Request for opinion

[nitwit]

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.I am an IMG from London (UK) with decent scores and a pass in Step 3. As other people had warned I did not receive any interviews from places like NYU/Columbia and so on.

Among the programs I have interviewed at I have mixed feelings about SUNY downstate. Even before I went for an interview I knew they like IMGs with high scores. I had met a medical student from downstate while interviewing at another program who told me it was a good program in a not so nice area. Reading the archives at student doctor I got an impression that it was not popular among the AMGs and learned about the incident at Kings County Hospital. In contrast to this they are ranked #30 in the NIMH rankings.

In the interview I was impressed by some of the research they do in schizophrenia and geriatrics. They do provide exposure to patients from varied backgrounds and a full range of diagnostic categories and treatment modalities. The didactic curriculum seemed reasonable.

I was a bit surprised by some of the questions asked in the interview and felt a bit intimidated. I also felt they had read my application well and knew my CV in detail. During the day I met one resident for lunch who told me that the only drawback they had to their program was the lack of AMGs. I did not see any of the facilities and was shown the new SUNY downstate building from outside. They told me that residents have very few rotations at Kings County Hospital.

In some ways it would be an ideal program-it is in NY where I want to be and it has good opportunities of research. On the downside it is not very strong in psychotherapy, the interviewers were intimidating and I did not get a chance to see any facilities or meet any other residents.

I am aware that many AMGs avoid certain programs just because they have too many IMGs. I do not know if they tend to avoid SUNY downstate just because of this reason or some other detail I am not aware of.

Can anyone help me with whether I should choose this program?

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[whopper]

The higher prestige programs tend to take more AMGs than IMGs, though that should not be a strongest indicator of whether or not you should choose to go or not to a program.

Other factors to consider are: will you like living in the area, the call schedule--is it tough? If so, is it mostly scut-work? Do not shoot down a program for a demanding work schedule if the work is supportive and you will be taught well. If though most of the work is scut & menial, I'd hold it against the program.
The quality of the teaching, your clinical & research interests, the diversity of the patient population are also things to consider.

I believe in the termination of residents thread, I mentioned some commonalities between programs that I've heard or directly seen were malignant. 3 of them you seemed to mention in your post,
When a program did not let me talk to the residents in the program, I noticed that as a possible marker for a malignant program. IF the residents are happy, programs usually want you to talk to them, so they can tell of their positive experiences within the program. IF not, something could be going on there.

Another 2 red flags were that they didn't show you the facilites, and that you felt a bit intimidated.

I'd factor that in with what other program's you'd saw & cross compare.

Best source of advice is if a resident from that program could give you an inside scoop. I'd request someone to PM you. You might get someone to do that. I'd trump anything said from someone from the program over myself, provided that you feel that person's advice is sincere.