Post Your Interview Impressions

[tangents]

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About the below post, I thought you were a pgy I from your other posts...--confused

Cornell: I'm not a big fan of this place, and I feel that I know it well because I'm a medical student there. PD is very smart, but kind of distant and doesn't seem to be genuinely interested in developing the program. Her attitude seems that there's nothing that needs to be improved. But based on my experience there, the inpatient teaching is little to none, and some of the residents are unhappy (one transferred after PGY-III last year because she was so miserable) because relations between residents and faculty are so strained. However, the outpatient supervision is known to be outstanding. That said, Cornell is an uptight place with a long history of psychiatry, but seems to be riding on its reputation. One resident told me to "get out of Cornell.... run while you can" because (according to him) "it's NOT a positive, healthy learning environment."

NYU: Really like this program. PD is bubbly and great and very energizing. Residents seem happy. The diversity and exposure of training at NYU seems hard to beat. Only drawback seems to be that it's very large and sites are so spread out. Wonder if one could get lost in the shuffle....

Mount Sinai: This is my favorite of the NYC programs. Fantastic new chair (Jack Gorman) who's very accessible and involved in the development of the residency program. Specialized units are a plus, and while I was initially skeptical of the months at the Bronx VA, every single resident I spoke with absolutely LOVE the VA experience. Psychiatry's niche at Mount Sinai has traditionally been very neuroscience and biologically oriented (which is only getting stronger.... Gorman has brought in great faculty from Columbia - plus the new head of all research at Mount Sinai is Dennis Charney, another famous psychiatric researcher - a huge advantage for the department). TONS of research opportunites for residents at Mount Sinai either during residency or afterwards. But to complement this, Mount Sinai has a formal agreement with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, so most all of the supervisors in PGY-III are from the Institute which is great for psychodynamic psychotherapeutic training. These supervisors also teach much of the didactics and serve as off-site supervisors during inpatient rotations. (The training director at Cornell told me that Mount Sinai is "stealing" all of her best supervisors!). The curriculum is new and up-to-date, again with the help of new faculty brought in by Jack Gorman. The psychopharm course is taught by a new guy who came from Columbia and used to teach the psychopharm course to the residents there. Residents whom I met there seemed smart, interesting, and fun. Class size is not too big, not too small. Residents feel that they're treated very well and report that the PD (Hirschowitz) and Associate PD (Stewart) are very approachable, supportive, and responsive to residents suggestions. Very interesting patient populations (Upper East Siders and Spanish Harlem). Mount Sinai seems to be a good hybrid of Cornell and NYU. Great supervision and manageable class-size of Cornell, but with the esprit de corps and clinical diversity of NYU (yet not as large and spread out).

Columbia: It's Columbia. Solid training, great research opportunities. More depth than breadth, which can be a good thing. But hypercompetitive among residents (according to people whom I know there), and the PD really turned me off to the place.

 

[sparkle79]

from all your responses i am getting the feeling you can't go wrong in NYC-- good to know 🙂

 

[memserize]

Looks like a lot of us pre-Psych MS4s interviewees are up in this. Has anyone of us been getting calls/letters/emails from programs indicating intrest? I made the rounds in NYC and haven't gotten anything yet, so I was wondering if anyone else had been contacted, and if so, what the communication was like. My curiousity is killing me! You know how it is my fellow future shrinks! 😛

 

[wolf]

Did anyone hear rumors about North shore manhasset closing it's psych inpatient unit? I'm wondering if it's really true or just rumors.

Did anyone rotate or interview at st. Lukes, Robert Wood Johnson (piscataway, NJ), Institute of Living-Harford (ct), Stony Brook, or Cabrini? Any input on these programs will be really helpful. Thanks 🙂

 

[meisteckhart]

Looks like a lot of us pre-Psych MS4s interviewees are up in this. Has anyone of us been getting calls/letters/emails from programs indicating intrest? I made the rounds in NYC and haven't gotten anything yet, so I was wondering if anyone else had been contacted, and if so, what the communication was like. My curiousity is killing me! You know how it is my fellow future shrinks! 😛

Of the NYC programs I interviewed at, I have only gotten a call from Columbia. I did get some feedback from NYU at my 2nd look, but otherwise haven't had any communication initiated by them. I haven't heard at all from Mount Sinai. I didn't apply to Cornell so I can't help you there. From what residents have told me, I wouldn't worry about whether they contact you or not since it varies from program to program and even person to person within programs.

 

[sparkle79]

Of the NYC programs I interviewed at, I have only gotten a call from Columbia. I did get some feedback from NYU at my 2nd look, but otherwise haven't had any communication initiated by them. I haven't heard at all from Mount Sinai. I didn't apply to Cornell so I can't help you there. From what residents have told me, I wouldn't worry about whether they contact you or not since it varies from program to program and even person to person within programs.

I was curious-- how seriously would you take such calls/2nd look feedback etc?

 

[meisteckhart]

I was curious-- how seriously would you take such calls/2nd look feedback etc?

Well, it depends on the communication, but my feeling is that the most you can get from it is that you are on their rank list. They may contact everyone on the list, or they may just contact the people at the top of their list. I doubt, however, they would spend their time contacting you if they weren't going to rank you. My concern has been less on what they mean by it and more on what I say to them. I haven't decided who I'm going to rank first yet, so I dont' know what to say other than "thank you, I enjoyed your program and I'm planning on ranking you highly." Even if I had decided, I'm not about to say "I'm ranking you second or third." You know someone at my school actually told programs that last year. I can't believe she didn't match.

 

[sparkle79]

Well, it depends on the communication, but my feeling is that the most you can get from it is that you are on their rank list. They may contact everyone on the list, or they may just contact the people at the top of their list. I doubt, however, they would spend their time contacting you if they weren't going to rank you. My concern has been less on what they mean by it and more on what I say to them. I haven't decided who I'm going to rank first yet, so I dont' know what to say other than "thank you, I enjoyed your program and I'm planning on ranking you highly." Even if I had decided, I'm not about to say "I'm ranking you second or third." You know someone at my school actually told programs that last year. I can't believe she didn't match.

she didnt match after telling people that she was ranking them 2nd or 3d -- thats not terribly surprising i guess.
you think a school like Columbia would actually call everyone on their list? that seems excessive but who knows, i guess you never know!

 

[emmaizzy]

😳 ok? although i don't expect it, pre match, is there ANYONE who is willing to be honest? there are some important decisions to make. anyone? 😉

 

[tangents]

I think that most of us don't know how to answer this, it is our first time around and we don't know any more than we read here.

I have no idea what it means when someone calls other than they will rank you most likely. I have no idea what is good to say to a PD who calls. I don't think anyone will have any magic answers because each program is different, some don't call at all, or only respond.

 

[meisteckhart]

she didnt match after telling people that she was ranking them 2nd or 3d -- thats not terribly surprising i guess.
you think a school like Columbia would actually call everyone on their list? that seems excessive but who knows, i guess you never know!

Sorry about the not matching comment guys. It was meant more as comic relief, but I failed to think of the fact that it may cause some anxiety. True story, but there was more to it than that. She was matching in Neurology, only ranked 3 programs, and she told each one where they were ranked. So really, not the best strategy for matching. I apologize if it bothered anyone.

As far as a program calling everyone on their list, I'm not saying that that is necessarily the case. I think all I meant to express was that if you did get a call or a letter or whatever, that is a good thing but you shouldn't read too much into it. And if you didn't, you shouldn't assume that the program isn't interested. Good if it happens, means nothing if it doesn't. That is all I meant to say.

 

[prominence]

Did anyone rotate or interview at st. Lukes, Robert Wood Johnson (piscataway, NJ), Institute of Living-Harford (ct), Stony Brook, or Cabrini? Any input on these programs will be really helpful. Thanks 🙂

could someone please reply to this post?

 

[prominence]

bump

 

[Poety]

here are some thoughts about some less talked about psychiatry residency programs (and for good reason!). In my opinion, you should stay away from programs #1, 2, 6, 7, and 8, if at all possible! BUYER BEWARE!!!

1. brookdale hospital medical center: forces applicants to take a mandatory written exam, which is only offered on one test date (no exceptions). based on the exam results, the "top" applicants are invited for an interview. being that their website (or lack of) does not make any indication of this written exam requirement, i was only informed of this exam one week in advance. unfortunately, this date fell on the same day of USMLE Step 2 CS exam, which I had scheduled 5 months previously. this was a blessing in disguise, because brookdale is a garbage city-affiliated hospital, located in a s*itty part of brooklyn.

2. bergen regional medical center: another joke of a program. this is another program which makes applicants fill out a supplemental application, requires another passport picture, and a required written exam. after the exam, there is a 5 minute interview with a chief resident, and a 5 minute interview with the program director. no tour, no lunch. a crappy program for desperate IMGs with visa needs.

3. maine medical center: refuses to grant interviews to IMGs who do not already hold a ECFMG certificate.

4. henry ford medical center: also appears to be very interested to know if an IMG presently holds an ECFMG cerificate.

5. university of maryland: seems like a strong and large program with very nice facilities. however, the residency program seems pretty intense, with call every 4 days during PGY-1. the program sponsors multiple fellowships opportunites for residents who want to remain in baltimore after their residency training. one thing that was a turn-off was that the faculty is very cocky for a second tier program. the program director has a chip on his shoulder, and clearly goes out of his way to put down john hopkins (also located in baltimore) whenever he gets a chance, as well as trash the philly programs. he seems to respect columbia and ucsf, as he did trainig there. he (dr. luber) came off looking like a real ***hole.

6. deleware state hospital program: the program seems very unstable and disorganized. there is currently no residency program director. the residency program coordinator does not reply back to applicant emails, unless she is reminded a second time; u will then only receive a reply back in 4 weeks if you are lucky. she is completely useless as a source of information, as she cannot even state how months of electives are available during PGY-4. this has traditionally been a program that has been a prematch program to IMGs over the last 10 years, which does not surprise me.

7. nymc-westchester: valhalla, ny is a very nice place to live, as well as expensive, which accounts for the high residents' salary. you definitely need a car to travel to the site located in danbury, connecticut (~45 minutes from valhalla). the program is very busy, with anywhere between 6-8 calls per month for PGY-1. the program's residents seem worn down, as there is alot of scutwork. the current residency program director is leaving for the university of colorado.

8. university of virginia roanoke-salem: located in the middle of nowhere, and is a real *itch to travel to due to its remote location. the faculty is very friendly. the program even offers to put you up in a motel, and take you out to dinner with a resident on the previous night of the interview day, which are expense-free for the applicant. however, the program ruins their hospitality by forcing applicants to pay cab fare (~$20) from the morning facility interview to the afternoon facility interview without any compensation. for better or worse, u are required to attend a part-time medicine clinic throughout your residency years (the program does offer a combined medicine-psychiatry residency). this program mostly consists of IMGs with visa needs.

bump this is just funny