Psych programs with funny residents?

[Ludwig2000]

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If I’m being honest, then a major factor besides clinical education is the dynamic between myself and my future co-residents. I’m looking for a place where that dynamic includes:

1) riffin’ off each other
2) makin’ jokes
3) laughin’ at jokes (crackin’ up)

And I don’t mean the residents are “funny” because they show each other mainstream memes or use coffee mugs with nerd puns. I’m talkin’ legitimately funny, like bust up laughin’ funny. Any ideas??

 

[whackamole21]

Not sure if you’re serious...There’s a ranking for this on Doximity. Select the “resident laugh-o-meter” filter.

In all seriousness some of the best advice I received on the trail last year is that it’s impossible and useless to judge a program based on how well residents appear to get along on your 1-2 day snapshot there.
Each class is a cohort of random people thrown together and some classes will be better friends than others, and that you won’t be able to judge on an interview. Rank based off of your personal priorities and go from there.

That said, the dudes at my Rush interview dinner were hilarious last year but it didn’t affect my ranking in any way.

 

[Monocles]

This is kind of an impossible thing to measure.. and even if you were to go to the objectively "funniest" residency, by sheer luck you could end up with an entire class of people with zero humour. :\

 

[Taddy Mason]

Humor is subjective and in Medicine people’s tastes tend to run fairly conservative and mainstream in this area, even in psychiatry.

 

[Dharma]

N= 1. The vibe at my program has changed quite a bit over these past 3+ years. We have some classes that are a blast to be around- can easily joke with each other, take a few shots here and there, not worry about being too PC or take ourselves too seriously. Then there are those whom seem offended by anything and simply love to complain, i.e. folks to be extra cautious around and keep at arm's length.

I can see this being quite random given the nature of The Match and the mix of people that end up at a particular locale.

Bottom line, I would advise against using "the feels" from the current residents as a metric in determining rank unless malignancy is a concern. I can tell that once our class graduates, the overall vibe is likely to change considerably. May be the same at other places as well, for better or worse.

 

[Crayola227]

 

[tellme_areyoufree]

Well *I* like to think my dad jokes and puns are hilarious. Does that count?

 

[3lefts]

I’m a University of Utah resident. Wouldn’t consider myself particularly funny but I’ve probably laughed more since coming here than the whole rest of my life combined.

 

[meow1985]

If I’m being honest, then a major factor besides clinical education is the dynamic between myself and my future co-residents. I’m looking for a place where that dynamic includes:

1) riffin’ off each other
2) makin’ jokes
3) laughin’ at jokes (crackin’ up)

And I don’t mean the residents are “funny” because they show each other mainstream memes or use coffee mugs with nerd puns. I’m talkin’ legitimately funny, like bust up laughin’ funny. Any ideas??

I'm pretty funny when I'm not a nervous wreck. 😉

That said, my class is not very close and I can only do the things you mentioned with a couple of people. In fact, in recent memory *every* class at my program has had a very different culture. My class is disconnected with most people doing their own thing. The class below mine has had the "sleepaway camp" effect, probably because they're all from far away and didn't know anyone else in town when they came: they're all fast friends, have tons of inside jokes, and go out together on the weekends. The class above me liked to sing kumbaya, do crafts, and validate each other's feelings. I think you can be funny and dorky in all the ways you mentioned if you're close with people. Otherwise you risk people not getting your humor or getting offended.

 

[Ludwig2000]

So, is it true that there is just no way to get any sense of the types of personalities that will end up in your cohort?

 

[meow1985]

So, is it true that there is just no way to get any sense of the types of personalities that will end up in your cohort?

Probably not, BUT if the residents in the other classes seem to get along and be at ease with each other, you can reasonably infer that like will attract like with future classes.

In my program, every class has a different vibe, but almost nobody is apathetic, unfriendly, or lacking in individual quirkiness. And even my class is more fragmented simply because we have a few strong, polarizing personalities and some people are just less a part of things due to other commitments.

 

[kopftonmd]

You should spend some time with some humanities people (faculty, PhD students, music students, et al).

Seriously, the time I've spent with non-medical people has convinced me that med school takes already-boring people and beats the rest of the fun out of them. Versus those music/humanities grad students: I laugh more with them in an hour than I do in a week with my med school buddies.

Plus it's always good to expand your circle.

 

[birchswing]

You really like to drop g's so I can tell you are a really humorous type of guy.

There's actually a pass code residents use to let applicants know how much rough-housin', ribbin', joshin', crackin' jokes, etc., is permissible.

The pass code is, "Can I let my hair down here?"

If they look confused, you've passed part 1 of the test.

Then you say, "But really, can I let my hair down here?"

If they say something like, "Yeah, I guess," you know you're in one of the most rip-roarin', fun-time-havin', rock-and-rollin', give-and-takin' residencies this side of the Allegheny.

 

[FlowRate]

I don't know much about other psych residencies. We don't tend to actually spend all that much time together when compared to other specialty residents. Call is usually as the only psychiatrist in the hospital and 3rd/4th year are largely solo affairs. That's not to say that having fun residents isn't important, just that it's not as vital as in other specialties.

 

[psych_0]

I don't know much about other psych residencies. We don't tend to actually spend all that much time together when compared to other residency programs. Call is usually as the only psychiatrist in the hospital and 3rd/4th year are largely solo affairs. That's not to say that having fun residents isn't important, just that it's not as vital as in other specialties.

I would disagree. My co-residents and I get along very well, hang out outside of the hospital plenty, and have a very active "funny" group chat that allows us to laugh about the every day stresses/annoyances of the job & administration. Many of the other PGY classes have a similar thread, albeit less active than our class.

 

[cara susanna]

Sacred Heart Hospital. Although since it was the internal medicine and surgery residencies I'm not sure if that extends to the psychiatry residency, but the attending Dr. Clock seemed pretty funny.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Ludwig2000]

Update: UCLA psych has some hilarious residents who had me bustin’ up good

 

[Madden007]

My co-residents were funny looking. Does that count?

 

[psychapp121]

My co-residents were funny looking. Does that count?

ditto this hahah

 

[comp1]

I love this question! I wish more applicants asked for this... Yeah, medicine is conservative, I guess, but I do think psychiatry can be a little freer, at least on the inpatient side.