Child Psych 5 year programs

[TexPre-Med]

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I've heard about these child psych 5 year programs where you basically start doing child in 4th year of residency (cut out 1 year). When this is an option, when do you have to decide to do this? Intern year, third year........
Also, does everywhere with a child psych fellowship offer this or should I contact each program separately? Thanks for answering.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

I've heard about these child psych 5 year programs where you basically start doing child in 4th year of residency (cut out 1 year). When this is an option, when do you have to decide to do this? Intern year, third year........
Also, does everywhere with a child psych fellowship offer this or should I contact each program separately? Thanks for answering.

No, not every place with a child psych fellowship offers a 5 yr integrated program. When do you have to decide? It depends on the program. I know that in Yale you have to apply for it separately, but you can apply for it along with the application for the "normal" 4yr adult residency. Mayo, on the other hand, has a flexible integrated track program, where you have more exposure to child psych during the first couple of year but you can opt out of it if you decide it is not for you, and revert back to the adult-only psych.

You do not need to contact each program separately, they usually have this info on their websites.

Hope this helps.

 

[sikegeek]

As far as I know, there are only a few of the integrated track programs. UMass is one. I'm sure this information is on the web site. Be careful though because sometimes when a program says they have a "child residency," they don't mean integrated, they just mean fellowship.
Regardless of whether or not you go to an integrated program, you can still do "3 + 2" So you can apply during the 3rd year and cut the 4th year out anyway. the advantage of the integrated programs, IMO, is that you don't have to go through ERAS again.....however, you do have to commit pretty early to going into child.

 

[MBK2003]

Regardless of whether or not you go to an integrated program, you can still do "3 + 2" So you can apply during the 3rd year and cut the 4th year out anyway. the advantage of the integrated programs, IMO, is that you don't have to go through ERAS again.....however, you do have to commit pretty early to going into child.

Be careful, however, not every adult psychiatry program allows you to complete all RRC requirements by the end of PGY-3. Some programs don't have C/L psychiatry until PGY-4 and won't make allowances for you to complete it prior to that time, forcing you to stay until PGY-4 or find a child program willing to pay you for an extra month while you complete Adult C/L. I really recommend talking to the residents at the program you're interviewing at to get a sense of whether people leave after PGY-3 for child or whether most stay for PGY-4.

 

[goingbroke]

I agree with the above poster. Programs are allotted a certain number of general psychiatry and child fellowship(if they have one) spots. It is in the program's best interest to have some mechanism to make sure that all the spots are filled. By having to complete a necessary RRC requirement such as C-L or addiction, a program can make it tough to leave or find a program that will provide an addtional month or two. Programs that need their residents to fill their child fellowship spots can also use this mechanism to their advantage. Sometimes a program will not provide enough C/A rotation time so that a resident can't get a good experience or can't get good recommendations; when these residents are concerned about getting a spot at another program their home program says that they will accept them since they know how good they are. I can certainly see how some programs that would have a number of 4th years leave cause a major problem. There can't just be that many 4th years looking for spots.

 

[TexPre-Med]

So when applying, what are the best questions to ask about this 5 year program? I'm still not sure exactly how to gauge the likelihood of doing this 5 year program at each school. Is this how you all would approach this?

1. Contact each program to see if it is even a possibility?
2. During interviews, ask how many students are currently doing this?

 

[atsai3]

you shouldn't view it as applying to a 'five year' program unless it is a true five year integrated program. you apply to general psych just like everyone else. when third year rolls around, you can apply to 'fast track' into child psych, but in those cases it is not something that is guaranteed at the time of the match. your interviewers can tell you how common it is, whether it is viewed favorably (e.g. at columbia you have to do 3 months of consult during fourth year, and this effectively precludes fast tracking), etc.

-AT.

 

[notdeadyet]

Any recommendations where one would fine a list of integrated 5 year Child Psych programs? I understand the need to contact individual programs when actually applying, but for those of us earlier in the process, it would be nice to get a snapshot. Any ideas?