Not having any VA exposure during residency?

[pinkyj731]

So I just found out that I won't be able to do any VA experience during residency as our program will not rotate at the VA. That's a huge bummer because I really wanted to work with that population.

I'm also a little flustered that we don't have a forensics elective or even the option to do a child psych rotation in second year to determine if we want to apply for C&A electives.

How common is this and do you feel like my educational experience will be limited severely due to this?

Thanks

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[WingedOx]

Honestly it depends on what else you're getting exposed to in terms of patient population. The population at the VA where I work now is very different from the population at the VA where I trained. In the great scheme of things, the populations at various VAs tend to mirror the populations in the communities around them, to be honest.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Very few programs have PGY-II elective time. Forensic interviews are Aug/Sept of your PGY-IV year. C&A fast tracking makes this need to be early in PGY-III year if you need to sample what it is like. I strongly suggest doing some before applying.
I think the break down looks like this: % of MS-4s heading for psych that state they want C&A =50%
% of PGY-IIs entering PGY-III year, =25%, % who go into C&A =12.5%. There is a lot of difference between saying and doing. I think C&A isn't very much like what a medical student's fantasy is. A lot of people love it, but a lot hate it as well. It seems rarely are people neutral about it.

 

[deleted314290]

The VA is as great experience for personality disorders and substance abuse. You are missing out unfortunately.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

The VA is as great experience for personality disorders and substance abuse. You are missing out unfortunately.

Sadly this is the best benefit of the VA. It's not the only setting to see these conditions, though, and lots of good programs don't have VA exposure. Also, you're still likely to see some vets because the VA struggles to treat all their own people (in my city, they're inpatient unit is always full and never taking transfers for their own people so we treat them).

 

[notdeadyet]

So I just found out that I won't be able to do any VA experience during residency as our program will not rotate at the VA. That's a huge bummer because I really wanted to work with that population.

I'd consider it a bummer too. VA experience is different in that it's as close to a socialized medicine experience as you're going to get (with obvious associated pluses and minuses around that fact). You can dip your toe into the water during training in a lot of systems and practice of care stuff that is likely to become more prevalent that you might find lacking in your training otherwise (integrated care, working with psych NPs, IPT for PTSD, etc.). Good VAs tend to have a lower threshold for getting involved in research as well.

That said, there is a big caveat that this assumes the program is affiliated with good VAs. There are also a lot of bad ones, though in my limited experience, the ones affiliated with academic psych programs tend to be among the better.

I'm also a little flustered that we don't have a forensics elective or even the option to do a child psych rotation in second year to determine if we want to apply for C&A electives.

Lack of psych exposure in PGY-2 year is more common than you might think. It's a bummer, but you may have to try to get associated with CAP folks and try shadowing or doing things on your own time. As for forensics, having a forensic fellowship is a boon, as you get more exposure (and the adult psych residency is likely to have better forensic-informed training), but it's not a deal killer if you network and try to get some exposure on your own as you can.

Your educational experience won't be hampered, it will just require more time and initiative on your part. You can do it.