2013-2014 Psychiatry Interview Reviews

[AthensBeth]

I have a good friend in the program at UF, and the PD cherishes her residents like her own kids. I heard from him recently that UF gave a nice reception at an art museum for selected incoming applicants this year as well as paid for their airfare, etc. for their second look. UF is definitely worth considering highly.

About University of Florida--
I attended one of their other second looks (with dinner at PDs house the night before rather than the art museum), and the resident camaraderie and warmth from the administration and faculty was really evident. Paying for airfare and hotels for second looks speaks to the fact that they want to attract a great class next year and make people feel welcome. They really seem to value the residents, and everyone I met was so positive. I know they had a snafu a few years back with not certifying their rank list by the deadline (and thus filled none of their spots), but the program morale has clearly recovered from this. It's a strong program and seems to be getting even better.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[notdeadyet]

is it? child inpatient units are often warehouses for children who have no place else to go. it is rare to find a unit where any meaningful therapeutic work happens. most child psychiatrists do not do inpatient child psychiatry, and in fact most do not want to.

True. That doesn't mean the experience isn't useful. If you don't get training in the inpatient, you are really skating on thin ice in treating the outpatient as they approach the inpatient. The best way to know when someone needs in is when you've worked enough in to know when someone is ready for out. Even if you're outpatient bound, lacking inpatient training would be bad juju in my book.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I hope you noticed that they have no inpatient child unit. The child and adolescent experience there is purely outpatient which is obviously quite limiting.

OK, on that note, I agree that not having an inpatient child experience could be a negative, but the advantages of our child training is that we get to spend one half day for a whole year doing child related didactics, which are really solid didactics with lots of developmental and psychodynamic material from those super cool people who the reviewer above met. In a way, I think that potentially leads to a richer experience than doing a few discreet months at a child unit. If you stay and do the fellowship, you get extensive inpatient experience.

If I had been enthusiastic about child, I would have put not having a child inpatient experience is a downside, though.

 

[StECT]

If you don't get training in the inpatient, you are really skating on thin ice in treating the outpatient as they approach the inpatient. The best way to know when someone needs in is when you've worked enough in to know when someone is ready for out. Even if you're outpatient bound, lacking inpatient training would be bad juju in my book.

Couldn't agree more. It does seem like limiting one's proficiency unnecessarily by stopping short and depriving oneself of the full general residency experience.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

True. That doesn't mean the experience isn't useful. If you don't get training in the inpatient, you are really skating on thin ice in treating the outpatient as they approach the inpatient. The best way to know when someone needs in is when you've worked enough in to know when someone is ready for out. Even if you're outpatient bound, lacking inpatient training would be bad juju in my book.

But we're talking here about the importance of inpatient exposure for people who are not going to be child and adolescent psychiatrists, meaning not treating those patients in the outpatient setting outside of a supervised residency clinic setting. With that in mind, I think inpatient child exposure is less critical for a general psychiatry residency program.

Lots of child exposure at other programs is 100% inpatient -- is that better than 100% outpatient? Ideally a mix of both would be great -- I doubt many programs offer that to their general residents. If so, great for them.

 

[StECT]

Lots of child exposure at other programs is 100% inpatient

What? No way. Which programs are these that don't allow residents to see child and adolescent outpatients? That's a serious deficiency in my view (even though I'm not going into child psych). I would like to know which programs these are in case I missed this during my interviews. Can you like provide a list?

 

[notdeadyet]

With that in mind, I think inpatient child exposure is less critical for a general psychiatry residency program.

I'd agree that inpatient child psych exposure is less important than outpatient child exposure. I just disagree that it doesn't have value.

Lots of child exposure at other programs is 100% inpatient

That's insane. Are you sure this is true of lots of programs? I find that hard to believe just from a staffing perspective. What program is going to have oodles of need for help on an inpatient child unit but no demand on an outpatient?

 

[twright]

At my program, our required child experience was solely based on outpatient multidisciplinary evaluations for patients and their families initially presenting for outpatient child psychiatric care. This was not true longitudinal outpatient care although the evaluations typically went on for several weeks and maybe 3-5 visits. Not inpatient, no longitudinal outpatient. There was plenty of inpatient and outpatient stuff for residents who wanted more exposure, but in terms of requirements there was very little.

 

[StECT]

Ideally a mix of both would be great -- I doubt many programs offer that to their general residents.

I just frantically looked through the handouts of all the programs in the top half of my rank list. Thankfully all of them offer all four aspects of the training - adult inpatient, child inpatient, adult outpatient and child outpatient. I think your stats may be off.

 

[Nasrudin]

Idk. Inpatient vs outpatient child is a total non-factor to me compared to actual important stuff like how good or bad the cafeteria is.

 

[StECT]

Idk. Inpatient vs outpatient child is a total non-factor to me compared to actual important stuff like how good or bad the cafeteria is.

Well, don't you know all hospital cafeterias suck after one month?

 

[Nasrudin]

Fair point. But there are levels of crappy food as well.

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[Soggun]

Harvard Longwood

1. Communication: Email. Timely, responsive. No issues with scheduling.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations. Hotels in the area were expensive and ranged from $175-225/night. Pre-interview dinner at The Elephant Walk in Back Bay was attended by 4-5 residents. Food was abundant on interview day: breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 8:45AM until 4PM or so. Longwood = Long day. I was SO excited to interview at Harvard Longwood, but the day turned out to be one of my worst nightmares come true: I didn’t click with a SINGLE person (applicant, resident, or faculty). I spent the entire day in a daze; I only felt normal again at a Back Bay Pub upon leaving the interview (cute bartenders cure all ills). The PD, who gave a 2 hour hour talk at the beginning of the day, was expressionless and stone-faced (…I get that she’s an analyst, but can’t she show some emotion when talking about her program?). Everyone talked about the “rigorous clinical training” as if working crazy hours earned them badges of honor. Interviews were awkward all-around. I gushed about Longwood’s C/L program to one interviewer (a C/L attending) and was told, coldly, “well, we’re not ALL about C/L” (…duh? You're a C/L attending, and I want to talk about C/L @ Longwood). The PD was bitterly confrontational and, worse, showed NO facial response to my conversational demeanor. No smiles, no nods, nothing. I was so uncomfortable and texted a gal pal, “welp, just failed that interview.” The residents seemed to fall into two groups: loud and boisterous vs. quiet and unassuming. All were in their own world, none seemed interested in chatting with applicants (particularly those we ran into while touring the floors), and a few seemed very unhappy. My tour guide, a PGY2 or 3, was a cool guy who I can see myself hanging out with outside of work. Lunch was awkward, as all the residents were loudly joking amongst themselves as applicants sat quietly on the sidelines. I managed to find a quiet PGY4 and used the entire lunch-hour to ask her a TON of questions/concerns I had about Longwood. Like my tour guide, she was friendly, too.

4. Program Overview: As the Chair of BIDMC said in his talk to our group, “Longwood’s special sauce is…” (he never finished that thought, although he tried mightily). Longwood is a multi-site program that, on paper, sounds like a fabulous blend of MGH/McLean and Cambridge. In actuality, it feels scattered and all-over-the-place. Residents rotate through several star-studded hospitals, including THE Brigham, BIDMC (House of God, anyone?), Boston Children’s, Mass Mental, and Faulkner Hospital. Medicine is done at either Faulkner Hospital or BWH; these rotations CANNOT be substituted with pediatrics because Boston Children’s doesn’t want psychiatry residents on their inpatient pediatrics wards (similarly, BIDMC doesn’t want psychiatry residents on their inpatient medicine wards. #redflag). Neurology is completed at BWH. There were some changes in the curriculum for the year upcoming, including ALL C/L rotations in PGY2 (as opposed to C/L in PGY2 AND 3) and other changes that’ll help “with work-life balance,” a well-known issue with Longwood. The rest of PGY2 is spent doing inpatient work at BIDMC (including night float), BWH, Mass Mental (partial hospital), and Boston Children’s. PGY3 includes half-time outpatient work at either Mass Mental, BWH, or BIDMC, coupled with a 6-month neuropsychiatry rotation followed by a 6-month selective offering (in HIV psychiatry, women’s mental health, addictions, etc). As for the sites, the two main hospitals are quite different: broadly speaking, BWH is more biological/research oriented, whereas BIDMC is more analytic. Mass Mental is a newly renovated community hospital with excellent training in CBT and DBT (the latter rotation is shared with Cambridge residents). There are fascinating C/L rotations to be had at both BIDMC and BWH, as well as inpatient units at all of the above (including Boston Children’s). Didactics are on Wednesday afternoons, and, from PGY2-4, they include 4 hours of “scholarly work time” that residents can use to conduct research of “publishable quality.”

5. Faculty: Impressively HUGE department. Researchers, analysts, therapists, hospitalists, sub-sub-specialized C/L psychiatrists. You name it, Longwood's got it.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Longwood Medical Area (includes HMS) is situated in Back Bay Boston, a ritzy and expensive pocket that’s well-connected to the rest of Boston (and neighboring areas) via the Green-Line. Boston’s a clean, wonderful city (albeit very, very cold and very, very expensive) with lots of young professionals/grad students, culinary gems, excellent pubs/bars, and an overall vibrant scene.

7. Salary & Benefits: Standard. Boston’s expensive, particularly Back Bay Boston. Residents live in several neighborhoods, including Boston proper (North End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill), Cambridge, Somerville, Jamaica Plains, and South End.

8. Program Strengths:
- Boston (vibrant and fun)
- Truly impressive C/L rotations
- Variety of clinical sites, all with different "feels" and strengths
- PD et al implementing changes to curriculum in an effort to improve work-life balance (residents commented that the changes would be “amazing”)
- Strong in neuropsychiatry
- Plentiful research opportunities
- Exposure to inpatient child psychiatry

9. Potential Weaknesses
- Boston (cold and expensive)
- I didn’t “click” with anyone that day
- HUGE classes (15 or so residents per year) that seem cliquish
- Awkward PD who can’t seem to step out of her role as a psychoanalyst
- Workload (while it may be clinically useful work, I was concerned as a few residents seemed tired and unhappy)
- Psychiatry residents looked down upon by Pediatricians at Children’s and Internists at BIDMC. …why aren’t psychiatry interns able to complete their off-service rotations at these hospitals?! HUGE red flag for me
- Program lacks identity. What is the “special sauce” of Longwood?

As a current resident @ Longwood, I just wanted to take a moment to respond with a couple of comments. First of all, I appreciate your candor and am sorry that we (the residents) didn't manage to convey more enthusiasm for the program or emphasize some of the things that I think most of us really love about the program. Obviously the match (or "click") has to be there, so it makes sense to weigh that heavily - I certainly did in making my decision to come here - but I thought I could mention a couple of other things, just to prevent misconceptions from developing.

1) Class size: I think this is more a personal preference thing, and I know there are people who prefer more intimate classes - which I can see the appeal of. That being said, I personally am glad we have the size class we do - largely from a practical perspective because it insulates the rest of the class a bit from being overburdened with calls/extra responsibilities when things come up such as maternity/paternity leaves, medical leaves, etc (which has happened several times since I've been here).

2) Workload: While our workload is demanding (we have call all four years [only 4th year call at home], we cover 2 hospitals during second year which does increase the frequency of call, and medicine can have a demanding workload), I've also found that it is not overly burdensome and I've maintained tons of extracurricular interests fairly easily throughout residency including during PGY-2, when call frequency is the highest. While there may well be residents who wear this as a badge of honor, my experience is that most of us view this as an opportunity to gather more clinical experience and confidence. I understand that may not, however, be for everyone. Again, it's gotta be the right fit.

3) Not doing peds at Children's/Medicine at BIDMC: While I can't speak with a great deal of insight into why this is the case, I definitely have never heard that it is due to the services not wanting us and have also never felt "looked down on" when working at both of these hospitals. In fact, I think we're very valued (particularly at BIDMC, where my experience is more extensive). I believe that the reason for us not doing peds/medicine rotations at these hospitals is likely a financial one, but I don't have insider knowledge on this, so I'm speculating.

Anyway, if anyone has specific questions about the program or wants to discuss anything, I'm available - so feel free to PM.

 

[st2205]

I had mentioned that I will dig out my interview notes and post the call schedule here as there was a question of how light/heavy the call here was. And then I completely forgot about it. I was going through all my notes one last time before certifying my rank list when I noticed it and remembered.

Going over it, I would say it looks like the call is medium-heavy here compared to the other places I had interviewed at, and that is mainly because of the PGY3 and PGY4 call schedules (most other places had little to no call in these years). Here's how it breaks down:

PGY1 - Shadow calls in psychiatry; full/regular calls in medicine/neuro
PGY2 - Q6-8 overnight calls
PGY3 - 3 blocks of night float; 14-hour shifts!
PGY4 - Q6-8 overnight calls

The class size is 8.

I honestly think there has to be some confusion here. Their website states everything you said, except the Q6-8 is a measurement of weeks and not days. That was also consistent with the impression I got. If this is a significant factor for anyone, I'd highly recommend clarifying with someone in the program.

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[st2205]

I actually did, on interview day. I have confirmed that it is a typo on the website. I know because the handout they gave contained text that was printed right off the website. It confused me how one can have call every 6-8 weeks when there are only 8 residents in each class. It was clarified that it was actually Q6-8 days. It isn't really a significant factor though as it is quite in line with the average PGY-2 call schedule in most programs. But, as I mentioned earlier, I think what makes it harder is that there are three blocks of night float in PGY3 (which are 14-hour shifts and busy) and then Q6-8 days overnight call in PGY4, both of which are unusual.

That's a hell of a typo. How does that even work, though? I know they had a few different sites between VA, county and Freidert, but for 18 people to all be on call Q6-8 days plus 8 3rd years splitting up 3 blocks each of night float.

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[StECT]

Their ER, Psychiatric Crisis Service, is actually considered a separate site since it is quite busy. The PGY3 night float mainly covers this. The other sites are covered by the rest.

It's nice to see productive discussions like this. It'd be nice to see more reviews too.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

Go for programs with no call in PGY4, and lots of moonlighting opptys. I can't tell you what a game changer those two things are for your sanity.

 

[Fabio001]

Go for programs with no call in PGY4, and lots of moonlighting opptys. I can't tell you what a game changer those two things are for your sanity.

Would one be willing to name a few of these programs?

 

[StECT]

Would one be willing to name a few of these programs?

Most programs don't have call in PGY-4. The ones that do have call in the later years generally get mentioned prominently on these threads.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

My area is California.

UCSF is heavier on call schedules. For example, PGY3 have weekend call. Even a little call PGY4.
UCLA-NPI is front-loaded, most call PGY1 and PGY2. No call PGY4. Solid moonlighting money, some of the highest!
UCLA-Harbor is call friendly and moonlight super friendly. No weekend call PGY3. NO FLOAT system (meaning no mandatory overnight call! How crazy is that). No call PGY4. Start moonlighting PGY2. Solid pay.
USC until very recently did not allow moonlighting, and the options are currently limited. Call schedule is not super friendly. Pay is ok.
Stanford has good call schedules on a point system. No call PGY4. Moonlighting is pretty good with high pay!

UCLA-Harbor and UCLA-NPI rock in terms of call and moonlighting opportunities, with Stanford a close second. UCSF works you hard (what's up with weekend call as a PGY3?), and USC is just stepping into the light. I left the other programs out because they're not the big players.

 

[Fabio001]

Imagine how much you'd find if you dig through this entire thread and the many similar threads on this forum from the yesteryears.

I've read through this entire thread, I just haven't been paying specific attention to pgy4 call. I very much appreciate these things being pointed out though. It's hard to know what's important.

Thinking back to med school applications and interviews it seems silly in retrospect that the things myself and other applicants were interested in was problem based and small group learning, early patient exposure in the first two years, etc... Such a worthless thing to base that decision on. What we should have all been asking about was rotation sites and elective time -- likewise, I don't want to be focusing on silly and largely meaningless things when looking into residency programs. Having said that, PGY4 call seems like a good thing to pay attention to.

 

[LouCat333]

A

My area is California.

UCSF is heavier on call schedules. For example, PGY3 have weekend call. Even a little call PGY4.
UCLA-NPI is front-loaded, most call PGY1 and PGY2. No call PGY4. Solid moonlighting money, some of the highest!
UCLA-Harbor is call friendly and moonlight super friendly. No weekend call PGY3. NO FLOAT system (meaning no mandatory overnight call! How crazy is that). No call PGY4. Start moonlighting PGY2. Solid pay.
USC until very recently did not allow moonlighting, and the options are currently limited. Call schedule is not super friendly. Pay is ok.
Stanford has good call schedules on a point system. No call PGY4. Moonlighting is pretty good with high pay!

UCLA-Harbor and UCLA-NPI rock in terms of call and moonlighting opportunities, with Stanford a close second. UCSF works you hard (what's up with weekend call as a PGY3?), and USC is just stepping into the light. I left the other programs out because they're not the big players.

any insight/thoughts about uc irvine or uc Davis? Feel free to message. Thanks!

 

[Fabio001]

A

any insight/thoughts about uc irvine or uc Davis? Feel free to message. Thanks!

I would be very interested in this as well

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Would one be willing to name a few of these programs?

Honestly, OHSU -- no scheduled call 4th year.

As for moonlighting, there's lots if you're willing to drive an hour away from town. One of my classmates doubled his salary by working one weekend a month at a hospital in a nearby city (50 miles south of town). In town moonlighting opportunities are less awesome, though. Inhouse moonlighting is the ideal -- had moonlighting been a prominent factor in my decisions, that's what I'd be looking for.

 

[StECT]

OHSU -- no scheduled call 4th year.

Just to be entirely transparent, they are technically a part of the backup call pool and cover 2-3 shifts per month, during which time they can't moonlight or leave town right? Even you had mentioned this here recently. And if I'm not wrong, this is separate from the 1 week jeopardy cover where there are similar restrictions.

Anyway, what's even more important is the question that was posted earlier requesting clarification on your post where you mentioned that child exposure at lots of other programs is 100% inpatient. Can you please let us know which programs were these that you were talking about?

 

[StECT]

What we should have all been asking about was rotation sites and elective time

Medical school interviews and residency interviews are completely different beasts and not in any way comparable in my opinion. We are four years smarter and four years more mature now! So we know what we really want that much more - location, how cush the residency needs to be, etc. And, if some issue didn't matter to you at all when you learned about them, it probably won't matter to you during residency as long as nothing significant changes (spouse, kids, etc).

At the same time, it might've mattered to someone else but that person most likely felt at least the slightest bit uncomfortable with the issue and not wanting to take such a risky chance, ranked this particular program lower, and since most people match in the top 3 on their rank list, ended up avoiding the problem altogether. So, ipso facto, unlike medical school interviews, residency interviews are win-win situations that are very hard to lose.

 

[jno]

Medical school interviews and residency interviews are completely different beasts and not in any way comparable in my opinion. We are four years smarter and four years more mature now! So we know what we really want that much more - location, how cush the residency needs to be, etc. And, if some issue didn't matter to you at all when you learned about them, it probably won't matter to you during residency as long as nothing significant changes (spouse, kids, etc).

At the same time, it might've mattered to someone else but that person most likely felt at least the slightest bit uncomfortable with the issue and not wanting to take such a risky chance, ranked this particular program lower, and since most people match in the top 3 on their rank list, ended up avoiding the problem altogether. So, ipso facto, unlike medical school interviews, residency interviews are win-win situations that are very hard to lose.

Agree with this 100%.

 

[pyknotic]

Any insight/thoughts about uc irvine or uc Davis? Feel free to message. Thanks!

UC Irvine has no call PGY-4 and, from what I picked up on interview day, seems to have a lot of good moonlighting options. I didn't interview at UC Davis so I'm not sure about their moonlighting, but per their website PGY-4 call is practically non-existent (6 days per year of weekday at-home call).

 

[notdeadyet]

I'd strongly recommend folks look a little deeper into the call thing before ruling programs out based on PGY-3 and 4 call.

I'm mostly familia with the West Coast programs, but in general, for good academic programs, the call burden often has more to do with the amount of training sites. I don't mean elective rotations here. I mean if University of Acme has total ownership of a couple academic hospitals, a VA, and a county facility, it's likely to have more call than University of the Great, a place that ha only one home hospital and shares a couple smaller spots. More call, but better diversity of clinical training. It's worth keeping in mind. Quality vs comfort is a very personal equation an it doesn't really matter where your preferences lie on lie on the spectrum, as long as you recognize the spectrum.

Also, saying a program has call in a given year doesn't really mean much without knowing what kind. A week or two of night float, in which you have off from clinical duties, may be preferable to a couple of weekend shifts. It depends on the acuity. And you and your lifestyle.

Again, just look closer into what's important to you rather than looking blindly at lists. One programs call is no better or worse than another's objectively. It depends entirely on what lifestyle you want and what kind of training you want.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[notdeadyet]

Last note for applicants: always feel free to ask specific questions about call when you interview.

Good programs with heavy call will want to let you know. Nothing kills the morale of a residency class like the resident that is always whining about call like its a surprise. These programs want you to go with both eye open.

Bad programs might harshly judge you for asking and daring to shine a light where best left dark, but you REALLY don't want to end up here.

Good and bad programs with light call will want to trumpet it.

Either way, you're good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[twright]

Last note for applicants: always feel free to ask specific questions about call when you interview.

Good programs with heavy call will want to let you know. Nothing kills the morale of a residency class like the resident that is always whining about call like its a surprise. These programs want you to go with both eye open.

Bad programs might harshly judge you for asking and daring to shine a light where best left dark, but you REALLY don't want to end up here.

Good and bad programs with light call will want to trumpet it.

Either way, you're good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Totally agree with this. You should view your interview as an opportunity for both you and the program to see if you are a good fit for each other. If a program is going to ding you for asking about the call schedule, then you probably didn't want to go there anyway.

 

[Fabio001]

I'd strongly recommend folks look a little deeper into the call thing before ruling programs out based on PGY-3 and 4 call.

I'm mostly familia with the West Coast programs, but in general, for good academic programs, the call burden often has more to do with the amount of training sites. I don't mean elective rotations here. I mean if University of Acme has total ownership of a couple academic hospitals, a VA, and a county facility, it's likely to have more call than University of the Great, a place that ha only one home hospital and shares a couple smaller spots. More call, but better diversity of clinical training. It's worth keeping in mind. Quality vs comfort is a very personal equation an it doesn't really matter where your preferences lie on lie on the spectrum, as long as you recognize the spectrum.

Also, saying a program has call in a given year doesn't really mean much without knowing what kind. A week or two of night float, in which you have off from clinical duties, may be preferable to a couple of weekend shifts. It depends on the acuity. And you and your lifestyle.

Again, just look closer into what's important to you rather than looking blindly at lists. One programs call is no better or worse than another's objectively. It depends entirely on what lifestyle you want and what kind of training you want.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for highlighting the point I was trying to make early: that as a lowly ms3 or 4, it's difficult to know what will prove important v. what will prove little more than a pain in the backside come pgy3 or 4.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Wow, StECT -- I almost feel like your posts about OHSU are personal. You obviously left with quite a negative impression -- I'm almost wondering what we did. About the child stuff, I honestly don't know. Perhaps I was wrong, and I'll concede that. We don't have an inpatient experience -- there you go. I think our training in outpatient is good, and our child didactics are excellent. I'm content with what we have.

As for the call stuff, yes, there are very few weekends where you can't moonlight or leave town because of backup and jeopardy. I suspect this is not atypical in that all programs need somebody to do backup. If its not upper levels, then it's the lower levels, which could make their call even busier.

It's feeling a little like OHSU is on the bad side of the split. SDN dynamics never fail to be fascinating.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'd strongly recommend folks look a little deeper into the call thing before ruling programs out based on PGY-3 and 4 call.

I'm mostly familia with the West Coast programs, but in general, for good academic programs, the call burden often has more to do with the amount of training sites. I don't mean elective rotations here. I mean if University of Acme has total ownership of a couple academic hospitals, a VA, and a county facility, it's likely to have more call than University of the Great, a place that ha only one home hospital and shares a couple smaller spots. More call, but better diversity of clinical training. It's worth keeping in mind. Quality vs comfort is a very personal equation an it doesn't really matter where your preferences lie on lie on the spectrum, as long as you recognize the spectrum.

Also, saying a program has call in a given year doesn't really mean much without knowing what kind. A week or two of night float, in which you have off from clinical duties, may be preferable to a couple of weekend shifts. It depends on the acuity. And you and your lifestyle.

Again, just look closer into what's important to you rather than looking blindly at lists. One programs call is no better or worse than another's objectively. It depends entirely on what lifestyle you want and what kind of training you want.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd also add that the intricacies of a call schedule are very hard to appreciate.

 

[notdeadyet]

It's feeling a little like OHSU is on the bad side of the split. SDN dynamics never fail to be fascinating.

There's such a small n of posters, that's bound to happen. Personally, I really liked OHSU. I thought it was a good program with a lot of heart and great residents. I don't see its drawbacks being any different than most of the struggles that programs with limited resources are fighting, and that's a VERY big club.

 

[StECT]

I almost feel like your posts about OHSU are personal. You obviously left with quite a negative impression -- I'm almost wondering what we did.

I'm so sorry if it feels that way because they really aren't at all. When I wrote my review of the program, I mentioned about PGY4 being a part of the backup call pool with each of them covering the few backup shifts each month. When you mentioned there were no calls at all in PGY4, it sort of contradicted that, and I just wanted to clarify the discrepancy. Yes, I did leave with a very negative impression of the program but it was not because of anything you did. It was only because of the things I had mentioned in my review.

Perhaps I was wrong, and I'll concede that.

Again, it wasn't my intention to hear you say this. I only just wanted to know which were these programs you were referring to that had zero outpatient child experience. Once again, I'm sorry if any of this came across the wrong way.

 

[splik]

Again, it wasn't my intention to hear you say this. I only just wanted to know which were these programs you were referring to that had zero outpatient child experience. Once again, I'm sorry if any of this came across the wrong way.

most programs are 100% outpatient child rather than all inpatient. the only all inpatient child i can think of is longwood but there are probably others. at my program you can do 100% inpatient, 100% outpatient, 50:50, or a mix of child consults and inpatient/outpatient, and the inpatient can be at a number of different sites including forensic settings. but it is pretty unusual for adult residencies to offer that much choice of child electives for your core child psychiatry requirements.

 

[StECT]

at my program you can do 100% inpatient, 100% outpatient, 50:50, or a mix of child consults and inpatient/outpatient, and the inpatient can be at a number of different sites including forensic settings.

That sounds pretty great. I also think I know which program you're at because I interviewed at a NW program that had this!

 

[MDchouette]

I also wanted to chime in about Longwood. I'm a PGY4. I've loved my time at Longwood and would choose it again in a heartbeat. I appreciate your candor, and I'll definitely be addressing these issues with the program leadership. It sounds it was an off day for us, which is too bad, because I've always enjoy your (psychedelicious') posts on here.

I want to respond to some of your concerns:.

- Boston (cold and expensive) - can't disagree with you there! Best I can say is that salary is commensurate with cost of living.

- I didn’t “click” with anyone that day - again, this sucks, and I wish it hadn't been the case!

- HUGE classes (15 or so residents per year) that seem cliquish - Class size is a personal thing, but I see it as a plus overall. More people to switch calls with; more people to cushion the call schedule if someone is out on maternity leave (such as last year AND this year when two people were out at the same time--there's no appreciable difference in Q13 vs Q15 call); more variety in your classmates' interests both inside and outside of work. I don't know what to say about the cliquish comment, but I can tell you that we have an overnight resident retreat every year (on Friday, where faculty provides coverage) and it's a blast. We have a lot of fun together.

- Awkward PD who can’t seem to step out of her role as a psychoanalyst - I adore Christie Sams, and I remember from my own interview as a med student that she seemed distant. She's one of my favorite people in the program. During the process of selecting a new program director, they did a national search and ended up picking Christie in large part because resident representatives from every single class wanted her. She's very committed to residents both personally and professionally and is absolutely a strength of the program. But she is not an extrovert and is an analyst, but I assure you that once you are a resident in the program she very much does step out of those roles and is an absolutely fabulous program director.

- Workload (while it may be clinically useful work, I was concerned as a few residents seemed tired and unhappy) - We are not an easy program (PGY3 isn't all outpatient) but we are not an internal medicine program by any means. The changes to the PGY2 year (moving CL) will make that year, which has historically been the most difficult (although the hours were always very reasonable - 8-5:30 or earlier was my experience for 75% of the year and 7:45-4:30 or earlier for the rest of the year), much better, and will also improve on the PGY3. I don't know about the residents who seemed unhappy, but my classmates are very happy, feel very well-trained, and are getting great job offers (see below).

- Psychiatry residents looked down upon by Pediatricians at Children’s and Internists at BIDMC. …why aren’t psychiatry interns able to complete their off-service rotations at these hospitals?! HUGE red flag for me - I would guess this has more to do with funding than anything else. If you rotate at a hospital, they have to pay part of your salary, and BIDMC, while definitely financially stable, isn't as flush with cash as the BWH/Partners system. I'm just guessing, but I think this is a much more likely explanation than not "wanting us" on their services. I've never heard that explanation before.

- Program lacks identity. What is the “special sauce” of Longwood? - This is a legitimate criticism of a program with many parts. Everyone agrees that the primary objective of the program is to provide excellent clinical training. Our strengths are C/L (especially great exposure to psychosocial oncology through the Dana Farber Cancer Center), community psychiatry, and neuropsychiatry. The child inpatient unit at Children's Hospital is a great rotation, too. But, this is not a program where we churn out one kind of psychiatrist; you can really come here and do whatever interests you. To support this, here are some of the jobs that people in my class will have after graduation: C/L fellow, child-adolescent fellow, forensics fellow, addictions fellow, academic outpatient with specialization in women's mental health, private practice, academic job doing TMS and epilepsy consultations, attending on intermediate care unit at state hospital, neuropsychiatry fellow, attending doing primarily neuroimaging research. You get the idea. Just come here and do whatever you like best. Longwood has whatever kind of sauce you like.

I'm also happy to answer any questions about the program. Feel free to PM me.

Harvard Longwood

1. Communication: Email. Timely, responsive. No issues with scheduling.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations. Hotels in the area were expensive and ranged from $175-225/night. Pre-interview dinner at The Elephant Walk in Back Bay was attended by 4-5 residents. Food was abundant on interview day: breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 8:45AM until 4PM or so. Longwood = Long day. I was SO excited to interview at Harvard Longwood, but the day turned out to be one of my worst nightmares come true: I didn’t click with a SINGLE person (applicant, resident, or faculty). I spent the entire day in a daze; I only felt normal again at a Back Bay Pub upon leaving the interview (cute bartenders cure all ills). The PD, who gave a 2 hour hour talk at the beginning of the day, was expressionless and stone-faced (…I get that she’s an analyst, but can’t she show some emotion when talking about her program?). Everyone talked about the “rigorous clinical training” as if working crazy hours earned them badges of honor. Interviews were awkward all-around. I gushed about Longwood’s C/L program to one interviewer (a C/L attending) and was told, coldly, “well, we’re not ALL about C/L” (…duh? You're a C/L attending, and I want to talk about C/L @ Longwood). The PD was bitterly confrontational and, worse, showed NO facial response to my conversational demeanor. No smiles, no nods, nothing. I was so uncomfortable and texted a gal pal, “welp, just failed that interview.” The residents seemed to fall into two groups: loud and boisterous vs. quiet and unassuming. All were in their own world, none seemed interested in chatting with applicants (particularly those we ran into while touring the floors), and a few seemed very unhappy. My tour guide, a PGY2 or 3, was a cool guy who I can see myself hanging out with outside of work. Lunch was awkward, as all the residents were loudly joking amongst themselves as applicants sat quietly on the sidelines. I managed to find a quiet PGY4 and used the entire lunch-hour to ask her a TON of questions/concerns I had about Longwood. Like my tour guide, she was friendly, too.

4. Program Overview: As the Chair of BIDMC said in his talk to our group, “Longwood’s special sauce is…” (he never finished that thought, although he tried mightily). Longwood is a multi-site program that, on paper, sounds like a fabulous blend of MGH/McLean and Cambridge. In actuality, it feels scattered and all-over-the-place. Residents rotate through several star-studded hospitals, including THE Brigham, BIDMC (House of God, anyone?), Boston Children’s, Mass Mental, and Faulkner Hospital. Medicine is done at either Faulkner Hospital or BWH; these rotations CANNOT be substituted with pediatrics because Boston Children’s doesn’t want psychiatry residents on their inpatient pediatrics wards (similarly, BIDMC doesn’t want psychiatry residents on their inpatient medicine wards. #redflag). Neurology is completed at BWH. There were some changes in the curriculum for the year upcoming, including ALL C/L rotations in PGY2 (as opposed to C/L in PGY2 AND 3) and other changes that’ll help “with work-life balance,” a well-known issue with Longwood. The rest of PGY2 is spent doing inpatient work at BIDMC (including night float), BWH, Mass Mental (partial hospital), and Boston Children’s. PGY3 includes half-time outpatient work at either Mass Mental, BWH, or BIDMC, coupled with a 6-month neuropsychiatry rotation followed by a 6-month selective offering (in HIV psychiatry, women’s mental health, addictions, etc). As for the sites, the two main hospitals are quite different: broadly speaking, BWH is more biological/research oriented, whereas BIDMC is more analytic. Mass Mental is a newly renovated community hospital with excellent training in CBT and DBT (the latter rotation is shared with Cambridge residents). There are fascinating C/L rotations to be had at both BIDMC and BWH, as well as inpatient units at all of the above (including Boston Children’s). Didactics are on Wednesday afternoons, and, from PGY2-4, they include 4 hours of “scholarly work time” that residents can use to conduct research of “publishable quality.”

5. Faculty: Impressively HUGE department. Researchers, analysts, therapists, hospitalists, sub-sub-specialized C/L psychiatrists. You name it, Longwood's got it.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Longwood Medical Area (includes HMS) is situated in Back Bay Boston, a ritzy and expensive pocket that’s well-connected to the rest of Boston (and neighboring areas) via the Green-Line. Boston’s a clean, wonderful city (albeit very, very cold and very, very expensive) with lots of young professionals/grad students, culinary gems, excellent pubs/bars, and an overall vibrant scene.

7. Salary & Benefits: Standard. Boston’s expensive, particularly Back Bay Boston. Residents live in several neighborhoods, including Boston proper (North End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill), Cambridge, Somerville, Jamaica Plains, and South End.

8. Program Strengths:
- Boston (vibrant and fun)
- Truly impressive C/L rotations
- Variety of clinical sites, all with different "feels" and strengths
- PD et al implementing changes to curriculum in an effort to improve work-life balance (residents commented that the changes would be “amazing”)
- Strong in neuropsychiatry
- Plentiful research opportunities
- Exposure to inpatient child psychiatry

9. Potential Weaknesses
- Boston (cold and expensive)
- I didn’t “click” with anyone that day
- HUGE classes (15 or so residents per year) that seem cliquish
- Awkward PD who can’t seem to step out of her role as a psychoanalyst
- Workload (while it may be clinically useful work, I was concerned as a few residents seemed tired and unhappy)
- Psychiatry residents looked down upon by Pediatricians at Children’s and Internists at BIDMC. …why aren’t psychiatry interns able to complete their off-service rotations at these hospitals?! HUGE red flag for me
- Program lacks identity. What is the “special sauce” of Longwood?

 

[jackson1]

USC-Palmetto


1. Communication:

Email

2. Accommodation & Food:

The residency paid for half the cost of a night at the Hilton. Very nice hotel and ended up costing 60-something bucks after the discount. No dinner the night before, but you do get a buffet breakfast at the hotel and lunch at a local restaurant of the residents’ choosing on your interview day. Our lunch was with a 3rd and 4th year at a neat restaurant inside a converted train station.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):

Arrived at 8:30 and the assistant PD gave an overview of the program. A few of the subspecialty PD’s came in and talked for a few minutes, they were all super nice and excited about the opportunities at Palmetto. There were 5 30 minute interviews with faculty and residents. No unusual questions and all very friendly. We then went to lunch followed by a tour of the area. They showed us a few of the inpatient units, the main hospital unit where consults are done, and the state hospital, which is about 15 minutes away from the main hospital. Facilities seem fine, ranging from quite nice at Richland (where you do 4 inpatient psych months) to older but adequate at Palmetto (where you do consults). The day ended about 3pm.

4. Program Overview:

This program is known for providing strong clinical training with a very good lifestyle. The PD feels that you don’t need to kill yourself while in residency and that added hours in the hospital don’t always add up to increased learning. All the residents raved about the leadership and it seems like that’s one of the strengths. They’re very responsive, an example of this being that they used to do an inpatient rotation at the VA but when they found out it wasn’t optimal for resident learning, they switched the rotation to a new site the next week. The whole program feels like a family and residents are extremely happy here.

There are only 6 residents per class, leaning slightly towards the serious relationship/married side vs single. They try to foster resident unity by doing events each year like BBQ’s, psychiatry jeopardy (all the residents dress up and there are costume prizes), and bowling. Residents are all very nice and seem passionate about psychiatry and their program. They say that they have plenty of time to enjoy the area, their family, etc.

Call is infrequent, occurring ~30 times 1st year, 20 times 2nd year, and 10 times 3rd year. Most of these calls are from about 5-10pm, with nothing overnight. Residents assured us that despite the relaxed schedule, they see enough patients and feel well prepared to tackle anything once they graduate. There are some clinical trials and research opportunities here if you’re interested. They have a new required research project that you have a half day per week dedicated to 2nd year. This probably isn’t the place for a budding hardcore researcher though.

Half day didactics each week are fully protected, including as an intern on off-service months. The schedule here is unique, much heavier on the outpatient side than most programs. Some highlights:

1st year- Inpatient medicine for 2 months at the VA (seems like the toughest rotation hours-wise in the whole residency), outpatient medicine for 2 months (can substitute peds), 4 months inpatient psych at 2 sites (no VA anymore), 1 month ER psych, 1 month addictions, 1 month child and adolescent, 1 month neuro, 1 month geriatrics.

2nd year- Entirely outpatient and much more focused on therapy than med management. About 20% of the year is in child. You get ECT experience and begin your research project this year as well. There’s 1/2 day per week dedicated to planning, proposing, and executing your research project, which can be anything from a paper to poster on the project you design. This is the first year they’ve done it, but it seems like a good opportunity to get some research experience with lots of guidance and help along the way-there’s a whole lecture series dedicated to research and reading academic papers

3rd year- Half the year is outpatient, which includes medication management, telepsych, perinatal, forensics, and community psych. The other half is 2 months inpatient, 2 months consult, 1 month neuro, and 1 month geriatrics.

4th year- 3 months jr attending in the outpatient clinic, 1 month child, 1 month addictions, 7 months elective. A good number of international rotations are offered as electives.

5. Faculty:

Extremely nice and laid-back, but very smart and passionate at the same time. The program leadership prides themselves on being approachable, receptive, and understanding you have a life outside of work. The PD, Dr. Stuck, is wonderful and truly cares about the residents-he even bakes everyone a dessert of their choice on their birthday! Everyone seems willing to go out of their way for the residents and this sort of attitude spreads from the top down. They want to allow you to make the most out of your residency, so they’re willing to go the extra mile to individualize the experience and seek out additional opportunities if they don’t offer something.The attendings are excellent teachers as well.

6. Location and Lifestyle:

Columbia is a medium-sized southern city. Personally, I really enjoy it and think it offers a lot without the high cost of living/traffic of most of the northern cities. Entertainment options include USC sports, outdoor activities like the lake and kayaking on the river, and some cool festivals that happen every so often throughout the year. A great feature of the area is the proximity to many nice weekend trip destinations- Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta, Greenville, Charlotte, Asheville, and more. Apartments are reasonable and many residents are able to purchase homes.

The salary is very good for the area, starting at ~$50,000 first year with good benefits. 4 weeks vacation. Unlimited educational days…yes, seriously. You just have to be at whatever rotation you’re on >75% of the time. There are tons of moonlighting options beginning 2nd year if you choose to take advantage of them.

A fantastic lifestyle that allows for residents to have a family or pursue outside interests. Most rotations are 8-9 to 4-5. Weekend responsibility is limited to the 2 months on internal medicine inpatient in 1st year and 6 Sunday ER shifts 3rd year. Other than that, call is rarely more than once every other week during the weekdays and is from 5pm to about 10pm. No overnight call ever.

7. Program Strengths:

-Relaxed lifestyle, generally 9-5 with limited weekends and only occasional night call from 5-10pm.

-Very happy residents.

-Supportive faculty that are very receptive to resident feedback.

-Exposure to a wide variety of specialties, with rotations in child, addictions, geri, forensics, telepsych, ECT, perinatal outpatient, community, etc.

-Strong psychotherapy training, with a full year devoted to it and the opportunity to get training in multiple modalities. Supervision seems excellent and whether you like therapy or not, residents said it helps with 3rd year and beyond to have that background.

-Research project where you design and execute a project under the guidance of faculty. Half day per week dedicated to this during 2nd year.

-New eating disorders center in town the residents will be able to get involved in. Right now, they’ve done some DBT groups over there but full electives will likely be offered in the future.

-Good salary and many moonlighting opportunities in an affordable city. For me, Columbia is a plus but it may not be for others.

8. Potential Weaknesses:

-Not a huge department, so if you have a super specialized interest there may not be someone who does it.

-Not as well known nationally, so maybe not the best choice if you have aspirations of being chair of psych at MGH or something of that nature.

-I got the impression that didactics are not particularly a strong point, but that they’re fine.


Overall: I absolutely love this program and will be ranking it #1. Perfect for the budding community or private psychiatrist who wants very solid clinical training in a happy environment that allows you to have a life outside of work.

 

[jackson1]

UNC


1. Communication:

ERAS

2. Accommodation & Food:

No hotel provided, but lots available at reasonable cost in the area. Dinner the night before was at a delicious Italian place with 4 or so residents from different years. Breakfast was provided on the day of the interview, which you ate with the chief residents. Lunch was catered in with some more residents floating in and out.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):

Arrived at 8:30 and ate breakfast with the chiefs, then had an intro with Dr. Dawkins, the PD. There were 3 half hour interviews, 2 with faculty (one with the PD) and 1 with a resident. This was followed by lunch and a tour of the facility. The neuropsych building is beautiful free standing building, with multiple units, offices, and partial programs that take up most of the floors. They didn’t take us to the state hospital, a facility about 45 minutes away, but said that if applicants really want to see it they can arrange it. The chair of the department and head of education came and spoke with us, then the day ended by 3:30.

4. Program Overview:

An all-around strong program, UNC offers great teaching and a happy environment plus the ability to see more subspecialties than most other places. Dr. Dawkins is not someone I’d necessarily describe as “warm and fuzzy”, but she goes to bat for residents and looks out for you. She was very honest about the differences between UNC and other programs and wants to find residents that are a good fit. Psych is a large department in the hospital and well-respected.

There are about 13 residents per class. All the residents were very smart and down-to-earth. They had very positive things to say about the program overall. Biggest negatives were “working hard” and sometimes less social work support than they’d like.

Call is a little confusing, but overall seems to be slightly less than average. There are 4 months 1st year with no weekend call but short call q3 or so until 8pm. Most other rotations seem to have 2 weekend ER shifts per month. As a 2nd year, night call is about q12. Weekend coverage is by 3rd and 4th years-about 7-8 days over the whole year. They seem to have a lot of weekends free overall.

Half day didactics that are high quality and are protected, but residents keep their pagers on for any problems on the unit. Some seemed a little stressed out about trying to finish a full day’s worth of work on the unit around didactics.

1st year- 2 months family med (the tough inpatient medicine experience), 2 months medicine for psych patients that seems unique and was described as “chill” (this is when residents tend to take step 3), 1 month crisis unit, 1 month psychotic unit, 1 month adolescent, 1 month neuro, 1 month ER

2nd year- Entirely outpatient. 2 half days adult continuity clinic, 1 day community, half day psychotic disorders clinic, 10 hours per week psychotherapy (strongly focused on DBT + dynamic), half day child psych for half the year, specialty clinic half day for half the year

3rd year- 10 hours per week outpatient continuity, 1 month geri, 1 month ECT, 1 month perinatal, 1 month crisis, 1 month child, 1 month eating disorders unit, 3 months consult, 2 months neuro, 1 month ER psych

4th year- Electives, plus outpatient continuity clinic and 3 months of junior attending

5. Faculty:

Smart, enthusiastic, and excellent teachers. The ones I worked with on my away were amazing and great to learn from. No matter how busy a service is, they always take the time to teach and provide feedback. There is apparently 1 attending that rubs some people the wrong way, but other than that they pride themselves on having nice faculty and happy residents. One thing that stood out to me was that the head of didactics says he expects residents to come in knowing nothing and teaches them the basics then builds up. I like that attitude and think it shows that they take their education very seriously. They aren’t as much of a research powerhouse as some places, but there are a lot of faculty involved in projects and it’s easy to get involved if you want.

6. Location and Lifestyle:

Chapel Hill is a cute college town in the triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill). With multiple major colleges, some pro sports, and many good restaurants, I wouldn’t get bored here and really like the area. It has a very liberal and northern feel despite being in North Carolina. You’re about 2 hours from the beach and 3 from the mountains for weekend trips.

Salary is $47,000 first year. Chapel Hill is slightly more expensive than you might expect, but Durham and other areas are more affordable and that’s where residents tend to live. Three moonlighting options beginning 2nd year and it seems like there’s plenty of work for anyone who wants it

Lifestyle is very good. You get a lot of free weekends, even starting as an intern. I was told by several residents that you “work hard”. Typical schedule is 8-5 or so except on some of the more difficult rotations, but you are generally working the whole time unlike some other places I visited where afternoons are more relaxed. It seems especially tough in 3rd year, when you have full inpatient responsibilities and are also expected to schedule outpatients about 10 hours a week. Call is about every other week in terms of overnights as a 2nd year. Overall very manageable and personally, I’d rather work hard during the day and have most of my nights and weekends free.

7. Program Strengths:

-Lots of inpatient units, with exposure to subspecialties like geriatrics, eating disorders, and even perinatal all as a part of the regular curriculum.

-Excellent faculty that enjoy teaching and are very focused on resident education.

-Lots of free weekends, reasonable call schedule.

-Outpatient year as a 2nd year, allowing you to carry some of your therapy patients over into 3rd year and get more experience overall.

-Lots of moonlighting options available.

-Nice, normal residents. The kind of people I would want as friends and colleagues.

-The triangle is a pleasant, affordable area to live in.

8. Potential Weaknesses:

-Didactics don’t seem as well protected as some places. You keep your pager on and may have to leave to go deal with a problem on the unit. You’re also expected to complete a full days worth of work in half a day on many units.

-Told by multiple residents that they “work hard”. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not the place to go if you want a cush experience. Residents were overall happy, but some seemed stressed out-especially in 3rd year while trying to balance outpatient work with inpatient.

-Social work support is adequate, but not always the best according to a resident I spoke with.

-45 minute drive to the state hospital where you do a lot of your 1st year rotations.

-No VA if that’s your thing.


Overall: A wonderful program with a strong national reputation and excellent overall training. I feel that you’d be able to do any job after graduating from here and will be ranking it very highly.

 

[jackson1]

So I had some more reviews typed up, but unfortunately had my computer stolen a few weeks ago. If I have time to write out a few more, does anyone have a preference out of the following programs? I'm also happy to answer questions via PM if anyone's working on their application list, rank list, etc.

MUSC, Utah, Arkansas, Brown, Cambridge, Northwestern, UVA, Georgetown, Maryland, San Mateo.

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[Psychotic]

.

 

[Fabio001]

So I had some more reviews typed up, but unfortunately had my computer stolen a few weeks ago. If I have time to write out a few more, does anyone have a preference out of the following programs? I'm also happy to answer questions via PM if anyone's working on their application list, rank list, etc.

MUSC, Utah, Arkansas, Brown, Cambridge, Northwestern, UVA, Georgetown, Maryland, San Mateo.

I'd like to see your thoughts on northwestern ^_^

 

[twright]

So I had some more reviews typed up, but unfortunately had my computer stolen a few weeks ago. If I have time to write out a few more, does anyone have a preference out of the following programs? I'm also happy to answer questions via PM if anyone's working on their application list, rank list, etc.

MUSC, Utah, Arkansas, Brown, Cambridge, Northwestern, UVA, Georgetown, Maryland, San Mateo.

Great service BTW

 

[cosmopolitanboy]

I also wanted to chime in about Longwood. I'm a PGY4. I've loved my time at Longwood and would choose it again in a heartbeat. I appreciate your candor, and I'll definitely be addressing these issues with the program leadership. It sounds it was an off day for us, which is too bad, because I've always enjoy your (psychedelicious') posts on here.

I want to respond to some of your concerns:.

- Boston (cold and expensive) - can't disagree with you there! Best I can say is that salary is commensurate with cost of living.

- I didn’t “click” with anyone that day - again, this sucks, and I wish it hadn't been the case!

- HUGE classes (15 or so residents per year) that seem cliquish - Class size is a personal thing, but I see it as a plus overall. More people to switch calls with; more people to cushion the call schedule if someone is out on maternity leave (such as last year AND this year when two people were out at the same time--there's no appreciable difference in Q13 vs Q15 call); more variety in your classmates' interests both inside and outside of work. I don't know what to say about the cliquish comment, but I can tell you that we have an overnight resident retreat every year (on Friday, where faculty provides coverage) and it's a blast. We have a lot of fun together.

- Awkward PD who can’t seem to step out of her role as a psychoanalyst - I adore Christie Sams, and I remember from my own interview as a med student that she seemed distant. She's one of my favorite people in the program. During the process of selecting a new program director, they did a national search and ended up picking Christie in large part because resident representatives from every single class wanted her. She's very committed to residents both personally and professionally and is absolutely a strength of the program. But she is not an extrovert and is an analyst, but I assure you that once you are a resident in the program she very much does step out of those roles and is an absolutely fabulous program director.

- Workload (while it may be clinically useful work, I was concerned as a few residents seemed tired and unhappy) - We are not an easy program (PGY3 isn't all outpatient) but we are not an internal medicine program by any means. The changes to the PGY2 year (moving CL) will make that year, which has historically been the most difficult (although the hours were always very reasonable - 8-5:30 or earlier was my experience for 75% of the year and 7:45-4:30 or earlier for the rest of the year), much better, and will also improve on the PGY3. I don't know about the residents who seemed unhappy, but my classmates are very happy, feel very well-trained, and are getting great job offers (see below).

- Psychiatry residents looked down upon by Pediatricians at Children’s and Internists at BIDMC. …why aren’t psychiatry interns able to complete their off-service rotations at these hospitals?! HUGE red flag for me - I would guess this has more to do with funding than anything else. If you rotate at a hospital, they have to pay part of your salary, and BIDMC, while definitely financially stable, isn't as flush with cash as the BWH/Partners system. I'm just guessing, but I think this is a much more likely explanation than not "wanting us" on their services. I've never heard that explanation before.

- Program lacks identity. What is the “special sauce” of Longwood? - This is a legitimate criticism of a program with many parts. Everyone agrees that the primary objective of the program is to provide excellent clinical training. Our strengths are C/L (especially great exposure to psychosocial oncology through the Dana Farber Cancer Center), community psychiatry, and neuropsychiatry. The child inpatient unit at Children's Hospital is a great rotation, too. But, this is not a program where we churn out one kind of psychiatrist; you can really come here and do whatever interests you. To support this, here are some of the jobs that people in my class will have after graduation: C/L fellow, child-adolescent fellow, forensics fellow, addictions fellow, academic outpatient with specialization in women's mental health, private practice, academic job doing TMS and epilepsy consultations, attending on intermediate care unit at state hospital, neuropsychiatry fellow, attending doing primarily neuroimaging research. You get the idea. Just come here and do whatever you like best. Longwood has whatever kind of sauce you like.

I'm also happy to answer any questions about the program. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks so much for addressing my concerns, MDchouette! I really appreciate it. Longwood's a fantastic program; I feel like it'd offer such a well-rounded and comprehensive education (I'd certainly find the sauce for me!). I should also point out that, since my review, I've spoken with the program director (Dr. Sams) - and another attending - by phone, and both have been lovely. I'm trying to look past the interview day as I approach my rank list.