USC psych

[JMC_MarineCorps]

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Okay, if you were setting up 4th year clerkships and had to choose b/w:

1. consult psych

2. emergency psych

3. inpatient psych

4. forensic psych

which one would you pick and why?


They all sound cool.


Also, my plan is to also do a neurology rotation there...should this be done before or after? Does it matter?

Finally, does anyone have any thoughts as to why there were 4 spots unfilled in the match this year?

Thanks,

JMC

 

[sga430]

being a county facility i am sure ER psych would be a safe bet on a good experience.

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

being a county facility i am sure ER psych would be a safe bet on a good experience.

stands to reason that you're spot on sga, appreciate it...just figured everything there would be fairly decent and worthwhile.

I'm still trying to gather as much info as I can about psych since its a relatively sudden interest as of my psych clerkship a couple months ago. I really have no clue as to what emphasis would peak my interest most - although EM (as a career) was my first interest - I'm just trying to keep an open mind.

I read in 'FA for the Match' that psych has the lowest rating wrt career satisfaction among physicians...apparently, that's psychiatrists answering that they are relatively unsatisfied with their career choice. Can anyone speak to this? They cited the article and I can go look it up if need be.

Also, just came off a rotation where my attending would like to playfully jab that psych has the highest rate of suicide among physicians. One time he and another attending started rattling off psychiatrists that they knew of that in fact had taken their lives. I really found this to be quite ironic. Anybody know anything about this? Folklore, urban legend, or worst yet, accurate?

Seems unlikely to me, but I guess anything is possible...thought I'd try to qualify this.

 

[atsai3]

I read in 'FA for the Match' that psych has the lowest rating wrt career satisfaction among physicians...apparently, that's psychiatrists answering that they are relatively unsatisfied with their career choice. Can anyone speak to this? They cited the article and I can go look it up if need be.

Based on data from the Community Tracking Study, psychiatrists are a middle of the road bunch when it comes to career satisfaction:

Table 3: Comparisons across specialties for expressing "very satisfied" on survey:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/162/14/1577/TABLEIOI10404T3

Table 5: Comparisons across specialties for expressing "very dissatisfied" on survey:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/162/14/1577/TABLEIOI10404T5

Cheers
-AT.

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

Based on data from the Community Tracking Study, psychiatrists are a middle of the road bunch when it comes to career satisfaction:

Table 3: Comparisons across specialties for expressing "very satisfied" on survey:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/162/14/1577/TABLEIOI10404T3

Table 5: Comparisons across specialties for expressing "very dissatisfied" on survey:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/162/14/1577/TABLEIOI10404T5

Cheers
-AT.

Whoa...you took the time to look all that up; the least I can do is have a look and see for myself at the expense of your effort.

Much appreciated AT.

 

[meelu]

I went to USC for medical school and I did 10 weeks in the Psych ER and thought it was a great learning experience. I think in terms of exposure to the residents (usually 2-3 working there), medical students (2-3) and attendings (I think Drs Barker, Campagneau, Signorelli, Uy and Ehrlich all still work there but I could be wrong).
I didn't do consults, inpatient or forensics. I heard forensics is good (from a fellow resident of mine now who also went to usc for med school) as well but in terms of exposure I don't think you can go wrong if you do ER.
Prepare to work from 8-5, with a lot of exposure to cramped county conditions and a lot of substance abuse + psychopathology combined.

The staff there is entertaining as well, as you will find out.🙂

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

I went to USC for medical school and I did 10 weeks in the Psych ER and thought it was a great learning experience. I think in terms of exposure to the residents (usually 2-3 working there), medical students (2-3) and attendings (I think Drs Barker, Campagneau, Signorelli, Uy and Ehrlich all still work there but I could be wrong).
I didn't do consults, inpatient or forensics. I heard forensics is good (from a fellow resident of mine now who also went to usc for med school) as well but in terms of exposure I don't think you can go wrong if you do ER.
Prepare to work from 8-5, with a lot of exposure to cramped county conditions and a lot of substance abuse + psychopathology combined.

The staff there is entertaining as well, as you will find out.🙂

appreciate your input, that makes 2 for ER psych...I think that's what I'll request then.


Thanks again

 

[luft]

4 unfilled spots at USC? I hadn't heard. I interviewed there and didn't even rank it. I had a bad feeling about the program, even if the directors were very enthusiastic. I just got the impression that even the fourth year residents were burnt out. I never saw any residents below 4th years. It is a huge hospital and there are tons of patients and everyone agreed that the workload was very heavy. One of the 4th year residents even told me that when he leaves at night he drives home as fast as he can and never looks back (until he has to come back again). They were also recruiting very hard. I got many invitations to various functions that the program was holding. It felt like they were a little desperate. Having said that, go see for yourself what the program is like. I only got to see it that one day and may be completely off.

Just an afterthought, but it could be just all the change in the program currently that make people shy away. It can be risky to sign on when a program is in flux. Kind of a gamble. People might have been wary to rank the program high because of that.