I've seen a few reviews and posts from last year regarding the Pittsburgh program, but none from anyone interviewing this year. Any thoughts?
Any thoughts on Pittsburgh?
- Thread starter Rhayven44
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I interviewed there for fellowship.
Didn't go through the program but can tell you that the atmosphere of Pittsburgh is good. There's plenty of good schools there, and has that young college city atmosphere.
The program does do a good share of respected research, has a number of respected attendings, has a good number of fellowships, and the facilities are good.
I got the impression that the patient population is diverse. Pittsburgh is an urban area, and it does service several rural regions.
Certain specifics you'd probably want to know such as call schedule, what the residents think, that I can't answer.
Didn't go through the program but can tell you that the atmosphere of Pittsburgh is good. There's plenty of good schools there, and has that young college city atmosphere.
The program does do a good share of respected research, has a number of respected attendings, has a good number of fellowships, and the facilities are good.
I got the impression that the patient population is diverse. Pittsburgh is an urban area, and it does service several rural regions.
Certain specifics you'd probably want to know such as call schedule, what the residents think, that I can't answer.
Referring to WPIC
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I like the Steelers to take it all.
My brain says bet on the Steelers, but my heart says Go Cardinals.
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Interviewed there last year. WPIC is the #1 research department in the country, and they have a research track with protected time. If you're interested in research, I would give them a very hard look. Clinically they have a standalone hospital with dedicated units, a huge catchment area, and are well-respected, but I don't know any more detail than that.
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I'll try to be as unbiased as possible, but as a PGY2 in the program, I'm obviously invested. WPIC/Pitt is a research juggernaut, and being at a tertiary academic purely psychiatric hospital (276 inpt beds just at WPIC) has its pluses and minuses. The clinical training is very good, better than many, I'm sure there are programs that do it better. If you want to do research in just about any area, you would be hard pressed to find other places that match or that are superior, NIMH, maybe UCLA, UC Davis, Columbia, McLean/MGH, Emory, I think at last count we duke it out in any given year with UCLA for #1 max NIH funding of any single psychiatric department, ~$80 million annually. Pittsburgh is a cheap housing market, my wife and I are 15-20 minutes from our respective hospitals in a decent middle class neighborhood, with a 1 stall garage and 3 bedrooms for $75,000.
Other benefits include ease of moonlighting beginning in PGY2, there are a lot of opportunities at WPIC, so you don't need to travel, from C&L moonlighting, to doing primary care medicine moonlighting, or emergency room, C&L transfer H&Ps.
Given the research, it is a heavy neuroscience/biological focus, but we have a number of neuroimaging and psychotherapy studies, given the size of the department, we have supervisors in all the core therapies, IPT, CBT, psychodynamic, MI, and if you want electives in family, EMDR, DBT, and just about any other flavor of therapy. We still have a psychoanalytic society too if you feel the need to lie on a couch.
At the end of the day it's more about fit than prestige. Come see the program, meet the residents, get a feel for the atmosphere. So much more important than the numbers. I'm a MD PhD research guy myself, but only 1/4-1/3 of any given resident class seems hard core for research, most of our residents just want good clinical training, and with the Pitt name to help them with fellowships or decent private practice/academic placements after training.
I like it, I would pick it again as my #1. But to each their own. Good luck.
Other benefits include ease of moonlighting beginning in PGY2, there are a lot of opportunities at WPIC, so you don't need to travel, from C&L moonlighting, to doing primary care medicine moonlighting, or emergency room, C&L transfer H&Ps.
Given the research, it is a heavy neuroscience/biological focus, but we have a number of neuroimaging and psychotherapy studies, given the size of the department, we have supervisors in all the core therapies, IPT, CBT, psychodynamic, MI, and if you want electives in family, EMDR, DBT, and just about any other flavor of therapy. We still have a psychoanalytic society too if you feel the need to lie on a couch.
At the end of the day it's more about fit than prestige. Come see the program, meet the residents, get a feel for the atmosphere. So much more important than the numbers. I'm a MD PhD research guy myself, but only 1/4-1/3 of any given resident class seems hard core for research, most of our residents just want good clinical training, and with the Pitt name to help them with fellowships or decent private practice/academic placements after training.
I like it, I would pick it again as my #1. But to each their own. Good luck.
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I know Pitt's claim to fame is it's obscene amount of research funding. And on my interview day most of the other applicants were MD/PhD (I'm not). As far as just pure clinical training does anyone have any further input? Is the clinical stuff at all marginalized by the research focus?
2nd question: Is Pitt's reputation for being an excellent psych hospital regional or national? I ask because I'm not sure what region of the country I will want to end up in and I would like to know I won't have trouble getting looked at by other institutions in other parts of the country.
Gracias!
2nd question: Is Pitt's reputation for being an excellent psych hospital regional or national? I ask because I'm not sure what region of the country I will want to end up in and I would like to know I won't have trouble getting looked at by other institutions in other parts of the country.
Gracias!
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If you train at Pitt, you will have no trouble being "looked at" by any other institution in the country, with the possible exception of some small enclaves called "Manhattan" and "Boston".
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Where you'll be labelled as "biological" and lacking psychodynamic perspective. (don't shoot the messenger) 😛
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To quote myself:
"This may just underscore the extent to which "biological" has become a dirty word.
"Biological" basically just means "is not located in Boston or New York" nowadays."
"This may just underscore the extent to which "biological" has become a dirty word.
"Biological" basically just means "is not located in Boston or New York" nowadays."
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There are no residencies that don't teach psychopharm. There are lots of residencies that don't teach psychotherapy. "Biological" has become an insult of sorts because it's used to indicate an isolated biological approach rather than a more eclectic model. The more we allow ourselves to be referred to as "the prescriber" or "doing the meds" the more we undermine our own profession. Refuge in "biology" isn't going to save us, especially since our meds often don't actually work all that well.
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I was looking at Pittsburgh (for an -ology placement), and one thing that surprised me was the cost of living. Supposedly there is a big focus by the local gov't to keep up the revitalization process, while also keeping it affordable. It seems to have a lot going for it, so you may find it helpful to check out the various neighborhoods around the city.
