2 part question

[TheCat]

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I just switched my mind recently from doing medicine to wanting to go into psych and i realized i have NO clue on what are some of the better west coast/arizona programs out there to apply to would be my first question.
Second I have a 218 on step 1 and a 235 on step 2 and wondering how compeitive this makes me for a good pysch program. I have an H in psych, all passes in other rotations. From and MD school top 50. No AOA, no research. Good lor.

THanks so much! Thecat

 

[willow212]

Hi TheCat,

In California, some of the good programs are UCSF, Stanford, UCLA, UCSD. I'm sure there are a lot more, but I am not familiar with all of them (and I'm not familiar at all with Arizona or other West Coast programs). If you ask the psych program director at your school, he/she could help give you a better feel of which programs to apply to.

Here's a link I found by searching that has some comparisons of Southern Cali programs:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=254113

As far as your competitiveness, it's hard to know that for anyone unless someone is reviewing the specific details of your application, but your USMLE scores are good. Perhaps the most important thing is to get good psych LORs. If you haven't already, consider doing at least one additional psych elective, perhaps at a program that you are interested in.

Best of luck!

 

[needinformation]

I think the 'right' program can be very different for each one of us, just because we all want different things. No idea what is going on in Arizona. As for California, you will need to figure out if you want to pursue academics or community psychiatry, if you want a big program (such as UCSF), or a small program (such as CPMC or San Mateo), if you want more psychopharm (such as Stanford), or more psychodynamic, or both. You will have to decide how much you are willing to spend for living expenses (SF Bay Area is $$!), and UC Davis would be more affordable, for example. You might want to see if a program takes a lot of international grads or not, the ones that don't tend to be more selective.

 

[felicity]

I heard from my advisor that the U of Arizona has an excellent program. They are in Tucson. I didnt end up going to the interview only because it was far, far from my home in North Carolina, but I read their stuff and they looked great. Their residents looked to be a diverse and interesting group from their web site. They have a large-ish program if I remember correctly. Best of luck.
felicity

 

[Doc Samson]

I heard from my advisor that the U of Arizona has an excellent program. They are in Tucson. I didnt end up going to the interview only because it was far, far from my home in North Carolina, but I read their stuff and they looked great. Their residents looked to be a diverse and interesting group from their web site. They have a large-ish program if I remember correctly. Best of luck.
felicity

From what I know of U of A, I believe it's quite good. Lots of former Harvard faculty who couldn't stand the cold anymore.

 

[TheCat]

Thanks guys! that is encouraging-I live by U of Az and go to med there-id love to go there.