For all the 4th year med students finalizing their psychiatry residency applications, I just wanted to put in a good word for the University of Arizona South Campus program. I'm a 2nd year resident in this program and I couldn't be happier. I stumbled across this gem during my interview season which included everything from the academic powerhouses, to small-town community based programs. I completed my medical school at the University of Washington, which has an excellent psychiatry program, but I chose U of A South Campus over this and many other more 'prestigious' programs because it offers a unique balance of academic and community-based training, as well as great people, and great recreation in sunny Tucson, AZ.
What really stood out to me about the program is that it's relatively small (6 residents per year) and in a community-based hospital (Banner University (of Arizona) Medical Center - South), yet offers the academic resources associated with being within a department of the University of Arizona. The atmosphere is casual, relaxed, personable, and supportive, yet there remains the intellectual curiosity and academic opportunities that many community-based programs seemed to lack. Despite being a fairly new program (~8 years) we're recruiting strong residents (our intern class scored >90th percentile on the PRITE (standardized psychiatry residency exam)) and we're building a cohesive faculty consisting of many graduates of the program (a sign of how much we love it here). Despite being a smaller hospital, we see excellent psychopathology as one of the few Level 1 (involuntary) evaluating agencies in the region. The consensus is that residents leave this program prepared to confidently practice anywhere.
As for Tucson, if you haven't been here, come check it out. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the desert has to offer. Surrounded by mountains, there's tons of outdoor recreation and enough sunshine that you can be active 12 months a year (or 10 months if you melt in the heat 🙂). After my interview, I came back for a week of vacation just to enjoy the hiking and awesome winter weather. With the University of Arizona in the center of town, there are also plenty of restaurants, breweries, and a small but eclectic downtown scene.
Having been here for over a year now, I'm still loving it. Great program; Great people; Great city. If it sounds at all like your kind of program, I highly encourage you to add it to your interview plans. You can make it an efficient trip by checking out the other U of A Psychiatry program as well, which is part of the same department but has a primarily VA-based inpatient experience (I'm biased, but I prefer South Campus 🙂). Ultimately, you already chose a great specialty and for the most part, you can't go wrong with psychiatry residency programs. That said, I really do think U of A South Campus is something special... Hope to see you here this interview season!
-Derek
What really stood out to me about the program is that it's relatively small (6 residents per year) and in a community-based hospital (Banner University (of Arizona) Medical Center - South), yet offers the academic resources associated with being within a department of the University of Arizona. The atmosphere is casual, relaxed, personable, and supportive, yet there remains the intellectual curiosity and academic opportunities that many community-based programs seemed to lack. Despite being a fairly new program (~8 years) we're recruiting strong residents (our intern class scored >90th percentile on the PRITE (standardized psychiatry residency exam)) and we're building a cohesive faculty consisting of many graduates of the program (a sign of how much we love it here). Despite being a smaller hospital, we see excellent psychopathology as one of the few Level 1 (involuntary) evaluating agencies in the region. The consensus is that residents leave this program prepared to confidently practice anywhere.
As for Tucson, if you haven't been here, come check it out. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the desert has to offer. Surrounded by mountains, there's tons of outdoor recreation and enough sunshine that you can be active 12 months a year (or 10 months if you melt in the heat 🙂). After my interview, I came back for a week of vacation just to enjoy the hiking and awesome winter weather. With the University of Arizona in the center of town, there are also plenty of restaurants, breweries, and a small but eclectic downtown scene.
Having been here for over a year now, I'm still loving it. Great program; Great people; Great city. If it sounds at all like your kind of program, I highly encourage you to add it to your interview plans. You can make it an efficient trip by checking out the other U of A Psychiatry program as well, which is part of the same department but has a primarily VA-based inpatient experience (I'm biased, but I prefer South Campus 🙂). Ultimately, you already chose a great specialty and for the most part, you can't go wrong with psychiatry residency programs. That said, I really do think U of A South Campus is something special... Hope to see you here this interview season!
-Derek
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