2020-2021 Hawaii General Psychiatry Residency Program

[UH Psych]

Aloha from the Hawaii General Psychiatry Residency Program!

In the past, we had a thread to discuss general information and answer any inquiries about our program. Just wanted to start things up again for this recruitment season, especially given unique circumstances with the pandemic.

I am a current resident who will respond to posts and direct messages to the best of my ability. As with previous years, if there are questions beyond my scope, I'll forward them to the faculty and administration to find out more for you. Just like the previous person who was in charge of the thread, I have been a member on SDN for many years and the information and guidance I've received here has been invaluable, so hoping to give back in the same way!

We are in the process of updating our website to include updated information, but feel free to browse here: Aloha and Welcome to the University of Hawaii Department of Psychiatry! | Residents-Psychiatry-Site Pages | Psychiatry Residency

Thank you and looking forward to sharing more about our 'ohana!

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[rpduprey]

Thank you,

Do you currently do any training at the VA?

What community sites do residents rotate at? (any with a predominate Samoan population - I went to med school in Western Samoa)

I'm a 2nd career MD (Army Veteran) and am very interested in your program. My children live in Philippines and I'd like to go to residency with easy access to go to Asia/Pacific.

Thank you

Robert P. Duprey Jr. MD
AAMC ID: 14820901

 

[UH Psych]

Do you currently do any training at the VA?

Our primary exposure to the VA is in PGY-3. The Honolulu VA is one of the outpatient sites, and you would remain there throughout the year. Given COVID, the VA outpatient clinic is completely telepsychiatry at this time.

What community sites do residents rotate at? (any with a predominate Samoan population - I went to med school in Western Samoa)

You can find a summary of our rotation sites here. The University of Hawaii does not have a dedicated teaching hospital, thus all of our training sites are in the community which allows for exposure to our extremely culturally diverse population. I have cared for a good number of Samoan patient and their families across our various training sites and psychiatric services (inpatient psychiatry, consult-liaison, outpatient, forensics), if that is a population you are interested in working with.

If you have interest in learning more about psychiatric care in the Asia/Pacific region, our program is extremely supportive of that! During PGY-4, I know past residents have arranged international rotations to other countries such as Singapore and the Philippines.

 

[usoggyojimbo]

Hi! I’m excited to know more about your program. The previous post briefly talked about cost of living in Hawaii. I’m wondering if you could comment on that, how much of an issue that is for residents.

 

[jbomba]

Have you guys allowed moonlighting yet?

 

[UH Psych]

Hi! I’m excited to know more about your program. The previous post briefly talked about cost of living in Hawaii. I’m wondering if you could comment on that, how much of an issue that is for residents.

Thank you for your interest and good question! Just to start, our most updated salary scale can be found here: Salary & Benefits Information | HRP

It's no surprise that the cost of living here is one of the highest in the nation, and thus should be a huge consideration for applicants. From personal experience, the salary is definitely enough to pay for daily expenses while enjoying life in paradise. You'll be able to cover rent ($1200-1600 for a decent 1-bedroom condo/apartment with good location; some residents also opt to become/have roommates and upgrade to nicer units), general living expenses, and still have extra to enjoy some fancy meals out or dump towards student loans. I personally do have some frugal habits such as purchasing groceries on sale and packing my own meals for work which helps cut costs too.

Residents who have spouses and children have found the transition to be manageable as well.

For those coming from the mainland, the program does provide a small stipend to help with some relocation costs. There are also various accessible funds for each PGY year to help with costs related to professional development (textbooks, organization membership, conferences/travel).

Your mileage may vary depending on your spending habits and lifestyle, but for the most part, cost of living has not been a major issue for any of our residents. It also helps that many of our popular leisurely activities like the beach and hiking are free!

 

[UH Psych]

Have you guys allowed moonlighting yet?

Unfortunately, moonlighting is not available for residents and I don't think it will be any time soon. I know it has been an ongoing topic for quite some time and was also one of my frustrations while applying, since it seems like a no-brainer to help with higher costs of living (see my post above).

Per discussion at a recent graduate medical education meeting, the inability to moonlight as a medical resident in Hawaii is because of the way licensing works at the state board level; it goes beyond the Hawaii Residency Program. As it was explained to us, even as a fellow (they are allowed to moonlight), it would take up to 1 year to get approval to moonlight and would come with many stipulations.

I wish I had better news regarding this, but it's definitely something important for prospective applicants to be aware of, especially if moonlighting is a priority.

 

[Merovinge]

So a bit off topic, but I know no one who practices psychiatry in the state. My wife and I love the state of Hawaii and were considering coming to work there. I am curious how you feel overall mental health care in the state is compared to say where you did medical school? I am CAP specifically and wondering if you feel there are reasonable services in place for kids and what the demand is like for services? Any idea what percentage of trainees stay on the islands versus return to the mainland?