Sorry if this is a naive question, but I'm confused about what the expectations are when signing up for a Sub-I. I can see that my institutions of interest offer a variety of psych rotations at several sites. There is, for example, an inpatient sub-I, as well as an outpatient rotation. There is also C/L, eating disorders, forensic psych... they all seem very interesting. How do I know which one to pick? Does it matter for my application for residency to that institution? Or is having rotated at that institution, regardless of specific type of psych rotation, adequate in showing my interest in the area/institution itself? Thanks!
away rotations - inpatient or outpatient?
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Are you trying to do a sub-I or are you trying to do an away rotation?
If the former, I'd be surprised if your institution gave you the opportunity to do an outpatient-based sub-I as sub-Is are typically supposed to be "intense." At my institution, we had psych-specific sub-Is in both C/L and inpatient. An important note, though: I did run into a very small number of programs (two that I can think of off the top of my head) that would not accept a psychiatry sub-I in lieu of a traditional medicine sub-I. Even after e-mailing them they held firm on this requirement. Just something to keep in mind if you're looking to match at very specific programs. You might want to double-check the institutions' requirements and/or e-mail them to see what their policies are. If you're not looking to match at a specific program, I don't think this will be much of a concern as only a very small number of programs have this requirement as far as I can tell.
I'm pretty clueless with respect to aways as it's not something that I did or really even pursued. From talking to other folks doing an away at a program will at least net you a courtesy interview unless you're a truly horrible student. I can't see how that would change based on whether you do an outpatient or inpatient rotation. Part of the advantage of doing an away is getting the opportunity to meet with faculty and residents, so I would do something that is likely to give you lots of exposure to the current faculty and house staff. I think it would be difficult to get involved with patients clinically in an outpatient setting as a medical student but I'm sure this varies from attending to attending and site to site, so if you're hoping to blow away your supervisors with your outstanding clinical skills, I think an inpatient rotation might be more useful in that regard.
If the former, I'd be surprised if your institution gave you the opportunity to do an outpatient-based sub-I as sub-Is are typically supposed to be "intense." At my institution, we had psych-specific sub-Is in both C/L and inpatient. An important note, though: I did run into a very small number of programs (two that I can think of off the top of my head) that would not accept a psychiatry sub-I in lieu of a traditional medicine sub-I. Even after e-mailing them they held firm on this requirement. Just something to keep in mind if you're looking to match at very specific programs. You might want to double-check the institutions' requirements and/or e-mail them to see what their policies are. If you're not looking to match at a specific program, I don't think this will be much of a concern as only a very small number of programs have this requirement as far as I can tell.
I'm pretty clueless with respect to aways as it's not something that I did or really even pursued. From talking to other folks doing an away at a program will at least net you a courtesy interview unless you're a truly horrible student. I can't see how that would change based on whether you do an outpatient or inpatient rotation. Part of the advantage of doing an away is getting the opportunity to meet with faculty and residents, so I would do something that is likely to give you lots of exposure to the current faculty and house staff. I think it would be difficult to get involved with patients clinically in an outpatient setting as a medical student but I'm sure this varies from attending to attending and site to site, so if you're hoping to blow away your supervisors with your outstanding clinical skills, I think an inpatient rotation might be more useful in that regard.
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I would recommend doing an inpatient or C-L setting. If you are doing an away you want a chance to shine, and there is just more work to go around on those services than outpatient. I would worry that in the outpatient setting they could mostly just see that you are good at watching someone do an interview. On C-L or inpatient, however, a good student can make life a lot better (and a bad student is kind of a burden), which gets noticed and could translate into the program feeling confident in your work ethic, efficiency and clinical skill base.
The only exception: if you have a really strong interest in, say, forensics and they offer something that you would love to do then go for it. I think that enthusiasm would show, and even if you didn't end up at that particular program you would have more interest-specific experience at an early stage.
The only exception: if you have a really strong interest in, say, forensics and they offer something that you would love to do then go for it. I think that enthusiasm would show, and even if you didn't end up at that particular program you would have more interest-specific experience at an early stage.
