At this point, I'm just hopelessly confused--that gut feeling has faded and even though I have entered and certified my list, I keep wanting to go back and change it. I am definitely more certain about the bottom of my list but most worrying for me is that I don't know the order of my top 3--I don't know which one to put at the top spot because I liked all 3 of them. I realize that overall most of the programs I want to rank will give me solid training. Geographically, I'd like to stay in a bigger-to-medium sized city that is more affordable than New York. My SO is going to move with me and since he has a non-medical job (business) I need to keep his job prospects in mind. The most important aspects to me in choosing a program are the people--how friendly and cohesive were the residents, the relationship between the PD and the chairman, and the residents perceptions of how well they get along with faculty. Unfortunately, everyone during the interview is trying to sell their programs and most say warm things about their superiors but it's hard for me to tell what sentiments were genuine. Other important things for me include forensics exposure since I'd like to pursue a forensics fellowship after completing a training program and research because I want to be published. Also, I'd like to work with eating disorder patients just to see what's it like but it's not as important to me as forensics exposure early on. So here it goes--help me rank please:
1. University of Maryland/ Sheppard Pratt --the most concerning aspect for me here is the new PD
2. Wash U St. Louis-- LOVED the program and people but St Louis just doesn't have my heart
3. Temple--love Philadelphia and the people, but no forensics or eating disorder exposure until PGY4
4. St. Luke's
5. Drexel --I didn't really gel well with the people and didn't like the hospital facilities as much
6. Stony Brook
7. Tulane
8. VCU
9. SUNY downstate
10. Baystate/Tufts
11. Maimonides
12. NYMC Westchester
I don't make it any secret that my opinions are biased here, but I'd like to mention a few factors that might be relevant to you regarding WashU based on the interests that you mentioned (by the way, if you and I were at the same interview dinner, I probably already said this stuff to you):
1. Since you're interested in eating disorders - it's one of the few programs that actually has a standard PGY2 rotation (not an elective) in a dedicated eating disorders facility. The inpatient psych unit (where you essentially run the service as a PGY1) also gets eating disorder referrals for the patients that require hospital-based care that can't be offered at a dedicated non-hospital unit.
2. Since you're interested in forensics - Missouri is one of the few states where you get direct courtroom experience starting in PGY1. As a PGY1, you'll testify as an expert witness on a fairly regular basis... at least once every week or two. It's a bit nerve-wracking at first, but by the end of the year, you'll be confident. This also means that you do a lot of work surrounding the court case, giving you an incredible amount of forensic exposure in PGY1.
Also regarding forensics - two of the faculty members who are very thoroughly involved in your training happen to be forensic psychiatrists. They tend to do a great job of helping residents get forensic experience and land top-shelf forensic fellowships.
3. Since you're interested in research/publishing - this is a given, but this is one of the programs that's really known for diverse research and emphasis on various aspects of academia right from the beginning. You'll get lectures on the latest research as part of your didactic schedule, you'll see tertiary referrals that will make for interesting case reports (less than 3/4 of the way through intern year, I already have three case reports in the works), and of course, you're part of a large academic department that is actively recruiting residents to participate in really cool research projects.
4. Regarding St. Louis - there are a lot of misconceptions, but overall, it's a pretty nice place to live. Because of the cost of living, you can buy a house in the nicest part of town during PGY1. My friends think I'm rich because average income here is commensurate with the cost of living, so your "average" PGY1 salary will go way farther here. And if you're living in one of the best parts of town (as most residents do, in the Central West End), you have a much better quality of life than you'd get in many other cities. Plus, you don't have to deal with the traffic, etc. And we have great sports teams. And most major concerts/other events travel through St. Louis. The only thing I'd ever want to do that I can't do in St. Louis is to have easy/quick access to different forms of ethnic food... although that doesn't mean that you can't get it if you don't mind driving 10-15 minutes. Actually, come to think of it, I have better access to ethnic food here than my parents in Chicagoland, since everything here is within a short drive.
Also regarding St. Louis - although the Central West End is a safe and comfortable area, there is a well-known income gap. That means that you get an immense diversity of clinical cases when you train here. By the time you're done, you've seen everything - I've taken care of rich/successful patients (since they want to go to the "top hospital") and homeless patients with no family support (since we accept everybody and we don't send bills to patients who don't have insurance) and refugees (St. Louis has America's largest Bosnian refugee population, and a growing population from East Africa) and farmers (since we are still in Missouri) and everything in between.
If I met you during the interview trail, I probably assumed that you were just telling us things to make yourself sound like a better fit for the program. Now that you mention your specific interests in a neutral forum, I don't think there's a better place for you than WashU.
