Psych Residency?

[squeakyuk]

How hard is psychiatry residency (and child psych)? It seems like it's less hours than most and there shouldn't be much call for most. Am I wrong in asuming it's one of the easier ones? Any comments on residency?

And if you know from the beginning that you want to do child & adolescent psych, can you make it 5 years over the 6?

Thanks!

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[needinformation]

Psychiatry residency in general is less demanding in terms of time/call than surgery, internal medicine...etc. However, I find that the work is more difficult because it requires a lot of thinking. Thinking hard and physically hard are just two very different type of difficulties. Intern year for me was a breeze. However, starting my out patient clinic and therapy patients made residency harder. I am findind that I become very emotionally involved in my cases, and it has been useful for me to use my own feelings (countertransference) in my work, however, it is just exhausting. My supervisors say that you build up tolerance, so that eventually, I can sit for 8 hours a day, seeing therapy patients hour after hour.
As for child, you can 'fast track' it and apply for fellowship at the beginning of PGY 3 year, and leave after that year to do child, takes five years total. However, some peoplel say that PGY 4 is very useful for consolidating all that you have learned about psychotherapy.

 

[Doc Samson]

Psychiatry residency in general is less demanding in terms of time/call than surgery, internal medicine...etc. However, I find that the work is more difficult because it requires a lot of thinking. Thinking hard and physically hard are just two very different type of difficulties. Intern year for me was a breeze. However, starting my out patient clinic and therapy patients made residency harder. I am findind that I become very emotionally involved in my cases, and it has been useful for me to use my own feelings (countertransference) in my work, however, it is just exhausting. My supervisors say that you build up tolerance, so that eventually, I can sit for 8 hours a day, seeing therapy patients hour after hour.
As for child, you can 'fast track' it and apply for fellowship at the beginning of PGY 3 year, and leave after that year to do child, takes five years total. However, some peoplel say that PGY 4 is very useful for consolidating all that you have learned about psychotherapy.

It can be physically hard too... my PGY-2 year was Q6 in an ED busy enough to ensure that you never got any sleep, which is still less than most med/surg residencies, but then it's much easier to go through your day tired and titrating insulin than it is to go through your day tired and trying to be empathic/trying not to get punched.