Waiting for a flight, so I might not get this done right away...will update later. It's later. Flight in Iowa delayed, so here we go...
Interview Accommodations & Food
Free Hotel. Sheraton University. Very nice. Decent view of the city, flat screen TV, indoor pool, exercise room (not that you'll use it.) Comfy bed. No complaints about the room really. The area around the hotel does have some construction going on (sidewalks mostly), but seems to be headed towards wrapping up (hopefully). At least the orange construction stuff fits in with the SU colors!
Dinner was with a PGY-1 and PGY-3. Both were from the area prior to residency though, so there wasn't much feedback as to why someone from elsewhere might pick this program, except that they said they were both very happy here and had great things to say about the faculty and their experiences here. They were both super nice, both married, brought their spouses who were also great. Talked freely about many aspects of the program and area. Went to a local Italian place, very good food and company.
Interview Day
You get a quick tour of the hospitals first thing in the morning. I'll talk more about this in the Program Overview section...
The day really begins with a short intro from the PD, who is very nice. He likes to make a point that he is the only full-time PD (i.e. his ONLY duties are running the program)...which I haven't fact-checked, but wouldn't surprise me, as most PDs have clinical or research duties, in addition to their residency-running.
After the intro, there were 2 1-hour interviews, then lunch, then 2 more 1-hour interviews. So far, these are the longest interviews I've been on. Most places have been doing 1/2-hour interviews, so having to fill an hour was rough. Lunch was catered sandwiches, but they were fine. The interview with the PD is a pretty...unique(?) experience, and felt closer to a therapy session than an interview, but I didn't find it too bad. Another applicant interviewing with me was offended by the somewhat personal nature of some of the questions, but it didn't bother me, and the questions were appropriate, I thought. Still...very unique experience, and a great PD, I think.
The other 3 interviews were very low-key. Casual conversation, typical questions (why syracuse, why psych, about yourself, etc...)
Call and schedule seems manageable. Most programs, including this one, seem to have gone to a short call for interns (until 10-ish), once a week, plus 1-2 12 hour weekend shifts a month, plus a night float month during 2nd year.
Program overview
I'll try and beef this up later when I'm near my info, but here's what I have from memory.
Residents thought the program was historically weak on psychopharm, and that is the reported history on SDN/Scutwork, but that was starting to improve. The program states they are actively trying to make their residents experts in everything, both therapy AND pharm.
There are TONS of didactics...maybe too many? ~6h "protected" time per week. Twice a week, 11-2 ish tentatively...this is a change from prior years when it was at the beginning or end of the day. It's now going to be at lunch with lunch provided, I think. No duties during that time, but your work doesn't go away. In addition to this there's Grand Rounds, and a bunch of other random didactic-like experiences that vary between required, recommended, and optional...seems like a lot of didactic time to me, but I'm sure you learn a lot.
The new VA psych unit is recently renovated and gorgeous. Wood paneling and fireplaces. Gorgeous. The University and Hospitals are at the top of a decent sized hill, with the State Facility (Hutchings) at the bottom of the hill. They said that you sometimes have to walk down there to write orders and things and that can be a pain, especially in the winter. Parking seems like a minor pain, and costs money ($80/mo?), but not a huge deal. Might be a different story in the snow
Educational time off to go present posters and such. Can get a month or two off to do your own research projects. Med school will get you into the MPA program pretty easily, which is a big deal if you want to do that since it's the #1 program in the country or something. Don't have to take the GMAT or whatever it's called. It's also a very demanding program, so most people recommend waiting until your 3rd or 4th year, if you're going to do it. Not many do it.
Moonlighting only in 4th year. $40/hour, not sure where right now...
Intern year seems reasonable, with no overnights, and lots of handholding at the beginning. First month is all didactics, no clinical responsibilities. You get some basic psych training didactics, as well as orientation to the hospitals/systems, and shadow a resident a couple times a week or so and see what they do and how they do it. Kind of a neat idea, really eases the transition.
Seems like there's good flexibility with rotations. Residents recommended child neuro for one of the neuro blocks, said it was a great experience. Some people have complained about the 4B unit in the past (Scutwork), but these residents didn't think it was bad at all. Said the key is making friends with nurses, which is always a good idea. Program is likely upgrading to Epic EMR (from current EMR system, which is ok apparently) sometime this year, so my class (2012) should be using Epic only, which may be good or bad. Most residents seem married, but current PGY-2 class is mostly single, so it's variable. Not a huge nightlife city, but still things to do. Seems like residents hang out occasionally. Both residents (and spouses) said they get to see each other a good amount. Seem to have good work life balance.
Faculty
Yes, Stahl & Gabbard skype their lectures in, except for one or two grand rounds presentations a year where they actually show up. Rest of the faculty seem very well liked, and everyone loves their PD. Great things to say about support from faculty in whatever your interests lie in. Faculty will nurture any desire to do research from minimal to hardcore. Other faculty I met seemed pretty friendly.
Location, lifestyle, etc.
Syracuse is Syracuse. It is one of the coldest, snowiest cities in the country. Many people have snow services who come plow your house when it snows. It seems that most of the residents were from the area, or nearby. Campus what much more hilly than I imagined it would be. Could be an issue in the snow. Definitely some downtrodden areas near campus that were a bit scary to drive through on my way in to town. Residents seem to have lives outside of work, and seemed to be happy with their lives. Many described Syracuse as a "foodie" town with many great restaurants. Trips to nearby large cities (NYC, Buffalo, etc) also occur.
Benefits
Coming later. I don't have this info on me. Available on their website. Typical stuff. Free iPod Touch or iPhone (doesn't cover the phone plan, obviously).
Program strengths
Happy residents, reasonable call schedule, good well-rounded training. Well funded program, seem flexible with regards to tailoring to resident interests. Overall, I think this is a very solid program, working towards being more well-rounded than they have been in the past. The only real drawback is Syracuse itself and its weather.
Potential weaknesses
Weather. It's Syracuse. Multiple sites/systems, although they're all fairly close to one another, but what's close in the summer won't seem so close in the winter. Weather. Not the greatest city, even aside from the weather...not sure how well it's fared in this economy. Did I mention the weather?