Longwood vs. Cornell vs. Penn

[psychmd06]

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I'm trying to decide between Longwood vs. Cornell vs. Penn as my #1. I thought they were all very strong programs. Any notable negatives/positives about these programs that distinguish them from each other?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I'm trying to decide between Longwood vs. Cornell vs. Penn as my #1. I thought they were all very strong programs. Any notable negatives/positives about these programs that distinguish them from each other?

Seriously--at this point (having seen all 3 programs) you've got to look at it as a Boston vs. NY vs. Philadelphia issue for yourself. I don't think that you'll get any other "make-it-or-break-it" distinguishing characteristics comparing the programs head to head.

 

[Doc Samson]

I'm trying to decide between Longwood vs. Cornell vs. Penn as my #1. I thought they were all very strong programs. Any notable negatives/positives about these programs that distinguish them from each other?

Aside from geography, Longwood and Cornell have a more psychodynamic bent vs. Penn's emphasis on CBT, but overall they are all good "generalist" (which is a good thing) programs.

 

[nortomaso]

Aside from geography, Longwood and Cornell have a more psychodynamic bent vs. Penn's emphasis on CBT, but overall they are all good "generalist" (which is a good thing) programs.

DS, are you sure about this? Its probably true that Penn has more CBT didactics than most and of course Beck and daughter are there, but as with almost all the other programs I visited, Penn gives its residents a psychodynamic case in the second year before other modalities of psychotherapy are used. [Actually, MGH was the program I saw that offered CBT the earliest-- during their partial hospitalization rotation.] The third year supervisors at Penn are psychodynamic:CBT in a 2:1 ratio. And the assistant PD, Dr. Sommers, has spent his career in psychoanalsis/psychodynamics, and is collaborating on a book with Jacques Barber on the subject.

The main difference between Longwood and Penn to me (I didn't apply to Cornell) was that Penn struck me as much more academic with more oppotunities to get involved in research. Longwood seemed stronger in community psych and its breadth of clinical exposure.

 

[Doc Samson]

DS, are you sure about this? Its probably true that Penn has more CBT didactics than most and of course Beck and daughter are there, but as with almost all the other programs I visited, Penn gives its residents a psychodynamic case in the second year before other modalities of psychotherapy are used. [Actually, MGH was the program I saw that offered CBT the earliest-- during their partial hospitalization rotation.] The third year supervisors at Penn are psychodynamic:CBT in a 2:1 ratio. And the assistant PD, Dr. Sommers, has spent his career in psychoanalsis/psychodynamics, and is collaborating on a book with Jacques Barber on the subject.

The main difference between Longwood and Penn to me (I didn't apply to Cornell) was that Penn struck me as much more academic with more oppotunities to get involved in research. Longwood seemed stronger in community psych and its breadth of clinical exposure.

A 2:1 ration of psychodynamic to CBT supervisors is probably one of the highest in the northeast (if not the nation). From my interactions with current and past Penn residents, they do tend to lean toward CBT as a therapeutic modality, but admittedly this is an opinion based on a narrow sampling of the group.

I heard a great presentation from Dr. Mellman at Columbia discussing how training should first focus on the commonalities of therapy (sitting with patients, framing the treatment, etc.) before discussing the differences between the branches of dynamics and CBT (described as the "Y-shaped" model of teaching psychotherapy). Makes a lot of sense, so I'm not sure seeing one form earlier than another is ultimately all that helpful.