Impressions of Child Psychiatry Fellowship programs 2010-2011

[rtennis18]

So having just matched into child psychiatry and going on a whirlwind of interviews during fall 2010, I thought it might be helpful for future applicants to have just some overall impressions of some programs given that there is very limited info on this topic currently on SDN. So in no particular order here are my impressions starting with Yale:

Yale Child Study Center (New Haven, CT)
- I thought this was a wonderful program with a rich history in child psychiatry
- Program director Dr. Stubbe seemed like she would be a great mentor and advocate for you
- Faculty were very friendly and includes Dr. Andres Martin (Editor of JAACAP) who you would work with on the inpatient child unit during the first year of fellowship
- Has 2 tracks - Yale/New Haven (more academic) and Yale/Riverview (more public psychiatry, inpatient work at state hospital for youth)
- Awesome that Yale/New Haven track allows you one month of selective during first year that you can use to do international work overseas
- Expertise especially in autism and Tourette/OCD
- Seems like there would be ample supervision provided and didactics are emphasized and seem like a strong point of the program
- New Haven was a lot nicer than I expected, plus located between NYC and Boston
- All the child fellows I met seemed very happy with their experiences!

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[rtennis18]

- This is probably one of the best child psychiatry programs in California
- Location is wonderful, seems like it would be a great place to live although very high cost of living
- Program director Dr. Joshi seemed very enthusiastic and caring
- Unique 4-month rotation during the first year of fellowship where you train at inpatient unit focused on eating disorders (rare on the interview trail)
- Strong C/L exposure (4 months) during first year at free-standing pediatric hospital
- Also get to rotate at Intensive Outpatient program (4 months) during first year which was not seen at most programs
- Attended didactics which seemed very diverse and interesting
- Strong research program if you are interested in getting involved in clinical research
- Met many child fellows throughout the day (most were from California, with a few coming from East coast)

 

[rtennis18]

- Interview day was very relaxed, seems like they may only interview one applicant each day which makes for a very personalized experience
- Program director Dr. Frosch has been there since the mid-1990s so has a lot of experience running the program
- New pediatric hospital is near completion, should be opening end of 2011 or beginning of 2012 and the top floor of the hospital will be dedicated to child psychiatry with a brand new inpatient unit
- Long tradition of child psychiatry at Hopkins, first department of child psychiatry established in a pediatric hospital
- Variety of experiences in first year including inpatient child psychiatry, inpatient unit for adolescent affective disorders, day hospital, C/L and some outpatient exposure including long-term therapy patients
- Multitude of experiences in 2nd year including residential substance abuse, developmental disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute, school based programs, forensics and much more
- Teaching and didactics seem to be very high priorities
- Tons of opportunity to get involved in research with some flexibility in elective time in 2nd year
- Baltimore is an affordable city on the East coast, yet within close distance to DC and not far from Philadelphia

 

[rtennis18]

- Very laid back and comfortable interview day, seems like Cambridge would be a very cool place to live with lots of shops and restaurants
- Program directors Dr. Telingator and Dr. DeJong both seemed wonderful, and would be willing to help you seek out your interests
- Program is more community-based with a focus on psychotherapy
- Beautiful inpatient child psychiatry unit, also an attached adolescent unit which is not quite as nice
- Some shared didactics with the 2 other Harvard programs (MGH/McLean and Children's Hospital Boston)
- You would get solid clinical training here, maybe not the place to be if you are more interested in academics or clinical research
- Some C/L exposure at Shriner's Hospital, but also not a strong point

 

[rtennis18]

- Quite a contrast to Cambridge Health Allliance, as this is a big research program and you can get hooked up with any area of clinical research in child psychiatry that you are interested in
- Program director Dr. Beresin was very personable, all the fellows seem to really adore him
- Really nice outpatient facilities at MGH campus in newer building
- Many of the faculty are experts in the field
- Did not get a chance to see the McLean free-standing psychiatric campus, but told by fellows that it is a good learning environment and a nice contrast to MGH
- Didactics seem to be very strong
- You do inpatient child psychiatry in 2nd year, which is a bit different so first year is actually more focused on C/L and outpatient experiences
- Tons of opportunities for electives at both MGH and McLean, definitely one of the best programs that I interviewed at which seems to offer everything but you just have to seek it out

 

[rtennis18]

- I thought that Providence was a very charming New England town, within close distance to Boston
- Program director Dr. Hunt was very down to earth and seemed like he would be pretty responsive to the needs of the fellows
- Free-standing child psychiatry hospital (Bradley) which was the only such facility I saw on the interview trail that has been completely renovated and features spacious inpatient units along with other programs
- Very good Day Hospital program at Hasbro Children's focusing on medically ill children and adolescents with co-occuring psychiatric issues
- Plenty of moonlighting opportunities including in their own psychiatric ER if that is something that interests you
- Very strong program overall, you would get excellent clinical training and could also get involved in research if so desired

 

[rtennis18]

- Wow, another research powerhouse in child psychiatry with 3 separate campuses (Columbia, Payne Whitney Manhattan and Payne Whitney Westchester)
- Downside might be that there is quite a bit of commuting that will be required over the 2 years, but you get a wide exposure to patients from very different backgrounds
- Program directors Dr. Guthrie and Dr. Rendleman were both friendly, seems like Dr. Guthrie will be more involved at the Columbia site and Dr. Rendleman more at the Cornell one
- Very big program - 12 categorical and 2 public child psychiatry fellows per year, so 24 total child fellows which is the biggest in the country
- Call scheduled seemed to be a bit lighter compared to other programs
- NYC would be a great place to live, some subsidized housing available but still expensive
- Payne Whitney Westchester, which is a free-standing psychiatric campus outside the city seems like it would be a great place to train
- Faculty is very deep and I think the supervision provided would be great

 

[rtennis18]

Are there people who interviewed at other programs for child psychiatry fellowship who would like to share their impressions from the interview trail?

 

[Chimed]

Are there people who interviewed at other programs for child psychiatry fellowship who would like to share their impressions from the interview trail?

I only applied to one program for child. So, it might be a little too obvious who I am if I post that. I really enjoyed going on interviews for general residency and really missed that experience. But for multiple reasons it didn't make sense for me to apply to other places.

Thanks for your post!

 

[Sophie]

Thank you so much for posting your thoughts on some of the child programs. There really isn't much child info on SDN - maybe this thread can help change that.

 

[Cinnameg]

This is fantastic info . . . although I'm not applying to fellowships yet it really helps to hear which programs have really good ones.

 

[rtennis18]

I am glad that people find this information helpful. There was very little information like this when I searched on SDN, so I thought it would be nice to start this thread. I also interviewed at a couple other programs in California, but since I didn't end up ranking them I didn't feel like it would be right to post my impressions. If you are interested, you can send me a PM.

 

[H5A2B25]

Rtennis,

This was one of the most userful posts I've read here! Thank you SO much! One question - we've now got kids, and so I am more concerned than I used to be about call/work load. Especially bad is in-house call! Makes babysitting a nightmare.

Did you get a sense of whether any of these programs were particularly bad on work hours, or had in-house call? We were especially interested in Yale and Stanford (cities seemed easier with kids).

Thanks!

 

[deejayshakur]

Reviving this for the 2011-2012 season...

 

[NJWxMan]

Good idea. I applied to 10 programs. I've been invited for 3 interviews so far. It seems like most programs started looking through apps the day after the holiday.

 

[pixella]

Anyone with thoughts on Children's Hospital Boston?

 

[BOSTONCAPFELLOW]

Looks like this is a little bit of an outdated post, but there was relatively little information about Boston Children's when I was on the interview trail and applying. It seems that there is new leadership in the program and since this change occurred there have been additional changes to the call schedule, which previously seemed quite demanding and difficult. These changes occurred based around fellow requests and have made the call load much more manageable. In fact, it currently seems to be on par with call schedule at other stand alone children's hospitals where fellows are responsible for call without any adult residency program to field the majority of work. The leadership of the program is reasonable and well acquainted with the program, with much of the staff continuing following completion of fellowship - this was remarkable to me, and I though a singular occurrence in the frequency this occurred when comparing to other programs that I interviewed at. Didactics are a really neat feature about BCH, in that there are Thursday morning didactics that occur with 2 other programs from CAP in the Boston area. Another program strength is the 2.5 days in second year that are devoted to elective time, which is more than many programs provide. Hope that helps!