IMG/FMG friendly psych residencies

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mollywobbles

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this is for posterity:

(there are lots of us IMG/FMGs out there that maybe are shy to post where we're going or how our interviews go. as soon as i get a few more under my belt i'll post those experiences, because they are not identical to the experiences of a US grad. the schools are not as glamorous, and the wooing not as extensive. and there is the added pressure of pre-matching.)

don't just list schools you're interviewing at, but also schools your friends are interviewing at. if you want to list an urban legend, go ahead, but please state that it is such (i.e. i hear of a person from Saba who scrambled into Yale Psych) (note: i never heard that, but i heard a similar urban legend about a derm scramble):

nyc:

brookdale
jamaica
creedmoor
westchester/nymc
Stony Brook/SUNY
Montefureirere (i really can't spell this one, but i met a girl who is an IMG who said she interviewed there)

MA:

harvard south shore

IL:

SIU
Advocate/lutheran (i don't know about this year, however)
Loyola

CA:

kern - UCLA
Charles Drew

so make up a fake name and add those psych programs that contacted you or your friends.

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Hi mollywobbles (great name by the way),

Bravo for your post. The psych forum can benefit from feedback on any programs, and I for one am very interested in hearing about how you feel the specific experiences differ from those of "US grad-dominated programs". We're all in the same psychiatry boat, and I'm fascinated by the diverse paths we take.
 
willow212 said:
Hi mollywobbles (great name by the way),

Bravo for your post. The psych forum can benefit from feedback on any programs, and I for one am very interested in hearing about how you feel the specific experiences differ from those of "US grad-dominated programs". We're all in the same psychiatry boat, and I'm fascinated by the diverse paths we take.

thanks so much! hopefully people will start listing schools, but if not i'll just keep adding names because i'm sure there's an M3 out there reading this who will find it helpful.

and i'm a huge harry potter fan, which is where i stole the name (molly's nickname from mr. weasley).
 
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FYI:

Kern is an UCLA affiliated program. Their official name is UCLA-Kern. It's a new program, 2 classes so far. Lots of potential. Don't overlook it. It's only a hour and a half from LA.

Southern Illionois (SIU) has a strong tradition. The only problem is location, Carbondale. In the middle of corn fields. Cold as hell. But, definately a program worth looking at.
 
freeagent said:
FYI:

Kern is an UCLA affiliated program. Their official name is UCLA-Kern. It's a new program, 2 classes so far. Lots of potential. Don't overlook it. It's only a hour and a half from LA.

Southern Illionois (SIU) has a strong tradition. The only problem is location, Carbondale. In the middle of corn fields. Cold as hell. But, definately a program worth looking at.

Did you interview at Kern? I was there a while ago, and debating whether to rank it or not..... what do you think could be the potential? Are you thinking about their research opportunities and their Emergency room? Please let me know. Thanks!

And just one more question. How are they UCLA-affiliated? When I interviewed, no resident told me they did any Psy rotations at UCLA..... I have talked to my friends at UCLA, and no one knows the psych residents from kern.
 
Ginny:

The resident from Kern does neuro rotations and ECT at UCLA Oliview and NPI. There is an opportunity for 4th year electives at NPI. UCLA has 5 affiliated psych programs, and I doubt if they really get to know each other, at least not until 3rd or 4th year. The chairman at Kern, Dr. Yoo, is the vice chairman of UCLA. So he has considerable influnce.

Research is mostly at a planning stage because the program is new. But the research will happen. All faculties at Kern have UCLA academic professor appointment and they need research to keep their appointments.

The program has a lot of potential because in their third year, they already have 22 full time clinical professors, which is 5th in the entire California. The teaching and research will be very promising.

Their ER is very busy. They have a full time ER attending. Dr. Sevilla. One of the better teachers at Kern.

I will be happy to talk more if you have questionsl
 
Hey Molly:

Einstein Philly: lots of people from PR, great program self standing psych hospital and you do all the medical care there, will offer prematch contracts (they thought I was an IMG so a resident told me that) very nice faculty and staff, lots of addictions

Institute of LIving: offers prematch contracts to strong applicants, self standing psychiatric "place" its huge, has a hospital, inpatient, day center, school, etc and research building

UMDNJ-RWJ@Camden: has about 30% FMG's no prematch contracts, very small program but strong with great faculty and fellow residents

MCG: about 30% as well, I don't know if they offer prematch, but personally I loved this program.

Those are the only ones I went to that seemed really FMG friendly - hope this helps!

I heard East Carolina has a lot of FMG's as well, good luck!
 
freeagent said:
Ginny:

The resident from Kern does neuro rotations and ECT at UCLA Oliview and NPI. There is an opportunity for 4th year electives at NPI. UCLA has 5 affiliated psych programs, and I doubt if they really get to know each other, at least not until 3rd or 4th year. The chairman at Kern, Dr. Yoo, is the vice chairman of UCLA. So he has considerable influnce.

Research is mostly at a planning stage because the program is new. But the research will happen. All faculties at Kern have UCLA academic professor appointment and they need research to keep their appointments.

The program has a lot of potential because in their third year, they already have 22 full time clinical professors, which is 5th in the entire California. The teaching and research will be very promising.

Their ER is very busy. They have a full time ER attending. Dr. Sevilla. One of the better teachers at Kern.

I will be happy to talk more if you have questionsl

Thanks! Appreciate ur input.... i guess wen i interveiwed there, i just sensed the residents were not happy at all....

i am graduating from a UC school... so i know the research to keep their appointments part is not that true. you can be a assn. clinical prof and not do any research, but i think what you said is correct: they are still a new program, so there is room to grow.

i met w/dr. s during my interview, i agreed he was great. Did you do an rotation there? Coz the info. u r giving is more than what I have gotten from reading their website and what I have figured out from the interview. i saw they have a resident from a UC school as well, but he was not there when i interviewed... so i am still debating whether to rank or not.
 
Ginny

I stand corrected. Yes, academic appointments are mainted by either clinical or research. But, a professor doing clinical work is completely at the mercy of review panels. I had a very prominant professor in my medical school fired for not publishing. He did a lot of teaching and great clinical practice.

If you want to talk to a specific resident in any program, ask the residency coordinator. If they say no, they obviously have something to hide. So ask.

I avoid telling people how I get my info so not to give away my identity. I think you can guess why. ;)
 
freeagent said:
Ginny:

The resident from Kern does neuro rotations and ECT at UCLA Oliview and NPI. There is an opportunity for 4th year electives at NPI. UCLA has 5 affiliated psych programs, and I doubt if they really get to know each other, at least not until 3rd or 4th year. The chairman at Kern, Dr. Yoo, is the vice chairman of UCLA. So he has considerable influnce.

Research is mostly at a planning stage because the program is new. But the research will happen. All faculties at Kern have UCLA academic professor appointment and they need research to keep their appointments.

The program has a lot of potential because in their third year, they already have 22 full time clinical professors, which is 5th in the entire California. The teaching and research will be very promising.

Their ER is very busy. They have a full time ER attending. Dr. Sevilla. One of the better teachers at Kern.

I will be happy to talk more if you have questionsl


Hello Freeagent,

I hope you can help me make decission. When I interviewed at Kern, I liked it well enough. However, I have since spoken with a fellow Ross classmate and they told me about their experience doing an inhouse rotation with a female attending. The Dr. just ignored my classmate and treated them like they did not matter. This makes me wonder about what the quality of the resident training and the relationship with the attendings is like.

I also interviewed with the associate director, who was not the same person as posted on the Kern Medical Center web site. Can you tell me what is going on? I am now debating on wether to rank Kern on my list or not. Please give me some insight to help me make my decision.

Thanks
 
Ginny:

I believe some medical students may have a tough time on the inpatient unit. As a new program, they are still figuring out how to teach their residents. So medical students can be lower on their priority list. Which is a major mistake on their part. It's terrible for recruiting.

The chairman is also the PD. It has not changed. The associate PD just changed in December. So you would still see the previous associated PD listed online.

It's a tough decision you're making. I still believe you should call some of their residents to get first hand info. Or if you live in California, you can go for a second look.
 
thx for ur objective answers, freeagent... just want to let u know someone else was asking u the question, not me.
 
freeagent said:
Ginny:

I believe some medical students may have a tough time on the inpatient unit. As a new program, they are still figuring out how to teach their residents. So medical students can be lower on their priority list. Which is a major mistake on their part. It's terrible for recruiting.

The chairman is also the PD. It has not changed. The associate PD just changed in December. So you would still see the previous associated PD listed online.

It's a tough decision you're making. I still believe you should call some of their residents to get first hand info. Or if you live in California, you can go for a second look.

Hello again freeagent,

Thanks for the advise, but do you think I should even do a second look if Kern is my back up choice? I mean it is new but it is in Bakersfield. Well I will think about it. Thanks again for the info. See you all at the interviews!
 
ginnywc said:
Thanks! Appreciate ur input.... i guess wen i interveiwed there, i just sensed the residents were not happy at all....

i am graduating from a UC school... so i know the research to keep their appointments part is not that true. you can be a assn. clinical prof and not do any research, but i think what you said is correct: they are still a new program, so there is room to grow.

i met w/dr. s during my interview, i agreed he was great. Did you do an rotation there? Coz the info. u r giving is more than what I have gotten from reading their website and what I have figured out from the interview. i saw they have a resident from a UC school as well, but he was not there when i interviewed... so i am still debating whether to rank or not.

Hello ginnywc,

I am also in the same boat as you, although I have programs I am interested in above Kern. I actually heard from people who worked at Kern Medical Center say that Bakersfield is a crappy hick town and no one can live there for 4 years without going crazy themselves. I don't know if this is true but didn't you check out the town while you were there? What about the dirty neighborhood around the hospital. It sort of creeped me out and the view I saw driving in made me think twice about living there.

Please tell me what you thought of the place? I was scared when I drove around the town I thought I it was too dangerous. I don't know if you are a girl or guy but please let me know because we have a chance on matching here and I want to know if it is a livable place.

Thanks
 
RossUResident06 said:
Hello ginnywc,

I am also in the same boat as you, although I have programs I am interested in above Kern. I actually heard from people who worked at Kern Medical Center say that Bakersfield is a crappy hick town and no one can live there for 4 years without going crazy themselves. I don't know if this is true but didn't you check out the town while you were there? What about the dirty neighborhood around the hospital. It sort of creeped me out and the view I saw driving in made me think twice about living there.

Please tell me what you thought of the place? I was scared when I drove around the town I thought I it was too dangerous. I don't know if you are a girl or guy but please let me know because we have a chance on matching here and I want to know if it is a livable place.

Thanks

thx, i believed i talk to one of hteir resident, who seems to like it there. i thought the area look decent, but maybe i was there only from 8-1??? u r making me re-consider... but yeah, maybe an informal 2nd look won't be bad idea though
 
The area around Kern is full of poverty, but think about all ther other programs based in a city. The only really nice location I can think of is Northwestern, Gold Coast in Chicago :rolleyes: . Kern's second year has 4 female and 1 male resident. First year 3 males and 2 females. May be a good idea to ask one of them? Or one of those female Ross friends you had who did rotations at Kern?
 
ginnywc said:
thx, i believed i talk to one of hteir resident, who seems to like it there. i thought the area look decent, but maybe i was there only from 8-1??? u r making me re-consider... but yeah, maybe an informal 2nd look won't be bad idea though

hello ginnywc,

I am not sure if I spoke to the same resident as you, but one of the female residents told me how bad it was for them to live in that town. It was during lunch when they told me not to come to the program and that if they had a choice they would not have ranked Kern. I don't know who to believe. What do you think about a program who would have a resident who says things like that. Well please tell me how the 2nd look goes for you. Good Luck.
 
Poety said:
Hey Molly:

Einstein Philly: lots of people from PR, great program self standing psych hospital and you do all the medical care there, will offer prematch contracts (they thought I was an IMG so a resident told me that) very nice faculty and staff, lots of addictions

Institute of LIving: offers prematch contracts to strong applicants, self standing psychiatric "place" its huge, has a hospital, inpatient, day center, school, etc and research building

UMDNJ-RWJ@Camden: has about 30% FMG's no prematch contracts, very small program but strong with great faculty and fellow residents

MCG: about 30% as well, I don't know if they offer prematch, but personally I loved this program.

Those are the only ones I went to that seemed really FMG friendly - hope this helps!

I heard East Carolina has a lot of FMG's as well, good luck!

Personally, I really didn't like MCG. Their facility is very new, clean, and they do pay for room and breakfast but my interview experience here was troubling. Yes, it's true that this program has many IMGs but this is not the main problem. The chairman is an Irish guy with a MBBS and not an MD as he told me. Not that it matter but he lied. During our interview, his phone rang and he asked me to wait outside so he could take this very important call. While waiting outside, I overheard him laughing and talking to his friend about their dinner plans that evening! I thought this was very unprofessional. For the rest of the interview, he basically wanted me to ask him questions as he tried to sell me his program. The PD here is very very old and seems out of touch with modern psychiatry and sits in his office all day.

While at lunch, this one 2nd year resident came and immediately ordered 4 plates of food. Then he proceed to tell me how he got really drunk at a pharm. dinner before his interview date and he still got a spot in this program last year. He also told me how he really thinks that in 10 years this program will become really good. How reassuring! Overally, I would not rank this program. One resident there personally told me "here u can work if u want to but u can slack off as much as you want" and another guy told me the chairman continuosly yell at residents for being so darn lazy all the time. Needless to say this was the most disappointing interview I had this year.
 
cpep said:
Personally, I really didn't like MCG. Their facility is very new, clean, and they do pay for room and breakfast but my interview experience here was troubling. Yes, it's true that this program has many IMGs but this is not the main problem. The chairman is an Irish guy with a MBBS and not an MD as he told me. Not that it matter but he lied. During our interview, his phone rang and he asked me to wait outside so he could take this very important call. While waiting outside, I overheard him laughing and talking to his friend about their dinner plans that evening! I thought this was very unprofessional. For the rest of the interview, he basically wanted me to ask him questions as he tried to sell me his program. The PD here is very very old and seems out of touch with modern psychiatry and sits in his office all day.

While at lunch, this one 2nd year resident came and immediately ordered 4 plates of food. Then he proceed to tell me how he got really drunk at a pharm. dinner before his interview date and he still got a spot in this program last year. He also told me how he really thinks that in 10 years this program will become really good. How reassuring! Overally, I would not rank this program. One resident there personally told me "here u can work if u want to but u can slack off as much as you want" and another guy told me the chairman continuosly yell at residents for being so darn lazy all the time. Needless to say this was the most disappointing interview I had this year.

wow this is a troubling post - i sent you a pm.

I did however want to address the MBBS, that is the degree thats given in the UK to physicians, its the same ie equivalent to the MD. I personally happened to like Dr. Buckley a lot but I could see where his sense of humor might be misconstrued. Do you mean he lied about having an MBBS or about needing to take the phone call?

As for the other residents, I met some and they seemed very nice and down to earth to me. I've also had email contacts with them and they were very encouraging about the program. Its amazing how different people have different experiences!

I'm sorry you had a bad one!
 
Poety said:
wow this is a troubling post - i sent you a pm.

I did however want to address the MBBS, that is the degree thats given in the UK to physicians, its the same ie equivalent to the MD. I personally happened to like Dr. Buckley a lot but I could see where his sense of humor might be misconstrued. Do you mean he lied about having an MBBS or about needing to take the phone call?

As for the other residents, I met some and they seemed very nice and down to earth to me. I've also had email contacts with them and they were very encouraging about the program. Its amazing how different people have different experiences!

I'm sorry you had a bad one!

He told me he has an MD. I thought his sense of humour was fine. He was nice enough but I could tell he was hiding something.

The other residents I met were very textbook. They all love the program and has no complaint. The PGY-2 I met that day has a reputation for 'telling the truth' and the only reason I met him was b/c it was a particulary busy day in the inpatient unit and all the other residents were tied-up. Most of the time they don't let him talk to any applicant.
 
cpep said:
He told me he has an MD. I thought his sense of humour was fine. He was nice enough but I could tell he was hiding something.

The other residents I met were very textbook. They all love the program and has no complaint. The PGY-2 I met that day has a reputation for 'telling the truth' and the only reason I met him was b/c it was a particulary busy day in the inpatient unit and all the other residents were tied-up. Most of the time they don't let him talk to any applicant.


Yikes... :eek:
 
bump! would luv to hear more about these img friendly programs.
 
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