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What are the best pscyh resdiency programs based on the opinion of people who have interviewed?
Best Psych Residency Programs?
- Thread starter sba899
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word of warning.
When trying to figure out a program, you're only going to scratch the surface during an interview.
I suggest asking a resident in the program, and do it under the table. I heard some interesting things when I talked to residents (E.g. one resident was telling me not to go to the program because she felt it was emotionally abusive. I had a lot of medstudent buddies who rotated through there and they told me the same. This program wined & dined me and I wouldn't have gotten that impression except for the under the table info).
When trying to figure out a program, you're only going to scratch the surface during an interview.
I suggest asking a resident in the program, and do it under the table. I heard some interesting things when I talked to residents (E.g. one resident was telling me not to go to the program because she felt it was emotionally abusive. I had a lot of medstudent buddies who rotated through there and they told me the same. This program wined & dined me and I wouldn't have gotten that impression except for the under the table info).
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which program? c'mon, you're anonymous in this forum...its fair game to inform people of impressions of programs.
Here's a list of programs that I think are top notch in terms of what they offer...
UPenn
Columbia
UCLA
UCSF
NYU
MGH/McClean
Here's a list of programs that I think are top notch in terms of what they offer...
UPenn
Columbia
UCLA
UCSF
NYU
MGH/McClean
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I'm not so anonymous!
Anyways, I'm going to keep silent. Not to be coy, but because it just pushed my point more. You need to hear about these things under the table.
No resident is going to say their program blows in front of the program director. No program is going to spell out their faults in front of you. No program that pimps is going to tell you ahead of time.
Some programs are like the basketball coach from One on One (an old 70s movie). The coach butkisses you when you're the High School star, wooing you to go to their college, giving you a steak dinner, but once you're in (and you can't get out) you're now their slave and they'll abuse you.
From my own experience, it seems to be the older, more run down, urban programs where there's lots of urban problems where this happens, but this is a generalization. Pimping used to be standard procedure in some programs and its for this reason I believe that the older programs might still do this. You got some old throwback dinosaur attendings still in the program who believe in mentally abusing the resident.
Again-find out what's going on under the table.
If you go to scutwork.com's site, there are several reviews of programs done in such a manner.
Anyways, I'm going to keep silent. Not to be coy, but because it just pushed my point more. You need to hear about these things under the table.
No resident is going to say their program blows in front of the program director. No program is going to spell out their faults in front of you. No program that pimps is going to tell you ahead of time.
Some programs are like the basketball coach from One on One (an old 70s movie). The coach butkisses you when you're the High School star, wooing you to go to their college, giving you a steak dinner, but once you're in (and you can't get out) you're now their slave and they'll abuse you.
From my own experience, it seems to be the older, more run down, urban programs where there's lots of urban problems where this happens, but this is a generalization. Pimping used to be standard procedure in some programs and its for this reason I believe that the older programs might still do this. You got some old throwback dinosaur attendings still in the program who believe in mentally abusing the resident.
Again-find out what's going on under the table.
If you go to scutwork.com's site, there are several reviews of programs done in such a manner.
On the interview trail, the residents were the ones that really let me know what was going on. (Some senior residents had transferred out of MGH/McLean & UCSF, and it was nice to know about that - to hear why they left & where they went). My favorite programs from the NE, East Coast, West Coast interview trails were:
1. Cambridge Health Alliance (one of the Harvard programs - but focuses more on Community Psych & Psychotherapy Training - with happy residents who seemed intelligent/fun/humble/normal. wonderful program director & assistant program director. very open/liberal/accepting atmosphere. people transfer here from big-name places for various reasons).
2. UCSD (more research oriented than I was personally looking for, and doesn't have as structured and in-depth psychotherapy-training as I wanted, but gives a year of free psychotherapy to all residents, and has a great program director. huge offices. residents were intelligent & definitely knew it).
3. Duke (amazing training director, pretty great training - with directly observed psychotherapy training. people transfer there from other big-name programs, for the kinder gentler atmosphere with great training - only serious drawback is the NC location. also, very small inpatient units, and no child inpatient).
But seriously, talk with the residents - get a good feel for the sort of folks at each program, and go with your gut. Some places seem to draw certain "types" of folks - serious/quiet vs. gregarious vs. research-focused vs. therapy-focused vs. well-rounded vs. pedigreed - of course, many places have a mixture of all, but I generally could discern the underlying flavor.
Good Luck!
[of note, the other places I interviewed: MGH/McLean, Longwood, Hopkins, Columbia, UC-Irvine, UCSF, Stanford, UCLA-Harbor, OHSU, UNC-CH, Emory, MUSC, San Mateo]
1. Cambridge Health Alliance (one of the Harvard programs - but focuses more on Community Psych & Psychotherapy Training - with happy residents who seemed intelligent/fun/humble/normal. wonderful program director & assistant program director. very open/liberal/accepting atmosphere. people transfer here from big-name places for various reasons).
2. UCSD (more research oriented than I was personally looking for, and doesn't have as structured and in-depth psychotherapy-training as I wanted, but gives a year of free psychotherapy to all residents, and has a great program director. huge offices. residents were intelligent & definitely knew it).
3. Duke (amazing training director, pretty great training - with directly observed psychotherapy training. people transfer there from other big-name programs, for the kinder gentler atmosphere with great training - only serious drawback is the NC location. also, very small inpatient units, and no child inpatient).
But seriously, talk with the residents - get a good feel for the sort of folks at each program, and go with your gut. Some places seem to draw certain "types" of folks - serious/quiet vs. gregarious vs. research-focused vs. therapy-focused vs. well-rounded vs. pedigreed - of course, many places have a mixture of all, but I generally could discern the underlying flavor.
Good Luck!
[of note, the other places I interviewed: MGH/McLean, Longwood, Hopkins, Columbia, UC-Irvine, UCSF, Stanford, UCLA-Harbor, OHSU, UNC-CH, Emory, MUSC, San Mateo]
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The programs I was most impressed with, as well as my one-line caveats:
Cambridge -- seemed like you got kind of a wimpy medicine and consult experience.
Columbia -- the grand rounds I went to on interview day was just kind of odd. Hard to put my finger on it.
Duke -- location, location, location.
UCSF -- the residents seemed much more enthusiastic about being in San Francisco than being at UCSF specifically.
UW -- every resident I spoke to mentioned something about "our program has a lot of call", "you're going to work hard here", or some variation on that theme.
Make sure you talk to the other students on the interview trail. If you had a bad interview experience at a particular program, compare notes to see if you could chalk it up to random variation or not. (Compare notes even if you had a good experience.) In the end, go with your gut. And don't discount the importance of geography, family, and friends.
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I interviewed at all the top programs along the East Coast and Upenn took the cake in terms of offering it all in the right balance: psychopharm, psychotherapy, fantastic faculty, research opportunities, flexibility, great didactics, and most of all an incredibly friendly and supportive atmosphere.
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i would like to here about the best img friendly programs. all these programs sound great but i would have sell my soul to get an interview there.
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Don't know how much your soul goes for, but even with that as a downpayment, methinks I'd come up short (at least from their point of view).
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mentioned this in a few threads & also in scutwork.com
I'm a 3rd year resident at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson-Camden.
About 1/4 of the psyche residents in that program aren't assigned in the Camden hospital--they are put in Atlantic City-I'm in AC.
This program is friendly to IMGs. There's several IMGs in it and they have no prejudice against them. Most residents I've known went to their first choice fellowship. 3 years ago, we had 2 residents go to Johns Hopkins, and 1 go to Columbia. Not bad considering there's less than 10 residents per class, and most of them didn't even want fellowship.
Work--well first 2 years you work about 60 hrs a week (including call). Not bad considering some programs I've seen work interns 100 hrs a week (despite the fact that its against the law). At 60 you can still have a life. Last 2 years--wow--I'm not going to even say because it make some people go after to program to make us do more work.
The AC program--you see everything clinically. The docs are nice. You aren't pimped. The program has a nice addition. Residents get an extra approx $500 every 5-6 weeks for restraint beeper duty their 2nd year. Restraint beeper duty is next to nothing. Perhaps at most 1 beep per week for a restraint tops (usually its much less than that!)
Only criticism is there's little research going on.
I can't comment on the Camden side because I don't work in the Camden hospital, but I can say that out of several programs in the midatlantic--I feel this program has one of the best experiences for clinical experience.
I'm a 3rd year resident at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson-Camden.
About 1/4 of the psyche residents in that program aren't assigned in the Camden hospital--they are put in Atlantic City-I'm in AC.
This program is friendly to IMGs. There's several IMGs in it and they have no prejudice against them. Most residents I've known went to their first choice fellowship. 3 years ago, we had 2 residents go to Johns Hopkins, and 1 go to Columbia. Not bad considering there's less than 10 residents per class, and most of them didn't even want fellowship.
Work--well first 2 years you work about 60 hrs a week (including call). Not bad considering some programs I've seen work interns 100 hrs a week (despite the fact that its against the law). At 60 you can still have a life. Last 2 years--wow--I'm not going to even say because it make some people go after to program to make us do more work.
The AC program--you see everything clinically. The docs are nice. You aren't pimped. The program has a nice addition. Residents get an extra approx $500 every 5-6 weeks for restraint beeper duty their 2nd year. Restraint beeper duty is next to nothing. Perhaps at most 1 beep per week for a restraint tops (usually its much less than that!)
Only criticism is there's little research going on.
I can't comment on the Camden side because I don't work in the Camden hospital, but I can say that out of several programs in the midatlantic--I feel this program has one of the best experiences for clinical experience.
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Hello, I'm a R2 at the UW, and just want to weigh in on the comment about there being a lot of call (incidentally I'm on call. . . but that's just a coincidence!)
Anyway the call here isn't so bad. We rotate at 3 different sites (community hospital, university hospital, and VA) The first 5 to 7 calls at each site for a resident are 'training calls" with a R3 or R4, which is kind of fun because you hang out with an upper resident interested in teaching. The downside, of course, is some extra call for the upper level residents. During inpatient, most of our call requirements are taken up during two weeks of night float as well.
I'm from a high-octane east coast med school, and like it at the UW. We're well-supported by collegial attendings, the didactics are extensive and well-protected, and I'm really happy about being here. Seattle's cool too.
Sorry if that last part sounds like too much of an advertisement. . . truthfully, I tend to get a touch hypomanic on call nights.
Anyway the call here isn't so bad. We rotate at 3 different sites (community hospital, university hospital, and VA) The first 5 to 7 calls at each site for a resident are 'training calls" with a R3 or R4, which is kind of fun because you hang out with an upper resident interested in teaching. The downside, of course, is some extra call for the upper level residents. During inpatient, most of our call requirements are taken up during two weeks of night float as well.
I'm from a high-octane east coast med school, and like it at the UW. We're well-supported by collegial attendings, the didactics are extensive and well-protected, and I'm really happy about being here. Seattle's cool too.
Sorry if that last part sounds like too much of an advertisement. . . truthfully, I tend to get a touch hypomanic on call nights.
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to those uw'ers: may i ask...how competitive is UW and is the empasis on therapy or pharm or both. do the attendings encourage individual/creative thought and approach?
thanks...(hope i catch you on a hypomanic phase)
thanks...(hope i catch you on a hypomanic phase)
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IMG friendly--check out UIC (Univ IL at Chicago). I just finished med school there and have a ton of IMG friends in the Psych program. Benefits: it's in Chicago, incredible improvement in the peds psych core (since all the big names from U of Chicago jumped ship to UIC).
