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Yep, it's Fargo.
2017-2018 Psychiatry Interview Reviews / Insight
- Thread starter raisinbrain
- Start date
Yep, it's Fargo.
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- Sep 13, 2017
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Boston University Medical Center
(anonymous review)
Haven't posted a review but noticed BU didn't have one this year and I'm interested in hearing other opinions.
Pre-interview communications: ERAS. Four Saturdays (weird) were offered from mid November to Mid January.
Accommodation & Food: No accommodations that I recall, though I stayed with a friend. Food during the day was a light standard breakfast, pasta and salad for lunch that we had to awkwardly eat on our laps in chairs without tables. Dinner was after the interview day at a faculty's house that we all had to walk to. We had to wait an hour after the interview day ended before we could walk to his house, as we were told not to come early.
Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): About 930-430pm with about 22 applicants. 1 hour intro with PD, aPD, followed by 1hr tour. Lunch from 12-1pm, and this was the only time we really go with residents. 4 of them sat at a table in a panel format while we all ate in our chairs asking questions - very formal. Faculty kept popping in and out during this time, which is unfortunate because that meant we never got any alone time with the residents.
Interview period then started. Lots of breaks thrown in, as there were about 22 people interviewing that day, so of course they can't keep up with that. Felt odd to have so many there at once, and the chaos and amount of down time was a bit off putting. Five 30 minute interviews with two breaks mixed in (30 and 45 minutes each). Everyone meets with the PD I believe. No crazy questions, though most wanted to know why Boston, why BU, and wanted to make sure you really wanted to work with their more underserved population, and weren't just saying it as a buzzword.
Dinner that night was enjoyable. Residents and faculty (including PD and aPD) attended.
Program Overview: Lots of interesting things going on here, such as a refugee center that treats victims of torture, a health disparities center, lots of homeless outreach, and global psychiatry opportunities through a partnership with MGH. They proudly state that they are a "safety net" hospital for the city.
Call: Sorry that this is incomplete but I believe more is on the website. PGY1 has no nights while on medicine. PGY2 has about 20 weekend calls per year with 6 weeks night float (2 at VA, 4 at BMC). This means 6pm-8am during the week, and 8-8 on weekends, with a day off on Friday followed by your 8-8 shift on Saturday. PGY3 has 36 24-hour calls. No call PGY4.
Location & Lifestyle:
I don't know Boston super well, but it seemed nice enough to me. Can live in any number of neighborhoods and easily access the hospital.
Salary & Benefits:
$60,163 > 62,439 > 65,374 > 68,453. Residents are unionized. $1000 per year for education, $850 per year for travel/conference fees to present. Some food allowances too I believe.
Program Strengths:
Potential Weaknesses:
Overall Impression:
Solid program especially if you're interested in underserved populations and health disparities. Wish we had better opportunities to interact with residents.
(anonymous review)
Haven't posted a review but noticed BU didn't have one this year and I'm interested in hearing other opinions.
Pre-interview communications: ERAS. Four Saturdays (weird) were offered from mid November to Mid January.
Accommodation & Food: No accommodations that I recall, though I stayed with a friend. Food during the day was a light standard breakfast, pasta and salad for lunch that we had to awkwardly eat on our laps in chairs without tables. Dinner was after the interview day at a faculty's house that we all had to walk to. We had to wait an hour after the interview day ended before we could walk to his house, as we were told not to come early.
Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): About 930-430pm with about 22 applicants. 1 hour intro with PD, aPD, followed by 1hr tour. Lunch from 12-1pm, and this was the only time we really go with residents. 4 of them sat at a table in a panel format while we all ate in our chairs asking questions - very formal. Faculty kept popping in and out during this time, which is unfortunate because that meant we never got any alone time with the residents.
Interview period then started. Lots of breaks thrown in, as there were about 22 people interviewing that day, so of course they can't keep up with that. Felt odd to have so many there at once, and the chaos and amount of down time was a bit off putting. Five 30 minute interviews with two breaks mixed in (30 and 45 minutes each). Everyone meets with the PD I believe. No crazy questions, though most wanted to know why Boston, why BU, and wanted to make sure you really wanted to work with their more underserved population, and weren't just saying it as a buzzword.
Dinner that night was enjoyable. Residents and faculty (including PD and aPD) attended.
Program Overview: Lots of interesting things going on here, such as a refugee center that treats victims of torture, a health disparities center, lots of homeless outreach, and global psychiatry opportunities through a partnership with MGH. They proudly state that they are a "safety net" hospital for the city.
Call: Sorry that this is incomplete but I believe more is on the website. PGY1 has no nights while on medicine. PGY2 has about 20 weekend calls per year with 6 weeks night float (2 at VA, 4 at BMC). This means 6pm-8am during the week, and 8-8 on weekends, with a day off on Friday followed by your 8-8 shift on Saturday. PGY3 has 36 24-hour calls. No call PGY4.
Location & Lifestyle:
I don't know Boston super well, but it seemed nice enough to me. Can live in any number of neighborhoods and easily access the hospital.
Salary & Benefits:
$60,163 > 62,439 > 65,374 > 68,453. Residents are unionized. $1000 per year for education, $850 per year for travel/conference fees to present. Some food allowances too I believe.
Program Strengths:
- Huge focus on underserved populations, social justice, health disparities
- Global and local health disparities center, very diverse population
- Refugee clinic, treat patients who have experienced torture
- Safety net hospital
- Interns go out into community with BEST
- Global psych partnership with MGH
- Lots of work with local homeless shelters and prisons
- Huge academic center that still focuses on treating the underserved
- PD very dedicated to social justice issues
- Good location in Boston, easily accessible, nice campus and facilities
Potential Weaknesses:
- Lunch with residents was formal and not very helpful. Some residents didn’t seem interested in engaging with us, others were more enthusiastic
- Medicine months at BMC sound very difficult, work 6 days per week but no nights, function as a true medicine intern
- No inpatient unit at BMC, they go to other sites for inpatient rotations
- Lots of traveling to other sites, some are up to an hour away depending on where you live
- Unclear how much pressure is on residents to do research
- None of the residents seemed super excited to sell their program to me, they more just answered questions
- Didn’t ever get to talk to the residents without an attending around - kind of off-putting
- Got the feeling that some of them feel overworked but weren’t willing to say it
Overall Impression:
Solid program especially if you're interested in underserved populations and health disparities. Wish we had better opportunities to interact with residents.
- Joined
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I'm going to stop being a mooch and contribute my reviews on programs I haven't seen reviews on this year - UCLA Semel and UWashington.
UWashington
1. Ease of Communication: All through email, no ERAS. Prompt and courteous emails with program coordinator, who's a very nice lady! She helped me waitlist for a date so that I could cluster my interviews regionally. UW also sent out a very heavy interview packet with program information through snail mail.
2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed at a local Airbnb which was cheap ($45/night). They have special hotel rates (cheapest was $60/night at the local College Inn for a single twin) but I wanted to spend as little as possible since I'd be staying in Seattle for 3 nights. Dinner with residents was offered the night before at Black Bottle, which was a 15 min Uber right from where I was staying. The food was amazing and was international tapas! We had wild boar ribs, tacos, scallops, and there was plenty of food for everyone. According to the senior resident organizing, they rotate through about 18 different local restaurants. About 4 residents came to dinner and 5 applicants (this was the 2nd to last interview day where I suspect people were running out of steam).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
The interview day ran from 8AM to around 3PM. We had 5 applicants on my day, but there's usually 8 (PD mentioned she added 2 extra interview days this year to keep up with demand). The day began with a 30 min introduction from PD, who emphasized the program's commitment to community psychiatry (disadvantaged populations, especially) and also healthcare delivery. She mentioned that the program provides psychiatric care to 4 states - Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, an impressive 27% of the US's landmass. There were previously opportunities to do rural rotations in Alaska as well, but Alaska pulled this funding a few years ago so this is no longer an option. The chair also came by for a quick chat with us. This was followed by a 1 hour tour of Harborview Medical Center, UW's county medical center.
After the tour, I had 3 30 minute individual interviews with the PD and 2 faculty. All had read my applications, were laid back and friendly. I did not get asked any unusual questions - mostly just got asked about how I decided on psych, my research experiences, and what I was looking for in a program. At the end of the day, there was also a 30 min wrap up session with the senior resident which was designed to answer any lingering questions I still had. He told me that unlike some other programs, UW will tell you if you will match there (they told him at least!) if you tell them they are your #1, so he was really relaxed before match day.
4. Program Overview:
Sites:
-Harborview (indigent, multiethnic population)
-UWMC (tertiary care)
-VA (special programs in addictions, PTSD, geriatrics)
-Seattle Children's
Psychiatry Resident Research Program (PRPP) - supported by R25 NIMH grant is a 5-year long track (you apply separate from the main residency track); designed for residents with significant research backgrounds; you get an astounding 80% protected research time for 16 months if you're on this track
Clinically, UW also offers various interest pathways so you can dabble in various areas of psychiatry: psychotherapy, community, integrated care, and cultural psychiatry are just a few options
Schedule:
PGY1: 4 mo medicine or peds, 2 mo neurology and 6 months inpatient psychiatry
PGY2: 4 mo inpatient psych, 4 mo CL, 1 mo EM, 1 mo night float, and 2 mo selectives
PGY3: 12 months full time outpatient psychiatry (includes 1 day/week CAP for 12 months, 1day/week addictions for 6 mo, 1 day/week geri for 6 mo, and at least 1 day/week long term continuity clinic)
PGY4: 12 months of electives (at least 1 day/week outpatient psych)
Call:
-spelled out clearly on website: University of Washington Psychiatry Residency Training Program
-admittedly heavy compared to the average psych program
Moonlighting: starts after PGY2
7. Salary & Benefits:
Salary: 53/55/58/60
21 days paid vacay/year
17 days of paid sick leave/year
8. Program Strengths:
-community/underserved focus
-various rotation sites/eclectic patient population
-Seattle! (gorgeous summers but rains 9 months of the year)
-opportunities to do rural rotations in WWAMI region (Alaska no longer an option)
-PRPP program gives you 80% protected research time for 16 months, more than most programs
-large program size (more opportunities to make friends)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
-heavier than average call (might be a plus for some); on medicine, you do 28 hr call q4
-rent is increasing 12% every year; might be tough to live here on a 53k salary but residents said it was manageable w/o moonlighting
-salary is on the lower end
-climate (drizzle might be a negative for some)
-large program size (residents tend to fracture into smaller groups based on life stage)
UWashington
1. Ease of Communication: All through email, no ERAS. Prompt and courteous emails with program coordinator, who's a very nice lady! She helped me waitlist for a date so that I could cluster my interviews regionally. UW also sent out a very heavy interview packet with program information through snail mail.
2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed at a local Airbnb which was cheap ($45/night). They have special hotel rates (cheapest was $60/night at the local College Inn for a single twin) but I wanted to spend as little as possible since I'd be staying in Seattle for 3 nights. Dinner with residents was offered the night before at Black Bottle, which was a 15 min Uber right from where I was staying. The food was amazing and was international tapas! We had wild boar ribs, tacos, scallops, and there was plenty of food for everyone. According to the senior resident organizing, they rotate through about 18 different local restaurants. About 4 residents came to dinner and 5 applicants (this was the 2nd to last interview day where I suspect people were running out of steam).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
The interview day ran from 8AM to around 3PM. We had 5 applicants on my day, but there's usually 8 (PD mentioned she added 2 extra interview days this year to keep up with demand). The day began with a 30 min introduction from PD, who emphasized the program's commitment to community psychiatry (disadvantaged populations, especially) and also healthcare delivery. She mentioned that the program provides psychiatric care to 4 states - Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, an impressive 27% of the US's landmass. There were previously opportunities to do rural rotations in Alaska as well, but Alaska pulled this funding a few years ago so this is no longer an option. The chair also came by for a quick chat with us. This was followed by a 1 hour tour of Harborview Medical Center, UW's county medical center.
After the tour, I had 3 30 minute individual interviews with the PD and 2 faculty. All had read my applications, were laid back and friendly. I did not get asked any unusual questions - mostly just got asked about how I decided on psych, my research experiences, and what I was looking for in a program. At the end of the day, there was also a 30 min wrap up session with the senior resident which was designed to answer any lingering questions I still had. He told me that unlike some other programs, UW will tell you if you will match there (they told him at least!) if you tell them they are your #1, so he was really relaxed before match day.
4. Program Overview:
Sites:
-Harborview (indigent, multiethnic population)
-UWMC (tertiary care)
-VA (special programs in addictions, PTSD, geriatrics)
-Seattle Children's
Psychiatry Resident Research Program (PRPP) - supported by R25 NIMH grant is a 5-year long track (you apply separate from the main residency track); designed for residents with significant research backgrounds; you get an astounding 80% protected research time for 16 months if you're on this track
Clinically, UW also offers various interest pathways so you can dabble in various areas of psychiatry: psychotherapy, community, integrated care, and cultural psychiatry are just a few options
Schedule:
PGY1: 4 mo medicine or peds, 2 mo neurology and 6 months inpatient psychiatry
PGY2: 4 mo inpatient psych, 4 mo CL, 1 mo EM, 1 mo night float, and 2 mo selectives
PGY3: 12 months full time outpatient psychiatry (includes 1 day/week CAP for 12 months, 1day/week addictions for 6 mo, 1 day/week geri for 6 mo, and at least 1 day/week long term continuity clinic)
PGY4: 12 months of electives (at least 1 day/week outpatient psych)
Call:
-spelled out clearly on website: University of Washington Psychiatry Residency Training Program
-admittedly heavy compared to the average psych program
Moonlighting: starts after PGY2
7. Salary & Benefits:
Salary: 53/55/58/60
21 days paid vacay/year
17 days of paid sick leave/year
8. Program Strengths:
-community/underserved focus
-various rotation sites/eclectic patient population
-Seattle! (gorgeous summers but rains 9 months of the year)
-opportunities to do rural rotations in WWAMI region (Alaska no longer an option)
-PRPP program gives you 80% protected research time for 16 months, more than most programs
-large program size (more opportunities to make friends)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
-heavier than average call (might be a plus for some); on medicine, you do 28 hr call q4
-rent is increasing 12% every year; might be tough to live here on a 53k salary but residents said it was manageable w/o moonlighting
-salary is on the lower end
-climate (drizzle might be a negative for some)
-large program size (residents tend to fracture into smaller groups based on life stage)
Last edited:
- Joined
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just want to point out there are 3 weeks (15 weekdays) vacation and 12 days of sick leave per yr, as you cant take weekends off in psych.
the salary is a little higher than what you quoted (56/58/61/63) - and actually will go up higher than that as part of the terms of the contract the union negotiated to phase in the salary bump (i.e. as a PGY-2 your salary would be over 60k). There is also no state income tax in WA so you have more after-tax income than say if you were in CA or OR or somewhere else. the main plus of the program is that is very flexible with elective time as early as the PGY1 year, with lots of elective time thereafter, and lots of selectives (i.e. a range of choices for the mandatory rotations in geriatrics, child, addictions, and integrated care.) there is also pretty excellent training in psychotherapy and the option to do a lot more therapy should you choose than many other programs. while it is not required to do twice weekly therapy you can certainly see patients 2,3 or even 4 times a week should you find suitable patients and be interested in intensive psychotherapy.
I actually don't think the call schedule is that horrible on psychiatry. It depends which programs you are comparing it to. definitely not as bad as ucsf, ucla, uc san diego etc. there is also no short call which most other programs have and significantly increases call burden at other programs.
University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt
1. Ease of Communication: Schedule interview through ERAS self-scheduler, details sent by coordinator via email. A week or so before the interview a resident who will be the “resident of the day” emails you to address any questions.
2. Accommodation & Food: Discounted rate available for nearby hotels. Pre-interview dinner was held at an excellent restaurant, Lebanese Taverna. Decent resident turnout, probably 7-8 residents. I met an intern, second year and third year on my side of the table.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day begins at 7:45 with a light breakfast (I had yogurt and fruit). The resident of the day is there for the breakfast to welcome you. Next, the PD gives an overview presentation from 8-9 am. The PD was great. He came across as genuine, thoughtful and to-the-point. Interviews take place until mid-morning and then the group hops on a rather adorable bus to go to Sheppard Pratt for the next interview and lunch. Did I mention that Sheppard Pratt is the most beautiful hospital I have ever seen? About 14 residents showed up for the lunch. Later in the day the group returns to UMMC campus and splits into two groups for the respective UMMC tour and exit interviews with the PD or aPD. Day concludes by 3:45-4 pm. Whether by chance or their apt selection of my interviewers, all of my interviewers were engaging, thoughtful and seemed to care about my story and fit for them. I also enjoyed my brief exit interview with the PD. I got a good vibe from him – combination of no-nonsense directness and earnestness.
4. Program Overview:
Large class size of 17 per incoming class
For PGY1: 6 months on service and off-service. For off service, 3 months of internal medicine at Mercy Medical Center (~10 minutes from campus), inpatient cap for interns is 5, 1 month Emergency Medicine at UMMC (12 hours shifts), 2 months Neurology which can be a couple different sites (inpatient or stroke at UMMC, outpatient/consult at VA. For psych rotations, you spend 1 month at SP on psychotic disorders/dual diagnosis unit, 1 month inpatient at Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, 1 month addiction, 6 weeks inpatient psych at state hospital and 6 weeks emergency psych at UMMC. No overnight call first year. Didactics only while on service. 20 days vacation PGY1.
PGY2: 5 months inpatient psychiatry at UMMC (between general adult units, geriatric, night float (2-4 weeks?), and ECT with short call every 6th night when not on NF). 1 month emergency psych. 3 months C/L at VA and UMMC with no call besides 1-2 call shifts at SP. 3 months inpatient psych at SP (on psychotic disorders unit, selective rotations, ECT, 1 week NF) with 24 hour call every fourth night.
PGY3: 12 months ambulatory psych, adult and child, med management and psychotherapy – many sites to choose from. Year long research seminar.
PGY4: 3 months full or part time forensic psych, 3 months selectives (C/L or eating disorders), 12 month electives (lots of elective options, I mean lots), continued psychotherapy patients.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Research is not one of my predominant interests but I understand that addiction research is quite strong here and they gave us a packet with research faculty in nearly every area.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Baltimore. I was very impressed with how happy the residents seemed. I met about 15 in total and they seem like a happy bunch, very cohesive, relaxed. I enjoyed talking with them. I was repeatedly told that the call at Sheppard Pratt is very humane since the nursing staff there are remarkably self-sufficient. The residents also said that all the commuting between sites was not bothersome, typical commute is ~20 minutes, depending on where you live in Baltimore. Many of the residents live in Mt. Vernon, safe neighborhood nearby. As for safety, everyone I asked said they felt safe (though I doubt they would say otherwise), though I noticed a female resident with a whistle on her keys. They said it was not different from living in any other city. Good food scene.
7. Salary & Benefits: see website.
8. Program Strengths:
- Strong, diverse clinical training (in every thing and kind of site in the field)
- Multiple fellowships (C&A, C/L, Addiction, Forensic)
- These residents seem happy
- Sheppard Pratt (seems like an amazing place to work)
- Supportive PD
- Large class size (my personal preference is that this is a strength)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Baltimore?
- Commuting to many different sites
10. Overall Impression: My main take away was how much I liked the people I met – the residents especially, but also the faculty I interviewed with and the PD. This, followed by the abundance of training sites and types make this program a desirable place to train.
1. Ease of Communication: Schedule interview through ERAS self-scheduler, details sent by coordinator via email. A week or so before the interview a resident who will be the “resident of the day” emails you to address any questions.
2. Accommodation & Food: Discounted rate available for nearby hotels. Pre-interview dinner was held at an excellent restaurant, Lebanese Taverna. Decent resident turnout, probably 7-8 residents. I met an intern, second year and third year on my side of the table.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day begins at 7:45 with a light breakfast (I had yogurt and fruit). The resident of the day is there for the breakfast to welcome you. Next, the PD gives an overview presentation from 8-9 am. The PD was great. He came across as genuine, thoughtful and to-the-point. Interviews take place until mid-morning and then the group hops on a rather adorable bus to go to Sheppard Pratt for the next interview and lunch. Did I mention that Sheppard Pratt is the most beautiful hospital I have ever seen? About 14 residents showed up for the lunch. Later in the day the group returns to UMMC campus and splits into two groups for the respective UMMC tour and exit interviews with the PD or aPD. Day concludes by 3:45-4 pm. Whether by chance or their apt selection of my interviewers, all of my interviewers were engaging, thoughtful and seemed to care about my story and fit for them. I also enjoyed my brief exit interview with the PD. I got a good vibe from him – combination of no-nonsense directness and earnestness.
4. Program Overview:
Large class size of 17 per incoming class
For PGY1: 6 months on service and off-service. For off service, 3 months of internal medicine at Mercy Medical Center (~10 minutes from campus), inpatient cap for interns is 5, 1 month Emergency Medicine at UMMC (12 hours shifts), 2 months Neurology which can be a couple different sites (inpatient or stroke at UMMC, outpatient/consult at VA. For psych rotations, you spend 1 month at SP on psychotic disorders/dual diagnosis unit, 1 month inpatient at Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, 1 month addiction, 6 weeks inpatient psych at state hospital and 6 weeks emergency psych at UMMC. No overnight call first year. Didactics only while on service. 20 days vacation PGY1.
PGY2: 5 months inpatient psychiatry at UMMC (between general adult units, geriatric, night float (2-4 weeks?), and ECT with short call every 6th night when not on NF). 1 month emergency psych. 3 months C/L at VA and UMMC with no call besides 1-2 call shifts at SP. 3 months inpatient psych at SP (on psychotic disorders unit, selective rotations, ECT, 1 week NF) with 24 hour call every fourth night.
PGY3: 12 months ambulatory psych, adult and child, med management and psychotherapy – many sites to choose from. Year long research seminar.
PGY4: 3 months full or part time forensic psych, 3 months selectives (C/L or eating disorders), 12 month electives (lots of elective options, I mean lots), continued psychotherapy patients.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Research is not one of my predominant interests but I understand that addiction research is quite strong here and they gave us a packet with research faculty in nearly every area.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Baltimore. I was very impressed with how happy the residents seemed. I met about 15 in total and they seem like a happy bunch, very cohesive, relaxed. I enjoyed talking with them. I was repeatedly told that the call at Sheppard Pratt is very humane since the nursing staff there are remarkably self-sufficient. The residents also said that all the commuting between sites was not bothersome, typical commute is ~20 minutes, depending on where you live in Baltimore. Many of the residents live in Mt. Vernon, safe neighborhood nearby. As for safety, everyone I asked said they felt safe (though I doubt they would say otherwise), though I noticed a female resident with a whistle on her keys. They said it was not different from living in any other city. Good food scene.
7. Salary & Benefits: see website.
8. Program Strengths:
- Strong, diverse clinical training (in every thing and kind of site in the field)
- Multiple fellowships (C&A, C/L, Addiction, Forensic)
- These residents seem happy
- Sheppard Pratt (seems like an amazing place to work)
- Supportive PD
- Large class size (my personal preference is that this is a strength)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Baltimore?
- Commuting to many different sites
10. Overall Impression: My main take away was how much I liked the people I met – the residents especially, but also the faculty I interviewed with and the PD. This, followed by the abundance of training sites and types make this program a desirable place to train.
Emory
1. Ease of Communication: email invitation through ERAS with list of dates, asked to call to schedule interview date. Details emailed by coordinator later.
2. Accommodation & Food: I do not believe there was a discount but a hotel right across the street from the interview site was recommended. Pre-interview dinner was at a resident’s apartment and catered. I believe there were a lot of residents there, but there were also many applicants, so it is unclear exactly how many showed up. I was able to talk with several PGY3s and one intern. They all seemed happy with the program and friends with each other.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day begins at 8 AM. There were a lot of applicants there, including the med-psych ones. There was a light breakfast (outstanding biscuits). The PD gave an overview presentation for the first hour. She seemed personable and proud of her program. Four interviews occur before lunch. Applicants interviewed with the PD or vice chair, depending on their interests. I was paired with interviewers who fit my interests well. Nothing unusual. The large applicant group was transferred via bus to Grady, for lunch and a tour. I was impressed that the PD came with us as the tour guide for the bus trip. Lunch at grady was well attended by residents. I saw next to an intern and really tried to question the work/service load. The intern was happy with the training and did not give the impression of being overworked. I did the same for two other interns I met with the same result. They did say that Grady can be wearying due to the predominantly homeless population.
4. Program Overview:
Class size of 11 per incoming class
For PGY1: 6 months inpatient psychiatry at Grady (inpatient, crisis intervention, ED, community rotation just added due to resident feedback, 1 month NF). 2 months neurology at Grady. 4 months medicine/peds at Grady (have option to do endocrinology, etc). Cap of 6 patients on inpatient psych.
PGY2: 2 months adult inpatient at Wesley Woods (private hospital), 2 months C/L at Emory, 2 months C/L Grady, 2 months VA, 1 month WW geriatric, 1 month substance use VA, 1.5 months electives, half a month C/L child and adolescent. Psychotherapy supervision begins, 2 patients. Call on inpatient is “average q7” at WW, 24 hour call q6-7 at VA inpatient.
PGY3: Outpatient, includes child, med management and psychotherapy
PGY4: electives, continue psychotherapy clinic
They have fellowships in everything – C&A, C/L, forensic, addiction, geriatric. They also have a research track, psychotherapy track and my packet had some information about tracks in global health, ethics, QI and medical education. The Emory Psychoanalytic Institute is nearby. I asked one of the chief residents how many residents participate and I think the answer was 2. It was unclear how easy it was to participate in (I have a note that it is only available in 2 year cycles? and it is not paid for by the program).
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Big place for research. Not my priority but it is definitely here. CDC close by as well.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Atlanta is not your traditional centralized big city, instead being more sprawled out. Residents seem to like living there and while it is not “cheap” it is cheaper than most big cities. The packet comes with a map of the main neighborhoods and where most of the residents live. I appreciated that the interview day included a bus tour of Atlanta (with PD as guide). Has the benefits that come with living in a city, in terms of food/drink scene. Lifestyle – I think we all know the rumor that these folks work hard. I really tried to see if their workload was excessive and from the residents I talked to the answer was that they valued their training. It sounds like there have been changes that have made for an improved experience, like the inpatient cap, I have a note that they are getting 24/7 attending supervision in the ED (currently ends at midnight and then back at 8 am).
7. Salary & Benefits: see website.
8. Program Strengths:
- Strong, diverse clinical training in every thing and kind of site in the field
- Fellowships in everything
- High caliber, motivated colleagues
- Lots of elective time to customize experience
- Seems like whatever your interest is, you can pursue it/make a track/find a mentor (I think this is true most places, but here this principle is on steroids)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Might be less than average child exposure? Not an issue for me
- Commuting to many different sites
- Heavier than average work load?
10. Overall Impression: Went in neutral, came out really impressed. I did my best to assess the question of excessive service requirements. Seems like the quality of training outweighs the work load issue and there have been improvements that make the latter viable.
1. Ease of Communication: email invitation through ERAS with list of dates, asked to call to schedule interview date. Details emailed by coordinator later.
2. Accommodation & Food: I do not believe there was a discount but a hotel right across the street from the interview site was recommended. Pre-interview dinner was at a resident’s apartment and catered. I believe there were a lot of residents there, but there were also many applicants, so it is unclear exactly how many showed up. I was able to talk with several PGY3s and one intern. They all seemed happy with the program and friends with each other.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day begins at 8 AM. There were a lot of applicants there, including the med-psych ones. There was a light breakfast (outstanding biscuits). The PD gave an overview presentation for the first hour. She seemed personable and proud of her program. Four interviews occur before lunch. Applicants interviewed with the PD or vice chair, depending on their interests. I was paired with interviewers who fit my interests well. Nothing unusual. The large applicant group was transferred via bus to Grady, for lunch and a tour. I was impressed that the PD came with us as the tour guide for the bus trip. Lunch at grady was well attended by residents. I saw next to an intern and really tried to question the work/service load. The intern was happy with the training and did not give the impression of being overworked. I did the same for two other interns I met with the same result. They did say that Grady can be wearying due to the predominantly homeless population.
4. Program Overview:
Class size of 11 per incoming class
For PGY1: 6 months inpatient psychiatry at Grady (inpatient, crisis intervention, ED, community rotation just added due to resident feedback, 1 month NF). 2 months neurology at Grady. 4 months medicine/peds at Grady (have option to do endocrinology, etc). Cap of 6 patients on inpatient psych.
PGY2: 2 months adult inpatient at Wesley Woods (private hospital), 2 months C/L at Emory, 2 months C/L Grady, 2 months VA, 1 month WW geriatric, 1 month substance use VA, 1.5 months electives, half a month C/L child and adolescent. Psychotherapy supervision begins, 2 patients. Call on inpatient is “average q7” at WW, 24 hour call q6-7 at VA inpatient.
PGY3: Outpatient, includes child, med management and psychotherapy
PGY4: electives, continue psychotherapy clinic
They have fellowships in everything – C&A, C/L, forensic, addiction, geriatric. They also have a research track, psychotherapy track and my packet had some information about tracks in global health, ethics, QI and medical education. The Emory Psychoanalytic Institute is nearby. I asked one of the chief residents how many residents participate and I think the answer was 2. It was unclear how easy it was to participate in (I have a note that it is only available in 2 year cycles? and it is not paid for by the program).
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement: Big place for research. Not my priority but it is definitely here. CDC close by as well.
6. Location & Lifestyle: Atlanta is not your traditional centralized big city, instead being more sprawled out. Residents seem to like living there and while it is not “cheap” it is cheaper than most big cities. The packet comes with a map of the main neighborhoods and where most of the residents live. I appreciated that the interview day included a bus tour of Atlanta (with PD as guide). Has the benefits that come with living in a city, in terms of food/drink scene. Lifestyle – I think we all know the rumor that these folks work hard. I really tried to see if their workload was excessive and from the residents I talked to the answer was that they valued their training. It sounds like there have been changes that have made for an improved experience, like the inpatient cap, I have a note that they are getting 24/7 attending supervision in the ED (currently ends at midnight and then back at 8 am).
7. Salary & Benefits: see website.
8. Program Strengths:
- Strong, diverse clinical training in every thing and kind of site in the field
- Fellowships in everything
- High caliber, motivated colleagues
- Lots of elective time to customize experience
- Seems like whatever your interest is, you can pursue it/make a track/find a mentor (I think this is true most places, but here this principle is on steroids)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Might be less than average child exposure? Not an issue for me
- Commuting to many different sites
- Heavier than average work load?
10. Overall Impression: Went in neutral, came out really impressed. I did my best to assess the question of excessive service requirements. Seems like the quality of training outweighs the work load issue and there have been improvements that make the latter viable.
- Joined
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- 1,326
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I can answer this. The number of residents participating is determined by the number of residents who sign up. There are typically at least a few per class, and one class something like 8 signed up. It is not paid for by program but there is tuition assistance which I think makes it free for residents; I'd have to check on that and see if it's a limited resource. How easy is it to do? Well, not easy. Much more doable if you start as PGY-3 or PGY-4, but as a resident you just have to make certain choices and be aggressive about your scheduling when needed. Keeping up with the reading is probably the hardest part, but the institute is used to residents coming and going a bit, and there's no animosity toward that.
- Joined
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Rush
(from anonymous)
1. Ease of Communication:
Through Interview Broker. General information provided the week before. Dinner information a couple days prior. Scheduling information given day of. Took a while to get a response from the PD about a question I had, & may have only been responded because I asked similar questions to a resident through email (which they never responded to).
2. Accommodation & Food:
Hotels at discounted rates. Parking voucher provided. Dinner the night before at nice Italian restaurant with ~3 residents (no interns). Very casual. Residents were funny & easy to talk to. Alcohol not provided; no one drank anything. Dinner is any entrée + dessert. Pen not provided. Breakfast was parfait, pastries, water, & coffee. Lunch was a buffet at the swanky physician’s cafeteria. “Chill pills” were provided at the start of the day (M&Ms).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
6 applicants. Easy to find the parking garage & destination. Breakfast at 730/830am with program overview at 8/9am. Chill pills provided (M&Ms). 5x 30min interviews (1x chair, 1x assistant chair, 1x PD, 1x aPD, & 1x resident) in the morning with some breaks interspersed. Lunch with residents then tour. Done by ~3pm. No crazy questions. One about how I’ll take care of myself in residency. Some “why Rush” & “tell me about yourself.” PD dominated so I didn’t get to ask any questions (note: I did enjoy our interview, I just had questions I wish I could’ve asked there). She kept perseverating on the fact that there were no issues with the recent changes & that the program is stable. I didn't think it needed to be discussed; it didn't concern me at all; in fact, the amount it was discussed actually made me concerned. She also came & talked to us all about how the residents work hard & have high expectations for a fair bit; we were told that too many times. Chair seemed lethargic & disinterested (several of us noted); didn’t read my app; but hell, he was there & I don’t really see why we interview with chairs anyway. Residents were all great. I really enjoyed basically every resident I met. I see why some say the residents are a big strength to the program.
4. Program Overview:
Good overview on website. 8 residents/yr (up 1 from last year; considering adding more).
PGY1 – 6mos inpatient medicine: up to 4mos inpatient medicine (can substitute for 1mo peds & 2mos ED or peds ED) + 2mos neurology (inpatient & consult). 7mos inpatient psych. Every resident is on inpatient psych for the first month. While off-service, that service owns you; medicine is very busy. 6d/wk while on inpatient psych, but that Saturday is usually an easier day that ends earlier. Apparently can get a golden weekend/mo based on how residents compromise with each other. 1x overnight call Saturday on peds.
PGY2 – 4mos: CL. 2mos: ED psych & geri. 1mo: forensic, addiction, inpatient CAP, & community. ½ d/wk (4hr/wk) resident continuity clinic for 1yr. CL are geri are strong (according to residents). Addictions is for “impaired professionals” (i.e., healthcare, law, & finance). Continuity clinic is for outpatient psychotherapy & psychopharm management; psychotherapy & psychopharm supervisors. Early CAP exposure. CAP & geri are strong rotations.
PGY3 – all outpatient. Resident continuity clinic with supervision. ½ d/wk mood disorder clinic (focus on bipolar). ½ d/wk addiction clinic. ½ d/wk women’s. ½ d/wk outpatient CAP (2x psychiatrists give direct supervision) for 1yr. ½ d/wk community psych for 1yr.
PGY4 – 1yr chief of service rotation; may choose administrative, inpatient, CL, outpatient, addiction, women’s, community, & ED psych. 1yr outpatient continuity clinics; at least 1d/wk (can do much more). Variable amount of time for electives, which include forensic, CL, clinical research, ECT, TMS, addiction, group therapy, veterans & family clinic, movement disorders, geri, community psych, Institute for Psychoanalysis electives, CBT, trauma, electives at Cook County Jail, marriage & family therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, PTSD, CAP, & outpatient neurology specialty clinics. Possible to travel for electives.
Elective info from Rush resident: residents frequently create their own; there is addiction psychiatry, community psych, transplant psychiatry/transplant evaluations, psychoanalytic, sleep medicine, psychosomatics, geropsych, research elective, emergency psych, autism, collaborative care, neuropsych, telemetry, forensics. During the forensic elective, residents can work with one of our forensic psychiatrists who did evaluations of Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy. They are certainly willing to work with residents to create opportunities and, to my knowledge, have been very supportive.
Call: PGY1 – 5pm-9pm q4d (initially no weekend call) with senior until ready for independent call, at which point they begin weekend call on Saturdays with senior (usually by January). PGY2 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos evening call. 3-5x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float for 3-4x 6d intervals covering psych floors, CL, & ED with backup supervision. PGY3 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos. 2-4x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float 9pm-6am for 6d/wk with backup. PGY4 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos call. 2-4x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float 3x 1wk. Weekend call decreases each year of training. Rush is known to be call-heavy by residents.
Psychotherapy: core modalities include psychodynamic, CBT, & supportive. Starts at PGY2 with weekly psychodynamic & supportive psychotherapy supervision (1-3x pts). PGY3 has 1hr supervised weekly CBT & 1hr supervised weekly psychodynamic; ~6 weekly therapy patients (~3 psychodynamic + ~3 CBT). PGY4 has 1hr psychodynamic supervision +/- 1hr supervised CBT; as many pts as desired. PGY4 electives in CBT, psychodynamic, family, DBT, couples/sex, etc.; can do electives at Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. Supervision includes process notes & audio/video recordings.
Research: not required. Can find research mentor in area of interest. Research in neuroscience via imaging, genetics, immunology, & electrophysiology. Lots of clinical research. Have community-based research. Can receive master’s degree in clinical research through Rush. Road to Home clinical research with veterans & their families (can use virtual reality in treatment). Women’s depression clinical research. Social neuroscience & psychopathology lab examines neural systems via neuroimaging. Other labs include autism, anxiety, trauma, compulsions, & addictions. ECT, TMS, DBS, & ketamine opportunities. Residents start research in PGY3 usually (PGY2 if really motivated); time can be carved out for research in PGY3. Projects heard about through emails, presentations, & word of mouth.
Fellowships: CAP, CL, addiction, & community. Most fellowships are new. Sounds like CAP is a strong fellowship. Almost ½ the residents one year fast-tracked into CAP. New women’s health track.
Clinical sites: 4x inpatient psychiatric units (2x adult [12 bed & 16 bed], 1x geri, + 1x CAP). Outpatient clinics: general adult, women’s, mood, CAP, addictions, & geri. All on campus. Nice facilities. Have to drive to jail for forensic.
Regarding workload from a resident: We would not be considered an extremely "chill" residency but there is certainly a work life balance. I have been able to have a full life with various hobbies and absolutely love living in Chicago. Some months are more busy than others, such as months working on consults but others are considerably light. I think that patient volume is the main reasons that we are busy. Because we have child, adult and geri psych unit on our main campus, many psych patients present to our ED. However, there have been recent changes that have made it much more manageable. For example, we have inpatient moonlighting that residents can start doing during the 2nd year, so there are now 2 residents available during call so it is considerably better. Also, they have increased the size of the residency so there are more people to do the work, so for the incoming class, life should pretty good. Also, we have really great support staff (medical assistants, social workers) who make our lives much easier, so when we are working we can spend our time on medical issues instead of other issues. 2 nurse practitioners have been hired for the consult service, a few more of them have been hired for outpatient clinic, also to lighten the resident load.
Protected didactics on Wednesday except when off-service. No social scut work, even on weekends & overnight; strong support from ancillary staff. Nurses received the “magnet” award. High patient acuity. Diverse socioeconomic, racial, & cultural patients; can see homeless & rich people talking in the waiting room. No college clinic opportunities, but still see college-aged kids just from first psychotic breaks. High volume hospital; ED psych is very busy. Population health initiative (psychiatrists in high school basically). Inpatient & outpatient substance abuse initiative (screen every pt for substance abuse). Have medical students for teaching. Starting a non-mandatory Balint group (process group) q2wk with an outside company. Mentorship program will be revamped so that there is scheduled time to meet with mentors. EMR is Epic (except at county jail obviously).
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
PD & aPD were nice. PD addressed her recent hire (I think it’s been 3yrs now). Doesn’t sound like there are any issues; I didn’t think it even needed to be discussed. Hired new program coordinator in recent years who has been a huge improvement (so say the residents).
6. Location & Lifestyle:
West side of Chicago, so a little more crime-ridden. Residents feel safe for the most part, but it can be stressful late at night. Still get all the perks of Chicago & can live anywhere. Most residents live in West Loop. Most drive, but some take public transportation. Residents work hard according to the residents & PD; this was hammered into us for some time. I’m not sure if the hours are that bad; it looks more like there is a lot of call & a high patient load. PD emphasized “adaptability, flexibility, & collegiality.” Residents seem to be a cohesive group that goes out together. Some are married with families, but it varies year by year. Residents said they maintained a good work-life balance even through intern year.
7. Salary & Benefits:
$56.5k PGY1 --> $65k PGY4. Moonlighting PGY2+ inhouse (!!!), typically seeing pts in ED; used to help residents on call. 4wks vacation all 4yrs; PGY1s cannot take vacation during medicine, but have to take 1wk on neurology; can be very flexible in later years (take 1 day off at a time with a reasonable notice given). Free health (Cigna) & dental (delta dental) insurance; add family members for low cost. Optional vision for monthly payment (~$10). Parental leave for moms & dads for 1mo paid; can be combined with 4wks vacation. Annual book stipend ($300) that can be used at their bookstore; can also go towards Step 3. Funding for presenting at conferences (~$1,000). Meal stipend for call that is decent. Free parking ($30 deposit). On-campus daycare. On-campus gym (~$30/mo). Some sort of post-call transportation service is available. They pay for our APA memberships (wooo!).
8. Program Strengths:
- Research
- Residents
- Early psychodynamic psychotherapy supervision
- Internal moonlighting in PGY2
- Ancillary staff
- High patient acuity
- High volume of patients
- Impaired Professionals addiction clinic
- Veteran population via Road to Home program
- Diverse patient population – culturally, socioeconomically, & racially
- Other treatment modalities (ECT, TMS, DBS, & ketamine)
- Clinical sites at one location
- Facilities
- Chicago
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Inhouse fellowships
- Time to conduct research (seems like it almost must be in PGY3 to work)
- No VA exposure
- Electives only in PGY4
- Elective flexibility (didn’t get to hear any “out there” electives)
- Call & night schedule
- Chicago
10. Overall Impression:
Very solid program. Good balance of psychopharm & psychotherapy. Research opportunities, but may be hard to find time before PGY3. Really, really liked the residents I met at dinner; very funny & down to earth group. I think the program is probably stable (how would I know really?); the whole PD thing doesn’t sound like a big deal to me. Residents work hard & play hard (though no one used that phrase); I suspect this just relates to call/night, pt volume, & high expectations.
(from anonymous)
1. Ease of Communication:
Through Interview Broker. General information provided the week before. Dinner information a couple days prior. Scheduling information given day of. Took a while to get a response from the PD about a question I had, & may have only been responded because I asked similar questions to a resident through email (which they never responded to).
2. Accommodation & Food:
Hotels at discounted rates. Parking voucher provided. Dinner the night before at nice Italian restaurant with ~3 residents (no interns). Very casual. Residents were funny & easy to talk to. Alcohol not provided; no one drank anything. Dinner is any entrée + dessert. Pen not provided. Breakfast was parfait, pastries, water, & coffee. Lunch was a buffet at the swanky physician’s cafeteria. “Chill pills” were provided at the start of the day (M&Ms).
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
6 applicants. Easy to find the parking garage & destination. Breakfast at 730/830am with program overview at 8/9am. Chill pills provided (M&Ms). 5x 30min interviews (1x chair, 1x assistant chair, 1x PD, 1x aPD, & 1x resident) in the morning with some breaks interspersed. Lunch with residents then tour. Done by ~3pm. No crazy questions. One about how I’ll take care of myself in residency. Some “why Rush” & “tell me about yourself.” PD dominated so I didn’t get to ask any questions (note: I did enjoy our interview, I just had questions I wish I could’ve asked there). She kept perseverating on the fact that there were no issues with the recent changes & that the program is stable. I didn't think it needed to be discussed; it didn't concern me at all; in fact, the amount it was discussed actually made me concerned. She also came & talked to us all about how the residents work hard & have high expectations for a fair bit; we were told that too many times. Chair seemed lethargic & disinterested (several of us noted); didn’t read my app; but hell, he was there & I don’t really see why we interview with chairs anyway. Residents were all great. I really enjoyed basically every resident I met. I see why some say the residents are a big strength to the program.
4. Program Overview:
Good overview on website. 8 residents/yr (up 1 from last year; considering adding more).
PGY1 – 6mos inpatient medicine: up to 4mos inpatient medicine (can substitute for 1mo peds & 2mos ED or peds ED) + 2mos neurology (inpatient & consult). 7mos inpatient psych. Every resident is on inpatient psych for the first month. While off-service, that service owns you; medicine is very busy. 6d/wk while on inpatient psych, but that Saturday is usually an easier day that ends earlier. Apparently can get a golden weekend/mo based on how residents compromise with each other. 1x overnight call Saturday on peds.
PGY2 – 4mos: CL. 2mos: ED psych & geri. 1mo: forensic, addiction, inpatient CAP, & community. ½ d/wk (4hr/wk) resident continuity clinic for 1yr. CL are geri are strong (according to residents). Addictions is for “impaired professionals” (i.e., healthcare, law, & finance). Continuity clinic is for outpatient psychotherapy & psychopharm management; psychotherapy & psychopharm supervisors. Early CAP exposure. CAP & geri are strong rotations.
PGY3 – all outpatient. Resident continuity clinic with supervision. ½ d/wk mood disorder clinic (focus on bipolar). ½ d/wk addiction clinic. ½ d/wk women’s. ½ d/wk outpatient CAP (2x psychiatrists give direct supervision) for 1yr. ½ d/wk community psych for 1yr.
PGY4 – 1yr chief of service rotation; may choose administrative, inpatient, CL, outpatient, addiction, women’s, community, & ED psych. 1yr outpatient continuity clinics; at least 1d/wk (can do much more). Variable amount of time for electives, which include forensic, CL, clinical research, ECT, TMS, addiction, group therapy, veterans & family clinic, movement disorders, geri, community psych, Institute for Psychoanalysis electives, CBT, trauma, electives at Cook County Jail, marriage & family therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, PTSD, CAP, & outpatient neurology specialty clinics. Possible to travel for electives.
Elective info from Rush resident: residents frequently create their own; there is addiction psychiatry, community psych, transplant psychiatry/transplant evaluations, psychoanalytic, sleep medicine, psychosomatics, geropsych, research elective, emergency psych, autism, collaborative care, neuropsych, telemetry, forensics. During the forensic elective, residents can work with one of our forensic psychiatrists who did evaluations of Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy. They are certainly willing to work with residents to create opportunities and, to my knowledge, have been very supportive.
Call: PGY1 – 5pm-9pm q4d (initially no weekend call) with senior until ready for independent call, at which point they begin weekend call on Saturdays with senior (usually by January). PGY2 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos evening call. 3-5x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float for 3-4x 6d intervals covering psych floors, CL, & ED with backup supervision. PGY3 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos. 2-4x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float 9pm-6am for 6d/wk with backup. PGY4 – direct supervision of PGY1s during 1st 3mos call. 2-4x Saturday (day or overnight) & Sunday (day) calls throughout the year. Night float 3x 1wk. Weekend call decreases each year of training. Rush is known to be call-heavy by residents.
Psychotherapy: core modalities include psychodynamic, CBT, & supportive. Starts at PGY2 with weekly psychodynamic & supportive psychotherapy supervision (1-3x pts). PGY3 has 1hr supervised weekly CBT & 1hr supervised weekly psychodynamic; ~6 weekly therapy patients (~3 psychodynamic + ~3 CBT). PGY4 has 1hr psychodynamic supervision +/- 1hr supervised CBT; as many pts as desired. PGY4 electives in CBT, psychodynamic, family, DBT, couples/sex, etc.; can do electives at Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. Supervision includes process notes & audio/video recordings.
Research: not required. Can find research mentor in area of interest. Research in neuroscience via imaging, genetics, immunology, & electrophysiology. Lots of clinical research. Have community-based research. Can receive master’s degree in clinical research through Rush. Road to Home clinical research with veterans & their families (can use virtual reality in treatment). Women’s depression clinical research. Social neuroscience & psychopathology lab examines neural systems via neuroimaging. Other labs include autism, anxiety, trauma, compulsions, & addictions. ECT, TMS, DBS, & ketamine opportunities. Residents start research in PGY3 usually (PGY2 if really motivated); time can be carved out for research in PGY3. Projects heard about through emails, presentations, & word of mouth.
Fellowships: CAP, CL, addiction, & community. Most fellowships are new. Sounds like CAP is a strong fellowship. Almost ½ the residents one year fast-tracked into CAP. New women’s health track.
Clinical sites: 4x inpatient psychiatric units (2x adult [12 bed & 16 bed], 1x geri, + 1x CAP). Outpatient clinics: general adult, women’s, mood, CAP, addictions, & geri. All on campus. Nice facilities. Have to drive to jail for forensic.
Regarding workload from a resident: We would not be considered an extremely "chill" residency but there is certainly a work life balance. I have been able to have a full life with various hobbies and absolutely love living in Chicago. Some months are more busy than others, such as months working on consults but others are considerably light. I think that patient volume is the main reasons that we are busy. Because we have child, adult and geri psych unit on our main campus, many psych patients present to our ED. However, there have been recent changes that have made it much more manageable. For example, we have inpatient moonlighting that residents can start doing during the 2nd year, so there are now 2 residents available during call so it is considerably better. Also, they have increased the size of the residency so there are more people to do the work, so for the incoming class, life should pretty good. Also, we have really great support staff (medical assistants, social workers) who make our lives much easier, so when we are working we can spend our time on medical issues instead of other issues. 2 nurse practitioners have been hired for the consult service, a few more of them have been hired for outpatient clinic, also to lighten the resident load.
Protected didactics on Wednesday except when off-service. No social scut work, even on weekends & overnight; strong support from ancillary staff. Nurses received the “magnet” award. High patient acuity. Diverse socioeconomic, racial, & cultural patients; can see homeless & rich people talking in the waiting room. No college clinic opportunities, but still see college-aged kids just from first psychotic breaks. High volume hospital; ED psych is very busy. Population health initiative (psychiatrists in high school basically). Inpatient & outpatient substance abuse initiative (screen every pt for substance abuse). Have medical students for teaching. Starting a non-mandatory Balint group (process group) q2wk with an outside company. Mentorship program will be revamped so that there is scheduled time to meet with mentors. EMR is Epic (except at county jail obviously).
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
PD & aPD were nice. PD addressed her recent hire (I think it’s been 3yrs now). Doesn’t sound like there are any issues; I didn’t think it even needed to be discussed. Hired new program coordinator in recent years who has been a huge improvement (so say the residents).
6. Location & Lifestyle:
West side of Chicago, so a little more crime-ridden. Residents feel safe for the most part, but it can be stressful late at night. Still get all the perks of Chicago & can live anywhere. Most residents live in West Loop. Most drive, but some take public transportation. Residents work hard according to the residents & PD; this was hammered into us for some time. I’m not sure if the hours are that bad; it looks more like there is a lot of call & a high patient load. PD emphasized “adaptability, flexibility, & collegiality.” Residents seem to be a cohesive group that goes out together. Some are married with families, but it varies year by year. Residents said they maintained a good work-life balance even through intern year.
7. Salary & Benefits:
$56.5k PGY1 --> $65k PGY4. Moonlighting PGY2+ inhouse (!!!), typically seeing pts in ED; used to help residents on call. 4wks vacation all 4yrs; PGY1s cannot take vacation during medicine, but have to take 1wk on neurology; can be very flexible in later years (take 1 day off at a time with a reasonable notice given). Free health (Cigna) & dental (delta dental) insurance; add family members for low cost. Optional vision for monthly payment (~$10). Parental leave for moms & dads for 1mo paid; can be combined with 4wks vacation. Annual book stipend ($300) that can be used at their bookstore; can also go towards Step 3. Funding for presenting at conferences (~$1,000). Meal stipend for call that is decent. Free parking ($30 deposit). On-campus daycare. On-campus gym (~$30/mo). Some sort of post-call transportation service is available. They pay for our APA memberships (wooo!).
8. Program Strengths:
- Research
- Residents
- Early psychodynamic psychotherapy supervision
- Internal moonlighting in PGY2
- Ancillary staff
- High patient acuity
- High volume of patients
- Impaired Professionals addiction clinic
- Veteran population via Road to Home program
- Diverse patient population – culturally, socioeconomically, & racially
- Other treatment modalities (ECT, TMS, DBS, & ketamine)
- Clinical sites at one location
- Facilities
- Chicago
9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Inhouse fellowships
- Time to conduct research (seems like it almost must be in PGY3 to work)
- No VA exposure
- Electives only in PGY4
- Elective flexibility (didn’t get to hear any “out there” electives)
- Call & night schedule
- Chicago
10. Overall Impression:
Very solid program. Good balance of psychopharm & psychotherapy. Research opportunities, but may be hard to find time before PGY3. Really, really liked the residents I met at dinner; very funny & down to earth group. I think the program is probably stable (how would I know really?); the whole PD thing doesn’t sound like a big deal to me. Residents work hard & play hard (though no one used that phrase); I suspect this just relates to call/night, pt volume, & high expectations.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2016
- Messages
- 443
- Reaction score
- 307
Fargo sees lots of moonlighting residents from my residency as well. They work you very hard and pay fairly well.
IMG here. I have lived only in New York after graduating but my family needs to move for work to Philadelphia. Can someone at the school or with rotating experience compare Drexel / Jefferson? There are similarities: the patients and good psychotherapy. Friends hospital and CRC is a major difference for Drexel. But program leadership at Drexel may change? Jefferson has good CL and is adding clinics for integrated care. Does anybody favor one program?
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2012
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 5
Can anyone chime in on Georgetown vs. Jefferson? I feel both are pretty similar (patient diversity, diverse clinical settings), but is there any reason I should favor one over another (besides the location of each)? I am looking for a broad-based curriculum, possibly going into CAP or addictions fellowship.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2018
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 24
NYMC Westchester
1. Ease of Communication:
We were given multiple dates to schedule an interview. Coordinator answered all emails and questions promptly. Information about interview day and hotel information was sent 2 months in advance.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Preinterview dinner held at City Limits Diner in White Plains. Residents offered to coordinate and give a ride to those staying at a nearby hotel. Residents were very friendly, chill, and seemed happy overall. Very willing to answer any questions and get to know more about you as a person. Probably one of the more positive preinterview dinners I've had. Lunch during interview day was catered by the hospital cafeteria and was standard sandwiches and wraps.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview group was split between a morning session and afternoon session. Morning session: 8:45am – 1:30pm and Afternoon session: 11:15am – 4:00pm. PD showed a video of one of the residents interviewing a difficult patient and held a discussion afterwards where he outlined his approach to patients. It was useful in terms of learning the PD's teaching style and personality. We were given a writing prompt to answer one question out of a few. I wrote it during one of my breaks between interview and we were told the purpose was to get to know us further. Interviews were standard questions and organized well. One of the residents was pretty aggressive in terms of wanted to know why I applied to the program; she kept asking "what else?" after each reason I gave...after the fourth reason, it got pretty awkward. I enjoyed the interview with the PD; he read my file thoroughly and we had a conversation about my intellectual interests. He seemed very geniune about getting to know me.
4. Program Overview:
PGY-1 schedule:
Medicine or Medicine/Pediatrics: 4 blocks
Inpatient Psychiatry: 8 blocks
Night Float: 1 block
PGY-2:
Inpatient Psychiatry: 2 – 3 blocks
Emergency Psychiatry: 2 blocks
Neurology: 2 blocks
Substance Abuse: 1 ½ blocks
Geriatric Psychiatry: 1 ½ block
Consultation/Liaison: 2 – 4 blocks
Child Psychiatry: 1 – 2 blocks
PGY-3:
Outpatient Department: 13 blocks
2 – 6 outpatient psychotherapy patients
PGY-4:
Senior electives and scholarly project: 6 – 8 blocks
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: 2 blocks
Junior administrative attending: 2 – 3 blocks
7. Salary & Benefits:
PGY1 $59,000
PGY2 $ 65,000
PGY3: $68,000
PGY4 $70,000
8. Program Strengths:
-PD seems genuine about teaching and getting to know residents
-Residents seem to get along very well and seem happy
-Program has a mix of AMGs, DOs, and FMGs
-Few residents get cheap housing on campus (lottery system)
-C&L and Child fellowship in house
9. Potential Weaknesses:
-Location. Car is needed and while some residents live in NYC, it's a bit of a hike.
-Expensive area to live
-Seemed like a busy hospital, which isn't necessarily a bad thing--just unsure the level of teaching vs service the role of the resident is.
-Older facilities
10. Overall Impression:
Happy residents and genuine PD. Does not seem like a bad program overall, although I didn't leave with the impression that they were particularly strong in a specific area.
1. Ease of Communication:
We were given multiple dates to schedule an interview. Coordinator answered all emails and questions promptly. Information about interview day and hotel information was sent 2 months in advance.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Preinterview dinner held at City Limits Diner in White Plains. Residents offered to coordinate and give a ride to those staying at a nearby hotel. Residents were very friendly, chill, and seemed happy overall. Very willing to answer any questions and get to know more about you as a person. Probably one of the more positive preinterview dinners I've had. Lunch during interview day was catered by the hospital cafeteria and was standard sandwiches and wraps.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Interview group was split between a morning session and afternoon session. Morning session: 8:45am – 1:30pm and Afternoon session: 11:15am – 4:00pm. PD showed a video of one of the residents interviewing a difficult patient and held a discussion afterwards where he outlined his approach to patients. It was useful in terms of learning the PD's teaching style and personality. We were given a writing prompt to answer one question out of a few. I wrote it during one of my breaks between interview and we were told the purpose was to get to know us further. Interviews were standard questions and organized well. One of the residents was pretty aggressive in terms of wanted to know why I applied to the program; she kept asking "what else?" after each reason I gave...after the fourth reason, it got pretty awkward. I enjoyed the interview with the PD; he read my file thoroughly and we had a conversation about my intellectual interests. He seemed very geniune about getting to know me.
4. Program Overview:
PGY-1 schedule:
Medicine or Medicine/Pediatrics: 4 blocks
Inpatient Psychiatry: 8 blocks
Night Float: 1 block
PGY-2:
Inpatient Psychiatry: 2 – 3 blocks
Emergency Psychiatry: 2 blocks
Neurology: 2 blocks
Substance Abuse: 1 ½ blocks
Geriatric Psychiatry: 1 ½ block
Consultation/Liaison: 2 – 4 blocks
Child Psychiatry: 1 – 2 blocks
PGY-3:
Outpatient Department: 13 blocks
2 – 6 outpatient psychotherapy patients
PGY-4:
Senior electives and scholarly project: 6 – 8 blocks
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: 2 blocks
Junior administrative attending: 2 – 3 blocks
7. Salary & Benefits:
PGY1 $59,000
PGY2 $ 65,000
PGY3: $68,000
PGY4 $70,000
8. Program Strengths:
-PD seems genuine about teaching and getting to know residents
-Residents seem to get along very well and seem happy
-Program has a mix of AMGs, DOs, and FMGs
-Few residents get cheap housing on campus (lottery system)
-C&L and Child fellowship in house
9. Potential Weaknesses:
-Location. Car is needed and while some residents live in NYC, it's a bit of a hike.
-Expensive area to live
-Seemed like a busy hospital, which isn't necessarily a bad thing--just unsure the level of teaching vs service the role of the resident is.
-Older facilities
10. Overall Impression:
Happy residents and genuine PD. Does not seem like a bad program overall, although I didn't leave with the impression that they were particularly strong in a specific area.
M
MrWonderful
Drexel's dedicated psych hospital is beautiful. Friends is about 10 min outside of the city nestled on a scenic campus. In Philadelphia, Friends has a really great reputation as being one of the premiere psychiatric EDs. Much lighter call schedule @ Drexel. Jefferson is a program heavy on CL. They stress that they prefer residents to maintain their mastery of medicine. I recall the chair saying "if you want to carve out a niche in psychiatry and abandon your medicine, this is not the program for you." Both will train you well.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
So I did my interview impressions within a couple of days of interviewing, and promised myself to post them for next year's class! Because I wrote them as I went, I did not have enough perspective during some of my earlier interviews to understand how what they offer fits into the common offerings at other places. Nevertheless, I will leave them as is. I generally didn't pay attention to PGY4 stuff because I want to fast track into child.
VCU
1. Ease of Communication:
Invitation received by e-mail. No problems scheduling via e-mail. Have to confirm one week before.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Some hotel discounts for hotels nearby, but I found one a 10-min drive away one that was cheaper and had free parking. Cost $50.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Dinner the night before at a really nice restaurant in the city – food was great. Doesn’t cover alcohol – left up to us to order, but everyone ordered 1 drink. Otherwise, no $ limit. Residents seemed friendly, cohesive, seems like they go out a lot and know each other well. Said they had some families with children, but mostly couples, a few singles. Didn’t look tired. Most live in the area, 1BR a little over a grand. Some bought houses. Great “easy” moonlighting opportunities to start after passing Step 3 and getting 75th percentile prite in 2nd year. Moonlighting may include child.
Parked at the lot – parking validated. A little hard to find your way around the hospital – leave at least 30 mins. Traffic not heavy in the city so driving is ok.
No breakfast the day of aside from coffee/tea available to the department.
three 30-min interviews – 1 resident, 1 attending, and PD. Conversational, easy. Asked about easy parts of CV. Some typical questions, too.
Boxed lunch. Many residents came to lunch. Run the gamut of personality styles – mostly approachable, friendly. Very diverse.
Tour of hospital – notable for having safety aides on a locked unit; may go in the room with you if you want. Outpatient offices new and shiny.Press button if feeling unsafe.
4. Program Overview:
3 months of peds/internal (however you want) – 1 month outpatient; 1 month adult ED (“fast track” patients, 5 10hr shifts per week); 2 months of inpatient neuro; 6 months psych split up between VA and VCU. Can’t take vacation when off service. Vacation 15 days – people usually take two weeks as 9 days with weekends (so two 9-day vacations), and then the other 5 days by days; program includes some holidays as non-vacation days off; psych inpatient load is 6 (sometimes 7)
don’t remember 2nd year, but some flex time for child. 4hrs per week protected time for outpatient.
VCU psych teams are divided by disorder (mood, psychotic, etc), but patients are housed in the same area
Great therapy training third year – recorded sessions to go over with a PhD psychologist specializing in the type of therapy (psychodynamics and CBT, don’t remember other ones, but more are offered). Also on-site supervision as well (watch you in real time).
No days off for step 3
Hard to judge “heaviness” of schedule. Seems average. Not a walk in the park, but not malignant, either. Say they feel supported.
Feedback is weekly/as attending wants. Every 6 months with PD – structured feedback.
Psych call:
yr 1 late night 4x/mth; weekend 2x/month
yr 2 late night q21 days (1-2x/month); weekend q21 days (1-2x/month)
yr 3 late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Want to increase research focus. A genetics guy is huge apparently. CL guy is popular. I am not big into fetishizing faculty, so didn’t investigate.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Most live in the area with a 10-15 min commute. 1BR is a little over a grand. A few commute – longest commute about 45 mins for family reasons.
Like the city – say there’s a lot for foodies, lots of parks, a good arts scene. Young city. Cite it as being affordable. Families like it, too.
7. Salary & Benefits:
53745 on website. To increase 2% per year. Benefits sheet offered.
Really low on perks!
100 bucks/year on card for food
38/month parking
21/month VCU fitness cente
Step 3 not covered
No $ for books, but do buy books for you that they feel you need
8. Program Strengths:
Therapy well supervised, well taught
Friendly residents
For child folks, new child psych hospital end of 2017
Cheap COL
ECT and TMS there if you want it
Onsite childcare 6am – midnight
9. Potential Weaknesses:
Didactics - 1.5 hrs twice a week, residents are squeezing them in in between patient care even though they are protected. Really hard to focus. Cited as a weakness by a couple.
Not a research powerhouse
10. Overall Impression:
Large-medium sized program with a lot to offer in terms of patient population diversity and opportunities. Moving in the direction of being resident independent (psych NP on inpatient and more to be hired), but not this way right now, residents have to “swap” coverage. Thought is given to learning but still a heavy workload that may mean work by doing with less time to read up. Residents admit to working hard, but cite good support among fellow residents. Feel comfortable with faculty.
VCU
1. Ease of Communication:
Invitation received by e-mail. No problems scheduling via e-mail. Have to confirm one week before.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Some hotel discounts for hotels nearby, but I found one a 10-min drive away one that was cheaper and had free parking. Cost $50.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Dinner the night before at a really nice restaurant in the city – food was great. Doesn’t cover alcohol – left up to us to order, but everyone ordered 1 drink. Otherwise, no $ limit. Residents seemed friendly, cohesive, seems like they go out a lot and know each other well. Said they had some families with children, but mostly couples, a few singles. Didn’t look tired. Most live in the area, 1BR a little over a grand. Some bought houses. Great “easy” moonlighting opportunities to start after passing Step 3 and getting 75th percentile prite in 2nd year. Moonlighting may include child.
Parked at the lot – parking validated. A little hard to find your way around the hospital – leave at least 30 mins. Traffic not heavy in the city so driving is ok.
No breakfast the day of aside from coffee/tea available to the department.
three 30-min interviews – 1 resident, 1 attending, and PD. Conversational, easy. Asked about easy parts of CV. Some typical questions, too.
Boxed lunch. Many residents came to lunch. Run the gamut of personality styles – mostly approachable, friendly. Very diverse.
Tour of hospital – notable for having safety aides on a locked unit; may go in the room with you if you want. Outpatient offices new and shiny.Press button if feeling unsafe.
4. Program Overview:
3 months of peds/internal (however you want) – 1 month outpatient; 1 month adult ED (“fast track” patients, 5 10hr shifts per week); 2 months of inpatient neuro; 6 months psych split up between VA and VCU. Can’t take vacation when off service. Vacation 15 days – people usually take two weeks as 9 days with weekends (so two 9-day vacations), and then the other 5 days by days; program includes some holidays as non-vacation days off; psych inpatient load is 6 (sometimes 7)
don’t remember 2nd year, but some flex time for child. 4hrs per week protected time for outpatient.
VCU psych teams are divided by disorder (mood, psychotic, etc), but patients are housed in the same area
Great therapy training third year – recorded sessions to go over with a PhD psychologist specializing in the type of therapy (psychodynamics and CBT, don’t remember other ones, but more are offered). Also on-site supervision as well (watch you in real time).
No days off for step 3
Hard to judge “heaviness” of schedule. Seems average. Not a walk in the park, but not malignant, either. Say they feel supported.
Feedback is weekly/as attending wants. Every 6 months with PD – structured feedback.
Psych call:
yr 1 late night 4x/mth; weekend 2x/month
yr 2 late night q21 days (1-2x/month); weekend q21 days (1-2x/month)
yr 3 late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Want to increase research focus. A genetics guy is huge apparently. CL guy is popular. I am not big into fetishizing faculty, so didn’t investigate.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Most live in the area with a 10-15 min commute. 1BR is a little over a grand. A few commute – longest commute about 45 mins for family reasons.
Like the city – say there’s a lot for foodies, lots of parks, a good arts scene. Young city. Cite it as being affordable. Families like it, too.
7. Salary & Benefits:
53745 on website. To increase 2% per year. Benefits sheet offered.
Really low on perks!
100 bucks/year on card for food
38/month parking
21/month VCU fitness cente
Step 3 not covered
No $ for books, but do buy books for you that they feel you need
8. Program Strengths:
Therapy well supervised, well taught
Friendly residents
For child folks, new child psych hospital end of 2017
Cheap COL
ECT and TMS there if you want it
Onsite childcare 6am – midnight
9. Potential Weaknesses:
Didactics - 1.5 hrs twice a week, residents are squeezing them in in between patient care even though they are protected. Really hard to focus. Cited as a weakness by a couple.
Not a research powerhouse
10. Overall Impression:
Large-medium sized program with a lot to offer in terms of patient population diversity and opportunities. Moving in the direction of being resident independent (psych NP on inpatient and more to be hired), but not this way right now, residents have to “swap” coverage. Thought is given to learning but still a heavy workload that may mean work by doing with less time to read up. Residents admit to working hard, but cite good support among fellow residents. Feel comfortable with faculty.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
UNC
1. Ease of Communication:
Communication through e-mail with coordinator. Didn’t respond same day to interview confirmation, which had me worried, but got first choice of interview slots. Website says to send them pdf’s of your publications, so I did that, but there was no response and no mention of it on interview.
2. Accommodation & Food:
List of discounted hotels was provided, but I was looking to spend as little as possible - got a room within a 20-min drive in Durham on airbnb for under $35. Accommodations otherwise run $65+. Tasty Italian for dinner - wine was included. Light breakfast with coffee, boxed lunch with water/sweet iced tea. Validated parking.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Dinner with residents - people were genuine, approachable, enthusiastic, passionate.. ran the gamut from quirky to wholesome. Very likable overall and just the kind of people I expect in psychiatry
9AM interview - breakfast with chiefs
PD “hello”
3 30-min interviews - they know your CV, but more conversational style of interviews, no behavioral questions, felt like they were just getting to know me.
Tour
Chair was absent so I got another administrative person
Strong closing by PD to emphasize focus on education, positive experience while in the program, and opportunities following residency
4. Program Overview:
Child & Adolescent -- required on years 1-3.
YR 1 MEDICINE: 2mth family medicine inpatient, 2 month medicine inpatient at a state psychiatric hospital - no peds substitute, no outpatient; NEUROLOGY: done in 2 2-week blocks - 1 month in year 1, but 1 month in year 3! Not sure how i feel about this one. PSYCH: is split between UNC & state hospital ~35 mins away from chapel hill. UNC day starts at 8AM and you round with attending. State hospital experience - together with Duke PGY2’s, including night call; emergency psychiatry rotation has been re-done for a great learning experience with a nice day schedule, no call, and attending onsite → can carry a few patients for a solid learning experience. Vacation scheduled a year in advance only in 3 5-day blocks.
YR 2 All outpatient, but still take inpatient call. Wide variety of specialized clinics. Do a few half-days throughout the year. 24hr calls with a post-call day. Vacation can be scheduled as you wish. Community/underserved component selective -- can do rural medicine in Asheville, can work with the Spanish population and improve your spanish. Moonlighting permission starts this year. Therapy training starts this year → CBT, Psychoanalytic + DBT (new)
YR 3 Back to inpatient, no overnight call starting from this year.
YR 4 - all electives
Lots of unique opportunities - perinatal unit, eating disorders unit, specialty clinics like women’s mood disorders clinic, adult & child developmental disorders
Psych Call:
yr 1 - 3-4 months - 2-3x/month on weekends; 3-4 months - short call q8, weekday only; 4 weeks of night float
yr 2 - per year: 18x calls overnight (unclear if post-call day included?); 7-8x weekend calls
yr 3 - 6-7 weekend calls/year
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Not emphasized, or maybe I didn’t look. They have a research track.
The PD has been there for 15 years, and they typically burn out faster (average span = 5 years), so clearly she is baller.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Residents live either walking distance/biking distance very nearby (1 BR ~ 1000-1200) or in Durham (1BR <900, 15-30 minute drive), where people are more likely to buy houses. The Triangle has a lot of things going for it - strong job market for significant others, affordable housing, enough restaurants-bars-entertainment, parks, and proximity to Asheville, Charlotte for weekend trips, a close-by airport, mild climate, young + educated population.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Salary on the lower side, but consistent with lower COL. It doesn’t sound like they get much on their meal cards, but does cover on-call food.
8. Program Strengths:
Varied opportunities - state hospital, forensics, child, eating, women’s health
Education-focused culture - admits often based on how good the patients are for learning
Many in-house fellowships (child can preferentially take their own if you want to stay in the area), including child, forensics, CL, as well as eating disorders and women’s health
Psychoanalytic institute affiliation
9. Potential Weaknesses:
+/- 2nd year being outpatient -- perhaps you want to look forward to an outpatient, “easier” year?
No protected time to see clinic patients third year
College town for some
No VA for some
10. Overall Impression:
Strong academic program with down-to-earth residents, many fellowships, broad training opportunities, and a positive culture with considerable work-life balance in an affordable area with plenty to do. Would be excited to match here.
1. Ease of Communication:
Communication through e-mail with coordinator. Didn’t respond same day to interview confirmation, which had me worried, but got first choice of interview slots. Website says to send them pdf’s of your publications, so I did that, but there was no response and no mention of it on interview.
2. Accommodation & Food:
List of discounted hotels was provided, but I was looking to spend as little as possible - got a room within a 20-min drive in Durham on airbnb for under $35. Accommodations otherwise run $65+. Tasty Italian for dinner - wine was included. Light breakfast with coffee, boxed lunch with water/sweet iced tea. Validated parking.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Dinner with residents - people were genuine, approachable, enthusiastic, passionate.. ran the gamut from quirky to wholesome. Very likable overall and just the kind of people I expect in psychiatry
9AM interview - breakfast with chiefs
PD “hello”
3 30-min interviews - they know your CV, but more conversational style of interviews, no behavioral questions, felt like they were just getting to know me.
Tour
Chair was absent so I got another administrative person
Strong closing by PD to emphasize focus on education, positive experience while in the program, and opportunities following residency
4. Program Overview:
Child & Adolescent -- required on years 1-3.
YR 1 MEDICINE: 2mth family medicine inpatient, 2 month medicine inpatient at a state psychiatric hospital - no peds substitute, no outpatient; NEUROLOGY: done in 2 2-week blocks - 1 month in year 1, but 1 month in year 3! Not sure how i feel about this one. PSYCH: is split between UNC & state hospital ~35 mins away from chapel hill. UNC day starts at 8AM and you round with attending. State hospital experience - together with Duke PGY2’s, including night call; emergency psychiatry rotation has been re-done for a great learning experience with a nice day schedule, no call, and attending onsite → can carry a few patients for a solid learning experience. Vacation scheduled a year in advance only in 3 5-day blocks.
YR 2 All outpatient, but still take inpatient call. Wide variety of specialized clinics. Do a few half-days throughout the year. 24hr calls with a post-call day. Vacation can be scheduled as you wish. Community/underserved component selective -- can do rural medicine in Asheville, can work with the Spanish population and improve your spanish. Moonlighting permission starts this year. Therapy training starts this year → CBT, Psychoanalytic + DBT (new)
YR 3 Back to inpatient, no overnight call starting from this year.
YR 4 - all electives
Lots of unique opportunities - perinatal unit, eating disorders unit, specialty clinics like women’s mood disorders clinic, adult & child developmental disorders
Psych Call:
yr 1 - 3-4 months - 2-3x/month on weekends; 3-4 months - short call q8, weekday only; 4 weeks of night float
yr 2 - per year: 18x calls overnight (unclear if post-call day included?); 7-8x weekend calls
yr 3 - 6-7 weekend calls/year
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Not emphasized, or maybe I didn’t look. They have a research track.
The PD has been there for 15 years, and they typically burn out faster (average span = 5 years), so clearly she is baller.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Residents live either walking distance/biking distance very nearby (1 BR ~ 1000-1200) or in Durham (1BR <900, 15-30 minute drive), where people are more likely to buy houses. The Triangle has a lot of things going for it - strong job market for significant others, affordable housing, enough restaurants-bars-entertainment, parks, and proximity to Asheville, Charlotte for weekend trips, a close-by airport, mild climate, young + educated population.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Salary on the lower side, but consistent with lower COL. It doesn’t sound like they get much on their meal cards, but does cover on-call food.
8. Program Strengths:
Varied opportunities - state hospital, forensics, child, eating, women’s health
Education-focused culture - admits often based on how good the patients are for learning
Many in-house fellowships (child can preferentially take their own if you want to stay in the area), including child, forensics, CL, as well as eating disorders and women’s health
Psychoanalytic institute affiliation
9. Potential Weaknesses:
+/- 2nd year being outpatient -- perhaps you want to look forward to an outpatient, “easier” year?
No protected time to see clinic patients third year
College town for some
No VA for some
10. Overall Impression:
Strong academic program with down-to-earth residents, many fellowships, broad training opportunities, and a positive culture with considerable work-life balance in an affordable area with plenty to do. Would be excited to match here.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
GWU
1. Ease of Communication:
No communication problems. Given a few dates to choose from, but none worked, so was able to find an alternative date through an e-mail exchange with the coordinator.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Trendy thai for dinner. Good breakfast spread. Great lunch. No hotel or discounts provided. Stayed in Arlington – very convenient, recommend. Parking not validated - $13 next door (also close to metro). Driving in the city was not great fun, but not a **** show I anticipated, either.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
PPT Presentation by chief – very thorough program overview
Welcome by Dr. Norris (medical director and dean of student affairs) strong personality, emphasized mentorship; unclear why PD didn’t do this, as is typical for programs - she was present for interviews later
4 interviews of 30 min each – back to back with no scheduled breaks, somewhat tiring (PD, APD, faculty,, Chief); mostly conversational – trying to find out more about you, no “gotcha” questions; free to take the conversation in any direction, I’d say; things emphasized by faculty/residents: humanistic approach - viewing patients as people; health policy; global health; changes in leadership and approach towards more transparency (I didn’t ask the hard questions as to why people left in years prior and why they went unmatched before); administration now addresses all concerns in a more formal manner -- residents write down in the retreat what they are concerned about and it either gets fixed or they get an answer as to why it can’t happen; recent changes → more moonlighting should be coming soon
Lunch – 2 residents came. Seemed satisfied with the program. Cite intern year as being more difficult than the subsequent years. Cite satisfaction with the whole-day didactics starting 2nd year. DC was a strong draw as a reason for coming here. Cite strong social work support and good relationships with nursing staff.
Chair - cited best faculty retention of any department, relaxed, two interviewees at a time
Tour - 24hr starbucks (ding ding ding); cafeteria; 1 call room with bunk beds, decent condition, no windows; unit seemed less acute -- couldn’t tell you’re on a psych unit when there
4. Program Overview:
PGY 1 Traditionally structured program w 3 months IM, 1 month EM, 2 months neuro (people like this rotation and feel like it’s learning oriented). Day starts at 7-730 on inpatient for sign out. Pre-round before attending.
Intern year split between GWU (2 mths) and Inova (4 mths). Late night “short call” on psych – 2 weekends/month only (24 hr Saturday + 12 hr Sunday)
Intern carries up to 10 patients, but averages 6-8.
PGY 2 Therapy starts this year with 1 patient. All psych rotations - some flexibility in amount and which ones -- addiction (+ suboxone clinic), geriatrics, partial hospitalization, state facility, children’s hospital. Protected full day didactics. 24hr call average 3.5 per month.
PGY 3 Outpatient; Therapy training - very thorough psychodynamic training, but also supervised group therapy and medication management therapy; subspecialty clinics - refugee, psych onc, perinatal, weight loss, others. Health policy rotation for all. 24hr call 3x per month.
PGY 4 mostly elective. Can do international rotations - not sure how well-sponsored they are.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Global health and policy faculty involvement.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Most residents live in DC with a significant minority living in Virginia - can be a 10-15 drive if living in Arlington (program provides free parking). Cost of living is steep - can easily pay 1500 for a room walking distance from the hospital.
7. Salary & Benefits:
57,983.76 for 2017-2018 year
Free parking (big perk in the city)
~ 20/mth for gym
~ 60/mth for food
8. Program Strengths:
Psychodynamic therapy curriculum - psychoanalytic institute in-house
Refugee population/PTSD (altho no VA)
Child and adolescent exposure – 4 months 2nd year; inpatient floors at children’s hospital (a premier hospital, at that).
Health policy involvement
Global health
College mental health (deaf population at Gallaudet and also some GWU students)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
Lack CBT curriculum / presence (wut.)
Didactics first year lacking – sounds like none on inpatient at GWU and some on inpatient at Inova - was hoping for a strong foundation intern year
Voluntary unit at GWU, although involuntary at Inova; depends on what you want, but voluntary is typically less acute
No outpatient C&A, but can moonlight in Maryland
Did not get a cozy/tight knit vibe -- might be difficult if you have no friends/family in DC
10. Overall Impression:
Small/medium program with a lot to offer and unique in global mental health and health policy - opportunities enhanced by location. Unusual in perinatal, weight loss, college mental health, child exposure length. Residency cohesiveness less than some due to city location, residents’ previous ties to area, as well as type of people it draws/culture of program.
1. Ease of Communication:
No communication problems. Given a few dates to choose from, but none worked, so was able to find an alternative date through an e-mail exchange with the coordinator.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Trendy thai for dinner. Good breakfast spread. Great lunch. No hotel or discounts provided. Stayed in Arlington – very convenient, recommend. Parking not validated - $13 next door (also close to metro). Driving in the city was not great fun, but not a **** show I anticipated, either.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
PPT Presentation by chief – very thorough program overview
Welcome by Dr. Norris (medical director and dean of student affairs) strong personality, emphasized mentorship; unclear why PD didn’t do this, as is typical for programs - she was present for interviews later
4 interviews of 30 min each – back to back with no scheduled breaks, somewhat tiring (PD, APD, faculty,, Chief); mostly conversational – trying to find out more about you, no “gotcha” questions; free to take the conversation in any direction, I’d say; things emphasized by faculty/residents: humanistic approach - viewing patients as people; health policy; global health; changes in leadership and approach towards more transparency (I didn’t ask the hard questions as to why people left in years prior and why they went unmatched before); administration now addresses all concerns in a more formal manner -- residents write down in the retreat what they are concerned about and it either gets fixed or they get an answer as to why it can’t happen; recent changes → more moonlighting should be coming soon
Lunch – 2 residents came. Seemed satisfied with the program. Cite intern year as being more difficult than the subsequent years. Cite satisfaction with the whole-day didactics starting 2nd year. DC was a strong draw as a reason for coming here. Cite strong social work support and good relationships with nursing staff.
Chair - cited best faculty retention of any department, relaxed, two interviewees at a time
Tour - 24hr starbucks (ding ding ding); cafeteria; 1 call room with bunk beds, decent condition, no windows; unit seemed less acute -- couldn’t tell you’re on a psych unit when there
4. Program Overview:
PGY 1 Traditionally structured program w 3 months IM, 1 month EM, 2 months neuro (people like this rotation and feel like it’s learning oriented). Day starts at 7-730 on inpatient for sign out. Pre-round before attending.
Intern year split between GWU (2 mths) and Inova (4 mths). Late night “short call” on psych – 2 weekends/month only (24 hr Saturday + 12 hr Sunday)
Intern carries up to 10 patients, but averages 6-8.
PGY 2 Therapy starts this year with 1 patient. All psych rotations - some flexibility in amount and which ones -- addiction (+ suboxone clinic), geriatrics, partial hospitalization, state facility, children’s hospital. Protected full day didactics. 24hr call average 3.5 per month.
PGY 3 Outpatient; Therapy training - very thorough psychodynamic training, but also supervised group therapy and medication management therapy; subspecialty clinics - refugee, psych onc, perinatal, weight loss, others. Health policy rotation for all. 24hr call 3x per month.
PGY 4 mostly elective. Can do international rotations - not sure how well-sponsored they are.
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Global health and policy faculty involvement.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Most residents live in DC with a significant minority living in Virginia - can be a 10-15 drive if living in Arlington (program provides free parking). Cost of living is steep - can easily pay 1500 for a room walking distance from the hospital.
7. Salary & Benefits:
57,983.76 for 2017-2018 year
Free parking (big perk in the city)
~ 20/mth for gym
~ 60/mth for food
8. Program Strengths:
Psychodynamic therapy curriculum - psychoanalytic institute in-house
Refugee population/PTSD (altho no VA)
Child and adolescent exposure – 4 months 2nd year; inpatient floors at children’s hospital (a premier hospital, at that).
Health policy involvement
Global health
College mental health (deaf population at Gallaudet and also some GWU students)
9. Potential Weaknesses:
Lack CBT curriculum / presence (wut.)
Didactics first year lacking – sounds like none on inpatient at GWU and some on inpatient at Inova - was hoping for a strong foundation intern year
Voluntary unit at GWU, although involuntary at Inova; depends on what you want, but voluntary is typically less acute
No outpatient C&A, but can moonlight in Maryland
Did not get a cozy/tight knit vibe -- might be difficult if you have no friends/family in DC
10. Overall Impression:
Small/medium program with a lot to offer and unique in global mental health and health policy - opportunities enhanced by location. Unusual in perinatal, weight loss, college mental health, child exposure length. Residency cohesiveness less than some due to city location, residents’ previous ties to area, as well as type of people it draws/culture of program.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
Zucker-Hillside/Northwell/Hofstra/LIJH
1. Ease of Communication:
Smooth communication by e-mail. You will be asked to confirm your interview as it draws closer. Parking information not included, but it’s free and next to the hospital.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Dinner at a nicer place in the area. Food was fine. Drinks on program’s tap. Real breakfast with coffee/tea and lunch with above-average wraps/sandwiches/salad. No accommodations.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
3 30-min interviews with faculty and a senior resident - paired based on interests. 2 interviews (shorter) with PD and APD. those two were a little tapped out by the end lol. There were 8 of us, so it was understandable. Honestly, found the PD a bit unrelatable/pompous, but this is just a first impression. Most questions about your application, 1 behavioral question. Tour lets you see housing from the outside as well as the beautiful hospital - actually, several hospitals, all nice looking. Free-standing psychiatric hospital is a great feature of the program. Everything is close by - housing, hospitals, clinics. One hospital is a very short drive, but everything else is on the campus.
4. Program Overview:
20 vacation days - scheduled in blocks first year, pick from schedules with no final say. 12 people/year - recently reduced to focus on teaching. Everyone is assigned an advisor. Didactics during lunch 1st year, and half-day second year onwards. Residents cite didactics to be a strong point. Program emphasized to be less service oriented - can miss for sick days if need be, decent time to think about patients, good teaching on all services. Administration put a lot of thought into how best to train its residents. Psychiatrists in the ED are there 24/7 → can ask them questions if need be.
ECT - 2nd largest program in the nation, lots of research for here.
PGY1 - can do pediatrics, can do some outpatient for off service, night float 2 weeks + short call 2x/month, long call 1 weekend per month
PGY2 - inpatient, many different specialized floors to choose from in the psych hospital (college, perinatal, mood disorders, adolescent, etc); some outpatient starts in second half of the year, 3 months electives - can do pathways → project of your choice to add depth to your training
PGY3 outpatient year - CBT + Psychodynamic, video recorded therapy sessions
call:
yr1 - late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month; 2 weeks of nights
yr 2 - late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month; 4 weeks of nights
yr 3 - late night 2x/month; weekends every 6 weeks - 1-2x/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Chair does schizophrenia research. Faculty is touted to be very approachable and dedicated to teaching.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Outskirts of Queens/border of Long Island. Suburban feel. Subsidized housing apartment complex below market rates is next to the hospital (can be under 1k for a 1BR, from my understanding). Close to the commuter rail station (2miles): commute into manhattan 40 minutes minimum. Residents are split on where they live - some live in more happening parts of NYC (drive can be ~30 minutes from Brooklyn or Astoria), others live in close proximity to the hospital. Car dependent area. Sounds like no subsidized gym.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Best salary I have ever seen ~70k. Get either subsidized housing or 150 bucks/month extra. No subsidized gym or food. 20 vacation days = on the high side (most are 15)
8. Program Strengths:
Well-rounded program with a teaching-focused culture and reasonable call that likes to help residents develop a niche and become leaders. Psychiatry seems well respected and significant resources were dedicated to this field within the hospital system. Would be happy to match here.
1. Ease of Communication:
Smooth communication by e-mail. You will be asked to confirm your interview as it draws closer. Parking information not included, but it’s free and next to the hospital.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Dinner at a nicer place in the area. Food was fine. Drinks on program’s tap. Real breakfast with coffee/tea and lunch with above-average wraps/sandwiches/salad. No accommodations.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
3 30-min interviews with faculty and a senior resident - paired based on interests. 2 interviews (shorter) with PD and APD. those two were a little tapped out by the end lol. There were 8 of us, so it was understandable. Honestly, found the PD a bit unrelatable/pompous, but this is just a first impression. Most questions about your application, 1 behavioral question. Tour lets you see housing from the outside as well as the beautiful hospital - actually, several hospitals, all nice looking. Free-standing psychiatric hospital is a great feature of the program. Everything is close by - housing, hospitals, clinics. One hospital is a very short drive, but everything else is on the campus.
4. Program Overview:
20 vacation days - scheduled in blocks first year, pick from schedules with no final say. 12 people/year - recently reduced to focus on teaching. Everyone is assigned an advisor. Didactics during lunch 1st year, and half-day second year onwards. Residents cite didactics to be a strong point. Program emphasized to be less service oriented - can miss for sick days if need be, decent time to think about patients, good teaching on all services. Administration put a lot of thought into how best to train its residents. Psychiatrists in the ED are there 24/7 → can ask them questions if need be.
ECT - 2nd largest program in the nation, lots of research for here.
PGY1 - can do pediatrics, can do some outpatient for off service, night float 2 weeks + short call 2x/month, long call 1 weekend per month
PGY2 - inpatient, many different specialized floors to choose from in the psych hospital (college, perinatal, mood disorders, adolescent, etc); some outpatient starts in second half of the year, 3 months electives - can do pathways → project of your choice to add depth to your training
PGY3 outpatient year - CBT + Psychodynamic, video recorded therapy sessions
call:
yr1 - late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month; 2 weeks of nights
yr 2 - late night 2x/month; weekend 1x/month; 4 weeks of nights
yr 3 - late night 2x/month; weekends every 6 weeks - 1-2x/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Chair does schizophrenia research. Faculty is touted to be very approachable and dedicated to teaching.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Outskirts of Queens/border of Long Island. Suburban feel. Subsidized housing apartment complex below market rates is next to the hospital (can be under 1k for a 1BR, from my understanding). Close to the commuter rail station (2miles): commute into manhattan 40 minutes minimum. Residents are split on where they live - some live in more happening parts of NYC (drive can be ~30 minutes from Brooklyn or Astoria), others live in close proximity to the hospital. Car dependent area. Sounds like no subsidized gym.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Best salary I have ever seen ~70k. Get either subsidized housing or 150 bucks/month extra. No subsidized gym or food. 20 vacation days = on the high side (most are 15)
8. Program Strengths:
- FLEXIBILITY: lots of elective time early on; can develop depth; can sample options
- Options: unique populations → eating disorders, perinatal, college mental health
- Approach to education -- residents repeated how good the doctors are and how much they are committed to teaching; praised didactics;
- Culture: doesn’t work you to the bone, reasonable call schedule that gets lighter with each year
- NYC dating pool
- $
- Not in an area where other young professionals like to hang out?
- Remaining in area: housing prices are HIGH
- Maybe lack of CPEP if you’re comparing it to some other NYC programs
Well-rounded program with a teaching-focused culture and reasonable call that likes to help residents develop a niche and become leaders. Psychiatry seems well respected and significant resources were dedicated to this field within the hospital system. Would be happy to match here.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
UMASS
1. Ease of Communication:
Scheduling via e-mail by a coordinator. Has all the necessary info.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Hotel discounts offered, but airbnb was cheaper. Not too many airbnb options, so think ahead. Dinner the night before with residents at a popular burger joint/brewery with alcohol not covered.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Hello by coordinator, who has been with the program for decades. Eat breakfast at home as breakfast was too light. Starts with tour of facilities -- nice campus and different buildings are connected such that you don’t have to go outside between them. Student gym inside building, $12/month with classes included. New state hospital with reportedly nice facilities is right nearby.
Program overview later in the day by PD. He is reportedly one of the biggest assets to the program - has been a PD for a very long time, hands on as far as training, sees through that you meet your goals, teaches the neuroscience curriculum as he’s double boarded in neurology and psych.
4 30-min interviews, including one with a PD. Standard interviews, all read through your file, nothing uncomfortable. Was asked what journal my publication was in, so probably know that (the interviewer let on that it’s not a high-impact one heh). I will say the PD threw tidbits of knowledge into his conversation and was seeing if I would bite (and talk more about it, I guess?). I
4. Program Overview:
Will go through highlights.
Traditional curriculum.
Heavy on medicine/neurology -- didactic curriculum is neuroscience heavy (brain dissection included), 3 months of neurology, 5 months of medicine (looked like intern carried 10 patients). Can choose to do the 5-year child track, which gives option for pediatric electives, however if not committing to the track, those options are less of a guarantee, although still on the table. Mandatory forensics rotation in second year. One elective month in second, which frankly felt like too little, but maybe I am looking at other program. Third year includes child outpatient psychotherapy as well as CBT/psychodynamic with supervision, but also includes group therapy, family therapy, or couple’s therapy. Early on in training, residents are encouraged to pursue an interest in depth.
ED is separate and robust, but doesn’t function as an observation unit.
Didactics are full day affairs with no clinical responsibilities. Highlights include a thorough class reading journal articles; some months it is combined with neurology residents. Upper-year residents have teaching responsibilities for some classes.
Rather light call schedule (don't remember details)
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Lots of research going on here.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Worcester, MA is affordable and is described as changing rapidly to have more of a bar/restaurant scene. I came in open-minded, but found the downtown to be depressing. Lunch time downtown looked nothing like what I am used to in other cities - few people and even fewer professionals. I question the opportunities available for young professionals if you have a SO or are hoping to meet a working professional to date. To be fair, I did not hang out in areas around the colleges. There are many parks and outdoor activities available in the immediate surrounding areas. Residents report good quality of life and those who wanted to buy property did so with ease. Location is great for weekend trips -- close to Vermont and NH, as well as an hour outside of Boston if you want to go in for events/other. Living in Boston has been done, but the commute is 50 minutes +, and most live in the area surrounding the hospital. Also close to Providence, RI.
7. Salary & Benefits:
High 50’s. Free parking. Meals on-call. $12/mth gym. Daycare, but seems that medical students get dibs. You’re a state employee, so get public holidays off, unless you’re on call. 15 days vacation + 3 personal days + a bunch sick (sick days carry over). You get a book allowance but only starting in year 2 (??).
Moonlighting is allowed starting second year - internal, admissions if ED overflows.
8. Program Strengths:
10. Overall Impression:
I was a little bummed about the flexibility and the city, but overall came away with a positive impression of the culture of the program - strong didactics, broad clinical opportunities, close-knit relationships with faculty, and great PD with advising. You can tell a lot of thought and heart went into the program’s design. On average, the residents were very much normal - friendly, approachable, with outside interests and lives. A few were openly passionate about their career choice, but no huge egos. No strong reservations about coming here and happy I applied.
1. Ease of Communication:
Scheduling via e-mail by a coordinator. Has all the necessary info.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Hotel discounts offered, but airbnb was cheaper. Not too many airbnb options, so think ahead. Dinner the night before with residents at a popular burger joint/brewery with alcohol not covered.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
Hello by coordinator, who has been with the program for decades. Eat breakfast at home as breakfast was too light. Starts with tour of facilities -- nice campus and different buildings are connected such that you don’t have to go outside between them. Student gym inside building, $12/month with classes included. New state hospital with reportedly nice facilities is right nearby.
Program overview later in the day by PD. He is reportedly one of the biggest assets to the program - has been a PD for a very long time, hands on as far as training, sees through that you meet your goals, teaches the neuroscience curriculum as he’s double boarded in neurology and psych.
4 30-min interviews, including one with a PD. Standard interviews, all read through your file, nothing uncomfortable. Was asked what journal my publication was in, so probably know that (the interviewer let on that it’s not a high-impact one heh). I will say the PD threw tidbits of knowledge into his conversation and was seeing if I would bite (and talk more about it, I guess?). I
4. Program Overview:
Will go through highlights.
Traditional curriculum.
Heavy on medicine/neurology -- didactic curriculum is neuroscience heavy (brain dissection included), 3 months of neurology, 5 months of medicine (looked like intern carried 10 patients). Can choose to do the 5-year child track, which gives option for pediatric electives, however if not committing to the track, those options are less of a guarantee, although still on the table. Mandatory forensics rotation in second year. One elective month in second, which frankly felt like too little, but maybe I am looking at other program. Third year includes child outpatient psychotherapy as well as CBT/psychodynamic with supervision, but also includes group therapy, family therapy, or couple’s therapy. Early on in training, residents are encouraged to pursue an interest in depth.
ED is separate and robust, but doesn’t function as an observation unit.
Didactics are full day affairs with no clinical responsibilities. Highlights include a thorough class reading journal articles; some months it is combined with neurology residents. Upper-year residents have teaching responsibilities for some classes.
Rather light call schedule (don't remember details)
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
Lots of research going on here.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Worcester, MA is affordable and is described as changing rapidly to have more of a bar/restaurant scene. I came in open-minded, but found the downtown to be depressing. Lunch time downtown looked nothing like what I am used to in other cities - few people and even fewer professionals. I question the opportunities available for young professionals if you have a SO or are hoping to meet a working professional to date. To be fair, I did not hang out in areas around the colleges. There are many parks and outdoor activities available in the immediate surrounding areas. Residents report good quality of life and those who wanted to buy property did so with ease. Location is great for weekend trips -- close to Vermont and NH, as well as an hour outside of Boston if you want to go in for events/other. Living in Boston has been done, but the commute is 50 minutes +, and most live in the area surrounding the hospital. Also close to Providence, RI.
7. Salary & Benefits:
High 50’s. Free parking. Meals on-call. $12/mth gym. Daycare, but seems that medical students get dibs. You’re a state employee, so get public holidays off, unless you’re on call. 15 days vacation + 3 personal days + a bunch sick (sick days carry over). You get a book allowance but only starting in year 2 (??).
Moonlighting is allowed starting second year - internal, admissions if ED overflows.
8. Program Strengths:
- Program director
- Many fellowship opportunities, including forensics
- State hospital experience
- Thorough biological curriculum with a well-rounded therapy curriculum
- Heavier call - still take overnight in PGY4.
- Integrated care experience with family physicians
- Massachusetts has great services for its patients
- Location IMO
- Not enough early-on flexibility/child exposure unless you’re on track
- No eating disorder exposure
10. Overall Impression:
I was a little bummed about the flexibility and the city, but overall came away with a positive impression of the culture of the program - strong didactics, broad clinical opportunities, close-knit relationships with faculty, and great PD with advising. You can tell a lot of thought and heart went into the program’s design. On average, the residents were very much normal - friendly, approachable, with outside interests and lives. A few were openly passionate about their career choice, but no huge egos. No strong reservations about coming here and happy I applied.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
UC Riverside
Ease of communication:
Scheduled via online scheduler - easy enough. They sent hotel discounts somewhat late, which surprised me. I stayed 10 min drive away at an Airbnb - beware time doubles in the morning. Coordinator is responsive.
Time was a bit unclear - it said breakfast at 8AM in one place and 830 AM in another place. Said to arrive by 830AM.
Accomodations and food:
Pricy hotels with some discount. Airbnb (private room, own bathroom) worked out to about 45/night - 20 minute drive.
Mexican food for lunch, Spanish food for dinner/happy hour the day of the interview day. Real breakfast food -- don’t have to eat breakfast if you want to save time. Dinner timing was convenient enough, but they didn’t cover alcohol and it wasn’t clear to me that they didn’t.
Interview Day
Breakfast
Overview of program - powerpoint
I thinnk they needed to give a folder of info that contains the prospective schedule. The folder contents were sparse.
6 20-min interviews - chair, PD, APD, faculty, faculty, PGY2
Interviewers were friendly, forthcoming, excited about program & the people they have invited, and serious about recruitment. They made themselves endlessly available for follow up conversations and several hinted to let them know if I want to be there. Interview group largely from CA with a sprinkling of out of staters. Told they don’t interview too many out of staters. The vibe/pitch of the program is that they have a non-onerous schedule to make room for personal and professional growth, they are flexible with the schedule to make sure that you get the educational experience you came for, are responsive to requests and changes, and go to bat for their residents when it comes time for employment/fellowship opportunities.
Resident lunch:
Mostly interns, sprinkling of 2nd years.
Most people are from CA with a support network in Socal and/or Norcal. They chose this program because they were comfortable with the faculty and culture, wanted to stay in the area, and found the call schedule to be reasonable. Residents live all over -- some in Riverside, some closer to Orange County. Feeling I got is that they don’t love the area and that its draw was a proximity to LA. Many go there to hang out and don’t stay nearby. Residents were very friendly with one another and it is obviously a supportive culture with lots of camaraderie.
Tour of county mental health facility - not a dungeon, but nothing to write home about, which is to be expected. Lots of computers, including more secluded spaces to write notes so you can get some headspace. Internal medicine physicians come to take care of the psych patients’ medical needs in the afternoon, which takes that workload off of the residents’ shoulders.
Resident/physician lounge has opened -- best call rooms I have seen on the trail - no computers inside them and beds are probably superior to my own. The facility has no cafeteria, but the resident lounge is stocked with sandwhiches/water and the like.
Tour of the private hospital - Pacific Grove. They are getting a new one soon.
Faculty/resident happy hour at a Spanish place at the end of the day, to include some time with residents only.
Program overview.
Some details on the website. Fewer details were provided than I had hoped for, especially with regard to moonlighting opportunities and electives - would be helpful to have it in writing.
The area the program is located in is underserved so this program is recruiting its 5th class of residents with the hope of them staying. The local government, not federal government, has sponsored the residency spots in order to attract physicians to practice here. It is about a 50 min drive from Orange County against traffic and has a significant pay differential for attendings to make up for the less desirable area (lower and middle income, felt very comfortable to me safety wise, but has sketchy parts + not near the water, smaller city, fewer jobs).
Much of the psychiatric experience is county experience -- lower income individuals. Some private patients, as well. A rotation with Kaiser and that population as well is available. A new, for-profit private hospital is opening up and is taking all insurance panels, including MediCal, but will have more services, including ECT.
Traditional schedule. NO CALL - NO NIGHTS, NO WEEKENDS, NO LATE NIGHTS. No call on internal, either (wut). Program is not service dependent and this schedule is done intentionally. Program has internal moonlighting where residents can do on-call like shifts, but this is at their discretion. Experience in state hospital. Outpatient addiction X3 months in second year to include suboxone/subutex.. Child 2 months in second year (ouptatient + outpatient, or outpatient + inpatient) is highly praised - excellent psychiatrists with a strong educational background who offer great mentoring. Third year is outpatient - lots of therapy options, including CBT/Psychodynamic/DBT, Electives 4th year to include women’s health and college mental health.
Didactics are half-day, protected. Residents cited them as being a mixed bag, but said they are getting better and there’s a focus now to recruit faculty who can teach. On the floors, they have also relieved some faculty of teaching responsibilities due to resident feedback.
All 4 of the first cohort of residents fast-tracked into child - two stayed for the new child fellowship (outside the match), 1 left for USC, 1 left for Bakersfield. Currently, ¾ are fast tracking and interviewing now.
The only fellowship they have is Child (started 2017) and are closest to having a Forensics fellowship.
Residents are encouraged (cajoled?) to due some scholarly activity, but the mission of the program is to have them work as community psychiatrists in Riverside ??.
Faculty achievement and involvement:
Chair is known for stuttering. PD is known for IT. A child professor is trained in both child and forensics. DBT professor was trained under a guru.
Location and lifestyle:
Residents are split between living in Riverside and living further away, closer to Orange County and in Orange County and rarely, LA. The morning commute from Orange County is 45-1hr and is a reverse commute. On the other hand, if your SO works in Orange County or LA, the commute from Riverside is pure hell (took me 2hrs 50 min to get to LAX in the morning from Riverside).
Residents go to LA to hang out. The few I spoke to hope to go there to live.
I am from outside of CA, but found Riverside to very pretty and did not feel unsafe. There are more weather fluctuations than on the coast, but it was 75 in the winter afternoons, so this is a huge selling point.
Housing is cheaper than the coast, commonly 1200-1400 for a 1BR (varies)
Need a car, but I did see some bike lanes as well.
Salary and benefits:
55k salary. 15 days of vacation.
Gym is not close by and is 69/month. Medical/dental/vision covered entirely.
No subsidized housing.
Moonlighting can start second year. Many residents take advantage and make a lot of money. This is how residents get independent “call-like” experience, so many take advantage for that reason as well, it appeared.
Upsides:
Overall:
New program located in a small city in California with a large underserved population that has created a collegial atmosphere between residents and faculty with the most humane schedule I have seen anywhere else. Sparse internal fellowships and unclear reputation and career prospects given that it’s new. Middling teaching ability. Residents do research “to keep their options open.”
Ease of communication:
Scheduled via online scheduler - easy enough. They sent hotel discounts somewhat late, which surprised me. I stayed 10 min drive away at an Airbnb - beware time doubles in the morning. Coordinator is responsive.
Time was a bit unclear - it said breakfast at 8AM in one place and 830 AM in another place. Said to arrive by 830AM.
Accomodations and food:
Pricy hotels with some discount. Airbnb (private room, own bathroom) worked out to about 45/night - 20 minute drive.
Mexican food for lunch, Spanish food for dinner/happy hour the day of the interview day. Real breakfast food -- don’t have to eat breakfast if you want to save time. Dinner timing was convenient enough, but they didn’t cover alcohol and it wasn’t clear to me that they didn’t.
Interview Day
Breakfast
Overview of program - powerpoint
I thinnk they needed to give a folder of info that contains the prospective schedule. The folder contents were sparse.
6 20-min interviews - chair, PD, APD, faculty, faculty, PGY2
Interviewers were friendly, forthcoming, excited about program & the people they have invited, and serious about recruitment. They made themselves endlessly available for follow up conversations and several hinted to let them know if I want to be there. Interview group largely from CA with a sprinkling of out of staters. Told they don’t interview too many out of staters. The vibe/pitch of the program is that they have a non-onerous schedule to make room for personal and professional growth, they are flexible with the schedule to make sure that you get the educational experience you came for, are responsive to requests and changes, and go to bat for their residents when it comes time for employment/fellowship opportunities.
Resident lunch:
Mostly interns, sprinkling of 2nd years.
Most people are from CA with a support network in Socal and/or Norcal. They chose this program because they were comfortable with the faculty and culture, wanted to stay in the area, and found the call schedule to be reasonable. Residents live all over -- some in Riverside, some closer to Orange County. Feeling I got is that they don’t love the area and that its draw was a proximity to LA. Many go there to hang out and don’t stay nearby. Residents were very friendly with one another and it is obviously a supportive culture with lots of camaraderie.
Tour of county mental health facility - not a dungeon, but nothing to write home about, which is to be expected. Lots of computers, including more secluded spaces to write notes so you can get some headspace. Internal medicine physicians come to take care of the psych patients’ medical needs in the afternoon, which takes that workload off of the residents’ shoulders.
Resident/physician lounge has opened -- best call rooms I have seen on the trail - no computers inside them and beds are probably superior to my own. The facility has no cafeteria, but the resident lounge is stocked with sandwhiches/water and the like.
Tour of the private hospital - Pacific Grove. They are getting a new one soon.
Faculty/resident happy hour at a Spanish place at the end of the day, to include some time with residents only.
Program overview.
Some details on the website. Fewer details were provided than I had hoped for, especially with regard to moonlighting opportunities and electives - would be helpful to have it in writing.
The area the program is located in is underserved so this program is recruiting its 5th class of residents with the hope of them staying. The local government, not federal government, has sponsored the residency spots in order to attract physicians to practice here. It is about a 50 min drive from Orange County against traffic and has a significant pay differential for attendings to make up for the less desirable area (lower and middle income, felt very comfortable to me safety wise, but has sketchy parts + not near the water, smaller city, fewer jobs).
Much of the psychiatric experience is county experience -- lower income individuals. Some private patients, as well. A rotation with Kaiser and that population as well is available. A new, for-profit private hospital is opening up and is taking all insurance panels, including MediCal, but will have more services, including ECT.
Traditional schedule. NO CALL - NO NIGHTS, NO WEEKENDS, NO LATE NIGHTS. No call on internal, either (wut). Program is not service dependent and this schedule is done intentionally. Program has internal moonlighting where residents can do on-call like shifts, but this is at their discretion. Experience in state hospital. Outpatient addiction X3 months in second year to include suboxone/subutex.. Child 2 months in second year (ouptatient + outpatient, or outpatient + inpatient) is highly praised - excellent psychiatrists with a strong educational background who offer great mentoring. Third year is outpatient - lots of therapy options, including CBT/Psychodynamic/DBT, Electives 4th year to include women’s health and college mental health.
Didactics are half-day, protected. Residents cited them as being a mixed bag, but said they are getting better and there’s a focus now to recruit faculty who can teach. On the floors, they have also relieved some faculty of teaching responsibilities due to resident feedback.
All 4 of the first cohort of residents fast-tracked into child - two stayed for the new child fellowship (outside the match), 1 left for USC, 1 left for Bakersfield. Currently, ¾ are fast tracking and interviewing now.
The only fellowship they have is Child (started 2017) and are closest to having a Forensics fellowship.
Residents are encouraged (cajoled?) to due some scholarly activity, but the mission of the program is to have them work as community psychiatrists in Riverside ??.
Faculty achievement and involvement:
Chair is known for stuttering. PD is known for IT. A child professor is trained in both child and forensics. DBT professor was trained under a guru.
Location and lifestyle:
Residents are split between living in Riverside and living further away, closer to Orange County and in Orange County and rarely, LA. The morning commute from Orange County is 45-1hr and is a reverse commute. On the other hand, if your SO works in Orange County or LA, the commute from Riverside is pure hell (took me 2hrs 50 min to get to LAX in the morning from Riverside).
Residents go to LA to hang out. The few I spoke to hope to go there to live.
I am from outside of CA, but found Riverside to very pretty and did not feel unsafe. There are more weather fluctuations than on the coast, but it was 75 in the winter afternoons, so this is a huge selling point.
Housing is cheaper than the coast, commonly 1200-1400 for a 1BR (varies)
Need a car, but I did see some bike lanes as well.
Salary and benefits:
55k salary. 15 days of vacation.
Gym is not close by and is 69/month. Medical/dental/vision covered entirely.
No subsidized housing.
Moonlighting can start second year. Many residents take advantage and make a lot of money. This is how residents get independent “call-like” experience, so many take advantage for that reason as well, it appeared.
Upsides:
- No call
- No service obligations - faculty works instead if you are not there
- Feel okay taking a sick day
- Large amounts of moneys to be made if you are moonlighting and you have time to do it
- PD goes to bat for you for fellowships
- UCR child center
- California weather
- Quality of didactics and teaching is mixed as attested by several residents, although things have been improving
- Questionable reputation of the program - unknown, examples of fellowships getting nervous about little call were provided by PD
- No cafeteria, no gym nearby - where residents practice
- Huge commutes if you are trying to move with someone else who wants a professional job
- Many residents have a support system in place if you’re trying to move in without one
Overall:
New program located in a small city in California with a large underserved population that has created a collegial atmosphere between residents and faculty with the most humane schedule I have seen anywhere else. Sparse internal fellowships and unclear reputation and career prospects given that it’s new. Middling teaching ability. Residents do research “to keep their options open.”
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
University of Colorado
1. Ease of Communication:
Email communication. Listed all the (many, many) dates available for interview.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Dinner the night before at an American New kinda bar/food place in downtown Denver. ~5 residents to many more applicants. Alcohol not covered. Breakfast is granola bars/cookies with tea/coffee. Lunch is very good catered sandwiches with potatoes.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
8AM breakfast; interim chair welcome (does consult)
830am APD -- have never seen someone dial it in in a recruitment session as much as this guy. Breezed through the powerpoint, no time for questions, looked at the screen the whole time. Terse, didn’t smile. Weird vibe.
First three interviews are slotted for 1hr each, but both interviews with PD and APD were half that time. APD was a harder interview, but nothing outrageous. PD was friendly. PGY3 was very forthcoming and we talked a lot about recreational stuff.
Lunch with residents - no interns on either lunch or dinner the night prior. Residents are friendly, forthcoming. Mix of from area and from far away. No specific “type” of person is recruited - all have different interests academically (research, public policy, academics, private practice, outpatient, inpatient, etc etc), different personalities, and program fosters individual interests without trying to produce a specific type of psychiatrists. Residents expressed that you have to seek out opportunities for mentorship/research, but everyone was able to do so successfully and that opportunities were plentiful.
4. Program Overview:
Traditional schedule program with front-loaded call. Intern year 4 months of medicine and 2 months of neurology, split into 3+3+3+3 with interspersed 3months of psychiatry. Residents all describe intern year as very heavy and some have had personal trouble due to the schedule. Can substitute (some?) internal for pediatrics, but not everyone can do that - 4 spots for the child track. Most time is spent at the county hospital (actually not a decrepit facility at all, quite pleasant) that is closer to Denver and VA (new, to be built in time for 2018 starting class). University hospital for off-service rotations and half-day clinic for some people. Second year can have either 2 or 4 child psych months -- either at the county hospital (has only adolescent) or at the private children’s hospital (has younger child unit as well). No months of electives and very little flexibility. Outpatient starts in year 1 with half a day and continues into year 2. Year 3 is traditional, all outpatient, with many many interesting specialty clinics - women’s, lgbt, child, student health, psychosomatic, adolescent eating disorders, integrated care, non-epileptic seizures, normal adult outpatient. Psychotherapy sessions can be video recorded.
Call system: PGY 1 - 1 month night float (sunday - thurs), 2-3 12hr shifts in house on weekends (to include weekend nights); calls do not include admitting patients from the psych ED (dedicated floor at the county hospital) -- in fact, only third year residents may work at the psych ED; regular day (non-call) lasts about 730AM - 530PM (and can be later at the VA)
PGY 2 1 month night float, 1-2 12 hr in house calls to include admitting from ED
PGY 3 no in-house/overnight call, 1 call per month home/short
PGY4 supervise pgy1, 1 call/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
IDK about this.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Denver 1BR renter is about 1000-1500. Most live in Denver in different neighborhoods, find the commute to hospital favorable (15-35 minutes depending on where you live in Denver). Train does not have a far reach, but of note there is a train station near the Anschutz campus. Residents enjoy all the hiking/biking/etc that Denver has to offer, but cite that first year and to some extent second year is heavy.
7. Salary & Benefits:
55k, some money for meals (not a lot), gym with discount is near main medical building but many many discounts to area gyms, free parking to residents
8. Program Strengths:
Strong programs with a large catchment area, many specialized areas, in a great city that unfortunately has large service requirements and heavy call with little time and few opportunities to moonlight (some moonlighting available starting third year). Residents seemed like a fun bunch.
1. Ease of Communication:
Email communication. Listed all the (many, many) dates available for interview.
2. Accommodation & Food:
Dinner the night before at an American New kinda bar/food place in downtown Denver. ~5 residents to many more applicants. Alcohol not covered. Breakfast is granola bars/cookies with tea/coffee. Lunch is very good catered sandwiches with potatoes.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
8AM breakfast; interim chair welcome (does consult)
830am APD -- have never seen someone dial it in in a recruitment session as much as this guy. Breezed through the powerpoint, no time for questions, looked at the screen the whole time. Terse, didn’t smile. Weird vibe.
First three interviews are slotted for 1hr each, but both interviews with PD and APD were half that time. APD was a harder interview, but nothing outrageous. PD was friendly. PGY3 was very forthcoming and we talked a lot about recreational stuff.
Lunch with residents - no interns on either lunch or dinner the night prior. Residents are friendly, forthcoming. Mix of from area and from far away. No specific “type” of person is recruited - all have different interests academically (research, public policy, academics, private practice, outpatient, inpatient, etc etc), different personalities, and program fosters individual interests without trying to produce a specific type of psychiatrists. Residents expressed that you have to seek out opportunities for mentorship/research, but everyone was able to do so successfully and that opportunities were plentiful.
4. Program Overview:
Traditional schedule program with front-loaded call. Intern year 4 months of medicine and 2 months of neurology, split into 3+3+3+3 with interspersed 3months of psychiatry. Residents all describe intern year as very heavy and some have had personal trouble due to the schedule. Can substitute (some?) internal for pediatrics, but not everyone can do that - 4 spots for the child track. Most time is spent at the county hospital (actually not a decrepit facility at all, quite pleasant) that is closer to Denver and VA (new, to be built in time for 2018 starting class). University hospital for off-service rotations and half-day clinic for some people. Second year can have either 2 or 4 child psych months -- either at the county hospital (has only adolescent) or at the private children’s hospital (has younger child unit as well). No months of electives and very little flexibility. Outpatient starts in year 1 with half a day and continues into year 2. Year 3 is traditional, all outpatient, with many many interesting specialty clinics - women’s, lgbt, child, student health, psychosomatic, adolescent eating disorders, integrated care, non-epileptic seizures, normal adult outpatient. Psychotherapy sessions can be video recorded.
Call system: PGY 1 - 1 month night float (sunday - thurs), 2-3 12hr shifts in house on weekends (to include weekend nights); calls do not include admitting patients from the psych ED (dedicated floor at the county hospital) -- in fact, only third year residents may work at the psych ED; regular day (non-call) lasts about 730AM - 530PM (and can be later at the VA)
PGY 2 1 month night float, 1-2 12 hr in house calls to include admitting from ED
PGY 3 no in-house/overnight call, 1 call per month home/short
PGY4 supervise pgy1, 1 call/month
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
IDK about this.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
Denver 1BR renter is about 1000-1500. Most live in Denver in different neighborhoods, find the commute to hospital favorable (15-35 minutes depending on where you live in Denver). Train does not have a far reach, but of note there is a train station near the Anschutz campus. Residents enjoy all the hiking/biking/etc that Denver has to offer, but cite that first year and to some extent second year is heavy.
7. Salary & Benefits:
55k, some money for meals (not a lot), gym with discount is near main medical building but many many discounts to area gyms, free parking to residents
8. Program Strengths:
- Broad training, lots of options
- Denver is a fun city with many young professionals, good job options for SO’s, and many transplants while still being affordable on a resident’s salary
- Many fellowships that prioritize their own
- No “flavor” to the program (can be a negative) so admin not pushing you in any one direction (research, community)
- Psych is respected
- Other departments are very strong
- Workhorse culture has been overturned with leadership, but heavy call schedule remains with some negative effect on morale
- Little flexibility
- Service dependent - common, but after interviewing at programs that are not, this is hard to swallow
Strong programs with a large catchment area, many specialized areas, in a great city that unfortunately has large service requirements and heavy call with little time and few opportunities to moonlight (some moonlighting available starting third year). Residents seemed like a fun bunch.
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 13
Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson
1. Ease of Communication: via e-mail
2. Accommodation & Food: Three dates available for dinner. Alcohol not covered by program. Bagels for breakfast and great sandwich/salad selection for lunch.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
3 20-min interviews, medium-stress from a psychiatry standpoint - rather standard questions. Tour both the Robert Wood Johnson medical center and the University Behavioral Health Center (inpatient unit) - taken by bus.
4. Program Overview:
Too lazy to write everything out, but traditional schedule
6 people per year
No night float - second year is described as harder than first - 24hr calls only - 2-5/month first year (no weekends or holidays), 1-4 second year with weekends and holidays, and a 6-7 24hr calls per year 3rd year (supervising first years); none 4th year
Intern year can substitute pediatric month for one month of internal medicine
Full-day didactics on Thursdays
Several different sites spread throughout (Jersey City, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Trenton, Lyons) - main free-standing psychiatric hospital (UBHC) in Piscataway, NJ is voluntary commitment only, while a different site (Trenton) has an involuntary hospital; longest driving distance to a site if living centrally is 45-50 mins. A short drive away from UBHC is the main academic hospital in New Brunswick where people do medicine and CL.
Child psychiatry exposure in 2nd year - child and adolescent unit, including young children
Program is unionized
Can do international electives 4th year
Military sexual trauma unit at the VA
Two in-house fellowships - Forensics and C&A
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
There’s a faculty member who teaches psychopathology through film. Famous for it in academic circles.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
People live in many different areas of New Jersey, with most living in towns surrounding New Brunswick (college town). This town itself is somewhat expensive, with around $1500 for a 1BR. Many of the residents were living in New Jersey prior to coming here, so stayed put where they were. People say they hang out outside of work some and have favorite restaurants/bars. I have lived in cities big and small, and to me there does not seem to be a unifying place that people live in or around -- more like a suburban hodge podge. To me, the area has significant downsides of the Northeast (weather, traffic, cramped, not clean, expensive) without the upsides of a thriving city with a strong job market and young professional scene. If you are ready to settle down with a family, the surrounding areas may not be a bad place.
Living in Hoboken, NJ or Jersey City, NJ (15 min public transit into Manhattan and more young people) would put you at about a 45min drive to where you take call.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Better than most - 20 days vacation + 4 personal days. Four free gyms. Excellent health insurance for which you only pay $15.
8. Program Strengths:
As a training program, it didn’t have too many blind spots and I think I would come out a strong psychiatrist from here. It also felt like I would be supported if I were having any difficulties and it would not make me nervous to come here. It had a well organized didactic curriculum, a dedicated didactic day, and a PD who is intimately involved in resident education (teaches interpersonal therapy). The location is the ultimate downside of this program, in my opinion - yes, you can live in a safe place; yes, that can be relatively inexpensive; it just doesn’t have a huge draw in either direction - everything that you would like to do for fun (city, beach, mountains) is an hour away or more and the commutes are not fun and expensive to boot (tolls). I have reservations about the Northeast in general, so maybe take all of this with a grain of salt.
1. Ease of Communication: via e-mail
2. Accommodation & Food: Three dates available for dinner. Alcohol not covered by program. Bagels for breakfast and great sandwich/salad selection for lunch.
3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences):
3 20-min interviews, medium-stress from a psychiatry standpoint - rather standard questions. Tour both the Robert Wood Johnson medical center and the University Behavioral Health Center (inpatient unit) - taken by bus.
4. Program Overview:
Too lazy to write everything out, but traditional schedule
6 people per year
No night float - second year is described as harder than first - 24hr calls only - 2-5/month first year (no weekends or holidays), 1-4 second year with weekends and holidays, and a 6-7 24hr calls per year 3rd year (supervising first years); none 4th year
Intern year can substitute pediatric month for one month of internal medicine
Full-day didactics on Thursdays
Several different sites spread throughout (Jersey City, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Trenton, Lyons) - main free-standing psychiatric hospital (UBHC) in Piscataway, NJ is voluntary commitment only, while a different site (Trenton) has an involuntary hospital; longest driving distance to a site if living centrally is 45-50 mins. A short drive away from UBHC is the main academic hospital in New Brunswick where people do medicine and CL.
Child psychiatry exposure in 2nd year - child and adolescent unit, including young children
Program is unionized
Can do international electives 4th year
Military sexual trauma unit at the VA
Two in-house fellowships - Forensics and C&A
5. Faculty Achievements & Involvement:
There’s a faculty member who teaches psychopathology through film. Famous for it in academic circles.
6. Location & Lifestyle:
People live in many different areas of New Jersey, with most living in towns surrounding New Brunswick (college town). This town itself is somewhat expensive, with around $1500 for a 1BR. Many of the residents were living in New Jersey prior to coming here, so stayed put where they were. People say they hang out outside of work some and have favorite restaurants/bars. I have lived in cities big and small, and to me there does not seem to be a unifying place that people live in or around -- more like a suburban hodge podge. To me, the area has significant downsides of the Northeast (weather, traffic, cramped, not clean, expensive) without the upsides of a thriving city with a strong job market and young professional scene. If you are ready to settle down with a family, the surrounding areas may not be a bad place.
Living in Hoboken, NJ or Jersey City, NJ (15 min public transit into Manhattan and more young people) would put you at about a 45min drive to where you take call.
7. Salary & Benefits:
Better than most - 20 days vacation + 4 personal days. Four free gyms. Excellent health insurance for which you only pay $15.
8. Program Strengths:
- Commitment to education with having Thursday off
- Dedicated PTSD rotation and sexual trauma rotations
- Medical student teaching - robust curriculum
- Seems like a very reasonable daily schedule in terms of daily hours (sign out around 830-9 AM)
- College population exposure
- No consults on call - cover crisis unit (ED) and inpatient only
- Really liked the program director - felt fair, warm, sincere
- Suburban
- No outpatient child
- Some gaps - no eating disorders, no women’s health
As a training program, it didn’t have too many blind spots and I think I would come out a strong psychiatrist from here. It also felt like I would be supported if I were having any difficulties and it would not make me nervous to come here. It had a well organized didactic curriculum, a dedicated didactic day, and a PD who is intimately involved in resident education (teaches interpersonal therapy). The location is the ultimate downside of this program, in my opinion - yes, you can live in a safe place; yes, that can be relatively inexpensive; it just doesn’t have a huge draw in either direction - everything that you would like to do for fun (city, beach, mountains) is an hour away or more and the commutes are not fun and expensive to boot (tolls). I have reservations about the Northeast in general, so maybe take all of this with a grain of salt.
9
908377
I have some reviews I've been meaning to post. I'll post them this week, just need to get my thoughts together
9
908377
...abbreviated version...
Thomas Jefferson University
-Interview Day
Happy hour event the night before. Day goes roughly 8am-3:30pm. Three, 30-min interviews. Your afternoon has a group meeting with Dr. Cohen (pain medicine) and you hear from the attendings in charge of the Sleep Fellowship and C&A fellowship. Everybody interviews with the PD + 2 other faculty. The interview group is split in half, half stay back to interview and the other half tour the hospital, then vice-versa, then lunch. The faculty are awesome and to be honest they were my favorite interviews of any program.. it wasn't one of those "what other questions do you have for me" type of interviews, but rather, nice convos that went quickly. Dr. Certa is genuinely interested in how you think.
At some point in the day you chat with a psychoanalyst who is the man! Ask him about the Goldwater rule if you want a good laugh. Day wraps up around 3ish with a goodbye from Dr. Certa.
-Program Overview:
Sites include Thomas Jefferson University hospital in center city philadelphia, Albert Einstein for crisis/PsychED, Belmont Center for C&A, and then there are a few other places you part-time during 3rd/4th year as a minority of the outpatient experience. Rotation schedule is mostly standard, 2nd year has 4 months CL and this program is BIG on the "we don't forget our medicine" mantra. Dr. Certa, the PD, actually begins the day with an overview of the program and he says "if you are looking to carve out a niche in Psychiatry and abandon medicine, this is not the place for you." Jefferson has a very strong medicine department and psych interns are expected to bring their A-game when they are on service there. Kind of scary but definitely useful clinically.
Call (copied from another review because I didn't write this down):
-PGY-1: 3-4 x 2 week blocks of night float, 24h call 2-3x/mo
-PGY-2: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekends mostly
-PGY-3: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekdays mostly
-PGY-4: no call
-Facilities:
Nicest of any program I've seen, without question. First, the location of the campus is in center city philadelphia, in a beautiful area surrounded by history, shops, and restaurants. Walking outside on the tour you are definitely woo'd by the area. Next, TJUH main hospital is beautiful in its own right. Huge ceilings, glass everywhere, etc. The CL office is on a high floor in the hospital and overlooks Philadelphia. Lastly, and what I liked most, the outpatient Psychiatry building where you spend a majority of your 3/4 years is nicer than any I've seen. The office you get here is beautiful and I would definitely want to practice here, as opposed to the more decrepit offices I've seen on other tours (as you well know, old Psych buildings don't always look the prettiest). You can tell that Jefferson values its Psychiatry department (with 4 months of CL I can understand why ) and it feels good on interview day.
Bottom line:
This program blew me away. Philadelphia offers a big-city feel for small-city prices, and this is the only program in Philly to truly be in 'center city (Penn is in University City, Temple & Einstein are both North philly, and Drexel is just outside the true hotspot of center city). The facilities are the nicest of any program at which I interviewed. The clinical curriculum is very strong with an emphasis in CL. In-house fellowship in CAP and Sleep available. Residents do very well in fellowships and Jefferson positions itself as the clinical powerhouse of Philadelphia (Penn is seen as the research powerhouse of Philadelphia, per Philadelphians). Residents are intelligent/highly motivated and the faculty are outstanding. Tons of lifers here. It seems like Dr. Certa & his crew do an excellent job of picking people that love Jefferson, Psychiatry, and Philadelphia. Some of the residents are involved in research, but the focus here is clearly on clinical psychiatry. You will be a great Psychiatrist if you train here.
Thomas Jefferson University
-Interview Day
Happy hour event the night before. Day goes roughly 8am-3:30pm. Three, 30-min interviews. Your afternoon has a group meeting with Dr. Cohen (pain medicine) and you hear from the attendings in charge of the Sleep Fellowship and C&A fellowship. Everybody interviews with the PD + 2 other faculty. The interview group is split in half, half stay back to interview and the other half tour the hospital, then vice-versa, then lunch. The faculty are awesome and to be honest they were my favorite interviews of any program.. it wasn't one of those "what other questions do you have for me" type of interviews, but rather, nice convos that went quickly. Dr. Certa is genuinely interested in how you think.
At some point in the day you chat with a psychoanalyst who is the man! Ask him about the Goldwater rule if you want a good laugh. Day wraps up around 3ish with a goodbye from Dr. Certa.
-Program Overview:
Sites include Thomas Jefferson University hospital in center city philadelphia, Albert Einstein for crisis/PsychED, Belmont Center for C&A, and then there are a few other places you part-time during 3rd/4th year as a minority of the outpatient experience. Rotation schedule is mostly standard, 2nd year has 4 months CL and this program is BIG on the "we don't forget our medicine" mantra. Dr. Certa, the PD, actually begins the day with an overview of the program and he says "if you are looking to carve out a niche in Psychiatry and abandon medicine, this is not the place for you." Jefferson has a very strong medicine department and psych interns are expected to bring their A-game when they are on service there. Kind of scary but definitely useful clinically.
Call (copied from another review because I didn't write this down):
-PGY-1: 3-4 x 2 week blocks of night float, 24h call 2-3x/mo
-PGY-2: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekends mostly
-PGY-3: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekdays mostly
-PGY-4: no call
-Facilities:
Nicest of any program I've seen, without question. First, the location of the campus is in center city philadelphia, in a beautiful area surrounded by history, shops, and restaurants. Walking outside on the tour you are definitely woo'd by the area. Next, TJUH main hospital is beautiful in its own right. Huge ceilings, glass everywhere, etc. The CL office is on a high floor in the hospital and overlooks Philadelphia. Lastly, and what I liked most, the outpatient Psychiatry building where you spend a majority of your 3/4 years is nicer than any I've seen. The office you get here is beautiful and I would definitely want to practice here, as opposed to the more decrepit offices I've seen on other tours (as you well know, old Psych buildings don't always look the prettiest). You can tell that Jefferson values its Psychiatry department (with 4 months of CL I can understand why
) and it feels good on interview day.Bottom line:
This program blew me away. Philadelphia offers a big-city feel for small-city prices, and this is the only program in Philly to truly be in 'center city (Penn is in University City, Temple & Einstein are both North philly, and Drexel is just outside the true hotspot of center city). The facilities are the nicest of any program at which I interviewed. The clinical curriculum is very strong with an emphasis in CL. In-house fellowship in CAP and Sleep available. Residents do very well in fellowships and Jefferson positions itself as the clinical powerhouse of Philadelphia (Penn is seen as the research powerhouse of Philadelphia, per Philadelphians). Residents are intelligent/highly motivated and the faculty are outstanding. Tons of lifers here. It seems like Dr. Certa & his crew do an excellent job of picking people that love Jefferson, Psychiatry, and Philadelphia. Some of the residents are involved in research, but the focus here is clearly on clinical psychiatry. You will be a great Psychiatrist if you train here.
Last edited by a moderator:
...abbreviated version...
Thomas Jefferson University
-Interview Day
Happy hour event the night before. Day goes roughly 8am-3:30pm. Three, 30-min interviews. Your afternoon has a group meeting with Dr. Cohen (pain medicine) and you hear from the attendings in charge of the Sleep Fellowship and C&A fellowship. Everybody interviews with the PD + 2 other faculty. The interview group is split in half, half stay back to interview and the other half tour the hospital, then vice-versa, then lunch. The faculty are awesome and to be honest they were my favorite interviews of any program.. it wasn't one of those "what other questions do you have for me" type of interviews, but rather, nice convos that went quickly. Dr. Certa is genuinely interested in how you think.
At some point in the day you chat with a psychoanalyst who is the man! Ask him about the Goldwater rule if you want a good laugh. Day wraps up around 3ish with a goodbye from Dr. Certa.
-Program Overview:
Sites include Thomas Jefferson University hospital in center city philadelphia, Albert Einstein for crisis/PsychED, Belmont Center for C&A, and then there are a few other places you part-time during 3rd/4th year as a minority of the outpatient experience. Rotation schedule is mostly standard, 2nd year has 4 months CL and this program is BIG on the "we don't forget our medicine" mantra. Dr. Certa, the PD, actually begins the day with an overview of the program and he says "if you are looking to carve out a niche in Psychiatry and abandon medicine, this is not the place for you." Jefferson has a very strong medicine department and psych interns are expected to bring their A-game when they are on service there. Kind of scary but definitely useful clinically.
Call (copied from another review because I didn't write this down):
-PGY-1: 3-4 x 2 week blocks of night float, 24h call 2-3x/mo
-PGY-2: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekends mostly
-PGY-3: 2-3x/mo 24h call weekdays mostly
-PGY-4: no call
-Facilities:
Nicest of any program I've seen, without question. First, the location of the campus is in center city philadelphia, in a beautiful area surrounded by history, shops, and restaurants. Walking outside on the tour you are definitely woo'd by the area. Next, TJUH main hospital is beautiful in its own right. Huge ceilings, glass everywhere, etc. The CL office is on a high floor in the hospital and overlooks Philadelphia. Lastly, and what I liked most, the outpatient Psychiatry building where you spend a majority of your 3/4 years is nicer than any I've seen. The office you get here is beautiful and I would definitely want to practice here, as opposed to the more decrepit offices I've seen on other tours (as you well know, old Psych buildings don't always look the prettiest). You can tell that Jefferson values its Psychiatry department (with 4 months of CL I can understand why
Bottom line:
This program blew me away. There were not many reviews in previous threads, so I went in not knowing much. Philadelphia offers a big-city feel for small-city prices, and this is the only program in Philly to truly be in 'center city (Penn is in University City, Temple is in North philly, and Drexel is just outside the true hotspot of center city). The facilities are the nicest of any program at which I interviewed. The clinical curriculum is very strong with an emphasis in CL. In-house fellowship in CAP and Sleep available. Residents do very well in fellowships and Jefferson positions itself as the clinical powerhouse of Philadelphia (Penn is seen as the research powerhouse of Philadelphia, per Philadelphians). Residents are intelligent/highly motivated and the faculty are outstanding. Tons of lifers here. It seems like Dr. Certa & his crew do an excellent job of picking people that love Jefferson, Psychiatry, and Philadelphia. Some of the residents are involved in research, but the focus here is clearly on clinical psychiatry. You will be a great Psychiatrist if you train here.
I just want to point out for the next cycle of applicants that this residency is known in the philadelphia region to produce quite unhappy residents. I know a few people who have gone to Jeff for psych and IM and all repeatedly said they would not choose it again. As with every program, it is important to get your own feeling for the program and try to see if interview day is a "show" or not. Most people who want to go to a Philly residency choose Penn or Temple. Again, to each their own, and you may love the program... but this post gave glowing reviews, and I wanted to update people on the reputation it had throughout Philadelphia.
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If you're going to make vague, cryptic posts about a really highly regarded program, can you at least elaborate? What medical school are you currently at? I'd like to hear your perspective because it seems like your ideas here are the exception rather than the rule. I am from the Philadelphia area and am quite familiar with the differences in the 6 (if you include Cooper) programs here.
No, this is incorrect. Temple has disproportionately taken IMGs in recent years because it could never fill with American grads (nothing against IMGs, but it is telling). It was simply never a desired program. Temple is a fine program but you will mislead future applicants by asserting that it's generally more desired.
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I agree this program is very highly regarded, and I am not saying every resident hates it. I will not say my school, but I am at a med school within the northeast. For IM particularly (I know this is a psych thread), multiple residents that I know went because "oh it's jeff. its gonna be great... i loved interview day" and were extremely disappointed by their training, lack of guidance, and resident well being that was not shown on interview day. I have heard very similar things about psychiatry. Again, it is highly regarded, especially for medical school, but the residents at Temple and Penn seem to be happier. All programs will give you great training, and everyone will be great psychiatrists, but resident satisfaction level from residents I know are at Temple and Penn. Again, this is a limited sample size so I am not saying one size fits all, this is just from what I've heard. You may have had a different experience, and thats fine, and I'm sure some people will love it.
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I agree, everybody should form their own impression. I will say that when I asked the cliche "what do you hate about this program" on my interview day at both Temple and Jeff, Temple residents unanimously vented about their 3 months of night float with little supervision, whereas the residents at Jeff didn't really consistently complain about anything. To me, that was telling. n =1. (and for the record, I liked+ranked both programs)
Bottom line: all future applicants should form their own impressions and rank accordingly
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I interviewed at Jeff and got a very favorable impression of it as well. It sure seems to be more on the hard working side as far as psychiatry programs go (which may be the source of the discontent reported above), but I got an impression that it provides a strong well-rounded clinical training (which, I tend to believe, requires busy clinical hours). That said, residents report to be well supported by faculty in general and Dr. Certa himself who's very dedicated to resident training (to the point where they can call him in the middle of the night to discuss a night float case even if he's not on call).
To add to what's been said above, Jeff also has an in house C-L fellowship and its psych residents have access to the in house pain fellowship. Psychotherapy training is strong; the program seems to be psychodynamically minded thanks to the presence of the renown analyst Dr. Salmon Akhtar who's very involved in resident teaching. He's a great mentor and supporter of people interested in analysis (if that's your thing), and Jeff offers opportunities like a rotation at Tavistock in London.
To add to what's been said above, Jeff also has an in house C-L fellowship and its psych residents have access to the in house pain fellowship. Psychotherapy training is strong; the program seems to be psychodynamically minded thanks to the presence of the renown analyst Dr. Salmon Akhtar who's very involved in resident teaching. He's a great mentor and supporter of people interested in analysis (if that's your thing), and Jeff offers opportunities like a rotation at Tavistock in London.
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Re: Jeff:
I can and will vouch for their PD, Dr. Certa.
I can and will vouch for their PD, Dr. Certa.
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I loved talking to him. As mentioned above, he’s genuinely interested in people. Also a straight shooter, tells things as they are n
