How do I gauge teaching and supervision in a residency program?

[Alemo]

I am an M4 who will soon be creating a rank list for psychiatry programs. I've been able to compare a lot of objective features in places, like climate, location, areas of particular strength/emphasis, and resident profiles. But one thing I haven't been able to get a sense of is "what it would be like to be a resident on service" with comparisons to other places. Isn't the teaching and learning environment one of the most important factors in a program?

I'm curious about questions like: How much teaching goes on? Are residents left to fend for themselves? Is "rapid discharging" and high volume prioritized over learning and quality care? Is autonomy a positive or a negative thing? Is autonomy supplemented by enough teaching and direction?

It really feels as if I'm going in blind with respect to this part of the decision making. Is it worth asking individual residents about their experiences? It seems like most that I've asked on the trail have given well-intentioned albeit generic "safe" answers.

Thanks for any advice!

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[wolfvgang22]

Well, if you are personable and have a little skill in conversation a lot of times you can get good answers from the most senior residents. If they are too afraid to at least hint at what they think and feel about their program, that's a red flag.
Asking here on this forum what residents and students think about programs can help. A few programs let applicants round for a day with the residents or sit in on a lecture, I know Mayo did this when I interviewed a few years ago. Asking if you can do this with programs you are especially interested in would show interest. They might say no, and if the question annoys them much that also says something.

 

[tellmemore2020]

You're probably done with your interviews, but I asked residents to take me through a typical day. I prefer attendings to see all patients on the floor daily (how do you sign off without laying eyes on a patient?). I also ask about ability to call attendings during overnight call - my favorite programs say they can "call them any time and have done so repeatedly." Other things I like: having senior supervision onsite for intern year; having in-house attendings during call. Things I didn't much like - have a senior resident on home-call with an in-house intern - clearly I need to call them first (and they get paid pennies so I understand if they get pissy).

 

[FlowRate]

I've had several interviewees ask me questions about these things and I've been comfortable giving entirely straightforward answers. It's hard to know exactly how to compare with other residencies, because I haven't experienced any other.

 

[thoffen]

I think residents are probably your best bet here. If you still have contact for some that you met on the interview trail, reach out. Try to get more than 1 opinion from a program.