Does anyone have info about this program? How is it? I read that the hospital is haunted and admittedly, that freaked me out. O-o
St Elizabeth Wasington DC
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This is second hand information, but from talking to DC psychiatry residents, the hierarchy is generally: George Washington > Georgetown > Howard > St. Elizabeth's.
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interesting how this hierarchy is I agree on the last two, St. Elizabeth tends to be an IMG magnate, wonder why GW is ranked higher to georgetown?
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I have no idea if this program is good or not. I can tell you this. From a forensic psychiatry perspective, this hospital is historic. The reason why is it's at a nexus where cases can lead to federal precedents (not state) because it's in a federal jurisdiction, and there's been several landmark cases that occurred at St. Elizabeth's.
That doesn't mean the program is good. Ancora hospital in NJ is the home of a landmark case and it's an old, beaten down, old-school architecture (in a bad way that leads to unsafe conditions) non-academic institution.
The so-called "Product Test" in determining if one was not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) met it's tests at St. E's. The test was basically that if the defendant committed a crime and there was some connection to mental illness the person got an NGRI. So if a depressed guy hires a hooker for oral sex to ease his depression and he's arrested for it, he could claim NGRI, if he robbed a bank stating that the money would've helped his depression he could've gotten an NGRI. Doctors and St. E's argued that since antisocial PD was a disorder, it should merit an NGRI for those who committed crimes and had it. That's when the judicial system pretty much had to admit the Product Test did not work and got rid of it.
This is a generalized statement. The pros/con in working in a long-term facility is you're basically becoming one of the old-school psychiatrists from the asylum days. These people are usually the type that do not get better (e.g. Clozapine-resistant), or they are trapped because they may have even gotten better but no judge will let the person out anytime soon if at all because the crime they committed was so horrific.
So pro: you will likely get good at using Clozapine, seeing rare cases quite commonly such as benign ethnic neutropenia and it's issues with psychiatric treatment, difficult and challenging cases that will test your ability as a doc if you're up to it, but con: you will also likely work with bad doctors, higher risk areas for violence, and be in the general malaise of being in an state institution where more people should be giving a damn than is happening that is being caused by several factors such as the bad docs making pretty much just as much as the good docs and the good docs being rewarded for their hard work with more work while the bad docs get less because the administration can't rely upon them or fire them.
That doesn't mean the program is good. Ancora hospital in NJ is the home of a landmark case and it's an old, beaten down, old-school architecture (in a bad way that leads to unsafe conditions) non-academic institution.
The so-called "Product Test" in determining if one was not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) met it's tests at St. E's. The test was basically that if the defendant committed a crime and there was some connection to mental illness the person got an NGRI. So if a depressed guy hires a hooker for oral sex to ease his depression and he's arrested for it, he could claim NGRI, if he robbed a bank stating that the money would've helped his depression he could've gotten an NGRI. Doctors and St. E's argued that since antisocial PD was a disorder, it should merit an NGRI for those who committed crimes and had it. That's when the judicial system pretty much had to admit the Product Test did not work and got rid of it.
This is a generalized statement. The pros/con in working in a long-term facility is you're basically becoming one of the old-school psychiatrists from the asylum days. These people are usually the type that do not get better (e.g. Clozapine-resistant), or they are trapped because they may have even gotten better but no judge will let the person out anytime soon if at all because the crime they committed was so horrific.
So pro: you will likely get good at using Clozapine, seeing rare cases quite commonly such as benign ethnic neutropenia and it's issues with psychiatric treatment, difficult and challenging cases that will test your ability as a doc if you're up to it, but con: you will also likely work with bad doctors, higher risk areas for violence, and be in the general malaise of being in an state institution where more people should be giving a damn than is happening that is being caused by several factors such as the bad docs making pretty much just as much as the good docs and the good docs being rewarded for their hard work with more work while the bad docs get less because the administration can't rely upon them or fire them.
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I'm not sure exactly, but as I recall, Georgetown is more open to IMGs/DOs, so perhaps is has something to do with it?
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I don't think any of the DC programs are as good as you'd hope for a metropolitan area.
Johns Hopkins to the north and UVa and Richmond to the south are much, much better programs.
If ever there was an institution that thinks more highly of itself than it even remotely deserves it's Georgetown. Which is essentially an exhorbitantly overpriced Jesuit school with a good law school for wealthy fraternity and sorority kids of the mid south, who are as culturally inept as they are overrated in intelligence.
Johns Hopkins to the north and UVa and Richmond to the south are much, much better programs.
If ever there was an institution that thinks more highly of itself than it even remotely deserves it's Georgetown. Which is essentially an exhorbitantly overpriced Jesuit school with a good law school for wealthy fraternity and sorority kids of the mid south, who are as culturally inept as they are overrated in intelligence.
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I agree DC doesn't offer much
