3 vs 4 year residency

[andrea]

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Hey there,

What's the deal with some psych residencies being 4 instead of 3 years? I have the NHSC scholarship and am allowed to go into psych, but I can only do a three year residency. But the programs I've looked at thus far are mostly 4 yr. What's the difference, and will it hinder my career to only have a 3 year residency? Thanks for any info!

-Andrea

 

[sasaadasuzy]

Dear Andrea ,
All psych residencies are 4 years.Only some guys come to PGY2 from other programs.
Please check with your mentors.FP residency is only 3 years and not bad (in my opinion)

Alex

 

[PublicHealth]

Isn't the first of your four years an internship year?

 

[Miklos]

Originally posted by PublicHealth
Isn't the first of your four years an internship year?

Yes, but I was under the impression that the overwhelming majority of Psych programs that started in PGY1 only required between 4 and 6 months of scutwork (internship) split between primary care (Int., Ped.) and Neurology. The remainder of PGY1 would then be Psych.

From the ACGME Psychiatry program requirements: http://www.acgme.org/downloads/RRC_progReq/400pr101.pdf On page 3

3. Program Format by Year of Training
a. First year of training
A psychiatric first postgraduate year must include at least 4 months in internal medicine, family practice, and/or pediatrics. This training must be in a clinical setting that provides comprehensive and continous patient care.
1) Neurology rotations may not be used to fulfill this 4 month requirement.
2) One month, but not more, of this requirement can be fulfilled by an emergency medicine or intensive care rotation, as long as the experience is predominately with medical evaluation and treatment as opposed to surgical procedures.
3) A psychiatric first postgraduate year should not include more than 6 months in psychiatry and must not include more than 8 months in psychiatry.
4) A minimum of 2 months of neurology, or its full-time equivalent on a part-time basis, is required prior to completion of training. It is highly desirable that this experience occur during a psychiatric first postgraduate year, and it may include a maximum of 1 month of supervised inpatient or outpatient child neurology.

Miklos

 

[willow212]

I agree with the above poster.

All of the programs I have interviewed at are 4-year programs, with the PGY-I year including 4-6 months of internal medicine and the rest of the year filled by psychiatry/neurology.

I believe most programs now require the PGY-I year at their institution, with only a few that will let you enter as a PGY-II.