Cedars-Sinai Interview/residency????

[IllBhappyintern]

Hi, I just received an interview invitation from Cedars for psychiatry. I know it's late, but I'm pretty excited about this interview. Has anyone interviewed there?
1. What questions did they ask on interviews?
2. Feedback about the program?
3. Any surprises on interview day?

Thanks so much.

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[HCE]

Hi, I just received an interview invitation from Cedars for psychiatry. I know it's late, but I'm pretty excited about this interview. Has anyone interviewed there?
1. What questions did they ask on interviews?
2. Feedback about the program?
3. Any surprises on interview day?

Thanks so much.

If this is the same place, this post was added down below on the Interview Feedback thread...

Mt Sinai
Again, this was a while back, so some of the details are a touch blurry...
1. Important questions you asked/were asked
I was asked the usual stuff, or at least I don’t remember being asked anything too unusual. Rieder the PD was great, and handed me and other interviewees that were interested in research specific articles by faculty at Sinai that he thought we’d be interested in.

2. Big highlights of the programs
Rieder, who recently moved here from Columbia, seems to be widely acclaimed by the residents as having had a great impact even in a short amount of time. Besides recruiting several faculty from Columbia and other places, including Eric Nestler, they’ve apparently improved didactics and added rotations at Manhattan Psych Institute (which apparently has a polydipsia ward ?!?!) and Kirby Forensic Psychiatry Institute. However, as has been mentioned on this board before, his vision for residency education is to create psychiatry “specialists” much like medicine has endo and GI because “we’re preparing people to live and practice in New York.” The reasoning is that New Yorkers always want to see the specialist I guess?

Plenty of research opportunities and a new official research track that frees up quite a bit of time for investigating those opportunities as early as PGY1. They are also in the process of greatly expanding their research capability/resources, with a neuroscience institute in the works by 2010/2011 (although this is what I was told before news of the economic meltdown, so who knows). Pretty diverse patient population according to the residents. I think yrs 2-4 you get a whole day of didactics…someone correct me if that’s wrong.
Medicine (not including neuro) is 4 months, with 2 ward, 1 ER, one elective, which I think is a neat twist on medicine requirements, and not all psych programs have that.

3. Estimated call hours
Honestly don’t remember, but whatever it was, it didn’t strike me as horrible. For those that care, inpatient psych units have an 8 patient cap.
4. Friendliness of the program residents, faculty and staff
Disclaimer-I only interacted with people during interview day, as Mt Sinai has its interview dinner on Wednesdays, so depending on when you interview, you may miss out, as I did. That said, the residents seemed friendly enough, but very reserved bordering on aloof, and for whatever reason, I just didn’t gel with them as a group. Dr Rieder, Dr Stewart, and Dr Nestler were great, but nothing else really stood out (at least not enough that I remember).

5. Location pluses and minuses
This side of New York is more expensive than most, but is pretty trendy and people seem to make it happen. There is some subsidized housing, and although you have a great chance of getting it, it’s not a lock.

6. Most positive aspects of program
-leadership
-time for research
-well run private hospital
-flexibility
-link with NY Psychoanalytic center, although I don’t remember how formal the teaching is…I do remember a resident saying that their lectures in CBT recently became more skills based than theoretical (i.e. they learn how to do it)

7. Most negative aspects of program
Personally, can’t say I felt I fit in with that group of residents, but hey, different strokes for different folks. Also, while there is plenty of time to do research, the research faculty isn’t as broad or big as a university associated program.

 

[Still Kickin]

If this is the same place, this post was added down below on the Interview Feedback thread...
Mt Sinai

Not the same place. (Mt Sinai = ?New York?; Cedars-Sinai = Los Angeles)

Hi, I just received an interview invitation from Cedars for psychiatry. I know it's late, but I'm pretty excited about this interview. Has anyone interviewed there?
1. What questions did they ask on interviews?
2. Feedback about the program?
3. Any surprises on interview day?

Thanks so much.

1)What questions did they ask?
I interviewed with a resident who asked things about how I got into Psych and questions that seemed aimed at deciding if I was a hard worker or not.
I interviewed with 2 attendings who mostly spent the time trying to sell me on the program.
The interview with the program director is kind of "psychoanalytic", which frankly, I enjoyed a lot. I don't think there are really any right/wrong answers (unless someone is TOTALLY wierd...), I think it's more about seeing how self-reflective / self-aware you are; are you aware of your strengths [AND of your weakness], etc. I'd fill you in a little more except I don't want to give you TOO much of an advantage over the rest of us! (Well, that, and I think if I told you the specific questions and you thought about them too much it would end up sounding "rehearsed" - I think he wants to know you are self-aware enough to come up with spontaneous answers on the spot.) Don't worry - I know I'm being a bit "mysterious" - but it is actually a very "chill" interview. Also he asks you about a clinical scenario - not the kind of thing where you have to know all about diagnoses & meds & stuff like that, it's more about the INTERPERSONAL aspects of a particular clinical situation. (Again, I don't think there's really a right/wrong answer - just seeing how well you "know yourself", etc.)

2. Feedback about the program?
I think it's a very good program & you would get great training here. They are also quite serious about teaching "therapy"-type skills. They also place value on research & there is a (brief) required research rotation (for EVERYONE) at some point in the program (I forget which year).
Only real downside I saw was that it's a pretty small program. That makes for fewer fellow residents to share call with, everyone is going to "feel" it more if someone gets sick, etc. I'm not sure that's an outright "negative" point - just something to be aware of & keep in mind.

3. Any surprises on interview day?
Not really. It's a fairly small interview group (I think there were like 4-5 of us interviewing together). At the end of the day everyone goes to the program director's office for TEA (and a "wrap-up" session for your day). (I thought that was a nice touch.)