HELP! Unusual residency question

[futuredo32]

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[NotAProgDirector]

Make sure the residency is accredited.

If there is a question of funding, take a look at what's happening to the economy. I expect there will be less funding in the future, not more.

 

[dragonfly99]

Sounds dicey. Yes, check and see if it's an accredited ACGME residency.
Also, aren't there ANY other psych residencies that are real 4 year programs in your area?

If you are desperate to stay in 1 city and that's the only psych intern year there, I guess it would be OK to do as long as it's accredited. If worse comes to worse you could transfer somewhere after your intern year, as long as you do pretty well. Psych residencies are generally not competitive to get in to, and if you're a US grad you'd likely be sought after. However, it's a big pain to have to transfer from one residency to another.

I don't think how "nice" the PD is being to you should influence you too terribly much. Of course they are going to act nice if they want you. It doesn't mean they actually have worked out the logistics of the program. Personally I'd rank this new program lower than other psych residencies in the area, unless you have a compelling reason not to (like the other program is really malignant or something). This doesn't sound worth the risks.

 

[futuredo32]

Make sure the residency is accredited.

If there is a question of funding, take a look at what's happening to the economy. I expect there will be less funding in the future, not more.

Thanks so much for your reply, aProgDirector.
How exactly would I find out if it's accredited? The intern year overall, not psych specific, is listed on ERAS. The residency program is not listed on ERAS, Frieda, or the AOA opportunities site.

 

[futuredo32]

Sounds dicey. Yes, check and see if it's an accredited ACGME residency.
Also, aren't there ANY other psych residencies that are real 4 year programs in your area

Thanks for your reply too, dragonfly99.
I wasn't offered an interview at one local program and was offered an interview at another local program that is an allopathic program. I was also offered an interview at the "Hospital B" that I mentioned earlier, but that's a little over an hour away each way for most rotations and for a few rotations, it would be about three hours each way. It's doable and I really like the program, but that's a lot of driving and I'd prefer not to drive that much for four years if it were possible.
To make matters even more complicated, I'm a DO student and live in one of the five states that require a DO intern year. The program with an intern year and possible residency is a DO /MD program,, but I applied as a DO.
My interview at the allopathic program is actually after the DO rank list is due and if I were to match in the DO match, I would be pulled from the MD match. Though the AOA has been giving waivers about the AOA intern year pretty freely lately, psychiatry residency programs in Michigan have been reluctant to take DO students without a DO intern year in the past. Whether not this is still the case, I don't know.

If you are desperate to stay in 1 city and that's the only psych intern year there, I guess it would be OK to do as long as it's accredited. If worse comes to worse you could transfer somewhere after your intern year, as long as you do pretty well. Psych residencies are generally not competitive to get in to, and if you're a US grad you'd likely be sought after. However, it's a big pain to have to transfer from one residency to another.

I don't think how "nice" the PD is being to you should influence you too terribly much. Of course they are going to act nice if they want you. It doesn't mean they actually have worked out the logistics of the program. Personally I'd rank this new program lower than other psych residencies in the area, unless you have a compelling reason not to (like the other program is really malignant or something). This doesn't sound worth the risks.

I would have few options to choose from for a PGY-2 year in this area (the very small program that didn't offer an interview to me, the allopathic program that may require me to start over as a PGY-1, and the program over an hour away). When I said the PD was nice, I just meant that I don't think he would specifically lie or try to be dishonest in order to fill his new program. I agree that there are many logistics that aren't worked out. Apparently, this intern year has been offered in the past, but no one applied/matched/etc. I don't think the hospital itself has trouble filling their intern year type positions. The other students I met on my interview day were applying for transitional years and were applying to derm, rads, types of residency programs. The intern year schedule itself seems really benign- call q5 only during the four im months, no other call at all, ever.

 

[Still Kickin]

Why don't you pop over to the Psych forum and see if you can get any input over there: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=44

(Although, I must say you have a very specific/complex situation with a lot of nuances so that may make it tougher for them to give you good advice.)Then again, it's a small world so someone might realize immediately what program you're talking about and have some "inside" "political" type info they could PM to you.

(I also must add I haven't seen much about DO residencies on the Psych forum so that might be another obstacle to getting good advice...)

 

[futuredo32]

Why don't you pop over to the Psych forum and see if you can get any input over there: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=44

(Although, I must say you have a very specific/complex situation with a lot of nuances so that may make it tougher for them to give you good advice.)Then again, it's a small world so someone might realize immediately what program you're talking about and have some "inside" "political" type info they could PM to you.

(I also must add I haven't seen much about DO residencies on the Psych forum so that might be another obstacle to getting good advice...)

Thanks for your reply. I did consider posting this in the psych forum, but since we can only post a topic in one forum without one of the threads being locked, I thought my dilemma would get more traffic in this forum.

I've only come across one person so far who has actually heard about the new proposed psych residency in Michigan and that was the program director of the program that would coordinate years 2&3 of this program.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Thanks so much for your reply, aProgDirector.
How exactly would I find out if it's accredited? The intern year overall, not psych specific, is listed on ERAS. The residency program is not listed on ERAS, Frieda, or the AOA opportunities site.

Look here.

Overall, I think this is a bad idea. You have no idea if there is any funding for this, nor are there currently any residents in this type of program. Most allopathic psych programs do not have a "prelim" year -- you simply start in psych which in the PGY-1 year will have 3-4 blocks of medicine and 2 blocks of neuro, but the rest of the time is psych so I would think you would be "behind" if you tried to start as a PGY-2 psych resident. Plus, I'm pretty sure you'll have to have a continuity clinic through the entire residency, so I don't see how you can switch from program to program.

Bad idea. You're betting your whole future on this. Don't be foolish.

 

[futuredo32]

Look here.

Overall, I think this is a bad idea. You have no idea if there is any funding for this, nor are there currently any residents in this type of program. Most allopathic psych programs do not have a "prelim" year -- you simply start in psych which in the PGY-1 year will have 3-4 blocks of medicine and 2 blocks of neuro, but the rest of the time is psych so I would think you would be "behind" if you tried to start as a PGY-2 psych resident. Plus, I'm pretty sure you'll have to have a continuity clinic through the entire residency, so I don't see how you can switch from program to program.

Bad idea. You're betting your whole future on this. Don't be foolish.

Thank you so much aProgDirector, your advice is always so appreciated. If you don't mind, can I ask one more question?

My current plan is to rank the one accredited DO residency in the AOA match and the one accredited MD residency in the allo match. If I don't match in either , would it be better (ie would it make me more competitive for next year's match) to just totally sit out for a year or at least do a traditional intern year (either the one I mentioned that's psychiatry oriented and I will treat it like a traditional intern year and apply for PGY-1 spots in July or just another regular traditional intern year elsewhere) ? Or would it be better to do some research that year or volunteer at a crisis center???

 

[Wednesday]

Not sure about the whole accreditation thing, that seems like it would be a deal breaker to me. It does seem that this program probably won't lead to a psych residency BUT I wanted to clarify something I saw above that doesn't really apply to psych residency. It is actually not a huge problem to do a PGY I year somewhere and in something other than psych and then start as a PGY II elsewhere. RRC for psych only requires one clinical year (ie path doesn't count) and medicine, peds, ob/gyn, surgery, etc all count. Programs usually don't have any continuity clinic in the intern year--its usually all inpatient. You may end up with a bit less flexibility in your 4th year if you come in as a PGY II, but there is usually lots of elective time in psych anyway. There are lots of PGY II spots out there and it's a fairly common thing to do. Of course, if you know you want psych it would be easier to just do a categorical program but hey, you might as well have all the info. So bottom line, as long as the program is accredited, you shouldn't have to repeat a PGY I year and when you apply you will probably be able to do it outside the match (for PGY II), which is much easier all around. Good luck!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Given the above, a medicine prelim / rotating internship seems the best way to proceed, IMHO. However all of the plans you suggest are possible.