Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)
1. Communication: Email. One of the warmest program coordinators I met on my trail.
2. Accommodation & Food: Had a very comfortable stay. Hotel costs were refunded in full except taxes. Residents picked us up for the dinner which turned out to be amazing and so was the lunch (they really do make the best food in the midwest!).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Parking is close and convenient. The day starts at 8 AM when they greet you with a really nice "goody bag" that includes a root beer! After a brief introduction, we get four half-hour interviews. The interviews are all laid back and conversational, and they seemed to mostly just want to know you better. The PD was particularly nice and the consensus among the interviewees on the day was that she makes a personal effort to make each of us feel comfortable during the interviews. The residents I met also appeared to be fun and smart, with most of them having an interest in psychotherapy and also involved in research.
4. Program Overview: This is a well-balanced, clinically focused program with a variety of training sites and plenty of research opportunities as they have one of the biggest neuroimaging research centers in the country. You're going to be well trained for any setting you want to work in, but if you want to be very good in psychotherapy, I can't think of very many programs where you could get better training, including some of the traditionally therapy-oriented programs like Cambridge and Cornell. Don't get me wrong, I'm not directly comparing these programs, but from what I have found out about the intensity with which the faculty support your interest in psychotherapy (if you have one, that is) and the amount of opportunity you get to practice and perfect your skills, this program is definitely in the top-end of the spectrum for psychotherapy training. The other notable features of the program are doing your outpatient year in PGY2 allowing longer longitudinal follow-up of your therapy patients, and having a really low-stress experience with no overnight calls in PGY1, and required overnight calls in PGY2 only once in six to eight WEEKS! There are also plenty of moonlighting opportunities, both external and internal (paid to take call system). All of these make the program one of the cushiest programs in the country, second only to San Mateo. Even the IM rotations are relatively stress-free comprising only of 1 month of inpatient IM, 1 month of inpatient FM and 1 month of outpatient IM.
5. Faculty: The ones that I met were impressive and motivated to teach. A lot of psychoanalysts here, and you can choose one of your two individual supervisors in PGY2 to be a psychoanalyst. The residents also spoke very highly of the faculty and the training overall.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Contrary to popular belief, Milwaukee, although in Wisconsin, does not share the Wisconsin weather. It's much closer to Chicago both in weather and in distance as the two cities are separated by only a short bus/train ride. Takes me just an hour and a half to drive from my home in downtown Chicago to downtown Milwaukee too. I know about the weather because I have friends here and I've visited the city many times in all seasons and have found virtually no difference between the weather in Chicago and the weather in Milwaukee. And here's Milwaukee from Urban Dictionary: Situated along the picturesque banks of wondrous Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is the "hidden jewel of the Upper Midwest". Repressed for many decades, this city has made vast strides since the late 80's. The city boasts a world class zoo, a one of a kind art museum, excellent food, million dollar condos, dozens of large festivals, a large number of parks, a renewed downtown, arts, theatre, and music. Underrated city.
7. Salary & Benefits: Salary is on the higher side, from $56,xxx to $60,xxx, with plenty of moonlighting opportunities starting from PGY2. Full benefits at good networks with possibility of enrolling family. Overall a very good package.
8. Program Strengths:
1. Communication: Email. One of the warmest program coordinators I met on my trail.
2. Accommodation & Food: Had a very comfortable stay. Hotel costs were refunded in full except taxes. Residents picked us up for the dinner which turned out to be amazing and so was the lunch (they really do make the best food in the midwest!).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Parking is close and convenient. The day starts at 8 AM when they greet you with a really nice "goody bag" that includes a root beer! After a brief introduction, we get four half-hour interviews. The interviews are all laid back and conversational, and they seemed to mostly just want to know you better. The PD was particularly nice and the consensus among the interviewees on the day was that she makes a personal effort to make each of us feel comfortable during the interviews. The residents I met also appeared to be fun and smart, with most of them having an interest in psychotherapy and also involved in research.
4. Program Overview: This is a well-balanced, clinically focused program with a variety of training sites and plenty of research opportunities as they have one of the biggest neuroimaging research centers in the country. You're going to be well trained for any setting you want to work in, but if you want to be very good in psychotherapy, I can't think of very many programs where you could get better training, including some of the traditionally therapy-oriented programs like Cambridge and Cornell. Don't get me wrong, I'm not directly comparing these programs, but from what I have found out about the intensity with which the faculty support your interest in psychotherapy (if you have one, that is) and the amount of opportunity you get to practice and perfect your skills, this program is definitely in the top-end of the spectrum for psychotherapy training. The other notable features of the program are doing your outpatient year in PGY2 allowing longer longitudinal follow-up of your therapy patients, and having a really low-stress experience with no overnight calls in PGY1, and required overnight calls in PGY2 only once in six to eight WEEKS! There are also plenty of moonlighting opportunities, both external and internal (paid to take call system). All of these make the program one of the cushiest programs in the country, second only to San Mateo. Even the IM rotations are relatively stress-free comprising only of 1 month of inpatient IM, 1 month of inpatient FM and 1 month of outpatient IM.
5. Faculty: The ones that I met were impressive and motivated to teach. A lot of psychoanalysts here, and you can choose one of your two individual supervisors in PGY2 to be a psychoanalyst. The residents also spoke very highly of the faculty and the training overall.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Contrary to popular belief, Milwaukee, although in Wisconsin, does not share the Wisconsin weather. It's much closer to Chicago both in weather and in distance as the two cities are separated by only a short bus/train ride. Takes me just an hour and a half to drive from my home in downtown Chicago to downtown Milwaukee too. I know about the weather because I have friends here and I've visited the city many times in all seasons and have found virtually no difference between the weather in Chicago and the weather in Milwaukee. And here's Milwaukee from Urban Dictionary: Situated along the picturesque banks of wondrous Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is the "hidden jewel of the Upper Midwest". Repressed for many decades, this city has made vast strides since the late 80's. The city boasts a world class zoo, a one of a kind art museum, excellent food, million dollar condos, dozens of large festivals, a large number of parks, a renewed downtown, arts, theatre, and music. Underrated city.
7. Salary & Benefits: Salary is on the higher side, from $56,xxx to $60,xxx, with plenty of moonlighting opportunities starting from PGY2. Full benefits at good networks with possibility of enrolling family. Overall a very good package.
8. Program Strengths:
- Exceptional psychotherapy training
- Freestanding psychotherapy hospital
- Diverse population and training sites
- Excellent and highly dedicated faculty
- Fourth year is full and full elective time
- Diverse research opportunities with plenty of time to do it
- Second cushiest program in the country, next only to San Mateo
- Good salary, excellent internal and external moonlighting opportunities
- Has fellowships in addiction, child, forensic, geriatric and psychosomatic medicine
- May be too cush for some. With call frequency at q6-8 weeks, it may not be ideal for those wanting to ER psychiatrists.
- While Milwaukee is a metropolitan city, it's not Chicago/SF/LA/NYC. Have to travel 1.5 hours for that large city fix.