Cornell
1. interview accommodations/food: No accommodations provided. Lunch with residents at the faculty club during the interview day. The lunch itself was fine, but the atmosphere was pretty fancy/stuffy/formal/nice.
2. interview day: Typical day, 8-4, with only four other students. They gave us a tour of the library which had some pretty neat books including the red book and some old treatises on witchcraft and witch hunting. We were told that in the event of a fire, the library doors would immediately shut and all the oxygen would be removed from the room to prevent damage to the books. They give you a book (http://www.amazon.com/Approach-Psyc...3008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331685541&sr=8-1).
3. Program overview: See the website (http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/education/residency_new.html). Two site program, NYPH in the upper east side and Payne Whitney in Westchester. The residents working at Westchester meet at NYPH at 730 and carpool to Westchester with a car provided by Cornell. Call PGY 1,2 is q7 while on inpatient psych with "occasional" weekends. q7 short call (4-7) while at Westchester. This may switch to night float. Call PGY3 is 4 weeks night float at psych ER. No call PGY 4. Limited intramural research, but will allow you to work with anyone in the city and then "bring it back to Cornell". I got the impression that for people and projects that they liked, they would go to great lengths to make it work.
PGY 1: 6 month of medicine (3 at NYPH, 3 at Sloan Kettering), 1 month inpatient psych at NYPH, 1 month psych ER at NYPH, 3 months Geri psych at Westchester, 1 month 2nd chance unit at Westchester. Was told that this is likely to change in the near future.
PGY 2: 4 months consults (2-4 cases/day), 3 months inpatient psych, 2 months Westchester, 1 month elective, 1 month ER.
PGY 3: outpatient
PGY 4: 6 months of 50% outpatient, 50% unit chief duties. 6 months elective
4. Faculty: The PD and chair both were very nice, friendly people who seemed like they would be great resources for the residents. I responded very positively to 3 of the 4 interviewers.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc: The housing is apparently amazing, but I didn't get to see it. It is very close to the hospital and presumably affordable on a resident's salary. Of course, Westchester requires a bit of a commute.
6. Benefits: Can't remember.
7. Program strengths: Many, but not all, of the residents cited Cornell's strength in psychoanalysis as a major draw for them. "Small program" feel, even though it is not a particularly small program. NYC. Housing. Can do research with anyone in NYC.
8. Program weaknesses: There is a distinct culture to the program. I felt it most strongly from the residents, and less so from the PD. If it fits you, then I don't think this is a weakness, but if it doesn't then it might be. Someone once told me that there were "a lot of bow ties at MGH". I actually think this applies more to Cornell. Not a ton of research at Cornell, although there is some (BJ Casey, for example).
1. interview accommodations/food: No accommodations provided. Lunch with residents at the faculty club during the interview day. The lunch itself was fine, but the atmosphere was pretty fancy/stuffy/formal/nice.
2. interview day: Typical day, 8-4, with only four other students. They gave us a tour of the library which had some pretty neat books including the red book and some old treatises on witchcraft and witch hunting. We were told that in the event of a fire, the library doors would immediately shut and all the oxygen would be removed from the room to prevent damage to the books. They give you a book (http://www.amazon.com/Approach-Psyc...3008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331685541&sr=8-1).
3. Program overview: See the website (http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/education/residency_new.html). Two site program, NYPH in the upper east side and Payne Whitney in Westchester. The residents working at Westchester meet at NYPH at 730 and carpool to Westchester with a car provided by Cornell. Call PGY 1,2 is q7 while on inpatient psych with "occasional" weekends. q7 short call (4-7) while at Westchester. This may switch to night float. Call PGY3 is 4 weeks night float at psych ER. No call PGY 4. Limited intramural research, but will allow you to work with anyone in the city and then "bring it back to Cornell". I got the impression that for people and projects that they liked, they would go to great lengths to make it work.
PGY 1: 6 month of medicine (3 at NYPH, 3 at Sloan Kettering), 1 month inpatient psych at NYPH, 1 month psych ER at NYPH, 3 months Geri psych at Westchester, 1 month 2nd chance unit at Westchester. Was told that this is likely to change in the near future.
PGY 2: 4 months consults (2-4 cases/day), 3 months inpatient psych, 2 months Westchester, 1 month elective, 1 month ER.
PGY 3: outpatient
PGY 4: 6 months of 50% outpatient, 50% unit chief duties. 6 months elective
4. Faculty: The PD and chair both were very nice, friendly people who seemed like they would be great resources for the residents. I responded very positively to 3 of the 4 interviewers.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc: The housing is apparently amazing, but I didn't get to see it. It is very close to the hospital and presumably affordable on a resident's salary. Of course, Westchester requires a bit of a commute.
6. Benefits: Can't remember.
7. Program strengths: Many, but not all, of the residents cited Cornell's strength in psychoanalysis as a major draw for them. "Small program" feel, even though it is not a particularly small program. NYC. Housing. Can do research with anyone in NYC.
8. Program weaknesses: There is a distinct culture to the program. I felt it most strongly from the residents, and less so from the PD. If it fits you, then I don't think this is a weakness, but if it doesn't then it might be. Someone once told me that there were "a lot of bow ties at MGH". I actually think this applies more to Cornell. Not a ton of research at Cornell, although there is some (BJ Casey, for example).