program suggestions in the east coast

[Elle726]

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[notdeadyet]

A 216 is about average for psychiatry. I wouldn't sweat it. A 3.0 is fine too. pre-clinical grades are about the lowest of the criteria used to judge applicants. You're doing well on your clinical rotations, which is important, and you sound like you can get some good LORs, which is critical.

What you really need is a mentor. The questions you're asking a bunch of strangers on the Internet who don't know you is to help find a program that's a good fit for your interests and abilities, which is tough to do. If you managed to get a A in psychiatry and gave a good impression where you rotated, like you mention, you should have the names of a few psychiatrists you worked with. Hit them up with an email, tell them you're interested in pursuing psychiatry as a specialty and are in need of some advice. Unless you're attending a particularly noxious med school, odds are you'll find most psychiatrists are very accommodating of requests like this. You can also address this to your instructor of record for the psychiatry clerkship (who tend to be big proponents of the field) or contact your psych student interest group to ask for some sympatico psychiatrists.

Best of luck!

 

[notdeadyet]

Does anyone have any ideas of programs that I can realistically look at? Is there like a list of what programs are good and what are their strengths/weaknesses? I keep hearing everyone say MGH/columbia but I don't know how people came to this conclusion that these programs were good.

Personally, I'd figure out if I wanted to pursue psychiatry first. Once I was pretty sure, I'd try to envision what about it inspired me and what I eventually wanted to do with my life and (most importantly) where. I'd then do some navel gazing to figure out what kind of learner I was and what sort of things would make me happy in a program.

Once you know all of these things, you can ask around to mentors and look at things like SDN's (sadly dwindling) residency review threads. You get some great info about specific programs this way.

You keep hearing everyone say MGH and Columbia because these are two of the most famous programs. But it's kind of like saying that you hear a Ferrari is a great car. I'm sure it's a fine, fine automobile for some people, but I'd hate having one and my dream car is more along the lines of an old Mustang GTO.

So figure out what you want first before asking others to give recommendations. Choosing the right residency is a very personal decision. And with you having a decent Step 1 and decent grades and some fine LORs, you'll have many, many options to choose from and if you keep an open mind will likely find something to your liking.

Best of luck...

 

[Elle726]

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[MiddleRoad]

I don't know how much it would affect me to ask my attendings where I did my psychiatry rotation because I did the rotation at the core hospital for the psychiatry residency at my school. I go to a state school where there are not many residency options in psychiatry (only 2 in the whole state) and many people by default end up going to do their residency with the school. I don't know if stating that I have an interest in leaving will affect my standing with the program because I am pretty sure that if I say i want to go there, i will get in. Most of the spots are usually filled with people who graduated from the same school. When I was rotating there I heard residents gossiping about the candidates and trying to "guess" who would stay and who would leave. So I am guessing that maybe its not something that is encouraged to talk about openly? Like I feel it could maybe backfire if I do for some reason decide to stay.

This a valid consideration. I had a similar situation as an MS3. I used SDN reviews and spoke to MS4s who matched at outside programs to get a sense of the places I wanted to apply to. Applying to many programs and then managing/canceling the interviews you get is relatively painless.

 

[splik]

As a US student, a step 1 score of 216 will not hold you back, except at the most competitive programs (and even there your clerkship grades and other markers of academic ability are more important). There are tons of great programs on the east coast and you would probably get interviews at most of them assuming you don't have any red flags on your application.

BU does have the option to do an MPH but for whatever reason it is one of those programs that the feeling on the interview trail is 'avoid' and they did not fill last year. The school of public health is good, but they are not as equipped as some other places at training physicians in public health. MGH/McLean and Cambridge Health Alliance in that area both have residents who are doing/have done MPHs or other degrees at Harvard during residency, and they allow you to take classes during your PGY-4 year at any of the Harvard schools. MGH has the most established global psychiatry program in the country if that's your interest. I am sure Longwood would allow you to do classes at Harvard School of Public Health (its next door) during PGY-4 but I am don't know any Longwood residents currently doing this Also unaware of specific funding for MPH at Longwood.

Mount Sinai has a global health residency track and they complete MPH coursework in global health as part of it. However, Mount Sinai does not have a school of public health and you complete your requirements in the evening. They have Craig Katz who has done lots of work in disaster psychiatry internationally, but also the response to the psychiatric consequences of 9/11 (still ongoing).

Emory has a strong MPH program, and it is possible to take classes in the schools there as a resident (presumably from PGY-3 or 4) so you could probably start working towards an MPH as a resident there. They have the strength of the CDC and some good global health work if you are interested in that. If you are interested in violence, trauma, or aspects of urban underseved populations this would be the place to go.

Duke has a global health residency track as well which includes completing an MPH (and it was possible at least to do the MPH at UNC which has a much stronger public health school than Duke).

Hopkins has arguably the best school of public health in the world (at least research and connection wise, probably less so for teaching). They have a psychiatric epidemiology fellowship, and so there are always a few who do an MPH after residency. It has probably the strongest public mental health work on the east coast. Hopkins is an acquired taste for psychiatry, and Baltimore definitely is. I do think that Hopkins is underrated for those reasons despite excellent clinical training.

If you are interested in public/health policy then George Washington is very strong on that. However I am unaware of funding to do an MPH and I would not recommend doing an MPH there. It is not the most highly regarded program, they do not have the much research, but they still manage to attract strong residents.

Columbia has an excellent MPH program, and they are strong on psychiatric epidemiology if that is your thing. I don't know if there is a formal MPH opportunity.

Yale has a global health track and a few international opportunities, but they are in their infancy in the regard. You can take classes at any of the schools from PGY-3 or PGY-4. There is no school of public health, but there is an MPH program - am not sure about funding for the MPH however.

 

[MDchouette]

Longwood will allow you to get an MPH. When I interviewed, they mentioned at least one resident who has done this in the past.

 

[Elle726]

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[Cinnameg]

Most of the spots are usually filled with people who graduated from the same school. When I was rotating there I heard residents gossiping about the candidates and trying to "guess" who would stay and who would leave. So I am guessing that maybe its not something that is encouraged to talk about openly? Like I feel it could maybe backfire if I do for some reason decide to stay.

I'll second this as a valid concern. I ended up going to my school's dean's office -- where we happened to have a psychiatrist in one of the administrative positions -- for adivce, because when I asked psychiatrists from my medical school's program they were very focussed on emphasizing the strengths of staying at my medical school's program. Which, granted, is an excellent program, but I wanted to consider all options. Find a psychiatrist who isn't involved in recruitment at your medical school's program, if you can . . . and if you can't, SDN is pretty helpful.

 

[Cinnameg]

Longwood will allow you to get an MPH. When I interviewed, they mentioned at least one resident who has done this in the past.

Longwood also really likes interest in public health and would encourage someone coming in with that interest. There are more than a few of us who arrived at the program already having MPH's.

 

[Elle726]

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[atsai3]

I feel like my whole school is like gossip central specially when it comes to residencies. Most of the spots are filled with people from my own school and I feel like the whole thing about people speculating who will match where is catty... although I have felt that way about my entire medical school existence. Island effect sucks. I hope residency will be different...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but...

What do you mean by travel? Like psychiatry-related travel? volunteer work? I am involved with an organization that makes weekly trips to Haiti. They have a clinic there. I felt it was a life changing experience and I would definitely go back! But that is not really psychiatry related though.

PIH has a new fellowship geared towards developing capacity for mental health interventions in Haiti and Rwanda:
http://www.pih.org/news/entry/q-a-with-pihs-new-mental-health-care-fellows/

 

[Elle726]

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