Who matched in Med-Psych?

[PhakeDoc]

Anyone who matched in med-psych this year willing to comment on their "story"? Please?

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[scottbro]

Anyone who matched in med-psych this year willing to comment on their "story"? Please?

what are the requirements? Is it competitive?

 

[atsai3]

what are the requirements? Is it competitive?

Most of the programs are not as competitive. Quality is variable. At some programs, the quality of the psych program is much higher than the quality of the IM program, and at other programs the quality of the IM program is much higher than the quality of the psych program. The degree of true integration varies, and at some programs, it is basically a bunch of disconnected medicine and psych months that enable you to shave off 1 year for dual board certification. (That is, if you did an IM residency first, then you could go into a psych residency program as a PGY-2, for a total of 6 years. Combined med/psych programs are 5 years.)

Overall, the applicant pool is thinner because not many people who would be drawn into either field are willing to put in the additional training. Applicants who are more oriented towards medicine are looking at an additional 2 years of training as a resident (as opposed to 3 years of medicine followed by 2 years of training as a fellow). Applicants who are more oriented towards psych are only looking at an additional 1 year of training as a resident, but it is a fairly intense 4 years (the 5th year is more low key), whereas in psych training typically only the first year or two is 'intense' and the rest of the program is outpatient.

If I had to guess, the most competitive program would be Duke, as it has both a well regarded IM program and a well regarded psych program. The PD tries very hard to screen out applicants who want to use med/psych as a "back door" into the Duke IM program. But over the years, they have had several med/psych trainees drop the psych to do just medicine, or drop the medicine to do just psych (mostly the latter).

Cheers
-AT.

 

[diosa428]

Most of the programs are not as competitive. Quality is variable. At some programs, the quality of the psych program is much higher than the quality of the IM program, and at other programs the quality of the IM program is much higher than the quality of the psych program. The degree of true integration varies, and at some programs, it is basically a bunch of disconnected medicine and psych months that enable you to shave off 1 year for dual board certification. (That is, if you did an IM residency first, then you could go into a psych residency program as a PGY-2, for a total of 6 years. Combined med/psych programs are 5 years.)

Overall, the applicant pool is thinner because not many people who would be drawn into either field are willing to put in the additional training. Applicants who are more oriented towards medicine are looking at an additional 2 years of training as a resident (as opposed to 3 years of medicine followed by 2 years of training as a fellow). Applicants who are more oriented towards psych are only looking at an additional 1 year of training as a resident, but it is a fairly intense 4 years (the 5th year is more low key), whereas in psych training typically only the first year or two is 'intense' and the rest of the program is outpatient.

If I had to guess, the most competitive program would be Duke, as it has both a well regarded IM program and a well regarded psych program. The PD tries very hard to screen out applicants who want to use med/psych as a "back door" into the Duke IM program. But over the years, they have had several med/psych trainees drop the psych to do just medicine, or drop the medicine to do just psych (mostly the latter).

Cheers
-AT.

With 10 unmatched spots this year, I'm not sure if applicants will necessarily need a back door to the Duke IM program.