The Post-Interview Thread - Post Interview Experiences Here

[nortomaso]

One thing that I loved about this program: psych. interns actually run codes. Several of the people with whom I interviewed HATED this, but I love this -- perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment! Actually, I agree with something that others (SAZI??) have said: I'd rather work really hard during residency, than have to learn this stuff later/on the job!

.

Mosche, I didn't know that about the codes. It's funny because, one thing that I didn't like about Pitt was that residents told me that only several units NP's/PA's were responsible for medically managing the pts and didn't want the psych residents involved in that aspect of their care.

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[Poety]

Why in the name of Jehovah would you wanna run a code? OY VAY!!!

No thank you, I'll page you Mosche iffin I ever have to run one ok? I am *so* not into running codes I will however, wrestle the schizophrenic to the ground and restrain em!

 

[mosche]

I will however, wrestle the schizophrenic to the ground and restrain em!

I'll call you for this particular skill! Last time I fought a schizophrenic, it was in a bus station. I got punched in the face and the police were called. The 911 operator asked me to describe my assailant. I said, "He's the one with the fists!"

She asked me: "Does he have any rings on his fingers!!!?"

 

[Hurricane]

Why not? That's one of the most brilliant irreverent things I've ever heard. I love it!

Viva la BBQ Sauce Ranking System!

Because then I would have to apply to and rank whatever program is in Kansas City

 

[Poety]

Sazi darling (that was said in a friend way btw, i dont have a crush on sazi), don't believe her, she IS ranking according to BBQ sauce and shes hiding her tactics so none of us use it too

Well nice try Hurricane, I'm using it - its gunna be the BBQ off for ROL

 

[DrIng]

Why in the name of Jehovah would you wanna run a code? OY VAY!!!

No thank you, I'll page you Mosche iffin I ever have to run one ok? I am *so* not into running codes I will however, wrestle the schizophrenic to the ground and restrain em!

What are you doing!!!! Surely you've spent enough time on the wards to know that wrestling patients is the nurses job while the doctor stands out of the way to avoid getting hit...

And I'm with you, I'm not into running codes either!

 

[mosche]

I guess it depends -- maybe I REALLY enjoy being "bumped by nurses" !

 

[Poety]

What are you doing!!!! Surely you've spent enough time on the wards to know that wrestling patients is the nurses job while the doctor stands out of the way to avoid getting hit...

And I'm with you, I'm not into running codes either!

oops, I should take off my nursing hat and put back on the doc hat
nurses die hard, but at least I have the "skill" right?

 

[Thewonderer]

Question about the San Mateo program. is it true that you make tons of money there? I heard rumors that you work very little and have high base salary (like 45k or so) and then everyone can moonlight (and since there is no mandatory overnight calls, all residents basically take overnight calls and get paid for them, i.e. moonlightin) and can rake in $80k routinely per year or even more. is that true???

3. San Mateo - A program I desperately wanted to adore. I'm not sure how I feel about this program. The interviews were very friendly, and I enjoy most of the faculty interactions I've had. The interactions with the residents, however... I'm not sure. They all kept asking me "Why do you want to come here?" And they all stressed how light their call schedule was. I thought I wanted to go there for the psychotherapy training, but whenever I mentionned this aspect, I mostly received blank looks. ??? If anyone else has anything to add regarding this program, I'd love to hear it. The interviews all centered on how I found the program, why did I want to go there, and who I was. The interview with the program director is 2-3 hours long, and traces the applicants life from... elementary school on up. Basically, he wants to know when we started wanting to go into psychiatry and why. I did not feel scrutinized or judged, but I did feel a bit stretched to explain exactly the point in my life when psychiatry became a possiblity. This could be a good thing. He is planning to stay at least 5 years, so again, all of us are safe from upheaval should we choose to attend this program. I was told that because the first-year class only has 4 spots, that maternity leave during the first year and a half of residency would not be optimal. However, since fellow residents do not have to take up the slack in call, at least you're not hindering them. Mostly, it's a matter of making up the rotations that are missed. As far as I could tell, this is the only residency that does not use its residents as work-horses, that exists for the sole purpose of education. There is NO Overnight CALL - EVER. The residents seem very laid back, though perhaps defensive, at their choice. Moonlighting opportunities abound.

 

[psych2b]

Question about the San Mateo program. is it true that you make tons of money there? I heard rumors that you work very little and have high base salary (like 45k or so) and then everyone can moonlight (and since there is no mandatory overnight calls, all residents basically take overnight calls and get paid for them, i.e. moonlightin) and can rake in $80k routinely per year or even more. is that true???

Base salary is $50+K. No call. $75/hr for moonlighting in psych ed. Annual income of $80K is easily possible.

 

[Poety]

Base salary is $50+K. No call. $75/hr for moonlighting in psych ed. Annual income of $80K is easily possible. [please consider reading 4th year rotation thread for other comments on this program]

DAM!!


(and Mosche, I don't add the N because I don't want my post edited so shut yer trap )

 

[mosche]

DAM!!


(and Mosche, I don't add the N because I don't want my post edited so shut yer trap )

That's "yOUr"

 

[Poety]

That's "yOUr"

That's "obnoxious"

 

[felicity]

Has anyone else interviewed at Univ of Texas San Antonio, or UT Southwestern? Univ of Texas is the ONLY school I am applying to that does not offer a dinner with the residents. Makes me wonder why. Although they do pay for the hotel, which is very nice. Anyway, any feedback would be useful. Thanks, felicity

 

[atsai3]

Has anyone else interviewed at Univ of Texas San Antonio, or UT Southwestern? Univ of Texas is the ONLY school I am applying to that does not offer a dinner with the residents. Makes me wonder why. Although they do pay for the hotel, which is very nice. Anyway, any feedback would be useful. Thanks, felicity

I haven't had my hotel paid for by any program with which I've interviewed (none in Texas), and several of the programs have not offered dinner. Just another data point.

Cheers,
-AT.

 

[MDgonnabe]

I haven't had my hotel paid for by any program with which I've interviewed (none in Texas), and several of the programs have not offered dinner. Just another data point.

no hotels paid for thus far. there was a dinner at uva, but i cancelled that interview (can't see myself living in virginia). a dinner at univ. of md, but i interviewed on the day they didn't have a dinner the night before. hopkins gave us coffee with the residents towards the end of the long day, which was nice and needed after all the interviews. uw offers a happy hour with residents. the only program i might go to which offers not only hotel but $300 of travel expenses is uw spokane.

also, yes, i've been slacking on program reviews. i'm not going to go through the dreary list of "pluses" and "minuses" because a plus for me could be a minus for someone else. i'll just write my overall impression of the strengths of each program as i see them.


temple (my med school) - definitely on the upswing in terms of growing faculty and improving facilities. lots of great and very approachable clinicians. the staff is very helpful, experienced and knowledgeable. an excellent patient population for those of you interested in addictions, underserved minorities, or florid psychosis. there are residents involved in research if such is your cup of tea. c-l team is excellent due to the nature of the pt population. also, they're working on getting a geriatric unit and fellowship to their program soon. an amazing set of residents. they're genuine people and would do anything to help a colleague out. the program is in philly, very close to all the other major east coast cities.


umdnj camden (cooper) - the faculty and staff at this program spew of genuine warmth and honesty. much the same patient population as temple, only in a smaller program in a community hospital. the psych dept is very well respected all around here for good reason. c-l team is great. residents seemed very nice and laid back. the program is also located close to philly and all the other east coast cities.


thomas jefferson - offers a good mix of med-psych patient populations. ect training at belmont. amazing c-l team. in a wonderful area of philly with easy access to mass transit.


university of maryland - amazing patient population mix in a wide variety of settings. sheppard pratt is one of the first and most gorgeous psych facilities in the country. the main hospital is gorgeous as well. the residents seem very down to earth and laid back. many fellowships for those inclined. a research track. solid, well rounded training for all grads. baltimore is cheap for an east coast city and many residents own their own homes.


johns hopkins - hardcore medicine and psych training in specialized clinics staffed by faculty who're experts in the particular disorders. wide variety of patients from the poorer encatchment area around the hospital as well as all around the country seeking the hopkins name in treatment. plenty of research opportunities, though you have to make time for it during electives. you'll get whatever fellowship you want when you graduate from here. residents seem like amazingly well-rounded and nice individuals. again, baltimore is cheap, and many residents own their own homes.


more summaries to follow!...

 

[nortomaso]

johns hopkins - hardcore medicine and psych training in specialized clinics staffed by faculty who're experts in the particular disorders. wide variety of patients from the poorer encatchment area around the hospital as well as all around the country seeking the hopkins name in treatment. plenty of research opportunities, though you have to make time for it during electives. you'll get whatever fellowship you want when you graduate from here. residents seem like amazingly well-rounded and nice individuals. again, baltimore is cheap, and many residents own their own homes.
!...

One addition concerning JHU: they are the only program that I have visited where moonlighting is actually prohibited, or so I was told by one of the PGY3's I met there.

 

[MDgonnabe]

One addition concerning JHU: they are the only program that I have visited where moonlighting is actually prohibited, or so I was told by one of the PGY3's I met there.

i asked the same question. the pgy-4's response was that most residents at this program would prefer to do research during their spare time.

 

[manc]

I interviewed at UTSA and they paid for hotel but there was no dinner with residents. They did pay for lunch at a really good thai restaurant. As for other places Cincinnati (my home) paid for nice lunch and nice dinner plus a few coffees in between. UC Davis had a pizza lunch, no dinner, no hotel. They were my most tight-pocketed program so far. OHSU had a decent lunch, a dinner (I couldn't attend) and no hotel. I cancelled UTSW but they offered a nice dinner and hotel.

 

[melange]

Hi,

Would be great to see more impressions of the NYC programs... Here are my 2 cents so far:

Mt Sinai: 2 interviewers, plus a brief meeting with PD.
Pros - enthusiastic, cool PD, very into education and listening to resident feedback. Appear to be successfully strengthening the research side of the department. Friendly faculty. Great location in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Beautiful new hospital building, where it appears you would do medicine months. Subsidized housing, around $1100/ studio.
Cons - Resident classes seemed a bit fragmented and was difficult to get an overall vibe during the resident lunch. They seemed to be a mix, from fun/outgoing to rather unenthusiastic-looking. A tad too much name-dropping of famous researchers on their faculty. Had to sit for over an hour listening to powerpoint about this. Perhaps it is an attempt to overcome their insecurity in comparison to the other top-notch programs in the city.

St. Lukes- 3 Faculty interviews, 1 Resident interview, Meeting with PD
Pros: Also a great PD, young guy, seems very approachable, flexible, and eager to make this a really great training program. Laid back atmosphere, residents do not seem overworked and all said the program is quite flexible and responsive to their interest. Good location, and subsidized housing near St. Luke's or St. Roosevelt (the 2nd clinical site, also on the West Side). Strong in substance abuse training. Very community-oriented psych program.
Cons: Fewer research opportunities. Not much of a reputation and does not have an academic feeling, if that is important.

 

[mosche]

My final list now looks like this:

Interviewed at/will rank Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, and Wash. U..

I interviewed at Duke; however, I will not be ranking them.

Cancelled the following:

MGH,
Yale,
Minnesota,
Wisconsin,
Michigan,
North Carolina.

 

[Hurricane]

Just curious, because I really liked it there... how come you're not ranking Duke?

 

[mosche]

Just curious, because I really liked it there... how come you're not ranking Duke?

I think that Duke is an amazing program, as I said in the feedback thread. It's just not right for me -- I got the feeling that I would not gel with the residents there. I'm blue collar; they seemed very white collar to me. I'm sure that someone will disagree with my assessment, and that's okay! This assessment is definately subjective. I think that the interview process did, for me, what it was supposed to do: it helped me to narrow my search to those programs where I would genuinely be happy.

I know that Pitt., Wash. U., and, to a lesser degree, Vanderbilt are name brand programs; but that's NOT really important to me. I am very happy at Arkansas; and when I began this whole process, I said to myself that the other programs would have to convince me that they are significantly better than what I have now. Pitt., Wash. U. and Vanderbilt all did an excellent job of selling me on their program. Duke didn't.

At the risk of sounding patronizing, I am very happy to hear that you liked the Duke program! I think that, as much as we complain about it, the process does what it is supposed to do.

 

[Doc Samson]

My final list now looks like this:

Interviewed at/will rank Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, and Wash. U..

I interviewed at Duke; however, I will not be ranking them.

Cancelled the following:

MGH,
Yale,
Minnesota,
Wisconsin,
Michigan,
North Carolina.

Don't want to scare you here, but IMHO a rank list of 4 might be a little short. I know a fair number of very smart, well qualified folks who ended up scrambling just because they only listed 3-4 programs and the unexpected ended up happening. You might want to think about trying to bump up to 6 or 7. Whatever your feelings about the programs you're not ranking, they are likely significantly more palatable the the ones that will be left over once everyone has matched.

 

[mosche]

Don't want to scare you here, but IMHO a rank list of 4 might be a little short. I know a fair number of very smart, well qualified folks who ended up scrambling just because they only listed 3-4 programs and the unexpected ended up happening. You might want to think about trying to bump up to 6 or 7. Whatever your feelings about the programs you're not ranking, they are likely significantly more palatable the the ones that will be left over once everyone has matched.

I agree that my list seems small; that's okay. If I don't match, I will do research for a year, and do some traveling. There are worse things! I've talked to my PD, and I'm really comfortable with my decision.

 

[Poety]

Yeah, I agree with you Mosche, I'm at the point now where I'm thinking - I have to be at this place, with these residents for the next 4 years (like MED SCHOOL ALL OVER AGAIN GOOD GOD) but now, I have a baby and family to think about - so I really need to WANT to go where I rank or else I'm really setting myself (and my family) up for very unpleasant 4 years. And as someone said on a different thread "If mom's not happy, NO ONE IS HAPPY" which is soooooo true

 

[2010]

I agree, I will ONLY rank programs that I am extactic about, I dont want to end up some place Im thrilled about just because I heed to start residency next year, research for another year or two is fine with me. I may only end up ranking 2-3 programs

2010

 

[johndean11229]

hey everyone, I have not really been posting much, but I thought this would be a good question, for yall. Has everyone been receiving like thank you letters and emails from the programs post interview? Does not receiving them make concern that that program is not too interested in you? Any ideas or thoughts from the folks out there in psych land?

 

[MDgonnabe]

hey everyone, I have not really been posting much, but I thought this would be a good question, for yall. Has everyone been receiving like thank you letters and emails from the programs post interview? Does not receiving them make concern that that program is not too interested in you? Any ideas or thoughts from the folks out there in psych land?

i've only gotten emails back from some of the individuals i emailed to thank post-interview. certainly no hand-written letters of any sort. i wouldn't be all that concerned just yet. programs know we're all still in the process of finishing up the interview trail.

 

[DrIng]

I'm not actually applying this year but had telephone contact with several programs last year.
University of Rochester- very friendly and accomodating. Good reviews in Academic psychiatry of their 'morning report program'.
Albert Einstein, Philadelphia. very friendly and accomodating. IMG friend'y, offer prematch places, pay for a night's accomoation for itnerviews.
South Shore, helpful, however reports of previous residents sueing the program due to discrimination...
Hope this helps...

 

[psychpsych]

-

 

[Doc Samson]

UC Irvine:
Pros: Orange County. Very approachable faculty.
Cons: Living in Orange County on the same salary as the average program. I don't think UCI has the same sort of name recognition as UW or Stanford. There's some organ transplant scandal there recently, but i guess that doesnt really affect psych.

Enough for now. I hope some of you can speak a little on the concerns I raised.

I'd actually be pretty concerned about transplant scandals since pre-transplant psychiatric evaluations can be (should be) an important part of the CL experience. If a hospital loses their transplant program, it can limit the patient population you'll see on CL. Of course, I'm biased since I'm headed for a career in CL, but take it for what it's worth.

 

[nortomaso]

Stanford

General Impressions: This is a really pleasant place. The facilities are beautiful (even the VA), the atmosphere relaxed. Everone I met was very nice in a genuine unsalesman like way. The residency group struck me as less cohesive than elsewhere. I didn't interpret this as a sign of malignancy. It seemed rather that this place catered to quiet individualists who do their own thing. The structure of the program reflects this. There is absolutely no research requirement although plenty of opportunity if you so desire. Similarly you can shape your outpatient experience so that you are doing all specialty psychopharm, lots of supervised psychotherapy, or managed care work (at Kaiser). No one is going to push you in a particular direction.

Although this residency is often considered "cushy" especially when compared to UCSF, I got the impression that the intern year was actually harder, owing to four months of general medicine floors.

A couple of the single residents I met were plotting a move to San Francisco, which, traffic permitting, is 40 minutes away. I don't know the area, but this suggested to me that life in Silicon Valley was not that fulfilling for singles..

While I felt fortunate to get to meet one-on-one with the chairman, I really like to meet the PD. I feel more comfortable going to a program where there is a strong PD who takes pride in the program and stands up for his residents. Since I was scheduled to meet with the chair, they did not schedule me with the PD. I asked the secretary if I could pop in at the end of the day just to introduce myself. Well, at the end of the day the secretary informed me that the PD said not to worry, that I would be fine since I met with the chair and he is the boss. I took this to mean that the only purpose of meeting with anyone was to boost my application and that it had not even occured to them that I might want to meet with the PD just to put a face to the program and see if I felt comfortable with him. This really annoyed me, especially since I had travelled all the way from the East Coast.

Strengths:
-Psychopharm: The chair wrote the textbook. He has organized the outpatient selectives into specialty clinics where you work with expert attendings and get to learn very sophisticated management.
-Flexibilty: If you know what kind of training you want, they will accomodate you.

Weaknesses:
-addiction: this was stated by the chief resident
-Community psych: If you think there is a possibilty you might be doing public sector psych, this is not the place. The oft stated criticism that Stanford serves an all white population is misdirected. I think their population is pretty representative of America, much more so than Columbia's(see below), for example. And it is a clinical residency where you are exposed to a wide array of psychopathology. But the population is disproprtionately affluent and, the VA apart, it consists of private payers.

 

[mosche]

Nortomaso,

Excellent review -- as always.

 

[nortomaso]

General Impressions:

I came into this interview with a lot of preconceived notions about Columbia and walked away very impressed. Contrary to rumors I had heard, the PD was one of the most engaging, humble, people I have met on the trail. He has been at the post for 26 years, takes tremendous pride in the program and his residents, and has clearly inspired a lot of loyalty. Because he has been there for so long, a lot of the current attendings trained under him and so he is now able to mobilize them quite effectively for the benefit of the residents. A lot of the residents came out of the woodwork to chat with us and they all seem genuinely thrilled with the program. They are also a diverse lot who really like to discuss psychiatry with each other and engage in debates. This might have been interpreted as "competition between residents" which has been noted in previous year's reviews. To me this is not competetion, but a sign of intellectual collegiality.

Particularities of Columbia:

-Academic life: This is really what sets this place apart. You have scores of legends under a relatively small roof who come together regularly for grand rounds and conferences. The grand rounds lineup is amazing and it is always followed by a more informal lunch conversation with the speaker in which the residents get to participate. The research opportunities are as good as anywhere. The total funding from State and Federal sources comes to about $80 million a year. What I think is a little different here is that there seems to be a lot of conceptual thinking going on that is driving the research, a very different model from places like Pittsburgh where research is driven more by the likelihood of obtaining grants or publishing papers. This is at least partly due to NY state's funding of the Psychiatric Institute, which means that it lives and dies less by NIH grants than other places.
-Patient Population: Columbia is in washingtomn Heights, a dominican neighborhood, and 40% patients on the inpatient unit are monolingual Spanish speakers. While I was told that there are always interpretors available, if you are not fluent in Spanish, I think this could prove frustrating.
-Pychoanalysis: History lives on here. The psychoanalytic institute is right in the building. They are actually doing some interesting work trying to correlate psychoanalytic concepts with neurobiology, but from a clinical standpoint you suck up a lot of talk about erotic transference and other such very unempirical concepts both from your supervisors and in class. Most of the residents seem to enjoy it, and I will bite my tongue lest Doc Sampson awaken from his slumber, but it is something to keep in mind.
-Supervision: You have 8 hour of supervision in the third (outpatient) year. That means lots of talking and less time seeing more patients. And that seems to be a general theme at Columbia. If you are looking for a more high intensity clinical experience in NY, I hear NYU is a much quicker pace with a more varied pt population.
-Inpatient Units: Since this is a state hospital, the patients on most of the units stay much longer than they would in a managed care environment. The residents like this because they get to observe a whole course of illness over weeks to months rather than days and spend lots of time with each patient. They also have a pretty light load of about five patients. Of course, this also means that they see less total patients and provide less acute care.
-Location: For those of you who are not from New York, Washinton Heights is way up at the top of Manhattan in the part of Manhattan that really isn't Manhattan. It takes about 45min to get dowtown on the A train. The neighborhoods within a reasonable commuting distance of the hospital are not the cosmopolitan vibrant neighborhoods you might think of when you imagine New York. When I left New York years ago, I felt as if I had regained many lost hours of my weekly existence previously spent underground in a bumpy subway car packed with grumpy passengers. This is an important quality of life consideration.

 

[jennyklm]

Here are a couple of my impressions...

Yale:
Pros: Lower cost of living, flexible curriculum,lots of built-in time for research.
Cons: Most of the residents seemed very into research, so if that is not your thing, this may not be the right place for you. I found most of them to be nice but definitely family-oriented and living in the 'burbs. I've heard great things about the PD, but I found his interview somewhat uncomfortably intrusive and judgmental.

MGH/McLean:
Pros: Excellent facilities and exposure to top notch research and professors. Residents seemed intense, but nice.
Cons: This is not a place that will hold your hand. It doesn't seem like anyone comes here for quality of life or because they thought they would be really happy here.

Brown:
Pros: Happiest residents that I've seen on the trail. Gorgeous facilities and freestanding child/adol psych hospital. Providence is a pro/con depending on what you're looking for.
Cons: Less academically oriented. 24/7 pager call (yr 3/4), which is the price you have to pay for a less hectic call schedule (ie, they even go jogging with their pagers)

UNC:
Pros: Large hospital, psych well-respected within it. Harder schedule the first two years (but makes for a great schedule year 3 and 4). The PD is a straight-shooter and doesn't waste time getting to her point, which I appreciated.
Cons: Chapel hill is small. Most of the residents are married and local.

Longwood:
Pros: Diverse training, nice residents. Seems less prestigious than the other two Harvard programs.
Cons: Tough schedule, still take call throughout the year as 3rd/4th yr. Have to commute between different sites.

 

[Poety]

Great facilities, great location and really bright residents. I liked this place a lot. Tons of DBS research with multiple different d/o's including schizo, depression, and some others I can't remember.

Huge research funding, research tract, normal residents that are diverse in their experiences and where they're all from. Definitely everything you could want out of a residency in psych. PD is funny, and easy to talk to. Resident run program overall - and one that I think I fit quite nicely in. I spent most of hte day laughing with the residents and truly interested in talking with them. I was surprised at how smart these people were - they're not the typical "bookwormy, boring" smart - they're interesting, engaging, funny smart type which I tend to gravitate towards. (like my friend Mosche here )

NIGHT FLOAT!

Every fellowship you can think of is here, they have a ton of residents in the program (11 psych, 4 med/psych, 1 neuro/psych). You can pretty much pursue anything you want here and coming from this program is essentially like graduating from one of the big boys in the south since its got a long standing reputation (even in the North, since I was told by most attendings that if you're going to do the south you do Emory, DUke, MUSC, or UNC for psych residency).

I found this place less pretentious than some others and I really was surprised at how laid back everyone here was. The chair is the former chair of COlumbia and everyone is very pleased with his presence. Didactics are improving.

Biggest pros: You're going to be around some really smart people here that love psychiatry. Work hard play hard environment. Night float. Research in anything you want with a research tract (like a northern school with southern flare!) No slackers, no pretentiousness for the reputation. Self standing hospital w, locked unit. Dedicated deep brain stimulation with imaging (like, watching the effects of the stimulation AS IT HAPPENS HOW COOL IS THAT?)

Biggest cons: charleston can be expensive to buy in, but renting is fine. Hurricanes. Medicine rotation is really tough, but you learn a LOT. No child exposure (only adolescent) unless you're in the fellowship. I forgot to ask about benefits. Pay is a little lower than others in the south. And one resident said that resident run can be difficult with some things like scheduling holidays since theres no true upper to fix it - they tell you to work it out (which actually is good since this is how you would work in practice right?)

 

[Poety]

Edited to Add about MUSC: 100% board pass rate first time, for all residents.

Impressive indeed.

 

[Doc Samson]

-Pychoanalysis: History lives on here. The psychoanalytic institute is right in the building. They are actually doing some interesting work trying to correlate psychoanalytic concepts with neurobiology, but from a clinical standpoint you suck up a lot of talk about erotic transference and other such very unempirical concepts both from your supervisors and in class. Most of the residents seem to enjoy it, and I will bite my tongue lest Doc Sampson awaken from his slumber, but it is something to keep in mind.

Who's slumbering? I had gone into my interview at Columbia (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) with high hopes, but was actually turned off by how negatively stereotypical the psychoanalysts seemed. They were significantly more intrusive and inappropriate than anywhere else I interviewed. Analysts that I've met and trained under since have been significantly warmer and more down-to-earth. I've been wondering how you'd find Columbia, Norto since even I found their analytical presence chaffing.

 

[nortomaso]

Who's slumbering? I had gone into my interview at Columbia (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) with high hopes, but was actually turned off by how negatively stereotypical the psychoanalysts seemed. They were significantly more intrusive and inappropriate than anywhere else I interviewed. Analysts that I've met and trained under since have been significantly warmer and more down-to-earth. I've been wondering how you'd find Columbia, Norto since even I found their analytical presence chaffing.

Dinosaurs? You mean psychoanalysts?

Seriously DS, I guess we really are more or less on the same page. I felt much more comfortable at UPenn where psychodynamic psychotherapy is pragmatic and where efforts are being made to validate it. In fairness to Columbia though, I was spared intrusive interviews. Of my three faculty interviews, only one was an analyst and while she probed my allegiance (similar to the experience at UCSF which I describe in my review) she did not ask any inappropriate questions. What struck me was how widespread and thick the psychoanalytic air was at Columbia. I went into the office of the chief resident and his sizeable library consisted of one or two neuroscience textbooks and several hundred psychoanalysis books, including the complete works of Freud. Another resident mentioned doing dream interpretation with his patients. I cannot help but think that the time invested in all this has to be at the expense of more useful clinical tools.

 

[BCS_001]

Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing well! After a couple months break from SDN (studying for boards, traveling all over the place for interviews), I wanted to post some of my impressions of the programs I visited. I will post general impressions, but please feel free to contact me with specific questions. I hope this is not too late to be helpful . . .

In no particular order . . .

Hopkins

Strengths: The people. The physicians at Hopkins (and Pittsburgh) seemed to me to be the most friendly, down to earth, straight shooting people on the whole interview trail. The residents also are very friendly and seem generally happy, possibly with the exception of the interns (who are not unhappy, just overworked at times).

Weaknesses: The location is not as sexy as other big cities, though Baltimore does have quite a bit of diversity (which is useful depending on the type of work you intend to do). The Medicine training is amazing, but very hard (ICU months, etc), so this is really dependent again on your career interests and plans. The elective time is a little less flexible than other similar programs.

Pittsburgh

Strengths: As mentioned above, the people were amazing. I loved Dr. Travis, the residency director. He has only been there for a year or so, and I think he will have only positive effects on the people he will draw to the program. The research training here is amazing as well, with a great deal of flexibility in elective times.

Weaknesses: Although I did not get this sense on my interview day, I have heard others argue that the clinical training may not be as strong as other top notch programs. I actually really liked the way the units are set up (specialized disorders), but I figured it was worth mentioning my concerns either way. I do not know much about the city, but it seemed like it would be a decent place to live, again not as metropolitan as NY or Boston, but with nicer people maybe.

MGH/McLean

Strengths: The reputation is amazing, and the people were quite (almost surprisingly) friendly. I thought the residency directors made a great effort to really get to know me. I liked having the opportunity to work in two different types of settings (though some would argue the need to drive between multiple sites as a negative). One of my favorite parts of this program is the flexibility in the fourth year for elective time. You essentially propose what you want to do sometime during third year, and as long as it is reasonable, you generally receive approval (this includes activities at other Harvard schools!) Boston would probably be a very nice place to live, though I would have to adjust to the cold weather

Weaknesses: I actually can not think of much here. You work hard and the program is large, so it probably fits certain types of people better, but it seemed like an excellent match for me.

More to come . . . just wanted to post before my computer restarts and I start losing things

 

[BCS_001]

UCLA

The location, by far, is the greatest strength. I loved Westwood (my first trip to CA), and think I would be very happy living in Southern CA. The program seemed very nice to me in general, though I am having difficulty comparing it with the east coast schools. As you can probably tell, I am using my gut impression and instinct as my primary guide in this whole process. Anyway, I felt like the program was more laid back then those back east, but in a good way (not to the extent that I thought it was moving too slowly). The residents were very friendly, though one did stand out as both contradicting himself and the other residents when talking about interactions between the classes. It seems to me that the residents are not the most tightly knit, as many of them had friends and family in SoCal and spend their time with other groups of people.

U. Maryland/Sheppard Pratt

I liked both the faculty and residents I met here. The program director, in particular, seemed very open, honest, and supportive. I left feeling confident that he would be an excellent mentor as a resident. I loved Sheppard Pratt and having the chance to work in multiple settings (similar to MGH/McLean). The new hospital at Pratt is gorgeous and has all private rooms. The research track gives a large amount of flexibility in electives.

Sorry, these are getting shorter. I guess that is the only problem with gut instincts . . . I did not take copious notes and have given much more thought to some programs than others.

Emory

The program director really loves his job and getting to know the applicants. I felt he would be very honest in this whole process. Atlanta would be a great place to live, though the traffic between the hospital sites would definitely become a drag. I did not particularly like Grady hospital, so I think this was the biggest turnoff for me. It was the first place I had been to that I did not feel entirely safe (and I go to school in the scariest of neighborhoods, so that is saying something).

Columbia

Columbia is an amazing place. The resources are close to unmatched, and living in New York (though not necessarily Washington Heights) would be very exciting. In spite of this, I came away less excited than I would have hoped. I did not feel like I meshed well with the residents. They were all very smart and friendly (and I did not necessarily feel like they were competitive, as has been mentioned elsewhere), but I just felt like I did not fit in the best. I actually think my impression would probably change if I return for a revisit, as this likely would just be a function of who I met on this particular day. I did not like that the program director really did not sit down at length with the applicats (only for a very short time at the end of the day -- to ask questions, rather than conduct an interview). I thought the program director was nice and clearly had been doing his job forever, but the fact that he did not want to get to know me more in person (though he did invite me to come back the next day . . . but I had other plans) disappointed me a little.

Cornell
Unfortunately, my memories of this program are fading, as it was very early in the process. I thought the program was very psychotherapy (psychoanalytic) based, and this turned me off from the beginning. Nearly all the residents are in their own therapy and it seemed like quite a bit of peer pressure for everyone else to do the same. I liked all of the residents and program director, though I heard the program director is not around all that much once you join the program. The westchester division is probably very nice, but it would be a bit of a pain to commute out there (apparrently, there is a car provided that the residents share). The housing at Cornell is amazing . . . if I wanted to live in NY, the upper east side in subsidized housing is about as good as it gets.

University of Florida

Gainesville had great weather (I was there at the end of October), but clearly just a big college town. I am a Miami Hurricanes fan too . . . so that could be a problem.

University of South Florida

Aside from Westwood in SoCal, Tampa would be my second favorite place to live on the whole interview trail. The program is laid back (so you have time to enjoy the beaches) and would be great for a clinical career, but the research opportunities are probably a bit lacking in comparison to the big names.

 

[grunermann]

Hey everybody!

Sorry I haven't been posting either, but I think it's just part of that end of the season, I'm tired of writing thank you notes, researching, blah blah blah kinda feeling, so I'll give quick summaries as well.

Beth Israel

My first interview during the MTA strike, so realize walking 100 blocks in freezing cold might play into my bias. Residents seemed to really close and friendly at this program. I hit it off really well with people at lunch. Program director and chair were very friendly. As a Southerner, I've had some experience with northern programs patronizing me or making me walk over hot coals to prove I want to leave AL (who can imagine why, right?) Not so here, I actually really appreciated that. Medicine doesn't seem too bad as you don't do general medicine for all 4 months; they place you in other services as well and you always get the day off after call. All residents talked up the housing which seems can be very nice.

Downsides are research project is required. I'd personally be in an environment that encouraged working on research with faculty than churning out some Mickey Mouse poster. Also, there is not child unit. Not that I want to go into child, but I wouldn't like my inpt child experience to be worrying about transfering them to someone else.

Overall, seems like a great place to be if you don't mind a little less prestige community type feel.

St. Vincent's Manhattan

Day two of the strike. Being a gay Southerner, I was really looking forward to this interview. PD is new, young, very accepting and is proud of diversity of residents. He seems rather enthusiastic about his job and working to improve the program. Chief residents were also very approachable and answered questions throughout the day. Housing was wonderful. Can't beat being in the Village.

The rest of my day went horribly. The residents who took us to lunch were extremely negative. Talked about bankruptcy, money problems, lack of resident autonomy, turnover. You name it, they said it was a problem. Then our tour guide was straight from Hell--no other way to describe it. It was bad enough that I wrote the PD. If you are dying to know, PM me. Then my last interviewer was 15 min late for a 30 min interview, had never seen my file and proceeded to wing it. With all this strike stuff, I had little patience for this. However, these were the questions I was asked.
How do you think the musical, "Wicked," has influenced your perspective of psychiatry?

In "Rent," the song, Tango de Maureen, has fascinating imagery and lyrics. What Axis II disorder jumps to mind?

So, you're from the South, guess you like to hunt? (this was after all the musical questions)

Gun laws have very different meanings for the north and south. Compare and contrast the cultural significance of each.

So, as you can see, my opinion of the place dropped rather quickly. But, I wrote the PD about everything and he quelled my concerns. Seems that the residents are really misinformed and just cantankerous (I really believe that). And many other people have said that my day was such a variant of the norm; residents at other places ranked the program highly, so I am going to go back for a second look. I think I could be really happy there, so want to get a better perspective of things.

Mt. Sinai
Can you tell I am in love with Manhattan? This program was excellent. Hard neuroscience research, big name faculty, more laid back, down to earth residents. Beautiful facilities, multiple housing options, living on Upper East Side. I don't not what to say wrong about the program. This is, however, a place I'm having to jump through hoops, but I really don't mind.

Pros: many listed above with many opportunities for research, approachable PD, diverse therapy training with lots of supervision.

Cons: Call becomes an increasing responsibility through the years. Some people have to do therapy training at Bronx VA. Residents, while friendly, don't seem very close-may be due to nature of the city.

Sorry these are short, but thought it was better than nothing.

 

[MDgonnabe]

i spent a couple days in dc, which i don't remember anyone here posting about soooooo...:

GWU: i felt a closeness with the pd here since he was as interested in neuroscience and c-l as i was. having the career goal of c-l, i am infatuated by the idea of rotating through inova-fairfax all four years. excellent patient diversity, many international individuals (since i'm foreign-born this was a big plus for me). the residents were down to earth and friendly. the only real cons of this program would be the traffic annoyances of the dc area coupled with the insane cost of living.

Georgetown: same diversity of patients. this program has strong ties with the apa for those who are interested in health policy and whatnot. this program also has ties with the nih for those of you who are research-minded. the residents are amazingly friendly and seem honestly happy. the pd is young and full of ideas and very technologically savy. he has plans to put all kinds of lectures and whatnot online, which i find very appealing. he also wants to start dc's first forensics fellowship in the near future. the main cons of this program would be the cons of gwu (dc traffic and cost of living) plus the fact that the residents here no longer rotate through inova-fairfax (which sucks for those of us interested in c-l).

one thing i also enjoyed about the dc programs is that there is no real sense of rivalry between them as there was a tension between the baltimore programs... hope this helps. i've just got two more to go...

 

[littlepurplepil]

Anyone here interviewed at or have any info about the Mayo program? I haven't seen anyone here mention it yet.

 

[BCS_001]

I received an interview at Mayo, but did not end up making the trip out to Rochester because of time constraints. Anyway, I can tell you that the program director called me to invite me and even responded personally when I wrote to cancel the interview. He is clearly a thoughtful person and seemed like he would be a great mentor, through my little bit of interaction with him (though of course never in person). It seemed like a very friendly place, for whatever that is worth.

From what I have heard, the city has grown a bunch in the past couple of decades, though still has a small town feel to it. Probably would be nice if you have a family and/or kids, but not necessarily the best place to be single. And of course, very cold.

Just my two cents...hopefully helpful.

Anyone here interviewed at or have any info about the Mayo program? I haven't seen anyone here mention it yet.

 

[psychpsych]

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[psychpsych]

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[nortomaso]

Here's some more impressions:

I think that I personally would be happy living in either Orange County or Palo Alto. Stanford would have an advantage in that a good friend might be joining me there. My gut feeling is UC Irvine, but did they just do a better job selling themselves with their hospitality? I think that they'll treat me well, but will they train me as well as Stanford? Then again, will Stanford train me well- I've definately been warned that the clinical training there is shoddy. I've heard "horrendous" but not from someone who went there. I'm not interested in research. Nevertheless, it's still STANFORD. And they pay well. I think cost of living is about the same in Orange County vs. Palo Alto. I'm also not happy about the 4 months of internal medicine that is not negotiable at Stanford.

HELP!

I highly doubt the clinical training at Stanford is shoddy. On the contrary, my impression was that it offered some of the best psychopharm training in the country. There are also experts in several psychotherapeutic modalities who are available to train residents if you seek them out. The thing with Stanford is not that its not clinical, but that they train you to practice a certain kind of clinical psychiatry, which is actually in line with what most psychiatrists do. But you lose out on a public sector/community experience. I haven't been to UCI, but I did work with a junior attending at an inner city hospital who had trained there. She felt well prepared and stated that UCI provided a very nice balance of psychopharm/psychotherapy

 

[psychpsych]

Thanks for the input! I'm starting to get a little stressed...