post-interview impressions of programs

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Thanks. I am only a second year med student and Q3/Q4 has not really come up in the basic science curriculum.

I was actually just talking to a resident here at Wake and she was telling me that it is something like Q7/Q10 during your first year of residency here at Wake and it becomes less and less until fourth year when there is no call at all. She also said that the peds and internal medicine rotations that the psych residents do here are all outpatient. She made it sound like the residency here is really easy.
 
i61164 said:
Can someone explain exactly what is Q3 and Q4 call? Are there any other common call schedules? Should the amount of call be a big factor in how people rank programs?
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For better or worse I would consider the call schedule.

Some programs work the residents to the bone.

Some programs have their residents work light hours.

The most important thing to consider is will your program make you a good future psychiatric. Calls do help to train you, but after you've done them for about a year, the learning curve will plateau. Doing more calls 2nd & 3rd year in that same program IMHO won't make you much of a better doctor.

If you got a program that works you to the bone, I don't really think that extra work really makes a resident a better doctor.
 
Yale - I did Yale yesterday and loved it. The new program director is super nice and all of the faculty who interviewed me were friendly and interesting. The only bad part is that you take a fifty minute tour of the undergrad campus. It is interesting, but it was sooo COLD! You do four interviews in the morning and the rest of the day is lunch and tours. Seems like there is an emphasis on research, but still a lot of opportunity for psychotherapy. I really liked that there was a resident's association to be involved.

UCLA Kern - I think this will be a good program in ten years, but it is just too new. The residents vented about how things are always being changed because the program does not have structure. I was not verey impressed by their case conference. The one positive was that the faculty do seem interested in teaching and were very nice at the interviews.

SUNY Upstate - They were very disorganized on my interview day, but the faculty were very friendly and interesting. Residents seemed REALLY happy about the program at lunch and seemed like they spent time together outside of work. Program director seems very accomodating. You also meet with the chairman for one hour.
 
WashU- I really liked the evidence-based medicine philosophy of the program. As people have stated, there is a biological slant, but there is by no means an abandonment of psychotherapy. As the PD explained, there is a distinction between psychotherapy that deals with communication, interviewing skills, interpersonal skills, etc and psychotherapy a la Freud. I personally am not looking to become a psychoanalyst so their medical model of dealing with psychiatry does not bother me. They emphasize that they are training psychiatrists that can evolve as psychiatry evolves.

Personally, I am completely enamored by the structure of the curriculum. There are 2 months of selectives in the first year where you choose from ER, medicine, neurology or psychiatry. There is no OVERNIGHT call on the medicine months which I find very appealing. I do not feel that I would be missing out an an in-depth medicine experience. The call on other months is definitely manageable. The 2nd year has an ECT month and Chemical dependence months. Third and fourth year includes no weekend work. This allows for moonlighting opportunities within the system so you don't have to worry paying for your own insurance. Residents have been able to double their salaries.

There are many other great facets of the program. I realize at this point in the season I am probably preaching to the choir but I just wanted to comment on this.
 
sga430 said:
What was left out was the fact that Loma Linda is a Seventh Day Adventist town. There is no caffeine in the hospital.
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It's really not too bad, caffeine is scarce, but if you know where to find it, it is around, albeit usually in the form of instant coffee packets or tea-the patients can request it if they want. You are also free to bring in your own source of caffeine. Keep in mind that this is only LLU medical center, most of the other locations do not have adventist affiliation and therefore, all the caffeine your heart desires.😉

Oh, also, the program is not led by a father/daughter team, although both of them are really awesome to work with. (PD and chair)
 
as i have been reading a lot of reviews i thought it would be great to give back a l'il. as i have been to 38 interviews so far i will post mainly ones i haven't seen on here. bear in mind my reviews may be short as my memory is blurred with the other places.

thomas jeff is an great location in philly. it is a safe trendy somewhat expensive area. it is walkin distance to south street and old philly. however outside the 10 block area maybe not so nice. the proram is light on call to the point it is not an issue. only pgy-1 psych inpatient is somewhere between 4-6 a month. no night calls on medicine nor neuro. after that it is q15 or better. the program has a sleep clinic and a pain clinic. also there is come clinical research and teaching opportunities. it seems to cover psychotherapy well. the residents seemed nice and happy.

as i am an img who likes nyc and has peeps over there this had the added benefit of only being about 2 hours bus ride from philly (1.25 hours train/ 1.5 hours drive.) i can easily go to nyc 2 weekends a month.

pd seemed nice. the hospital facilities were excellent and 5 star. you do get diverse patient exposure.

if any1 else knows more of this program, please comment. i feel as an img this is an excellent program. it is much better than all those nyc sweatshops i have been to.
 
i agree with what is said about wash u. i recently talked to a psychologist who was trained there and she knows so much psychopharm. she had a few negative things to say but she trained there probably back in the '80s. she said it was way too research focused but i feel u would get great clinical training. they claim to be strong in CBT and other proven psychotherapies. they discourage long term psychotherapy cases. however u can pick up a psychologist as a supervisor and i am sure u will learn what u need. however if u want to open a psychotherapy practice they warned us not to go there. however these days it is difficult to do such and also if u really want to be a good psychoanalyst u should do one of those 3 or 5 year psychoanalytical fellowhsips. as an img it would be unwise for me to rank this outside my top 10. i also like the selectives offered. the ect facilities were amazing. they even had transcranial magnetic stimulation. for a research heavy program it struck me as friendly compared to the others i have heard about.

it is located in a nice part of st. louis. there r 1400 residents which i feel provides ample pool of fellow professionals for those who r single. the nightlife and restaurant scene seems decent in the area.

i also interviewed at SLU which is almost the opposite of Wash U.

tonyrob said:
WashU- I really liked the evidence-based medicine philosophy of the program. As people have stated, their is a biological slant, but there is by no means an abandonment of psychotherapy. As the PD explained, there is a distinction between psychotherapy that deals with commication, interviewing skills, interpersonal skills, etc and psychotherapy a la Freud. I personally am not looking to become a psychoanalyst so their medical model of dealing with psychiatry does not bother me. They emphasize that they are training psychiatrists that can evolve as psychiatry evolves.

Personally, I am completely enamored by the structure of the curriculum. There are 2 months of selectives in the first year where you choose from ER, medicine, neurology or psychiatry. There is no OVERNIGHT call on the medicine months which I find very appealing. I do not feel that I would be missing out an an in-depth medicine experience. The call on other months is definitely manageable. The 2nd year has an ECT month and Chemical dependence months. Third and fourth year includes no weekend work. This allows for moonlighting opportunities within the system so you don't have to worry paying for your own insurance. Residents have been able to double their salaries.

There are many other great facets of the program. I realize at this point in the season I am probably preaching to the choir but I just wanted to comment on this.
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Has anybody interviewed there or has any feedback on the program? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Iemanja said:
Has anybody interviewed there or has any feedback on the program? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
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it seems like a good program. however morgantown is too small for a single buck like me. however as small towns go, i think it is great and probably the 2nd best one i have seen on the trail in the south (behind chapel hill.) the residents seem happy and the atmosphere seems nice. cant remember much else since this will be in the bottom 20 of my list (i will be rankin 42) due to the small size of the town.
 
Iemanja said:
Has anybody interviewed there or has any feedback on the program? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
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sga is right. The residents seem happy and they have a very good pay and benefit package. The bigger question is whether you would fit in there, as this may not be a program for everyone.
 
Adam and SGA:

Thank you for your replies.

My next question is: Did you guys interview at Robert Wood Johnson in Piscataway? Which one(WVU or RWJ) did you think was better (not considering the cities)?

Thank you!
 
sga430 said:
it seems like a good program. however morgantown is too small for a single buck like me. however as small towns go, i think it is great and probably the 2nd best one i have seen on the trail in the south (behind chapel hill.) the residents seem happy and the atmosphere seems nice. cant remember much else since this will be in the bottom 20 of my list (i will be rankin 42) due to the small size of the town.
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Don't you think the Q4 (more like Q3) call at Chapel Hill detracts a little?
 
i61164 said:
Don't you think the Q4 (more like Q3) call at Chapel Hill detracts a little?
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so true. that is why i am rankin it lower. what a coincidence. i just filled out there questionaire and said the same thing. i prefer the call at thomas jefferosn philly or vegas. at unc they claim the call is for education which is true but i believe q7 should be ample.

of course when i was taking about chapel i was talkin about the town itself.
 
Yeah, when I interviewed at the med school there I loved the town. A single resident could find plenty of places to meet people there (once the call lightens up after intern year).
 
i have to say that town of chapel hill and surrounding carrboro are awesome and have something for everybody. they are active, lively, fun loving areas great for young people and affordable for residents and families. also, carrboro is kinda more hippy with a great coop and lots more woods to live in. apparently the research triangle has more md and phds than anywhere else in the country! now winston-salem on the other hand...
pm me if you want more info about NC...
 
Iemanja said:
Adam and SGA:

Thank you for your replies.

My next question is: Did you guys interview at Robert Wood Johnson in Piscataway? Which one(WVU or RWJ) did you think was better (not considering the cities)?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Of the two, I only interviewed at WVU.
 
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