WPIC/pitt vs penn???

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korderoy

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one more day to finalize list! still debating between these two, ugh!

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Yeah, I agree.
-I think for location, Penn > WPIC (although this obviously depends upon the person).
-WPIC has more research opportunities, and is generally well-regarded in research.
-I'm interested in child and think that child at WPIC > Penn (although I've heard that CHOP is great for peds, idk how this translates to child psych; it seemed that the residents I met at Penn who were interested in child wanted to go elsewhere for fellowship).
-I think clinically, WPIC may see rare pathology more often (this isn't based on anything factual, just a conversation with a resident).
-I remember the residents at Penn saying that sometimes they leave by 3ish during some of the inpatient months, and that you can leave whenever your work is done, which is nice. I guess the advantage/disadvantage of this depends upon how rigorous you want your training to be.
-The residents at Penn seemed fun, nice and genuinely seemed to enjoy going out and hanging out together. I got the impression that the residents at WPIC were also very nice but maybe moreso a married crowd, more settled, not as into going out (makes sense given the locations).
 
Hi Korderoy-
I agree with GmailQueen in the comparison of the two. It really comes down to what you would prefer - urban v. less urban midwest patient populations, desire to be in a city (Pitt has a desirable cost of living), your marital status, and research/fellowship interests. There is a good possibility you would have to move for child, but I think the research is comparable for both programs unless you have a specific interest/investigator in mind. Both programs have awesome PDs and seem dedicated to resident education.
 
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as a current penn student, i'd have to strongly agree with the program's overall weakness w/ child psych. even the PD would agree and he's a triple-boarder. personally, i really really really liked pitt, and i think in terms of inpt psych beds, there's no contest. also agree w/ pitt having a more "married" feel to it (although many penn residents are married, there's still a good showing of married residents at happy hours, etc)...i think some of this may have to do with where people live...most upenn residents live in either center city or university city/west philly, which makes it easy for everyone to show up for get-togethers regardless of relationship status. i get the impress a lot of married pitt residents have more "suburban" living situations that require a little more active effort to hangout, but this is total speculation on my part. i can say i love penn residents, and all the attendings i've worked with are awesome. if you do end up coming to penn, look up fleisher art memorial: http://www.fleisher.org/?PHPSESSID=441f407ddcdbb057abb43c5a6f6769e7
i only found out about it the last few years here, and am so bitter i didn't know about it earlier! good luck with your decision (i don't think you can make a bad one with those choices).
 
I'm a current Penn resident and I love this program. I didn't interview at Pitt, and don't know much about their program, though it certainly is an impressive department in terms of research output. Penn has a ton of well funded research, there is no shortage of research opportunities for residents. I do think that Pitt probably has higher quality inpatient exposure. But we've also got excellent consult and emergency psychiatry. The wonderful outpatient training and supervision is the true strength of our program.
But beyond just the usual checklist of training opportunities, call, research, etc., my favorite parts of our program are my co-residents, the location (Philadelphia is a great, livable city), and the supportiveness of the program. My fellow residents are some of my best friends, I can count on them for anything both personally and professionally. And I could not have gotten through having twins this year without such supportive PDs and faculty. None of my classmates are from Philadelphia, and none went to med school in Philadelphia, yet the majority will be staying here for fellowships or to get jobs after we graduate, even though they'd have lots of opportunities elsewhere.

Feel free to PM me with questions.
 
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