USF help please!!

oops, responded to the wrong thread.

Hi bailey

I interviewed at this program last month, and I also had an "odd" feeling about the program. I got there and there were 2 other applicants, there was no welcome/intro from the pd or assistant pd, and the pd came about an hour late to interview me. The questions he asked were quite inappropriate about my personal "love" life. THe assistant pd just stared at me and goes tell me something about urself, and when i did she goes, well i know that from your application, and she just stared at me.
The the interview at the VA was horrible, the lady goes you should have gone into dermatology bc I dont think you understand what forensics is, who taught u such words?
I was taken aback...I have had interviews at top top programs, and never been treated this way.


I interviewed with the chief resident who goes, I haven't had time to look at your application...
WE also had lunch with one other resident who BASED university of florida and university of miami THE WHOLE TIME....


I ranked this program last...

I found other programs kinder, warmer, and more open. I just got a horrible vibe from this program. i also have some friends that interviewed there and they had similar experiences...

so therefore, that's just my opinion...honestly the biggest turn off was when the lady suggested I should go into dermatology...

good luck to you on the match process!

I interviewed at USF too. Similar experience in that residents were not really around (albeit was around Christmas and so things were slow at office building). No biggie for me, but interview interactions with residents were mildly negative. Met 2 residents (chief + some senior), the PD, and a VA attending for interviews. Resident interviews were, well, a bit different and hard to describe. I felt they were asking me to sell myself with particulars of questions, which I was not thrilled about doing so overtly. They had not seen/looked over too much of my application, no curiousity about the larger "me"

PD great, gets it, seems practical, straight shooter. I like him.
VA attendings (sorry, met w/ 2), both very good, friendly, thoughtful. I like them too.

Shuttled around and given tours and lunch by/with just 1 resident. She was nice, open/honest, called it like it is. Some defensiveness re:UF, but healthy rivalry probably, and let's face it, it IS competition in recruitment I guess.

MY overall take away...I think very good program (really unopposed/only game in town), great city for many folks, but culturally less than ideal for ME, so it will be somewhere in the middle of my ROL. Tampa great, lot of people would love it there, but I will take Gainesville for size, personally. Too much VA work, other clinical experiences limited compared to UF. Residents seemed "immature/young" + mix of rushed/I got be somewhere, which appears to be the case at many bigger city programs, again not ideal for me. Hours seemed really good re: call, but enough from educational POV.


While we have this thread, can I enlarge the topic to include UF? plz. I really thought it was a VERY solid program in all the ways most people judge programs, and people/residents/staff overall seemed very happy there. Only negs for some are Gainesville/location, PD changes in recent history, some particular faculty personalities which I don't put too much weight on. However, one FL med student I met on the trails stated no one in his class wants to go to UF for reasons other than location - resident treated poorly, overworked, something along these lines. I didn't get any sense of that in my interactions at all, but a small part of me says "well, these students are from FL, probably have better inside info". Anticipate UF to be at the very top of my list. Please share your thoughts briefly. Thanks.

hey flash, I LOVED UF...great program, loved the assistant pd and the pd. They really make you feel so welcome in that program. The assistant pd seemed great, very much into teaching. I liked the fact that ALL THE RESIDENTS were there to meet us, even the ones that were not on the psychiatry service at the time.
Yes the downside it is gainseville, fl, but the program is great! it is definetly my TOP choice...
and honestly they way they treat you and feed you and recruit you...there's not comparison with USF...
yahhhhhhhhhhh gators!!!!

I find this all very odd. Before the entire interview process I went and checked out USF briefly and met with a resident. She seemed really friendly and did not make it seem like they were overworked and left me with a positive impression. I ended up not interviewing there because my wife ended not wanting to live in Tampa because there are not enough trees (go figure). From talking to a few current and previous med students there I got the impression they try to mainly recruit their own. I also heard that some of the attendings have very dry senses of humor and are eclectic (even for psych) If you ever check Scutwork.com (sorry SDN) they are some pretty strange/negative back and forth on there from a few years back from residents.

I interviewed at UF too and really had a good time during my interview. I felt that they spent the most time trying to make sure the applicants had a good time and were not overstressed. The only negative I could find about UF is the location in Gainesville. Glad to here others had the same impression I did.

Bump. Interested to hear more from anyone about this program and its particulars, as well as interview experiences.