Well, California is not the place to come for ECT. The laws are very strict on getting it involuntarily. Thus the demand is quite restricted and as such, so is the supply. It is very rarely a focus at any California residency. Generally they have the bare minimum for ACGME accreditation (2 weeks of basic shadowing). I know this is something East Coasters find odd since they generally use ECT as a typical third line intervention whereas in CA, it's often only done for immediately life threatening catatonia. In terms of programs you specifically mentioned, excepting Loma Linda and UCI, those are very new programs. I don't think there's a lot of experiential data on them. Has St Joseph's even graduated a class yet? If you want intense psychotherapy training, you USUALLY want to go to an urban core where there's a surplus of supervisors. It likely conflicts with your idea for a community focused residency. We're really talking about Los Angeles and San Francisco. And by LA, I mean Westwood...not Ventura. UC Irvine could offer it. There's plenty of wealthy Newportites in need of cash accepting university affiliated physicians. I just can't imagine that Stockton is the same. It sounds like you're okay with the Inland Empire, so the big question for Loma Linda in specific is how much the religious aspect appeals to you since it is unique in California with that.
