Psych Residency Programs with Good Work Life Balance & Moonlighting opportunities.

[rew2334]

Im applying in a couple months, and am set on psychiatry but was looking for a list of programs that are not toxic, reasonable work hours, and decent places to live that aren't in Nebraska or Alabama. I'm interested in Northeast, Texas, Florida, West Coast. Step2CK of 254, poster presentation, some volunteer work, 1 pub. Some programs I've looked at at Dartmouth, Harvard's VA program, etc. but they seem really hard to get into? I dont know.

In any case, if anyone can give me some recommendations for programs that are chill in decent locations let me know (or DM me ).

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[comp1]

I think looking for chill residencies is an excellent idea. However...you do need to clarify your geography beyond "not the Midwest." That's most important. Remember, this is very likely where you will live for the rest of your life, statistically. The actual residency part is only four years. There's a whole life after that. Sticking with the West Coast, San Mateo has a very chill residency with moonlighting options, or at least did 14 years ago.

 

[B52slinger]

For West Coast, one of my med school friends is a rising PGY-4 at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton and Napa, CA. He reportedly averaged 40 hours/week in PGY-1, 20-30 hours/week in PGY-2 and 30 hours/week in PGY-3 with no overnight call. He had over 10 weeks of total vacation in PGY-2 from all the random holidays off, tons of random Fridays and Mondays off. I don't think it gets easier than that....

 

[djo208]

I went to Montefiore/Einsten in New York for psychiatry residency. Admittedly, it was 11 years ago since I left, but it was quite the opposite of toxic and had a great work-life balance. I mean, it was still a residency, so it was hard and forget about any life during medicine months, but other than that, it was great.

I can also confirm that the program I now work for, Rutgers NJMS, is definitely not toxic and we love our residents. I've actually stayed friends with several graduates who used to be my residents at Rutgers, for what it's worth. Obviously, I'm biased for being faculty, but I think it says something that I get coffee, socialize, and speak with former residents on a regular basis.

 

[rew2334]

I'm from a Texas MD school but I'm from California, and our school rarely matches people into West Coast and I'm guessing it's due to regional bias and West Coast being incredibly competitive as well. But I will apply broadly.Thanks y'all! I also heard that Peoria is a good program as well.

Anyone else have any other recommendations? I'm trying to keep my list mainly to east and west coast & Texas/Colorado. Specifically, anything Northeast i.e. Maine/Vermont/NY/MA/etc , maybe Virginia and North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, California.

> San Mateo has a very chill residency with moonlighting options, or at least did 14 years ago.

Yeah I've heard it's a great program. My understanding is it's also really difficult to get into too.

 

[djo208]

One of my former mentors, Dr. Mary Alice O'Dowd, runs the residency program at Portsmouth Regional Medical Center in New Hampshire. She is brilliant, has many years of experience in CL psychiatry, always seems to know a lot about everything (not just psychiatry), and she is very relaxed and easy to work with--very much the opposite of malignant, so it's worth looking into the program if the location is an option for you. I heard from residents who applied there that the call schedule was pretty sweet, but I don't know the details so you could confirm before quoting me on that. Dr. O'Dowd was the CL program director at Montefiore/Einstein in NYC for many years, so she has a lot of teaching and clinical experience, and her teachings were very influential on how I practice. Just to give a sense of the sorts of non-oppressive/non-malignant/interesting topics she might opine on, I presented with her and some others on the psychological basis of humor and its applications in CL psychiatry some years ago at the ACLP conference (then called the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine).

 

[Sushirolls]

Cleveland Clinic
More than a decade old data

 

[DOswag]

No too far removed from residency in San Antonio. Great city, I was a military resident so I wasn't up to speed on all the moonlighting available but I know many of the civ residents did moonlight. I thought it was a good balance of work and teaching but also not overbearing by any means in regards to hours. There is call but it decreases each year and by 4th year it was super chill with pretty light call that the 4th years got 1st dibs on the schedule and which holiday you worked (I picked Jul 4th to get it knocked out right at the beginning of the years since I had worked christmas or new years more than once prior in residency). San Antonio has lots of great activities, big city top 10 in population in the US. Gets pretty darn hot in the summer but super mild winter, too far south for tornadoes and just far enough inward that with hurricanes we just get some rain so no real major natural disaster stuff to worry about (I lived in OK for med school and spring time was tornado season for sure).

 

[twospadz]

I hear university of riverside psych program in southern California has no call.