Flexible Programs

[antinomian]

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I'm interested in psych programs that are particularly conducive to flexible arrangements (i.e. leaving for negotiated times to work abroad in an established research project).

I will have extensive research experience (basic [PhD] as well as clinical/international development work) - the only reason I'm stating this is that I'm not looking for flexibility, and then a project to take advantage of it with, rather, I'll be going back to places that I have established relationships with (all mental health/psych related work).

As far as I understand, all of the "research track" residencies are basic science oriented, whereas my intended work will not be.

I'm looking for information about programs I'm vaguely familiar with (i.e. Columbia, McLean, Stanford, Cornell, UCSF - please excuse the blingy names; these are just commonly attended programs around here) - but more importantly, programs that I don't know as much about but offer strong clinical training. Despite the list above, I don't particularly care about the name of the place, rather, flexibility on top of the usual things - faculty, fellow residents, training, location etc...

Thank you.

 

[atsai3]

I'm interested in psych programs that are particularly conducive to flexible arrangements (i.e. leaving for negotiated times to work abroad in an established research project).

I will have extensive research experience (basic [PhD] as well as clinical/international development work) - the only reason I'm stating this is that I'm not looking for flexibility, and then a project to take advantage of it with, rather, I'll be going back to places that I have established relationships with (all mental health/psych related work).

As far as I understand, all of the "research track" residencies are basic science oriented, whereas my intended work will not be.

I'm looking for information about programs I'm vaguely familiar with (i.e. Columbia, McLean, Stanford, Cornell, UCSF - please excuse the blingy names; these are just commonly attended programs around here) - but more importantly, programs that I don't know as much about but offer strong clinical training. Despite the list above, I don't particularly care about the name of the place, rather, flexibility on top of the usual things - faculty, fellow residents, training, location etc...

Thank you.

AFAIK, you can still apply to research tracks even if your Ph.D./intended work is not in a basic science area of research. At some psychiatry programs, you will have to work to convince your interviewer of the value of such work, whereas at other programs (where M.D.'s with social science Ph.D.'s are not uncommon) you may have an easier time.

As far as flexibility goes, when I interviewed I thought the three most flexible programs were UW, Duke, and Stanford. UW has 3 months during the R2 year during which you can elect to do research (used to be 2 months, but they increased it recently); and R3 and R4 are completely outpatient, so as long as you can get other residents to cover your calls (or you can just stack your calls to occur in the months when you are in town) then you are good to go. I don't recall any other programs offering this kind of flexibility during the R2 year. Maybe things have changed.

In my conversations with the Duke PD (Grace Thrall, IMHO the second best psych PD out there), she suggested a fair amount of flexibility. I've forgotten how their program is structured, but maybe you get 1 month of elective time during R2 year? (Or none, I forget.) Duke offers funding for IM residents who do electives abroad ("international health track") and extends the same courtesy to the IM/psych combined residents -- and in fact, Ralph Corey gives them priority over the IM-only residents in the selection process. When I interviewed there, one of the R4's was making preparations to go to Tanzania, and she told me she had no problems getting the program to go along.

At Stanford, you're pretty much doing inpatient work during R1 and R2, and you don't get any flexibility really until R3 & R4. I don't remember the funding situation at Stanford, but I wouldn't expect it to be an issue. There used to be a resident (who then did his child fellowship) at Stanford who also did his Ph.D. in anthropology and focused his research on vulnerable children and violence -- you could probably dig up his name and ask him how he managed things.

UCSF, surprisingly, had no system in place to let psych residents do electives abroad (although their IM program does). If I recall correctly, it had something to do with UCSF residents being employees of the city, and if you spent a month overseas then you weren't actually doing work for the city and so they wouldn't pay you for that month. Not sure why the IM program has been able to arrange this and the psych program has not -- if/when you interview there you may want to ask for this clarification.

Hope this helps,
-AT.

 

[antinomian]

It is helpful, thank you. I suppose my dream is that Brigham IM Hemi-Doc (not sure if it's still in existence) program where I could do a half-time residency. Mais, non. As long as there is a reasonable amount of latitude somewhere, something should work out.

If anyone else is familiar with other programs of this ilk, please let me know.