2015-2016 Interview Reviews

[simon_sparrow]

Sounds reasonable to me. Better than overselling what we know about neuroscience, which so far is very little. The PD's statement about antidepressants is also pretty evidence based.

Definitely reasonable: which is why I said I don't think it's really a weakness, and more a matter of emphasis. Contrawise, if the entire interview day I had heard nothing but "fMRI this and fMRI that" without any mention of currently relevant clinical issues, well, I would have considered that a weakness. Having said that, I have a classmate who's much more research-focused than I am who is always talking about receptor sub-types and I think he would have come away from the interview day feeling something was missing.

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[Rogue Penguin]

Tulane University

1. Ease Of Communication: Good. Prompt, clear, friendly responses. No problems. I received my schedule 2 days prior to my interview day.

2. Accommodation & Food: I did not need accommodations, but it’s my understanding that you can get a good discount for a French Quarter hotel. A resident will pick you up for dinner if you’re staying there. The dinner was at Café Adelaide (on the bottom floor of the Loews Hotel). I would describe it as upscale Creole/Cajun-Southern fusion. Everything is covered by the program except alcohol. In addition to entrees, we split several appetizers and desserts as a table. Very delicious. Casual dress. Dinner was attended by one upper level resident and one intern. They both seemed happy to be there and excited to share their experiences with the program. They came across as relaxed, down-to-earth, friendly people and made an effort to include everyone in conversation. Breakfast was with a chief and another upper level. Food was some grocery store-bought pastries, a king cake, and juice. A Keurig and an assortment of K-cups were also available. Lunch is with all the residents in their library just after grand rounds. The lunch was part of a weekly hour where all the residents gather and socialize with each other and can have discussions with the speaker from Grand Rounds. I don’t think it’s required for them to be there, but why would you pass up on free lunch? Most or all of the residents are there every week. The lunch is catered and varies from salad and fajitas with all the trimmings (my fav) to pizza, pastas, and salad to jambalaya, salad, wings, and cookies. There’s always salad. The residents seem to genuinely like each other and socialize outside of work. The day of my interview they were planning to go to a haunted house where you fend off zombies with paintball guns.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The day starts with breakfast and an overview presentation from the chief residents. Next is a tour of the new inpatient psych unit at the gorgeous, brand new University Medical Center. We sat in on rounds with the med-psych attending there as well. We returned to the main campus afterwards and each had one 20 minute interview. While waiting for the interview, we were in a room with an intern who took questions about the program and intern year. After this we went to Grand Rounds in the also new and beautiful Bioinnovation Center across the street. This was followed by the lunch that I described earlier. We got to talk with the Grand Rounds presenter at lunch. After lunch, we each had 5-6 more 20 minute interviews. My interviews were with 2 upper level residents, the PD (love her!), 3 MD staff members, and the psychologist who is largely in charge of psychotherapy training. They were very laid-back and conversational for the most part. Maybe this was because my interviewers knew me, but a couple did ask about where else I’d applied. I had one semi-awkward encounter. On my app, I mentioned an interest in LGBT mental health. Half way through, I was asked if I’d talked to any interviewers about that yet. It hadn’t come up. I said no, and this seemed to make my interviewer angry. He then ended the interview abruptly. Not sure what to make of that. My next interview was centered on available LGBT health opportunities, including research with Dr. Mint. At the end of the day, we all got an insulated Tulane lunch bag, a praline, a booklet about New Orleans, a stress ball, and a flash drive with some more info about the program.

4. Program Overview: The program has 6 categorical spots. There are also 2 triple boarders and 2 med-psych residents per year that are well integrated. There’s a mix of single, married, and residents with children. The smaller size was described by many residents as an advantage because it facilitates individualized attention from faculty. The program has a Gulf Coast VA Research Tract and an option to fast track a child/adolescent fellowship. There’s also a new Academic Clinician Educator tract for residents interested in careers in academia. This was pioneered due to one current resident’s interest in academia from what I understand. A forensic fellowship is also offered by Tulane and they usually take Tulane residents. Residency training sites include Tulane Medical Center, Tulane Lakeside (peds location), River Oaks Hospital (Addiction, ~25 patient detox unit), Northlake Behavioral Health (16 patient inpatient unit), University Medical Center (8 med-psych patients covered by Tulane), VA Biloxi (soon to be replaced by the new VA next to UMC), outpatient clinics at Tulane and the VA, and the undergraduate mental health center.

Intern year is 4 months IM or peds (your choice), 2 months Neuro, 4 months of inpatient psych, 1 month of geriatric psych at the VA, 1 month of C/L; PGY-2 is 2 months inpatient psych, 2 months addiction, 2 months CAP, 2 months ACT team, 4 months C/L; PGY 3 is outpatient clinics and the bulk of psychotherapy training including weekly trips to the New Orleans – Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center in the garden district; PGY-4 is 10 months continuity clinic and 2 months of substance abuse, this is all along with elective opportunities. Didactics are mostly on Friday afternoon and seem fine. I have no basis for comparison. Some years have Tuesday TBLs and case conferences. There’s an academic writing class that is “guaranteed to get you published”

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Idk about achievements. You can probably find it on the website if you’re concerned. Faculty are very involved in resident education and seem dedicated to resident happiness and assisting with career goals

6. Location & Lifestyle: New Orleans is a mixed bag in my opinion, though many people really love it. The food is amazing, especially southern, Cajun/creole, Vietnamese, and fine dining. The live music is amazing. Mardi Gras and other festivals are lots of fun. New Orleans hosts 400+ parties/festivals each year, including Jazz Fest, Voodoo Fest, Buku. You’re close to the gulf coast (Gulf Shores, Pensacola, Destin), but not much else. The flat nature of the city makes it very bike-able, but watch out for drunk/reckless drivers. Not having your bike stolen is a constant struggle. Mine was stolen from the gated parking garage of my apartment even though it was locked to a bike rack with two expensive locks. If you’re into rock-climbing or hiking there’s not a lot around, though a new bouldering gym just opened. Exploring the swamps can be cool. Sailing on Lake Ponchartrain is popular. I’ve lived in NYC, and the crime in New Orleans scares me. I’ve never had problems outside of the bike theft, but I have friends who’ve been mugged. There is significant racial tension in some areas, but you should be able to avoid them if you want. New Orleans is not a great place to go if you have any problems with alcohol. The roads are full of potholes and will destroy your car. Car insurance is more expensive than in other places, but the overall cost of living is reasonable. Much lower than the northeast or cali. I have a 2/2 in a nice area for $1500/month. A “luxury” 1 bedroom downtown next to the hospital costs the same or a little less. If you are willing to drive 15-20 minutes from Metairie or Lakeview, you could pay a lot less than that.

The residents seem to have a good lifestyle. They’re all happy and relaxed. Call isn’t too crazy and you get to work with your fellow residents to make your call schedule, which reportedly ranges from ~q5 – q11 during 2nd year depending on how many residents are on the schedule at a given time. Call for interns ends at 10pm. Call for upper levels is lighter, but I didn’t get the specifics. The program is very accommodating if a resident develops a medical issue.

7. Salary & Benefits: Medical, Life, Eye, Dental, and disability insurance, affordable day care from two different sites, free parking everywhere often in gated garages, free food on call, free lunch once a week, reduced cost of hospital cafeteria food. PGY-1’s get an iPad and $550 of book money. All other years get $750 of book money. Vacation is 3 wks for 1st year and 4 weeks for pgy2+. 5-7 days of educational leave per year. Program covers your DEA license and Louisiana license. The program goes on a weekend long retreat every year, usually to a gulf coast beach with all expenses covered including food.

Pay is $48.3k – 53k.

8. Program Strengths:
-Relatively diverse range of clinical experiences with a good balance of independence and supervision
-Strong opportunities to work with indigent and underserved populations
-Solid psychotherapy training with Psychoanalytic Institute and option to have multiple supervisors
-Child and Adolescent Training, fast track, and research, presumably priority for fellowship
-Strong C/L faculty and pain management opportunities
-Flexibility, willingness of program faculty to help you tailor a unique path for you to reach your career goals, flexible call schedule that you get to help make
-Lots of new facilities thanks to UMC/VA opening and new rurally oriented faculty
-Friendly, enthusiastic PD (She’s great!)
-Good benefits
-ACT teams and the VA equivalent (MCIHM?)
-Forensics exposure, priority for fellowship
-Good camaraderie among residents; friendly, happy residents
-New Orleans culture, festivals, and food
-Possibly a new rural psych site in the works

9. Potential Weaknesses:
-No psychosomatic fellowship despite multiple mentions of strong C/L service
-Research outside of Child and Adolescent is lacking
-New Orleans crime, corruption, and crappy roads
-Very sick, impoverished patient population (could be seen as a plus or minus depending on what you’re looking for)
-Louisiana’s funding for mental health is pretty weak and resources are poor compared to what you might find in other areas of the country

Overall Impression: Solid program with a decent balance of psychopharm and therapy training in a friendly, laid-back atmosphere. The program faculty is very willing to work with you to help you pursue your interests. Good CAP stuff, weak otherwise in research. It seems like the program is headed in a positive direction with new facilities and expanding elective options.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Yes, I'm a fool, a double board certified member of the faculty at a top 5 residency. Settle down junior, pass step 2 cs before you sling insults at the grown ups.

Calling yourself a grown-up? That's a joke based on your behavior in this thread. I'm not even going to touch the 4 other hilarious things in this post. We can only hope that you never become PD of your "top 5 residency."

Let's remember that this thread is about Interview Reviews only. If your comment is not directly related to providing a review, asking a polite question about a review, or clarifying a review, this thread is not the place.

 

[chicagochildpsych]

I apologize, I was out line. The second beer contributed to my response. Best of luck to all in the match. My personal apologies to all I offeneded.

 

[clausewitz2]

University of Louisville
1. Ease Of Communication:
Fairly responsive via email, needed slight prompting to get interview schedule details in a timely manner.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Program attempted to make hotel reservations, but was unable to for this interview because a home and garden show apparently descended upon the city this week and booked up all of their normal hotels. They were very apologetic and alerted us to the circumstance as soon as they found out about it.
Coffee, fresh fruit, roasted nuts, and donuts from some sort of famous bakery in town laid out for breakfast. Bottled water available throughout the day. Lunch catered by Salsarita’s that ended up being totally veg/vegan friendly, but they were so concerned when I expressed a dietary preference that they made sure to order me something special, which was touching.
Meet and greet evening was at a very cool little nouvelle American joint in NuLu, a frontier of gentrification. Fancy nibbles, but no alcohol paid for due to university regs. Everyone had a few drinks, though, because Kentucky.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Half the group toured in the morning and had interviews in the afternoon, other half had the opposite schedule. Three half hour interviews and two group interviews by muckity-mucks with busy schedules. Director of the child fellowship apparently couldn’t make it in person so he made a 10-minute video for us summarizing their program. Tours conducted by chief residents, who also hung out with people in a central conference room between interviews and were very happy to answer questions.
Interviews were very low-key: I had one with the PD, one with the Chair of Education, and one with a fourth year chief who is supposed to start on faculty next year. The PD and I have extremely similar interests, so we got on like a house on fire. Chair of Education was a bit awkward, I think our conversational styles just did not mesh very well. The chief I interviewed with asked a lot of questions about one of the nerdier interests I put on my CV and mostly tried to sell me on the program otherwise.
At the meet and greet later, I got to talking to a few of the residents and got some of the backstory of the program. Apparently things were pretty dismal a couple of years ago and the department was a hotbed of factional in-fighting. Residents compared it to being the children of divorced parents, and one resident told me “If you were standing here two years ago, I would have told you to run and not look back.” But a great blood-letting has occurred and the splittist cliques have been gloriously purged. Chair retired, PD retired, a lot of older faculty retired, and a new PD was brought in from the community mental health world who is universally described as “enthusiastic” and seems to have a lot of plans. Crucially, he is also described as being incredibly receptive to feedback: “If you think something’s not working, and you go to him and lay out a better way to do it, pretty good odds that he’ll tell you to go for it.”

4. Program Overview:
9 residents per year. In the past three years, not counting people “leaving” to fast-track into Child, one resident a year has gone to, strangely, the same program in Texas to be closer to family. Fellowships are CAP, Addiction (supposedly very, very cush), and Psychosomatic. The PD is very enthusiastic about building up a forensic fellowship but it is not clear when or if that will take off.
Two 20 bed adult inpatient units (Norton and UofL), which are older, but a new unit is being built at UofL and is supposed to come online in the spring, although as of now it is a construction site. Residents also rotate at the VA, which houses an in-patient substance rehab for people who want that exposure. Medicine is at Norton, UofL, and the VA. Neurology is as part of a stroke or consult team at UofL, or as part of the consult service at Jewish. Norton also has a 20 bed child/adolescent inpatient unit.
Most of the hospitals are clustered together downtown, although the VA is a couple miles away. Residents also rotate at Central State Hospital, which is a 20 minute drive. Residents do at least one month of their medicine rotations at a peds outpatient clinic.
UofL hospital has a dedicated five-bed Emergency Psychiatric unit physically separate from the main ED, which is where all residents take their psych night call. ED has its own “drunk tank”, so they are reasonably good at not sending everyone who is intoxicated to this unit. Despite only having five beds, there is also a dedicated waiting area that can stack up, and residents reports sometimes having twenty patients at a time. However, 8 AM-midnight there is always a dedicated attending on-site, and from midnight to 8 there is a nurse practitioner so that call is not just note-hell. One of the emergency attendings prior to going into psych was a CT surgeon prior to an injury that kept him from operating. The emergency unit has 24/7 SW coverage provided by the local community mental health agency, and the unit can directly admit to Central State Hospital.
Rather than scattered didactics throughout the week that no one ever came to, all of them have been consolidated together into one “academic day” per week that is totally mandatory.
First year is 3 months off-service, 3 months on, repeat. Everyone starts off-service, so no psych until October but you are always paired up with another psych intern no matter what service you are on. Nice for bonding. Does apparently lead some attendings to despair when October interns know nothing about psychiatry, however.
Academic and community tracks are available for those wanting to specialized, but not actually required. Several people were effectively doing the tracks without fulfilling all of the requirements. Program is very flexible about designing electives, and apparently at least one month in fourth year could be pretty much anywhere that offers a clinical experience they can’t offer.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
PD has reportedly been pounding the drum for more faculty involvement with the program, and now most grand rounds and didactics are attended by faculty as well as residents. Dr. Wright does all of the CBT training and he is a student of Aaron Beck, so there’s that. Strong expertise in bipolar disorder. Talks are underway to get Glen Gabbard involved in didactics in some tele-capacity, as the program was left an endowment that was specifically limited to psychodynamic education for residents.
Current PD is about to be inducted into some kind of telemedicine “hall of fame”.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
This program will try to sell you very hard on Louisville. It is definitely a city that is much cooler than it used to be, and if you like alcohol and trendy restaurants, there is a lot going on. Real estate is very affordable, and if you ever wanted to live in a grand Victorian mansion in a pleasant city buying in Louisville in the next few years may be a very cost-effective way to do that. Google Fiber is coming to town in the near future, and a massive 100-mile green belt/bike trail around the city should be finished soon. Many lovely parks designed by the same dude who laid out Central Park in NY. Bardstown road/baxter avenue area is hipster-land, but urban homesteading types are starting to colonize Portland (appropriately enough). You can drive from Louisville to 2/3rds of the country in a day, a fact that you will hear about a dozen times on interview day.
Residents collaborate to come up with a call schedule, and I get the sense that this is usually not a contentious process. Q4 overnight on medicine and neuro, no night float off-service.

7. Salary & Benefits:
Pretty typical salary. Four weeks vacation each year that you can use however you like, so no “here are the two weeks we have decided you will have off for the next six months, take it or leave it”.
Moonlighting is mostly done at Central State, reportedly not challenging. Limited internal opportunities available, but the system just isn’t that big. Recently several residents have been moonlighting in Fargo, ND (!) on weekends, all expenses paid and apparently very lucrative.
8 dollars in meal vouchers per call shift. Call does not start until 8 PM, so most residents just eat dinner before coming in and pocket the money.
The only site that requires a parking pass apparently charges $300 a year, but the program gives every resident $300 dollars on top of their salary a year in case they want to buy it. Many of them just find street parking and keep the money.
Five days off to study for Step 3 or use for other educational purposes/take more leave.

8. Program Strengths:
-Strong integration with Seven Counties, the local (well-run) CMHC
-Dedicated EPS
-New inpatient unit coming on line soon
-If your patient goes to ECT, you go to help, so exposure early
-Respected and well-utilized consult service
-all residents do telepysch into a rural county third year, and can continue in the fourth
-Louisville is a very livable city with stuff out of proportion to its size

9. Potential Weaknesses:
-Central State is surprisingly low volume for a state hospital
-still in a bit of a state of transition, lingering resentment from what is left of old guard?
-Louisville still ain’t that big
-Most grads stay in the area, which may be a problem if you are trying to network your way into a plum gig on a coast.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

In years past, someone stepped up and offered to post reviews from people who wanted to do it anonymously...any takers?

I'll volunteer for this task. I'm on this website too damn much anyways.

 

[Acyl chloride]

Thomas Jefferson

1. Ease Of Communication: Very reasonable. Program coordinator was friendly and got back to me within a day to confirm my interview. She is on site during the interview day to help out and answer any questions.

2. Accommodation & Food: no housing provided. Happy hour mixer event the night before at a local Bar. Standard happy hour style food and drinks with a good turn-out from the residents. All class years from the program were represented and several of the residents were going out together after the event to watch the football game. Breakfast in the AM with coffee, bagels, yogurt, and fruit. Lunch was mediterranean with a good variety of options plus desserts - brownies and apple cake- made by the program director which were both very good

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview day starts at 8am ends ~3:30 - don’t get there early, the suite will not be open. (of note if you have not been there before, 833 chestnut is a random office building rather than being in the hospital, it also has two entrances which made google maps very confused. When you get to the room for breakfast you receive a personalized folder with your schedule for the day and a name tag. You can leave your bag and jacket in the room during the interview day. Everyone is together for the introduction to the program from the director as well as lunch and some info sessions in the afternoon. Before lunch some people start with a tour and some people start with interviews and then swap. The campus tour with one of the chief residents was nice and he was happy to answer questions during the tour. We walked through the main hospital and saw their different units as well as the main medical school campus. 3 half hour interviews in total. Everyone interviews with Dr. Certa the PD at some point over the course of the day. Interviews seemed pretty standard in format, one had read my application and had specific questions. A theme would probably be “tell me how this program is a good fit for you.” Overall they were very friendly, though I did get tired of “do you have any more questions for me” as the day went on. Dr. Certa will open up ERAS and look through it with you- he says he doesn’t even bother to read the LORs because they are all the same. He seemed more interested in knowing how I thought than specifics about me.

4. Program Overview:
7+ residents in the first year class. 7 start from the match and program usually picks up one more who is switching specialties. Program is currently accredited for 36 but has stipends for only 28. Class tends to shrink by the 4th year as some people leave for fellowships. Residents do 2 months of geriatric psych inpatient during pgy1. 3 months of medicine + 1 month of ER. Medicine months are broken up over the course of 1st year and they will take requests if they are reasonable regarding weekends off and other schedule concerns. Option to do 1 month of peds if you tell them early you are interested. Night float system for call and no call 4th year. 3rd and 4th year is outpatient. Residents have their own office which are very nice- nicer than many faculty offices at my school.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Faculty is on the small side. Some faculty have held/currently hold positions in the APA, but not a huge research powerhouse and not a huge number of paid faculty. Existing faculty are very dedicated to teaching residents. Hospital system is expanding and this may bring additional faculty and rotation opportunities for residents in the future.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Residents seemed very happy and feel they have a very good work life balance. If anything, multiple residents mentioned that intern year was “easier than I expected it to be” but that they felt like they still are able to see a diverse patient population and feel very confident to practice by the end of residency. Great location in philadelphia- residents can afford to live within walking distance of the hospital and the hospital is in a good area for food and entertainment. The program also has multiple clinical sites within easy walking/public transit range.

7. Salary & Benefits: Pretty standard- low 50’s starting. Health care- resident I asked about it said their insurance was good. Residents have access to the medical school campus and can join the gym for a fee.

8. Program Strengths:
Residents have their own offices starting 3rd year to see patients in clinic. Academic half day on wednesdays that is protected even on medicine and neuro. Residents have access to multiple in house fellowship opportunities (Child, CL, Sleep) and also match well outside of Jefferson if they choose to leave. Program considers itself to be strong in psychotherapy training and geriatrics. The inpatient psychiatry floor takes care of many pregnant women with psychiatric disorders so you will learn how to manage medications during pregnancy.

9. Potential Weaknesses: First year, because of PA law, residents only have 2 weeks off on paper- program gets around this requirement by having residents start 10 days early, June 20th first year so that they then get that time off at the end of the year. Program is on the small side. For non home applicants, the program takes up to 3 students a year from their own Medical school. Less structured than some programs regarding elective opportunities, but all the residents expressed that you could make things happen if you were interested.

 

[WingedOx]

Thomas Jefferson

1. Ease Of Communication: Very reasonable. Program coordinator was friendly and got back to me within a day to confirm my interview. She is on site during the interview day to help out and answer any questions.

2. Accommodation & Food: no housing provided. Happy hour mixer event the night before at a local Bar. Standard happy hour style food and drinks with a good turn-out from the residents. All class years from the program were represented and several of the residents were going out together after the event to watch the football game. Breakfast in the AM with coffee, bagels, yogurt, and fruit. Lunch was mediterranean with a good variety of options plus desserts - brownies and apple cake- made by the program director which were both very good

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview day starts at 8am ends ~3:30 - don’t get there early, the suite will not be open. (of note if you have not been there before, 833 chestnut is a random office building rather than being in the hospital, it also has two entrances which made google maps very confused. When you get to the room for breakfast you receive a personalized folder with your schedule for the day and a name tag. You can leave your bag and jacket in the room during the interview day. Everyone is together for the introduction to the program from the director as well as lunch and some info sessions in the afternoon. Before lunch some people start with a tour and some people start with interviews and then swap. The campus tour with one of the chief residents was nice and he was happy to answer questions during the tour. We walked through the main hospital and saw their different units as well as the main medical school campus. 3 half hour interviews in total. Everyone interviews with Dr. Certa the PD at some point over the course of the day. Interviews seemed pretty standard in format, one had read my application and had specific questions. A theme would probably be “tell me how this program is a good fit for you.” Overall they were very friendly, though I did get tired of “do you have any more questions for me” as the day went on. Dr. Certa will open up ERAS and look through it with you- he says he doesn’t even bother to read the LORs because they are all the same. He seemed more interested in knowing how I thought than specifics about me.

4. Program Overview:
7+ residents in the first year class. 7 start from the match and program usually picks up one more who is switching specialties. Program is currently accredited for 36 but has stipends for only 28. Class tends to shrink by the 4th year as some people leave for fellowships. Residents do 2 months of geriatric psych inpatient during pgy1. 3 months of medicine + 1 month of ER. Medicine months are broken up over the course of 1st year and they will take requests if they are reasonable regarding weekends off and other schedule concerns. Option to do 1 month of peds if you tell them early you are interested. Night float system for call and no call 4th year. 3rd and 4th year is outpatient. Residents have their own office which are very nice- nicer than many faculty offices at my school.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Faculty is on the small side. Some faculty have held/currently hold positions in the APA, but not a huge research powerhouse and not a huge number of paid faculty. Existing faculty are very dedicated to teaching residents. Hospital system is expanding and this may bring additional faculty and rotation opportunities for residents in the future.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Residents seemed very happy and feel they have a very good work life balance. If anything, multiple residents mentioned that intern year was “easier than I expected it to be” but that they felt like they still are able to see a diverse patient population and feel very confident to practice by the end of residency. Great location in philadelphia- residents can afford to live within walking distance of the hospital and the hospital is in a good area for food and entertainment. The program also has multiple clinical sites within easy walking/public transit range.

7. Salary & Benefits: Pretty standard- low 50’s starting. Health care- resident I asked about it said their insurance was good. Residents have access to the medical school campus and can join the gym for a fee.

8. Program Strengths:
Residents have their own offices starting 3rd year to see patients in clinic. Academic half day on wednesdays that is protected even on medicine and neuro. Residents have access to multiple in house fellowship opportunities (Child, CL, Sleep) and also match well outside of Jefferson if they choose to leave. Program considers itself to be strong in psychotherapy training and geriatrics. The inpatient psychiatry floor takes care of many pregnant women with psychiatric disorders so you will learn how to manage medications during pregnancy.

9. Potential Weaknesses: First year, because of PA law, residents only have 2 weeks off on paper- program gets around this requirement by having residents start 10 days early, June 20th first year so that they then get that time off at the end of the year. Program is on the small side. For non home applicants, the program takes up to 3 students a year from their own Medical school. Less structured than some programs regarding elective opportunities, but all the residents expressed that you could make things happen if you were interested.

I'll also vouch for Ken Certa, the PD at Jeff. I had experience working with him early on in my training. The residents/graduates I've met from Jefferson also have spoken of similar positive experiences.

 

[Rogue Penguin]

University of Kentucky

1. Ease Of Communication:
Excellent. I got my schedule a week in advance and appropriate reminders were sent out. PC gives you her cell in case you have travel issues.

2. Accommodation & Food:
Program completely covers a night in a rather nice hotel room with fancy whirlpool tubs. BYOBubble Bath (one applicant did this, wish I'd thought of it). There's a shuttle provided from the hotel to the interview site, so you don't have to worry about traffic the morning of the interview. Resident dinner was at Saul Good, a local chain, with two residents. The residents seem to be a big fan of the place. Everyone enjoyed their meal (none of us were vegan, however.) Everything is covered by the program except alcohol.

No breakfast. But bottled water provided throughout the day. Boxed lunches with different hot sandwiches, chips, and a cookie. 2 residents ate with us.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Orientation, four half hour interviews with PD, assistant PD, faculty, and a recent grad/faculty, lunch, "Peer Review" which seemed like a hybrid of a Grand Rounds and a Case Conference to me, tour of Good Samaritan Hospital given by two residents. I felt extremely welcome and appreciated at this interview. I was impressed with how friendly everyone was. All my interviewers had actually read my personal statement and commented on it. My interviews centered mostly on what my goals are as a clinician and how the program could help me achieve them. No unusual, inappropriate, or confrontational questions

4. Program Overview:
6 categorical spots, 2 or 3 triple board spots; Clinical rotations seemed pretty standard. UK's main hospital buildings are new. There seemed to be a relatively diverse range of clinical sites: UK Inpatient Medicine, Neuro inpatient and CL, VA inpatient psych, Good Samaritan Inpatient Psych (adult and adolescent units), Good Samaritan ER, UK ER, Eastern State inpatient psych (includes its own court room), a subuxone clinic, multiple student health clinics, other outpatient clinics, telepsychiatry, forensics. The info I got about IM was that it's actually divided up into 4 different services, including one month of Family Medicine. Honestly, I'm unclear on the details of the resident schedule. The focus of the day seemed to be selling the program more than giving detailed information. I didn't get a "non-research" vibe. Rather it seemed to me that the most accessible research opportunities would be in addiction medicine, and anything else "can be arranged if you're interested". Pretty much any interest I talked about I was told that "an experience can be arranged if you're interested". They seemed genuinely committed to helping residents get whatever experiences they want and helping as much as possible with career goals. I impressed with all my interviewers' interest in me and the current residents. Dr. Cheever and Dr. Batsel-Thomas seemed genuinely passionate about psychiatry and making the residency the best it can be for each individual. Decent opportunities for psychotherapy training and supervision in general. One thing that did bother me was that it seemed like the best opportunity for psychoanalysis training (beyond work with a supervisor during 2nd and 3rd year) is an elective in Cincinnati that you have to pay tuition for. The patient population is more varied than you might expect, because all of eastern KY's psych cases will end up in Lexington. Eastern KY is a very poor part of the country, so you can see some surprising stuff. It was also mentioned that you get a fair number of pregnant women who are detoxing from opioids.

The residents were relatively happy and seemed to have genuine friendships with each other that go beyond simple professional relationships. They reportedly hang out in a large group at least once a week, have a kick ball team and a soft ball team together, go the happy hours regularly, have pot lucks once a month, go on a retreat, etc. These were probably the most convincingly real friendships I've seen in any group of medical professionals. They didn't seem like the extremely ambitious or competitive residents I've seen at some other programs. This is not to say that they were unmotivated or lazy, just very down to earth and not worried about outdoing each other.

The associate PD (Dr. Batsel-Thomas) is going to replace Dr. Cheever as the PD, while Dr. Cheever is going to become the associate PD. Not sure why or if it even matters.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Chair is reasonably well known addictionologist. One resident talked about white water kayaking with either the chair or the PD. Sounds like good access to faculty if you want it.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
Lexington is like an enormous small town, but with more culture and more liberals than you'll find in the bulk of KY. There's a strong LGBT population (for KY). Taylor Swift was doing a concert there the day I was there, so some bigger acts do come through. Louisville and Cincinnati are only about an hour away if you're willing to speed (not endorsing that). Cost of living is amazing. Low crime rate. Very clean, new city. The downtown area has undergone a lot of development recently and seems worth checking out. You'd be able to afford a house or a swanky apartment. Weather is 4 seasons with just enough snow in the winter that it doesn't become a nuisance. Kentucky has some decent hiking. Red River Gorge is less than an hour away.

Residents are reportedly half single and half married/families. Very family friendly place in general

7. Salary & Benefits:
$50,168 - 55,463
$500 book money/year. No free parking or food. 10 day vacation for interns, 15 days for other years. Discounted access to UK's very nice student rec centers with pools and a rather large climbing wall.

8. Program Strengths:
Child program,
Addiction fellowship,
exceptionally friendly and cohesive program,
relaxed atmosphere,
very low cost of living,
approachable and dedicated PDs who are willing to help you find the opportunities you want regarding research, electives, etc
Administration very LGBT friendly

9. Potential Weaknesses:
Finding research opportunities would take some work especially outside of addiction;
Lexington might get boring

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

question about UCLA Harbor: does anybody know if there is a pre-interview dinner the night before? I looked through past threads and it looks like no but I want to be sure before I potentially have to reschedule. Thanks!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

question about UCLA Harbor: does anybody know if there is a pre-interview dinner the night before? I looked through past threads and it looks like no but I want to be sure before I potentially have to reschedule. Thanks!

They didn't in 2009. That's probably not much help though.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

question about UCLA Harbor: does anybody know if there is a pre-interview dinner the night before? I looked through past threads and it looks like no but I want to be sure before I potentially have to reschedule. Thanks!

Last I checked Nope. Maybe a dinner the day of, but not the night before.

 

[DVolle]

question about UCLA Harbor: does anybody know if there is a pre-interview dinner the night before? I looked through past threads and it looks like no but I want to be sure before I potentially have to reschedule. Thanks!

I interviewed there earlier this month and there was no pre- or post-interview dinner. The applicants had lunch in the hospital cafeteria with some of the residents.

 

[fluffy0]

--

 

[psychphilly]

Indiana University

1. Ease Of Communication:
Easy and complete. Scheduled by email. Felt well informed before I got into town.

2. Accommodation & Food:
Almost too amazing. They put you up at The Conrad, which is the top of the line Hilton brand. (We're talking TV's in the bathroom) Dinner at Harry and Izzy's the night before the interview. A pretty nice place, business casual is fine though. Was informal. Lot's of questions answered.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Orientation and light breakfast in AM. Then interviews follow (5). All interviews were conversational. Nothing too unexpected asked.

4. Program Overview:
6 General residents per class, 2 triple boarders. Pretty typical setup. 1st year half on service half off service. Seems like half the class starts off psych and half starts on psych, then they switch around the holidays. Second year seems to be a mix of services at the variety of hospitals around Indy. Third year is all outpatient, and again seems like a ton of variety to chose from in terms of clinics. Fourth year is all electives. Seems like there is exposure to a ton of different hospitals, which seems like both a good and a bad thing. All the hospitals are in different systems so lots of small things like different EMR's to learn, etc. Seems like most of the resident's like the variety though. Interns don't seem overworked. Everyone seems friendly and happy to be there. Program director is new this year, although he was the assistant program director, so really not all that new. Sounds like he is going to continue where the previous program director left off, who is taking over the assistant program director job until the end of the academic year. Seems like the change was well planned, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. Hint's of some minor changes and perhaps growing the program in a few years. Seems like the hospital system could easily handle more residents. Variety of fellowships, sounds like they may be adding a few more in the coming year or two. Overall, IU seems like a pretty amazing little program in a very big hospital network/medical school. Psychiatry is well represented at the administrative level beyond just the department too. And the psychiatry building is pretty amazing, seems like a pretty cool place to work.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Lot's of research. In NIH top 20 for research funding.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
Indianapolis is a nice little big city in central Indiana. About 3 hrs south of Chicago, it seems like a very livable place. Downtown is often rated the best downtown in America. In addition, there are a ton of little neighborhoods that each have their own character. Mind you, Indy is not free of the blight that you see in most midwestern cities, but it seems like it is on the upswing. Definitely didn't feel like the Indiana that the media was portraying during the religious freedom bill fiasco earlier this year. Weather varies from hot/humid summers to cold winters. Seems like real estate is pretty affordable. Many residents own homes or eventually buy homes while they're in training.

Some resident's are married. Some are single. It seems like the current intern class is on the younger side, but still a lot of diversity.

7. Salary & Benefits:
$53,513 for PGY1 with small increases yearly. They cover most benefits, including health coverage, so most of that is take home.

8. Program Strengths:
Addictions
Child
The variety of practice settings
Very friendly residents, they seem like they're both friends and coworkers
Seems pretty relaxed overall
Indy is pretty cheap to live in it seems

9. Potential Weaknesses:
New Program director, although he really isn't new...he seems like he will make for a smooth transition
Indy and the midwest isn't for everyone...but if you're thinking Midwest, then I'd definitely move this program to the top of your list

There's a cool little youtube video out there on the program.

Found it...

 

[725805]

Program Name: LSU Shreveport

1. Ease Of Communication:
Interviews were offered early via email and my date was confirmed quickly. I didn’t receive any more instruction until about 1 week before the interview, which included start time, pre-interview dinner information, and directions to campus and where to park.

2. Accommodation & Food:
Hotel was not paid for. They recommend Sleep Inn & Suites Medical Center on Samford Ave or the Hilton in Downtown Shreveport which you can get a discount for. There was a pre-interview dinner the night before at Bistro Byronz that had very good Cajun food. The morning of the interview they had a light breakfast spread with muffins, fruit, and coffee.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
We didn’t receive our schedule till the morning of and we started at 9am. We had an introduction from the PD and then a short tour around the hospital with one of the residents. Then we had 4 interviews spread out between about 11-3 with a break for lunch. Each interview was 30 minutes long and they were pretty standard. Lunch was provided by a pharmaceutical rep and many residents from all years attended.

4. Program Overview:
Off service rotations in first year include 1 month of ER, 2 months neurology, and three months which can be spread between IM, Family, and Peds. All 3 can be spent in IM or Peds but not all 3 could be spent on Family. These rotations can be spread between first and second year.
Rotations are spent between the LSU Health Main Hospital and a few other facilities, most notably residents have to rotate in Monroe, LA which is over an hour and a half away. When residents are working in Monroe, car and apartment is provided, no pets are allowed but family can stay.
Other facilities include Brentwood Behavioral and Willis Knighton, both in Shreveport.
There are two fellowships offered including Forensics which typically offers 1 spot and Child & Adolescent with 2 spots.
Psychotherapy training is pretty limited, mostly starting in 3rd year.
Research is not mandatory but they want some sort of scholarly activity like a case report/presentation and poster, or students could choose to do a month of research in fourth year
Board pass rate is over 70% but PD mentions some graduates don’t take boards cause they don’t have to…

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: PD is very involved with APA, have a hard time remembering much else.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Shreveport, LA is where most rotations occur but residents are also required to do a couple months in Monroe. Shreveport is a smaller town than most metropolitan areas but it isn’t really THAT small. There’s a lot to do there but if you are used to the big city, this may not be the place for you. It’s Louisiana, so if you like outdoor activities like fishing you can find plenty of that close by. There’s also several casinos that are appealing to some.

7. Salary & Benefits:
PGY-1: $47,312, PGY-2: $48,739. PGY-3: $50,538, PGY-4: $52,521
Malpractice insurance and basic disability insurance is provided.
Health care is not free, may be purchased.
Meal plans are purchased for about $40 a month and you get approximately $250 to use, there are different levels of plans.
Parking is free.

8. Program Strengths: Lots of exposure to all pathology and residents are incredibly prepared after graduation. Residents seem to get into fellowships very commonly and the PD recommends them. Forensics fellowships seem pretty rare so that is also strength, they mainly accept internal applicants.

9. Potential Weaknesses: Residents admit the first two years, especially PGY-2, are incredibly busy, but they try to put a positive spin on it and say they will be prepared for moonlighting and are very confident after second year. Lots of people used to big city living wouldn’t enjoy living in Shreveport. Having to drive to Monroe for a few months and stay is definitely a weakness for most applicants.

 

[kaylasdf123]

Has anyone interviewed at Einstein Montiefiore yet? Wondering if they have a pre-interview dinner thing. Or a dinner thing in general.

 

[clausewitz2]

Program Name: University of Cincinnati (Categorical)

1. Ease Of Communication: A little patchy, mostly via email. Important details definitely got communicated, but some last minute demands for information that were a tad off-putting.
2. Accommodation & Food:

Provided a list of appropriate hotels, did not spring for a room.



Pre-interview dinner was at a place famous for ribs. No alcohol, nobody ordered any sort of beverage, but we were encouraged to get dessert. Given my dietary preferences, I was limited mainly to French fries. The two third years residents in attendance seemed embarassed by the choice of venue when they questioned me as to why I wasn't ordering dessert.



Via email, I was told that they could not obtain sandwiches for lunch that did not have cheese on them. Lunch time came around, and et voila, a cheeseless-sandwich was procured. So yay for the good kind of surprise.



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

Early start at 7:45, program overview from PD, group meeting with Chair for clinical services, then five interviews with various faculty. No breakfast provided. I am not chiefly interested in addiction psychiatry and my PS doesn't talk about that at all, but I guess one of my LOR writers must have said something so I met mainly with...addiction psychiatry people. They were perfectly nice and everything, but bit of a misfire.



The PD is good people and sold the program quite well. The assistant director and I commiserated over being squishy-science/liberal arts types that came into medicine as nontrad students. Only one slightly strained interview, but I think that particular interviewer may just be a weird dude, and it probably didn't help that it wasn't immediately apparently to either of us why he had been chosen to interview me (he did addictions research).



Only vaguely unusual question was from the PD: “What is going to keep you from coming here?” That threw me for a bit, so I mentioned something about a particular program that I hadn't heard anything from where most of my living family is, which may have been a tactical error on my part but that he took very well and even gave me tips about.

.





4. Program Overview:



6 categorical, 2 FM-psych, and 3 triple boarders every year. This means 3 PD's for 11 interns, so a fair amount of personal attention. Usually 1-3 from every categorical class are swallowed by the child psych fellowship at the behemoth that is Children's. Addiction Psych, Addiction Medicine, Geripsych, CAP and forensic fellowships. They are trying to start a psychosomatic fellowship as well.



Everyone starts on psych, psych interns are paired up on all off-service months. Didactics only when everyone is on psych services just because it is too hard to make it work when people are off-service. First year one month ED, two months inpatient medicine, one month neurology consults, one month FM inpatient at a community hospital. Inpatient adult psychiatry is at a hospital where the program leases several floors. Two floors of 20 single-occupancy general adult beds and one floor of dedicated geripsych beds with a bit more medical support. Psych emergency department attached to this leased hospital that the program likes to tout, but residents say that the local police departments like to drop off anyone they pick up who is too drunk to arrest, so the experience is not always very educational. Residents danced around outright saying that they felt like they were flying solo in the psych emergency service, but it was pretty clear that is what they felt.



One of your medicine months can be spent instead rotating on peds at Children's, and why on earth wouldn't you want to rotate at the third best pediatrics hospital in the country that is slowly swallowing the city?



After first year, the schedule seems to be as malleable as the ACGME will allow. One MD/Phd pushed his child psych months back to fourth year and use the time to do research in his second year. They have an integrated care track that will let you do an afternoon a week in second year embedded in the local VA primary care clinic for warm handovers and to learn proper integrated care, with commitment escalating from there. Outpatient rotations are all over, but there is a community mental health clinic on the medical campus and a cash-pay resident psychotherapy clinic where residents handle billing/scheduling etc as a sort of a little private practice with training wheels. Of note, now residents will rotate at the Lindner Center, a super-fancy private psych hospital that also hosts an elective in neuromodulation for folks interested in that.







5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:



Massive in child and adolescent psychiatry. Big basic/translational eating disorders research group. Research faculty are apparently desperate for lab monke- um, junior research colleagues.



6. Location & Lifestyle:

Mid-size city, very hilly, relatively mild climate, but winters are treacherous due to steep grades. Very German and very Catholic, people will definitely ask what high school you went to for a very long time. Nasty race riots in the early 2000's. Downtown areas and Over-the-Rhine are gentrifying at a very brisk pace, but a lot of people still live in the suburbs. Probably on track to become a cooler place to live in the near future, and a nice craft beer scene. If you are willing to drive, reasonable South Indian and real Chinese cuisine can be found. Actually has an economy apart from hospitals thanks to Kroger and Proctor and Gamble.



7. Salary & Benefits:

Salary low 50's. Dental and medical offered, covers disability and life insurance. Free parking passes for residents at major sites. No meal benefits.



Peds residents at Children's get a concierge service that will do grocery shopping and handle dry-cleaning for a fee. Psych residents do not get these privileges. Upon learning this I felt an immediate need to phone the waaahmbulance.



8. Program Strengths:

-child

-child

-child

- well-established forensic program

- genuine diversity of outpatients sites

-starting a ketamine protocol soon

-neuromod available if that's your thing

-sounds like it would be very easy to be a bench jockey for someone

- integrated care but for reals

-a VA that by all accounts works very well

- fancy architecture on medical campus



9. Potential Weaknesses:
- night float is a solid month block, kinda lame if you aren't single and fancy-free

-being unable to drive anywhere in the winter 2/2 ice on very steep hills

-not a big city, no real public trans

-local culture is kind of insular

 

[SartoriousMeansTailor]

Program Name - Medical College of Wisconsin
1. Ease Of Communication: Super easy! I got a very nice, personal letter from the PD as my invite and the coordinator was very responsive and on the ball with all arrangements.
2. Accommodation & Food: Preferred hotel a mile from the interview site (which is not a hospital - it's their outpatient/academic hub). Hotel is reimbursed when you provide your bill (or so I think...we filled out a voucher the morning of the interview). Residents' dinner the night before was at a very nice restaurant with a variety of fresh/local foods (and cheese curds for those inclined). EtOH was on your own and most people had a drink. More desserts were ordered for the table than I could count. Lots of residents came out with their significant others and were very friendly, helpful and candid.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Interview day started at 7:30 with a breakfast (bagels, fruit, coffee) that some of the residents attended. If you didn't go to the dinner, this was a great time to get your questions answered. Then there were 4-5 thirty-minute interviews with faculty and one of the chief residents. The coordinator asked if I had any areas of interest prior to the interview, but even though I indicated "Child" I wasn't able to interview with any child faculty. Oh well... The interviews were the "getting to know you" type and they were very blunt that Psych is a "buyer's market" and that we're interviewing them as much as they are interviewing us, so they were consistently very helpful in answering questions and selling the program to you. No unusual questions although I did get asked "Why Milwaukee?" A LOT. After lunch (wrap sandwiches) there was a shuttle bus tour to most of the clinical sites - best tour I've been on so far and the chief resident who ran it was hilarious. So that was a good end to the day.
4. Program Overview: This program emphasizes psychotherapy heavily. Outpatient is in PGY-2 with a return to inpatient/C-L as a PGY-3. I was a little concerned about how that would play out, but the answer I consistently got was that it allows for more continuity (duh), it makes you better at talking to patients which carries on when you're back on the inpatient units, it makes you more autonomous earlier in your residency, and that when you return to inpatient you're able to assess complex patients more fully. Everyone (PGY-3's included) was very enthusiastic about this. You do one month of Neuro in PGY-1 and one month in PGY-4 (or PGY-3 if you're going into Child) as a refresher for your boards. There's about 5 "long call" days from 6-10PM as a PGY-1 to learn their Psych ED system, then you have 3x 2-week stints of night float as a PGY-3. Everyone seemed to agree that you actually DO learn on night float here and, in fact, many residents seem to moonlight there a lot both for the $ and the learning. The clinical sites are fantastic and range from the VA to teaching hospital to private hospital to specialty clinics.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: The PD is very warm and personable and was candid that she's planning to be at the program for the long haul. Most of the faculty seem to have long-term ties to the residency program/area so everything is very stable. There is a strong emphasis on psychotherapy, with Child, psychosomatic, geriatric, and forensic fellowships. There's also talk of bringing back an addictions fellowship. There's an HIV/AIDS research initiative and their well known for fMRI research, but research seems to be more of something that's there if you want it versus a heavy part of the curriculum.
6. Location & Lifestyle: I had never been to Milwaukee before and was very pleasantly surprised. It's on the lake which moderates the weather a little. There's still snow, but it seems like less than a lot of the Midwest. Downtown was hopping and there's tons of restaurants, parks, theaters, etc. Everyone seemed to love it there (including people from outside the Midwest) and many were planning to stay after residency. Residents seemed to genuinely get along with each other and with faculty. Everyone agreed that there is something for everyone in the town and that it's both family-friendly and fun for singles.
7. Salary & Benefits: $57k-$60k (very nice...especially considering the cost of living), 3 weeks vacation, 1 week educational leave, educational/book stipend. Free parking at all sites (which is attached to the hospital rather than a very long, cold walk away like you see in some hospitals)
8. Program Strengths: Diversity of clinical sites, outpatient in PGY-2 (I'm now a believer), availability of fellowships, strong psychotherapy emphasis, salary, chill call schedule, residents who genuinely seem to like each other, Milwaukee - a very fun/livable city with low cost of living.
9. Potential Weaknesses: No addictions fellowship at this time, need to drive to clinical sites (they're all within about 30 mins though), Midwest winters, not a lot of research available if that's your thing.

 

[Freddie Mercury]

Program Name: Kaiser Fontana
1. Ease Of Communication: Quick, easy to set up dates.
2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations, but interview day started at 10AM so traffic wasn't bad even commuting from Los Angeles. Lunch was catered, and quite good IMO. There was a dinner with residents the night before at Roadhouse but I didn't attend due to scheduling conflicts.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): 3 interviews. Program director + 2 asst program directors. PD seems nice enough, one of the asst directors is pretty wild and interesting, the other is pretty quiet.
4. Program Overview: Pretty standard fare. New program so latest class is PGY-2, so can't comment on anything beyond. Get all the non-psych months out of the way during the first 6 months of PGY-1. Plus it sounds like they really advertise the Kaiser system, especially the fact that the insurance system is easy ie you don't have to worry about things not being covered by whatever.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: From residents, seems like they are very invested in teaching. They are also pretty heavily invested in work-life balance.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Probably the most relaxed program in southern California. Residents and even program directors bragged that you will only be at the hospital past 8 PM maybe 5 times through your entire residency program, and those are night shifts on ED. Work-life balance (way in favor of life) seemed to be the key here. Made it sound like call is absolutely minimal to non-existent. Residents are not needed to run the department, so teaching is paramount which I liked. Location is Inland Empire which isn't for everyone, and it seems like there is a good amount of commuting between sites including Chino and Loma Linda.
7. Salary & Benefits: Seemed pretty solid. Huge benefits in terms of never paying for food, huge meal balance (something like $45 a day, plus they just give you tons of free food randomly so you don't even have to use the balance much).
8. Program Strengths: If you like laid-back, I don't think you can match this. Doubleplus if you see yourself working in the Kaiser system long-term. 6 residents in each class, and we got to meet all 12 (PGY1 + 2) through the day and they all seem like very relaxed down to Earth people. Main hospital is almost brand new and very nice.
9. Potential Weaknesses: New program, so we don't have any experience beyond PGY-2. But if its anything like PGY1-2, probably super chill.

 

[eli20]

I asked this somewhere else but don't really think I got a reply - Those of you who have already interviewed/been to some pre/post dinners - what has the dress been like?

 

[Dharma]

I asked this somewhere else but don't really think I got a reply - Those of you who have already interviewed/been to some pre/post dinners - what has the dress been like?

Casual. I've rocking khakis and button down. Seems appropriate. This could be regional. (I'm northeast and Midwest predominantly).

 

[bd290]

Casual. I've rocking khakis and button down. Seems appropriate. This could be regional. (I'm northeast and Midwest predominantly).

Agreed. Casual. Maybe yelp the location if they tell you about it beforehand. I've seen several (most?) people (men?) in jeans w/ button down.

 

[WalterDonnie]

I say jeans with a button-down, but throw some decent shoes on

 

[Acyl chloride]

University of Washington

1. Ease Of Communication: Excellent. Program coordinator is very organized and responds quickly to emails. Not only do they send you your interview schedule the week before, but they also mail you additional information once you confirm. Lots of personalized touches made me feel like they really cared. She is also extremely helpful during the interview day, and even arranged for me to get a tour of children’s hospital the next day because no one was available on the day of my interview and I was still in town.

2. Accommodation & Food: Self/no housing provided. Dinner at a local restaurant with residents the night before. Location seems to be on a rotating schedule so different each time and well attended. Food during the interview day seems to vary based on the day of the week. Mondays breakfast is at UWMC followed by lunch at Harborview with the residents for their lunch conference.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Breakfast in a room on the 16th floor of UWMC where the psychiatry department is located. Standard breakfast food and coffee. I believe one student interviewed with the program director prior to breakfast. At breakfast we had an intro from the program director and heard about some of the unique aspects of the program. From there we followed our own personal interview schedules. Some of us went to the VA, some stayed at UWMC, and some went directly to Harborview for 2 half hour interviews. Program coordinator and program director made sure everyone got where they needed to go on time. Interviews were very friendly and I felt very well matched with the people I talked to. I got the sense that they were genuinely excited to meet me and talk about our shared interests/why the program would be a good fit and what they had that would help me build my career in the direction I wanted it to. In general the vibe was that we definitely do work, but we provide a lot of supervision and guidance and help you achieve your goals. After these interviews we went as a group to Harborview. We arrived at the room half an hour before their conference started so we were able to chat with residents and then hear the conference presentation. This was very well attended by residents and faculty and people seemed interested and engaged with the topic. After this we had interviews with individual residents. This was interesting (my first official interview with a resident but I know that other programs do this as well) I interviewed with an intern who was very nice and seemed happy with the program so far. I didn’t have a ton of questions for her at the end because I actually know a low about UW and Harborview in particular. We then went on a tour of Harborview and then some people were done and others went back to UWMC for their interviews with the program director. On other days people also meet with the department chair- who was unfortunately unable to meet with us that day. Program Director just started her position but has been involved with the program prior to taking on this role. She seems very enthusiastic and supportive of residents and I was very impressed by the detailed notes she had on my application and the questions she asked about it. They interview 7-8 people per day and I heard from others that they were similarly impressed.

4. Program Overview: This is a large program located in an exceptional medical system that serves the whole state of Washington as well as the WWAIMI region through its medical school. 12 Psychiatry categorical positions in the first year with another 4 for residents who spend the last two years in Idaho (I didn’t apply, see review above) another 2 spots for second years who are switching from other specialties. One of the residents I met in this track had just completed a full internal medicine residency and decided to make the transition to Psych. The large size of the program allows for residents to pursue many different individualized pathways based on personal interests and I was told that no two residents schedules in the 3rd/4th year looked exactly alike as a result. Since there are many different opportunities, there is not the sense that people are competing or shutting each other out of rotation options, and residents generally said that if they didn’t get a particular elective they wanted during 3rd year, that the program would make sure they could do it 4th year. Residents also are very involved in committees and the continued improvement of the program. Many in house fellowship opportunities and UW residents are able to match well into outside fellowships if desired.
Protected didactics happen on Thursdays- morning for years 2-4, and afternoon for interns. Business meeting happens during lunch time, and several of the pathways have meetings right before lunch.
Interns have the option of doing peds months instead of medicine, but several residents commented that those are actually considered even more work heavy than the medicine months, so only do them if you are really interested in child. Additionally, this program is very open to flexible scheduling and will allow you to move a month of neurology from first year to accommodate an elective (research/medical education were some residents mentioned having done)
One nice thing about this program is that the UW Internal medicine program is strong and the faculty are very supportive-

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: UW has a large faculty that seems very involved and dedicated to teaching residents. Faculty at each site mentioned that they really enjoy working with the residents. Their goal is to support you as you grow in your confidence taking care of patients. UW has an analytic institute they work with to make sure residents have access to personal therapy during R3 year for free-or minimal cost. UW has many resources when it comes to research opportunities and they are starting a resident research track for those who have a significant research background. As an institution, UW is known for the Integrated care model and the program is very proud of its community involvement.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
From all reports, Seattle is a great city to be a resident. You have access to a lot of natural beauty while still being in a city. There are lots of food options around, and in general the cost of living is less than some other major cities (NYC, SF) but more than the middle of the country. Washington also has no state income tax so your take home will be higher. Seattle is not for everyone (Rain/Hills/cost of living) - but the program tries hard to interview people who have lived there before or have personal ties to the city so that they will match people who will be happy living there.

7. Salary & Benefits: Pretty standard salary, low 50’s starting- Benefits relatively standard- only 3 weeks of vacation. Residents get a Kindle to record patient sessions in an encrypted format.

8. Program Strengths:
This program is very strong overall, with many different opportunities for residents to shape their training based on career goals. Residents were friendly and seemed to enjoy being around each other at the dinner. One resident noted that of the top tier programs, the people seemed the most down to earth here, and I definitely got that feeling from talking to others (though I can’t comment on how it compares to other programs since this is one of my earliest interviews) Clearly a family friendly program as evident by the number of baby pictures on the wall of the program office- residents noted that this is good even for those without families it means that residents feel they have enough time to have an actual work/life balance and there are enough residents in the program that this doesn’t overwhelm others with call responsibilities. Busses and shuttle vans connect the major UW hospitals including the VA.

9. Potential Weaknesses: For those who drive- multiple residents commented that the program/hospitals do not cover the cost of parking and that this can become expensive- many residents bike or take the bus as a result.
Only 3 weeks of vacation/year.
Of note, the Internal medicine program is involved with a flexible Duty hours research project that has brought back overnight call but kept it within the 2010 hour restrictions. Residents noted that this meant they sometimes missed their protected didactics time on Thursday afternoons due to being either on call or Post call. This project may or may not be in place next year so it’s too soon to say if it would be a concern.

 

[slappy]

Thank you to everyone who have posted the interview reviews so far. Keep them coming! They're invaluable!

However, what is going on with the digression on the threads here lately. I just read through a long discussion on splik's IMG thread, and now this. As TexasPhysician has mentioned above, please refrain from posting anything in this thread other than reviews and questions/clarifications about the reviews or interviews. This is to make sure people reading these threads years down the line don't have to shift through the chaff to get what they want.

 

[rkaz]

or alternatively who wants to go to a place that can't organize a vegan option for a recruitment lunch? or worse doesn't know what vegan means?

When I was on the interview trail, Case Western UH was the only place that made special accommodations for me with a vegan lunch. The program coordinator got me a specially bagged meal labeled 'vegan' with a unique salad. The other programs did not, even if I told them that I was a vegan. Their accommodating me truly mattered a lot.

Although I LOVE my current program and think it's the best place for me, the lack of accommodation for my attempt to be vegan has been a source of frustration. Often when I request a vegan meal at program events, I am told "We have vegetarian." (i.e. "You will not be further accommodated.") Due to lack of support for me being vegan, I have unfortunately slipped back into a vegetarian diet, which I feel internally conflicted about. I have mild allergies to dairy and eggs, which also doesn't help me when I'm wheezing and congested. Personally, I don't understand why all the vegetarian meals can't be vegan by default to accommodate more people. If I was on the interview trail again, I would certainly have given importance to the attitude of programs in accommodating my diet, as if they aren't willing to accommodate when on the interview trail, they won't be accommodating when you are a resident in their program as well.

 

[Davole]

My first IM-Psych interview, so I can't compare yet.

Program Name - University of Iowa [Combined IM-Psych]

1. Ease Of Communication: Got invite with a date already picked for me, which was 10 days from invite date, but fortunately I had the week free so I didn't have to reschedule anything. Otherwise, no issues and I even got a couple reminder emailed about the pre-interview dinner and the interview day itself.

2. Accommodation & Food: Sheraton in the heart of town, one night free of charge. Super comfy bed and very fancy hotel overall. Dinner night before at a very nice place within walking distance from hotel. Four residents from various years attended dinner.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The combined applicants shared the morning with the categorical IM applicants. This resulted in a fragmented interview schedule since the PD and assistant PD for IM met with everyone. Thus, I had at least a 15 minute break between each interview. The interviews themselves were short, either 15 or 20 minutes. I had 5 interviews total - PD and assistant PD for IM, combined PD, and PD and assistant PD for psych. I didn't encounter any strange questions and most of the time was devoted to answering my questions. The day was broken up with lunch being served during a case presentation with all the IM residents. It ended up being a long day due to all the breaks, but it had a relaxed tone.

4. Program Overview: 30 months of IM and 30 months of psych. Rotations are split between the main hospital and the nearby VA. If you have a preference regarding where you'd like to do rotations, they will try to make it happen. The 12 months of continuous outpatient psych actually starts at the end of 3rd year, which so far has been unique. Despite my perceived notions of Iowa, there is some diversity of patients. Iowa is the big referral center for many, many miles in all directions including all of the neighboring states. The psych wards are all in the main hospital, so there aren't any issues with obtaining labs, imaging, etc. In addition to general psych wards, they have a child and adolescent unit, an eating disorder unit, and a med-psych unit. Lots of research going on, but nothing required aside from a QI project. There's also a medical education course and an education elective that you can take during residency that prepares you for an academic career teaching residents or becoming a PD or anything along those lines.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Lots of groundbreaking stuff in Iowa's past, both IM and psych programs well regarded, they have a "speed dating" event for research where you get to meet with many researchers each for a short time to see if you'd like to work with them.

6. Location & Lifestyle: College town of Iowa City. Good cost of living, most residents buy houses/condos. Lots of outdoors stuff, trails and bike paths. Lots of stuff going on most of the year 2/2 college events. I'm told there are a variety of good restaurants in the area.

7. Salary & Benefits: 55k to start, which goes a long way.

8. Program Strengths:
-Med-Psych unit!
-Psych wards at main hospital
-Good research, solid record academically
-Didactics are well protected (they take your pagers)
-Residents seem happy
-VA next door
-Variety of units (adult, child, med-psych, eating disorders)

9. Potential Weaknesses:
-Too much corn
-Fairly isolated from big city stuff
-Winters can be rough
-Not a good place if you like hills/mountains (hiking, skiing)

 

[itsalimentary]

I hope you guys enjoy my novels.


University of Utah

1. Ease of communication: No issues here.

2. Accommodation and food: They do not provide lodging, but they do provide you with a list of places close to the university. I actually ended up renting a car since I arrived a few hours early pre-interview day and left a few hours after the interview and am REALLY glad I did so. It allowed me to drive into the mountains and check out different neighborhoods around the city. Traffic is pretty much a non-issue in SLC and it’s a small city, so navigating was simple. Dinner the night before was wonderful with a great showing. The residents were friendly and genuinely love the program.

3. Interview day: Pretty standard. The day began at 8 AM with a program overview by two current residents followed by an introduction from the new chair, Dr. Zabieto. I had four interviews, 30 minutes per interview. We all seemed to have different interviewers, but everyone met with the PD, Dr. Bartel. All of the interviews were very low stress and I didn’t have any surprising or difficult questions (very standard: tell me about yourself, why psychiatry, what are you looking for in a program, what questions do you have for me, etc). Interviews were followed by lunch with the residents in one of the conference rooms. They had about 6 residents show up. They all seem to get along really well and were cracking up the entire time. I definitely got the impression that they’re a happy crew. After lunch was the standard tour of facilities and a brief drive through Sugar House (one of the SLC neighborhoods). The neuropsychiatric institute is quite nice. There are multiple units with patients segregated diagnoses, severity, and age; mood disorders, more acute/sick patients, adolescents. They even have a unit devoted to detox, which I thought was pretty cool. There are different patient restrictions depending on the units. For example, patients from the less acute mood disorders unit eat lunch in the downstairs cafeteria and the adolescents are brought outside to do ropes courses/sledding. The university hospital has a beautiful lobby. The psychiatric unit is located in an older part of the building, but seemed to be well-kept. This is generally where the more medically complex patients stay as consults are available in house (this is an issue at the neuropsychiatric institute) and the nursing staff can handle moderate medical issues. We only drove by the VA, but they have an inpatient unit and outpatient clinics here. The resident continuity clinics are currently in the neuropsychiatric institute, but it sounds like they plan to move the outpatient clinics to buildings in town by next year.

4. Program overview: The program seems to be more education than service oriented. Residents attend a full day of didactics on Wednesdays throughout the four years (except for the six off service months during intern year). The intern year is pretty standard. They are required to do four medicine months (one month inpatient at the VA, two months inpatient at the university hospital, and one month outpatient or EM depending on your preference – outpatient is supposed to be super chill, but EM is more interesting). During IM wards you are treated just like a medicine intern (with both respect and high standards). There is q4 long call (admit until 7 PM or so), but no overnights. They are also required to do two months of neurology, which includes one month of inpatient at UH and one month at the VA (which ends up being inpatient rounds in the morning, clinic in the afternoon, and two weekend calls/month). You’re also allowed the option to replace one medicine month with inpatient peds and one month of VA neurology with peds neuro. The six months of psychiatry include 3 months at the neuropsychiatric institute (no weekends), one month on the med-psych unit at UH (no weekends), one month of inpatient at the VA (no weekends), and one month of C/L at the VA (no weekends). Interns don’t do any overnight call (done second year). They average about 1-2 short calls per week (5-8 PM) and 3 long calls at the end of intern year (all weekend shifts). Second year seems to be the most intense year of the four. This consists of 3-4 months of inpatient psych (UNA, UH, VA) one month of C&A (I wasn’t sure if this was required or an optional replacement of an adult inpatient month), one month of C/L psych at UH, 1-2 months of night float at UNI, one month forensic psychiatry at the state hospital (residents really seemed to enjoy this), one month of geriatric psych, one month of emergency psych at UH, and one month of addiction psych at UNI. Night float is Sun-Thurs, 12 hour shifts, and is all in house. However, UNI is a pretty nice hospital with a gym and a resident call room so you have the option to workout/sleep while waiting for new admissions. You’re also the only MD in the entire hospital overnight, so it’s a great way to push you to make autonomous decisions (obviously you have support a phone call away if needed). Second year call consists of four 10-12 hour weekend shifts per month, but this can be from home if you live within 30 minutes of the hospital. Third year is entirely outpatient (unless you choose to do an inpatient elective). They’re required to do one day at continuity clinic, ½ day at recovery clinic (stressful and incredibly useful in learning how to deal with difficult patients), and one day of outpatient child for 8 months. The remainder of the time is elective. It sounded like there are a variety of outpatient elective opportunities, and the training directors are open to creating new electives if a resident has the initiative. They mentioned they have global health electives. Third year call consists of supervisory call, which many actually do from home. This lasts for one week every 8-9 weeks. Aside from a half-day in the continuity clinic and a half-day spent on a scholarly project, the fourth year is entirely elective time. No call fourth year! Moonlighting: In house opportunities include UNI medical H&P’s and UH weekend consults. Internal moonlighting can start second year and it sounds like most of the residents participated. One of the residents claimed she doubled her salary third year. I believe they mentioned there are opportunities in other healthcare systems as well.

5. Faculty Achievements: You can look this up on their website.

6. Location and lifestyle: SLC is a lovely city situated between the Great Salt Lake and the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. There’s a small downtown, but most people seem to live in The Avenues and Sugar House neighborhoods. Lots of cute houses (some residents own) and rent here is very affordable for a city. All of the training facilities are located within a few minutes drive of one another and traffic is a non-issue. It’s a bike friendly town, but I’m not sure I’d be able to bike up those hills to get to the hospital everyday (especially in the winter). The best perk of living in SLC is that it’s situated right next to the mountains. There are multiple roads that leave the city and take you through winding canyons. Many of these canyons have ski resorts and you can apparently get from SLC to the slopes in 10-20 minutes. Park City, which is a cool and beautiful little town, is only about 30 minutes away and many of the attendings live there. I don’t think it would be worth living in Park City as a resident, though. There are miles and miles of hiking trails in the canyons and foothills and I was able to hike twice during my short stay since it was so convenient. I did notice that almost everything closes down around 9-10 PM. For a city of its size, it seems to be lacking in diversity and cultural opportunities. The residents claim the food is so-so.

7. Salary and benefits: 3 weeks of vacation, 5 additional days for conference PGY-2 through 4. Salary starts around 54k per year. Residents said health and dental insurance are wonderful. They’re provided meals when on call.

8. Program strengths: I got the impression that residents are well rounded and prepared for any sort of practice after graduation. The residents are smart and laid-back, got along well, and seemed genuinely happy with their decision to go to Utah. The faculty (including the PD, aPD, and chair) are approachable and supportive. The new chair is high energy and I really think he is going to do a lot for the program. The program emphasizes teaching over service, but the residents are still given plenty of exposure to a variety of patients. Lots of ECT exposure with the option to get certified. Telepsych opportunities. The program provides free demonstration therapy for as long as you’re in residency, but you’re not required to pursue this. Utah is BEAUTIFUL.

9. Program weaknesses: Not as research heavy as many of the other academic programs. However, it sounds like the new chair is super excited about bringing in additional faculty and placing more of an emphasis on research. Utah is obviously gorgeous and an outdoorsmen’s paradise, however, as a single person/night owl I’m a little concerned about the fact that most residents are settled down. SLC just doesn’t provide the culture and nightlife you find in larger cities. The patient population doesn’t seem to have as much diversity as you will find in larger cities either. It sounds like most people of lower SES are treated by a different hospital system in the less prosperous west side of town. However, the program does have a huge catchment area, so you will see a wide variety of diagnoses (just not necessarily patient backgrounds). Lack of fellowship opportunities.

Overall, Utah is a wonderful program. I know I will receive great training and be incredibly happy if I match here. It probably is not a good fit for those looking for a big city with a diverse patient population.

 

[itsalimentary]

Indiana University

1. Ease of communication: e-mail. PC was friendly and scheduling/arrangements were simple.

2. Accommodation and food: The program provided one night at the Conrad Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The hotel was fabulous and quite comfortable. The residents meet you in the hotel lobby around 6 PM the evening before the interview to take you to dinner at a local restaurant, Harry and Izzy’s, which was equally nice. There were four residents at the dinner with five candidates. They were all friendly, funny, happy, and got along very well. Einstein’s catered both breakfast (bagels and coffee) and lunch (sandwiches, soup, cookies).

3. Interview day: The five of us met a driver in the lobby of the Conrad at 7:40 who took us to the neuropsychiatric building about 10 minutes away. The first hour consisted of breakfast and an informal introduction from the program director, Dr. DeMotte. The introduction was followed by five 30 minute interviews with three faculty members, a chief resident, and Dr. DeMotte. All of the interviews were incredibly laid-back and conversational. It felt like everyone genuinely wanted to know what I was looking for in a residency program and they did a great job answering my questions and selling the strengths of the program. After the interviews we had lunch with three friendly residents. The lunch was followed by a walking tour of the VA and Ashkanazi and a driving tour of Indianapolis with two residents. We were dropped off at the airport around 3:30. The airport security is easy and quick.

4. Program overview: Everything is covered extensively on the program website. Second year is unique in that you rotate through forensics, addiction, and geriatrics. Dr. DeMotte explained it is structured this way to allow exposure to possible subspecialties early on. Fourth year is entirely elective, and they are open to creating your own elective. Call seemed reasonable. PGY-1 year is short-call about once a week when on service. PGY-2 is over night about once per week with the following day off. PGY-3 and 4 are training and back-up call.

5. Faculty achievements: Well-rounded and accomplished. Residents report they are incredibly supportive and approachable. Much of the time residents work with attendings one-on-one.

6. Location and lifestyle: Indianapolis is a medium-large mid-western city. Any city of this size is going to have decent food, arts, and cultural activities. Downtown in very clean and walkable. The city put billions of dollars into revitalizing the downtown area when they were chosen to host the superbowl, and it is now very clean and walkable. It is one of the few Midwestern cities that is growing in population, and there seemed to be a good amount of residential construction in the downtown area. Pros of the city include cost of living, friendliness, sports events, and lack of traffic. Cons include weather (FEET of snow in the winter, humid summers), lack of scenic beauty (very flat/plains area), and a little more of a laid-back/smaller city feel (not necessarily a con, of course).

7. Salary and benefits: Standard. Check out the website.

8. Program strengths: It was incredibly obvious upon meeting the residents that they are a happy and close-knit group. Multiple people separately described the program as their second family. The residents also feel the faculty are supportive of their interests and they have a lot of freedom to mold their residency experience into what they want (obviously still need to do the required work). Emphasize learning over service (residents mentioned that all of the sites can easily run without them). Lots of opportunities to teach medical students and residents in other programs (through didactics). Program is receptive to resident feedback (they were able to provide several examples). The neuropsychiatric center has allowed for more collaboration with other specialties, and they even have didactics and grand rounds with neurology. Strong in both therapy and psychopharm/neuro training. This is Dr. DeMotte’s first year as program director, but he was the aPD for the past few years. Dr. Chambers is still at the program and very much involved, but is now the aPD as she has accepted additional roles with the medical school. I foresee no issues with the change in program director titles. Both seemed like wonderful, supportive individuals and Dr. Chambers is still very involved in the residency training program. Fellowships in C&A, addiction, and geriatrics. They expect to have a CL fellowship by next year. They also have opportunities to work closely with neurology (movement clinic, TBI, imaging, etc). They provide research, educator, and global health tracks, but do not expect residents to do any of these. There are a number of diverse training sites, which is a real strength of the program. This allows residents exposure to populations that run the range of SES as well zebras and the more common diseases seen in psychiatry. The neuroscience center is the site of outpatient specialty clinics and research. Larue is the inpatient state hospital that serves both children and adults. It is the only location without EMR. Riley is the children’s hospital. We didn’t have the opportunity to tour it, but residents seemed to enjoy working there. Eskenazi, the county hospital, was built just a few years ago. I have never seen a county hospital this beautiful and green. It looks more like a museum than a hospital. It houses an inpatient unit, outpatient mental health and addictions center, and even a first break clinic. The VA is just across the street from Eskenazi and has a nice inpatient unit. University Hospital is a tertiary referral center that primarily treats individuals with insurance. Moonlighting starts as early as PGY-2 (most do it after their PGY-2 VA experience) and there are many opportunities to moonlight in this underserved region.

9. Program weaknesses: I honestly can’t think of any real weaknesses in the program itself. I think the diversity of training sites and support from faculty and colleagues would provide a solid training experience. The limiting factor for bringing people in from outside of the Midwest is likely Indianapolis. It’s a decent city, but just isn’t particularly exciting. Winters can be harsh. Throughout the interview day, the program often emphasized how family friendly they are. Many of the residents seemed to live in the suburbs and are married/have children. This could be a strength or weakness depending on your perspective.

Overall, I think IU is a bit of a hidden gem of a program. They are incredibly well-rounded and supportive, and I'm sure it would be significantly more competitive if located in a more desirable location. You will receive solid training and have a great lifestyle if you attend IU for residency.

 

[clausewitz2]

1. Ease Of Communication:

Took ages to respond to my choice of interview dates, but I got what I wanted (although I had to call)

Got a very nice scanned letter (!) from the PD a few hours after completing my interview summarizing our particular conversation and saying that she had gotten very positive feedback from faculty about me, which was flattering.


2. Accommodation & Food:

List of hotels provided, some of which have a UNC hospital rate. Dinner the night before was at a very reasonable Italian joint in Chapel Hill, more of a red-sauce-Italian-place-made-fancy than Italian-Italian. Didn’t have a huge amount of options, but there was a spaghetti marinara dish so it was all good. The desserts looked nice. Attendance by residents was good, with four showing up, including two interns (on-service, naturally).


Day of, pasta salads of several kinds for lunch with meat thoughtfully on the side. Pastries, OJ, coffee and fresh fruit for breakfast, standard continental stuff. I ate breakfast at my hotel, because it was free and better.


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

Got a bit of a late start, things not kicking off until 9 AM. Hung out with the chief residents Program overview from the PD, then breaking for 3 half hour interviews with one faculty member, one resident, and the PD. At first I thought that the interviewers were chosen very randomly, but it turned out there was substantial method in their madness – the second year I was paired up with was also a MD/PhD and so had very useful insights.

I was warned prior to the interview with the PD, Dr. Dawkins, that she pulls a very analytical face and doesn’t react much during interviews, but my experience was not at all consistent with that as we laughed quite a lot. Either she is responding to previous feedback or I’m just that good. All of my interviewers asked specific questions stemming from my personal statement, so I had the sense that they had actually read my application to some degree, which is a nice change.


4. Program Overview:

Huge classes, 14 interns every year, with the expectation that 5 are going to be lost to CAP on the regular. Four of the inpatient psych blocks in first year are at CRH, the regional hospital, a 40 minute drive away. Medicine blocks are all either on the inpatient Family Medicine service at UNC or on the med/psych unit at CRH. I rather liked this, a) because UNC Family Med is a genuinely big deal and you will be working with good people and b) because managing medical conditions with significant psychiatric co-morbidities is way more interesting than CHF’er #576. Only one month of neurology first year, inpatient. The rest of the first year psych blocks are distributed across specialized UNC inpatient units, of which there are seven: Child, Adolescent, Geri, Psychotic, eating disorders, Crisis Stabilization, and Perinatal.

Second year is all outpatient, which is a bit unusual. The expectation is that you will continue to carry some of your patients through 3rd and 4thyear. Since the program emphasizes psychodynamic approaches heavily, the leadership believes that you cannot see real breakthroughs that make these techniques worthwhile without longitudinal continuity. CBT and DBT training are available, but they are quite proud of their close connection to the local psychoanalytic institute.

There exists a research track that gives you a day a week second year for protected time, a half day a week third year, and then huge wodges of time fourth year if you want them. They are currently revising the research track to expand the protected time available earlier on because they have realized they are rather underutilizing the number of MD/PhDs in the program.

Everyone also rotates at some point in third year in a true integrated care clinic, which is a joint collaboration between UNC psych and UNC Family Med to test co-location (a psychiatrist in a primary care clinic) and reverse co-location (a primary care doc in a psych clinic) models as part of ongoing studies. If you want to do medical management of psychiatric patients and get good at it, this is the program for you.

Another nice aspect is that most of the UNC units are concentrated in a dedicated neurosciences hospital, which hosts psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery.

Fellowships are Psychosomatic (2 slots a year, actually somewhat competitive last year), CAP, and Forensics. Good Geri and Addictions training but no accredited fellowships. Informal fellowships available that are unique are Community Psychiatry, Women’s Reproductive Mood Disorders, and Eating Disorders.


5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:

#9 by NIH research funding for psychiatry. Enough said. Big strengths are eating disorders, women’s mood disorders, psychosis intervention…


6. Location & Lifestyle:
The Research Triangle comprises Chapel Hill (where UNC is located), Durham and Raleigh. The greater metro is about a million and a half people, but Chapel Hill itself is tiny, like 60,000, mostly students. Many residents live in Durham, a town more in the 300,000 range, and Raleigh about forty minutes down the road is significantly larger. Many people in the area are originally from elsewhere because they have come for the universities and to do industrial research (hence the name). Weather is very mild, with only a couple of inches of snow a year and summers that are not too sweltering due to the Piedmont elevation. This area of the world has exploded in recent years and a lot of new housing has gone up, so many residents own houses, but there are places where you can live a slightly denser, urban-feeling lifestyle. You will need to drive places.

Only a few hours from the beach or the mountains, for long weekends. Decent air links from Raleigh, several international flights from Charlotte, an even bigger town two hours down the interstate.

7. Salary & Benefits:
Some odd perks - when on call at CRH, each intern gets 25 dollars to spend at a local restaurant that has a catering contract and will deliver your meal to the hospital. Also, while you will have to drive frequently to the CRH in Butner, you will be reimbursed for gas waaaaay above market rates - one resident said he received $1200 a year in reimbursements. Parking is free at the major sites. UNC health insurance is apparently awesome, with all generic medications filled free at the university pharmacy.

8. Program Strengths:
- very strong research bench
-psych is a player in the broader hospital system, so you get frequent and interesting consults
- many specialized units means you get very focused experiences
-some informal fellowships that don't exist many other places
- strong state hospital experience
-definite commitment to clinical research and excellence in community mental health
- livable area
-huge class means that one person getting sick or taking maternity leave doesn't screw everyone's call schedule

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- could get swallowed up in the massive class
- no VA linkages
-no formal addiction or geri fellowship
- local community mental health agencies are a little fragmented due to the state legislature
-no Medicaid expansion, so vast access issues
- The Triangle is not a metropolis

 

[Nymphicus]

Program Name UCSD

Program Communication

ERAS, timely communication

Accommodations

Stayed at Sheraton La Jolla which was <5 mins away from the VA. Would be walkable. Would definitely recommend, and I would stay here again. UCSD rate.

Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences)

8:15am-4pm. Dr. Zisook, the PD, was personally attentive to us the whole day. He started the morning with a ppt presentation and then we left on a shuttle to UCSD medical center (Hillcrest) about 20 minutes away from La Jolla for tour of facilities by various chief residents. UCSD has a lot of chief residents. Taken to lunch with residents at a nice Indian buffet. Great resident turnout. Shuttle to La Jolla cove to see the seals on the way back to VA. More tours and interviews at VA. I appreciated the care they took to evenly disperse residents and applicants at the dinner and lunch.

Interviews were at both UCSD/Hillcrest and VA. 2 short interviews (~20mins) with PD, APD, and 1 long (~45min) with a faculty. Interviews were mainly conversational.

Program and Curriculum Overview

PGY1

- 4 months IM (Mercy Hospital)

- 2 months neurology

- 6 months inpatient psychiatry (UCSD/Hillcrest)

PGY2

- 4-6mo inpt psych (mostly VA)

- Rotations in geri, child, eating disorders, emergency psych, CL, addictions

PGY3

- Year long outpt clinic at UCSD/Hillcrest +- electives

PGY4

- Req research

- 4 or so chief positions

- electives

Program Feel and Culture

Academic, with focus on biologic psychiatry. Spread out over SD with main sites at UCSD/hillcrest and VA/La Jolla. Most residents have a California connection. Statistic was presented that >90% of graduates stay in southern California. Residents work hard, particularly the first year as well as part of the second. Residents seemed personable, happy, supported, and cohesive. Large resident turnout to both pre-interview dinner and interview lunch.

Faculty Achievements & Involvement

UCSD has a lot of big name faculty, particularly in the psychopharm and biopsych areas.

Dr. Zisook lives up to his reputation. Unfortunately he is choosing to step down, no replacement named yet.

Location & Lifestyle

No central location where residents lived, although most generally seemed to live near UCSD/Hillcrest or VA/La Jolla.

Salary & Benefits

PGY1 $52,941

PGY4 $59,089

$4,800 housing stipend?(in booklet, but did not hear about this during interview day

Health insurance is quite comprehensive

Program Strengths

- Great support for an academic career

- Heavy research and strong faculty, particularly in PTSD, psychopharm, biological psychiatry

- San Diego and beach

- A lot of exposure to underserved populations

- Ability to collaborate across UCSD campus

Potential Weaknesses

- Dr. Zisook (PD), stepping down, no replacement named yet

- A lot of driving, no central location

- VA heavy, potentially less balanced patient exposure

- Residents affirm you will work very hard at times, particularly during parts of the first 2 years

- They are attempting to diversify the psychotherapy patient pool, as the current pool is mostly lower functioning, potentially more acute patients

- Minimal time for psychotherapy exposure/practice until 3rd year

 

[WingedOx]

only beginning on nov and already 22 reviews! and not even any anonymous reviews. well done - this will be a very helpful thread to those of you interviewing and am sending you good vibes. for those of you who posted on the WAMC and haven't posted/not going to post here - a pox upon you!

This better not be the second year in a row that no one reviews my program.

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

In years past, someone stepped up and offered to post reviews from people who wanted to do it anonymously...any takers?

I'm not sure what came of this idea, but I'd be more apt to post if this were a thing. Just sayin'

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

Anonymous Review
1.
Program Name: UTSW
1. Ease Of Communication: No complaints.
2. Accommodation & Food: Pretty sure my hotel had bed bugs (Avoid Embassy Suites), but it was not arranged by the program. They have a really cool cafeteria. Dinner the night before was also really good Tex-Mex.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Interviews in the morning, tour in the afternoon. The UTSW campus is gigantic, the tour includes a shuttle ride and a good amount of walking. They recommend bringing walking shoes. All of the interviewers were very nice. I thought the PD was very fun to interview with--I was warned that he was "very psychoanalytic" but I felt like we just had a good conversation.
4. Program Overview: Very flexible, strong track record of sorta-new PD (~6-7 years) being super responsive to resident feedback with very gratifying results per the residents.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Plenty of people both clinically and in research to suit whatever interest you may have.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Dallas has a pretty cheap cost of living. Lots of driving but that's most of the US anyway. Seems like a cool place, but I didn't get to experience too much while there.
7. Salary & Benefits: Probably the best Salary to cost of living in the country. They pay as much as programs in Boston, San Fran, etc.
8. Program Strengths: Virtually any interest you have is represented here and can be made into an elective. Really nice facilities. Flexible program.
9. Potential Weaknesses: Seems like an excellent program but I didn't get as strong a sense of "passion"--almost as if it was expected that people go there because they're from Dallas/TX, even though I think there's a strong argument that it is truly a premiere place to train and should well be able to attract people for reasons other than geographic/family ties."

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

Anonymous review

2.
Program Name: U of Utah
1. Ease Of Communication: Took a while to get interview confirmation information. Otherwise great.
2. Accommodation & Food: Hotel deals with confirmation info. Not necessary to stay near UNI--rent a car and drive to UNI (tons of parking available) on interview day ; consider staying somewhere more interesting (like downtown), although view from my hotel up near UNI was pretty awesome. Lunch was a little sparse/light.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Intro from chair of program covered upcoming changes (good things.) Interviews followed. Some interviews later in afternoon with PD. Tour was half by car and half walking through the main sites (UNI, U of U Hospital, drive by VA)
4. Program Overview: Somewhat small (~70 faculty) and previously clinically focused. Chair is working on recruiting more researchers. Strong in child psych and inpatient. Strengtheningpsychotherapy training.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Clinically focused but working on improving research presence.
6. Location & Lifestyle: SLC is beautiful. Good cost of living, tons of outdoor activities, very friendly culture. Well planned city, lots of small houses available, some apartments, seems like relatively low traffic. Speed limits through city are quite low.
7. Salary & Benefits: Pretty standard.
8. Program Strengths: Child, working on improving all experiences. All of the residents and faculty were super happy. Relatively light workload and call compared to other residencies; full day (Wed) of didactics from ~830 to ~1530.
9. Potential Weaknesses: I almost wonder if the workload is a little too easy compared to some of the other programs I've looked at, but the residents feel very competent/well trained. CL training may be slightly weak. People going into child should know that the home fellowship only has two spots.

 

[kevinc2]

UCLA-SFV

1. Ease of communication: Program coordinator can sometimes be slow in responding, but she does. No reminder before the interview date.

2. Accommodation and food: No lodging. Light breakfast (coffee, poptarts, donuts) provided. Lunch- pizza, salad. Post interview happy hour at Butcher's dog- program provides for food, but no drinks (but highly recommend getting one- the place has a broad draft selection including a lot of local craft beers)

1. 3. Interview day: Pretty standard. The day starts at 8:30 am at the Sepulveda VA. You go in and chiefs hang around to give you a quick overview and answer questions informally. 5 interviewees total. The group gets divided into 2 groups. 1 group goes to Olive View in the morning to get interviewed by 2 residents. 2nd group stays at the VA to get interviewed by 2 residents and APD (Dr. Chamberlin) and PD (Dr. Brown). They don't give you a schedule, but someone just comes to get you and the chief resident will always be there to talk to you in between interviews and carry you around. All of interviews are very informal and short (30 minutes each). Resident interviews are literally do you have any questions for me and they didn't really ask me any/barely any questions except where I am from, my career interest. Dr. Chamberlin asks some questions about why this program, why psychiatry, stuff from applications, but very informal as well. Dr. Brown starts by asking if we have any questions for him. After interviews, you will get a tour of the VA (in the morning if you started at the Va, afternoon if you started at Olive View). You get a quick lunch and Dr. Chamberlin stops by to give you a broad overview of the program. Lastly, one of chiefs will drive you to the Olive View for the tour and then you are done (2 pm ish). Post interview happy hour at 5:30 pm (near Westwood, but you have a plenty of time to drive there, change, explore the city in between).
   
   4. Program overview: I was really impressed by the program. I was gonna rank them high anyways because of so cal location, but after the day, I will be ranking them at least in my top 3. Program is a good mix between academics and community. Your intern year is spent doing 2 months of inpatient at UCLA-NPI (westwood campus), 2 months inpatient WLA-VA (across from UCLA campus), 2 months of Olive View-UCLA (a large county hospital). 2 months of inpatient medicine at olive view, 2 months outpatient at the VA, 1 patient neuro at olive view, and 1 month of psych ER at olive view. You only take medicine calls for 2 months of inpatient. For the rest of intern years (10 months/12) you take psych calls even for off service rotations. All calls for psych are only on weekends (12-16 hours shifts Friday, Sat, and Sun). No weekday calls. 2-3 shifts/month (2 if you get one of 16 hour shifts, 3 if you only get 12 hour shifts). Most of calls are only at psych ED at olive view with some at WLA VA (westwood). Psych ED calls are really busy since this is a large county facility. They opened a new psych ED this year (huge, but really nice with wooden floors) So no floor calls, weekend rounding, consults during call outside of VA and you can only focus on ED. So you may get more ED experience than the curriculum map might suggest. VA call is very light since UCLA-NPI residents cover it as well. 0-1 admissions. Most times, you get a full night of sleep. For off service rotations, medicine, you are the third intern, so not as intense, pick and choose what patient you want to pick up. Outpatient medicine, both primary care and specialty clinics (cards, derm, GI, etc). Neuro is entirely consult, no inpatient, very light, they use this rotation to study for step 3.
   
   
2. PGY-2 & 3 year: You start 50% time outpatient clinics longitudinally at the VA for both years. Continuity pharm clinics, primary care consultation clinics, psychotherapy clinics. Really seems to emphasize psychotherapy for outpatient clinics. Really nice, private offices (looks more like private practice offices vs VA) with some double rooms so that attendings can observe you doing therapy on the other side of the glass. A lot of therapy supervision. you book your own patients/create your own schedule. Residents were very happy with therapy training. In the mornings you do 50% inpatient/ subspecialty rotations. 2 months of NPI again (morning rounds, write notes, leave for the clinic), 2 months of olive view, olive view consults 3 months, PACE C&L (primary care consultation-outpatient) 3 months for PGY-2. You get 2 weeks of night float at the VA, but once again, you are pretty much sleeping through the night. PGY 3- 3 months of inpatient child at UCLA-NPI, 3 months of outpatient child at a county outpatient clinic, 2 months of outpatient urgent care, outpatient addictions at the VA, outpatient VA geri. So very outpatient heavy (you are likely be getting 1.5 years of outpatient in PGY2&3 vs 1 year at most other programs). PGY2-Call: 2 shifts/month (mentioned above). PGY-3 call: 1 shift/month (same, even lighter since you are supervising interns).

PGY 4- no calls. Some required continuity clinics- mood disorders, college counseling at cal state, psychotherapy. The rest of creating your own electives and chief residency. You can create electives at NPI (or VA, olive view, SFV county, etc) so if you want you do an entire year at NPI outside of continuity clinics. Also you can start moonlighting as early as PGY-2. They encourage you to do moonlighting esp internally since they don't have extensive call schedule to provide coverage. Earn $100/hours. A lot of residents make over 100K due to moonlighting. Day to day schedule esp. for PGY2-3. Typically 8-5 pm M-F outside of weekend calls. Since you get to set up your own schedule for outpatient, a lot of residents can take a day off or an afternoon off on fridays/mondays. WLA VA: even interns may leave as early as noon, 2 pm since it's very light there.

Strength in addiction/geri with fellowships. Also for those interested in child, they are starting a child fellowship pending approval from ACGME next year (country's first VA based child fellowship?!? PD said he envisions working with children of vets. Doing parents training/therapy at the VA, child outpatient through the county, and inpatient rotations at UCLA-NPI).

1. 5. Faculty Achievements: You get a broad exposure to both UCLA attendings and VA/community attendings. Dr. Brown has been in his position for a long time. Residents say he has a lot of connections in the area so he can help you create any elective/research opportunities in the area including research at UCLA.
   
   6. Location and lifestyle: Great. Residents kept emphasizing work life balance and they genuinely seemed happy. Mostly singles, but several residents w/ kids. Singles tend to live near Westwood/westside near the beach, families in the valley. Eligible for UCLA subsidized housing ($1200/month for 1 bed, $1500 for 2 bed), which is nice for the location. Some commuting, but wasn't too bad actually (they drove us midday to other sites during the tour to give a realistic sense of driving mid day to get to different sites). Residents esp singles go together for a lot of happy hours, karaoke, korean food at K-town, a lot of foodies. UCLA gym access for $25/month, basketball/football tickets, and you have an UCLA staff card to give you access to most UCLA sites. A lot of moonlighting to make $$$, but shows their schedule is pretty light so you are paid to take call. A lot of residents are from the area a lot of them were telling me they chose this program over other southern california programs (including semel- i trust them because they were med students at UCLA) because they loved residents here vs Semel and they seemed really chill with good lifestyle and teaching.
   
   7. Salary and benefits: Salary was decent. all 3 meals provided if you are at Olive View. Free parking. Standard salary/benefits.
   
   8. Program strengths: I initially thought this was more of a community based VA program (in some element it is), but it was more academic than I thought it was going to be. You are rotation through NPI all 4 years in addition to community based rotations. Also, they started a chief residency in research and when asked, 6/11 fourth year residents do serious, publishable research (non-QI, case reports, literature review), which is higher than most other programs. Just shows time is probably the most important factor in terms of pursuing research during residency. since they rotate through 3 sites, you make a lot of connections with different attendings for jobs, fellowships. Faculty members really push residents to do research which is a plus for me. Plus the VA there is not a typical VA. A huge college campus like setting with 10+ buildings that are all outpatient with chapels, picnic areas, parks, grass, etc. Offices/buildings (main) are brand new and super nice(nicer than big university hospitals/private practice). Very well resourced VA. They also filmed scenes from Gray's Anatomy (glass bridge scenes) so that shows how nice the facilities are at the VA. Intense psychotherapy training (i think PD is a psychoanalyst?) with a lot of supervision ( you also sometimes train w/ psychologist interns as well), different modalities, and heavy therapy didactics. But you will get a lot of biological training from inpatient training at NPI, olive view, and psych ED. Strengths in addictions, geri, community/cultural psych (with a large hispanic population). 40-60% do fellowships, rest doing academics or private practice. Most stay in socal. Child fellowships that residents go to are UCLA-NPI, USC, UCLA-Harbor and few other big academic programs outside of Cali. You do get an extensive training in child surprisingly (3 months at a world renowned UCLA-NPI and 3 months at outpatient child as well as a lot of adolescents in urgent care clinics). Very impressed with residents- almost all exclusively US MDs (no IMGs i believe and 1 DO?). They are very smart, but super chill and a great group to hang out with. Former UCLA students so that shows that what they show on interview day is accurate (also had UCLA students interviewing).
   
   9. Program weaknesses: If you don't want to have anything to do with the VA at all. If you want a heavily biological training (like hopkins), but want to get away from therapy, probably not a good one. Different sites (plus or a minus depending on what you want)>
   

 

[Davole]

Program Name - Geisinger

1. Ease Of Communication: No issues. Prompt responses and plenty of notice for upcoming events.

2. Accommodation & Food: One night free of charge at the Pine Barn Inn, which is right below the hill that the hospital sits on. Nice big room with a single king sized bed. Dinner at the restaurant at the hotel the night before. Menu mainly consisted of sandwiches. I had a chicken sandwich with "barn fries" and a brownie sundae for dessert, all of which was very tasty. 3 of the 4 residents came to the dinner. They were all quite pleasant and seemed happy.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started with a light breakfast and coffee while the PD did an overview of the program. Next was a grueling marathon of 6 back-to-back interviews at 30 minutes each. No breaks between interviews, but they did provide drinks and snacks for the few minutes you had before being taken to the next interviewer. We then attended the noon neuropsych conference that is attended by both the neuro and psych residents. Sandwiches, soup, potato salad for lunch then a tour of the facility and a short wrap-up session. Day went from 7:30 until 2:30.

4. Program Overview: The program opened last cycle, so there are currently only 4 PGY-1 residents. There have been lots of other residencies there for many years, so the organization is used to training. Call schedule is different than most places since there aren't many residents and they've been used to handling all the services with the existing faculty. The PD seems very dedicated to making the residency run smoothly. Lots of planning have gone into all four years. Thus far, there haven't been any serious problems. One minor problem (on an IM rotation) was quickly dealt with by the PD. PD is very open to feedback and ways to improve the opportunities for residents. Residents primarily do rotations at the main hospital and another psych hospital which is about a half hour drive. One of the residents at the distant site mentioned that she has nearly full autonomy over her patients and runs the treatment team meetings. There's also one month of intern year at an addiction facility, which is a little farther away, but there is a plan to move the rotation to a closer facility.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: PD is really invested in making the residency a success. Lots of personal attention for residents. Seems like there is a good mix of younger and more experienced faculty. Geisinger is famous for its early adoption of EMR and it's integration into the system.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Danville, which is a rural atmosphere. Three colleges nearby which helps somewhat with adding stuff to do. I'm a big craft beer geek so after the interview I checked out the brewpub which is about 1/2 mile away from the hospital, Old Forge Brewpub. Just wanted to comment that the beer is pretty good. Close to the fingerlakes which has a lot of breweries as well. Lots of outdoors stuff to do, especially hiking and water stuff given the nearby river. Within a day's drive to NY, Philly, DC. Cheap cost of living with most of the residents buying houses.

7. Salary & Benefits: Website said 55k, which is the highest I've seen. Again, way more than enough. Family friendly.

8. Program Strengths:
-Good call schedule
-PD seems very invested
-New program, open to making changes, adding electives
-New CEO is a psychiatrist
-Residents seem happy
-Lots of effort put into curriculum

9. Potential Weaknesses:
-New program, unproven
-No senior resident guidance given there are only PGY-1s there
-Rural setting, but does get patients from a fairly wide area

 

[Wyvernrider]

Thanks @kevinc2 ! I am interviewing at UCLA/SFV in a few weeks and that was a very helpful review!

 

[Asklepian]

Anonymous Review
1.
Program Name: UTSW
1. Ease Of Communication: No complaints.
2. Accommodation & Food: Pretty sure my hotel had bed bugs (Avoid Embassy Suites), but it was not arranged by the program. They have a really cool cafeteria. Dinner the night before was also really good Tex-Mex.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Interviews in the morning, tour in the afternoon. The UTSW campus is gigantic, the tour includes a shuttle ride and a good amount of walking. They recommend bringing walking shoes. All of the interviewers were very nice. I thought the PD was very fun to interview with--I was warned that he was "very psychoanalytic" but I felt like we just had a good conversation.
4. Program Overview: Very flexible, strong track record of sorta-new PD (~6-7 years) being super responsive to resident feedback with very gratifying results per the residents.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Plenty of people both clinically and in research to suit whatever interest you may have.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Dallas has a pretty cheap cost of living. Lots of driving but that's most of the US anyway. Seems like a cool place, but I didn't get to experience too much while there.
7. Salary & Benefits: Probably the best Salary to cost of living in the country. They pay as much as programs in Boston, San Fran, etc.
8. Program Strengths: Virtually any interest you have is represented here and can be made into an elective. Really nice facilities. Flexible program.
9. Potential Weaknesses: Seems like an excellent program but I didn't get as strong a sense of "passion"--almost as if it was expected that people go there because they're from Dallas/TX, even though I think there's a strong argument that it is truly a premiere place to train and should well be able to attract people for reasons other than geographic/family ties."

I just wanted to briefly address this review as a current UTSW Intern that is from out-of-state with no local ties.
First, I'm really glad you had a great interview day! One year ago I was in your shoes, and felt much the same way. As an out-of-stater, I can tell you that many of us even in the intern class are not from here and don't necessarily have any ties. I came here because of reasons which you covered well in your synopsis above. And I will tell you that passion abounds here.

The biggest reasons I ranked UTSW above many other top programs (including some with greater name-recognition from the layfolk) are as follows:

• Stellar all-around program with diverse training: Given that Dallas-Fort Worth is the 4th largest Metro in the US, the fact that there is only one Psychiatry Residency here is mind-boggling; we would love if there were more residents here to care for our population, but as it currently stands, we have access to nearly any type of setting and patient population you can imagine (VA, County, Private, Community, Jail, Latino/Hispanic, LGBT, etc.).
  
• Research prowess: Our Chair, Dr. Carol Tamminga is one of the co-investigators of B-SNIP and now B-SNIP2; Dr. Madhukar Trivedi was largely responsible for STAR-D and now EMBARC along with investigators at Mass Gen, Columbia, and Michigan; outside of the Department itself there is abundant world-class research, including several Nobel Laureates, and incredibly strong departments in almost every area of medicine
• The Faculty / Staff: Not only are our Chair and PD incredibly dynamic, warm, and supportive, but the support staff and on-site teaching faculty are incredible. I had to go with my intuition on this one when I was an applicant, obviously, but I ended up being right (and in fact, my expectations have been trumped in practically every area).
• The Residents: The culture in residency here is fantastic, at least from what I've experienced with my co-interns. We hang out probably every other week at least, going to brunches (which are big in Dallas), happy hours, Art shows, etc. Camaraderie is a motif here, rather than a suggestion or distant thought. It honestly feels like a family, and we take care of each other in times of need.
• The opportunities: Do you like research? There's a place for you. We just became one of the only 10 institutions in the country with a NIH-funded R25 grant for a Psychiatry Residency Research Track. Up to a staggering 50% protected time is available PGY2,3, and 4. Do you hate research? No problem. There's very little pressure, here. You are expected to shine, but you get to pick the area. If that's Women's Psych, perfect. If it's Child & Adolescent, you'd have support. Name it, and we probably have a track in place. No track for you? No problem, we will make one. And as for fellowships? Great history with placements and career development with our grads, including MGH, Yale, etc. all in recent years.
  
• The weather, cost-of-living, salary, amenities, culture: These obviously aren't unique to UTSW, but they were important to me as someone looking for a place that would make my valuable free-time the most potent. As a non-local with no TX ties, I've been blown away by the richness of opportunities here in Dallas. And somehow, it is vastly more affordable than most other large cities, including housing. On a resident's salary, that counts...big time. Oh, and we have no state income tax.

I could keep going, but I don't want to ramble. I will close with sharing an anecdote I experienced last year.
A wise person shared with me during the interview season, "Make sure you find a place where the ratio of service to education is one you like." Personally, I wanted to go to a place that wasn't a cake walk, where I would risk undertraining, but I didn't just want to do scut. Southwestern is a program that is rigorous at times, but rewarding. You will work hard, as residents who want to become strong attendings should IMHO, but the residency really, really focuses on making sure this work yields education and benefit to the resident. The Chiefs also put a lot of effort into making sure that you have a schedule that staggers challenging/less-challenging rotations, the goal being to support a healthier lifestyle and promote wellness for the resident.

I promise I have no outside conflict of interest in writing this! I just feel super-passionate about this program and where I'm headed, and appreciated all the feedback I got from residents at various programs throughout my interview season.
Applicants, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and want a straightforward answer: I prefer to be surrounded by others that are passionate and ambitious, and that only happens when The Match truly is a match. Best of luck this interview season!

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

I just wanted to briefly address this review as a current UTSW Intern that is from out-of-state with no local ties.
First, I'm really glad you had a great interview day! One year ago I was in your shoes, and felt much the same way. As an out-of-stater, I can tell you that many of us even in the intern class are not from here and don't necessarily have any ties. I came here because of reasons which you covered well in your synopsis above. And I will tell you that passion abounds here.

The biggest reasons I ranked UTSW above many other top programs (including some with greater name-recognition from the layfolk) are as follows:

• Stellar all-around program with diverse training: Given that Dallas-Fort Worth is the 4th largest Metro in the US, the fact that there is only one Psychiatry Residency here is mind-boggling; we would love if there were more residents here to care for our population, but as it currently stands, we have access to nearly any type of setting and patient population you can imagine (VA, County, Private, Community, Jail, Latino/Hispanic, LGBT, etc.).
  
• Research prowess: Our Chair, Dr. Carol Tamminga is one of the co-investigators of B-SNIP and now B-SNIP2; Dr. Madhukar Trivedi was largely responsible for STAR-D and now EMBARC along with investigators at Mass Gen, Columbia, and Michigan; outside of the Department itself there is abundant world-class research, including several Nobel Laureates, and incredibly strong departments in almost every area of medicine
• The Faculty / Staff: Not only are our Chair and PD incredibly dynamic, warm, and supportive, but the support staff and on-site teaching faculty are incredible. I had to go with my intuition on this one when I was an applicant, obviously, but I ended up being right (and in fact, my expectations have been trumped in practically every area).
• The Residents: The culture in residency here is fantastic, at least from what I've experienced with my co-interns. We hang out probably every other week at least, going to brunches (which are big in Dallas), happy hours, Art shows, etc. Camaraderie is a motif here, rather than a suggestion or distant thought. It honestly feels like a family, and we take care of each other in times of need.
• The opportunities: Do you like research? There's a place for you. We just became one of the only 10 institutions in the country with a NIH-funded R25 grant for a Psychiatry Residency Research Track. Up to a staggering 50% protected time is available PGY2,3, and 4. Do you hate research? No problem. There's very little pressure, here. You are expected to shine, but you get to pick the area. If that's Women's Psych, perfect. If it's Child & Adolescent, you'd have support. Name it, and we probably have a track in place. No track for you? No problem, we will make one. And as for fellowships? Great history with placements and career development with our grads, including MGH, Yale, etc. all in recent years.
  
• The weather, cost-of-living, salary, amenities, culture: These obviously aren't unique to UTSW, but they were important to me as someone looking for a place that would make my valuable free-time the most potent. As a non-local with no TX ties, I've been blown away by the richness of opportunities here in Dallas. And somehow, it is vastly more affordable than most other large cities, including housing. On a resident's salary, that counts...big time. Oh, and we have no state income tax.

I could keep going, but I don't want to ramble. I will close with sharing an anecdote I experienced last year.
A wise person shared with me during the interview season, "Make sure you find a place where the ratio of service to education is one you like." Personally, I wanted to go to a place that wasn't a cake walk, where I would risk undertraining, but I didn't just want to do scut. Southwestern is a program that is rigorous at times, but rewarding. You will work hard, as residents who want to become strong attendings should IMHO, but the residency really, really focuses on making sure this work yields education and benefit to the resident. The Chiefs also put a lot of effort into making sure that you have a schedule that staggers challenging/less-challenging rotations, the goal being to support a healthier lifestyle and promote wellness for the resident.

I promise I have no outside conflict of interest in writing this! I just feel super-passionate about this program and where I'm headed, and appreciated all the feedback I got from residents at various programs throughout my interview season.
Applicants, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and want a straightforward answer: I prefer to be surrounded by others that are passionate and ambitious, and that only happens when The Match truly is a match. Best of luck this interview season!

Though I did not write the original review I do thank you for this insight that you are providing for us. I know a lot of us appreciate hearing from interns seeing as we only get a snapshot of the programs with our one day interviews. I hope i'm not being too bold but I think it might be beneficial to hear from other interns and residents about their programs. If this means sending anonymous reviews I definitely volunteer to post them; either to this thread or a new one.

 

[Davole]

This is sad that there's been no action for so many days. It's even worse that about half of the posts are from 2 or 3 people.

 

[DVolle]

Harbor-UCLA

1. Ease of Communication: Emails with housestaff coordinator who was quickly responsive. They were able to easily accomodate interviewing me on short notice as I was in the area for an away rotation.

2. Accomodation & Food: No accomodations provided or pre-interview dinner. No list of area hotels provided although this was a non-issue for me as I was staying with family in the area.

3. Interview Day: Parking was fairly easy to find on the hospital campus with the map provided by the coordinator. The day started at 8 AM at the program'sadministrative offices on the 8th floor of the hospital with an interview with the PD (Dr. Burgoyne). The interview was low stress as Dr. Burgoyne genuinely seemed interested in learning about me and in selling the program as a good place to be. At the interview with the PD I was given a packet which showed where the graduates of the program had ended up since 2008, listed the current residents, and detailed the curriculum.

After this initial interview I was escorted by the coordinator to another building where a separate inpatient unit is housed to meet the associate training director. This interview was a bit more formal as he asked me several questions about my interest in the field, experiences in psychiatry in medical school, and why I wanted to come to Southern California (I'm from the Midwest). I was asked specifically if I speak any second languages as the makeup of patients at Harbor was noted to be 30% Hispanic (half of which are solely Spanish speaking), 30% African American, 30% Caucasian, and 10% Asian. This large Spanish speaking population lends itself to one entire outpatient clinic being conducted in Spanish. Interpreters were noted to be readily available. The socioeconomic makeup of patients served is mostly lower to middle class although the associatiate PD noted that most of the LA homeless population are served by USC. He mentioned that residents work very hard at Harbor and that the first and second years are particularly busy with q4 short call and bi-monthly overnight call but did say that residents are allowed to begin moonlighting in the psychiatric ER during second year and that they all feel prepared to do so.

My third interview was in the outpatient buildings which were essentially old barracks that are separate from the main hospital building. Walking outside between buildings was nice but I can see how it would be troublesome if there was substantial rain (if El Niño is as bad as predicted this may be the case). This interview was with the director of the dual diagnosis program and was very conversational and again brought up my interest in Harbor, what I look for in a program, and my interest in Southern California. He had done some of his training in the Midwest and noted that transplants are comfortable in Torrance as it has a feel that is a bit removed from the bustle of LA.

After this, myself and the other applicant were escorted back to the C/L building to observe C/L rounds with the associate PD. This was fairly standard staffing of patients but we were able to meet two residents and learned about one
of the unique perks of Harbor (as LAX is in the catchment of Harbor, any psychiatric patient from there is transported to Harbor for treatment and if they wish to fly home, are usually accompanied by a Harbor resident who essentially gets a trip for free). One of the residents at rounds was actually leaving for Istanbul that afternoon to accompany a patient who was returning to Turkey.

Lunch was in the area of the cafeteria reserved for doctors (who eat for free) and was attended by 5 residents. They were all supportive of the program highlighting the family feel of the residency, the strong therapy training, the strong PER and county experience, and the supportive and responsive faculty. After lunch, one of the chief residents took us on a tour of the PER (smaller than I anticipated), inpatient unit, C/L unit, and the outpatient clinics. She had recently returned for 4th year after being on an extended maternity leave (which I feel speaks to the program's supporriveness)

I had one final interview with a third year resident at the outpatient clinics which was mainly him answering any questions I had. After this, I was free to go.

4. Program Overview:
8 categorical spots each year with 1 additional intern spot reserved for the UCLA-NPI/Harbor track resident

PGY-1: 7 months psychiatry (4 mo inpatient, 2 months psych ER, 1 month dual diagnosis) and 5 months medical rotations (wards, ambulatory, med ER, neurology)
PGY-2: Harbor starts outpatient during second year and most residents carry 30-40 patients throughout the year. Most of the additional time is spent on the inpatient units. They also do an additional month of neurology.
PGY-3: 4 months of child, 5 months of C/L, 1 month geriatric (at West LA VA), 1 month forensic, 1 month elective. Outpatient clinics continue and 3rd years carry 35-50 patients.
PGY-4: A firm breakdown was not provided in the packet I receieved. It seems that some inpatient team supervision is built in and most of the time is reserved for electives at Harbor, NPI, or with the LAC-DMH. Outpatient clinics continue and the 4th years carry 50-60 patients.

Most outpatients are seen at the Harbor clinics but residents do carry several long-term patients at a Kaiser facility for psychotherapy supervision and private practice experience (which was noted to be excellent)

5. Faculty Achievement & Involvements: Many faculty involved in their own research, it was unclear how easy it was for residents to become involved in a scholarly project. Multiple residents noted that they felt very supported by faculty and that the teaching they received was top notch.

6. Location & Lifestyle: The Harbor hospital is a county facility with all the pluses and minuses that brings. You'll certainly see very sick patients and be providing a service that many would not get otherwise. The main hospital was recently renovated and while it looks nice, much of the heart of the hospital retains the slightly run-down asthetic (grafitti in elevators, dirty bathrooms, bleak hallways) although renovation to some areas is still ongoing. The psychiatric units for the most part were standard psych units. Call rooms were standard (they had a computer and a bed) and were on the same floor as the main psych unit which was nice. The outpatient clinics are housed in old barracks with paint peeling on the outside. The insides of the clinics were nice and each residents receives their own office from 2nd-4th year and can decorate them as they see fit.

Torrance is definitely removed the glitz of many parts of LA but it seemed fairly safe and liveable. It seems that most residents live west of the hospital more near the beach cities. Commute was said to be mild as most residents could be at the hospital in 15-20 minutes. The associate program director said that the residents worked hard but none of the residents I interacted with seemed run down. There are ample recreational oppurtunities in LA although most would have to be driven to.

7. Salary & Benefits:
Per website:
Salary (effective 10/2/2014)
PGY-1 : $ 3,811.04/month
PGY-2 : $ 4,263.64/month
PGY-3 : $ 4,619.73/month
PGY-4 : $ 4,978.26/month
24 vacation days per year
8 sick days per year (accumulated at a rate of 1 sick day per month to a max of 8)
Website details parental leave
Health and dental offered to resident, coverage for family at a fee
Malpractice covered
Meals while on duty
White coats furnished and laundered

8. Program Strengths:
- Top notch psych ER experience
- Majority of experience in county facility (can be a weakness for some)
- Underserved and diverse population
- High acuity patients (can be a weakness if you're looking for an easy resideny)
- Supportive PD and faculty
- Collegial feel
- Residents have their own office from the 2nd year onward
- Residents accompany patients who are transported out of California via LAX
- Ability to do electives at NPI and with DMH
- Internal moonlighting starting second year (quoted $100/hr)
- Therapy training noted to be excellent
- Good cost of living (can live by beach) and easy commute
- Harbor graduates sought after by recruiters

9. Program Weaknesses:
- Run down facilities
- No VA exposure
- Busy call schedule (plus for me, minus for others)
- Not as much exposure to upper class patients (if you're looking to establish that kind of practice after residency)
- 3 separate EMR systems (main EMR is Cerner Powerchart)
- Majority of homeless population seen by USC
- High percentage of Spanish speaking population (if this isn't your thing)
- Unclear path for residents interested in research, told by faculty that research isn't main focus
- No external moonlighting

 

[kevinc2]

USC (University of Southern California)

1. Ease of Communication: PC is pretty responsive with her emails and if the dates that you were offered don't fit your schedule, may want to email her to ask for more dates (what you get initially may not be all the dates that they have available). Reminders regarding the interview day/dinner few days before the interview.

2. Accomodation and Food: No hotel provided. Pre interview dinner at an Italian restaurant near LA Live (mostly apps, need to pay for own drinks). Catered breakfast and nice authentic mexican lunch (chips, enchiladas, salad, etc).

3. Interview day: A large group of applicants (20+), but I almost prefer it this way since you get exposed to a large panel of residents/faculties. Overall very well organized. Starts at 8:30 am. PD, 2 APDs, and the chair sat down and gave us a brief overview of the program. Asks applicants to go around and quickly say where they are from, any special interest in psych. At 9 am, the group is divided into 2 groups. One group- morning tour (2 hours long! make sure you bring comfortable shoes and a lot of walking) and another group 4 interviews in a row (9-11 am- 30 mins each, 2 faculty, 1 resident, 1 PD/APD). Questions based on applications. Multiple interviewers asked me about "what will make you want to rank a program highly or what will dissuade you from ranking a program" Overall, very low key, relaxed interviews, but it can be tiring since they are non stop. All of offices of interviews are located in the same suite, so easy to find. Lunch from 11:30 am-1 pm. Tables organized around special interests (child, psychosomatic, etc) and fellowship director of each program joins the table for questions. Then faculty members leave and there's a large panel of residents (PGY1-4) (10+ residents) answer your questions. Then around 1 pm, you get a tour for the morning interview group and vice a versa for the morning tour group. Then after a short group exit interview (anything we can improve?), we are done by 3:30-40 pm. A lot of opportunities to ask questions from residents throughout the day (several join you for the tour as well, so as you walk, you can ask more questions). Overall, a very well organized day and you get exposed a large variety of residents/faculty members and they were very honest about strengths and weaknesses of the program and very approachable/stress free.

4. Program Overview:

A general sense you get is both faculty members and residents come here because they want to work with the underserved. Residents are very chill and a fun group. They keep trying to tell you how hard the program is and ask you whether you can handle it, but if you actually look at their schedule, it's actually a pretty light program (at least by my east coast standard).

PGY-1: 4 months of medicine/peds LAC (you can do 1-4 months and 0 medicine if you want). 2 months of neuro LAC (inpatient and consult), 4 months of inpatient at Augusta Hawkins, 2 months of psych ED LAC, 1 month of QI

Medicine seems rough: 6 days on 6:30-5:30 pm, admit everyday (you get 1-2 admissions usually, busy days 2-3 admissions), you are not the extra intern, so a full patient load. Interns use peds because it's lighter (only carrying 3 patients on average) and rotations are broken into 2 months (so you won't have medicine for 4 months in a row). Neuro: 1 week of night float, 1 long/short weekend day total. Psych ED: surprisingly light- 45 hours/week total, no weekends, no calls, mostly day shift (8-5), but some evening shifts (3-10 pm). Inpatient psych: wasn't sure (they explained, i just forgot to write it down), but what i remember is like 1 week of nightfloat for every 2 months of inpatient and 1-2 weekend days a month. Hours there: 8-5 pm. QI/research: flexible. That's when you can take 2 weeks of vacation.

Vacation: Here's the amazing part: 6+ weeks. You get standard four weeks, but also 2 weeks off between intern year and PGY 2. Also since you are a county employee, you get almost all of federal/county holiday off (adding up to 43 day weekdays PTO without counting weekends and 2 week intern/PGY-2 breaks). Attendings cover during county holidays.

PGY-2: 4 months of inpatient at hawkins, 1 month of psych ED at LAC, 3 months of c/l at LAC, 1 month of c/l at keck, 1 month of adolescent inpatient at hawkins, 2 months of VA geri and addiction (West LA VA).

inpatient psych: same as above (or slightly less weekend shifts), psych ED no call/weekends, C/l (8-5 pm), no call/weekends, VA (8-2 pm) no call/weekends. Adolescent, 1 weekend day shift. Basically they added up saying you only take 5 weekend calls the entire 2 year.

PGY-3: 4 days spent at outpatient general psych clinic at LAC and 1 day primary care/psych clinic at keck (8-5 pm).

1-2 weekday shifts (5-10 pm) psych ED per month.

PGY-4: A bunch of electives (7.5 months), 1 month of child crisis bed, 0.5 month of community psychiatry (go to meetings, site visits for various community health systems in LA county), 3 months of cores overseeing junior residents/interns if not chief. A plenty of research opportunities.

No call.

Facilities: top notch. It's a huge campus (hence the 2 hour tour) with 20 buildings. LAC+USC is not a typical county hospital in terms of aesthetics. Brand new, huge, wooden floors. Clinics are in a separate tower, also brand new with really nice private offices for outpatient/psychotherapy. Keck hospital (private, USC hospital) also located on the same campus- also very new and nice. Patient exposure: a lot of county population with a good racial diversity (hispanics, blacks, whites, and even several asians), top psych ED. Courts on site. Brand new research buildings (esp neuroscience) and cranes all over the campus- USC medicine is growing and they are recruiting top researchers away from various institutions. Definitely an up and coming program. Senior residents remarked that past 2 classes have been getting stronger (almost all US MDs) and even on our interview day, all of applicants came from US MD schools with a lot of interview offers from impressive academic programs looking to USC for location/good clinical training.

Hawkins is still technically a part of the LAC+USC system. Used to be located on the same campus, but moved to a separate unit near compton because of earthquake related renovations on campus, but ended up staying there for administrative reasons. Outside looks outdated, but recently underwent renovations (3 million $+), so inside seems new and nice. So if you admit patients from psych ED, you will admit patiently directly to Hawkins just like any inpatient unit on the same site (unless beds are full, then they get sent to other county facilities- harbor, olive view, etc). Adolescent beds (10) are at Hawkins and only adolescent beds in the entire LA county, so you get sickest of the sick.

Patient diversity- amazing. You will get an amazing training. C/L seems very strong- 3 months at LAC is "behavioral medicine unit"- essentially a med psych unit located in one geographic area for all med/surg patients with psych. You are still technically "consultants", but since primary issue is psych for most patients, you act like a primary team (it's nice since medicine will take care of annoying issues like lab orders and tylenol PRNs while you still take charge of the patient), but also you still consult the rest of the hospital. Very unique cases- NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis??? (several cases recently), most common cause of seizure they consult on here-neurocystericosis. They write a lot of case reports because they see such unique cases you won't see anywhere else due to sheer volume and patients coming from all over the world who get very sick.

Decent therapy training- 3 separate supervisors (CBT, psychodynamic, pharm) weekly for outpatient years, minimum 4-6 psychodynamic cases.


5. Faculty Achievement & Involvements: Both PD and APD involved in research as well as teaching. Currently they have an interim chair. Past chair just got a position as dean of medical school at down state, but interim chair (Dr. Baron) is very well known in the field of TBI/sport psych (i heard him give a grand round at my institution out on the east), has been a chair at Temple before, trained at USC, and also dedicated towards education (got a MEd from USC) and spoke about his interest in residency education and trying to get us to pick USC (more than a perfunctory speech at the interview day) and his involvement throughout the interview day (staying for the overview, interviewing applicants as well) showed his dedication.
There are attendings always present at almost all sites even during calldays (Psych ED- 3 attendings always present, so when you take the call, you present to attendings directly instead of phone call) and same for inpatient psych at Hawkins (1 attending present on site during call). A lot of USC lifer's

6. Location & Lifestyle: Great lifestyle! Even interns on medicine service showed up for our dinner. They live all over LA. A lot of them live near Pasadena. Residents are all county employees and represented by the union. A lot of singles and they hang out with other keck residents (halloween, happy hour, dating, etc). They work hard, but they get very light calls so they have time to enjoy the LA lifestyle. They genuinely seemed relaxed and happy and smart (since we interacted probably over half of the residency program, I feel more comfortable making that judgment compared to smaller interview days).

7. Salary & Benefits:
Per website:
PGY-1 : $ 46000
PGY-2 : $ 52000
PGY-3 : $ 56000
PGY-4 : $ 60000
46 vacation/county holidays/year
Great benefits- full health insurance coverage- you get $100+/month money back if you don't fully use your health benefits (like if you are single, don't need to use family coverage).
Meals- fully covered all 4 years everyday- $28-30/day. you can use it any meal/coffee, etc. For offsite rotations, you can reimbursed (one of residents was saying for his VA rotations, he's done by 2 pm and gets a nice sushi meal and have program reimburse him)
Free parking, white coats, etc
$2000 bonus between intern year/PGY 2 (presumably to compensate for low PGY-1 starting salary).

8. Program Strengths:
-An up and coming and growing program with a great group of residents to hang out with.
-Light call schedule (surprisingly?)
-Great benefits (free food all 4 years)
-County populations/huge diversity
-LA lifestyle
-Faculty support
-A lot of residents get involved in research
-New facilities
-forensics
-Strong c/l

9. Program Weaknesses:
- No separate research track
-No moonlighting until PGY-3
-Got a sense that while faculty members are welcoming, esp for research, you have to try harder to seek opportunities (it's there, but no spoon feeding).
-Slightly low PGY-1 salary
-Limited exposure to private side (some keck exposure)
-decent therapy training, but not amazing
-Limited child exposure (but 50% of residents go into child psych and a lot of ppl fast track placed in great california academic programs)
-Limited Geri exposure

Overall, you will get a great clinical training. Great faculty support. Don't let county population/reputation dissuade you from applying/coming to interviews. Their schedule is light compared to a lot other programs.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

Harbor-UCLA

1. Ease of Communication: Emails with housestaff coordinator who was quickly responsive. They were able to easily accomodate interviewing me on short notice as I was in the area for an away rotation.

2. Accomodation & Food: No accomodations provided or pre-interview dinner. No list of area hotels provided although this was a non-issue for me as I was staying with family in the area.

3. Interview Day: Parking was fairly easy to find on the hospital campus with the map provided by the coordinator. The day started at 8 AM at the program'sadministrative offices on the 8th floor of the hospital with an interview with the PD (Dr. Burgoyne). The interview was low stress as Dr. Burgoyne genuinely seemed interested in learning about me and in selling the program as a good place to be. At the interview with the PD I was given a packet which showed where the graduates of the program had ended up since 2008, listed the current residents, and detailed the curriculum.

After this initial interview I was escorted by the coordinator to another building where a separate inpatient unit is housed to meet the associate training director. This interview was a bit more formal as he asked me several questions about my interest in the field, experiences in psychiatry in medical school, and why I wanted to come to Southern California (I'm from the Midwest). I was asked specifically if I speak any second languages as the makeup of patients at Harbor was noted to be 30% Hispanic (half of which are solely Spanish speaking), 30% African American, 30% Caucasian, and 10% Asian. This large Spanish speaking population lends itself to one entire outpatient clinic being conducted in Spanish. Interpreters were noted to be readily available. The socioeconomic makeup of patients served is mostly lower to middle class although the associatiate PD noted that most of the LA homeless population are served by USC. He mentioned that residents work very hard at Harbor and that the first and second years are particularly busy with q4 short call and bi-monthly overnight call but did say that residents are allowed to begin moonlighting in the psychiatric ER during second year and that they all feel prepared to do so.

My third interview was in the outpatient buildings which were essentially old barracks that are separate from the main hospital building. Walking outside between buildings was nice but I can see how it would be troublesome if there was substantial rain (if El Niño is as bad as predicted this may be the case). This interview was with the director of the dual diagnosis program and was very conversational and again brought up my interest in Harbor, what I look for in a program, and my interest in Southern California. He had done some of his training in the Midwest and noted that transplants are comfortable in Torrance as it has a feel that is a bit removed from the bustle of LA.

After this, myself and the other applicant were escorted back to the C/L building to observe C/L rounds with the associate PD. This was fairly standard staffing of patients but we were able to meet two residents and learned about one
of the unique perks of Harbor (as LAX is in the catchment of Harbor, any psychiatric patient from there is transported to Harbor for treatment and if they wish to fly home, are usually accompanied by a Harbor resident who essentially gets a trip for free). One of the residents at rounds was actually leaving for Istanbul that afternoon to accompany a patient who was returning to Turkey.

Lunch was in the area of the cafeteria reserved for doctors (who eat for free) and was attended by 5 residents. They were all supportive of the program highlighting the family feel of the residency, the strong therapy training, the strong PER and county experience, and the supportive and responsive faculty. After lunch, one of the chief residents took us on a tour of the PER (smaller than I anticipated), inpatient unit, C/L unit, and the outpatient clinics. She had recently returned for 4th year after being on an extended maternity leave (which I feel speaks to the program's supporriveness)

I had one final interview with a third year resident at the outpatient clinics which was mainly him answering any questions I had. After this, I was free to go.

4. Program Overview:
8 categorical spots each year with 1 additional intern spot reserved for the UCLA-NPI/Harbor track resident

PGY-1: 7 months psychiatry (4 mo inpatient, 2 months psych ER, 1 month dual diagnosis) and 5 months medical rotations (wards, ambulatory, med ER, neurology)
PGY-2: Harbor starts outpatient during second year and most residents carry 30-40 patients throughout the year. Most of the additional time is spent on the inpatient units. They also do an additional month of neurology.
PGY-3: 4 months of child, 5 months of C/L, 1 month geriatric (at West LA VA), 1 month forensic, 1 month elective. Outpatient clinics continue and 3rd years carry 35-50 patients.
PGY-4: A firm breakdown was not provided in the packet I receieved. It seems that some inpatient team supervision is built in and most of the time is reserved for electives at Harbor, NPI, or with the LAC-DMH. Outpatient clinics continue and the 4th years carry 50-60 patients.

Most outpatients are seen at the Harbor clinics but residents do carry several long-term patients at a Kaiser facility for psychotherapy supervision and private practice experience (which was noted to be excellent)

5. Faculty Achievement & Involvements: Many faculty involved in their own research, it was unclear how easy it was for residents to become involved in a scholarly project. Multiple residents noted that they felt very supported by faculty and that the teaching they received was top notch.

6. Location & Lifestyle: The Harbor hospital is a county facility with all the pluses and minuses that brings. You'll certainly see very sick patients and be providing a service that many would not get otherwise. The main hospital was recently renovated and while it looks nice, much of the heart of the hospital retains the slightly run-down asthetic (grafitti in elevators, dirty bathrooms, bleak hallways) although renovation to some areas is still ongoing. The psychiatric units for the most part were standard psych units. Call rooms were standard (they had a computer and a bed) and were on the same floor as the main psych unit which was nice. The outpatient clinics are housed in old barracks with paint peeling on the outside. The insides of the clinics were nice and each residents receives their own office from 2nd-4th year and can decorate them as they see fit.

Torrance is definitely removed the glitz of many parts of LA but it seemed fairly safe and liveable. It seems that most residents live west of the hospital more near the beach cities. Commute was said to be mild as most residents could be at the hospital in 15-20 minutes. The associate program director said that the residents worked hard but none of the residents I interacted with seemed run down. There are ample recreational oppurtunities in LA although most would have to be driven to.

7. Salary & Benefits:
Per website:
Salary (effective 10/2/2014)
PGY-1 : $ 3,811.04/month
PGY-2 : $ 4,263.64/month
PGY-3 : $ 4,619.73/month
PGY-4 : $ 4,978.26/month
24 vacation days per year
8 sick days per year (accumulated at a rate of 1 sick day per month to a max of 8)
Website details parental leave
Health and dental offered to resident, coverage for family at a fee
Malpractice covered
Meals while on duty
White coats furnished and laundered

8. Program Strengths:
- Top notch psych ER experience
- Majority of experience in county facility (can be a weakness for some)
- Underserved and diverse population
- High acuity patients (can be a weakness if you're looking for an easy resideny)
- Supportive PD and faculty
- Collegial feel
- Residents have their own office from the 2nd year onward
- Residents accompany patients who are transported out of California via LAX
- Ability to do electives at NPI and with DMH
- Internal moonlighting starting second year (quoted $100/hr)
- Therapy training noted to be excellent
- Good cost of living (can live by beach) and easy commute
- Harbor graduates sought after by recruiters

9. Program Weaknesses:
- Run down facilities
- No VA exposure
- Busy call schedule (plus for me, minus for others)
- Not as much exposure to upper class patients (if you're looking to establish that kind of practice after residency)
- 3 separate EMR systems (main EMR is Cerner Powerchart)
- Majority of homeless population seen by USC
- High percentage of Spanish speaking population (if this isn't your thing)
- Unclear path for residents interested in research, told by faculty that research isn't main focus
- No external moonlighting

I recall Harbor residents do their Geri Psych all at the West LA VA, so you do get VA exposure. As for the facilities, I heard Harbor is doubling the size of it's already impressive Psych ER to include a whole huge section just for Peds Psych ER work. You can get great upper class patient exposure if you do electives at NPI UCLA. As for the comment USC gets most of the homeless population, there's plenty in LA to go around.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

USC (University of Southern California)

1. Ease of Communication: PC is pretty responsive with her emails and if the dates that you were offered don't fit your schedule, may want to email her to ask for more dates (what you get initially may not be all the dates that they have available). Reminders regarding the interview day/dinner few days before the interview.

2. Accomodation and Food: No hotel provided. Pre interview dinner at an Italian restaurant near LA Live (mostly apps, need to pay for own drinks). Catered breakfast and nice authentic mexican lunch (chips, enchiladas, salad, etc).

3. Interview day: A large group of applicants (20+), but I almost prefer it this way since you get exposed to a large panel of residents/faculties. Overall very well organized. Starts at 8:30 am. PD, 2 APDs, and the chair sat down and gave us a brief overview of the program. Asks applicants to go around and quickly say where they are from, any special interest in psych. At 9 am, the group is divided into 2 groups. One group- morning tour (2 hours long! make sure you bring comfortable shoes and a lot of walking) and another group 4 interviews in a row (9-11 am- 30 mins each, 2 faculty, 1 resident, 1 PD/APD). Questions based on applications. Multiple interviewers asked me about "what will make you want to rank a program highly or what will dissuade you from ranking a program" Overall, very low key, relaxed interviews, but it can be tiring since they are non stop. All of offices of interviews are located in the same suite, so easy to find. Lunch from 11:30 am-1 pm. Tables organized around special interests (child, psychosomatic, etc) and fellowship director of each program joins the table for questions. Then faculty members leave and there's a large panel of residents (PGY1-4) (10+ residents) answer your questions. Then around 1 pm, you get a tour for the morning interview group and vice a versa for the morning tour group. Then after a short group exit interview (anything we can improve?), we are done by 3:30-40 pm. A lot of opportunities to ask questions from residents throughout the day (several join you for the tour as well, so as you walk, you can ask more questions). Overall, a very well organized day and you get exposed a large variety of residents/faculty members and they were very honest about strengths and weaknesses of the program and very approachable/stress free.

4. Program Overview:

A general sense you get is both faculty members and residents come here because they want to work with the underserved. Residents are very chill and a fun group. They keep trying to tell you how hard the program is and ask you whether you can handle it, but if you actually look at their schedule, it's actually a pretty light program (at least by my east coast standard).

PGY-1: 4 months of medicine/peds LAC (you can do 1-4 months and 0 medicine if you want). 2 months of neuro LAC (inpatient and consult), 4 months of inpatient at Augusta Hawkins, 2 months of psych ED LAC, 1 month of QI

Medicine seems rough: 6 days on 6:30-5:30 pm, admit everyday (you get 1-2 admissions usually, busy days 2-3 admissions), you are not the extra intern, so a full patient load. Interns use peds because it's lighter (only carrying 3 patients on average) and rotations are broken into 2 months (so you won't have medicine for 4 months in a row). Neuro: 1 week of night float, 1 long/short weekend day total. Psych ED: surprisingly light- 45 hours/week total, no weekends, no calls, mostly day shift (8-5), but some evening shifts (3-10 pm). Inpatient psych: wasn't sure (they explained, i just forgot to write it down), but what i remember is like 1 week of nightfloat for every 2 months of inpatient and 1-2 weekend days a month. Hours there: 8-5 pm. QI/research: flexible. That's when you can take 2 weeks of vacation.

Vacation: Here's the amazing part: 6+ weeks. You get standard four weeks, but also 2 weeks off between intern year and PGY 2. Also since you are a county employee, you get almost all of federal/county holiday off (adding up to 43 day weekdays PTO without counting weekends and 2 week intern/PGY-2 breaks). Attendings cover during county holidays.

PGY-2: 4 months of inpatient at hawkins, 1 month of psych ED at LAC, 3 months of c/l at LAC, 1 month of c/l at keck, 1 month of adolescent inpatient at hawkins, 2 months of VA geri and addiction (West LA VA).

inpatient psych: same as above (or slightly less weekend shifts), psych ED no call/weekends, C/l (8-5 pm), no call/weekends, VA (8-2 pm) no call/weekends. Adolescent, 1 weekend day shift. Basically they added up saying you only take 5 weekend calls the entire 2 year.

PGY-3: 4 days spent at outpatient general psych clinic at LAC and 1 day primary care/psych clinic at keck (8-5 pm).

1-2 weekday shifts (5-10 pm) psych ED per month.

PGY-4: A bunch of electives (7.5 months), 1 month of child crisis bed, 0.5 month of community psychiatry (go to meetings, site visits for various community health systems in LA county), 3 months of cores overseeing junior residents/interns if not chief. A plenty of research opportunities.

No call.

Facilities: top notch. It's a huge campus (hence the 2 hour tour) with 20 buildings. LAC+USC is not a typical county hospital in terms of aesthetics. Brand new, huge, wooden floors. Clinics are in a separate tower, also brand new with really nice private offices for outpatient/psychotherapy. Keck hospital (private, USC hospital) also located on the same campus- also very new and nice. Patient exposure: a lot of county population with a good racial diversity (hispanics, blacks, whites, and even several asians), top psych ED. Courts on site. Brand new research buildings (esp neuroscience) and cranes all over the campus- USC medicine is growing and they are recruiting top researchers away from various institutions. Definitely an up and coming program. Senior residents remarked that past 2 classes have been getting stronger (almost all US MDs) and even on our interview day, all of applicants came from US MD schools with a lot of interview offers from impressive academic programs looking to USC for location/good clinical training.

Hawkins is still technically a part of the LAC+USC system. Used to be located on the same campus, but moved to a separate unit near compton because of earthquake related renovations on campus, but ended up staying there for administrative reasons. Outside looks outdated, but recently underwent renovations (3 million $+), so inside seems new and nice. So if you admit patients from psych ED, you will admit patiently directly to Hawkins just like any inpatient unit on the same site (unless beds are full, then they get sent to other county facilities- harbor, olive view, etc). Adolescent beds (10) are at Hawkins and only adolescent beds in the entire LA county, so you get sickest of the sick.

Patient diversity- amazing. You will get an amazing training. C/L seems very strong- 3 months at LAC is "behavioral medicine unit"- essentially a med psych unit located in one geographic area for all med/surg patients with psych. You are still technically "consultants", but since primary issue is psych for most patients, you act like a primary team (it's nice since medicine will take care of annoying issues like lab orders and tylenol PRNs while you still take charge of the patient), but also you still consult the rest of the hospital. Very unique cases- NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis??? (several cases recently), most common cause of seizure they consult on here-neurocystericosis. They write a lot of case reports because they see such unique cases you won't see anywhere else due to sheer volume and patients coming from all over the world who get very sick.

Decent therapy training- 3 separate supervisors (CBT, psychodynamic, pharm) weekly for outpatient years, minimum 4-6 psychodynamic cases.


5. Faculty Achievement & Involvements: Both PD and APD involved in research as well as teaching. Currently they have an interim chair. Past chair just got a position as dean of medical school at down state, but interim chair (Dr. Baron) is very well known in the field of TBI/sport psych (i heard him give a grand round at my institution out on the east), has been a chair at Temple before, trained at USC, and also dedicated towards education (got a MEd from USC) and spoke about his interest in residency education and trying to get us to pick USC (more than a perfunctory speech at the interview day) and his involvement throughout the interview day (staying for the overview, interviewing applicants as well) showed his dedication.
There are attendings always present at almost all sites even during calldays (Psych ED- 3 attendings always present, so when you take the call, you present to attendings directly instead of phone call) and same for inpatient psych at Hawkins (1 attending present on site during call). A lot of USC lifer's

6. Location & Lifestyle: Great lifestyle! Even interns on medicine service showed up for our dinner. They live all over LA. A lot of them live near Pasadena. Residents are all county employees and represented by the union. A lot of singles and they hang out with other keck residents (halloween, happy hour, dating, etc). They work hard, but they get very light calls so they have time to enjoy the LA lifestyle. They genuinely seemed relaxed and happy and smart (since we interacted probably over half of the residency program, I feel more comfortable making that judgment compared to smaller interview days).

7. Salary & Benefits:
Per website:
PGY-1 : $ 46000
PGY-2 : $ 52000
PGY-3 : $ 56000
PGY-4 : $ 60000
46 vacation/county holidays/year
Great benefits- full health insurance coverage- you get $100+/month money back if you don't fully use your health benefits (like if you are single, don't need to use family coverage).
Meals- fully covered all 4 years everyday- $28-30/day. you can use it any meal/coffee, etc. For offsite rotations, you can reimbursed (one of residents was saying for his VA rotations, he's done by 2 pm and gets a nice sushi meal and have program reimburse him)
Free parking, white coats, etc
$2000 bonus between intern year/PGY 2 (presumably to compensate for low PGY-1 starting salary).

8. Program Strengths:
-An up and coming and growing program with a great group of residents to hang out with.
-Light call schedule (surprisingly?)
-Great benefits (free food all 4 years)
-County populations/huge diversity
-LA lifestyle
-Faculty support
-A lot of residents get involved in research
-New facilities
-forensics
-Strong c/l

9. Program Weaknesses:
- No separate research track
-No moonlighting until PGY-3
-Got a sense that while faculty members are welcoming, esp for research, you have to try harder to seek opportunities (it's there, but no spoon feeding).
-Slightly low PGY-1 salary
-Limited exposure to private side (some keck exposure)
-decent therapy training, but not amazing
-Limited child exposure (but 50% of residents go into child psych and a lot of ppl fast track placed in great california academic programs)
-Limited Geri exposure

Overall, you will get a great clinical training. Great faculty support. Don't let county population/reputation dissuade you from applying/coming to interviews. Their schedule is light compared to a lot other programs.

Is there still dissension among the leadership at USC, or has that been straightened out this year? It's something that has caught current residents off-guard about. Also, LA lifestyle is highly overrated, especially when you are trapped near downtown surrounded by congested freeways.

 

[downwithDTB]

Is there still dissension among the leadership at USC, or has that been straightened out this year? It's something that has caught current residents off-guard about. Also, LA lifestyle is highly overrated, especially when you are trapped near downtown surrounded by congested freeways.

You know that you can live in silver lake/ los feliz/echo park and commute to USC with minimal traffic on the five almost any time of day in < 20 min... Hardly "trapped downtown surrounded by congested freeways." Cost of living isn't great, but it can be done on less than resident $.

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

Program Name: EVMS
1. Ease Of Communication: Quick, easy to set up dates, very responsive PC.
2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations. Dinner the night before at a delicious local restaurant. Light breakfast and boxed lunch the day of interview.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): three 45-min interviews with Program director + 2 faculty. Very relaxed, a mix of formal "tell me about this" and "tell me about yourself"
4. Program Overview: Pretty standard. 4 residents per year. Time is split between Sentara Norfolk General Hospital (arguably the best hospital in the region) and the VA for on and off service rotations. 18-bed inpatient psych unit. Community psychiatry includes working with state-run low SES programs. Patient population is very diverse, but major populations include: military, african-american, and the impoverished. Free to leave after PGY3 for CAP. Many graduates move on to excellent fellowships and attending positions.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Very good structured didactics and resident-tailored PRITE reviews. Some faculty publish a lot, some don't at all. Attending-resident relationship is pretty open, texts/calls late in the night are ok etc.
6. Location & Lifestyle: a small city that is peppered with nice beaches. Norfolk is up and coming: it has a new arts district (NEON), the food scene is improving, and local bands play almost every night. Virginia Beach is nearby, and is a mix of great family living (schools, daycares, parks, hospitals) and tourist traps. Norfolk is part of Hampton Roads, and the other cities each have their own flavor and personality. The program emphasizes how relaxed it is and how supportive it is of work-life balance. For a small program, multiple residents have taken maternity or paternity leave without issue. Seriously consider this program if you like the beach, because there are 4-5 within a 20-30 min drive.
7. Salary & Benefits: 53k to 58k, a great salary for the area. It is possible to own a nice starter home and have a comfy life with this amount. of note, Sentara has negotiated a deal with a local bank to provide local MDs (residents or otherwise) with interest-free 650,000 mortgages (!!!!) to buy a new home, which is pretty amazing.
8. Program Strengths:
- small program, easy to become close and count on each other
- working at the top hospital in the region
- lots of faculty attention
- off service rotations are pretty laid back
- great benefits for starting a family
- location has great bar, music, and beach scene
- large military population is great for military medicine
- tons of veterans benefits in the area if that applies to you
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- small program, can be difficult to find time to see each other and you may feel guilty complicated someone else's schedule when you're off
- significant VA work
- have to have a car
- if you aren't fond of the military or veterans, this area may not be for you

 

[SartoriousMeansTailor]

Program Name - Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University
1. Ease Of Communication: Program coordinator was very organized and responsive. You don't get your schedule until the day of, but all the logistics are explained clearly.
2. Accommodation & Food: No hotel provided (may I put in a plug for the Inn on Ferry Street - a little pricy, but very swank, close by, and with tasty cookies provided). Dinner the night before was at Traffic Jam & Snug, which is one of my Detroit fav's - two residents joined us. Breakfast was provided, but I recommend eating prior to showing up at the interview b/c it's just bagels and coffee and the only time you have to eat it is when the PD is speaking so it's a bit awkward to be chowing on a giant bagel then. Box lunches provided with the opportunity to specify a preference if you have one.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day starts at 7:45. Intro from the PD then 5x30min interviews (3 faculty, 2 residents), lunch w/ 2 residents, and a tour of the VA. Very friendly interviews, no unusual or awkward questions - they really just seem to want to get to know you.
4. Program Overview: This is a community-based, university-affiliated program. 8-10 residents/year (this year they're planning on 8). Wide range of clinical sites from state hospital to VA to some private clinics/hospitals. Strong focus on education - you get to take outpt time on many rotations and start 1/2 day of outpt as a PGY-1. You take your first psychotherapy pts in PGY-2, so that permits a lot of continuity. You'll see some VERY acute cases here and residents seemed to universally feel very well prepared. There's a heavier call schedule than you'll see at a lot of programs (no call in PGY-4 though) and it's somewhat complicated. Residents all said it was very manageable and the PD is a stickler for work-hours so there's that. One common theme was that the PD takes resident feedback very seriously and is very approachable - the residents all said that the things they would change about the program (when we prompted them) had mostly been fixed the following year, so it seems to be getting better every year. Fellowships are available in Child & Adolescent and Geriatrics. No issues fast-tracking to Child/Adolescent as long as you identify your desire to do so prior to the scheduling of your PGY-2 rotations.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: PD seemed very responsive and involved. All the residents said they felt very supported. Per residents, faculty love to teach. There's a lot of research going on and the PD will encourage involvement if you're interested in that...but if you're not, no big deal.
6. Location & Lifestyle: I personally really like Detroit. I think it's a gritty, eclectic city that has a lot to offer. If you're not into grit...well, it's probably not for you. Residents live about 50/50 split between the city and the suburbs. Despite the wide range of clinical sites, they all seem fairly close together and everyone said their longest commutes were ~20min regardless of where you wanted to live. Effort is made not to schedule multiple sites in one day, so you're not always driving all around the city to get to where you need to be.
7. Salary & Benefits: PGY-1 $46,630, PGY-2 $48,029, PGY-3 $49,469, PGY-4 $50,954; annual education bonus of $3,120
8. Program Strengths: Psychopathology!!! Diverse clinical experiences, high enough patient volume to learn...but low enough to have a life, supportive PD.
9. Potential Weaknesses: Some comments were made about the neuropsych didactics, but all the residents said that changes were in the process that were already improving the quality. More call than many programs (q4-5d for a lot of the time), but residents said it was very do-able and that they learned a lot. Detroit may not be for everyone...

 

[clausewitz2]

Program Name: Vanderbilt

1. Ease Of Communication: Responsive via email, but incredibly rude. Never asked about any sorts of dietary preferences, and the coordinator nearly bit my head off when I emailed two weeks before the interview to ask if there was going to be a vegetarian option at lunch. Also demanded that I commit to coming to the pre-interview dinner weeks before providing any information about exactly when it would be.

2. Accommodation & Food: No discounted hotel rates or rooms offered. Plenty of hotels near the medical center though, so no worries.

Pre-interview dinner was at a restaurant that is actually closed for renovations, but I guess they had already made the event booking so we got to eat from a fixed menu in an otherwise deserted banquet space. Definitely an odd experience. Program did spring for an open bar, though, which was a first.

Pastries, coffee, orange juice in the morning, though we were only given a couple of minutes access to this and I think it mostly was eaten up by the horde of residents who rolled through. I got half a cup of coffee, at least.

Boxed lunches, sandwiches or salads with lots of side dishes packed in, many sodas, relatively nice. Plenty of vegetarian choices, so I am not sure why I got so much hostility from the PC. Nothing vegan. One poor applicant who I think was observing kashrut had to bring his own food. I just compromised my moral intuitions to try and not make waves.

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

Received a "propaganda bag" as the PD put it with info, a flash drive with the presentation that the PD read to us (which is also available on their website), and a travel coffee mug, all Vandy-branded. Overview presentation with very little new information, because of course I have access to the Internet and can read. Then five interviews packed in before lunchtime, which was accomplished by making several of them 15-minute interviews. To their credit I was matched almost entirely with people who shared my precise interests. One of the chiefs was officially the first interviewer to ask about the nerdy hobby I put down on my CV in an informed way.

4. Program Overview:

9 interns every year, mostly from regional schools, seems fairly DO friendly going by class composition. A glut of IMGs in the upper years, but none in the last two. Everyone starts on psych together, for bonding. Two months of inpatient medicine at the VA only, supposedly because the Vandy medical center is split up into hyper-specialized teams and this was you get bread and butter medicine. One month outpatient medicine at the VA (can be inpatient peds instead at Vandy Children's), one month EM and two months neuro at Vandy. Second year, six weeks nightfloat and four weeks in the psych ED along with a mandatory one month elective at one of the local community mental health agencies. Inpatient psych is all at the Vandy Psych Hospital, a free-standing facility. Outpatient clinics are either at VPH or at the VA. No training relationship with the major CMHC, so no residents go there. Similarly, no inpatient psych at the VA or the local state hospital is possible (Meharry residents own this, apparently).

One month international elective is feasible fourth year. Residents are generally able to build up their own niche outpatient clinics fourth year by poaching the patients they are especially interested in from their third year experience.

No overnights on-service in your first year, and no in-house overnights after PGY-2, although you will be taking weekend call well into PGY-4.

Psychosomatic, geripsych, and CAP available.

5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Chair is a huge deal in psychotic disorders. A core of about 25 faculty are actively involved in training residents. Assistant PD is responsible for the Homeless Psychiatry program, which is new to the last two years and growing rapidly, correcting a historical weakness in the program vis a vis community/public exposure.

6. Location & Lifestyle:
Music City, so plenty to do in Nashville. Residents live scattered across the metro (it's very spread out), but home ownership is definitely possible. Reasonable air links to anywhere you'd want to go, and a fair chance you will run into a musical celebrity while out and about. Vandy medical center itself is all very compact and concentrated on one campus, including the VA, so you don't have to worry about any commutes during the day.

7. Salary & Benefits:

You can find this on their website. Free parking in a deck immediately across the street from the PH. Reduced fees for psychotherapy if you arrange it via the department.

8. Program Strengths:
-strong research in focused areas (neuroimaging, psychotic disorders, geriatric mood disorders)
-faculty are very willing to support residents tailoring later years to their interests
-expectation of a strong mentor relationship with specific faculty members
-Research track exists which allows up to 80% of fourth year to be protected research time
-You can do up to 18 weeks of C/L second year if that is your interest
-facilities are pleasant and compact, making work day simple


9. Potential Weaknesses:
-support staff with an attitude
-private hospital in a state without Medicaid expansion, so uninsured people don't get admitted
-very weak community/public exposure
-no state hospital experience
-you have to live in Tennessee, a state which now charges women who test positive for opiates while giving birth with criminal assault.
-very snotty attitude about their name even in the absence of concrete achievements to back it up in certain areas
-surprisingly rare for Vandy students to match here