2013-2014 Psychiatry Interview Reviews

[StECT]

OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University)

1. Communication: Email. Provided plenty of dates to choose from.

2. Accommodation & Food: None provided. I stayed at a hotel downtown that cost about $125 per night with taxes. On the interview day, the program takes care of all three meals for you. Breakfast was plain, lunch was sumptuous, and dinner was Italian!

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The day started off with a formal introduction given by a consecution of people. I believe the order was program coordinator, program director and chief resident. This was followed by four half-hour interviews split by the lunch with residents. While I'm generally not one to bash programs, I must say that like some of the previous reviewers here, I was completely put off by the PD's attitude too. I have traveled hundreds of miles and spent hundreds of dollars getting to the interview. Couldn't he find ten minutes to read my application? Or be interested enough to refer me to someone who might know the answer to some of my questions about the program that he didn't?

4. Program Overview: It is a university program on paper and a community program in reality. They cater to a large rural population. It also definitely felt like one of those places where service trumped over education. I accepted their invitation to attend the didactics and found them to be sub-par. The resident participation was also dismal - they seemed either tired or disinterested. Calls are brutal as you cover both VA and University Hospital when you are on call in addition to admissions. In PGY1, you have 12-hour shifts including call twice a week and a 12-hour weekend shift twice a month throughout the year! In PGY2, you have two blocks of night float (also covering both hospitals), and weekend shifts that are 16-24 hours long! In my opinion, it becomes even more irritating during PGY3 since, after your outpatient work during the week, you have to do the 16-24 hours shifts many weekends a year. In PGY4, you are in the backup call pool that covers 2-4 shifts a month. You can train in telepsychiatry here during residency, and like most cities, Portland has a psychoanalytic institute where you can enroll in additional psychodynamic and psychoanalytic courses.

5. Location & Lifestyle: Portland seems to bring out a strong feeling of love or hatred in most people. I, for one, don't like the city as it feels bland to me, but my fiancé, for some reason likes it. He took many boat rides and many photographs while I was busy interviewing. Not sure if he'd feel the same way if we were to live there instead of visit though. Either way, it feels like it would be very hard to fit in here as the city is different from most cities in the country.

6. Program Strengths:
- Unique training in many ways (LGBT, Gender Dysphoria, Intercultural Psychiatry)
- Opportunities to train in telepsychiatry
- Psychoanalytic institute in the city

7. Potential Weaknesses:
- Clinical training might be too unique? Potential difficulties in transitioning the esoteric skills to a different city/population
- Not very academic, too much rural/community focus and the program's clearly stated goal of only training psychiatrists for the state
- Didactics severely lacking in quality
- Intense inpatient work and calls potentially limiting time spent with family/friends depending on one's endurance
- Only 7 out of 8 residents remain in the PGY3 and PGY4 classes because of the previously discussed problem of the program firing the residents
- Difficulty fitting in with the "culture" of Portland
- Having to sing "rain rain go away" most of the year

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[StECT]

UCLA Harbor (University of California, Los Angeles)

1. Communication: Email. Communication felt easy.

2. Accommodation & Food: None provided. I stayed near the beach which was excellent. Food was minimal at best, but it was good.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): It was a pretty short interview day. They started late and ended surprisingly early. It was all good as I was hoping to get more time at the beach anyway. There were also only two interviews for the day - one with the PD and one with a faculty member. I met surprisingly few residents during the entire interview here which, in retrospect, is a little concerning.

4. Program Overview: The best way to describe this program would be that it is a "county" program that is affiliated with UCLA. However, it is a very strong county program as the faculty seem very academically focused, and the population extremely diverse and fairly representative of most county populations in the country. PGY2 is half a day of outpatient and half a day of inpatient work which I thought was pretty cool since if offers you the opportunity to see the same patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings in a continuum of care. One month of this year is also spent in the ER which is a fabulous facility (this is in addition to two months in PGY1). I had the feeling that training here would pretty train you for everything. PGY4 electives can be done at UCLA. Call and work seem to be relatively light. Lots of in-house moonlighting opportunities are available. So, in essence, it becomes almost like the "get paid to take call" system of San Mateo!

5. Location & Lifestyle: Lots of nice beaches nearby where you can live, or if you are so inclined, you can also live in Los Angeles. Weather is "of course" perfect all through the year. There is definitely great food here.

6. Program Strengths:
- Excellent all-round clinical training
- Lots of psychotherapy supervision
- Emphasis on psychodynamics overall
- Faculty seem very dedicated

7. Potential Weaknesses:
- Irregular didactics
- Possibly too much exposure to the underserved population?

 

[StECT]

USC-LAC (University of Southern California)

1. Communication: Email. Easy scheduling.

2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed with a friend. Good breakfast and lunch.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): We were a large group and we were split into two smaller groups - one did the tour while the other did the interviewing. The interviews were extremely low pressure and relaxing which was great because I was dreading doing all the talking after a slightly tiring tour. Lunch was good and the residents seemed genuinely happy.

4. Program Overview: It is a low-key program that seems very diverse in many ways. You get both county and university hospital experience, and also lots of opportunities for research. In fact, it seemed like they were pushing a lot for resident research. The hospitals are busy but the residents have only limited work as the program makes it a point to prioritize education over service. There is tons of supervision including physical supervision when on call!

5. Location & Lifestyle: It's downtown so it comes with the typical "downtown problems" like security but the residents said they felt quite safe. Also, the program is located so centrally that you can live pretty much anywhere in the city and commute.

6. Program Strengths:
- Population diversity
- Lots of supervision
- Opportunities for research

7. Potential Weaknesses:
- The LA traffic that you have to deal with when driving between the sites

 

[StECT]

UCSD (University of California, San Diego)

1. Communication: Email. Very pleasant program coordinator.

2. Accommodation & Food: Stayed with a friend and drove to the interview. Dinner and interview day food were sumptuous.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Introduction followed by interviews with PD, faculty and a resident. It felt like a long day with a lot of breaks but overall the interviews were very low stress and in fact, enjoyable. The program director seemed genuinely nice, and the tour was fun.

4. Program Overview: Seemed like an excellent program although a tad too biological. I knew this going in so it wasn't a surprise for me, although they do offer a comprehensive psychotherapy training curriculum (including brief psychodynamic psychotherapy) so I am sure you can be well-trained in psychotherapy here if you really push for it. You get three hours of supervision every week, two of which are clinical supervision. There is also a psychoanalytic association in the city. There are plenty of opportunities for research, and if you are so inclined, you can even opt for the research track. I'm not so inclined so I didn't pay much attention to the details of that. There is a lot of VA exposure here although I am not sure of the exact divide. The work seems busy, but the residents don't seem overworked at all. Most importantly, they all seemed really happy which is a great sign. They also have an inpatient eating disorders unit.

5. Location & Lifestyle: It's San Diego! Do I need to say more? I've spent countless summers here and loved every one of them.

6. Program Strengths:
- Excellent clinical training and didactics
- Lots of faculty
- Opportunities for research

7. Potential Weaknesses:
- Biological bent

 

[notdeadyet]

Thanks for posting all these thoughts, StECT. It's helpful when folks are willing to share prior to the rank lists.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cosmopolitanboy]

NYPH - Weill Cornell

1. Communication: Email. No issues scheduling. NOTE: Once an interview day is scheduled, it CANNOT be cancelled or modified.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations. Pre-interview mixer, with wine and a Mediterranean spread, at a resident's apartment in The Helmsley Medical Tower (one of three buildings Cornell owns and leases, at a heavily subsidized rate, to all house staff). Fabulous night, with several residents (at least 15) showing up and excitedly sharing their experiences at Cornell. On interview day, a light continental breakfast was served. We were then pampered with an absolutely incredible buffet + sit-down lunch (a "who's who" fashion show) @ Griffis Faculty Club.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Cornell's gone paperless, as all information was relayed via thumb drive. The day began with a brief discussion from the chief residents followed by a talk given by the didactic coordinator/psychopharmacology guru (who writes a popular column in the NYTimes), a tour of NYPH (applicants were not allowed on the inpatient psychiatry units), and interviews scattered throughout. Three interviews total, including one with a faculty member (intensely analytic), one with a PGY4 (conversational), and one with the PD (delightful). At lunch, one resident referred to the PD as an "all-girls' school headmistress figure" ... which I thought was interesting.

4. Program Overview: A truly impressive place, run by a truly impressive PD (Dr. Auchincloss). I could write a novel about this program, but I'll try to keep things succinct. Cornell Psychiatry is known to be the most "psychotherapy oriented" of the NYC residencies, and I found this to be largely true. Of the 600 (!) faculty, ~150 are trained analysts and many others are experts in CBT, DBT, family, couples, and the like. The program spans several hospitals, including MSKCC (medicine + C/L + psycho-oncology), HSS (C/L), NYPH-Payne Whitney (medicine (NYPH) + inpatient psychiatry (PW)), and NYPH-Westchester Division (a free-standing psychiatric hospital in the same family as McLean, Sheppard-Pratt, and Butler). The latter features a number of specialty units through which residents rotate, including an eating disorders unit (headed by the wonderful Dr. Attia), a personality disorders unit (where residents work alongside Otto Kernberg), and a second-chance unit, among several others. The Westchester Hospital, where residents spend 6-7 months of PGY1 and 2, is in White Plains, NY. There is a car that shuttles PGY1 and 2 residents to and from Manhattan (leave NYC @ 7:30AM and return to NYC @ 5PM). PGY3 is entirely outpatient, and residents mentioned having the "perfect balance" between autonomy and supervision while treating a diverse patient population that spanned from investment bankers to the homeless. PGY4 is mostly elective. For all the facts and figures on call, as well as more specifics about the program, refer to the website.

5. Faculty: 600 faculty total (between Manhattan and Westchester), with about 150 of them fully-trained as analysts. Big names at Cornell (I met a few during my interview day, and they were remarkably approachable). Residents spoke very highly of faculty and their experiences with them.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Cornell's situated in a quiet residential neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Like NYU, it's far from the subway, however the cross-town bus stop is 3 blocks away. New York's vibrant, fun, and an all-around great place for a single 20-something.

7. Program Strengths:
- HUGE program (faculty-wise), all with various areas of expertise. The book that was given to us on interview day ("Approach to the Psychiatric Patient: Case-Based Essays") exemplifies this ethos (in written form)
- LOTS of training locations (which are all beautiful and brand-new), including MSKCC (no better place to become immersed in C/L and psycho-oncology!), HSS, NYPH-PW, and Westchester
- Dr. Otto Kernberg. That man is INCREDIBLE.
- Fun, upbeat residents
- Strong didactics
- Remarkable patient diversity, from VIP/Celebrities to the homeless
- Guaranteed subsidized housing
- Balanced in that it truly embraces psychotherapy in all of its forms while offering plentiful opportunities to pursue research in-house or at any institution in NYC (and "bring it back to Cornell")
- PD is a therapy ROCK STAR who is extremely well-known in New York (and the country) and supports residents with their career goals--as evidenced by an impressive match list (including those who opened up shop on Park Avenue immediately after residency)

8. Potential Weaknesses:
- All residents, when asked about their residency experience, said, without hesitation, that it was "hard" (not sure if this should be categorized as a weakness, but it was a sentiment that was universally expressed)
- Like most Manhattan programs, the ancillary staff is lacking. Residents mentioned taking-on roles of social workers and nurses to "get things done"
- Corporate/slightly stuffy feel (as mentioned in prior reviews)
- Heard more than once that the PD is "not warm but overall approachable"

 

[Nasrudin]

St. Luke's/Roosevelt

1. Communication: I contacted them for an interview mid season with keen interest. They granted me a late interview. I relay this to encourage applicants next year to get after interviews if you want them--reasonably. I sent a well-crafted, succinct, and sincere email and got through in a lower communication traffic part of the season, ie after the original wave of invites and interviews. This is not a pattern I'm suggesting that you emulate. I got lucky. Other places, that perhaps ironically I wouldn't have ranked as high as SLR didn't give the time of day with this type of approach. The thing to remember is its psych--it's not that competitive, they only have the time and resources to interview so many people; they want to snatch up whatever top applicants they can get but at the same time they want solid residents who will be happy at their program. I made my best case for this latter criteria and scored. Try throwing some stuff at the wall to see what sticks next year when it's your turn and you haven't heard from a program you'd really like to interview at.

2. Accommodation & Food: continental breakfast, stupendous lunch at breakfast food serving cafe in Morningside heights, by the St. Luke's location. Done early by 3ish. In impeccable mood, I walked 5-10 blacks south into the upper west and had some of the best tasting beer I had in my life on tap--Founder's Oatmeal breakfast stout. A delicious dark brew with perfect balance of bitter and sweet that was rich with cream and coffee flavors. The place was playing a nostalgic mix of pearl jam and nirvana and such. It was awesome. So much so that I had to mention it, despite being irrelevant, as it was the perfect sensuous conclusive afternoon delight of my interview trail.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): a nice day overall. You start with a presentation by the PD. I agree wholeheartedly with all that's been said about Dr. Singh, that he is above all else refreshingly honest. I would add that my read of him is that while he is warm and friendly that he's also tough and passionate about what he does--he seems like someone that would pull the best out of you but at the same time would go to bat for residents fiercely. He is in short, the perfect boss--for me. His presentation was thorough and explicit and yet not excessive. After that we toured with some residents. Roosevelt is an old hospital with one beautiful atrium dating to the 1800's. It has an interesting feel. The psych ward and the Psych ED were pleasant and homey. The call room was nice. After that we had an amazing lunch with residents who were friendly and very communicative about the program. Then interviews with faculty and or residents then a meeting with the PD which was as substantial as you needed it to be.

4. Program Overview: This program is nestled squarely in the upper part of the 2nd tier of NYC programs. This scheme means nothing to me. I say it only to typify the traffic of your fellow applicants here. There are, I'm sure, the top applicants from the city that are rounding out their lists in case they don't make it into NYU, Sinai, Cornell, Columbia, but want to stay in the city. You might even have the occasional student who just favors a different scene who interviewed at those places. And then you have a wide variety of people from all over who like the location of the program but want a clinical focus without the overly academic culture of the nations top programs. I fit this latter group. And I think this is common traffic for this program. You get superb NYC clinical training with calls that are both intense and transformative. And you get a great location--Columbus circle--that can be afforded with the guaranteed subsidized housing. I think there is solid didactics here as well. They can pool lecturers and speakers among the other Sinai-continuum programs for diversity even as a clinically focused program. You share clinical training sites with Columbia psychology and I think this would be fertile ground for cross pollinating your exposure to psychological testing and therapies. SLR residents are thought to be well trained, from what I read and hear and that was important to me. I liked the fact that you do a significant rotation on a personality disorders unit. Therapy is not dominated by analysts here and I like that. There's opportunity to work with college aged clientele and I like that too. I think you get a wonderful diversity of patients at this program with its 2 sites on the west side without having to travel all over to get it--there's even a shuttle going between them so commuting is a breeze.

5. Faculty: I met the 3rd year outpatient director--Dr. Costakis--in addition to the PD and she was outstanding. I don't think I could ask for a better mentor for outpatient/therapy. She is very excited and enthusiastic about her role as an educator and it was very reassuring to meet her because the only thing that could have caused me doubts about this program would've been a bad enough experience with faculty given the amount of things I liked about it at a distance.

6. Location & Lifestyle: this is the perfect location for me in NYC. You're connected to everything via subways but are within walking distance of the upper west, Hell's Kitchen, and Central Park. A lot of people I've chatted with about the various NYC sites like the lower east or Brooklyn and while those are certainly cool I like the relative quiet of Columbus circle at night with the outdoor recreation sites so easily walkable. It's up to you and what you like, but I personally don't need to have tons of bars and clubs all around to be happy with urban life.

7. Salary & Benefits: subsidized housing, 60's, good benefits, shuttle linking sites.

8. Program Strengths: superb clinical training, excellent program leadership, good didactic and curriculum planning, amazing location, diverse patient population.

9. Potential Weakness: Smaller faculty roster with a clinical focus--depending on if you get jazzed up by the pyrotechnics of big research funding and famous faculty; medium hard working place depending on your desire for cushiness. Location depending on whether danger, noise, and debauchery make you feel the requisite level of hipness or in the opposite case if NYC is appalling to begin with.

 

[cosmopolitanboy]

Northwestern

1. Communication: Email. No issues with scheduling.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations. Stayed at the Ivy Hotel in downtown Chicago, which was expensive ($150/night) but worth every penny. Lively pre-interview dinner @ Viand Restaurant with residents from all years. On the interview day, food was plentiful--the program coordinator said she was a foodie, and I believe it!

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Overview of the program with the PD, Dr. Joan Anzia, featuring short biographies of all the residents (nice touch). This was followed by a tour of the facilities, including Stone Mental Health Center, Lurie Children's, and Prentice Women's Hospital, and then four relaxed and conversational interviews (2 before lunch and 2 after lunch).

4. Program Overview: I'm not sure why Chicago programs have such a so-so reputation on this website, because I was blown away by Northwestern (admittedly, NW was the only Chicago program I visited). It's a deeply dynamic program, rivaling its Boston and NYC counterparts. Incredible exposure to psychotherapies, both in the classroom and in vivo. Outpatient exposure begins early in PGY2. Lots of autonomy on the wards and in the outpatient office, with just as much supervision. The residents were among the warmest, friendliest, and happiest I met on the interview trail. The faculty were equally warm, friendly, and happy. Northwestern's clinical sites include Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lurie Children's, Prentice Women's, Chicago Rehabilitation Institute, and the Jesse Brown VA (slightly off-site but shuttles run q30m). The psych ER, where residents take call and moonlight, has a wide-catchment area (includes most of downtown Chicago), so you'll see patients from all socioeconomic strata. All interns begin the year with off-service rotations; in January, the class begins psychiatry rotations together and, as such, become extremely close. Didactics are held on Wednesdays (all-day) and are 100% protected: topics are well-balanced between psychotherapies (including psychodynamics), psychopharmacology, neuro-psychiatry, and child psychiatry. There are a number of elective opportunities in college mental health (@ Northwestern and UChicago), forensics, HIV psychiatry, trauma (Dr. Anzia's field), women's mental health (NW has a particularly strong department), and psychoanalysis (@ Chicago Psychoanalytic), among others. Residents graduate to fellowships at prestigious programs (e.g. child at NYU, Stanford, Northwestern, etc), pursue academia (e.g. junior faculty at NW, UMich, Case Western, etc), and/or open a private practice in and around Chicago, a market where the demand well-exceeds the supply.

5. Faculty: Dr. Anzia is an AMAZING PD whose dedication to her residents is palpable--she treats them like family (I could feel it during her presentation at the beginning of the interview day). Several faculty members in the psychiatry department have won several "best teacher" awards. They're recruiting big names from ALL over, including MGH and NYU, to lead a number of specialty departments.

6. Location & Lifestyle: Chicago's FABULOUS! Clean, affordable (surprisingly!), accessible, friendly, and FUN. Northwestern's in the downtown area, adjacent to the Magnificent Mile, just north of the Loop, and within walking distance of the Art Institute and within a short EL train ride to Northern neighborhoods ("North-life = Nightlife").

7. Salary & Benefits: Highest salary of all the Chicago programs ($52K/year as a PGY1 to $59K/year as a PGY2). Tons of moonlighting opportunities beginning at the end of PGY2. Free iPAD3 upon arrival.

8. Program Strengths:
- Chicago! Wonderful city with TONS to do and still affordable (surprisingly!) on a resident's salary
- Healthy variety of clinical sites
- Robust psychotherapy exposure
- Strong child/adolescent and women's mental health departments
- EXTREMELY warm and nurturing PD
- Cohesive PGY classes (likely 2/2 starting psychiatry rotations together in January of PGY1)
- Beautiful, brand-new facilities
- Breadth of exposure through a number of clinical sites and a number of electives, including a gender-identity clinic (among the first of its kind) and well-developed college mental health rotations @ NW and U of C
- Strong, comprehensive, protected didactics

9. Potential Weakness:
- Chicago is COLD
- Program may feel small for some (8 residents/year)
- Call seemed INTENSE the first-year, with ~1 golden weekend per month (or thereabouts) and several PGYs mentioned feeling EXTREMELY busy and overwhelmed while on-call

 

[Doctor Bagel]

OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University)

Calls are brutal as you cover both VA and University Hospital when you are on call in addition to admissions. In PGY1, you have 12-hour shifts including call twice a week and a 12-hour weekend shift twice a month throughout the year! In PGY2, you have two blocks of night float (also covering both hospitals), and weekend shifts that are 16-24 hours long! In my opinion, it becomes even more irritating during PGY3 since, after your outpatient work during the week, you have to do the 16-24 hours shifts many weekends a year. In PGY4, you are in the backup call pool that covers 2-4 shifts a month.

Hey StECT,
I just wanted to clarify some call stuff -- our call schedule is super confusing, and it sounds like we're not doing the best job communicating it to applicants.
Here's how it breaks down --

PGY1 -- short call twice a week and a 12 hour weekend shift twice a month only for the six months that you're on psychiatry. No call for your ambulatory medicine month. One weekend of service (not call, usually just rounding) on neurology months. Medicine call is weird but none is overnight -- I think there are lots of long days, and you work six days a week. Emergency medicine is all shifts, usually around 20 10 hour shifts in a month. With psych call, you only cover one side of the bridge (either the VA or OHSU).

PGY2 -- you're on call about two weekends a month, which could be a 24 hour Saturday, an overnight Friday or a "sandwich" where you cover Friday and a 12 hour shift on Sunday -- these go away once the interns start covering Sundays so after about the first month or so. Rare short calls. With these, you cover only one side of the bridge (again, VA or OHSU, not both). Nightfloat is for 6 to 7 weeks in two blocks, and that's the only time when you cover both sides of the bridge. However, night float in my experience was one of my easiest rotations. Sometimes you get slammed, but it's not brutal. Overall, long calls for me have never been brutal in that I've never had a call where I felt like I was going the whole time.

PGY3 -- Friday overnight or a 12 hour shift on Saturday at most 2 to 3 times in a 3 month block. I think they also cover one Sunday 12 hour shift as well (for the whole 3 month block) and up to two in house backup short calls (so like a total of 6 hours for 3 months). So you're really hardly ever on call as a PGY3.

PGY4 -- no scheduled call. You do one to two inhouse backup/training shifts for short calls in a 3 month period.

Both PGY3 and PGY4 residents do backup and jeopardy in case someone in the primary call pool is overloaded or sick. Both are rarely utilized. You do a week of jeopardy each 3 month block (jeopardy is backup for backup). You then usually have one Saturday backup and one Sunday backup coupled with a few weekdays. The weekend ones are primarily annoying because you can't leave town or moonlight. It's unlikely you'll actually do any work on those days, though.

 

[pyknotic]

UCLA-San Fernando Valley

1. Communication: Email and ERAS.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Pre-interview happy hour offered (I was unable to attend). On day of, light breakfast with coffee (store bought donuts, etc.), Subway for lunch.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started off at the VA outpatient facilities with an introduction by the two chief residents, then everyone piled into two cars to drive to Olive View for the first set of interviews plus tour of the facilities. We then returned to the outpatient VA for more interviews (including interview with PD and residents) and lunch with grand rounds. Quick wrap-up session and then over by about 2:00. Interviews were generally low stress, although less conversational than some of the other programs. Interview with PD was very much a "Do you have any questions for me?" session, with few questions asked of me.

4. Program Overview: Despite the UCLA name, this honestly felt more like a VA-based community program than an academic one. This is definitely one of the most VA-heavy programs, as almost the entirety of your outpatient experience takes place there. More education focused, with lots of opportunities for moonlighting. Driving between the sites seemed to be a bit of an issue, as (starting PGY-2) you are at a different place each morning and afternoon, with a 20-30 minute drive between the sites. The residents all seemed laid-back and happy, although they all talked about the driving (usually to say that it "wasn't that bad"). Research opportunities exist but are not emphasized. More opportunities for electives (such as women's health or doing counseling at a local state university). A few months spent down at the main UCLA hospital during PGY-1. Had an interesting approach to orientation, as all interns spend their first month on the same rotation at Olive View, bonding and learning the system together.

5. Salary & Benefits: $51k (PGY-1) to $58k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: CPRS, paper charts (at Olive View), Epic (at UCLA)

7. Location & Lifestyle: It's in Los Angeles, in the valley (a more suburban feeling part of town). Not as glamorous as Westwood/UCLA or as sketchy-feeling as USC. Lifestyle seemed good, with a lighter than average call schedule and lots of opportunities for moonlighting. Close enough to downtown for all the benefits of living in LA (good food, lots of entertainment options, beaches, mountains, hiking, etc.). Traffic a bit of a concern. Housing expensive, although definitely not as much as other parts of LA.

8. Program Strengths:
- Very VA heavy (if that's your thing)
- Friendly, laid-back residents and attendings
- In Los Angeles with all the benefits of a large city
- Lots of moonlighting opportunities
- (+/-) More of a community feeling than an academic one

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Very VA heavy (if you're not a fan)
- Lots of driving between sites with LA traffic
- (+/-) More of a community feeling than an academic one

 

[pyknotic]

UC Irvine

1. Communication: Email (program coordinator was very friendly and responsive throughout).

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. No pre- or post-interview dinner offered. Breakfast of delicious Asian pastries, lunch was catered Corner Bakery Cafe.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The day began at the psych building at the UC Irvine medical center in the spacious resident work room with an introduction PowerPoint from the PD and chief resident. Then went immediately to interviews with faculty and residents. Interviews were friendly and collegiate, very conversational. The PD in particular came across as very personable. Took us on a tour of the psych wards and main hospital after lunch. (No tour of the VA, as it is in Long Beach about 20 minutes away.) Finished up with a "Do you have any last questions?" session at the end of the day. Out by 2:30.

4. Program Overview: UC Irvine came across as a solid program with some of the most personable residents and attendings of any program I interviewed at. Most of intern year is spent at the medical center and the VA. PGY-2 is all inpatient at the VA and psych facility. PGY-3 and 4 all outpatient, with opportunities for electives in the area. Of note, the program has an excellent call schedule, with no overnight call after PGY-1. Lots of moonlighting opportunities per residents. One of the residents mentioned that the didactics weren't fantastic, but they are trying to improve in this regard. Seemed to have a good balance between psychopharm and psychotherapy (the PD has a particular interest in CBT). Research did not seem to be a particular focus of this program. Rumors of generally low patients census could impact quality of clinical training (although I did not witness this myself, and the residents I spoke with denied it). Mostly takes insured so if you’re wanting a county experience look elsewhere.

5. Salary & Benefits: Unable to find online

6. EMR: They have their own proprietary EMR at the main hospital which residents said was "okay", CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Located in Orange about a mile away from Disneyland, this program is well situated in a nice part of Orange County. Close to beaches, lots of good food in the area, driving distance to Los Angeles (although expect traffic in either direction). Lifestyle is great, largely due to the light call schedule.

8. Program Strengths:
- Some of the happiest residents I encountered on interview day
- Excellent call schedule with no overnight call after PGY-1
- Friendly, laid-back residents and attendings
- Orange County location close to the beach
- Lots of moonlighting opportunities
- PD is new but was very highly talked of by the residents

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- VA is 20-30 minutes away (although you never take call there)
- Not as academically minded as the other UC programs

 

[notdeadyet]

I think most would find it challenging to call Orange a "nice part" of Orange County, otherwise, good review...

 

[pyknotic]

University of Utah

1. Communication: Email (very responsive).

2. Accommodation & Food: Offers a "November Prime Time" where they pay for one night of hotel stay and you come out on Saturday night for activities on Sunday (hiking, lunch, spa afternoon at a local ski resort, and dinner) and interviews on Monday. (All of the Prime Time events were fantastic, and I would highly recommend future applicants to go if given the opportunity.) On day of, breakfast provided, lunch was catered Corner Bakery Cafe.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): The day started at 8:00 with a breakfast and PowerPoint introduction to the program followed by a quick chat with the program chair. After that it was off to a morning full of interviews, followed by lunch with the residents. Interviews were very cordial and conversation, nothing in the way of "grilling." After lunch, a tour of the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (called "UNI" by the residents) and the main hospital was offered. From there we went on a quick tour of the town of Salt Lake City, then stopped by at a coffee shop for refreshments. Day ended by about 3:30.

4. Program Overview: This program is a real hidden gem, and I am grateful to have received word of mouth from a former applicant who stated that it was a fantastic program. One thing that is unique is that they have a whole day off from clinical responsibilities every week for didactics, which the residents said they appreciated. Schedule-wise, came across as your average academic program. Call seemed reasonable, neither particularly heavy or light (although one resident stated she felt like it was too high). For those concerned about LDS influence, several interviewers mentioned that the university, and in particular the Psychiatry Dept, sees itself as offering an alternative perspective to LDS thinking for those living in Utah. Some research opportunities available for those seeking it out (its autism epidemiology research is some of the best known in the country, and there is research into the link between ADP/ATP ratios and depression/suicide). Overall a very well balanced program. Notable for its triple board program (licensed in Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry).

5. Salary & Benefits: $51k (PGY-1) to $58k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic, CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Salt Lake City was a great city: clean, well built, friendly, good public transportation, little traffic, and affordable housing. Residents all mentioned there are lots of things to do, and the city even puts on a $5 concert series in the summer with bands like Flaming Lips, Grizzly Bear, Belle & Sebastian, and Erykah Badu. If you're into skiing/snowboarding, you can't really find much better, as there are some world-class resorts within a 20-30 minute drive (a lot of the residents have season passes and go frequently). Many residents are married, but stated that everyone hung out regardless.

8. Program Strengths:
- Well-balanced program offering something in all major areas
- Triple board program in pediatrics and child/adolescent psychiatry
- Friendly, outgoing residents and attendings
- Lots of outdoor opportunities available (skiing/snowboarding)
- Focus on didactics with one day off per week
- Beautiful facilities
- Affordable housing, easy to raise a family

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Not particularly strong in any given area ("jack of all trades")
- SLC can feel somewhat isolated
- Residents were very happy but seemed to be a self-selected group, so those who do not fit with their interests (e.g., outdoorsy) might have a more difficult time

 

[pyknotic]

Loma Linda University

1. Communication: Email from program director (responded fast to all inquiries).

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Pre-interview dinner with residents at a local Thai restaurant. On day of, light refreshments in the morning and catered Mexican for lunch.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): One of the earlier starts to the interview day (7:15). Began with an introduction to the program from the PD, followed by interviews with the PD, associate PD, and two other faculty members for the duration of the morning. The two faculty interviews were both an hour long, which I thought would be daunting, but they were both personable and very conversational which made it easier. Lunch was an opportunity to chat with residents. After lunch, went on a tour of the Behavioral Health Institute (their outpatient/partial building), the Behavioral Medical Center (inpatient units), and the main medical center. Day ended around 2:00.

4. Program Overview: Loma Linda came across as a very clinically focused residency, with broad exposure to all areas. Inpatient rotations continue in PGY-3. There is a lot of child/adolescent exposure during PGY-2 and 3 despite the lack of an official fellowship. New PD and associate PD as of last fall, but they are both spoken highly of by the residents so far. Call can be heavy, as you are covering two sites (either the VA+Peds ED or BMC+Adult ED), and a few of the residents let on that they worked too hard. The program is connected to the Seventh-day Adventist church, which means no meat in the medical center cafe, but otherwise not an issue. During the interview, the new PD did seem to be committed to further emphasizing the spiritual aspect of the institution and asked questions about whether spirituality has ever played a role in managing any of your patients. No real research available and no official fellowships at this time, although they have not had a problem with sending residents off to fellowships at big institutions (UCLA, Stanford, etc.). One resident stated that didactics could be improved.

5. Salary & Benefits: $48k (PGY-1) to $54k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic, CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Loma Linda is situated in the Inland Empire about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles. Much more deserty than LA, there isn't a whole lot going on in Loma Linda, but it is within an hour's drive to a lot of places (LA, Orange County, beaches, mountains, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, etc.). You will work hard in the residency, but the area offers an ease of living (no traffic, affordable housing, easy to raise a family).

8. Program Strengths:
- Clinically focused with high volume of patients
- Lots of child/adolescent experience
- Friendly residents are a close-knit group and hang out frequently
- Attendings are approachable and eager to teach
- Ease of living in the area, nearby Redlands is a nice town

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Heavy call schedule
- No research or fellowships at this time
- Inland Empire not the nicest part of Southern California

 

[pyknotic]

OHSU

1. Communication: Email (fast responses).

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Light refreshments in the morning and catered Mexican for lunch. Post-interview dinner with residents at a terrific local Italian restaurant (apparently owned by the spouse of one of the attendings).

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started at 8:00 in the resident library with a PowerPoint introduction by the chief resident. After that it was off to interviews, which were scattered between several buildings (we were helpfully given a map to find our way around). Interview with the PD was entirely applicant driven, as he allowed you to ask questions and did not ask any questions of his own (while I personally don't care for this approach, some applicants may enjoy it). A break for lunch with the residents then more interviews in the afternoon. You were given time off between interviews to tour the facilities, including taking a complimentary ride on the Aerial Tram (which offered beautiful views of the city and surrounding area). Interviews went until about 3:00 or 4:00 depending on your schedule, followed by dinner at a local Italian restaurant.

4. Program Overview: OHSU came across as a bread-and-butter program with a particular emphasis on community and population-based psychiatry. Good exposure to nearly all areas of psychiatry, including telepsychiatry. Forensics rotation in Salem, about a 45 minute drive from Portland. No inpatient child/adolescent during residency, although a fellowship exists. Although an academic program, there was not the same wealth of specialty clinics as at larger institutions. The single inpatient unit in the basement was somewhat unimpressive. Call seemed heavy, and the residents stated that they did work hard. Some residents complained of "monoculture" of patients seen. Fairly light on academic opportunities, and research was not discussed often throughout the interview day.

5. Salary & Benefits: $51k (PGY-1) to $59k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic, CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Portland! If you've been around SDN then you're aware that it's somewhat of a controversial location, with some people loving it and others finding it underwhelming. Personally I was on the "love it" side, as I appreciated the gorgeous views, excellent food, ease of public transportation, focus on cycling (the university even offers a bike valet), and outdoorsy feel. Housing isn't cheap but not expensive either. Interestingly, when asked about what drew them to working at OHSU, more attendings and residents talked about the Portland area than the program itself, which speaks to how much of a factor the area is in whether you will want to come to the program.

8. Program Strengths:
- Clinically focused with high volume of patients
- Emphasis on community psychiatry
- Still has a forensics rotation
- Residents and attendings all came across as friendly and personable
- Portland is a great area for those who love it

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Heavy call schedule
- No child/adolescent inpatient exposure during residency
- Lack of academic/research opportunities
- Occasionally got the feeling that the residents and attendings were more interested in the city than the program itself

 

[twright]

Thanks for posting all these thoughts, StECT. It's helpful when folks are willing to share prior to the rank lists.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed!
Even though you were a little hard on OHSU

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[pyknotic]

University of Washington

1. Communication: Email. Coordinator was very helpful in arranging my schedule to meet my flights.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Pre-interview dinner at a great restaurant on Capitol Hill. Light breakfast in the morning and catered food for lunch.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started at 8:00 at the main medical center with a brief introduction by the PD followed by a chat with the department chair going over their search for a new chair (as of last week, Jurgen Unutzer MD MPH has formally accepted the position). After that the group split up to go on interviews, I went to the Harborview Medical Center for three interviews (including with PD). The PD was fantastic, very warm and protective of the residents and talked about how she was able to negotiate with the attendings to change coverage in response to resident feedback (which I took as a good sign). The other faculty I talked with were fantastic as well: they all had strong interests in one area of psychiatry or another, which made for a fascinating discussion. Lunch was pizza over noon conference followed by an informal Q&A with the residents. One more resident interview, then a tour of the Harborview Medical Center. (There was the option to visit the children's hospital for those interested in child/adolescent). Day ended around 4:00.

4. Program Overview: UW basically offers everything you could want out of an academic psychiatry program, with excellent exposure to all major areas. In particular, they have a focus on integrated psychiatry (aka outpatient consult and liaison) which is reflected in several required rotations in primary care clinics serving as a psychiatric consultant. Residents are able to tailor their own experiences through residency through the use of pathways. Pathways are not tracks in that you are not locked into them, but they are ways of gaining experience and networking within specific parts of psychiatry (examples include a teacher/scholar pathway, research pathway, neuroscience pathway, community leadership pathway, and more). This is a busy program with an average-to-heavy call schedule, but the residents all stated that they were happy and well supported by the PD. Training sites are spread out between the main UW medical center, the county-based Harborview Medical Center, and the VA, so there is some driving required. DBT was developed by one of the faculty here, so it's an emphasis. Lots of specialty clinics (psych-oncology, HIV psychiatry, etc.) available for PGY-3 and 4. Of note, there are tracks available to do the first two years in Seattle then go to Boise, ID for the outpatient rotations (with no call).

5. Salary & Benefits: $51k (PGY-1) to $58k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Cerner PowerChart ORCA (I haven't had great experiences with Cerner products, but the residents all said it was pretty good), CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Seattle is a wonderful city with all the major benefits of a large city, easy public transportation, lots of excellent food, and outdoor activities available. No escaping that it's often grey and rainy, which could be a factor if you're at risk for SAD.

8. Program Strengths:
- Broad coverage in all major areas of psychiatry
- Focus on integrated psychiatry clinics
- Opportunities available for training and networking in areas within psychiatry via pathways
- Residents and attendings all seemed friendly, driven, and interesting to talk to
- Seattle is great if you are okay with the weather

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Busy program
- Driving between sites
- That's about it, this program seemed fantastic

 

[pyknotic]

Kaiser Fontana

1. Communication: Email.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. No pre- or post-interview dinner. Light breakfast in the morning and catered Mexican food for lunch.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started at 8:00 at an office outside of the Kaiser Fontana Medical Center with a welcome by the PD and associate PD's (this being a brand new program, there were no residents around). A quick slideshow went over the history of Kaiser. After that it was onto five 30-minute interviews with attendings. The interviews were conversational, but each included a few "core questions" that they wanted to know about each applicant (fairly standard stuff like, "What are you looking for out of a residency program?"). Lunch was a continuation of the slideshow over Mexican food. After lunch, we toured the Canyon Ridge facilities in Chino where a lot of the inpatient rotations take place (about a 30 minute drive from Fontana) as well as the outpatient psychiatry offices in Fontana. Quick wrap-up at the end, done by 3:00.

4. Program Overview: As noted before, this is a brand new program that is looking to construct its inaugural class. It is very much a community program, although some of the inpatient rotations do take place at nearby Loma Linda University with whom Kaiser has a contract. Call is practically non-existent, with night call from 5-9pm twice a month and one morning of weekend rounding for the first two years and no call after that. The program is not designed to be resident dependent, as Kaiser has social workers who take care of admits afterhours, so call is strictly for learning. All residents do all 6 months of off-service rotations right off the bat, then only psychiatry after that. All the attendings talked about their interest in teaching, and several mentioned that Kaiser is considering opening its own medical school in the future. Outpatient afternoons starting PGY-2.

5. Salary & Benefits: $50k (PGY-1) to $56k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic

7. Location & Lifestyle: This program has the disadvantage of having their training sites spread out over a wide geographic area, with Chino at the western end and Loma Linda at the east end, so expect a commute some months regardless of where you live. It is in the Inland Empire of Southern California, and Fontana isn't necessarily known for being the nicest part of town, but it is about an hour out of LA and driving distance to beaches, mountains, etc.

8. Program Strengths:
- Community psychiatry program with entirely insured, generally working-class population
- Residents well supported with ancillary staff (social workers, MA's, etc.)
- Attendings all seemed eager to teach
- Incredibly light call schedule
- Brand new program that residents can help tailor for future generations

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Brand new program, so lots of unknowns and likely some kinks to work out
- Light call schedule possibly to detriment of training
- Training sites spread out geographically so expect a commute
- No academics if that is what you are looking for
- Not the nicest part of Southern California

 

[pyknotic]

UCLA Semel

1. Communication: Email.

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Light breakfast provided in the morning, and catered food for lunch. Post-interview dinner and happy hour at fancy bar in Westwood.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started at 9:00 (nice) in the outpatient offices with a PowerPoint introduction by the chief residents and a quick hello from the PD. This was followed by two 45-minute long interviews (one resident, one PD) then lunch with the residents (very good turnout from the residents). The afternoon consisted of another 45-minute faculty interviews, a tour of the West LA VA, and a tour of the Semel Institute and the Ronald Reagan Medical Center where the majority of rotations take place after PGY-1. From there we walked to a happy hour with lots of food and free drinks. The PD and both associate PD's were there and made an effort to talk with every applicant. Day was done around 6:30 or 7:00.

4. Program Overview: UCLA absolutely lives up to its reputation as one of the best psychiatry departments on the west coast. It is definitely a busy program with heavy call nights (especially since the closure of other psychiatry residencies in the area such as Cedars Sinai), but all of the residents seemed happy. Call is frontloaded, with no overnight call PGY-3 and no call PGY-4. The residents were the most memorable part of the program: all were incredibly driven, intelligent, and genuinely interested in psychiatry, but they all seemed to have active interests outside of residency as well (their bios, given to applicants on interview day, made for a surprisingly entertaining read). There is just about any specialty clinic you could want in PGY-3 and 4 (bipolar clinic, CBT clinic, eating disorders, HIV, OCD, smoking cessation, women's life, psychosis, hypnosis, neurobehavior, Asian American mental health, plus literally dozens more) not counting access to several prominent psychoanalytic training centers in the area. Lots of time given to pursue interests (usually about 1 day for research/educational starting PGY-3, up to 2-3 days off per week PGY-4). Residents stated the program was very responsive to resident feedback, with "80-90%" of complaints getting answered. Attendings came across as more hands-off than at most programs, expecting the residents to be self-motivated and seek out what they needed to learn. Less county exposure (although there is an option for one resident a year to do their intern year at UCLA-Harbor). Lots of moonlighting opportunities available in the area (one resident said they were taking home an extra $8,000 per month through moonlighting).

5. Salary & Benefits: $51k (PGY-1) to $57k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic, CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Located in West LA near Santa Monica just minutes from the beach. Hard to beat LA for location given the sunny weather and access to good food, limitless entertainment options, and the outdoors. Unfortunately it's not exactly a secret that this part of LA is awesome, so traffic is a nightmare. Housing in the area is expensive, although there are less expensive parts within driving distance. Despite the heavy workload, all residents said they had time for interests outside of residency (specifically mentioned were cooking classes, seeing shows at the Pantages, and cycling).

8. Program Strengths:
- A powerhouse academic program that offers the opportunity to get training in just about any part of psychiatry you can think of
- Self-motivated, driven, intelligent residents with a "work hard, play hard" mentality
- World-class faculty
- Dozens and dozens of specialty clinics
- Access to prominent psychoanalytic centers
- Great part of LA with limitless options for recreation and entertainment

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Heavy call schedule
- (+/-) Attendings are hands-off and expect you to be a self-starter
- Traffic in the West LA area is consistently atrocious
- Expensive housing

 

[pyknotic]

Stanford

1. Communication: Email (very responsive to all inquiries).

2. Accommodation & Food: No accommodations provided. Pastries in the morning, and catered sliders and fries for lunch. Post-interview dinner and happy hour at a bar in Palo Alto.

3. Interview Day (Schedule, Type Of Interview, Unusual Questions, Experiences): Day started at 8:00 with a PowerPoint presentation by one of the associate PD's, followed by breakfast with the chair. After that were three 25-minute interviews with the PD, associate PD, and a resident, followed by a tour of the Stanford University Hospital and grand rounds. Lunch with residents was after, then a shuttle ride to the Palo Alto VA for more interviews and a tour. Finally back to the Stanford psychiatry offices for two more interviews. The day finished with a wrap-up/feedback session with the PD, then happy hour with the residents. Day ended around 6:30 or 7:00.

4. Program Overview: Stanford offers a strong package to anyone seeking a career in academic psychiatry. The program is almost startling for the sheer amount of elective freedom offered to residents (starting with two months during PGY-2 and only increasing after that). Residents are clearly expected to develop specific interests within the field (indeed, a scholarly concentration project is required of all graduates from the program). Several faculty members are world-renowned (e.g., Irvin Yalom), and there are many specialty clinics to choose from during the outpatient years. Call is reasonable: not so heavy as to be a workhorse, and not so light as to detract from training. Faculty is very responsive to feedback (perhaps even too responsive, as residents complained about being "feedbacked to death"). Reputation for being biologically oriented, but seemed to have a good balance when I interviewed there. On paper, Stanford offers just about everything you could want out of an academic program (with the possible exception of county experience if you're interested in that), yet I left the interview day with the impression that something didn't quite add up about it. After more reflection, I attribute that gut feeling to the fact that the attendings and residents came across as more distant and aloof than at any other program, certainly not on the level of UW or Utah. In addition, many of the residents I spoke with talked more about living in the Bay Area than the program itself. Nevertheless, all the residents seemed uniform in their opinion that the program was improving, especially in the wake of the changes in leadership several years ago. Interestingly, the residents here are predominantly female (I believe 40/48 were female from my quick survey), although everyone states that it was just a fluke of the matching process.

5. Salary & Benefits: $50k (PGY-1) to $60k (PGY-4) (more details)

6. EMR: Epic, CPRS

7. Location & Lifestyle: Palo Alto is about 30-45 minutes south of San Francisco and definitely has a more affluent, suburban feel than a city feel. Housing is pricey (nearly every resident used the word "expensive" at least once throughout the day), and many residents end up commuting 30 minutes or up to an hour from other places (either because they are more affordable or because they want to be closer to the city). Lifestyle in the area is great, within a reasonable distance from the city and all of the benefits (food, entertainment, activities, etc.) that it offers.

8. Program Strengths:
- Strong academic program with requirements to develop specific interests
- Some world-famous faculty members
- Reasonable workload and call schedule
- Lots of specialty clinics to choose from

9. Potential Weaknesses:
- Low county exposure
- Program may be overshadowed by the Bay Area, the Stanford name, or both
- Residents and attendings less warm than at other programs
- Expensive area

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Programs that fire residents scare the bejesus out of me, no matter what the reason was or who was really at fault. How can I be sure that it won't happen again? Even if not to me, to anyone else in my small class with whom I'd be sharing everything from clinical responsibilities to friendship. They should really have multiple ways to sort out the problem, and termination shouldn't even be considered unless literally everything else had been tried and failed. Call me skeptical but 2 in 2 years does not sound like the result of a strategy where everything was tried. Anyway, because this is so important, I specifically made it a point to ask this question to the residents at lunch at every interview I went to: "Had there been any residents who quit or transferred out of the program for any reason in the recent years?"

I chose lunch because that is usually when there are both a higher number of residents and a wider representation. Also, "quit" is generally the equivalent of firing because most programs anyway force the residents to resign so you don't actually have to risk sounding rude (or at the very least spoil the mood of the discussion) by directly asking if anyone had been fired from the program. If anyone said yes to that question, I tried to probe very cautiously for the reason. And unless the reason was "transferred to another program to be closer to family", I noted it down as a potential red flag.

I assume this thread will be read next year by future applicants, so I want to tell you all to make sure to ask this question at every interview you go to, preferably in a group setting. This was by far the most useful question I ended up asking this interview season. It was especially useful to me since I'm an average candidate and did not have the option of attending interviews at only the top places where these things don't happen much.

I agree 100% that resident turnover is really painful and ideally not something you'll experience in a program. It's stress inducing for all the residents aside from the extra work it can lead to. I will say regarding OHSU, the PGY4 class only has 7 residents now because someone fast tracked, not because of attrition. When you come across smaller PGY4 classes, that's generally the reason, which is pretty benign.

I also think the program is now fully aware (if they weren't before) of how problematic attrition is, and honestly, it's probably virtually impossible to be fired here (seriously). The attrition was not the result of the program looking to out people or not giving people chances. Still, I agree, it's a scary thing, and in an ideal world, I'd pick a program with no attrition.

Now about asking, I did ask that question when I interviewed and at some programs, got conflicting answers (not at OHSU -- elsehwere), which makes me think it's a thing programs and even residents don't fess up about.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

OHSU
The single inpatient unit in the basement was somewhat unimpressive.

It's hard to argue with this one. Great staff and honestly a good learning environment, but yeah, not a nice facility. Phil Knight needs to donate some money to psychiatry.

 

[StECT]

Thanks for sharing all those west coast reviews pyknotic! Looks like our paths had crossed multiple times in the last few months!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

It's hard to argue with this one. Great staff and honestly a good learning environment, but yeah, not a nice facility. Phil Knight needs to donate some money to psychiatry.

Who in the mainstream psychiatric world does have beautiful facilities?
Seems like psych usually has to feed off the bottom of the "trickle-down economics" stream at most institutions.
(If you had seen our late, unlamented outpatient facility at my former residency program, you'd know what I mean... And if it hadn't been for the tireless efforts of that chairman and a couple of wealthy benefactors with a history of mental illness, they'd probably still be practicing there!)

 

[pyknotic]

Who in the mainstream psychiatric world does have beautiful facilities?
Seems like psych usually has to feed off the bottom of the "trickle-down economics" stream at most institutions.

At least on the interview trail, I saw several psych facilities that were beautiful (OHSU's own VA inpatient ward, with its view of the city and mountains, was perhaps the most gorgeous). UCLA's Resnick NPH, Stanford's free-standing VA inpatient building, and the University of Utah's Neuropsychiatric Institute also come to mind.

I think what I was trying to emphasize most in saying "The single inpatient unit in the basement was somewhat unimpressive," was the "single" part. Some of the larger programs I interviewed at had multiple separate specialized inpatient units (adult, geriatrics, substance, intensive care, voluntary, etc.), which I thought could be interesting and more beneficial from a training perspective than having all patient types together on the same unit. However, that was just my initial impression from the interview trail, and I would be curious to hear feedback from residents who have done it either or both ways. Can anyone comment on that?

 

[Psychedelicious]

Who in the mainstream psychiatric world does have beautiful facilities?
Seems like psych usually has to feed off the bottom of the "trickle-down economics" stream at most institutions.

Maybe the programs I managed to visit were collectively crafty and showed us only the good buildings on the tours, or I had been extremely lucky in my pick of interviews, but 95% of the programs I interviewed at had nothing but beautiful facilities.

 

[khh2007]

Applying for the next year but wondering if someone can post reviews of the Hawaii program. Thanks!

 

[Psychedelicious]

Applying for the next year but wondering if someone can post reviews of the Hawaii program. Thanks!

There was already one this year, posted on this very thread.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

However, that was just my initial impression from the interview trail, and I would be curious to hear feedback from residents who have done it either or both ways. Can anyone comment on that?

It would be interesting to hear from someone who has had both experiences. I think most of us have had one or the other. Due to the acuity and pace, I think our one small unit at OHSU provides great training, and I feel pretty competent to go work in an inpatient unit anywhere based on my training here. Two of the three regular attendings trained at bigger spots (MGH and WashU), and I think they also feel like the quality of training in our unit is high. I imagine the quality of the attendings and the level of responsibility given to residents make a greater difference than having people located in different units based on different diagnoses.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Why is OHSU taking such a beating this year on this forum?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Why is OHSU taking such a beating this year on this forum?

This is a question. Amazingly, it's not even coming from me. Anyway, I'm sitting here in Portland in a beautiful neighborhood getting ready to head out to go skiing, where we're supposed to get up to 13 inches of snow on the mountain, while still not getting colder than 30 degrees on the mountain (it's in the 50s here). Personally I couldn't imagine wanting to live anywhere else.

Anyway, getting back to this thread. It seems like SDN has winners and losers, and they alternate. OHSU was a winner program when I applied, and now it's a loser program. Colorado was a loser program, and now I guess it's an OK program.

 

[Nasrudin]

Why is OHSU taking such a beating this year on this forum?

Idk. But I think that's one problem with a small sample size. Wild fluctuations are to be expected. Also, a few posters really liked the place. The location itself seems to be in a unique position to polarize their applicant pool. It seems like they would have many applicants who probably apply there as a pan-left-coastist agenda whereas Oregon really besides being a short Southwest flight jump from California has relatively little in common with the rest of the known universe.

I watched 3 seasons of portlandia and was really looking forward to verifying the jokes therein but they offered me an interview too late. I would've prolly ranked them in the upper third of my list. But I'll never know. But like me, a lot of people who think it's definitely a place worthy of checking out don't have their hearts set on it.

The biggest discovery of my interview trail was how inaccurate my identity as a west coaster was. Only one western program made it to my top 5.

I like to drink coffee and fine beers. I like big trees. I like robust vegetarian cuisine options and access to high quality food. But I don't ski. And Oregon can be a wasteland for your SO's career. It's extremely white. Even as a white person, after living in south and now in DC I think I'd be like...but where are all the other types of people. Although after watching portlandia I do now realize there are subclassifications of white people that were hithertofore unbeknownst to me.

So I would've likely been in the checked it out but ended up in the....meh...category.

I think in future seasons we'll continue to see this oscillation with this program because it offers good although tough training on the west coast but has a location that is polarizing.

 

[Psychotic]

.

 

[johnhoedack]

...

I am sure that OHSU has no problem filling despite any of this. SDN is not read by everyone - many of my classmates have never even visited this place.

...

Or so they like to present. I sincerely doubt there is any significant percentage of U.S. medical students that haven't used SDN.

 

[Psychedelicious]

Or so they like to present. I sincerely doubt there is any significant percentage of U.S. medical students that haven't used SDN.

I agree. At least in my class where 10+ of us are going into psychiatry, I know that all of them read the psychiatry and match subforums here at least once a week. In fact, four (excluding me) even have an account, although apart from posting a few questions in the Step 1 forum when they needed "preparation suggestions", none of them like posting.

 

[Nasrudin]

Damn. See if we crowd sourced even a significant portion of the applicant pool we would be much more sophisticated consumers. Even if a lot of it is totally subjective. We would be a gossip machine to be reckoned with. The scant few programs that think they get away with riding the backs of residents might think again. But...I guess people are too busy with their other social medica. Idk. I wish, since everybody reads this stuff that at least more wouldn't neglect any responsibility to improve its accuracy or balance and whatever else you get with more volume. Maybe some attention to unmentioned programs.

 

[3882370]

The reality is, you've got a tiny minority of applicants who have their own preconceptions and biases, and their perspectives from a single day visit and what they've picked up through gossip and web review, commenting on programs. I sure hope readers take the "facts" and recommendations presented here with an entire box of salt. There are hundreds of excellent programs of there. Programs directors only take this job if they actually care about training, and they are generally extremely nice, supportive, individuals who are working very hard to make this a good experience for you. Nobody goes into academic psychiatry for the money and power. There isn't any. They go into it because they want to share their love of psychiatry with you and give you the opportunity to create a path that gives you the same fulfillment and joy that they have in psychiatry. There are pros and cons of every program out there, but wherever you train, you will come out a competent psychiatrist and I highly doubt there are any truly malignant programs in Psychiatry. Dismounting from my high horse now.

 

[Nasrudin]

What high horse? We all agree on this. But Wikipedia is a crowd sourcing phenomenon. Somewhere somebody cares enough to write it down. We're all reading this. Have read it. What we leave behind for others is up to us.

How do we know a restaurant is any good except for the line of subjective feelings at the door.

Look, whatever. I'm moving on. But I found the notion of my top program now from reading here. And I think, with any luck, I'll be headed there. My conscience is clear for giving back at least what I've gotten.

 

[moonshined]

.

 

[digitlnoize]

Or so they like to present. I sincerely doubt there is any significant percentage of U.S. medical students that haven't used SDN.

You'd be surprised. I ask the med students I work with all the time and I'd wager SDN is reaching about 20% of them, if that. Which amazes me. I never would have made it through all this without this site. Then again, I'm not the kid of a doctor riding on legacy and raised in an OR since birth...

 

[Fabio001]

Pyknotic, did you interview at Colorado Denver or UC Davis? If so, I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts as you've gone to a number of places I'm interested in. If not, would you be up for sharing why you skipped on applying to those places?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

As a current applicant, ironically I believe it has something to do with the frank and negative criticisms that Doctor Bagel posted about OHSU a few years ago. Those kinds of posts from someone on the "inside" of a program carry a lot of weight, even when the comments are dated and perhaps no longer even applicable, and while you might think that people posting current reviews would not take the old posts into consideration when cranking out their review, I believe that they are doing exactly that to "fill in the blanks" of which there are so many from the applicants perspective. Another program that continues to suffer from this fate on SDN is Colorado based on the postings from someone who was dismissed there a few years ago. And I also gave that program a pass, FWIW.

Is any of this fair, or should it really be influencing applicants to the extent I think it does? No, but in the absence of ascertainable facts and reliable personal experience that is almost impossible to get in a one day interview, I believe that people fall back on what they have read about a program, whether it was fair, accurate, or still the case.

These "reviews" don't ever die, and with the search function, they really don't even fade away. When I was making up my app list for this season, I was influenced by her posts and left OHSU off even though I am pretty sure I would like Portland as a place to live. She basically scared the crap out of me with her workload complaints, her less than flattering descriptions of the admin support of residents, and especially with her stories of the frequent firings/dismissals from the program, and those factors alone were enough for me to pass it over.

I am sure that OHSU has no problem filling despite any of this. SDN is not read by everyone - many of my classmates have never even visited this place.

Finally, as much as I enjoy reading the reviews, I have not written any myself because I don't think my opinion should matter to anyone else. I have written extensively about my process, though, and what I looked for in a program, and my emphasis on location, but I don't think I am in a position to evaluate or criticize any program based on what I saw and heard on interview day.

So, on that note -- if you want to continue to use SDN after you're a resident, don't let people know where you are. It's too constraining. I use SDN for all sorts of things, including a venting outlet and a chance to check things in my program with how they might work in other programs, and that was not wise. Really not wise -- I'm a slow learner with social media. So yeah, don't share -- lesson learned. Also, other lessons -- any information regarding a program that's not super positive is viewed as a really big negative, which is unfortunate because it suppresses our ability to discuss things here, and I'm guessing it also suppresses a lot of potential exchange of information between programs and applicants.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

You'd be surprised. I ask the med students I work with all the time and I'd wager SDN is reaching about 20% of them, if that. Which amazes me. I never would have made it through all this without this site. Then again, I'm not the kid of a doctor riding on legacy and raised in an OR since birth...

Yeah, I honestly think it's a minority thing, too. Most people I went to medical school with weren't here, and most people I work with aren't here, either. I suspect applicants use it more than other people, though. I also suspect our users are a self-selecting group in that we might be people that are more anxious and more likely to seek out as much information as possible about residency programs. Hence, the readers here are also the type to be especially alarmed by bad reviews/reports from residents. Hey, and I'm right there with that so no judgment.

 

[Psychotic]

You'd be surprised. I ask the med students I work with all the time and I'd wager SDN is reaching about 20% of them, if that. Which amazes me. I never would have made it through all this without this site. Then again, I'm not the kid of a doctor riding on legacy and raised in an OR since birth...

Your experience with SDN usage is on par with mine - many of my peers don't even know what SDN is.

 

[Nasrudin]

I don't know. I think most people reference it. It's not very hip as far as social media goes and so I think a lot of people use it on the low. But I like it because it's less personal and it's only there when I engage it. It's not a constant open window into my personal life.

I am aware of the dangers as doctor bagel lays them out, even though like her I don't always heed my own caution. So I'll probably not identify where I match. Just because I like using it for frank, unrestrained discussion and I don't want my program to feel answerable to my opinions outside of work.

I think a lot of people use it. But duck acknowledging it because it lacks hipness and sex appeal.

 

[Psychotic]

.

 

[TheRiddler]

Throw this in to the mix:

I seem to recall a scathing program review posted for San Mateo some time last year. The program went unfilled in the match. There were talks of the review writer intentionally scaring others from the program in order to match there himself. Certainly adds an interesting twist. Take the reviews with a grain of coarse sea salt, I suppose.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

The reality is, you've got a tiny minority of applicants who have their own preconceptions and biases, and their perspectives from a single day visit and what they've picked up through gossip and web review, commenting on programs. I sure hope readers take the "facts" and recommendations presented here with an entire box of salt. There are hundreds of excellent programs of there. Programs directors only take this job if they actually care about training, and they are generally extremely nice, supportive, individuals who are working very hard to make this a good experience for you. Nobody goes into academic psychiatry for the money and power. There isn't any. They go into it because they want to share their love of psychiatry with you and give you the opportunity to create a path that gives you the same fulfillment and joy that they have in psychiatry. There are pros and cons of every program out there, but wherever you train, you will come out a competent psychiatrist and I highly doubt there are any truly malignant programs in Psychiatry. Dismounting from my high horse now.

This.

 

[StECT]

I ask the med students I work with all the time and I'd wager SDN is reaching about 20% of them, if that.

I just took a quick informal poll in the ~40 member whatsapp class subgroup (filled with girls if that matters) and the result was ~40% of the respondents had used SDN before and during medical school. So, clearly, this is a very variable thing albeit very interesting.