leave per year

Program Strengths
-Varied training sites (VA, public hospital, private hospital)
-Dedication to underserved patients
-Variety of research opportunities
-Psychotherapy and Research tracks for those interested
-Separate supervisors for different psychotherapy modalities
-Opportunities for Global Mental Health and collaboration with Carter Center
-Social, friendly, cohesive resident class
-Psychoanalytic institute is part of the university (Emory Psychoanalytic Institute), can pursue more psychoanalytic training if interested
-Addiction, Child/Adolescent, Forensic, Geriatric, and Psychosomatic Fellowships
-Atlanta (large city, reasonable cost of living)

Potential Weaknesses
-No specialized inpatient units (e.g. mood disorder, eating disorder etc.), meaning potentially less variety in the inpatient setting
-Work in large, southern, public hospital can be emotionally draining at times per residents

 

[lockian]

University of Hawaii (*weeps* the theoretical favorite that I can't actually attend because reasons)

Once again, there is a lovely summary by notdeadyet here so feel free to refer to it in addition to mine.

1. Ease Of Communication: No issues at all. Celeste is the best, no rhyme intended. She even called a week prior to the date to confirm that I was still coming and whether I'd have a +1 for the dinner.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodation provided, but the island is teeming with airBnB offers as low as $30/night. In fact, I'll use this opportunity to say that airBnB is a very underrated resource for the interview trail, as it offers yet another perspective on potential lifestyle. I stayed in a residential neighborhood in someone's spare bedroom, and even caught an open house in the area. The pre-interview dinner was at a nice restaurant with a sunset view in a local mall called Ala Moana. The only downside was that the place was hard to find -- it could only be accessed through something that looked like a delivery entrance with a sketchy elevator.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): ALL THE MALE RESIDENTS AND ATTENDINGS WORE ALOHA SHIRTS. ALL OF THEM. I don't know if they planned this to mess with us or what...

The interview day was structured in a weird way: some people started early and some started late. My first interview was at 6:30 am -- yes, you read that right -- and the earliest interview in our group was at 5:45 am. One lucky bugger started at 9:30. I think they did this either so we'd miss the worst of the traffic, and so faculty could squeeze in the interviews before they started their clinic days. Luckily, when you're in Hawaii you're usually jetlagged in such a way that you wake up way too early anyway.

Interestingly, no one grilled me on the topic of "why Hawaii," though I had very good reasons that I outlined right off the bat and also in my personal statement. The interviews were very laid back and conversational. Some interesting questions I was asked included "have you ever had a conflict with someone?" and "have you ever worked with someone who had a different professional style?" The reason for these questions, as I was explained, was because the faculty and residents are a very diverse group, and so different working-styles are to be expected.

The PD met with everyone for about 30 minutes and talked about the program's idiosyncrasies, including but not limited to (and I think he was trying to be deadpan by leading with this): 1) yes, natural disasters are a distinct possibility and if they occur your residency is funded 2 years into the future, so transfers to a handful of places on the West Coast are easily accomplished and 2) yes, you will have culture shock if you move here, it's normal. He was an amusing guy, btw; he uses SAT-level words in conversation like they're nothing special, and makes you feel very much at ease. Unfortunately, he's leaving the position to become department chair.

4. Program Overview: Basically an academic program with a larger than average service/community component, and as others have said before me it's "pretty much the only place for psychiatry in the Pacific" and "as close as you can get to practicing in a developing country." Biopsychosocial approaches are emphasized, and you become very attuned to the intersection of culture and psychopathology by the end of your training.

The diversity and severity of pathology is extensive, and you get everyone from the "worried well" millionaires, to people fresh off the boat from Samoa, to tourists who had their first manic episode as a result of the time change. Interesting things about the practice climate include the fact that it takes a lot to hospitalize someone against their will, as Hawaii is a very libertarian state, and even then you can only hold them for 48 hrs. Another interesting thing is that everyone who's employed in Hawaii gets insurance from their employer, which makes some things easier and some things harder.

Of note, although you will without a doubt see everything, my understanding is that there is no dedicated AODA or geriatrics unit at the county, so all patients are grouped in one place. You will also get to do a lot of medicine on the inpatient psych wards: inpatient psych is unofficially med-psych because IM is just that overworked.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS: no call, just night float 2 mos X first 2 years, which seems like a lot, but there's buddy-call and attendings available remotely. Also given the traffic, being nocturnal for a while does not seem so bad.
Medicine is medicine: you're not an extra but just another medicine resident, with corresponding hours and call duties.
Required scholarly activity.
Required outer island experience, where the program pays for all your expenses except gas. They'll pay for your first tank and that's it.
Options for international electives, including standing relationship with Japan.
Social work support "very good," although at times social workers are "overworked."
Residents described the didactics as lacking but didn't have time to go into why. They also recommended that we take step 3 while still in 4th year, though this may have to do with the need to travel to the test site.
Average work hours -- may hit 70 on medicine, but otherwise 40-50 is normal.
The other specialties don't have a very good relationship with psychiatry -- there's a lot of misunderstanding of what psychiatrists do, so you get a lot of "silly consults."
No moonlighting allowed, despite many opportunities -- and this is true for all residents on the island! However, the current residents are lobbying strongly to be allowed to do at least forensics moonlighting, since they are the only ones who can do it. Recently, they brought in a lawyer who's an expert in this sort of thing, but a change in this area is still very much a "maybe."

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement / People: Good balance of involvement in research and teaching. Attendings having texting relationships with residents are not unheard of. For a place that's allegedly very underfunded, there is a wealth of research, particularly in psychosomatics, cross-cultural psychiatry, alternative medicine, and community interventions.

The majority of residents and younger faculty are a diverse group of DO's and IMG's, with MD's being in the minority even though it's an MD program. The residents are a very close and laid back group, and have a lot of fun together outside of work. Retreats and game and movie nights occur with some regularity. The chiefs have a weekly meeting with the first and second years to check in with them. Everyone recognizes that even the most enthusiastic transplants will have trouble adjusting to the island and institution at first, so people do their best to help each other.

The program's retention rate is on the low side -- about 2 residents per year stay on the islands, but this is probably to be expected given the location. The most cited reason for leaving is being close to family or the needs of family.

6. Location & Lifestyle: All the things you've probably heard are true: yes, there's significant traffic comparable to Chicago's Eisenhower, and yes, the cost of living is 1.5 times that in a flyover state with no corresponding increase in salary (though comparable to California or New York). You may expect to pay $1500 for a 1 bedroom apartment, and a home that would be considered modest on the mainland costs about $800,000. Residents with families have cited difficulty getting their kids into preschool. The good news? Food is comparable and may even be cheaper than the mainland if you shop at 1) Target, Costco, and online 2) farmer's markets 3) asian grocery stores ($2 Sapporo beer? Sign me up.)

Something people may not realize if they've only stayed in hotels -- everything is SMALLER. In fact, I suspect that the traffic is as bad as it is because the streets and lanes are smaller. A plus, however, is that people are less aggressive on the roads. Having been to Japan, I can say that Hawaii is very similar in terms of both landscape and living conditions: you're forced to do more with less, and people are more considerate of others since everywhere is so crowded. As an example, one day I got my car stuck on my host's inclined driveway -- I'd backed the car into a wall and gravity and friction lodged it in place. Within minutes of hearing my engine's struggles, her two neighbors got involved and came up with an ingenious way to get it unstuck without calling a tow truck or putting anyone's life at risk.

For some people, the beauty and the outdoorsy pursuits may be well worth it. I was dealing with some major, life-altering drama back home while on the interview trail, and being able to go to the beach after a stressful conference call -- or even having said conference call on the beach -- had made the whole thing livable.

The Asian food is superb, and the Asian influence is palpable everywhere. For anime fans, there are four conventions per year in Honolulu, and many shops that sell memorabilia. There's no shortage of shopping in general (it's a tourist destination after all), but highbrow stuff like opera and museums is not nearly as plentiful.

The climate is fairly warm and humid, but there's almost always a breeze, so you don't tend to feel it. There IS a rainy season, though, when the sky becomes intermittently incontinent and it's in your best interests to carry an umbrella. This is also the time when it gets especially humid. Bugs such as ants may become a part of your reality, so it's important not to leave bits of food around.

The bottom line is -- financially, you'll be comfortable if it's just you or you have a working spouse or roommate. Having kids or a nonworking spouse if where you might run into trouble. Traffic is traffic, however. I was told that biking is not a safe option though the city is making an effort to make more bike lanes, so the best thing you can do is live downtown near where you'll be working.

I have no comment on the concept of island fever -- people living there mostly mention it in relation to military servicepeople who go there because they're sent there and thus don't appreciate the islands for what they are. But on the whole it's safe to say you'll probably afford one trip to the mainland per year -- if that. In fact, separation from family and s/o issues are the biggest reasons why people leave.

7. Salary & Benefits:
$53,000 first year, and increases every year. Unfortunately, given the cost of living this does not go very far.
Of note, $2500 moving allowance.

8. Facilities
Oddly enough, quite spiffy. The Queen's Hospital, which is the county hospital, is bizarrely well-funded due to having an endowment from the royal family (hence the name), and it gets a steady revenue stream from a few of the local hotels. As a result, there are polished bamboo floors, fresh-painted pastel walls with floral designs (even in the ER!) and also the obligatory outdoor cafeteria where you can eat in the shade of tropical trees. For one reason or another, though, the psychiatry work areas (i.e. call rooms, charting rooms) were really small for the number of people occupying them.
The department headquarters are a bit officey and old-looking, but at least there were plenty of windows.

9. Program Strengths:
--very diverse patients in terms of pathology, culture, and socioeconomic background
--excellent location if you're a beach and outdoors aficionado, and if you like Asian culture
--biopsychosocial model emphasized in training
--outer island and international experiences

10. Potential Weaknesses:
--cost of living/remoteness/crowdedness/NO MOONLIGHTING ALLOWED (?????!!!!*******... and this is the one place where moonlighting would've really been useful!)
--traffic as bad as the Eisenhower in Chicago, and biking/public transit are not good alternatives
--Hawaii gives a new meaning to the word "resource-strapped," though this could also be a strength because you see some really sick people and have to be "creative" with the resources you do have
--very unique culture and practice climate, which can make for a hard adjustment
--didactics
--potential for natural disasters, apparently

 

[Trismegistus4]

I'm surprised. Even San Fran and Los Angeles are not saturated. Charleston must have a chip on its shoulder.

I've been searching for a job in one of these "nice" southern cities like Charleston and Nashville, and have been unable to get one. It's a shame; I always thought it would be easy. In med school it seemed like the vast majority of my classmates were hard leftists who were always saying things like "I could only ever stand to live in Boston, New York, or San Francisco, because I could never stand to be around all those Bible-thumping rednecks, etc., etc.," so I thought the market would be wide open anywhere outside of the infamous Boston-DC corridor, LA, and San Francisco. In reality, the aforementioned cities are very desirable places to live, and everyone who's from there and/or trains there wants to stay there.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

People high and low, from paupers to princes, cannot resist southern charm.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I've been searching for a job in one of these "nice" southern cities like Charleston and Nashville, and have been unable to get one. It's a shame; I always thought it would be easy. In med school it seemed like the vast majority of my classmates were hard leftists who were always saying things like "I could only ever stand to live in Boston, New York, or San Francisco, because I could never stand to be around all those Bible-thumping rednecks, etc., etc.," so I thought the market would be wide open anywhere outside of the infamous Boston-DC corridor, LA, and San Francisco. In reality, the aforementioned cities are very desirable places to live, and everyone who's from there and/or trains there wants to stay there.

Tulsa? Relatively cheap, conservative, actually pretty. Some culture (ballet, opera, museum). Seems like there's jobs.

 

[clausewitz2]

Tulsa? Relatively cheap, conservative, actually pretty. Some culture (ballet, opera, museum). Seems like there's jobs.

Knoxville, Louisville, Birmingham, etc...

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Saturating the mental health needs of SF or LA would be difficult to say the least.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Knoxville, Louisville, Birmingham, etc...

NW Arkansas -- Fayetteville is liberal, but Bentonville/Rogers, etc. not so much. Growing area, and I get emails about jobs there, too. Quite pretty. We're trying to solve Tr's problems for him. Next we need to set him up with a nice young woman.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

Saturating the mental health needs of SF or LA would be difficult to say the least.

So what's up with this "larger desirable cities are saturated" we see in other medical specialties leading to lower average salaries and longer time to partner?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Just a sarcastic comment on California’s reputation for not having the best reality testing. I once heard someone describe SF as 8 square miles surrounded by reality.

 

[FlowRate]

Edit: good point.

 

[notdeadyet]

Just a sarcastic comment on California’s reputation for not having the best reality testing. I once heard someone describe SF as 8 square miles surrounded by reality.

Dude… Wait… What?

 

[notdeadyet]

I know there ends up being a rank list thread every year, but I figured I'd post here for now.

So why not create a thread and post it their now?

The utility of this thread is that it allows folks to review different sites to help winnow down their choices as to which programs they'll apply to or interview at. A separate thread for rank order lists is helpful to keep down clutter. Particularly since here will continue to be more interview review posts as folks finish up their interview trail.

 

[FlowRate]

So why not create a thread and post it their now?

The utility of this thread is that it allows folks to review different sites to help winnow down their choices as to which programs they'll apply to or interview at. A separate thread for rank order lists is helpful to keep down clutter. Particularly since here will continue to be more interview review posts as folks finish up their interview trail.

Fair enough.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

Anon Review

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH REVIEW

As a liberal atheist who had never been to Utah, I never expected to apply there. I only added Utah to my list as an afterthought after I kept hearing how happy many residents were there. I never expected to fall so in love with the program and the surrounding mountains. Just wanted to share my thoughts in case there are other applicants out there who are as clueless as I was about how beautiful (and liberal) Salt Lake City is. At this point, I’ve interviewed at programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the Pacific Northwest, and Utah is tied as a favorite with a few other programs.

Highlights/Strengths
- Beautiful facilities at the base of hills with hiking/running trails minutes away
- Super approachable admin/faculty, very friendly and supportive
- Very happy, friendly residents that actually enjoy spending time together- I overheard multiple different residents were making plans to go hiking/camping/biking/drinking/movie-ing together
- Relatively light call schedule (2nd lightest of the interviews I’ve been on). No call on weekends first year
- Lots of moonlighting opportunities (including internal) starting as early as second half of second year
- Flexible electives, international electives available (Peru was one site mentioned)
- Opportunities including ECT, rural telepsych, county jail/state prison, HIV clinic, homeless clinic, Clozaril clinic
- A full day of didactics 8am – 3pm every Wednesday. No clinical duties at ALL on Wednesdays. Residents mentioned socializing/camping on Tuesday evenings.
- Residents seemed intelligent, engaged, and genuinely enthusiastic about the field/their training
- SLC is surrounded by gorgeous mountains with a low cost of living, minimal traffic and hiking or skiing only a 10-20 min drive away.

Weaknesses
- Less research? Not my focus, but it did sound like new chair (Dr. Zubieta) was super excited about more research opportunities.
- Less diverse patient population
- Not sure if it is the best place to move as a single person – any thoughts on this folks??
- Might not be a good fit for someone who prefers big city living to enjoying the outdoors.
- Weaker beer, literally. But apparently local breweries are on the rise

Good luck everyone!

 

[Acyl chloride]

Northshore-LIJ- Zucker Hillside

1. Ease Of Communication: Good. Program coordinator sent helpful information

2. Accommodation & Food: No Housing provided- I came from the city so didn’t need to stay in the area. Can’t comment on the dinner since I did not attend, but other applicants mentioned that only a few residents showed up.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Standard interview day 7:45 am until ~3pm. Started with breakfast and an intro from the program director and associate program director. We were asked to go around the room and introduce ourselves and mention a reason we were interested in the program. 5 interviews total which felt like a lot, but they were broken down into 3 half hour interviews with 2 faculty and 1 chief resident, and then 2 15-min back to back interviews with the PD and the APD. There was a fair amount of break time built in to the interview time to have some food and coffee and chat with other applicants. Interviews were pretty standard, no particularly stressful questions, but they were interested in what I liked about their program/what had lead me to apply. At lunch time we met several residents in the program who all seemed happy. Unfortunately the first two years were not very well represented and since I did not go to the dinner the night before, I did not get a good sense of how the new curriculum/scheduling is affecting the residents- If anything all the changes sound positive, but it would be great to hear a resident perspective, also it would have been nice to get a sense of who the residents are. After lunch we had a tour of the campus, and I was very impressed by their brand new psych hospital building. At a time when many hospitals are shutting down psychiatry floors, LIJ is opening a brand new building with specialty units for college students, women, and treatment resistant schizophrenia to name a few. It is clear that the hospital system is not lacking for money, and they spend a lot of time during the day making sure that we knew they were investing heavily in the psychiatry department. Additionally they pointed out the telepsychiatry room in the ER as another experience that residents get during training. Zucker hillside is also right next to the children’s hospital, and you have the option to do child months if that is an interest. Day finished up with a talk from one of the higher ups in the department talking about their dedication to innovative approaches to psychiatry and hospital finances and then a Q&A with the PD.

4. Program Overview: 12 pgy1 residents. Program has decreased in size from as many as 20 at one point and has subsequently decreased the number of sites the residents are covering for call. Most of the scheduling information is available online so I won’t repeat all of it here, but some highlights of the changes they have made in the past two years include significant elective time in the second year- 12 weeks- plus no call R3 or R4 with those shifts being replaced by internal moonlighting opportunities.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
The new PD, John Q. Young, is from UCSF and seems very accomplished in the field of public policy, medical education, and physician decision making. Says he had never planned to leave California but the offer was too good to refuse. All of the faculty members I spoke to seemed very happy with the program, the level of institutional support they were getting, and the residents they work with. I was very impressed by these faculty and it was nice to see that several had trained there and chosen to stay.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Location is on the edge of long island and Queens- you can take the Queens express bus to midtown, or the LIRR from great neck. Residents either live nearby in their housing, or commute from queens (and occasionally brooklyn or manhattan.) The APD drives from Brooklyn every day.

7. Salary & Benefits:
Starting at 68K, this is one of the highest starting rates in the NYC area and the cost of living next to LIJ is lower than in the city. Benefits are standard per the residents.

8. Program Strengths: High starting salary, no R3 or 4 call. Elective opportunities R2 year. Moonlighting starting R3. New program director who is bringing in higher profile faculty. Opportunities to train with telepsychiatry. Faculty seem great and well supported. Brand new facilities and lots of fellowship opportunities.

9. Potential Weaknesses:
Not in the city proper. It would be difficult, but not impossible to live/work here and not drive although I was told that it has been done before. Relatively new program director and new residency rotation schedule means that the program hasn’t had the opportunity to build its national reputation. Many people probably still associate the program with its old structure (many residents, lots of call, less support.) Resident pool probably not a broad as that of the city programs. North Shore system is rapidly expanding and rebranding (they Just bought Staten Island university hospital and lenox hill in the past few years and were talking about changing their name to “northwell health”) No clear idea of what his means for the residency program. Potentially nothing, but it does mean that the hospital system will probably look very different in 4 years.

 

[Acyl chloride]

University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt

1. Ease Of Communication: Excellent- The program coordinator is very much on top of things. She answered all of my emails within minutes of my sending them and was friendly during the interview day. The chief resident also contacted us in advance to welcome to the program and answer any questions.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Discounts were available at nearby hotels, but airbnb is also a good option in Baltimore since housing is cheap there. Dinner the night before was at a Lebanese Restaurant. There were plenty of different options depending on your diet preferences and wine was included. There was a little bit of a communication issue where the applicants were told to arrive about half an hour before the residents by mistake, so we waited for a while before the residents showed up. There were residents from each year present but they seemed vastly outnumbered by applicants.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview day started with breakfast and a standard introduction with the chief resident and program director. Interviews took place on site and were pretty standard 2 interviews with faculty- we all spoke with the program director at the end of the day. These interviews weren’t the most exciting I’ve come across on the interview trail. One of the interviewers ended up asking me the stereotypical “tell me about a memorable patient experience” type questions which felt a little wasteful. During breaks in the interviews the chief resident was around to answer any questions we had about the program and tell us why he enjoyed being there. After the morning interviews we went on a tour of Sheppard Pratt- Of note, they took us over in a van, but we were told that there is no shuttle between main campus and the Sheppard Pratt building because everyone drives- and parking is free for residents at both sites. One of the other residents met us there and gave us a tour of the building and a history of the facility. The Sheppard Pratt building is very beautiful, and the grounds are extensive. This is the main site where residents rotate for inpatient and have call. Half of the residents do 3rd year outpatient here. 3rd and 4th year residents do call shifts here but they are paid extra for admissions so they consider it to be a positive experience. After the tour, we spoke to one of the faculty of helps run the training for residents there. They emphasised that this was a special place to train because of the history and mission of Sheppard Pratt. After this we went back to the main campus for lunch. We had the opportunity to speak with other residents during lunch. In general the residents seemed happy with the program and felt that they were well trained. Residents emphasised that it was family friendly, and had a good sense of community- one resident had switched there from mount sinai in NYC, and another had switched from Ophthalmology and both were happy with their decision. They also mentioned that they had many different supervisors to choose from during the 3rd year depending on your interests. Many residents choose to stay in the area after residency but for those who don’t, they said they were competitive for jobs and fellowships across the country. After lunch we heard from the chair of the department who told us about his vision for the the department and the program which involves expanding the number of global health electives so that they have rotations available on every continent in the upcoming years. He is friends with the Psychiatrist in the UK House of Lords, and 4th year residents are able to do a 1 month elective where they go to England and get to go to meetings with him and visit his center that looks at addressing global conflicts using psychiatric principles. This program seemed super cool and the chief resident who was showing us around the day I was there was leaving for England the following week to do it. After the talk we split up, and half the group went on a tour of the University of Maryland Campus and half stayed behind to do exit interviews with the program director. He seemed most interested in finding out what our reason for applying to their program was, any connections to the area he should know about, and of course to answer any questions.

4. Program Overview: 16 R1 positions with an additional spot for R2 transfer. Residents are a mix of USMD, DO, IMG, and FMG. Rotation schedule is available online- Of note, this is a 6 month med/neuro 6 month psych for R1 year program so either good or bad depending on what your are looking for. From speaking with residents it sounds like R2 year is the most call heavy year, and one of the residents specifically commented “it’s a lot of work.” Residents seem to like each other and seem happy with the program.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: I didn’t get a good sense of the faculty when visiting this program. Residents said they are helpful and involved with teaching, but I didn’t get a ton of excitement from those that I interviewed with. Again, as with everything in this program, faculty are split between University of Maryland and Sheppard Pratt, so you have many to choose from, and in particular I heard that 3rd years can pick from many supervisors.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Program is split between Umaryland and Sheppard Pratt so it seems that the residents are similarly divided in where they live. Those who like cities choose to live in Baltimore propper, and apparently the cost of living is very affordable compared to NYC or Boston. For those who prefer the suburbs, there is affordable housing close to the Sheppard Pratt campus and residents live close enough together to socialize regularly. The program is big, so you have a lot of people to interact with, and choose potential friends from. Residents mentioned having a good quality of life, having enough money to eat out, live places they wanted, and travel. Several residents also mentioned that Baltimore is well located for travel so you can easily visit friends and family in other cities.

7. Salary & Benefits: Pretty standard.

8. Program Strengths: Sheppard Pratt is a beautiful campus with a unique history and dedication to serving psychiatric patients in thoughtful ways. University of Maryland Campus seems very modern and offers several unique opportunities such as Trauma Psychiatry- where you are seeing patients who have come much closer to completing suicide attempts compared to your typical drug overdoses and cutting. Because of the two locations, residents can tailor their experience based on where they see themselves practicing in the future. Global health elective opportunities seem to be expanding, and some of the existing electives are very unique.

9. Potential Weaknesses: This is a very traditional program that seems very content to stay that way. They provide a training experience that is very clinically oriented, and aren’t doing anything particularly new and innovative (except for their very cool global health electives.) Baltimore lacks functioning public transit which for me is a big negative. It would be impossible to be at this program and not drive.

 

[jpudge12]

Any feedback on UCLA Kern and Larkin programs?

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

does any one have any thoughts about the UMass program? The mental Worcester debate is REAL.

 

[Dharma]

Not in the city proper. It would be difficult, but not impossible to live/work here and not drive although I was told that it has been done before.

Pretty darn close to impossible unless we're talking Eastern Queens and BK. Even then, traffic can get pretty gnarly.

 

[Acyl chloride]

Yale

1. Ease Of Communication: Wonderful. Program coordinator is very helpful and sends lots of information in advance of the interview day. The program really plans ahead and even provided umbrellas during the interview day because it was raining when it came time to go on the tour.

2. Accommodation & Food: No Accommodation provided- discounts are available at nearby hotels and many applicants stayed there. I used AirBnb and was very happy. Yale also has some discounts with Uber so if you are coming from the train or the airport ask the program and you can get some free credits to use during your stay. Food- outstanding dinner the night before at a local restaurant-I hear they rotate between a few that are all equally tasty. Many different appetizers arrived at the table right away for us to try, and then we were able to order one of several main courses. Choice of wine or cocktails was also provided and then dessert for the table. This event was very well attended by residents from all different years who seemed genuinely happy to talk to us and each other.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Prior to dinner the night before there is an optional tour the Yale campus and part of New Haven. If you have never been in the area, I very much recommend attending this if you are able to fit it into your travel schedule- this is separate from the medical center tour during the interview day itself. Interview day itself starts at 8am with breakfast and an introduction from the PD and APD. This talk really emphasises the strengths of the program, including the CASE elective time, quality of life for residents in New Haven, and a desire to train leaders from a very diverse range of backgrounds. Following the presentation, we had our interviews for the morning. 4 interviews total, 2 45-min interviews and 2 half hour interviews. This felt like a very generous amount of time and I really enjoyed talking to all the different faculty members. It was clear that everyone I spoke with had actually read my application and were interested in learning more about me. There was time for quick coffee refills and bathroom breaks built in. After interviews were done we went with the residents to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was a nice change from the interview standard of having lunch in the same room you spend the rest of the day in. Lunch was also very well attended by residents with again a good mix of years represented. Really good pizza and salad was provided and I was impressed with the quality of the lunch, and more importantly by all the residents I met during the lunch and dinner. After the lunch we went on a tour of the medical facilities. We visited the main hospital buildings and also stopped by the medical library and saw the Cushing Brain collection. I found this to be a fun side trip and gave me a sense of the more of what the campus has to offer the residents. After the tour we came back to the main interview room where we spoke to the department chair. He did a Q&A with us where he asked us about what we were interested in and then talked about how Yale was working in that area. We then had a closing talk with Dr. Rohrbaugh where he handed out an article about the match and how applicants get calls from programs trying to persuade them to reveal how they were raking, and told us that they philosophically don’t believe in pressuring us one way or another once the interview season is over. He also mentioned that if we match there we would notice that some of our co-residents would be from foreign medical schools, and no that does not mean that Yale had a bad year in the match, that is intentional, and they seek those people out because they want to train leaders in psychiatry from around the world. After this there was an optional info session about child psych for people who wanted to ask questions. This was very informal and people were free to go at any point.

4. Program Overview: Large program. 16 R1 residents 2peds/psych residents, 2 additional joining in R2. Information on the program is well described on the website. Several different clinical sites available depending on what population you enjoy working with the most.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Highly accomplished faculty representing pretty much any specialty you can think of. If you want to do it, they will figure out how to make it happen. Faculty seem to be very happy and enjoy working with the residents. Many faculty have been at Yale for undergrad, med school, residency or all all three. Several residents commented that the program leadership is amazing and very responsive to residents concerns and has even helped resident spouses find jobs when relocating.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
Yale is in New Haven and residents seem to live around the campus. Many live in a nice newer rental building close to campus, but some also own houses and commute from a little further away. Everything seems walkable, and there is a shuttle that goes to the VA from Yale New Haven Hospital. There is no official resident housing, but the salary is high enough that residents are able to afford most places they would be interested in living. Residents are able to take advantage of being part of Yale through access to Theater, music, art, and classes on the campus if they are interested. The outdoors is easily reachable as are nearby cities.

7. Salary & Benefits:
68K starting salary. Yale provides health insurance and other benefits for residents. One resident commented that the Health insurance was particularly great and that it covered their own therapy 100%. Residents can have access to on campus amenities such as the gym and discounts to theater productions.

8. Program Strengths:
What’s not to like? Very diverse resident pool, lots of elective time even in first and second year, high starting salary, lower cost of living, and good moonlighting opportunities. Residents all seem very happy to be part of this program. There is tons of institutional support for the program and the psychiatry department seems well respected within the hospital. Residents match to great fellowships and Yale graduates are leading psychiatry departments around the country.

9. Potential Weaknesses:
Probably the most serious concern people might have would be location. As people are very much aware, Yale is in New Haven, and the Yale/New Haven relationship ends up in the local papers a lot as far as regional socioeconomic concerns. Yale seems to have been working on this problem and I felt safe in all the areas I walked around in during my stay. Transit in and out of New Haven is okay, but it definitely isn’t a major travel hub like NYC or Boston. It is in a smaller city so there are potentially fewer things to do, places to go, and people to meet.

 

[Acyl chloride]

Pretty darn close to impossible unless we're talking Eastern Queens and BK. Even then, traffic can get pretty gnarly.

When I asked the residents they said that it was theoretically possible if you lived in the housing next to Zucker Hillside. From there you can walk or take the shuttle to all the clinical sites and you are walking distance from the express bus to midtown. Probably wouldn't be the most fun experience, but possible. In general, the question I really am trying to answer at most places is can I get home post call without having to drive. This seems to vary a lot program to program, city to city.

 

[Acyl chloride]

Harvard Longwood:

1. Ease Of Communication: Excellent- Information was sent well ahead of time regarding the interview day and the pre-interview dinner.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodation provided- A list of hotels was part of the info packet. Food was great throughout. In particular, this pre-interview dinner was a great experience. Apparently the restaurants rotate, but the one we went to is a particular favorite of residents and applicants. Pre-printed menus with the Harvard Longwood logo, and the option to pick from several possible choices for each part of the meal. In addition to food there was wine for the whole table. Residents from all class years were present and there was a good number of residents relative to the number of applicants.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview day started at 8:45 at BWH, with breakfast and an intro from one of the chief residents. We received our schedules for the day and then had an introduction from the program directors. We also had a greeting from the department chair. These introductions emphasised the strength of the training program and that things were solidly in place for the longwood program to stay in in its current form for the next 4 years until this class graduates even though they will be recruiting for two separate programs starting after next year. The department chair pointed out that Harvard programs have historically split and merged and changed form over the years, but this in no way decreased the value of the training, or the career prospects of the graduates from those programs. After this, each applicant had a unique interview schedule. Some had multiple interviews in the morning and not many in the afternoon, some had half in the morning and half in the afternoon. Most people seemed to have 4-5 half hour interviews over the course of the day. Most of the interviews were great and seemed well matched to my application and experiences- I had one of my favorite conversations of the season with one of my faculty interviewers. That said, I did have one interview that felt more like a standard job interview, “tell me how you deal with negative feedback” “tell me about a memorable patient...” that seemed kind of out of place at such an amazing program. After the morning interviews were over we had lunch with more residents in attendance and then went on a tour of the campus. We ended the day at BI after the tour, and they gave us coffee/tea and snacks there and had a talk from the chair at that location followed by more interviews. Everyone ended up ending their days at different times because of the way interviews were scheduled in the afternoon.

4. Program Overview: 16 pgy 1 residents. For PGY1 Psych and non psych months are in 3 month blocks for didactic purposes. There are two different possibilities for where you do your medicine months, but either way you work hard and are treated as a medicine intern. Most of the specifics are available online. One of the notable differences in this program is that 3rd year is half outpatient and half CL. You actually have your patient panel half of the day and then the other half you are with the CL service.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: This program has access to outstanding faculty through BWH and BI as well as Mass Mental Health. Residents commented that one major draw of the program is that you will get fantastic clinical training across the board, and then when you decide what you are interested in, you can find multiple people on the faculty who are experts in it. Faculty seemed extremely smart, but also very approachable.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
The program is located in the Longwood area, and many of the residents live in nearby neighborhoods. This is a program that one can easily walk or take the train as your commute as opposed to having to drive. Residents seem to like living in boston, and choose housing based on which neighborhood appeals to them. You won’t necessarily be able to afford to live in super fancy new construction on a resident salary, but you can live somewhere reasonable and still afford to enjoy living in the city. Boston has lots to offer since it is a major city and is well connected to transit, both locally and nationally.

7. Salary & Benefits: Seems pretty standard. Nothing stood out to me one way or the other.

8. Program Strengths: Diverse group of residents from all over the country who all seem very happy with their program. I enjoyed talking with all of the residents who I encountered, they seemed to have a good range of interests within psychiatry but also the rest of life. Universally, residents commented that their clinical training is excellent and that they have their pick of jobs and fellowships post graduation. Many residents who are doing child fellowship choose to stay for a 4th year because they like the program. There are multiple chief positions available so if you are interested in one, you can probable get it. Similarly, there are multiple different options for clinical training sites so you can figure out where you like practicing the most. Several residents commented that they are so good at consults by the time they graduate that they can get CL jobs without a fellowship.

9. Potential Weaknesses: Program splitting after next year means that there will be changes happening. This could be bad or good, it just depends on your tolerance for change. 2 months of night float R2 year seems like a lot (for a psychiatry residency program), though all the residents I talked to about it said it was a great learning experience and they were very well supported. Call from home even during R4 year.


Hopefully people find these helpful- I'm trying to write up everywhere I've been while it's still reasonably fresh and before rotations start back up again.

 

[splik]

Harvard Longwood:
. Several residents commented that they are so good at consults by the time they graduate that they can get CL jobs without a fellowship.

just want to point out, that as great as their C/L training is, anyone can get a CL job without a fellowship. there is a reason no one does a psychosomatic fellowship. though if you want to work in C/L psychiatry in the northeast in academics you probably do need to do a fellowship regardless of where you did your residency training.

 

[Acyl chloride]

just want to point out, that as great as their C/L training is, anyone can get a CL job without a fellowship. there is a reason no one does a psychosomatic fellowship. though if you want to work in C/L psychiatry in the northeast in academics you probably do need to do a fellowship regardless of where you did your residency training.

Good point. I was mostly stating information that I was being told by residents so this wasn't something that immediately came to mind. That said, it sounds like grads from the program have been able to get C/L jobs just after graduation in the northeast if they are interested. Probably not in super academic settings (especially ones that have fellowship spots), but I didn't ask specifics.

 

[HarryMTieboutMD]

I am not sure this is the fairest assessment. clearly Grady is not full of analysts, but Emory is probably (one of )the most analytically oriented departments in the South. Emory is to my knowledge the only psychiatry department outside of NYC to have its own analytic institute (not affiliated, actually part of the department). And the interim chair before Rapaport (when they were trying to heal from the Nemeroff affair) was an analyst. Although one could argue installing a psychoanalyst as chair is a sign of a traumatized department, it speaks volumes they thought an analyst would be more likely to unite the faculty than a biological psychiatrist during those years. I have heard of a resident starting their analytic training in 2nd year at emory which is pretty much unheard of.

No. They picked Levy for interim chair because he's been around (and at Emory) for a while, knows the system/everyone there, and most importantly wouldn't destabilize the department (particularly after what happened with Nemeroff) in the time it would take to hire a new chair. I have been around academic medicine my entire life (literally) and for better or for worse have heard my parents' conversations about department politics (from basic sciences to clinical sciences to administrative) ever since I can remember. The practice of using a seasoned, stable faculty member who is not a big time highly NIH funded researcher for interim chair/Dean/VP of Health Affairs/whatever is NOT uncommon. Sometimes the interim chair indeed ends up becoming permanent, but usually it's just to maintain and do damage control until a new chair comes in. Sure, Emory could have asked Helen Mayberg to do it (and maybe they did, I have no idea), but I'm guessing she has other interests besides administrative work.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I think half the chairs out there (and probably the more successful half) are sitting in their positions not as a result of ambition or desire, but because of the fear of having a complete outsider with funding come in and manipulate everyone into what their idiosyncratic opinion of an ideal program looks like. New chairs come in and make snap assessments of the faculty’s strengths and weaknesses and then start tweaking things to make them conform to what they are used to. The concept that a department has developed in the way it has because it has learned to capitalize on the resources it has is seldom relevant. When anyone comes in and says “OK the new culture of this department will be to value X and not Y”, there are always more people unhappy than happy.

 

[Rogue Penguin]

does any one have any thoughts about the UMass program? The mental Worcester debate is REAL.

I don't have time to write a full review, but here are my take home thoughts. At U Mass, I was really impressed by the diverse research opportunities, which included forensics research, mindfulness, and psychotherapy research (things I haven't heard about anywhere else). They have a significant mindfulness and meditation program. The facilities are all shiny and new. The state hospital is that most impressive I've seen. All new. It's like it's own little mini-city with a grocery, salon, and other shops within. Another sort of unique thing is that they have a full day of didactics. I'm a fan of full day didactics since it demonstrates a dedication to teaching and a lack of dependence on residents for clinical service. Residents at programs with full day didactics also seem less stressed and more cohesive. The residents generally seemed very happy, probably the second happiest I've seen. They were almost all married though. More than one was pregnant. The one single resident I met seemed a bit bitter about living in Worcester. The program is a little small. 4 categorical, 2 combined child, 1 neuro-psych. The PD is a little intense for my taste. He pimped one of my friends during their interview and he asked me a lot of questions about a pre-clinical grade that no one else has asked about at all. That said he seems to really love what he does, listen to feedback, and always work to improve the program.

I, too, am having trouble justifying living in Worcester. Worcester reportedly gets the most snow of any city in the US. If you can't get to work due to snow, you have to use your personal days. They're building a new express line between Worcester and Boston so that the trip will take "slightly less than an hour". Some residents supposedly commute to Worcester from Boston, and it's "about 45 minutes" by car. That seems like a lot to me. How early would you need to leave to be sure you get there on time? What about the weather issues? Worcester has great public schools "the best in the country" and a low cost of living. I think this program would be an amazing choice for someone with a family or interested in starting one soon.

Edit: For anyone interviewing at U Mass in the future, I would say don't bother with the Beechwood Hotel. They were having "computer trouble" and billed/requested large authorizations on two of my credit cards repeatedly. This happened to another applicant as well. I ended up with both of those accounts locked for 2-3 days and couldn't purchase anything. If I hadn't had a friend with me, I would have been stuck in Worcester and homeless. And when I called the hotel to try to get this fixed, they were extremely rude. Plus, even with the $50 credit from U Mass, the cheapest room there is $130+. They give you the most meager continental breakfast I've ever seen but make a big show of it by requiring you to have a "breakfast card" to access it. Not worth it. Stay somewhere less overpriced and pretentious and get an uber to the interview. It will be cheaper.

Get there early. Parking and searching for the oddly placed meeting room made one of my fellow interviewees over 15 minutes late. It took me 10+ minutes to find the room once I got into the building.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

...
I, too, am having trouble justifying living in Worcester. Worcester reportedly gets the most snow of any city in the US. ...

More than Rochester or Buffalo? Seems hard to believe...