Hi everyone. I'm working on how to rank San Mateo County vs. University of Vermont. I'll share my interests in training, my impressions about both and welcome any thoughts.
I'm interested in therapy and community mental health. I'm also drawn towards progressive culture, work-life balance and collegiality among residents and faculty. I'm from the east coast and not sure yet where I want to settle down and practice afterwards.
San Mateo County:
Pros: Meets all my residency program goals and then some. PGY-2 is outpatient, so early therapy training. They excelled in how much therapy supervision is offered. The program encourages the residents the opportunity to design your own goals and then execute them. Several residents in the past have carved out their own niche in areas similar to my own and been supported in their endeavors. Analytic institutes in SF offer additional therapy training opportunities. Strong community training that is embedded into years 2-4. Very progressive culture both in the bay area but also in the program. Work hours are extremely humane and allow for ample personal time. I liked the faculty and residents I met. Mix of county, Stanford and Kaiser to get a flavor of different delivery models. There is a public psych fellowship with UCSF that is available for residents during PGY-4. Overall, I think this program would challenge me intellectually, push me to grow and allow me the flexibility and supervision to become an excellent psychiatrist.
Cons: Primarily Location. Due to the variation in rotation sites from San Francisco down to Santa Clara, residents might need to commute a fair bit particularly if you live in SF. Traffic in the bay area is pretty rough. The rent is very expensive anywhere from SF to Palo Alto. This can be offset my moonlighting on occasion, and the salary here is very generous to begin with. The residents live all over, so I'm not sure how much they hang out. Don't know too many people in the area, so I'd need to find a community to tap into to feel more supported socially. I'm familiar with SF and like that city a whole bunch, but don't know much about living south of there. Due to the stress of commuting from SF to San Mateo, I was planning on living closer to San Mateo. If anyone has thoughts about the geography/community piece, ie: how it is to live anywhere between SF to Palo Alto, I'd appreciate those thoughts a lot.
University of Vermont:
Pros: I got the impression that they do emphasize therapy here and have a very socially minded approach to mental health care. PGY-3 is outpatient, but long term therapy cases (minimum 1) begin in PGY-2. Theoretically could pursue interests in mental health policy, although I'm not sure how much mentorship I might receive for that. Progressive part of the country and absolutely beautiful location. Felt like I could fit in with all the breweries, foodie culture, and outdoors activities going on. The city has an intimate feel which means it might be easier to meet up with people and build a social network. Can literally walk to the hospital if you live in town, but would need to drive to some of the community/VA clinics outside of Burlington. The driving commute around here looks like it would actually be enjoyable and really scenic. Solid community opportunities in the 3rd year. Probably the nicest program coordinator ever. I connected really well with several of the residents and faculty. Residents work hard and longer hours but seem truly happy with their experience here. Main hospital gave me a healthy vibe and apparently has some amazing food. Overall, Vermont makes me feel like it would be an easier location to figure out how to thrive socially. I get excited about the prospects of skiing and hiking.
Cons: Burlington is small, which means its charm might wear off once I've done everything there is to do in the city. Although I might fall more in love with the location since its kind of a homey place. Small city might mean limited patient diversity. Unsure about how flexible this program might be to tailor the training to my interests. As compared to San Mateo, therapy training appears to be less pronounced in terms of supervision hours provided. Moderately pricey to live here.
