Would you stay at your home program?

[Psychelle]

I'm curious how many of you are considering staying at your med school's residency program. Originally I wasn't even considering staying here as my husband and I are from the west coast and living in the deep south has been... interesting. I was pretty much looking at every area of the country but here. But the more time I've spent on clinical rotations, the more I have come to like the program here! Again and again I've been impressed with the quality of the teaching, the kindness and humanity of our attendings, and the very pleasant and fun residents I've met. Long story short, my home program is now one of my top choices!

I won't know for sure until I head out on interviews, but there certainly is some comfort in knowing how the program here works, having had talked to a lot of the residents, being familiar with the hospital, etc. My husband has a great job here and we own a house, so there are a lot of pluses to staying. I'm sure a place like Philadelphia or Chicago or anywhere else is great, but do we really want to move there for four years just because we can? I do feel that there is inherent value in living/training in different places, but I started to wonder as I looked at my 20th random Midwest program if I wasn't being a bit silly.

I'm lucky in that the program here has been incredibly supportive towards me and the other applicants from our class. I really feel like they want us to stay (it's nice that there are only four of us so there are plenty of spots) and this has made me a bit more relaxed about how many programs I'm looking at. (Though I'm a bit below average so I did app to about 25 programs just in case.)

So I guess I'm just wondering... does your home program appeal to you? Does it feel like you have a good chance of matching there if you want to? Has the department been supportive of you as applicants? Just want to get some other perspectives.

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[Saluki]

At the time that I did my core clerkships, I wasn't considering psychiatry, so I did my rotations at the county hospital rather than my medical school. I'm going to try a rotation or two at my school my last year and see how I feel.

A part of me likes the idea of a fresh start, but at the same time, the hospital is comfortable for me, and the area has really grown on me.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I really like my home program, and the area around here is OK but not great. The attendings are fantastic, the residents seem really cool, and the schedule is about as good as it can get. The downsides are that I'm not sure I want to stay here, and I wonder if the training might be a little too cushy (is that possible?). So I'm seriously considering it, but I'm also seriously considering the other programs I applied to. I'll see how I feel after interviews.

 

[whopper]

wonder if the training might be a little too cushy (is that possible?). So I'm seriously considering it, but I'm also seriously considering the other programs I applied to.

Mentioned this in a few other threads. There are advantages to staying-you can take advantages of the connections you've already established, you're familiar and a known quantity to others, you probably already have friends &/or family in the area.

The disadvantages-as mentioned I think by Kugel (one of the attendings?), this can lead to "intellectual incest." Other doctors will be able to teach you more things, and staying with the same group will lead to decreased oppurtunities to get more perspectives. I can tell you that moving from South NJ to Cincinnati and working in the U. of Cincinnati fellowship has exposed me to several things I never considered (nor do I think my attendings at my old program considered.) E.g. the use of Loxitane since it has some properties as an atypical antipsychotic discovered long after it was released as a typical (and for that reason is still categorized as a typical), the pushing of the Depakote level to 150 vs 125, lithium augmentation for Clozaril patients being done on a regular basis (my residency program did not have a long term care facility), the use of the BRPS on patients on a daily basis, DBT teams working for Borderline patients on a 24/7 basis to prevent re-hospitalization etc.

As for me, the conflict to stay in the area or go back home to NJ has weighed on me for some time. My family's back in NJ, the cost of living there is terrible, there isn't a good forensic psychiatric infrastructure, while over here--there's a great infrastructure, the cost of living is much less, but I established myself much better in NJ since I was there for 4 years.

 

[DebDynamite]

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[OldPsychDoc]

I would suggest that you cross reference this thread, also running currently.

There is a LOT to be said for staying where you are happy, for staying connected to those supports which give your life some measure of balance and sanity.