Biologically Oriented Programs

[prominence]

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i am interested in transferring to a psych program that is predominantly biologically oriented.

i know it was a cliche for applicants on the interview trail to say they wanted a program "balanced in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy", but I am not one of these ppl interested in psychotherapy. i feel that my program is overboard with psychotherapy training, at the expense of teaching good psychopharmacology.

is some form of psychotherapy training with supervision required for all psych residency programs?

would be extremely difficult to transfer into a biologically oriented program after PGY-2?

does anyone know of any such biologically oriented programs? Washington U. rings a bell. Unfortunately, I dont have the credentials for Stanford or Pitt. Is Iowa still predominantly biologically geared?

Any replies would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[PsychFuture]

When I interviewed at U Iowa it seemed like they were attempting to become more balanced and were making a fair effort. Probably would be a nice compromise for what you are looking for.

 

[Hurricane]

is some form of psychotherapy training with supervision required for all psych residency programs?

Yes. According to the ACGME requirements:

Clinical training should provide sufficient
experiences in:
iv) the major types of therapy, including short-
and long-term individual psychotherapy,
psychodynamic psychotherapy,
family/couples therapy, group therapy,
cognitive and behavior therapy, crisis
intervention, drug and alcohol
detoxification, and pharmacological
regimens, including concurrent use of
medications and psychotherapy;

it goes on to say:
The outpatient requirement must include experience with a wide variety
of disorders, patients, and treatment modalities, with experience in
both brief and long-term care of patients, using individual
psychotherapy (including psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral,
supportive, brief), and biological treatments and psychosocial
rehabilitation approaches to outpatient treatment.

So you can't get out of learning at least some psychotherapy. That said, there are programs that weighted either way (biological vs therapy oriented). I'm sure someone here will correct me if I'm wrong, but Wash U is one program with a reputation for being heavily weighted towards the biological side.

 

[raspberry swirl]

one of my attendings said that the University of Rochester is very heavily based in pathology and that they dont do a lot of psycho-social stuff. (not sure if pathology=biology) but she did definitely say they dont do a lot of psychotherapy etc. i myself have no personal experience there.