What do people think of the psychiatry residency at Yale? Is it up there with Cornell, Columbia, MGH/McLean, NYU, and UCLA? I very much like the way the program is set up, with all the research opportunities that are available. Yet it doesn't seem to attract the top residents... Help me, please.
Yale
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I don't know anything about the program, but I assume the reason it wouldn't attract top residents is because New Haven is a bit of a dump. (My impression spending only 30 hours there, so feel free to disagree.)
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new haven is a dump. But lots of people are willing to live in dumps for the sake of good training. I personally was turned off by the attitude of the places and the vibe I got from residents and attendings. I had the least number of people actuallly read my application before the interview itself, and it ddn't strike me as a particularly passionate place. I don't really care what you're passionate about in psychiatry (other than raging 'biologicalism' and denigration of psychotherapy and lifestyle intervention), it can be cross cultural, being a good clinician, being a teacher, being a researcher, healthcare delivery to the less well-off. But i want to see some passion.
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Yale is a terrific place to study, and there would be lots to do that would interest a typical psych resident. For reasons that are not clear to me, it has not recruited the same level of residents and faculty that have gone to the programs you mentioned (Cornell, Columbia, MGH/McLean, NYU, and UCLA). Maybe that leads to a bad vibe, or maybe the vibe hurts the recruiting, or maybe lots of people just prefer to live in big cities, but it's also true that Yale is still Yale and has lots of smart people running around.
I found the residents to be extremely friendly and they spoke very positively about the program. It's hard to judge if they were of the same intellectual caliber as these other top programs but that is the rumor I have heard. I will say that I thought the residents and faculty at the integrated interview were excellent and comparable to any top program in the country.
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Don't know much about the program itself, and I've heard from several that yes, New Haven is a dump, but a place being a dump can present with good learning oppurtunities. For example, Newark NJ is a dump, and there's several patients there with HIV. For an ID doctor that can present as an oppurtunity if you look at it that way. I've known some top rated doctors who went to Newark just to do research on HIV, and the location did help their research.
Several of you should factor in your quality of life for residency. The general location of course is important, but it may be interpreted differently by some.
A deeper question I'd look into is, ok, its a dump...so what kind of patients does this produce? Substance abuse? Lower SES? Higher SES because of the school?
Several of you should factor in your quality of life for residency. The general location of course is important, but it may be interpreted differently by some.
A deeper question I'd look into is, ok, its a dump...so what kind of patients does this produce? Substance abuse? Lower SES? Higher SES because of the school?
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I am a little surprised by all the dissing of Yale here.
As for what kind of patients they see, they see patients from all over Connecticut, not just New Haven. Yes, CT may have the diversity of, say, Switzerland, but it is not just a dumpy town.
There is some cultural life due to the University. The best pizza in the New York metropolitan area (up for debate - possibly Staten Island). Although, pizza should only factor into your rank list so much.
I agree that the interviewers could be a little hot-and-cold. The PD was fabulous, very warm to me. I had one tough interview, but I guess that I had a few of those along the way.
What is so surprising is that I have always heard, from people in and around NYC, that Yale is tops -- one of the best few programs in the country. People who went there love it. So, maybe it's not your cup of tea, but I have heard a lot of great things about it nonetheless -- at least not deserving the overall negative gist that I picked up from this thread.
Also, it's worth noting that they have a ridiculous amount of Everything going on there, and a FANTASTIC child program -- the Yale Child Study Center is where Hillary Clinton took her first job out of Yale Law School, and walk into the place and you will realize that it is head and shoulders above.. at least any of the child places in NYC.
To me, terrific education, ok living situation. Even if it is a 1-1.5 hour train ride from New York City.
As for what kind of patients they see, they see patients from all over Connecticut, not just New Haven. Yes, CT may have the diversity of, say, Switzerland, but it is not just a dumpy town.
There is some cultural life due to the University. The best pizza in the New York metropolitan area (up for debate - possibly Staten Island). Although, pizza should only factor into your rank list so much.
I agree that the interviewers could be a little hot-and-cold. The PD was fabulous, very warm to me. I had one tough interview, but I guess that I had a few of those along the way.
What is so surprising is that I have always heard, from people in and around NYC, that Yale is tops -- one of the best few programs in the country. People who went there love it. So, maybe it's not your cup of tea, but I have heard a lot of great things about it nonetheless -- at least not deserving the overall negative gist that I picked up from this thread.
Also, it's worth noting that they have a ridiculous amount of Everything going on there, and a FANTASTIC child program -- the Yale Child Study Center is where Hillary Clinton took her first job out of Yale Law School, and walk into the place and you will realize that it is head and shoulders above.. at least any of the child places in NYC.
To me, terrific education, ok living situation. Even if it is a 1-1.5 hour train ride from New York City.
I just wanted to add that I got a great impression of Yale and I would not want my comments to be misconstrued. My personal impression was that the residents were extremely outgoing, nice, balanced, and very interested in their work. Definitely a much more positive impression than I have gotten at some other programs.
I too had a great experience on my Yale interview day, although I did get lost in New Haven the night before which was not the best. My interviewers were very responsive and changed my schedule when they thought there was someone in particular I should talk to. New Haven might not be the greatest but for someone like me with a family, it seems more doable then the top programs in major cities.
Speaking of which, does anyone have any thoughts or experience on how family friendly Yale is?
Speaking of which, does anyone have any thoughts or experience on how family friendly Yale is?
