Picking schools- But not the typical northern ones

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Rhayven44

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Looking for schools with good reputations, but not in areas that cost an arm, leg, spleen, and pancreas to afford a house there (NY, Cali, etc....and I said house, not apartment). I prefer southern schools, mainly for the weather, but if there are exceptional schools (like some on my list), I am not averse to going up north. It just seems that most of the "great" schools people are listing on here are all in places that have absurd costs of living. I'm not especially research minded, more want a good name school, great clinical training, but still have a balance to not come home and kick the dog.

Here is what I got so far, let me know what you think of what's here and what might be added under the above criteria:

University of Arkansas
Georgetown (I know, big cost of living...one my few)
University of Kentucky
University of Louisville
Tulane
Baylor
UT San Antonio
UT Southwestern
Duke

Thanks for any advice you guys can give...long term lurker hoping to get some of that magic wisdom I keep reading for others🙂
 
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Rhayven44 said:
Looking for schools with good reputations, but not in areas that cost an arm, leg, spleen, and pancreas to afford a house there (NY, Cali, etc....and I said house, not apartment). I prefer southern schools, mainly for the weather, but if there are exceptional schools (like some on my list), I am not averse to going up north. It just seems that most of the "great" schools people are listing on here are all in places that have absurd costs of living. I'm not especially research minded, more want a good name school, great clinical training, but still have a balance to not come home and kick the dog.
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You might look into Emory and UNC.

-AT.
 
Rhayven44 said:
...Looking for schools with good reputations, but not in areas that cost an arm, leg, spleen, and pancreas to afford a house there (NY, Cali, etc....and I said house, not apartment). I prefer southern schools, mainly for the weather, but if there are exceptional schools (like some on my list), I am not averse to going up north. It just seems that most of the "great" schools people are listing on here are all in places that have absurd costs of living. I'm not especially research minded, more want a good name school, great clinical training, but still have a balance to not come home and kick the dog.
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St. Louis has a lower cost of living, and two very good programs--Wash U is highly regarded and St. Louis U is also good.
If you like small towns (like Rochester MN=Mayo), you might look at U of Iowa as well. And if you're not afraid of a little snow a couple of months a year, look at U Wisc--Madison, or either of the Minneapolis programs--U of MN or Hennepin. (Think global warming--when Florida's underwater, we'll be closer to the beach! :laugh:)

What all of these places have in common is a decent lifestyle, low to moderate cost of living, and high quality of life.

Thank you for including "Flyover Land" in your residency search.

Also--UAB--Birmingham, AL is an up-and-comer
 
Check these out:

-All AZ programs, especially U of A.
-Univ of S Carolina/PH
-MUSC - but it costs too much compared to USC.

Emory= longer hours than what you are describing. And "inside perimeter" housing, including Decatur, was still quite steep (to purchase) when I decided to rank them low last year. You might investigate that further though, if you want a big city.
 
Emory--is on the forefront on psyche research in several areas including interferon induced depression & PTSD. Its head--Nemeroff is highly respected.

Don't know how the residency actually holds up. There is of course a difference between how good a residency program is vs the research being done there, but I'd bet its at least very good.
 
Just curious, anybody knows about Psych residency at Miami? strengths and weaknessess, reputation? Appreciate your comments. Saw it missing from the good schools in the South in this post.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone! I definitely checked out some schools online yesterday I hadn't thought of before because of your suggestions.

Hippo, I haven't heard great things about Miami, but the main reason its not on my list is because I personally dislike the city. Been through there a couple of times, never really did it for me.

Speaking of Florida schools, does anyone have any opinions on UF or USF? I know UF had some issues with the match 2 years ago and that they got a new PD, but I haven't heard much about it since then. I hardly ever hear anything about USF, so I am very curious if anyone has some thoughts on it.
 
Rhayven44 said:
Thanks for the responses everyone! I definitely checked out some schools online yesterday I hadn't thought of before because of your suggestions.

Hippo, I haven't heard great things about Miami, but the main reason its not on my list is because I personally dislike the city. Been through there a couple of times, never really did it for me.

Speaking of Florida schools, does anyone have any opinions on UF or USF? I know UF had some issues with the match 2 years ago and that they got a new PD, but I haven't heard much about it since then. I hardly ever hear anything about USF, so I am very curious if anyone has some thoughts on it.
Click to expand...

I know the PD at USF personally and the chair professionally - both excellent. I have no idea about the program as a whole though.
 
From what I heard about the match disaster at USF two years ago- it was a clerical mistake, at least that is what the word was, nothing to do with the program or its quality.

I want to live in the Miami area, hence considering Miami PSYCH, but wonder if anybody has some information about strengths/weaknessess.
 
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Hippocampus2000 said:
From what I heard about the match disaster at USF two years ago- it was a clerical mistake, at least that is what the word was, nothing to do with the program or its quality.

I want to live in the Miami area, hence considering Miami PSYCH, but wonder if anybody has some information about strengths/weaknessess.
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Unless I didn't hear about a separate clerical-error-induced match disaster in the state of Florida, that was UF not USF.
 
For cost of living, weather and lifestyle Wake Forest has a lot going for it. A nice house can be had for 120K. No traffic. No inpatient medicine or neuro. Basically very chill.
 
BobA said:
For cost of living, weather and lifestyle Wake Forest has a lot going for it. A nice house can be had for 120K. No traffic. No inpatient medicine or neuro. Basically very chill.
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I don't like that one bit🙁. It may be a good idea go with outpatient neuro, I think some exposure to inpatient medicine is very important for psychiatry training.
 
TheWowEffect said:
I don't like that one bit🙁. It may be a good idea go with outpatient neuro, I think some exposure to inpatient medicine is very important for psychiatry training.
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That may be true, but I was just responding to the OP's question about places in the South that don't want to make you go home and kick the dog. Perhaps the importance of inpatient training would be better discussed in another thread. In any event, Wake Forest's a great teaching hospital.
 
Unless I'm missing something, my home program of Vanderbilt is worth throwing out there. I will refrain from offering my opinions because I'm obviously biased, but give it a look.
 
I think some exposure to inpatient medicine is very important for psychiatry training.
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Very important! especially in the field of Consult-Liason Psychiatry or inpatient psychiatry (where a medical problem can pop up & you better be able to spot them).

Very chill of course is good, but you do need some challenges as a resident to make you learn. Getting difficult patients & situations as a resident, with senior residents & attendings supporting you will greatly facilitate your training.

You want a program that'll give you challenges, the support you need to tackle them correctly that'll also allow you room to breathe.
 
USF has so few positions and usually takes its own students. They have a high number of students that want to go Psych.
 
bama said:
Unless I'm missing something, my home program of Vanderbilt is worth throwing out there. I will refrain from offering my opinions because I'm obviously biased, but give it a look.
Click to expand...

Could you give us some info on Vandy?
 
bama said:
Unless I'm missing something, my home program of Vanderbilt is worth throwing out there. I will refrain from offering my opinions because I'm obviously biased, but give it a look.
Click to expand...

We take all opinions in this thread, biased or no🙂
 
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Does anyone have any specific thoughts on Louisville?
 
TheWowEffect said:
I don't like that one bit🙁. It may be a good idea go with outpatient neuro, I think some exposure to inpatient medicine is very important for psychiatry training.
Click to expand...

Agree👍. If the OP does end up at that program, I would recommend that he volunteer to do inpatient medicine months instead of outpt, I'm pretty sure that he won't be turned away.
 
In defense of the training at Wake- they spend most of their call hours on consults. I thought it was an impressive program overall. That said, I ranked a place with 2 months inpatient medicine as a requirement ( Q4 overnight call). I'll be thrilled when it's over, but I am learning tons.

Vandy was also impressive, almost placed them at the top. They seem have pretty long hours however. Everything on the computer all the time- nice.
 
Vandy is a lesser known program at a major research institiution, but no specific push for research careers here, unless you are interested, and in that case they will do everything to help. They take about 8 interns a year and we have a free standing Pysch Hospital that is on the Hospital Grounds, we have a C/A program that a lot of our Residents transition into after there 3rd year, and a new C/L Fellowship that started this year. We do our 3 months of Medicine at the VA, which is connected to the Main hospital, and if interested in C/A, they have been flexible in the past about allowing folks to do Pediatrics months instead. We otherwise do 2 of Neuro (1 inpatient/1 Outpatient) and 1 ER month. Its in an area of Nashville that can be relatively expensive to purchase a home, but most folks live within 15 minutes of the hospital within Nashville in areas where owning a home is definitely an option.
Now that is the official run down, the most important thing is that the Residents are happy and the Attendings are great to work with and available for any help that you may need. As a resident, i feel well supported in any aspirations that I may have, as they have been encouraging every step of the way and provided me with any resources that I have needed. I love the Big-Little City Feel of Nashville, and you definitely know you are in the South, which I personally appreciate.
Hope thats a good enough quick synopsis. The best advice I would give to the upcoming applicants is to be open minded and choose a program that fits your needs. There are a lot of Great Programs out there and that I interviewed at, and some of the ones with big names weren't neccesarily that Great to me compared to some smaller and lesser known programs. Hope this helps and Good Luck!!!
 
bama said:
Vandy is a lesser known program at a major research institiution, but no specific push for research careers here, unless you are interested, and in that case they will do everything to help. They take about 8 interns a year and we have a free standing Pysch Hospital that is on the Hospital Grounds, we have a C/A program that a lot of our Residents transition into after there 3rd year, and a new C/L Fellowship that started this year. We do our 3 months of Medicine at the VA, which is connected to the Main hospital, and if interested in C/A, they have been flexible in the past about allowing folks to do Pediatrics months instead. We otherwise do 2 of Neuro (1 inpatient/1 Outpatient) and 1 ER month. Its in an area of Nashville that can be relatively expensive to purchase a home, but most folks live within 15 minutes of the hospital within Nashville in areas where owning a home is definitely an option.
Now that is the official run down, the most important thing is that the Residents are happy and the Attendings are great to work with and available for any help that you may need. As a resident, i feel well supported in any aspirations that I may have, as they have been encouraging every step of the way and provided me with any resources that I have needed. I love the Big-Little City Feel of Nashville, and you definitely know you are in the South, which I personally appreciate.
Hope thats a good enough quick synopsis. The best advice I would give to the upcoming applicants is to be open minded and choose a program that fits your needs. There are a lot of Great Programs out there and that I interviewed at, and some of the ones with big names weren't neccesarily that Great to me compared to some smaller and lesser known programs. Hope this helps and Good Luck!!!
Click to expand...

Plus the CL fellowship is run by one of the coolest attendings south of the Mason-Dixon line (although, Bama, if you tell her I said so I will deny it).
 
Yes, I thought the residents there, as a whole, were quite fun, and approachable. I loved my interview experience too. It was one of the best on my list. 👍
 
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