I think your point speaks to a more general inconsistency in the stance of those who purport to value diversity. UCSF's residency programs have much the same approach to filling their residency classes: they are looking for a certain type of diversity, but only as long as the group is homogeneous in its diversity (e.g., evangelical Christians and economic/policy libertarians need not apply).
I think your point speaks to a more general inconsistency in the stance of those who purport to value diversity. UCSF's residency programs have much the same approach to filling their residency classes: they are looking for a certain type of diversity, but only as long as the group is homogeneous in its diversity (e.g., evangelical Christians and economic/policy libertarians need not apply).
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You say this based on what? I know residents at UCSF and it's a more diverse bunch than most residencies I've seen. They have at least one resident in the military, which you can't say about most psych programs and I doubt the military falls into the "certain type of diversity" you're alluding to.
San Francisco (as a city, not a school or program) is an extremely liberal place. It has wonderful racial and ethnic diversity, but not a lot of political diversity. There's a valid reason for why the town is the typically used punchline for right wing tirades.
If you feel like UCSF's residency skews to the left, it's likely because the town self-selects. You likely don't get a lot of right wing evangelical Christians at UCSF for the same reason you likely don't get a lot of left wing open homosexual pagans at Ole Miss. Few people would want to do that to themselves.
have a few reviews to post of nyc/philly programs...
AECOM- MONTEFIORE
Accommodations/food – great breakfast, lunch. Day ended early around 3pm.
Interview day
Started at 9am with breakfast with the chief resident. Then you meet with all of the big name psychoanalytic program directors – here the directors and chair are "big-name" analysts in the city, very warm and friendly people who believe strongly in solid psychotherapy training and seem to have a strong commitment to your growth and development as a "person". Big-time experts in their areas-Dr. Karasu wrote the chapter on psychotherapy in the Kaplan and Sadock and buckley also wrote a lot of books. At noon you have a lunch with the residents - ~everybody was enthusiastic and emphasized how "happy" people in the program were. They seemed like a smart, friendly, interactive group with a lot of talents and outside interests but also hardworking and really passionate about psychiatry, and they loved the program - some said they were sad they were graduating and leaving their awesome peer group and program! some staying on as attendings.
Program details
I was surprised by how much I loved this program! It seems to combine the best of both worlds – the warmth and friendliness of a small close-knit program with a major "academic feel"– they have a lot of research going on, all of the ACGME fellowships as well as the only child CL fellowship in the country. Graduates were said to go onto do anything, including academics, or private practices in the city (they have a nice insurance plan that will refer to graduates), or fellowships at Columbia or any of the big name programs in the city as well as some people choosing to stay at Montefiore. The psychiatry department is really strong in psychodynamic and CBT training, and the message I got was that psychotherapy is really valued. The psychiatry department is also pretty wealthy. well-connected, and there is a huge focus on learning and less focus on service. Residents seemed very intelligent, well-spoken, but also down-to-earth and super friendly. emphasized how much they love the Thursday didactics day– no clinical obligations on Thursdays and can spend the whole day learning and socializing with their classmates. Program encourages research and teaching but don't require it – however many of the residents said they did research and traveled to national conferences. . They bring in world-renowned faculty such as Otto Kernberg to give regular monthly lecturer throughout the training years, and the program directors also run a nationally renowned national psychiatry board review course.
Workload
Seems to be really good - they get fewer patients throughout the years and get more time to "think" about the cases which they emphasized helped their learning and growth as psychiatrists.
Rotations
accessible by all trains, 4/6/D….the 6 month long-term psychotherapy setting second year is also accessible by public transportation, however some residents do have cars and said it could be helpful to have a car or carpool buddy. But there is a shuttle that goes back and forth if you don't have a car, and is accessible by the 6 train i think. other than those 6 months, all of the rotations and didactics are at Montefiore so there's not much travelling in this program to different sites. The hospital complex is extensive and serves pretty much every socioeconomic and cultural group. This was mentioned as a strength, the diversity and mix of populations you see (also see Einstein medical students in the outpatient year).
Didactics
All day lecture day on Thursdays with no clinical responsibilities, all four years. starts 9am out between3pm-5pm.
Therapy training
Begins in PGY2 year at 6 month Bronx psych rotation where you do long-term psychotherapy with chronically mentally ill patients (about 4-6 patients), as well as third year when you have up to 8 supervisors in everything-CBT, psychopharm to group and psychodynamic,etc
Moonlighting
4th year is either a chief year (they have a lot of chief residents for a lot of their services, so many of the fourth years do chiefs) or all electives, so you have tons of time to moonlight. can also do month long away electives in switzerland or uganda.
Fellowships
Program has all the ACGME fellowships and also the only Child CL fellowship in the country.
Faculty
World –renowned analysts, like karasu, Otto Kernberg, and also researchers in various fields like Eric Hollander in the area of autism spectrum….the department chair, Dr. Karasu definitely wowed me in selling the program as one focused on "cultivating" the individual and learning.
Benefits and lifestyle
Good salary especially for the workload and call schedule (amazing call schedules– 1st year -no overnights, 3-4 shifts end at 10:30pm; 2nd yr: 3 overnights/ month 3rd yr: 1 overnight/ month 4th year: NONE) Access to ridiculously cheap housing (some said they paid 350 or 650 a month!) if you want to live in the area, or you can also live in Manhattan and commute about 35-55 min depending on where you decide to live. Many of the residents live in the city and commute, or in other areas like NJ, Westchester, Brooklyn. Can have parking on site which is only like 70 a month. The meal cards of $15/day all 7 days a week add up to like 5000 a year. Also, 90% of the fourth years elect to do some chief resident position on various services, which comes with a chief salary so you'll be making $4000 more as chief, close to 70,000 by fourth year. montefiore's benefits are also amazing, free health care basically for you and family at anywhere in monte, and free prescription drugs if you get at their pharmacy.
Overall strengths
-Diverse and well-accomplished faculty
-cohesive hardworking but well-rounded "happy" group of residents who seem to hang out a lot outside the hospital
-great call schedule
-good salary and meal cards 7 days a week – you never have to pay for a single meal here! (get $15 a day)
-Department chair seems to be great at bringing in money, the psych deptmt also has a lot of clout in the hospital
-All the fellowships, and the only child CL fellowship in the country
-easily accessible to Manhattan
-Strong research and education training
-Flexible options for away electives - can go to Switzerland or Uganda fourth year
Overall weaknesses
The Bronx location if you want to be in the heart of the city–but very accessible to manhattan by subway and lots of residents said they lived in the city and commuted, and those who lived in the cheap housing across the street could afford to go to the city by cab and go out all the time in the city. facilities are a little "worn". not a lot of bars or fun hang-outs immediately around the hospital.
AECOM- MONTEFIORE
Accommodations/food – great breakfast, lunch. Day ended early around 3pm.
Interview day
Started at 9am with breakfast with the chief resident. Then you meet with all of the big name psychoanalytic program directors – here the directors and chair are "big-name" analysts in the city, very warm and friendly people who believe strongly in solid psychotherapy training and seem to have a strong commitment to your growth and development as a "person". Big-time experts in their areas-Dr. Karasu wrote the chapter on psychotherapy in the Kaplan and Sadock and buckley also wrote a lot of books. At noon you have a lunch with the residents - ~everybody was enthusiastic and emphasized how "happy" people in the program were. They seemed like a smart, friendly, interactive group with a lot of talents and outside interests but also hardworking and really passionate about psychiatry, and they loved the program - some said they were sad they were graduating and leaving their awesome peer group and program! some staying on as attendings.
Program details
I was surprised by how much I loved this program! It seems to combine the best of both worlds – the warmth and friendliness of a small close-knit program with a major "academic feel"– they have a lot of research going on, all of the ACGME fellowships as well as the only child CL fellowship in the country. Graduates were said to go onto do anything, including academics, or private practices in the city (they have a nice insurance plan that will refer to graduates), or fellowships at Columbia or any of the big name programs in the city as well as some people choosing to stay at Montefiore. The psychiatry department is really strong in psychodynamic and CBT training, and the message I got was that psychotherapy is really valued. The psychiatry department is also pretty wealthy. well-connected, and there is a huge focus on learning and less focus on service. Residents seemed very intelligent, well-spoken, but also down-to-earth and super friendly. emphasized how much they love the Thursday didactics day– no clinical obligations on Thursdays and can spend the whole day learning and socializing with their classmates. Program encourages research and teaching but don't require it – however many of the residents said they did research and traveled to national conferences. . They bring in world-renowned faculty such as Otto Kernberg to give regular monthly lecturer throughout the training years, and the program directors also run a nationally renowned national psychiatry board review course.
Workload
Seems to be really good - they get fewer patients throughout the years and get more time to "think" about the cases which they emphasized helped their learning and growth as psychiatrists.
Rotations
accessible by all trains, 4/6/D….the 6 month long-term psychotherapy setting second year is also accessible by public transportation, however some residents do have cars and said it could be helpful to have a car or carpool buddy. But there is a shuttle that goes back and forth if you don't have a car, and is accessible by the 6 train i think. other than those 6 months, all of the rotations and didactics are at Montefiore so there's not much travelling in this program to different sites. The hospital complex is extensive and serves pretty much every socioeconomic and cultural group. This was mentioned as a strength, the diversity and mix of populations you see (also see Einstein medical students in the outpatient year).
Didactics
All day lecture day on Thursdays with no clinical responsibilities, all four years. starts 9am out between3pm-5pm.
Therapy training
Begins in PGY2 year at 6 month Bronx psych rotation where you do long-term psychotherapy with chronically mentally ill patients (about 4-6 patients), as well as third year when you have up to 8 supervisors in everything-CBT, psychopharm to group and psychodynamic,etc
Moonlighting
4th year is either a chief year (they have a lot of chief residents for a lot of their services, so many of the fourth years do chiefs) or all electives, so you have tons of time to moonlight. can also do month long away electives in switzerland or uganda.
Fellowships
Program has all the ACGME fellowships and also the only Child CL fellowship in the country.
Faculty
World –renowned analysts, like karasu, Otto Kernberg, and also researchers in various fields like Eric Hollander in the area of autism spectrum….the department chair, Dr. Karasu definitely wowed me in selling the program as one focused on "cultivating" the individual and learning.
Benefits and lifestyle
Good salary especially for the workload and call schedule (amazing call schedules– 1st year -no overnights, 3-4 shifts end at 10:30pm; 2nd yr: 3 overnights/ month 3rd yr: 1 overnight/ month 4th year: NONE) Access to ridiculously cheap housing (some said they paid 350 or 650 a month!) if you want to live in the area, or you can also live in Manhattan and commute about 35-55 min depending on where you decide to live. Many of the residents live in the city and commute, or in other areas like NJ, Westchester, Brooklyn. Can have parking on site which is only like 70 a month. The meal cards of $15/day all 7 days a week add up to like 5000 a year. Also, 90% of the fourth years elect to do some chief resident position on various services, which comes with a chief salary so you'll be making $4000 more as chief, close to 70,000 by fourth year. montefiore's benefits are also amazing, free health care basically for you and family at anywhere in monte, and free prescription drugs if you get at their pharmacy.
Overall strengths
-Diverse and well-accomplished faculty
-cohesive hardworking but well-rounded "happy" group of residents who seem to hang out a lot outside the hospital
-great call schedule
-good salary and meal cards 7 days a week – you never have to pay for a single meal here! (get $15 a day)
-Department chair seems to be great at bringing in money, the psych deptmt also has a lot of clout in the hospital
-All the fellowships, and the only child CL fellowship in the country
-easily accessible to Manhattan
-Strong research and education training
-Flexible options for away electives - can go to Switzerland or Uganda fourth year
Overall weaknesses
The Bronx location if you want to be in the heart of the city–but very accessible to manhattan by subway and lots of residents said they lived in the city and commuted, and those who lived in the cheap housing across the street could afford to go to the city by cab and go out all the time in the city. facilities are a little "worn". not a lot of bars or fun hang-outs immediately around the hospital.
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Did anyone else get strange vibes from Hopkins and Columbia? The hierarchy of resident- faculty relationship seemed a little stronger at Hopkins while at Columbia there were one or two residents who seemed to have a more than healthy of ego. I qualify this as saying these were very subtle, and apparent only against a backdrop of a genuinely warm culture in psychiatry and friendly psychiatrists.
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Accommodations & Food:
Resident dinner, breakfast, lunch with residents/attendings
Interview Day:
1 chief resident interview, PD interview, 2 faculty interview, tour of all 3 sites (VA, Harborview, UW, optional Seattle Children's tour)
Program Overview:
University of Washington is a superb program with all its bases covered for what you want in residency training- university, public and VA clinical sites, community service ethos, strong research overall, including notable strengths in health service research policy and minority mental health. The final big draw is location: Seattle though rainy is beautiful- its like a city within a rainforest.
What is most unique about the program is that it is the only psychiatry department and residency training program in the WWAMI region, so it not only covers all of Washington State but 4 other states. You can really feel that the program is designed to service its community population- from its clinical programs that are progressive and evidence-based, to its research that is practical. For example, its a pioneer in the dissemination of evidence-based practice collaborative primary care management of mental illness. This is no ivory tower program- people here wear many practical hats and may be leaders in their respective fields, but they don't seem to have that more than healthy ego shared by other top research programs, as their minds seem to also be focused on where their hearts are- on the community. In other words, folks are down to earth.
This sentiment crystallized with me during an interview with a chief at Harborview. As we chatted about public psychiatry and working with the homeless and psychotic folks, I think I connected with the resident like I hadn't before- feelings of sadness for severely ill patients, but also hope and optimism and a motivation help them. Really somewhat of a gem of a program- moving to Pacific Northwest or even making the trek to interview may be a deterrent for many applicants, so I feel it is a top 10 program that may not attract top 10 applicants.
Location & Lifestyle:
Seattle. Very outdoorsy, enough of a city for arts and culture. Its clinical sites necessitate driving, which is a drawback as parking is apparently not the easiest.
Strengths: Clinical training, diverse sites. Strong clinical services and policy research. Strong residents from the ones I met. Down to earth faculty. DBT is everywhere. Awesome PD Dr. Cowley. Beautiful outdoorsy city.
Weaknesses: Probably less psychodynamic psychotherapy. Less robust child psychiatry research compared to MGH/Yale/NYU, and historically known to be somewhat scut-heavy in the child program. I think this latter point reflects the uncertainty in how much depth they have in strong faculty clinical supervision, given that it is the only training program the region, but this is more of a question mark than a statement. Seattle is always cloudy and rainy during winter months.
Resident dinner, breakfast, lunch with residents/attendings
Interview Day:
1 chief resident interview, PD interview, 2 faculty interview, tour of all 3 sites (VA, Harborview, UW, optional Seattle Children's tour)
Program Overview:
University of Washington is a superb program with all its bases covered for what you want in residency training- university, public and VA clinical sites, community service ethos, strong research overall, including notable strengths in health service research policy and minority mental health. The final big draw is location: Seattle though rainy is beautiful- its like a city within a rainforest.
What is most unique about the program is that it is the only psychiatry department and residency training program in the WWAMI region, so it not only covers all of Washington State but 4 other states. You can really feel that the program is designed to service its community population- from its clinical programs that are progressive and evidence-based, to its research that is practical. For example, its a pioneer in the dissemination of evidence-based practice collaborative primary care management of mental illness. This is no ivory tower program- people here wear many practical hats and may be leaders in their respective fields, but they don't seem to have that more than healthy ego shared by other top research programs, as their minds seem to also be focused on where their hearts are- on the community. In other words, folks are down to earth.
This sentiment crystallized with me during an interview with a chief at Harborview. As we chatted about public psychiatry and working with the homeless and psychotic folks, I think I connected with the resident like I hadn't before- feelings of sadness for severely ill patients, but also hope and optimism and a motivation help them. Really somewhat of a gem of a program- moving to Pacific Northwest or even making the trek to interview may be a deterrent for many applicants, so I feel it is a top 10 program that may not attract top 10 applicants.
Location & Lifestyle:
Seattle. Very outdoorsy, enough of a city for arts and culture. Its clinical sites necessitate driving, which is a drawback as parking is apparently not the easiest.
Strengths: Clinical training, diverse sites. Strong clinical services and policy research. Strong residents from the ones I met. Down to earth faculty. DBT is everywhere. Awesome PD Dr. Cowley. Beautiful outdoorsy city.
Weaknesses: Probably less psychodynamic psychotherapy. Less robust child psychiatry research compared to MGH/Yale/NYU, and historically known to be somewhat scut-heavy in the child program. I think this latter point reflects the uncertainty in how much depth they have in strong faculty clinical supervision, given that it is the only training program the region, but this is more of a question mark than a statement. Seattle is always cloudy and rainy during winter months.
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Umm, there's a pretty big psychiatry program just 170 miles south of UW, so they're not the only training program in region in either adult or child psychiatry. You make it sound like there's nothing between UW and California. I'm also not sure that most people view moving to the Pacific Northwest as a downside, although it is certainly not the Northeast.
wow, that's insane.....I would have never guessed it is that high. Where does one find such information?
I did not interview at washington or oregon and the thought never really entered my mind.
yeah I'd be curious to know as well....because just off the top of my head(in the maybe 80 psych residents I either have known, know, whatever) less than a third, maybe less than a fourth, applied to UW
As long as the topic of UW is being discussed, let me add one quick question. I've seen older posts on SDN with references to UW being a "workhorse" of a program; I'm not sure what that means. I didn't get the impression from the website or the residents that their program is more demanding than others, but maybe I'm missing something. I will say that when I interviewed I was a bit overwhelmed with the size of Seattle, the traffic, the difficulty with parking, etc. Could somebody elaborate on UW's reputation as being one of the more challenging psych programs and why? I would certainly appreciate it.
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Accommodations & Food:
Drinks and snacks night before at resident's home, breakfast orientation, lunch at nice restaurant with residents.
Interview Day:
Interview with 3 faculty (NYU, Bellevue, VA each), tour of Bellevue and NYU (parts closed at that time but now almost all back up except VA Manhattan),
Program Overview:
In some ways this is the most polarizing program- it has so many tremendous strengths but also has some concerns. So the concerns. Despite the uncertainty of Sandy aftermath, the potential chaotic environment of all the heavy clinical services, the recent change of program leadership back to only one PD (after PD and APD left), I am still still ranking it among the top of the programs because of it has so much to offer. Indeed, it seems like there resident match list is top tier, regularly drawing top candidates from competing NY medical schools (who probably know the program well) as well as nationwide.
Strengths- Bellevue. 300+ psychiatric beds, with two forensic units, the largest CPEP, specialized ethnic minority patient units, public psychiatry at its best, a school within the hospital(?), and patients from all over the world that are transferred there from JFK as well as all the crazies in Lower Manhattan. Supposedly the best teaching cases from all these are distilled into the teaching ward, where residents spend the bulk of their time. You also get the cushy Tisch NYU Langone to complement the public psychiatry, as well as VA Manhattan which reputedly has the best VA teaching faculty in NYC. Throw in the NYU undergrad clinic. You will see the craziest of the craziest, sickest of the sickest, and strangest cases. You will see a whole lot of everything else.
The drawback of all this is that you are gonna be working your butt off, including during those dreaded medicine months in NYC where nursing and supportive staff (unionized) are really really bad.
But as a result of the reputation, it seems that the residents that end up there are down to get dirty. They are the "cool group in NYC", and you can see why, with their surgeon personalities and let's just do it ethos. They are also eerily good-looking, confident and charming, anyone else notice? This is in comparison cocky in a Columbia type of way, or thoughtful and quirky in the Sinai kind of way, or intellectual in a Cornell kind of way, but now I am totally generalizing and stereotyping. But overall, I actually thought NYU residents were kind of too cool for me, as I see myself fitting more comfortably at Sinai a bit more. I digress.
I have to be honest. I actually had all this high expectation of ranking NYU first based on what I heard and what I thought I wanted in a residency. After interviews, it dropped on my list tremendously because I just thought I would totally burn out, it lacked the nerdy culture I think is important in psychiatry, and I thought the system was just too overwhelming (Sandy, busy service, lower east side manhattan at its finest).
I decided to do a second look because my impression was just so disonnant with my expectations, and met with research mentors as part of a commitment to the research track. The track gives a little more protected time to geek out and build an academic career, but it is given a lot of attention because chairman Dr. Marmar is taking it personally to transform the department into a research powerhouse. If you just look at their recruitment in trauma researchers, it is bar none, and it has great neuroscience researchers with additional support of the NKI. It is definitely a large research powerhouse that is continuing to grow, despite the loss of a lot of child psych researchers to the CHild Mind Institute, and is likely not given the kudos it deserves as it doesn't have the academic reputation name of Columbia or Harvard backing the department, and a tradition of the residency to be more clinical than research. But that tradition is changing, just ask the graduating resident research trackers who are not pursuing research fellowships.
Overall, this is a program with endless opportunities to offer clinically, academically, but with some degree of risk for burnout given how big and busy it is. If you have a let's do it personality, it is the perfect program for you. Not for the faint-hearted.
Location & Lifestyle:
Lower East side. Awesome location if you wanna party NYC every night. Housing may be a little tougher, but apparently there is subsidized housing but it seems less guaranteed than Sinai.
Strengths: Clinical rigor.. All 3 systems- VA, Langone, Bellevue. Bellevue= amazing. Strong researchers, as a growing focus. Awesome fun cool residents. Huge system with people in every specialty. Public psychiatry. Forensics psychiatry. Trauma research. Neuroscience research.
Weaknesses: They only have one PD, for one of the biggest programs in the country. Carol Bernstein is amazing, but I think they really need an APD who will likely be recruited soon. Strong psychotherapy given NYC, but probably just a shade less than Sinai and Cornell at least by reputation. Potentially overwhelming and chaotic= risk of burnout? Post-Sandy so some current additional unknowns. Unionized nursing and supportive staff, but probably similar at Cornell and Columbia.
Drinks and snacks night before at resident's home, breakfast orientation, lunch at nice restaurant with residents.
Interview Day:
Interview with 3 faculty (NYU, Bellevue, VA each), tour of Bellevue and NYU (parts closed at that time but now almost all back up except VA Manhattan),
Program Overview:
In some ways this is the most polarizing program- it has so many tremendous strengths but also has some concerns. So the concerns. Despite the uncertainty of Sandy aftermath, the potential chaotic environment of all the heavy clinical services, the recent change of program leadership back to only one PD (after PD and APD left), I am still still ranking it among the top of the programs because of it has so much to offer. Indeed, it seems like there resident match list is top tier, regularly drawing top candidates from competing NY medical schools (who probably know the program well) as well as nationwide.
Strengths- Bellevue. 300+ psychiatric beds, with two forensic units, the largest CPEP, specialized ethnic minority patient units, public psychiatry at its best, a school within the hospital(?), and patients from all over the world that are transferred there from JFK as well as all the crazies in Lower Manhattan. Supposedly the best teaching cases from all these are distilled into the teaching ward, where residents spend the bulk of their time. You also get the cushy Tisch NYU Langone to complement the public psychiatry, as well as VA Manhattan which reputedly has the best VA teaching faculty in NYC. Throw in the NYU undergrad clinic. You will see the craziest of the craziest, sickest of the sickest, and strangest cases. You will see a whole lot of everything else.
The drawback of all this is that you are gonna be working your butt off, including during those dreaded medicine months in NYC where nursing and supportive staff (unionized) are really really bad.
But as a result of the reputation, it seems that the residents that end up there are down to get dirty. They are the "cool group in NYC", and you can see why, with their surgeon personalities and let's just do it ethos. They are also eerily good-looking, confident and charming, anyone else notice? This is in comparison cocky in a Columbia type of way, or thoughtful and quirky in the Sinai kind of way, or intellectual in a Cornell kind of way, but now I am totally generalizing and stereotyping. But overall, I actually thought NYU residents were kind of too cool for me, as I see myself fitting more comfortably at Sinai a bit more. I digress.
I have to be honest. I actually had all this high expectation of ranking NYU first based on what I heard and what I thought I wanted in a residency. After interviews, it dropped on my list tremendously because I just thought I would totally burn out, it lacked the nerdy culture I think is important in psychiatry, and I thought the system was just too overwhelming (Sandy, busy service, lower east side manhattan at its finest).
I decided to do a second look because my impression was just so disonnant with my expectations, and met with research mentors as part of a commitment to the research track. The track gives a little more protected time to geek out and build an academic career, but it is given a lot of attention because chairman Dr. Marmar is taking it personally to transform the department into a research powerhouse. If you just look at their recruitment in trauma researchers, it is bar none, and it has great neuroscience researchers with additional support of the NKI. It is definitely a large research powerhouse that is continuing to grow, despite the loss of a lot of child psych researchers to the CHild Mind Institute, and is likely not given the kudos it deserves as it doesn't have the academic reputation name of Columbia or Harvard backing the department, and a tradition of the residency to be more clinical than research. But that tradition is changing, just ask the graduating resident research trackers who are not pursuing research fellowships.
Overall, this is a program with endless opportunities to offer clinically, academically, but with some degree of risk for burnout given how big and busy it is. If you have a let's do it personality, it is the perfect program for you. Not for the faint-hearted.
Location & Lifestyle:
Lower East side. Awesome location if you wanna party NYC every night. Housing may be a little tougher, but apparently there is subsidized housing but it seems less guaranteed than Sinai.
Strengths: Clinical rigor.. All 3 systems- VA, Langone, Bellevue. Bellevue= amazing. Strong researchers, as a growing focus. Awesome fun cool residents. Huge system with people in every specialty. Public psychiatry. Forensics psychiatry. Trauma research. Neuroscience research.
Weaknesses: They only have one PD, for one of the biggest programs in the country. Carol Bernstein is amazing, but I think they really need an APD who will likely be recruited soon. Strong psychotherapy given NYC, but probably just a shade less than Sinai and Cornell at least by reputation. Potentially overwhelming and chaotic= risk of burnout? Post-Sandy so some current additional unknowns. Unionized nursing and supportive staff, but probably similar at Cornell and Columbia.
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My n=1: the only "Western" programs I applied to were UW (Seattle track) and OHSU. No applications to the many programs in CA, CO, AZ, NM, NV, UT, etc.
Maybe that was just because of the sales(wo)manship of Splik and Doc Bagel and the rest of SDN, but I went into the application season with the impression that those are excellent programs that would warrant a break from my geographic focus.
Maybe that was just because of the sales(wo)manship of Splik and Doc Bagel and the rest of SDN, but I went into the application season with the impression that those are excellent programs that would warrant a break from my geographic focus.
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I think its just like any program that has a public hospital system and it the only shop in town. Like UCSD with the County, or NYU with Bellevue, you have a big clinical population and part of the department's mission is to serve the community. This is in contrast to programs like Stanford (no real county rotations), San Mateo (rich community population), Sinai (no public hospital and upper East side), UPenn (5 other programs or so in Philly).
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Good analysis, member2721.
I'd also mention that many to most of the top programs have the reputation of really working you. One way a program gets a great reputation is by its product and people noticing that folks from Acme University's psych program tend to know their stuff, work smart, and work hard. These skills and habits are built in residency. Most of the top programs that I looked at had the reputation of working its residents hard, but that's part of where the good training comes from. You don't get that from watching YouTube while waiting a couple of hours for another intake to stroll in.
(This logic should only be applied to the strong programs by the way. There are plenty of god awful ones that also have the reputation for working its residents hard, but that's a whole different kettle of fish. I don't know of any of the strong, well-known programs that work its residents hard that felt exploitive.)
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I'm sure a lot of people have a lot of thoughts, but it'd take forever for most of us to write all of them. For what it's worth, I wrote a review on it and there are a lot of past reviews. Also, there's been quite a bit of discussion about it on the forums. If you have specific questions, that would be a much better starting point.
You are likely to get more helpful responses if you post your own thoughts first.
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I enjoyed my interview experience there and felt all faculty I interviewed with we're friendly and seemed excited about their program. Menninger was solid and seems like a unique exposure. Methodist and Ben Taub are nice too IMO. The only things I haven't heard too much about are the quality of didactics, resident happiness levels (they seemed okay to me but only met a few) and I couldn't really get a sense of what Houston is like as a place to live bc it was a short trip.
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I agree. The one qualifier I would add is these are strong programs clinically.
There are strong psychiatry departments that have a great reputation built on research, with fantastic funding for academically oriented residents, but more limited clinical exposure for trainees.
The ones that come to mind are Sinai Mayo and Stanford. All incredibly rich departments with elite faculty, but private hospitals in a higher SES areas.
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Interesting. Personally, I wouldn't consider programs whose reputations are primarily built solely on research to be top programs. And although it's all very fuzzy and subjective, the ones you mention there are all good programs, but I wouldn't consider them among the handful of top programs. I don't think anyone would consider Sinai, Mayo, or Stanford in the same category as MGH, Yale, etc. I'm more familiar with Stanford, being a west coast guy and I do believe they are improving, but not quite in that league yet.
Big caveat: Distinguishing between top and almost-top is pretty close to choosing between the lily and the guilded variety. When you're weighing between those types of programs, location and personal fit is WAY, way more important.
Big caveat: Distinguishing between top and almost-top is pretty close to choosing between the lily and the guilded variety. When you're weighing between those types of programs, location and personal fit is WAY, way more important.
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And to emphasize the absurdity of all this, as someone in the Eastern Time Zone, I wouldn't put Yale so close to MGH, but think of Stanford as a standard deviation above Sinai which would be a standard deviation above Mayo (even though I disliked Stanford so much I don't even know if I ranked them--maybe 10th?).
Both familiarity and lack of familiarity confuse us, and it's all a bunch of wackiness, even for people (like me) who do care about this kind of thing. We all get heavily influenced by a small amount of fairly unreliable data.
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Exactly. For instance, being a Left Coast guy, I don't think I'd have ANY clue of Sinai in terms of psych quality other than what people mention on SDN.
That's why I always sigh heavily when folks talk of "prestige." Go with quality and go with gut. What an individual out there thinks of your residency really doesn't matter much at the end of the day.
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I had no idea about what was good or not so only applied to programs that I had heard of, which of course were the "prestigious" ones as those are the ones everyone has heard of. I always find it amusing when people go on about "name brand" for Mayo when it comes to psychiatry, because it doesn't have any. I am pretty clued up and I didn't even know that mayo had a psychiatry department, I bet a lot of people don't. Some arabs flying their loved ones for psychiatric treatment at Mayo is more through not knowing any better than some international reputation in psych that mayo has.
also for whatever reason Mt Sinai or whatever stupid name they're going by now, does not have the most "prestigious" reputation within the US, but outside of the US the psychiatry department is highly regarded (something they don't seem to understand themselves!), and Ron Rieder is known, rightly or wrongly, as one of the best PDs.
Hopkins is another one that does not have the most competitive or best regarded residency programs, but internationally, the psychiatry department is extremely well regarded, and IMHO they have one of the best clinical training programs in the country, though maybe not worth getting shot over and dying wearing a silly tie.
also for whatever reason Mt Sinai or whatever stupid name they're going by now, does not have the most "prestigious" reputation within the US, but outside of the US the psychiatry department is highly regarded (something they don't seem to understand themselves!), and Ron Rieder is known, rightly or wrongly, as one of the best PDs.
Hopkins is another one that does not have the most competitive or best regarded residency programs, but internationally, the psychiatry department is extremely well regarded, and IMHO they have one of the best clinical training programs in the country, though maybe not worth getting shot over and dying wearing a silly tie.
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Interesting point, Splik. One thing I notice about the international reputation of US psych programs is that they seem to be more based on the reputation of the overall university or hospital, rather than the psychiatry residency itself. This is why Mayo, Hopkins, etc have such great reputations internationally. Domestically, we fall prey the same problems. With the added complication of folks also knowing programs more based on the University's athletic prowess.
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Also, in a lot of other countries, there is a prevailing culture of ranking everything on a list. In Pakistan (my home country), everything is always a discrete "#1" or "#2" or "#3"... and based on my limited experience, the same is also true in much of the Middle East, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. That goes way beyond education/hospitals... it covers sports, cars, sports cars, etc.
So name brands like "Cornell-Qatar" or "RCSI-Bahrain" or "Duke-Singapore" or "Harvard-Dubai" or "Cleveland Clinic-Abu Dhabi" can make huge strides there. I have a cousin who was asking me about going to Australian National University... I asked him why in the world he'd want to live in Canberra when he could live in Sydney, and it turns out he was only considering it because it was "ranked" slightly higher than U.Sydney or U.Melbourne.
As a result, a lot of my international family members were trying to convince me to rank HSS and/or Mayo as my top 2 choices. People think I'm crazy to rank places like WashU or Iowa above "Harvard." Although I've also heard the same thing from a family friend who is an oncologist at WashU...
In the end, because there's one prevalent ranking system of hospitals, everybody ends up referring back to the USNWR rankings. I met a guy along the interview trail who is from India... he had interviewed at MGH and NYPH-Columbia, but was impressed by the fact that I'd interviewed at Baylor and Mayo because the Menninger Clinic is ranked #4 and Mayo is ranked #7. He didn't respond at all to names like WashU. And this is a guy who is in the psychiatry field and is clearly a strong enough candidate to get interviews at MGH and Columbia despite being an IMG.
So name brands like "Cornell-Qatar" or "RCSI-Bahrain" or "Duke-Singapore" or "Harvard-Dubai" or "Cleveland Clinic-Abu Dhabi" can make huge strides there. I have a cousin who was asking me about going to Australian National University... I asked him why in the world he'd want to live in Canberra when he could live in Sydney, and it turns out he was only considering it because it was "ranked" slightly higher than U.Sydney or U.Melbourne.
As a result, a lot of my international family members were trying to convince me to rank HSS and/or Mayo as my top 2 choices. People think I'm crazy to rank places like WashU or Iowa above "Harvard." Although I've also heard the same thing from a family friend who is an oncologist at WashU...
In the end, because there's one prevalent ranking system of hospitals, everybody ends up referring back to the USNWR rankings. I met a guy along the interview trail who is from India... he had interviewed at MGH and NYPH-Columbia, but was impressed by the fact that I'd interviewed at Baylor and Mayo because the Menninger Clinic is ranked #4 and Mayo is ranked #7. He didn't respond at all to names like WashU. And this is a guy who is in the psychiatry field and is clearly a strong enough candidate to get interviews at MGH and Columbia despite being an IMG.
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as anyone who's studied or worked in business, branding is important because it signals trust, reliability, and quality. Sometimes it might become wedded to innovation. now, there are examples of much better products than some apple products, but apple's brand has cornered the market because it's synonymous with innovation, style, quality and reliability. People trust in the products. For the same reason why people in other fields end up working at google, or microsoft, or apple rather than smaller, lesser known entities that pay better and may afford other, better opportunities or may fit better with an individual's ethos, residency applicants often go with the brand. because branding offers something that unbranded products or residencies don't, and that is branding by association. we think if we go to a place that's brand is synonymous with quality, reliability and trust, that people will think we deliver quality, that we are reliable, and that they can trust in us. And it's sort of true. But only to an extent.
Branding is so important that the name can be applied to "inferior" products. So Duke has exported its brand to singapore with the Duke-NUS medical school, Moorfield's eye hospital put its brand to a hospital in UAE, imperial college london also gave its brand to a singapore medical school, Mayo gave its name to satellite clinics in florida and arizona. The same is true for residencies - the Brockton VA psych residency is called "Harvard Southshore", Kern medical center psych residency is "UCLA Kern", etc etc. in the UK the NHS is allowing private companies to use their logo to fool the public into thinking these unregulated private companies offer the care they associated with the national health service.
So let's not pretend prestige and branding are not important to us. We can concede it shouldn't be. Hell, this is psychiatry and it's not the 50s anymore, all the prestige disappeared long ago. I can't tell you how many people I've dated that didn't understand that psychiatrists were doctors, or why I've being doing medicine rotations, or how disappointed my dad was I'm not doing something respectable!
Branding is so important that the name can be applied to "inferior" products. So Duke has exported its brand to singapore with the Duke-NUS medical school, Moorfield's eye hospital put its brand to a hospital in UAE, imperial college london also gave its brand to a singapore medical school, Mayo gave its name to satellite clinics in florida and arizona. The same is true for residencies - the Brockton VA psych residency is called "Harvard Southshore", Kern medical center psych residency is "UCLA Kern", etc etc. in the UK the NHS is allowing private companies to use their logo to fool the public into thinking these unregulated private companies offer the care they associated with the national health service.
So let's not pretend prestige and branding are not important to us. We can concede it shouldn't be. Hell, this is psychiatry and it's not the 50s anymore, all the prestige disappeared long ago. I can't tell you how many people I've dated that didn't understand that psychiatrists were doctors, or why I've being doing medicine rotations, or how disappointed my dad was I'm not doing something respectable!
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Bumping to remind you all to post those reviews you promised, now that it no longer matters whether or not we can identify you from them! 
Bumping to remind you all to post those reviews you promised, now that it no longer matters whether or not we can identify you from them!
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Bumping to remind you all to post those reviews you promised, now that it no longer matters whether or not we can identify you from them!
Hold on my keyboard is smoking....
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The best program I went to
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and had a resident dinner the night before the interview. The food at this local restaurant was awesome. The residents picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents were accommodating and upfront about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in which a presentation about the program was given. This was a great idea to start with as it allows question formulation. Then two interviews were conducted after which a resident drove us to tour both hospitals (VA, TGH) and we had two interviews at the VA. Did not have any unusual questions and the faculty was amazing. We then had lunch at TGH after that part of the tour with residents and some of the other attendings.
3. Program overview: Typical setup first 6 months in internal with the internal residents which is nice. Other than that it is the usual inpt unit work with other rotations here and there. They seem to be very flexible in allowing residents to customize their education. Call has a 3pt cap and they have lectures like any other program. They give 15 vac days, 5 leave, 9 sick days. In house moonlighting at 100hr is a plus. Oh and they just added a new acute care location.
4. Faculty: Was a huge asset to this program! They know their stuff and seem like a pleasure to work with. Very devoted to teaching the residents.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Tampa which does have a great deal to do but it is not NY meaning you will need a car as there is poor public transit. The program comes off as laid back and they even used these words. It seems you would have a great lifestyle here.
6. Benefits: $47000, free healthcare in network
7. Program strengths: Location, faculty, teaching (100% boards 5yrs), lifestyle, benefits, facilities, PD commitment to excellence, they tend to keep a lot of their own, continue to improve, research
8. Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, pay for parking at USF
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and had a resident dinner the night before the interview. The food at this local restaurant was awesome. The residents picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents were accommodating and upfront about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in which a presentation about the program was given. This was a great idea to start with as it allows question formulation. Then two interviews were conducted after which a resident drove us to tour both hospitals (VA, TGH) and we had two interviews at the VA. Did not have any unusual questions and the faculty was amazing. We then had lunch at TGH after that part of the tour with residents and some of the other attendings.
3. Program overview: Typical setup first 6 months in internal with the internal residents which is nice. Other than that it is the usual inpt unit work with other rotations here and there. They seem to be very flexible in allowing residents to customize their education. Call has a 3pt cap and they have lectures like any other program. They give 15 vac days, 5 leave, 9 sick days. In house moonlighting at 100hr is a plus. Oh and they just added a new acute care location.
4. Faculty: Was a huge asset to this program! They know their stuff and seem like a pleasure to work with. Very devoted to teaching the residents.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Tampa which does have a great deal to do but it is not NY meaning you will need a car as there is poor public transit. The program comes off as laid back and they even used these words. It seems you would have a great lifestyle here.
6. Benefits: $47000, free healthcare in network
7. Program strengths: Location, faculty, teaching (100% boards 5yrs), lifestyle, benefits, facilities, PD commitment to excellence, they tend to keep a lot of their own, continue to improve, research
8. Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, pay for parking at USF
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A very good program
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay on UF campus and had a resident dinner the night before the interview. The food at this local restaurant was awesome. The hotel shuttle picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents were accommodating and upfront about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in which a presentation about the program was given. This was a great idea to start with as it allows question formulation. Then the tours via shuttle followed by lunch and a large number of residents joined. Then 4 interviews were conducted. Did not have any unusual questions and the faculty was great. The assistant PD was a bit intimidating in his interview.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency however they do have a far off site that they send people for a year in residency. Call is typical and they have lectures like any other program. Seems as if it is a busy program. I believe they said they have 4 weeks PTO. Can moonlight but would not mention much about it.
4. Faculty: Were very good and seem to enjoy teaching. The residents seem very happy with them also.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Gainesville which does not have a great deal to do but it is not NY meaning you will need a car as there is poor public transit. You could attend Gator sports activities which are a big thing here. It seems you would have a great lifestyle here as you would have time to explore hobbies and see what else Gainesville has to offer.
6. Benefits: $47000, free healthcare in network
7. Program strengths: faculty, teaching seems worthwhile, lifestyle, benefits, facilities, PD commitment to resident training, research
Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, far off training site one may attend, pay for parking, program seems slightly ridged on training
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay on UF campus and had a resident dinner the night before the interview. The food at this local restaurant was awesome. The hotel shuttle picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents were accommodating and upfront about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in which a presentation about the program was given. This was a great idea to start with as it allows question formulation. Then the tours via shuttle followed by lunch and a large number of residents joined. Then 4 interviews were conducted. Did not have any unusual questions and the faculty was great. The assistant PD was a bit intimidating in his interview.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency however they do have a far off site that they send people for a year in residency. Call is typical and they have lectures like any other program. Seems as if it is a busy program. I believe they said they have 4 weeks PTO. Can moonlight but would not mention much about it.
4. Faculty: Were very good and seem to enjoy teaching. The residents seem very happy with them also.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Gainesville which does not have a great deal to do but it is not NY meaning you will need a car as there is poor public transit. You could attend Gator sports activities which are a big thing here. It seems you would have a great lifestyle here as you would have time to explore hobbies and see what else Gainesville has to offer.
6. Benefits: $47000, free healthcare in network
7. Program strengths: faculty, teaching seems worthwhile, lifestyle, benefits, facilities, PD commitment to resident training, research
Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, far off training site one may attend, pay for parking, program seems slightly ridged on training
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A very good program
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and had a resident dinner the night before the interview but this was more than just residents they also had graduates and the staff of the program including the PD. The food at this local restaurant was fantastic. The residents picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital in which you started as they have 2. A presentation was given via paper. Then three interviews were conducted after which we were given a tour of that hospital and were then sent to the next hospital for 2 more interviews and a writing sample of something opinion based to write about. The only interviewer that was intimidating was my first and that person wanted to make sure I would like the location of the hospitals.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency but you have 2 hospital systems to work with which are both wonderful and a new building. They seem to be very busy but this is said to result in a broad experience that will benefit you as a resident. Moonlighting outside of the program at 80-100hr. Call is q2 month.3 weeks vac, 2 weeks sick. They have a new PD and he seems to really care about the program. The coordinators were fantastic!
4. Faculty: They stated they were devoted to teaching the residents and are supportive; however this was not mentioned as strength by the residents.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of St Paul and Minneapolis which does have many things to do and they do have some public transit. The residents stated that they had time off for their hobbies but that the winter months can be rough.
6. Benefits: $49000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: teaching (96 or 98% boards 5yrs), lifestyle, cost of living, benefits, diverse pts, facilities
Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, weather, little research
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and had a resident dinner the night before the interview but this was more than just residents they also had graduates and the staff of the program including the PD. The food at this local restaurant was fantastic. The residents picked up the applicants and took them to the restaurant. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital in which you started as they have 2. A presentation was given via paper. Then three interviews were conducted after which we were given a tour of that hospital and were then sent to the next hospital for 2 more interviews and a writing sample of something opinion based to write about. The only interviewer that was intimidating was my first and that person wanted to make sure I would like the location of the hospitals.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency but you have 2 hospital systems to work with which are both wonderful and a new building. They seem to be very busy but this is said to result in a broad experience that will benefit you as a resident. Moonlighting outside of the program at 80-100hr. Call is q2 month.3 weeks vac, 2 weeks sick. They have a new PD and he seems to really care about the program. The coordinators were fantastic!
4. Faculty: They stated they were devoted to teaching the residents and are supportive; however this was not mentioned as strength by the residents.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of St Paul and Minneapolis which does have many things to do and they do have some public transit. The residents stated that they had time off for their hobbies but that the winter months can be rough.
6. Benefits: $49000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: teaching (96 or 98% boards 5yrs), lifestyle, cost of living, benefits, diverse pts, facilities
Potential weaknesses: Driving to locations, weather, little research
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A very good small program
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative. They have a very small and intimate program which leads to close relationships between residents.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given by the PD. Then a tour of the hospital was given. The hospital was very nice and even has a gym. Then four interviews were conducted after which we were given lunch at a fast food place across from the hospital. The PD will ask you to describe a case you had to her. Over all the staff were very open and polite.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency but you really only stay in this one hospital plus they have an outpt office somewhere. They seem to have lots of teaching time and they do not have weekend call. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible. Call is q4 month.12 sick days, 24 PTO. The PD attended the program and has a true passion for it. They have a strong active teaching program here that you can be involved in on interview day. They have a 100% pass rate on boards for the past 6yrs. It is a little gem of a clinical program if you like the size (3 residents per class).
4. Faculty: They stated they were devoted to teaching the residents and very supportive
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Park Ridge which is outside Chicago. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location is not awful; however the cost of living is somewhat high.
6. Benefits: $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: teaching, faculty, lifestyle, facilities, not much travel, call
Potential weaknesses: weather, little research, small, possibly not many interesting cases as they may end up in Chicago, benefits vs cost of living
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative. They have a very small and intimate program which leads to close relationships between residents.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given by the PD. Then a tour of the hospital was given. The hospital was very nice and even has a gym. Then four interviews were conducted after which we were given lunch at a fast food place across from the hospital. The PD will ask you to describe a case you had to her. Over all the staff were very open and polite.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency but you really only stay in this one hospital plus they have an outpt office somewhere. They seem to have lots of teaching time and they do not have weekend call. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible. Call is q4 month.12 sick days, 24 PTO. The PD attended the program and has a true passion for it. They have a strong active teaching program here that you can be involved in on interview day. They have a 100% pass rate on boards for the past 6yrs. It is a little gem of a clinical program if you like the size (3 residents per class).
4. Faculty: They stated they were devoted to teaching the residents and very supportive
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Park Ridge which is outside Chicago. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location is not awful; however the cost of living is somewhat high.
6. Benefits: $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: teaching, faculty, lifestyle, facilities, not much travel, call
Potential weaknesses: weather, little research, small, possibly not many interesting cases as they may end up in Chicago, benefits vs cost of living
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2013
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- 10
A good program but some strange occurrences
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and a resident returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program. Then the interviews started with a total of 4. Then a tour of the hospital was given at each location but this was lacking as they did not show us the units!!!! Strange! Every other program does even with HIPPA and you could have at least taken a picture to show us. Then we were taken out to lunch at a nice Indian restaurant. There was one interviewer that asked questions such as: "where did you apply?, where else are you interviewing?" Also one of the interviewer was more interrogative than pleasant but this may have been by mistake.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible in 4th year. Call is q2 month.30 sick days, 20 PTO, 7 days education. They cover 2 sites when on call but said they have a supportive staff and program.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; some I found this to be true during my visit
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Omaha which is a moderate size city with several things to do. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area
Potential weaknesses: weather, could not show units, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and a resident returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program. Then the interviews started with a total of 4. Then a tour of the hospital was given at each location but this was lacking as they did not show us the units!!!! Strange! Every other program does even with HIPPA and you could have at least taken a picture to show us. Then we were taken out to lunch at a nice Indian restaurant. There was one interviewer that asked questions such as: "where did you apply?, where else are you interviewing?" Also one of the interviewer was more interrogative than pleasant but this may have been by mistake.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible in 4th year. Call is q2 month.30 sick days, 20 PTO, 7 days education. They cover 2 sites when on call but said they have a supportive staff and program.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; some I found this to be true during my visit
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Omaha which is a moderate size city with several things to do. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area
Potential weaknesses: weather, could not show units, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality
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Agreed.
MGH McLean
Accommodations & Food:
Lunch during orientation, dinner with residents at fancy restaurant, breakfast, lunch with residents
Interview Day:
Two half-days split between MGH and McLean.8 total interviews split between two half days, including with the PD Felicia Smith and APDs John Denninger/Milissa Kaufman. You are matched with faculty that share common interests, and perhaps a resident. Each interview is thirty minutes. Great resident turnout for both dinner and lunch. Tours of MGH by child psychiatry faculty, and McLean Hospital by a Chief Resident. The longest interview days with the most interviews during my trail, but truly good chance for you to share your experiences and your goals for residency. No challenging or tough questions to test your intellect or throw you off balance. Everyone was super warm and welcoming.
Program Overview:
Academically,this is hands-down the top program in the country, due to its breadth in top-notch clinical research laboratories. Its reputation is well-deserved, with tremendous researchers at both MGH and McLean, and formal affiliations with the Harvard schools (Psychology, Public Health, Business School, Law School). Research areas that come to mind include addiction, neuroimaging, early life stress, adolescent suicide...and niche areas such as Asian mental health and mindfulness.
However, if you are also looking to find a lot of time to do research, this may not be the best program as it has a rigorous clinical curriculum from PGY1-PGY3. The most research-oriented residents seem to move to research fellowships during and after PGY4, where a wealth of internal and NIMH funded training grants support your research.
I can't imagine a better place if you have a strong interest in an academic psychiatry career, unless you have already established a specific academic interest with a better PI elsewhere (Think: Columbia, NYU, UCLA, Stanford). For undecided folks with a strong interests in child adolescent psychiatry, community psychiatry, personality disorders... MGH McLean is unparalleled as you will find an established PI in most areas of interest, eager to mentor you with funding and resources abound.
Clinically, MGH McLean is also top-notch. McLean is one of the four oldest free-standing psychiatric hospitals in the US, serving a diverse population and more importantly, devoted faculty that are knowledgeable in treating the specialized populations at each unit. MGH, apparently Man's Greatest Hospital, but truly a world-renowned tertiary hospital. With top fellowships in C/A and C/L.
Interestingly, for those interested in community psychiatry, their biggest recruit has been Professor Derri Shtasel from Cambridge Health Alliance.In a mere few years, she has really boosted MGH's community psychiatry opportunities (i.e., Kraft fellowship).
From the psychodynamic front, it has the PiP (Program in Psychodynamics), led by a very well-respected psychoanalyst Bob Waldinger recently recruited from Brigham. Furthermore, psychodynamics seem to run in the very historical blood of the program.
The most obvious drawback is the lack of a VA (Veteran Affairs) Hospital; so if you are interested in military trauma, there may be other programs out there. However there is trauma research scattered through the Harvard system, and a clinical treatment unit for interpersonal trauma unit at McLean under the leadership of APD Milissa Kaufman.
In terms of the faculty and residents, this was truly the biggest surprise. Possibly the warmest and most energizing and excited group of residents I met on the trail. I think there may be several reasons for this. MGH McLean is probably the most selective in terms of the interviews offered
Ten interview days of about nine to ten interviewees throughout the season, adds up to 90 spots. With 14 categorical and two integrated spots, that is close to one in five spots per interviewees.
My points is the residents and faculty seem to suffer less from applicant fatigue as compared to other programs, especially near the end of the interview season.
Both MGH and McLean are both research heavy hospital. Is it malignant? Not from those I met. Perhaps it is that many of the teaching faculty are also very esteemed professors, so a natural respect is given to them.
Overall, the warmth of the people and the tremendous community feel was the most surprising aspect of the program.
Location & Lifestyle:
Boston is cold. But you have the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots. Very liveable. Within a few hours commute from Manhattan.
Strengths: An embarrassment of riches both clinically and academically. Very warm and community feel to the program, which is surprising given that it is large academic program split between two historical sites. Should be at the top of the list for applicants who are truly committed to advancing psychiatry.
Weaknesses: Commute between the two sites, so you will need a car. No VA. Rigorous clinical curriculum that is not for those who want to take it easy. You will be BUSY training in the required rotations, whilst navigating a plethora of opportunities during your electives and free time. New PD Felicia Smith, but experienced commmited and warm.
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A good program for this area
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and coordinator returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program but did find that the area was lacking in activities and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices. A presentation was given about the program along with breakfast. We were then given a psychological mindedness question based exam on a case. Then the interviews started with a total of 5. Then a tour of the hospital was given along with their offices. Then we were taken out to lunch with the residents. The PD was slightly intimidating but did very well in making you feel at ease.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible however NO ONE has as they are all on visas. Just to be clear here there are awesome FMGs just the rules and laws prevent them from moonlighting. Call is q5 days.2 weeks sick, 3 weeks vac, 7 days education. They have short call 4:30-9pm then emergency only on weekdays and weekends are 7pm-7am. The staff is said to be supportive and focused on teaching however it was also mentioned that the PD can be demanding and they have lost staff due to the lack of activities in the city. The city is said to be family friendly and is all about Abraham Lincoln.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; I found this to be true during my visit as they made sure I was at ease
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Springfield which is a small city with some things to do. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $48000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area, PD is committed to the program success
Potential weaknesses: weather, PD might be overly demanding, unsure of teaching quality as faculty may leave the area, research, location
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and coordinator returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program but did find that the area was lacking in activities and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices. A presentation was given about the program along with breakfast. We were then given a psychological mindedness question based exam on a case. Then the interviews started with a total of 5. Then a tour of the hospital was given along with their offices. Then we were taken out to lunch with the residents. The PD was slightly intimidating but did very well in making you feel at ease.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. Moonlighting outside of the program is possible however NO ONE has as they are all on visas. Just to be clear here there are awesome FMGs just the rules and laws prevent them from moonlighting. Call is q5 days.2 weeks sick, 3 weeks vac, 7 days education. They have short call 4:30-9pm then emergency only on weekdays and weekends are 7pm-7am. The staff is said to be supportive and focused on teaching however it was also mentioned that the PD can be demanding and they have lost staff due to the lack of activities in the city. The city is said to be family friendly and is all about Abraham Lincoln.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; I found this to be true during my visit as they made sure I was at ease
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Springfield which is a small city with some things to do. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $48000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area, PD is committed to the program success
Potential weaknesses: weather, PD might be overly demanding, unsure of teaching quality as faculty may leave the area, research, location
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A good program outside Detroit but with some issues
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did have a resident dinner the night before the interview within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and then returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program. Then the interviews started with a total of 5. We were also given a writing sample of questions. Then a tour of the hospital was given at each location which were new and beautiful plus the outpt location where some of the interviewing was also done. Then we were taken to lunch with some residents at the hospital which also had good food. There was one interviewer that screamed psychoanalytic in the way questions were asked and this made it feel less casual and more as if I had entered therapy. As I knew what was happening it made the interview uncomfortable. I'm not sure if the interviewer could help doing this but there is a difference when you talk to your colleagues vs patients. This interviewer also asked about my childhood which frankly has nothing to do with my chosen profession.
3. Program overview: Atypical setup for a psychiatry residency meaning they spend 70% of their training in the outpt setting. Moonlighting has not been done as this program is newer. Call is q6 days.? sick days, 3 weeks vac. I do not really understand how this program trains you for acute settings as they have little training focused there. The residents do have to travel between sites but as I wrote mainly at the outpt location. The PD has now left the program this year which I would have wanted her to stay.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; some I found this to be true during my visit however see above. The teaching is said to be great but I could not tell.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Livonia which is a small size city outside Detroit. There should be plenty to do near here. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $45000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area, supportive staff, can tailor your education
Potential weaknesses: weather, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality, small, lack of neuro, research, not much inpt training, diversity of pts?, PD that started the program left
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program paid for a hotel night stay and did have a resident dinner the night before the interview within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel shuttle took us to the hospital and then returned us after the interview. All of the residents extremely nice and would answer any question about the program. They all seem to really enjoy working in the program and were very informative.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program. Then the interviews started with a total of 5. We were also given a writing sample of questions. Then a tour of the hospital was given at each location which were new and beautiful plus the outpt location where some of the interviewing was also done. Then we were taken to lunch with some residents at the hospital which also had good food. There was one interviewer that screamed psychoanalytic in the way questions were asked and this made it feel less casual and more as if I had entered therapy. As I knew what was happening it made the interview uncomfortable. I'm not sure if the interviewer could help doing this but there is a difference when you talk to your colleagues vs patients. This interviewer also asked about my childhood which frankly has nothing to do with my chosen profession.
3. Program overview: Atypical setup for a psychiatry residency meaning they spend 70% of their training in the outpt setting. Moonlighting has not been done as this program is newer. Call is q6 days.? sick days, 3 weeks vac. I do not really understand how this program trains you for acute settings as they have little training focused there. The residents do have to travel between sites but as I wrote mainly at the outpt location. The PD has now left the program this year which I would have wanted her to stay.
4. Faculty: Is said to be good from the residents; some I found this to be true during my visit however see above. The teaching is said to be great but I could not tell.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Livonia which is a small size city outside Detroit. There should be plenty to do near here. The residents seem to have ample time for outside interests and the location good with a low cost of living
6. Benefits: $45000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: benefits, low cost of living, good program for that area, supportive staff, can tailor your education
Potential weaknesses: weather, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality, small, lack of neuro, research, not much inpt training, diversity of pts?, PD that started the program left
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This was interesting....
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program didn't pay for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The interview was UNORGANIZED and the no transportation was provided. They did provide some sandwiches. If you asked the only resident you met how their experience was and they say "ok" . This is you talking up your program? How awful is it that all you can say is ok.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program but guess what you get randomly taken out of the interview while the presentation is being conducted. How do I learn about the program if you rip me out of the presentation! Then the interviews started with a total of 4. Then a tour of the hospital was given which is an older community hospital. There was one interviewer that was strange asking about literature and how that correlates to higher levels of intellectual brain activity. Not everyone reads literature as a hobby and it probably has very little to do with higher functioning.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. This was said to be a busy small service with good staff, diverse pts, and great outpt. I know nothing else about the program as I missed the PRESENTATION! Plus they stated they would send the information… guess what it is not here!
4. Faculty: Just seemed mediocre to poor, the PD came off as supportive and knowledgeable
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Boston which is a large city. There should be plenty to do near here. This place has a high cost of living and the benefits probably do not make up the difference. I have no clue about the resident lifestyle. Oh free food in the caf.
6. Benefits: I had to look this up $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: small community program?, near Boston if you like Boston
Potential weaknesses: weather, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality, small, lack of organization, research, in Boston, poor communication, benefits, pay for parking
1. Interview accommodations/food: The program didn't pay for a hotel night stay and did not have a resident dinner the night before the interview. The interview was UNORGANIZED and the no transportation was provided. They did provide some sandwiches. If you asked the only resident you met how their experience was and they say "ok" . This is you talking up your program? How awful is it that all you can say is ok.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences: Interview day started at their offices in the hospital. A presentation was given about the program but guess what you get randomly taken out of the interview while the presentation is being conducted. How do I learn about the program if you rip me out of the presentation! Then the interviews started with a total of 4. Then a tour of the hospital was given which is an older community hospital. There was one interviewer that was strange asking about literature and how that correlates to higher levels of intellectual brain activity. Not everyone reads literature as a hobby and it probably has very little to do with higher functioning.
3. Program overview: Typical setup for a psychiatry residency. This was said to be a busy small service with good staff, diverse pts, and great outpt. I know nothing else about the program as I missed the PRESENTATION! Plus they stated they would send the information… guess what it is not here!
4. Faculty: Just seemed mediocre to poor, the PD came off as supportive and knowledgeable
5. Location, lifestyle, etc. : In the city of Boston which is a large city. There should be plenty to do near here. This place has a high cost of living and the benefits probably do not make up the difference. I have no clue about the resident lifestyle. Oh free food in the caf.
6. Benefits: I had to look this up $50000, reduced rate healthcare
7. Program strengths: small community program?, near Boston if you like Boston
Potential weaknesses: weather, off-putting interviews, unsure of teaching quality, small, lack of organization, research, in Boston, poor communication, benefits, pay for parking
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I'm not about to defend the psych program at St. E's, but your 'red flags' (not just in your review here but also in your reviews of the other programs) are a bit too alarmist. No transportation = red flag? One unhappy resident = red flag? Not enough inpatient = red flag? Come on.
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No transportation was not a red flag, the unorganized interview was. The one unhappy resident was all I had to interpret the group...never even saw another resident.
I see how you would say alarmist but just showing areas in need of attention. What wording would you have suggested?
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This is not a forbidden question. A forbidden question is asking you your sexual orientation, your religious faith, etc.
Many programs ask where else you're interviewing. Some folks say it's just a conversational piece (which is pretty weak if you're in the business of talking to people). I think it's on some level usually a strategic question to get an idea of what sort of program you're looking for so they can sell you on theirs if you're a good fit. I don't like the question and usually just answered vaguely (as I would if an employer asked at what other companies I was interviewing). But it's definitely not forbidden or even particularly frowned on.
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I was also vague with these answers but can understand why this may benefit a program. If a person does not have other interviews would it be beneficial to lie to this person? It might show that this person has no other options or is not even looking at the same type of program.
D
deleted452516
1. Interview accommodations/food
No pre-interview dinner or accommodations.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Arrived a little late due to traffic- ugh, plan ahead. Started out with breakfast with some of the faculty talking about our psychiatry clerkship experiences. Then right into the interviews. Interviews with the PD and faculty (4 total, about 45 minutes each)- seemed tailored to my background/interests, nothing high pressure. Lunch with the residents, informal and good resident turn out. Next a tour with one of the chiefs, seemed a little rushed but we got to see some of the new facilities which are very nice and shiny. Finished up the day with a group meeting with the PD, who in addition to talking about the program did a brief intro to the match and how it works. PD was genuinely interested in giving us the information we needed to decide if this was the right fit.
3. Program overview
Everything seemed pretty standard. Have a Learning Module for PGY-1s, which is 2 weeks of no clinical duties and all classroom learning. Supposed to get you up and running for starting residency.
Training takes place at the Zucker-Hillside Hospital which is a stones throw from the North-Shore LIJ campus where the main medical campus is (for medicine and CL months). ZHH is a campus with multiple buildings, some new some old, various inpatient units.
One month of medicine is done at ZHH working with the Medicine people covering the inpatient psych units- residents seemed to like this experience.
4th year is longitudinal 60% outpatient 40% elective.
4. Faculty
Everyone I met with seemed cool. Some were graduates of the program, some were from other NYC area programs. Seemed committed to teaching etc.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Border of Queens and Long Island. Fairly suburbanish area. People seemed to live all over, but most in the immediate area or out a little further on Long Island. Maybe a couple people doing the commute from Manhattan but didnt seem that appealing. You need a car.
6. Benefits
Starting salary of 64,000. Standard benefits, subsidized housing (right by the campus) or stipend available.
7. Program strengths
They have a lot of research going on, some residents get more involved than others. Its also a big program- 17 residents/ year. They have a lot of fellowships. They emphasized a lot how they were financially stable- better than the alternative I guess...
8. Potential weaknesses
Big program. Long Island (eh). Nothing struck me as super sparkly and awesome, just a solid program.
No pre-interview dinner or accommodations.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Arrived a little late due to traffic- ugh, plan ahead. Started out with breakfast with some of the faculty talking about our psychiatry clerkship experiences. Then right into the interviews. Interviews with the PD and faculty (4 total, about 45 minutes each)- seemed tailored to my background/interests, nothing high pressure. Lunch with the residents, informal and good resident turn out. Next a tour with one of the chiefs, seemed a little rushed but we got to see some of the new facilities which are very nice and shiny. Finished up the day with a group meeting with the PD, who in addition to talking about the program did a brief intro to the match and how it works. PD was genuinely interested in giving us the information we needed to decide if this was the right fit.
3. Program overview
Everything seemed pretty standard. Have a Learning Module for PGY-1s, which is 2 weeks of no clinical duties and all classroom learning. Supposed to get you up and running for starting residency.
Training takes place at the Zucker-Hillside Hospital which is a stones throw from the North-Shore LIJ campus where the main medical campus is (for medicine and CL months). ZHH is a campus with multiple buildings, some new some old, various inpatient units.
One month of medicine is done at ZHH working with the Medicine people covering the inpatient psych units- residents seemed to like this experience.
4th year is longitudinal 60% outpatient 40% elective.
4. Faculty
Everyone I met with seemed cool. Some were graduates of the program, some were from other NYC area programs. Seemed committed to teaching etc.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Border of Queens and Long Island. Fairly suburbanish area. People seemed to live all over, but most in the immediate area or out a little further on Long Island. Maybe a couple people doing the commute from Manhattan but didnt seem that appealing. You need a car.
6. Benefits
Starting salary of 64,000. Standard benefits, subsidized housing (right by the campus) or stipend available.
7. Program strengths
They have a lot of research going on, some residents get more involved than others. Its also a big program- 17 residents/ year. They have a lot of fellowships. They emphasized a lot how they were financially stable- better than the alternative I guess...
8. Potential weaknesses
Big program. Long Island (eh). Nothing struck me as super sparkly and awesome, just a solid program.
D
deleted452516
1. Interview accommodations/food
Put us up in the Sheraton in Syracuse. The Pre-interview dinner with 1 chief and a couple interns walking distance from the hotel, it was a cold walk. Also there was a game that night so Syracuse was terrifyingly orange and very much a college town.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Picked up by a resident from the hotel and taken on a tour of the facilities including the VA as well as the university hospital, and finishing up at the psych building. Welcome meeting with the PD that involved a powerpoint about the program.
Then 3 interviews, an hour each- the PD, the interim Chair, and a faculty member. We were warned the night before at dinner that interviews with the PD could be intense. My hour with him was spent being asked intrusive questions about my childhood/ family/ past experiences/ future plans in my personal life. Im not sure if it was an attempt at analysis, or just rude, but I was not amused. One of the other interviewees cried, apparently this is not uncommon.
Lunch in the middle, which was supposed to be with residents but none showed up. Amazing cookies though.
3. Program overview
First month of PGY1 is the cornerstone teaching block which is booked as an intensive transition into residency rotation, no clinical duties, classes 5 days a week. 1st, 2nd and 3rd year are otherwise pretty standard. 4th year you only get 1 day a week elective.
4. Faculty
See above
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Syracuse is cold. Some of the residents bought homes in the area, others rented apartments in the downtown area. Need a car.
6. Benefits
48,000 to start. Insurance. Stipend for books.
7. Program strengths
subspecialty tracks- the ability to focus on a particular area of psychiatry starting in PGY2. Seemed interesting, one enables you to pursue an MPH while in residency. Concept is cool but from the few residents I spoke with doesn't seem like many take advantage of this.
8. Potential weaknesses
Free 1 hour of analysis with your interview day? Its cold.
Put us up in the Sheraton in Syracuse. The Pre-interview dinner with 1 chief and a couple interns walking distance from the hotel, it was a cold walk. Also there was a game that night so Syracuse was terrifyingly orange and very much a college town.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Picked up by a resident from the hotel and taken on a tour of the facilities including the VA as well as the university hospital, and finishing up at the psych building. Welcome meeting with the PD that involved a powerpoint about the program.
Then 3 interviews, an hour each- the PD, the interim Chair, and a faculty member. We were warned the night before at dinner that interviews with the PD could be intense. My hour with him was spent being asked intrusive questions about my childhood/ family/ past experiences/ future plans in my personal life. Im not sure if it was an attempt at analysis, or just rude, but I was not amused. One of the other interviewees cried, apparently this is not uncommon.
Lunch in the middle, which was supposed to be with residents but none showed up. Amazing cookies though.
3. Program overview
First month of PGY1 is the cornerstone teaching block which is booked as an intensive transition into residency rotation, no clinical duties, classes 5 days a week. 1st, 2nd and 3rd year are otherwise pretty standard. 4th year you only get 1 day a week elective.
4. Faculty
See above
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Syracuse is cold. Some of the residents bought homes in the area, others rented apartments in the downtown area. Need a car.
6. Benefits
48,000 to start. Insurance. Stipend for books.
7. Program strengths
subspecialty tracks- the ability to focus on a particular area of psychiatry starting in PGY2. Seemed interesting, one enables you to pursue an MPH while in residency. Concept is cool but from the few residents I spoke with doesn't seem like many take advantage of this.
8. Potential weaknesses
Free 1 hour of analysis with your interview day? Its cold.
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actually the NRMP does forbid asking 'where else are you applying' question and expecting an answer. given that you really can't not answer if asked (except for being vague and deflecting), it is essentially verboten but everyone asks anyway. at my program we are all told we cant ask 'where are you applying' even at the dinner (granted that is is a fairly strict interpretation). conversely, in most states, it is not forbidden to ask about sexual orientation at a job interview and it is not illegal to not hire and even fire someone on the basis of their sexual orientation.
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I got asked a couple of times and I always deflected with, "well I'm applying mainly in the Southeast and Midwest" type of answer. Vaguery.
1. Interview accommodations/food
Dinner day before the interview. Didn't go but heard it was good. Good platter day of interview.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
~10 applicants. Three interviews, two 20 min interviews with chiefs, one 10 min with PD. Nothing out of the ordinary by way of questions or schedule. Wish the interviews were longer. During lunch, there was an excellent case conference led by one of the attendings (Dr. Moore). What I found excellent about it was that it covered a wide differential from biological, structural, and psychodynamic perspectives, and I was surprised how much of it was new to me despite dealing with a seemingly ordinary case.
3. Program overview
Their website is probably the most informative of any program to which I applied.
4. Faculty
Didn't get to meet many of them, but I can say that the residents' faces lit up when speaking about them, especially their PD.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Boston depends on what that means to you. They point out that they never need to take a car, that every site is easily accessible via the T. That's a plus for me.
6. Benefits
One of the chiefs raved that she only had to pay $10 for all of her pregnancy-related health care. Range of salary for current PGY-1s is 51k-59k from PGY1-4. $300-400/year educational stipend.
7. Program strengths
Strong in psychotherapy/supervision. PD is always excited when residents want to go through their own therapy and is helpful in finding therapists. Not something everyone's into, but a bonus for me. Residents were very happy, raved about the faculty, and were eager to participate and answer questions throughout the interview day. Gave applicants contact info for every resident in the program. Have chance to do therapy with college students and see many high functioning patients, as well diversity of cultural and socioeconomic varieties.
8. Potential weaknesses
Depends how you feel about the above. Ranked very high on my list.
Dinner day before the interview. Didn't go but heard it was good. Good platter day of interview.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
~10 applicants. Three interviews, two 20 min interviews with chiefs, one 10 min with PD. Nothing out of the ordinary by way of questions or schedule. Wish the interviews were longer. During lunch, there was an excellent case conference led by one of the attendings (Dr. Moore). What I found excellent about it was that it covered a wide differential from biological, structural, and psychodynamic perspectives, and I was surprised how much of it was new to me despite dealing with a seemingly ordinary case.
3. Program overview
Their website is probably the most informative of any program to which I applied.
4. Faculty
Didn't get to meet many of them, but I can say that the residents' faces lit up when speaking about them, especially their PD.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Boston depends on what that means to you. They point out that they never need to take a car, that every site is easily accessible via the T. That's a plus for me.
6. Benefits
One of the chiefs raved that she only had to pay $10 for all of her pregnancy-related health care. Range of salary for current PGY-1s is 51k-59k from PGY1-4. $300-400/year educational stipend.
7. Program strengths
Strong in psychotherapy/supervision. PD is always excited when residents want to go through their own therapy and is helpful in finding therapists. Not something everyone's into, but a bonus for me. Residents were very happy, raved about the faculty, and were eager to participate and answer questions throughout the interview day. Gave applicants contact info for every resident in the program. Have chance to do therapy with college students and see many high functioning patients, as well diversity of cultural and socioeconomic varieties.
8. Potential weaknesses
Depends how you feel about the above. Ranked very high on my list.
1. Interview accommodations/food
Good food at interview. Cocktail party with good food and drinks the night of the interview at Dr. Renner's house.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Five half hour interviews with three faculty and two residents, as well as one fifteen minute interview with PD. I wish they didn't all ask Why psychiatry? and a couple other standard questions. But I had a number of lively discussions with faculty, and very honest feedback from residents. They incorporated breaks into the day so applicants could unwind or take/review notes. Only interview on Saturdays, I believe 4 straight Saturdays of about 25 applicants each time.
3. Program overview
4. Faculty
PD very nurturing, program/faculty like family, take good care of residents. Faculty extremely down-to-earth. PD drove some of us to the party at night, was very self-deprecating, honest, and helpful.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Boston, don't need car to get to sites
6. Benefits
PGY1-4 from $54-62k. $650-750/year educational stipend. Chief said she has unlimited psychotherapy with her health insurance and only has to pay a $15 copay for each visit.
7. Program strengths
Strong in psychotherapy, good support from faculty, good and early supervision, very cohesive group of residents who love spending time with each other. Dr. Renner considered excellent as Addiction Fellowship director no surprise then that so many residents do that fellowship.
8. Potential weaknesses
Depends on what you think of above. This topped my rank list.
Good food at interview. Cocktail party with good food and drinks the night of the interview at Dr. Renner's house.
2. Interview day (e.g. schedule, type of interview, unusual questions/experiences)
Five half hour interviews with three faculty and two residents, as well as one fifteen minute interview with PD. I wish they didn't all ask Why psychiatry? and a couple other standard questions. But I had a number of lively discussions with faculty, and very honest feedback from residents. They incorporated breaks into the day so applicants could unwind or take/review notes. Only interview on Saturdays, I believe 4 straight Saturdays of about 25 applicants each time.
3. Program overview
4. Faculty
PD very nurturing, program/faculty like family, take good care of residents. Faculty extremely down-to-earth. PD drove some of us to the party at night, was very self-deprecating, honest, and helpful.
5. Location, lifestyle, etc.
Boston, don't need car to get to sites
6. Benefits
PGY1-4 from $54-62k. $650-750/year educational stipend. Chief said she has unlimited psychotherapy with her health insurance and only has to pay a $15 copay for each visit.
7. Program strengths
Strong in psychotherapy, good support from faculty, good and early supervision, very cohesive group of residents who love spending time with each other. Dr. Renner considered excellent as Addiction Fellowship director no surprise then that so many residents do that fellowship.
8. Potential weaknesses
Depends on what you think of above. This topped my rank list.
