Official Inteview Review Thread 2011-12

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COLUMBIA
1. interview accomodations/food:
no accom, lunch provided for PM interviewees, excellent classy dinner on upper west side
2. interview day: offer very limited date options, PD does follow-up call in 7-10 days, 4 interviews, shorter day than most, when listing interests the faculty will then ask if you want additional meetings set up with relevant persons (not interviews, extra meetings set up with pretty impressive people to ask questions to)
3. program overview: very "intense" medicine (only intern on team, ICU rotation, 10 patients, do all blood draws, very sick patients etc.), intern - 4med/1 ER/2 neuro, fully elective fourth year, narrative medicine program nearby, psychodynamic but excellent availability and supervision in all modalities, 3rd year follow pts between settings (shelter etc.) and do large write-up, can start public fellowship (large, good, 1st in country) as fourth year, not a lot of pressure to specialize, in picking residents faculty describes choosing colleagues since so many residents end up staying on as faculty, good public opportunities (as psych institute is state facility), 1000 faculty members so access to everything, articulated theme: observing patients over time, analytic institute inside building, with pt permission can videotape any session to go over with supervisors, crosstalk like "neuroscience of psychotherapy," minimum 8 hrs/week supervision 3rd year, patient load is "hand selected" 3d year to give variety (and can request certain pathologies etc.), quality > quantity of psych work (said), start long-term pt 2nd year (can be difficult to schedule), hospital has translation in 92 languages, residents all doing big ticket things, 20% protected elective time 3rd year, has CPEP, 1 and 2 year get rotation schedule by ranking different orders, 20% selective in 3rd year to do either research/psychopharm(at student mental health)/psychotherapy training, more suits worn by faculty, no scrubs at grand rounds, good mentoring provided, older applicants/residents even with prior careers
4. faculty: PD perhaps "standoffish" researcher though trying to work on it (e.g. by having dinner at her house) described as "no nonsense", assistant PD is younger who came straight out of residency to position, also involved director of psychotherapy training, dominican Washington Heights location in northern manhattan accessible to trains
5. location, lifestyle: call (on point system, e.g. less if you take holiday call): 1: no psych call, med; 2: 4 weeks NF and 1 call/mo weekend (12 or 24 hour shift) on inpatient units; 3:4 weeks NF and 1 call/mo weekend (12 or 24 hour shift) in CPEP; 4: work 4-5 full weekends or holidays/year doing C/L coverage
6. benefits: high salary, 4 weeks vacation per year (allowed to be scheduled only 3 and 4 year)
7. strengths: compreshensive therapy modalities and supervision, bountiful research and elective opportunities
8. weaknesses: no VA, community rotations are spanish speaking b/c of dominican base, perhaps political/hierarchical/formal, intense medicine, cold program (even said by students and residents doing rotations there)

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EINSTEIN
1. interview accomodations/food:
no accom, excellent buffet lunch, no dinner/meeting/etc.
2. interview day: short day (9-3) with 3 interviews, interviews very probing/pressing about childhood/difficult experiences/etc
3. program overview: emphasize teaching and having free time to cultivate the mind over service (eg. full day of didactics with no clinical responsibilities every thursday), very very very flexible (e.g. can do part time residency when have child), intern year: 3internal/1ambulatory/2neuro, PER shifts 8:30-4:30, 2nd year rotate through geri(with home visits)/Consult/child/addiction, spend 6 months 2nd year in bronx state with long-term inpatients (many there up to 20-30 years) with great opportunity to start therapy and implement groups like yoga/photography/etc and some forensics patients and even take patients on field trips, Uganda elective 4th year, 4th year about 50% elective rest is o/p, have all fellowships, only pediatric C/L fellowship in country, very “home-y” feel overall with department in a house, love-hate relationship with living in bronx
4. faculty: psychoanalytic program faculty, PD is very interesting/kind person who really values residency and learning
5. location, lifestyle: bronx with accessible trains, everyone always emphasizing how happy residents are
6. benefits: amazing benefits: housing that is about $650 for studio, taxi reimbursement between sites, 3 meals provided every day (even when not working), $500 educational stipend, 5 conference days, 12 sick days, 4 weeks flexible vacations, not overworked
7. strengths: therapy training, 6 month bronx state rotation in 2nd year, happiness/benefits
8. weaknesses: research is difficult to do
 
EINSTEIN
1. interview accomodations/food:
no accom, excellent buffet lunch, no dinner/meeting/etc.
2. interview day: short day (9-3) with 3 interviews, interviews very probing/pressing about childhood/difficult experiences/etc
3. program overview: emphasize teaching and having free time to cultivate the mind over service (eg. full day of didactics with no clinical responsibilities every thursday), very very very flexible (e.g. can do part time residency when have child), intern year: 3internal/1ambulatory/2neuro, PER shifts 8:30-4:30, 2nd year rotate through geri(with home visits)/Consult/child/addiction, spend 6 months 2nd year in bronx state with long-term inpatients (many there up to 20-30 years) with great opportunity to start therapy and implement groups like yoga/photography/etc and some forensics patients and even take patients on field trips, Uganda elective 4th year, 4th year about 50% elective rest is o/p, have all fellowships, only pediatric C/L fellowship in country, very “home-y” feel overall with department in a house, love-hate relationship with living in bronx
4. faculty: psychoanalytic program faculty, PD is very interesting/kind person who really values residency and learning
5. location, lifestyle: bronx with accessible trains, everyone always emphasizing how happy residents are
6. benefits: amazing benefits: housing that is about $650 for studio, taxi reimbursement between sites, 3 meals provided every day (even when not working), $500 educational stipend, 5 conference days, 12 sick days, 4 weeks flexible vacations, not overworked
7. strengths: therapy training, 6 month bronx state rotation in 2nd year, happiness/benefits
8. weaknesses: research is difficult to do

that's extraordinary :eek:
 
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COLUMBIA

3. program overview: very “intense” medicine (only intern on team, ICU rotation, 10 patients, do all blood draws, very sick patients etc.),


I'm sorry but that would be an ABSOLUTE deal breaker for me! Ruuuuuunnnnn!!!
 
1. interview accomodations/food: [/B]No telly accoms, nice dinner at a restaurant in Chapel Hill with the residents, very good breakfast (spinach fritatas? I think), lunch was delicious with a different shift of residents.

2. interview day: average day length. day begin with cheif residents welcome followed by PD welcome with subsequent interviews and breaks, probably one of the lightest days I've had of all my 7 interviews so far 3 interviews total with PD/Cheif/Faculty. Great tour of on campus facilities and lunch that included a question session with the residents. I did not need to sleep for hours like I normally do after a day of interviewing.

3. program overview: Very "homey but top notch" program. One of the big concerns that tarnished UNC's reputation -the "all year long intern q4 call" is no longer the case, and appears very similar to most other great programs: 2mos FamMed inpatient, 1mos EM, 1 mos "Medicine for Psychiatric patients" month which seems really interesting. Child Psych is introduced very early on and remains apart of the curriculum in most years. This may be partly the reason why 70% of residents go into Child. Neuro is also spread out over 2 years. 2nd year is largely outpatient which is a big difference from many other programs. 3rd yr has more inpatient, however. Residents seem to be very happy with the schedule and feel like they have "sometimes way too much room to address anything" with the PD. It seems to be a very strong family friendly program (ex. Men get several weeks of paternal leave). The overall academic emphasis seems to be community psychiatry, CL, and most certainly child psych
4. faculty: PD is hands down the most friendliest and down to earth PD I've met, up there with the wonderful Dr. Thrall (at Duke). Honestly we did not interact with a ton of faculty on interview day, but the residents seem to be pretty impressed with how approachable they are and how much they teach. What seems to be even more impressive is the relationship they have with most other depts in the hospital, apparently UNC has the ability to attract very friendly people universally (or maybe its just a North Carolinan thing). I thought the residents were very nice but I get the vibe that some cliques do exist in the program.

5. location, lifestyle: Residents are very happy, and even though the program claims to be half and half in terms of marital status, I got the sense that it remains more heavy on the marriage side. Chapel Hill is an amazing college town with many resties and things to do, but most residents cant afford to live there and reside 15-20mins away in more affordable Durham. Durham in my opinion is pretty "dry" and not cute at all for someone who is single (and worse for someone who is looking :laugh:).
6. benefits: standard benefits, one of the best cost of livings on the east coast, no formal "educational fund" but residents have found ways to get funded to go to conferences. The word on the street is that most of them qualify for a bonus of around a 1000 bucks from the UNC hospital every year after you get liscensed (after intern yr). Not sure how accessible the campus is but the facilities are AMAZING and can provide you any scenery you need for visual therapy lol.

7. strengths: It is hard to distinguish any stand out strengths with this program (other than child). as most things are very strong and you can get very thorough training in anything your heart desires. The North Carolina Psychoanylitic Institute (both UNC and Duke "share" this) seems to be more on the UNC side than it is Duke. This is CERTAINLY a great place to be if you'd like to do Child however. The People are VERY NICE at UNC in general, even outside of the department. With the state having 2 very strong programs, you have to wonder if the PDs being described as "nice" and "supportive" is simply a representation of the happy living of North Carolina. The residents seem very cohesive and happy to be there.


8. weaknesses: seems like research (outside of Child which is amazing) is not heavily emphasized. Im not sure how I would feel living as a SINGLE guy in durham/chapel hill.

9.Bottom Line: I can see why UNC appears to hang toward the top of many ROLs every year
 
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8. weaknesses: seems like research (outside of Child which is amazing) is not heavily emphasized. Im not sure how I would feel living as a SINGLE guy in durham/chapel hill.

9.Bottom Line: I can see why UNC appears to hang toward the top of many ROLs every year



I have to admit that I never interviewed at UNC but I am very familiar with North Carolina and there were two aspects of this review worth commenting on.

First, as a bachelor doctor in one of the best southern college tons you wouldn't have any trouble getting dates. Between UNC/Duke/NC State Graduate Schools and the Research Triangle there are literally millions of single highly educated twenty and thirty somethings in that area.

Second, my understanding is that there is tons of research at UNC. http://www.med.unc.edu/psych/research
Wasn't the CATIE study done out of there?
 
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COLUMBIA
3. program overview: very “intense” medicine (only intern on team, ICU rotation, 10 patients, do all blood draws, very sick patients etc.),

community rotations are spanish speaking b/c of dominican base, perhaps political/hierarchical/formal, intense medicine


As someone who knows this program well, I wanted to make a couple of corrections: 1) interns do not "do all blood draws." That would be a deal-breaker for anyone. In fact, all blood draws are done by techs. However, if you need one stat, you will often do it yourself because your patient is sick enough that it can't wait a couple of hours. Regarding the Spanish-speaking issue: the only time when it is an problem is on the inpatient community service unit, where you may carry one or two patients at a time who speak Spanish only, and on Medicine and C-L. Interpreters are readily available for these patients. For all outpatient rotations, patients are English-speaking, unless you have a particular interest in working with Spanish speakers.
 
I have to admit that I never interviewed at UNC but I am very familiar with North Carolina and there were two aspects of this review worth commenting on.

First, as a bachelor doctor in one of the best southern college tons you wouldn't have any trouble getting dates. Between UNC/Duke/NC State Graduate Schools and the Research Triangle there are literally millions of single highly educated twenty and thirty somethings in that area.

Second, my understanding is that there is tons of research at UNC. http://www.med.unc.edu/psych/research
Wasn't the CATIE study done out of there?

Thanks for that insight BobA.

What I should have said is that research didn't appear to be emphasized on interview day. When I make reviews I report what I took from the day. Its up to the applicant to do their own research on programs. Many will feel different about what was stressed.

Also I am starting to understand that a ton of researchers in a department or institution does not necessarily confer a significant number of residents conducting or involved in research projects. And thats what I didnt get from the UNC residents: that there were a decent portion of them conducting reseach.
I do know that raleigh durham was reported as having some of the highest percentages of single twenties thirties but I would not be surprised if those arent concentrated in Raleigh. Durham is more amenable to family living than bachelor style. I didn't make it out to Raleigh but there is nothing "single" about Durham. And according to residents, chapel hill may be too expensive for 1 pay check so most live in durham.
 
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1. interview accommodations/food
no accommodation - stayed at nearby hotel with discount. presentation by PD followed by dinner night before. dinner was amazing and never ending (at least four courses) and they kept topping our wine glasses up too! breakfast was fruit, coffee, muffins, danishes. lunch was pasta. food available during the day.

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )
probably one of the most exhausting interviews of interview trail - 7 interviews! I interviewed with the chair, PD, director of education, 2 attendings and 2 residents. PD asked 'what other programs have you applied to' which I felt comfortable doing and then told me how great some of them were! One of the interviewers was a bit hostile when I pointed out some of the weaknesses and refused to acknowledged that WPIC had the least psychotherapy requirements of any of the top psychiatry residencies (excepting Hopkins of course which is scathing in its anti-psychodynamic rhetoric), and one interviewer replied ‘that is not relevant to you’ for one of my questions which irked me somewhat but pretty much everyone else was very honest about the program. The most laid back and recruitment-feeling interviews so far.

3. Program overview
PGY-1 3 months family medicine at community hospital (or 3 months peds at Children’s), 1 month medical care of psychiatric patient at WPIC (with FM residents), 2 months neurology (or child neurology), 2x 2 weeks night float WPIC, 3 months emergency psych, 3 months addiction/dual diagnosis; motivational interviewing training

PGY-2 10 weeks C/L, 10 weeks mood disorders, 10 weeks psychosis I/P, 10 weeks child I/P, 10 weeks geriatrics I/P - can start psychotherapy and Q12 call take overnight call only 4 times otherwise in psych ER;

PGY-3 all outpatient and NO CALL - including community, child, geriatrics, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders; must see one psychodynamic case, one CBT case, and one IPT case and further therapy cases if desired.

No analysts on faculty but training provided by Pittsburgh psychoanalytic institute and there is a resident-run psychodynamic psychotherapy clinic. Also opportunity for personal psychotherapy.

PGY-4 all elective (must do forensic elective) and NO CALL; the most extensive elective portfolio of any program from operation safety net (providing care on the streets for the homeless) to palliative medicine, sleep medicine, quality improvement, mindfulness based stress reduction, all manner of psychotherapies (psychodynamic, family therapy, IPT, IPSRT, EMDR, group therapy, DBT), transplantation psychiatry, lots of child and community psych electives; lots of research projects to choose from; opportunities to do research internationally including UK, India, Egypt and possibly global health electives in pipeline.

research track you can apply to in PGY-2 and also an Administrators and Clinical Educator track if you are interested in management and/or teaching

4. Faculty

Largest psychiatry deparment in the country and probably in the world; Faculty doing research in everything from deep brain stimulation to yoga. Primarily biological psychiatry, but some strong programs in psychiatric epidemiology, developmental psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, and psychotherapy.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Pittsburgh is meh – ideal if you have a family as is very affordable and has a community feel; I do not think it is ideal for singles or those looking for the attractions of NYC, LA or SF. Plenty of time to enjoy self (I met more interns at the dinner and lunch than at other interviews), lots of social events, big classes but good camaraderie; UPMC-wide social events; there is a film club and book club and a psychotherapy interest group

6. Benefits
usual

7. Program strengths
Lots of additional educational activities all the time; lots of opportunities to learn variety of psychotherapies especially the alphabetized evidence-based ones (CBT, IPT, EMDR, DBT, CRT); rich clinical experiences only a supercenter can provide; excellent research opportunities; excellent opportunities for developing as educator/administrator; very strong child psychiatry; electives in most imaginable things and you can invent it if it doesn’t exist; you are responsible for patient’s medical problems when on-call; department is recession-proof (NIH funding has gone up and beds are increasing in the next year)

Most importantly residents write their own ticket after graduation.

8. Potential weaknesses
Personally only weaknesses are social psychiatry (which is weak pretty much every US program) and I find it concerning you can get away with only ever seeing 3 psychotherapy patients in 4 years. Also if your patient has chest pain or needs an antipsychotic that prolongs the QTc YOU have to do the EKG. Also no psychosomatic medicine fellowship (?yet) and meals on call provision sounds terrible.

If you hate internal medicine, research, biological psychiatry, and evidence-based medicine you will hate it here. If you want to be a psychoanalyst go to NYC or Boston.

Final thoughts: WPIC is simply unrivalled in terms of the rich clinical, educational and research opportunities it provides, with a strong emphasis on training psychiatrists in the state-of-the-art, evidence-based medicine, and retaining identity as physician. This is where the serious biological psychiatry researchers go. But if you want the amenities of a big city, the family feel of a community program (WPIC has a whopping 88 residents and fellows), or absolutely love psychodynamics and want to train with others who share that then look elsewhere.
 
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Hey guys, just a small request:

When posting a review, if you could either type out the full name of the program and/or include the city/state/university affiliation that would make life a lot easier for me when trying to figure out where to post these things for future reference.

I'm familiar with a lot of programs, but I didn't apply to a lot of the big city ones, so for places like WPIC, just adding "WPIC-Pittsburgh" to it would make things a lot clearer for me and for future readers.

Sorry for the slightly douchey-sounding post. One post isn't a big deal to google WPIC, but if I'm trying to catalog the whole thread at the end of the season (as will likely be the case) having to google every program might be a big deterrent...also, I know from past experience that for new 4th years reading these posts trying to figure out where to apply, it can help to have the city or state there to give some clarification.

For the longest time, I though OHSU was Ohio (OH) State University. Hahaha.
 
Dear prospective residents,

I am just returning from my trip to Syracuse. Just thought I would share my interview experiences.

I arrived in the city of Syracuse a day prior to the interview date. The department has offered to defer some of my costs of the trip by booking a hotel room at the Syracuse University Sheraton. City of Syracuse appeared very relaxed and with an efficient public transportation system. The roads were not crowded unlike NYC. People looked very warm and welcoming.

Two residents arrived at the hotel at 6.15 PM and took myself and three other prospective residents out for a dinner. I had an opportunity to drive with one of the residents. He was very welcoming and encouraged us to ask as many questions as we could about the city and of course about the program. We had a very leisurely and a relaxed dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants. Throughout the dinner, the residents enjoyed taking questions and gave very detailed and honest replies. They appeared very approachable, and looked quite happy to be a part of the program.


A PGY3 resident picked us up from the hotel at 8.00 AM the next morning, and gave us a brief tour of the facilities. The facilities looked state of the art with a decent infrastructure, and definitely not crowded. Both the Upstate hospital and the VA hospital (the two main rotating hospitals) are located within walking distance to each other.

At 9.00 AM we were greeted by the program director who gave us a one hour long presentation about the program, its history, mission and values, call schedule, didactics, and research opportunities. Overall the presentation was very informative. He appeared very friendly and an approachable mentor. I found him to be as some one who has a genuine interest in teaching and in taking care of the residents.


My first interview was with the chief resident. Interview was pretty cool and he appeared as someone who I could approach and work with on a day to day basis. An hour long interview went pretty smoothly and helped both of us to know each other. Overall, I was very impressed by his frankness and he appeared to me as someone who I could work with on a daily basis.

My second interview was with a PGY3. He has been with us at the dinner the previous night and I developed a good rapport with him by the time of the interview. He was very patient and answered all my questions in a very friendly and congenial tone.

We had a one hour lunch break. Lunch was provided by the department. During lunch time two other residents joined us (one PGY4 and one Intern) and had a very open conversation about the program, its call schedule and didactics.

At 1.00 PM, I had my third interview with the program director. He appeared inspirational and a motivating personality. He expressed genuine interest and concern when I was sharing health care issues of my family members. I was able to quickly connect with him both professionally and also at a personal level. After meeting with him I really understood why many people describe this program as "family friendly".

My last interview was with another faculty member who is a MD/PhD. I was told that she has a PhD in clinical pharmacology. Both of us had a very honest conversation and she looked very knowledgeable and genuinely concerned about the state of health care in the United States particularly when it comes to funding for the mental health care.

My interview process was completed at 3.00 PM, leaving me enough time to check out from the hotel and return to the bus station.

Overall, I would rate the whole process as one of the best interview experiences I had in this season. Faculty were very professional, motivating, and inspirational. They appeared to be genuinely concerned about resident's personal life. I got a feeling that I could happily work with them for the next four or five years, and if possible have a long term working relationship. Residents looked quite happy and pleased to be a part of such a nice program.


Oh well, I forgot to mention about the office coordinator who was very cordial and also offered each of the interviewee with a complimentary umbrella which was quite handy on my return trip.


Bottom line: If you get an interview invitation, do not miss a chance to go see it yourself! You will not be disappointed.
 
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YALE
1. interview accomodations/food:
no accom provided. food was amazing dinner and amazing lunch - both at nice restaurants with residents. light breakfast in the morning (coffee, pastries, fruit).
2. interview day: 7-:45 until 3:30 stay later if interest in child, 4 45 min interviews, tour of community and yale facilities (including call rooms with flat screen tvs and large showers), PD emphasized that they will not be contacting applicants after interviews because they think the pressure that puts on interviewees is unethical
3. program overview: very large amount of electives (dbt, sexuality, correctional, holistic, witness statements, etc), all available fellowships, intern year: 6med(one of 2 hospitals)/2 neuro, always #1 or #2 in both NIMH and VA research funding, really unique didactics that seem very well-structured and interesting, funded time in 2nd year to start research/projects, 20% protected third year time for research/electives, 4th year entirely elective, neuroscience research training program, well-respected department (2nd largest in university), resident and partner/spouse can audit any class at university tuition free, humanities in medicine and bioethics programs, teach brain and mind and social perspectives, really focus on developing leaders in psychiatry, discussed that every year they rank 1-2 IMGs in their top 12 because they value global perspective, global health electives, resident groups like global mental health and history/philosophy of psychiatry
4. faculty: PD seems amazing/intellegent/warm/thoughtful, chair is an amazing researcher also very approachable that works well with PD, three assistant PDs that all help residents develop individualized learning plans, responsive to residents
5. location, lifestyle: 1st year is 1 short call/week with 2 weekend shifts (8-5) per month with attending and upper resident, 2nd year is q10 overnight, 3rd year is 30 12-hour ER shifts during the year, no call 4th year, New Haven is small so all sites are easily accessible, don’t necessarily need car, commuter rail to NYC, some residents buy houses
6. benefits: flexible 4 weeks vacation, high pay
7. strengths: program adapted to ACGME requirements by making intern shifts available as moonlighting opportunities for upper residents, well-funded research in everything, good pay to cost of living ratio, individualized learning, biopsychosocialcultural considerations, very flexible
8. weaknesses: no night float if that is preferred, some people don’t like New Haven, some might want less than 6 month on medicine

One of strengths to me was the really friendly and smart residents. At both lunch and dinner, there was a great turnout. They seem genuinely sincere. A big push for diversity- in terms of nationality, and life experiences.
Another strength is the variety of training sites: Yale new haven psychiatric hospital (arch by Frank Gehry!), Connecticut Mental Health, VA, and Yale Health (where you can base out of during your third year or do elective during the 4th year-this is where Yale students and faculty go-obviously, if a psych resident needs mental health service, he or she will go somewhere else).
Benefits: disability/ life/medical insurance is fully paid for; $1100 each year for education; 3rd and 4th year ct license fees are fully reimbursed

I think it happens at a lot of programs (i.e. Longwood, columbia), but it seems like many residents stay on as faculty or fellow after graduation. It probably is a sign of a supportive environment, or does it mean something else?

Any thoughts? Also, do they take call at the VA-I don't think I heard anything about that.
 
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1. interview accomodations/food: No interview accomodations provided, but there is a hotel within walking distance that provides a substantial discount. A wonderful several course dinner was provided the night before. I wish I had paced myself better so that I could try the later courses!
2. interview day: Several interviews with both residents and faculty, but the interviews are directed towards your areas of interest so that makes them feel useful.
3. program overview:Clinical opportunities with such a huge psychiatric hospital seem amazing, and there are lots of opportunities available for research along with protected time if that's what you are interested in. The program is very flexible, including the option to do all of your primary care months in pediatrics.
4. faculty: The program director seems incredibly nice. It also seems like he has a great sense of humor and genuinely cares about residents and applicants to the program.
5. location, lifestyle: The call didn't seem bad, but that wasn't a big concern for me in any case. It seems like the residents have enough free time to either focus on doing more academic pursuits, make some extra money moonlighting or spend more time at home.
I really liked Pittsburgh- lots of different little neighborhoods with unique personalities, and I thought the fact that all the psychiatry units were centrally located was a huge plus.
6. benefits: I didn't pay much attention, but it all seemed good:)
7. strengths: Lots of flexibility to tailor program toward your career goals, opportunity to decide on child psych right from the start, can do primary care at wonderful children's hospital, large psychiatric hospital including specific units for eating disorders, psychosis, etc.
8. weaknesses: The program is one of my top choices, so I'm not sure I can provide a balanced view. I suppose for those coming from warmer climates the city of Pittsburgh might be a negative.
 
1. interview accommodations/food
Hotel provided. Lunch the day of the interview from a good Mexican restaurant.
2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )
Starts with an informational session with the program director, then a few interviews with faculty, then a question and answer session with the department chair, and finally a driving tour of Albuquerque. The interviews were all very relaxed- standard questions.
3. Program overview
The structure of the program seems pretty standard, though it seemed like slightly more inpatient than at other programs. During the first year, residents do inpatient psychiatry at the VA, and during the second year residents do inpatient psychiatry at University of New Mexico. The program is clinically focused, but there are some research opportunities in the imaging institute.
4. Faculty
Faculty seemed to be well educated, enthusiastic group that had moved to New Mexico from the coasts for lifestyle reasons. All seemed very committed to teaching.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Albuquerque is a good area if you're interested in the outdoors- lots of trails, opportunities to get more of a mountain atmosphere by visiting Santa Fe.
6. Benefits
usual
7. Program strengths
Faculty enthusiastic about teaching. Residents seemed happy.
8. Potential weaknesses
Perhaps more inpatient time than at other places, lots of time at the VA (though that could be seen as a strength by some)
Final thoughts: Good all around program in a liveable city.
 
Hi guys, just wanted to put in my plug for Longwood. I'm currently a PGY-1, and couldn't be happier training here-- the faculty and residents are incredible, there are unlimited academic and professional opportunities, a very diverse patient population, and Boston is a fantastic city to live in (albeit expensive). The thing is, on my interview day, I left the feeling quite lukewarm about the program. For some reason, it didn't turn me on the way other programs had. Frankly, the only reason I ranked it so highly was because of geography/personal reasons, but in the end I found that the program is far stronger than it presented itself on interview day. Try and remember that although you'll never go wrong following your gut and you should always be looking out for "red flags," interview days are just that-- a single day.
 
One of strengths to me was the really friendly and smart residents. At both lunch and dinner, there was a great turnout. They seem genuinely sincere. A big push for diversity- in terms of nationality, and life experiences.
Another strength is the variety of training sites: Yale new haven psychiatric hospital (arch by Frank Gehry!), Connecticut Mental Health, VA, and Yale Health (where you can base out of during your third year or do elective during the 4th year-this is where Yale students and faculty go-obviously, if a psych resident needs mental health service, he or she will go somewhere else).
Benefits: disability/ life/medical insurance is fully paid for; $1100 each year for education; 3rd and 4th year ct license fees are fully reimbursed

I think it happens at a lot of programs (i.e. Longwood, columbia), but it seems like many residents stay on as faculty or fellow after graduation. It probably is a sign of a supportive environment, or does it mean something else?

Any thoughts? Also, do they take call at the VA-I don't think I heard anything about that.

I am so surprised I didn't even emphasize the diversity of training sites, as that is truly one of the biggest draws for me there. I fully agree about the residents and the rest of your post (including the gehry excitement), as well.

As for your question about people staying on at Yale, I read it as more of a positive than a negative for this program. It's not like in another city/state where there might be tons of different academic programs to switch between for fellowhsip/appointment/etc. I think since all of the diverse facilities you enumerated are tied to Yale, people have an ability to stay in whatever setting they want. Furthermore, they have many fellowships, too.
 
I think it happens at a lot of programs (i.e. Longwood, columbia), but it seems like many residents stay on as faculty or fellow after graduation. It probably is a sign of a supportive environment, or does it mean something else?

All else equal, for graduates of a specific program it is easier for the average graduate to get a job at her own institution than it is for the average graduate to get a job at another institution.

In addition, even if the institution is not a supportive institution, many graduates may simply decide to stay if the perceived benefits of staying (e.g., prestige at the Harvards and Columbias) outweigh the costs of staying. The perceived benefits may be greater at the Harvards and Columbias relative to other institutions that are generally regarded as less prestigious or as having fewer resources.

From the employer's perspective, it is important to get a hire who isn't an assassin. If you get a hire who is actually good, that's a bonus. But for a clinical hire, it's far more important to avoid someone who is two standard deviations below the mean that it is to get someone who is two standard deviations above the mean. (I suppose if you were talking about hiring a surgeon who specializes in rare surgeries this would not be the case.)

So, while Longwood and Columbia may be supportive programs, I would expect that most of the variance in graduate hiring outcomes (i.e., stay or go) may be related to these other factors rather than to the supportiveness of the program.
 
In addition, even if the institution is not a supportive institution, many graduates may simply decide to stay if the perceived benefits of staying (e.g., prestige at the Harvards and Columbias) outweigh the costs of staying. The perceived benefits may be greater at the Harvards and Columbias relative to other institutions that are generally regarded as less prestigious or as having fewer resources.
I also wouldn't underestimate the completely non-professional factors that come into play in that decision.

You tend to see a higher percentage of internal hires at residencies in "desirable" locations. You get a lot of folks staying on at programs that are less prestigious in LA and the Bay Area just based on their locale. I noticed fewer folks staying on to make careers at places with great academic reputations that are set in what would be considered less desirable locales. I saw this from an old staff roster I saw at Mayo. I'm sure Rochester's not the only example.
 
COLUMBIA
1. interview accomodations/food:
no accom, lunch provided for PM interviewees, excellent classy dinner on upper west side
2. interview day: offer very limited date options, PD does follow-up call in 7-10 days, 4 interviews, shorter day than most, when listing interests the faculty will then ask if you want additional meetings set up with relevant persons (not interviews, extra meetings set up with pretty impressive people to ask questions to)
3. program overview: very "intense" medicine (only intern on team, ICU rotation, 10 patients, do all blood draws, very sick patients etc.), intern - 4med/1 ER/2 neuro, fully elective fourth year, narrative medicine program nearby, psychodynamic but excellent availability and supervision in all modalities, 3rd year follow pts between settings (shelter etc.) and do large write-up, can start public fellowship (large, good, 1st in country) as fourth year, not a lot of pressure to specialize, in picking residents faculty describes choosing colleagues since so many residents end up staying on as faculty, good public opportunities (as psych institute is state facility), 1000 faculty members so access to everything, articulated theme: observing patients over time, analytic institute inside building, with pt permission can videotape any session to go over with supervisors, crosstalk like "neuroscience of psychotherapy," minimum 8 hrs/week supervision 3rd year, patient load is "hand selected" 3d year to give variety (and can request certain pathologies etc.), quality > quantity of psych work (said), start long-term pt 2nd year (can be difficult to schedule), hospital has translation in 92 languages, residents all doing big ticket things, 20% protected elective time 3rd year, has CPEP, 1 and 2 year get rotation schedule by ranking different orders, 20% selective in 3rd year to do either research/psychopharm(at student mental health)/psychotherapy training, more suits worn by faculty, no scrubs at grand rounds, good mentoring provided, older applicants/residents even with prior careers
4. faculty: PD perhaps "standoffish" researcher though trying to work on it (e.g. by having dinner at her house) described as "no nonsense", assistant PD is younger who came straight out of residency to position, also involved director of psychotherapy training, dominican Washington Heights location in northern manhattan accessible to trains
5. location, lifestyle: call (on point system, e.g. less if you take holiday call): 1: no psych call, med; 2: 4 weeks NF and 1 call/mo weekend (12 or 24 hour shift) on inpatient units; 3:4 weeks NF and 1 call/mo weekend (12 or 24 hour shift) in CPEP; 4: work 4-5 full weekends or holidays/year doing C/L coverage
6. benefits: high salary, 4 weeks vacation per year (allowed to be scheduled only 3 and 4 year)
7. strengths: compreshensive therapy modalities and supervision, bountiful research and elective opportunities
8. weaknesses: no VA, community rotations are spanish speaking b/c of dominican base, perhaps political/hierarchical/formal, intense medicine


Agree with your review.
Unlike most programs, the didactics are spread out to 1hr/day at noon. One of the residents said she likes that as she does not like to sit in class for 4-5 hours. Personally, that's not my learning style. I prefer to have a block of protected time. I feel like between finishing up your clinical responsibilities, eating, and settling down, I would end up missing a lot of the didactics over time.

From reading older threads, I was prepared to see a research-oriented program that was thin on hands-on clinical experiences. However, I found Columbia to be pretty comparable to Yale in terms of research opportunities and mentorships. There also seems to be a lot of clinical responsibilities.

Residents did seem less friendly than at Yale. (Perhaps Yale is trying to improve their reputation.) During lunch, the chief residents made the residents move every 15 minutes so applicants can talk to more residents. That came across as a little robotic to me. The next day, we were invited to grand rounds/round-table discussion after grand rounds and additional "meetings" with faculty members. On that day, I felt that the residents were less than warm towards the applicants. The chairman (was a lawyer before going to med school) also mentioned that they have been known as "cold" by some people, but disputed that. The fact that he mentioned it makes me think there is probably some truth to the rumor. The resident giving us the tour also mentioned that the PD and aPD can across as "standoffish" but are trying to change this. Of course, as residents, we are not looking to become friends with the chairman or the PD, but the openness of the PD is certainly a factor one has to be considered.
 
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1. interview accommodations/food
Hotel pays for half of the hotel cost (you pay about $55). No dinner the night before.
2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )
The interview day is pretty laid back. It starts with a powerpoint presentation given by the PD and assistant PD. The chair of the department also comes by as well. Then you have 5 interviews back to back, one with the PD, one with the associate program director, a faculty member, and 2 residents. You're then taken to lunch at a local restaurant by 2 residents and then given a tour of the facilities/city.

3. Program overview
The program is very clinically focused. Psychotherapy starts in 2nd year vs the standard 3rd. There is more of an emphasis on the residents learning versus uses them as work horses. If residents aren't learning in a particular rotation, then adjustments will be made to rapidly rectify the situation. First year rotations include 1 month addictions, 2 months general inpt psych, 2 months va inpt psych, 1 month C&A, 1 month VA neuro, 1 month EM Psych, 1 month Geri psych, 2 months oupt IM, and then 2 months primary care selective which can be inpt or outpt IM, fam med, or peds. Call schedule is light. Just to give an example, for PGY1: Gen Inpatient is once a week for 6 out of 8 weeks, VA inpt is 4/8 weekend rounds (which I here isn't bad), Fam Med has no call, IM is about Q4 but never overnight (I believe all call goes from 5-1030). Furthermore EM, Geri, Outpt Med, C&A, and Addictions never require weekend work). Plenty of time to learn and still have a life, which is highly encouraged.
4. Faculty
All of the faculty that I met were extremely friendly and seemed to be truly invested in the program. The PD is new to the position but not new to the program as he was already faculty. Very sweet man. An added bonus is that he enjoys baking. So for everyone's birthday, they get to chose a pie that they want and he bakes it for them. How great is that?! And according to everyone, these pies are to die for. I got to witness the interaction between the faculty members as well as with some of the residents, and it seems like everyone is just a big happy family.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Colombia, SC isn't the most liveliest place. It's not a big city but there are things to do because of the presence of the USC. Also, if you get bored, Charlotte, NC is a little over an 1hr away, the beach and the mountains are about 1.5 hours away, and Atlanta about 3 hrs. Makes it a good location for day or weekend trips.
6. Benefits
~50,000 for 1st year, 20 days vacay, monthly food allowance, paid step 3, travel allowance for meetings, health & dental insurance, free parking, etc.
7. Program strengths
Faculty dedicated to teaching, good work/life balance, truly happy residents, great benefits, Dr. Stuck's pies!, psychotherapy early, plenty of elective time (7mths) in 4th year.
8. Potential weaknesses
Location might be a weakness for some, association with the VA (some may not like that).
Final thoughts: I believe this is a great program!! Everyone was so happy (which I think is possible because of their ability to learn from & with great people but still have a life). I truly loved it:thumbup:
 
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Any more of these coming in?
 
Any more of these coming in?

I'd try to be patient. I know lots of people (myself included) plan to wait til after match day to post our interview reviews. I have already written the reviews for the places I've interviewed so far, but am waiting to post them. I want to be honest and in the rare chance that someone from one of the institutions I interviewed at is lurking on the board I think I would be relatively easy to identify and would not want the reviews to in anyway effect how a place would rank me. So be patient and hopefully ppl with follow up with their intentions to post reviews at a later date.
 
I'd try to be patient. I know lots of people (myself included) plan to wait til after match day to post our interview reviews. I have already written the reviews for the places I've interviewed so far, but am waiting to post them. I want to be honest and in the rare chance that someone from one of the institutions I interviewed at is lurking on the board I think I would be relatively easy to identify and would not want the reviews to in anyway effect how a place would rank me. So be patient and hopefully ppl with follow up with their intentions to post reviews at a later date.

Me too. I've considered sending them in anonymously, but even then, it'd still be pretty easy to ID me based on my review (where we went to dinner for example). It's safer at this point to just wait. I'm sure there will be a deluge of reviews in late March.

In the meantime, just talk to people. Other interviewees have been pretty open with me at interviews about where they've been and what they thought, and I try to do the same. After the dinner is a good time to have a chat...when there's no one from the current program around to hear you talking about other places...
 
.Interview Accommodations/Food.
.No hotel provided, but you do get some local suggestions. Coffee and coffee cake in the morning, lunch depends on which day of the week you interview (Monday is pizza, although theoretically you have the option of getting something else from the cafeteria if you speak up and if the resident doing the tour remembers to ask.) .

.Interview Day .
.Day is completely dependent on which day of the week you interview, as each day has a different agenda. Regardless, interview with the program director, 2 faculty members based on your interests, and one of the chief residents. It’s a long day with a lot of walking. You are escorted everywhere you need to go, so you do not have to worry about being lost or late. .

.Program Overview .
.Split between the Duke Hospital, VA, and the state psychiatric hospital which is shared with UNC. Protected academic half day for each year, and protected conference time during the week. Night float system to help comply with duty hours. Residents said that they felt they worked hard, but that they didn’t feel overworked and felt they were getting a good education. A lot of flexibility in the 3rd and 4th years, with the ability to do electives third year and outpatient requirements in 4th or vice versa. New chair is apparently very interested in improving the education of the residents and adding incentives for research participation. Psychotherapy training starts in the first year, and outpatient clinic starts in the 2nd year. They have a lot of direct supervision using cameras and one way mirrors. .

.Faculty .
.Like most other programs of the same caliber, Duke tends to like to keep their own residents as faculty. .

.Location/Lifestyle.
.Durham is perhaps not the most exciting place to live, but it is undergoing revitalization and is improving. The surrounding areas are excellent for hiking and camping, and the coast is ~1.5 hours to the east and mountains are 2-3 hours to the west. Lot of food options and visual arts. .

.Benefits.
.Standard.

.Strengths.
.Very receptive program director.
.Very strongly evidence based .
.“name” .


.Weaknesses.
.Difficulty in conforming to work hours .
Location +/-


.Fellowships.
.Child and adolescent .
.Geriatrics .
.Research .
 
.Interview Accommodations/Food.
.No accommodation provided, do get a suggested hotel with a discount. Dinner the night before at a local restaurant (which changes weekly) with excellent participation by the residents (there were at least 8-10 the night I was there.) .

.Interview Day .
.Continental breakfast at 8am, followed by a video of the program. Interviews with the program director, two faculty, and two residents including one with the chief residents. Interview tone/style was highly variable based on who was doing the interviewing. Tour of the units and hospital, lunch, and an optional tour around Winston-Salem. .

.Program Overview .
.Fridays are protected for didactic. Call is heavy for interns, less for PGY2, and home back up for PGY3 with no call for PGY4. .

.PGY1 – 2 months medicine (one of which is ambulatory at the VA), one month pediatrics, one month emergency, 2 months neurology, 6 months psych in-patient..

.PGY2- 4.5 months CL, child outpatient clinic, 3 months selectives, ECT experience .

.PGY3- outpatient .

.PGY4 – Inpatient child, inpatient geri, VA selective, forensics selective, electives .

.Faculty .
.All have open door policy and residents felt very supported by them. Very collegial atmosphere. .

.Location/Lifestyle.
.Winston-Salem is an eclectic small to medium city. Within a few hours of the mountains, the beach, and major metropolitian areas. .

.Benefits.
.Pretty standard, free food when on call, except from 10am-4pm. .

.Strengths.
.High volume and diversity of patients .
.Very supportive and collegial atmosphere .
A LOT of ECT experience

.Weaknesses.
.If you need a big city, this is not for you. .
.Call for interns is 24hr call ~Q4 (interns take ALL weekend and holiday calls) for the year, although it rapidly improves in second year.

.Fellowships.
.Child and adolescent .
 
.Interview Accommodations/Food.
.List of hotels with UNC discounts provided. Dinner the night before at a restaurant near the campus with residents. Breakfast and lunch during the day (both were excellent). .

.Interview Day .
.8:30 start with breakfast with the chief residents. Program overview with the program director. Interview with the program director, one of the chief residents, and a faculty member. Interviews were very conversational and relaxed. Lunch with a number of residents followed by a tour of the hospital. Group meeting with the chair or vice chair and then a wrap up around 3pm. .

.Program Overview .
.Didactics – protected ½ day per week (think it was Wednesdays) with progressive curriculum based on year .

.PGY1 – 2 months inpatient family medicine (which is comparable to internal medicine as UNC family medicine is very strong), 2 months medicine at the state psychiatric hospital, 4 months inpatient psych at the state psychiatric hospital, 3 months inpatient at UNC (crisis, psychotic, adolescent), 2 2 week neurology, 1 month psych ED.

.PGY2 – Outpatient with clinics set by diagnosis/patient population.

.PGY3 – 2 months inpatient geri psych with ECT, 1 month perinatal psych inpatient, 1 month crisis service with focus on teaching PGY1s, 1 month child unit, 1 months ED, 3 months CL, 1 month neuro or elective, 1 month eating disorders unit. Also continuity clinic (which you schedule yourself so it’s highly flexible based on what inpatient rotation you are on) .

.PGY4 – electives, continuity clinic, 3 months Junior Attending .

.Call – mostly in PGY1 and 2.

.Faculty .
.Half very young and energetic, half long term faculty. All were very accessible and collegial. Residents reported a lot of dedicated teaching and good service to education ratio. .

.Location/Lifestyle.
.Chapel Hill, NC – about 10 minutes from Durham (where most residents live) and 20-ish minutes from Raleigh. Lots of food, outdoor activities. Tons of college sports. Easy day trips to hiking. Within a few hours of the beach, mountains, and major metropolitan areas. .

.Benefits.
.PGY1- $46,984.
.Good other benefits .
.Vacation standard.
.Very family friendly program .

.Strengths.
.Highly receptive and responsive program .
.Long continuity clinic experience .
.Residents are expected to be educators for both medical students and fellow residents .

.Weaknesses.
.Only one moonlighting opportunity (at the state hospital) but are working on more .
.No VA association .

.Fellowships.
.Child and adolescent .
.Forensics.
.Psychosomatic.
.Community .
.Research .
.Eating Disorders .
 
CAMBRIDGE
1. interview accomodations/food
: dinner with residents, lunch at fancy faculty club
2. interview day: 4 - 50 minute interviews, some “childhood” type questions but nothing too pressing, get huge packet with lots of interesting program info
3. program overview: provides community care to residents in state with “universal coverage,” CHA is becoming ACO payment model, psychiatry is very respected in hospital (very primary care hospital), residents seem to get good fellowship placement, community + academic since harvard teaching hospital but still predominantly a community site, 6 weeks elective as PGY1, big focus on cultural competence, can work in language clinics or LGBTQ clinic, use medical home model, has analytic flavor, emphasize low narcissism, call attendings by first names, 95% residents in therapy, 40% patients require use of interpreter, can take courses in other schools, complex psych cases, many stay within system
PGY1 - 2neuro, 4med wards, 1ICU or peds, months of nightfloat, addiction, child, geri, community, elective
PGY2 - 6inpatient, 3partial hosp, 6emergency, 6C/L
PGY3 - o/p including child/geri/C/L
PGY4 - 50% elective
4. faculty: PD with 25+ years experience, LGBTQ supportive faculty, residency faculty seem supportive
5. location, lifestyle: call q10-12 in PGY2 and PGY3, 3 month maternity leave, can start moonlighting as PGY2 (75-130$/hr?) for backup call, Wednesday is fully protected didactic day, Boston has 350,000+ college students, in Cambridge with expensive rent, need car mainly only for one 3 month block
6. benefits: $1900 educational stipend
7. strengths: relaxed/happy, unique pt population/set-up
8. weaknesses: less access to research despite being harvard program (some is done but it seems to need seeking out), boston is cold, seem to fight against stereotype that aren’t well psychopharm trained
 
PENN
1. interview accomodations/food:
great dinner and wine night before, lunch provided
2. interview day: 5 interviews that are very well-matched to applicant interests, only see 1 site (pennsylvania hospital) on tour
3. program overview: CRC is city's public ER, lots of research money, 60-70% of residents go on to fellowship, have all GME fellowships plus others, get to observe faculty do therapy, 3-4 o/p supervisors, normal dynamic and CBT but also required to get some family etc. with optional access to DBT/group, 12 residents, 25% of general clinics are community focused, have university hospital + community hopsital _+ VA for diverse training (however also seem to run around a lot between different spots, including for call), afternoon didactics, on penn undergrad campus with access to ongoings, seemed to be good therapy training overall (not with CBT focus I had expected), residents seemed very "real" in a good way.
PGY1: 4wards, 1med ER, 1neuro consults, ped options, 4 inpatient psych b/w several sites with 4-5 supervised training calls til 10PM per month and 8am-10pm saturdays (unclear what other month(s) is) and 3 weeks vacation
PGY2: 1child, 3C/L, 1neuro, 6inpatient psych **call seems very confusing second year - handout says 3-4 per month but one resident said can be a bit more unclear** packet says 4 weeks NF in 2 blocks, at university hospital (5:30 to 10 short call + friday night overnight), at community hospital (short call, thursday overnight, 24 hr saturday, 8-10 sunday), VA (2-3 saturdays/yr which are 24 hrs), start 1 long-term therapy case
PGY3 is o/p with 8 hrs supervision min/week, general and subspecialty clinics, also required child/sa/community, ½ day per week elective (research or clinic), call is 1 weekday short/month + 3 saturday 24hrs/year + 1 friday or sunday per month + 2-3 weeks phone coverage, can moonlight
PGY4: continue clinics, ect certification, 2 days/week elective, junior attending rotation, access to certification in TMS/VNS/DBS/hypnosis etc., 3-4 weeks phone call
4. faculty: engaging PD with social concerns, friendly/supportive
5. location, lifestyle: university city philly, don't need car, cheap rent
6. benefits: maybe get paid for weekend call as PGY3/4? unclear, get parking or rail pass, meal stiped, $200 professional fund
7. strengths: variety of training sites, access to bountiful research, supportive faculty, liveable city
8. weaknesses: no conference/educational days (must use vacation), scattered/complicated?

Edit: I know this is a super late edit, but I think some of the sense of the program being complicated and some communication issues this year had to do with the residency coordinator being very sick and hospitalized for a while. Just a note for posterity.
 
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.Interview Accommodations/Food.
.No accommodation provided, do get a suggested hotel with a discount. Dinner the night before at a local restaurant (which changes weekly) with excellent participation by the residents (there were at least 8-10 the night I was there.) .

.Interview Day .
.Continental breakfast at 8am, followed by a video of the program. Interviews with the program director, two faculty, and two residents including one with the chief residents. Interview tone/style was highly variable based on who was doing the interviewing. Tour of the units and hospital, lunch, and an optional tour around Winston-Salem. .

.Program Overview .
.Fridays are protected for didactic. Call is heavy for interns, less for PGY2, and home back up for PGY3 with no call for PGY4. .

.PGY1 – 2 months medicine (one of which is ambulatory at the VA), one month pediatrics, one month emergency, 2 months neurology, 6 months psych in-patient..

.PGY2- 4.5 months CL, child outpatient clinic, 3 months selectives, ECT experience .

.PGY3- outpatient .

.PGY4 – Inpatient child, inpatient geri, VA selective, forensics selective, electives .

.Faculty .
.All have open door policy and residents felt very supported by them. Very collegial atmosphere. .

.Location/Lifestyle.
.Winston-Salem is an eclectic small to medium city. Within a few hours of the mountains, the beach, and major metropolitian areas. .

.Benefits.
.Pretty standard, free food when on call, except from 10am-4pm. .

.Strengths.
.High volume and diversity of patients .
.Very supportive and collegial atmosphere .
A LOT of ECT experience

.Weaknesses.
.If you need a big city, this is not for you. .
.Call for interns is 24hr call ~Q4 (interns take ALL weekend and holiday calls) for the year, although it rapidly improves in second year.

.Fellowships.
.Child and adolescent .

I think Wake Forest is a hidden less-competitive gem - especially if you are couples matching or have kids
 
Vanderbilt
1. interview accomodations/food: Couldn't make dinner. Had to organise own accommodation, although no problems.

2. program overview: My impression was that this program, whilst standard in terms of its design, would really allow one to have a broad and detailed clinical experience. You can get the details on the website, but what stuck out was the stated goal that, by the end of PGY2, the faculty wanted residents to be able to "cope with any psychiatric situation, in any context". That seems ambitious, but I guess it is a good goal nonetheless.

4. faculty: The program director and chair both seemed very intelligent, well-spoken and approachable. The faculty is diverse, with a good mix of biological and psychoanalytically focused approaches.

5. location, lifestyle: Didn't get to see much. Looks like stipend will be able to facilitate a good lifestyle, and Nashville seems like a nice place.

6. strengths: Really solid clinical training, and a growing number of research opportunities.

7. weaknesses: This program really looks to be going places, but probably doesn't yet have the same degree of research infrastructure as some programs. Only two fellowships available, despite excellent forensics faculty.
 
Me too. I've considered sending them in anonymously, but even then, it'd still be pretty easy to ID me based on my review (where we went to dinner for example). It's safer at this point to just wait. I'm sure there will be a deluge of reviews in late March.

In the meantime, just talk to people. Other interviewees have been pretty open with me at interviews about where they've been and what they thought, and I try to do the same. After the dinner is a good time to have a chat...when there's no one from the current program around to hear you talking about other places...

This reticence to share your reviews before match is unfortunate. Your reviews can be valuable for anyone still deciding. I do, however, agree that you should do it anonymously.
 
Again, I'm happy to post interview feedback for people who would prefer to remain anonymous. My PM box has plenty of room for anyone who wants to send them through. I should usually be able to get them up in less than 24 hours unless I'm traveling extensively.
 
1. interview accommodations/food
Start at 8 AM. Light breakfast provided.

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )
Laid back interviews. If you send in interests beforehand, you'll be matched with some people who work in those areas.

3. Program overview- Overall, seems like the focus seems to be to prepare you to be a psychiatrist who has seen a lot. The PD emphasizes that people who do well in this program tend to be people who are good at handling change as you go through different sites and that are motivated to learn. PGY1- 4 blocks Medicine, 2 blocks Neuro, 1/5 mo ER, 2-5 inpatient psych and 1 block outpatient at 125th street clinic with many incarcerated patients. Year 2 includes VA, child inpt, Kirby for forensics, Geriatrics. PGY3 was generally considered to be a good psychotherapy experience and includes ½ clinic at VA for outpatient therapy as well as ½ with NYU college counseling. Residents seem to enjoy both of these experiences. Seems like lots of supervision to be had for therapy. 4th year electives include being able to do sex therapy and reproductive mental health which is pretty cool.

4. Faculty- people seemed to generally respect the faculty and appreciated that they learned from each person's varying strengths. The ER was considered a strong rotation. They also have a floor specifically for patients that are handpicked as good teaching cases for residents. The attending on this floor was described as being a "forensics guy" so you really learn how to write good notes as a skill. A lot of the faculty that we met were NYU grads so people seem to like the program and stick around.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. – no subsidized housing but good area with restaurants and bars around.

6. Benefits- don't remember but think NYU is higher than neighboring NYU schools with salary

7. Program strengths- While residents seem busier than other schools, they also seemed to think that this additional time was spent on learning rather than just being busy with scutwork. Residents seemed happy. Some seemed to imply that NYU residents have a false reputation for working harder than others because they feel like they get out at a decent hour while others felt like they at times questioned picking a program that was felt harder than others but that they, at the end of the day, felt like they would be prepared for anything psych threw at them after graduating. Liked how people felt supervised (for example, there are 2 attendings who are physically in the CPEP overnight so you're not on call alone). Good forensics exposure.

8. Potential weaknesses- One of the residents put it best when he said that he at first felt that rotation through so many sites sometimes had the same problem of 3rd year of medical school where you are constantly moving on just as you get used to a particular system. On the flip side, he said he chose NYU anyway because this rotating was more just the first two years and he felt that it was worth it for having such varied experiences.
 
1. interview accommodations/food-

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )

3. Program overview- Focus on broad education with having opportunity to become a specialist at something. Opportunities to train in psychoanalysis. C/L service as PGY1 as well as PGY4 so you have the experience early enough to decide if you like it but you also get to do it at a point where you feel competent. Good neuro training.

4. Faculty- Residency director and assistant residency director seem like a great time and very dedicated to teaching. Very intelligent and seem to put a lot of thought into curriculum such as including a post-call supervision breakfast so that the call person had that experience and also didn’t feel so isolated from the other residents. If they don’t have an experience available as an elective, there are connections to being able to do it elsewhere.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. – great- get patients from East Harlem as well as upper east side

6. Benefits- fine. Don’t remember details.

7. Program strengths- friendly residents who seem happy for the most part. Location is a great part of NY with being at the border of East Harlem and upper East side. Don’t have to do any of your own blood draws etc. but seemed like there was sometimes nurse-doctor tension though not with all staff. Speciality clinics such as World Trade Center clinic, Liver transplant consult, OCD, Women’s Health, outpt eating disorder. Added a class on Love, Gender and Sexuality when decided they didn’t talk about love enough.

8. Potential weaknesses- two residents I met talked about how the inpatient attendings tend to be on the younger side which means that they’re more approachable but at the same time, don’t draw from decades of experience working in psych. Seemed like it was hard for interns to get to didactics when on non-psych rotations. Didactics actually sound just okay at first but improve as the years go on especially those taught be Dr. Simons on interviewing and by Dr. Reider. One intern felt a bit thrown in and had to learn by doing and trial and error (but perhaps this is not so different than other programs and how interns will feel in the beginning regardless of program?) Seems like it might be a bit paperwork heavy on inpatient but wondering if this is a New York thing.
 
1. interview accommodations/food-

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )

3. Program overview- Focus on broad education with having opportunity to become a specialist at something. Opportunities to train in psychoanalysis. C/L service as PGY1 as well as PGY4 so you have the experience early enough to decide if you like it but you also get to do it at a point where you feel competent. Good neuro training.

4. Faculty- Residency director and assistant residency director seem like a great time and very dedicated to teaching. Very intelligent and seem to put a lot of thought into curriculum such as including a post-call supervision breakfast so that the call person had that experience and also didn’t feel so isolated from the other residents. If they don’t have an experience available as an elective, there are connections to being able to do it elsewhere.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. – great- get patients from East Harlem as well as upper east side

6. Benefits- fine. Don’t remember details.

7. Program strengths- friendly residents who seem happy for the most part. Location is a great part of NY with being at the border of East Harlem and upper East side. Don’t have to do any of your own blood draws etc. but seemed like there was sometimes nurse-doctor tension though not with all staff. Speciality clinics such as World Trade Center clinic, Liver transplant consult, OCD, Women’s Health, outpt eating disorder. Added a class on Love, Gender and Sexuality when decided they didn’t talk about love enough.

8. Potential weaknesses- two residents I met talked about how the inpatient attendings tend to be on the younger side which means that they’re more approachable but at the same time, don’t draw from decades of experience working in psych. Seemed like it was hard for interns to get to didactics when on non-psych rotations. Didactics actually sound just okay at first but improve as the years go on especially those taught be Dr. Simons on interviewing and by Dr. Reider. One intern felt a bit thrown in and had to learn by doing and trial and error (but perhaps this is not so different than other programs and how interns will feel in the beginning regardless of program?) Seems like it might be a bit paperwork heavy on inpatient but wondering if this is a New York thing.

Just adding my 2 cents on mt. sinai

1. When I interviewed there, I was told that they don't really have a women's program like columbia or cornell. Maybe a plus, if you want to start something there. Also, one of the chief residents said that they don't get a lot of eating disorder experiences either. Through, I agree that their C.L. is very strong.
2. The second year calls at the Bronx VA are deemed pretty tough by the residents. When you are on call there, you are alone covering the floors, consults, and ER. Since the ER is staffed by Bronx VA residents and not mt. sinai residents, there are sometimes tensions between the psych resident and ER staff.
3. Lots of elective time in the fourth year, but definitely felt like there were less research opportunities there when compared to columbia.
4. During your third year, you can choose to do it at Mt. sinai or the VA, a few of the residents actually live in westchester and chose to base their clinics there. Also was told that since it is the VA (where no one works after 5pm), the residents usually get to leave earlier than at mt. sinai.
5. Overall, I think it is much less intense of a program when compared to columbia, cornell, or nyu. It can be a weakness or strength depending on what you want to get out of residency.
 
UCLA-Semel

1. interview accommodations/food - stayed with friends in town

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. ) - Day starts at 9:00 (appreciated later start). Pastries, coffee in resident library -- a large, long room lined with bookshelves, where residents can meet for conferences and use computers. Chief residents gave overview of program with a "movie" about the program edited by a resident, complete with soundtrack and then a power point about the specifics of the program. During this presentation, the PD and chair came in to say a few words. After this, applicants had either 1 or 2 interviews, then a catered lunch was served to everyone back in the resident library. A large number of residents came in during the lunch to chat with applicants. After lunch we took a short shuttle ride to the VA where there was a tour and another round of interviews. Then a shuttle back and more interviews.

All in all there were three interviews total during the day (at least that's how many I had). As far as I could tell, the pattern seemed to be: 1 interview with APD/PD, 1 interview with a faculty member, and 1 interview with a resident. After the last interview, two residents gave us a tour of the UCLA hospital and the various psychiatric wards. The facility is only a few years old and is beautiful. Nicest psych wards I've ever seen. Clearly residents are not going to be seeing very many uninsured patients when they rotate in these units.

The day ended with a reception at an upscale bar a few blocks away in Westwood. The party was well-attended by many residents, who all seemed eager to talk about the program and say why they loved it there. The PD and chair both came to mingle with everyone.

3. Program overview - UCLA feels as if it's on par with the top East Coast programs, but still maintains a bit of the informal, SoCal vibe. The residents have impressive pedigrees, are well-rounded, many with extensive academic pursuits and most having other active interests outside of residency. Despite the appeal to lifestyle in LA, the residents all say they work hard during the first 2 years. Call is q6 in intern year with 5-10pm short call and 12 hour weekend call. The PD said that they should have two full (non-call) weekends per month. In second year the call is q7 with weekend call that includes a 24 hour shift. In addition there is a few weeks of night float both years. In 3rd year, I think there's q14 short call and no overnights. Fourth year has no call.

First year there is 4 months of medicine ( 1 inpatient wards, 2 outpatient, 1 med ER), 2 months of neuro, and 6 months of psych (psych ER at harbor, Geri psych ward, VA psychotic ward, night float, can't remember rest). 2nd year is all inpatient (C/L, child, VA, UCLA, etc). Third and fourth years are all outpatient. For those interested in more community experience, there is an option to do the entire first year at Harbor, but this is only available to one resident in each class. The 3rd and fourth years are very flexible with requirements that can be filled with many different options. The last 2 years offer many opportunities for outpatient community psych, for those interested. There is also a research track available with more protected time and a 5 year CAP fast-track option.

Seems as if didactic curriculum is well-organized, with protected time and lots of additional journal club activities every week.

4. Faculty - you can check them all out on the website. Major research going on in a wide variety of areas. Clinical faculty full of volunteer supervisors who mentor residents for psychotherapy. Association with New Center of Psychoanalysis in LA, with some residents interested in psychodynamic psychotherapy and others more biologically focused.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc. - LA, you either love it or hate it. Residents seem to work hard and play hard, taking advantage of the city and natural surroundings. Program seems to have the money to support residents well, with emphasis on wellness, retreat, process groups, and lots of resident input into the curriculum.

6. Benefits - check out the website. No housing bonus like UCSF. UCLA housing available, but most residents seemed to live in there own apartments. No one seemed to feel that they were struggling to get by in the city. Your card is loaded up with free food for your hospital shifts. Awesome medical insurance coverage. $500 educational stipend. Lots of moonlighting opportunities in 3rd and 4th year, with >$100/hr salaries.

7. Program strengths - big program with lots of opportunities for research or academic projects. Will set you up well for fellowships, academics, or competitive job in the community. Well-respected department in the institution and around the country. Program seems to be very responsive to resident input. Nice facilities. Residents seemed to be a happy, impressive bunch. Residents seemed enthusiastic about didactics and curriculum. LA.

8. Potential weaknesses - big program with 15 residents per class (may be strength for some), need to be a self-starter to take advantage of the opportunities available. Doesn't have as many fellowships as some of the comparable programs at other institutions. Don't start with long term therapy patient until 3rd year, unlike many other programs that start this in 2nd year. First two years are hard compared to some programs. Don't get a lot of inpatient experience with underserved or Latino population in LA during first two years unless you do harbor track. LA.
 
This reticence to share your reviews before match is unfortunate. Your reviews can be valuable for anyone still deciding. I do, however, agree that you should do it anonymously.

Again, I'm happy to post interview feedback for people who would prefer to remain anonymous. My PM box has plenty of room for anyone who wants to send them through. I should usually be able to get them up in less than 24 hours unless I'm traveling extensively.

Yeah, I know...I'll see if I can edit them to make them more anonymous. My problem is that most of my reviews contain my personal impressions and details of my experiences from the day, which often include things that would identify me, even if posted anonymously.

I'm not so paranoid that I'm super worried about being anonymous on SDN, but at the same time, I don't want to chance a program seeing me talk smack about them and know exactly who said it. But, maybe I can tone 'em down some...I'll see if I can work on it over Xmas break...
 
Can anyone share more reviews about California programs? They seem so hard to come by. Yes, we have posts from prior years but programs are changing and anything current would be really appreciated.
 
Can anyone share more reviews about California programs? They seem so hard to come by. Yes, we have posts from prior years but programs are changing and anything current would be really appreciated.

Where did you interview in California? SDN could benefit if you posted your reviews as well.
 
I have a few CA interviews coming up. Had to push a few into January.
 
Where did you interview in California? SDN could benefit if you posted your reviews as well.
Yeah, the trend definitely seems to be fewer and fewer residency interview reviews posted each year. Which is a real bummer. I know a lot of folks talk about intending to put out reviews after the Match, and a few actually will, but by then it's pretty much last season's box scores.

I think reading reviews of programs the year you're applying is extremely helpful. You can sanity check your gut on things you experience when a couple of others pick up on the same thing. For example, unhappy residents on the day you interview isn't good, but when 2 or 3 other folks experience the same things on other interview dates, this is a much bigger factor.

I also wonder if folks might be a little overconcerned about "anonymity." If your actual interview review outs you, you're probably posting way more personal information than anyone really needs. And if you're worried that a potential program director is going to read your review, then do a search of your post history in hopes of identifying you, you're dealing with a pretty malignant PD and/or program and will probably be doing yourself a favor.

Sorry, editorializing. Thanks to those posting reviews of programs. It's a help to others going through this challenging/confusing/rewarding time...
 
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I also wonder if folks might be a little overconcerned about "anonymity." If your actual interview review outs you, you're probably posting way more personal information than anyone really needs. And if you're worried that a potential program director is going to read your review, then do a search of your post history in hopes of identifying you, you're dealing with a pretty malignant PD and/or program and will probably be doing yourself a favor.

Definitely agree with your post, especially the above bit.
 
You know, I agree that posting these reviews is probably much less a big deal than it's made out to be here. All the reviews posted so far (and almost all the reviews posted in the past) have been professional and not likely to be anything that would cause programs to think poorly of you.

As for coming back and posting reviews later, that's happened like never in my years of posting on SDN. People have said they would going to do it, but they never do, hence our cynicism about these upcoming posts. I also agree with the usefulness of posting these reviews in real time.
 
So very agreed with the above commentaries on overblown anonymity, usefulness of real time posting, and the idea that why would you want to go to a program that spends its time (assuming there were any) seeking out people trying to share information to honestly help people with making a very important decision....etc. No offense and don't mean to imply too much, but it's probably reflective of med school persons and mentality in general, and that's a bit sad.
 
In the spirit of all of the recent posts, here's another review (and it's for a California program).

UCSF

1. Interview Accommodations/Food

The program has a list of nearby hotels that are reasonably priced (with discounted rates) and near to the Parnassus campus. Applicants can also stay with residents.

2. Interview Day

Night before dinner with residents at a local brew pub with good food. Residents, mostly interns came along. All were friendly, eager to answer questions about the program and seemed to be happy to be at UCSF and living in San Francisco.
Interview day: 3 interviews, about 35-45 minutes in length with 2 faculty and one resident. Also a brief, 15 minute interview with the PD. The interviews were all before lunch, which I appreciated as someone who is prone to afternoon, post-prandial sleepiness.

The morning began with coffee and pastries. A short intro by the PD and a rushed overview of the curriculum each year. We only made it to the end of 2nd year when we ran out of time. Not the end of the world, considering that it's all listed on the website.

At lunch two residents came by to speak with us and answer questions. They told us that they'd heard that the program has a reputation of having an intense call schedule, but they didn't feel that it was any more difficult than any of the other top west coast programs. It didn't seem any more demanding than the schedules at UCLA or UW.

The rest of the day was tours of the three main clinical sites: Langley Porter/UCSF, San Francisco VA, and SF General. On the shuttle ride to the VA, Dr. Haller, the PD, explained that she would be stepping down to pursue her clinical interests. Her replacement will be announced before the ranking lists are due and they will inform all applicants who the new PD so they will know before making their lists (contrast to Longwood, where they said they won't announce until after Match so as not to affect the program where their new PD is coming from). There are four candidates, 2 internal and 2 external. The residents are very involved in the decision process. Everyone we talked to seemed to think that it will be a good thing because the new candidates are all focused on education as one of their chief career interests.

3. Program Overview
First year: 6 months of med and neuro and 6 months of inpatient and ER psych at SF General. Everything is broken up into 3 month chunks.
2nd year: C/L at UCSF or SF General and 6 months of outpatient at the VA. You can get more specifics on the website.
3rd year is outpatient. 4th year is elective, with flexible requirements.
16 or so residents per class.
Apparently, they are in the process of starting up a new advising system for residents so that they have a faculty liaison to help them navigate through residency.
There is also a plan in the works to redo the curriculum to set up more longitudinal patient experiences throughout the four years of residency.

4. Faculty
An impressive bunch. Lots of research, committed clinical faculty and active supervision for psychotherapy. There doesn't seem to be a good central source of information where one can browse the faculty interests and the active research.

5. Location, Lifestyle
San Francisco is beautiful, culturally rich, and full of great places to eat. The VA has a gorgeous view of where the bay meets the Pacific. Possible downsides are fog, which can be dense in certain parts of the city, and traffic which happens when so many people want to live in a beautiful part of the country. Housing costs are probably the most expensive in the country, except for NYC. You could easily get by without a car depending on where you live.

6. Benefits
Same as the other UC programs + around $675/month in housing allowance (which residents felt gave them a better standard of living than their counterparts at UCLA). You know where to look to find the rest of the details.

7. Strengths
Big program with renowned faculty, impressive group of residents, strong national reputation, opportunities to do work/research in virtually any area of interest, strong community/public psychiatry clinical experience at SF General, good variety in clinical training sites (county at SFG, vets at VA and insured population at UCSF), lots of flexibility for pursuing interests in 4th year, strong fellowships, opportunities for moonlighting available. Strong opportunities in cultural psychiatry and LGBT psychiatry, along with probably everything else you could think of (or at least that I can right now).

8. Weaknesses
Need to be a self-starter to get what you want out of the big program, hard-working first two years (though this is similar at comparable programs), program is going through transition with new chair and new PD (though this may lead to improvements), SF General has gone through some downsizing of psych units due to budget woes, different sites around city requires commuting (though this can be done with extensive UCSF shuttle system).
 
1. interview accommodations/food
stayed with one of the residents. dinner at a very nice sushi restaurant the night before though not many residents in attendance. usual breakfast. mexican restaurant for lunch. cookies etc in afternoon.

2. interview day -- (e.g. schedule, interview types, unusual questions/experiences...etc. )
breakfast followed by program overview with PD and one of the APDs. Then 4 interviews, 1 with PD, one with the Dean, one with director of the conneticut mental health clinic, one with an old professor. All the interviews were low stress, they had all clearly read my application and were interested in me as a person. some interesting discussions. interviews done with by morning, then tour of facilities and talk with chair and wrap up with PD in pm.

3. Program overview
6 months medicine at yale or st raphael's, 2 months neuro, 4 months psych (3 i/p adult, 1 i/p adolescent) in PGY-1. PGY-2 3 months elective, 2 months substance abuse, 1 month geropsych, 3 months i/p general adult, 1 month psych ER, 2 months C/L and 1/2 day long term psychotherapy. PGY-3 all o/p psychiatry including child psychiatry, psychodynamic psychotherapy, CBT and med management. 20% elective time. PGY-4 electives. Wide range of clinical, research, policy, educational, administrative, and global health electives

4. Faculty
Chair is a neuroscientists seems involved in program; PD is very nice; 4 associate PDs, Dean of Education at Yale is former Psych PD. Wide and deep bench of faculty predominantly neuroscience, but also psychoanalysts, epidemiologists, social psychiatrists, global mental health etc.

5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Yale is incredibly beautiful, the hospitals and campus are all very nice, the downtown area is nice and there are a decent range of restaurants, some bars, art etc. However New Haven is otherwise meh.

6. Benefits
The best PGY-1 salary of any program (though overtaken by other programs like columbia at pgy-3/4), lots of moonlighting opportunities, fully paid insurance, 4 weeks vacation.

7. Program strengths
excellent clinical facilities including university, state, and VA hospital; excellent research opportunities; strong didactic program; excellent psychotherapy training; some exposure to social psychiatry; global mental health opportunities; flexibility early on to develop own interests; moonlighting opportunities; friendly faculty; strong in child, forensics, and addiction;

8. Potential weaknesses
New Haven, C-L psychiatry

Final thoughts: This is a great program that emphasises teaching and training including in psychotherapy and social psychiatry, with faculty who are friendlier than at some other leading institutions however New Haven is not for everyone and I do not feel that residents write their own ticket after graduation in the same way as some other programs.
 
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