I was just wondering what the norm is like. Do you feel like you learn a lot on the job, or do you feel like it's necessary to go home and study/read a lot? Do you find that you have to prepare outside of work for psychotherapy patients, or is that something you mainly do during supervision rounds? Thanks!
How much do you study during psych residency?
- Thread starter peony
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You definitely learn a lot on the job. Most of my "studying" comes in the form of reviewing literature on a case-by-case basis as it applies to individual patients. Your program should have a didactic schedule that covers the basics that you need to know. It's good to read some of the basic texts, but I doubt that you'd need to study thoroughly aside from that. It's also good to read about psychotherapy outside of lectures and supervision, but that's self-directed.
In short, it's nothing like med school.
In short, it's nothing like med school.
One of the best things an attending did with us while on his service was to play a game after rounds each day like Jeopardy! He used a drug book for all questions and we'd cover two chapters each week until done. It was fun and nobody wanted to look bad so everyone studied as much as possible. I'd study it anytime I could and there was time if you used it appropriately. We also had weekly lectures during the entire residency. I felt it was easier to study in residency than in my clinical year in med school.
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It is a lot easier to study and read when you are doing it because you want to than because of some shelf exam or test! That said it seems different folks study different amounts in residency - really varies on your background, how you learn, and what type of didactics your residency program offers
I'm an exception at a really disorganized program where we have disorganized didactics. But I just study uptodate on my patients whenever I get around to it. I haven't touched much of Kaplan or any book. My attending don't have time to do anything after rounds, since their are a ridiculous number of patients.
But with Prite coming around, I feel like I should be doing more so I'm reading on my own the Mass general guide. I feel like there are so many notes to write that I'm not learning anything and our didactics are not structured at all.
But with Prite coming around, I feel like I should be doing more so I'm reading on my own the Mass general guide. I feel like there are so many notes to write that I'm not learning anything and our didactics are not structured at all.
I never bothered preparing for any of my PRITES. It just didn't matter. I do know that the attendings knew who scored what, so it mattered to them. I only used them to study for boards later.
I started by memorizing most of the Handbook of Psychiatric Drug Therapy. It is very concise, cheap , not too long and perfect for PRITE and board exam questions in addition to your daily patients. I also tried to memorize a lot of the major DSM criteria for common diagnoses I saw.
I started by memorizing most of the Handbook of Psychiatric Drug Therapy. It is very concise, cheap , not too long and perfect for PRITE and board exam questions in addition to your daily patients. I also tried to memorize a lot of the major DSM criteria for common diagnoses I saw.
