Psychiatry

Psychiatry

General OMS-I guidance

As an OMS- I student, join clubs and participate in services activities related to mental health and psychiatry as well as explore and engage in research/scholarly activity. Get to know faculty mentors and advisors-introduce yourself early on. Volunteer in your area of interest and consider summer opportunities (e.g. apply to a program, complete a special training, etc.). Join the Behavioral Heath Interest Group and be active.

General OMS-II guidance

Attend Dean’s Hour Specialty Spotlights. Engage in research/scholarly and participate in national conferences, publications, and posters. Continue to volunteer and do service-build your CV in this area. Prepare for COMLEX 1 but study your course materials. Consider leadership in BHIG or other related clubs, student organizations or initiatives. During CAPSTONE, choose your specialty and use Doximity to determine your competitiveness as well as have a parallel plan if you are questionable on competitiveness.

General OMS-III guidance

Do your best in every clerkship, regardless of your interest in the specialty as programs may check to see if you dropped the ball on specialties you weren’t considering.  Ask for SLORs from preceptors from whom you performed well and who can write a strong letter. Make sure to perform well in the psychiatry rotation and ask for feedback. Score well on your psychiatry COMAT. Psychiatry is now a competitive specialty, so you need a strong overall application. Review areas of needed improvement early in the OMS-III year.

General OMS-IV guidance

Build your electives around audition rotations and ones that will prepare you for your intern year. Consider an inpatient or outpatient subspecialty rotation where you can best demonstrate and highlight your clinical skills and growth. Always be a team player, humble and teachable but confident -this is a job audition. Review all written documents with your specialty advisor. Read up on residencies for interviews/auditions and know about their program ahead of time. Use a spread sheet to track programs and make comments. Do a mock interview with your specialty advisor and take interviews as soon as they are offered, or you will lose your spot. Build your rank list and review with specialty advisor.

Research guidance – What research should a student seeking this specialty engage in?

Students should seek anything related to behavior health, wellness, psychiatry/neurology, cultural sensitivity or special populations. Work on a publication or a scholarly presentation and present at national, state, and local conferences. Make sure to review the national average of research/scholarly for this specialty.

Volunteer, work or service guidance

Longitudinal and meaningful service are best. Psychiatry values community service and advocacy so make room for this in your preclinical years.

Letters of Recommendation – How many and by whom

Two Letter of Recommendations are recommended from psychiatrists who can speak to your clinical work. Strong SLORs can come from rotations in other electives, especially inpatient sub-specialty electives to complete your four needed SLORS. Each year, we have OMS-IV students facing difficulty securing letters of recommendation because they didn’t spend enough time with one preceptor. Take the initiative by asking for extra shifts/responsibilities when appropriate. Always waive your right to review the SLOR.

Recommended total number of interviews overall

60 – 70 interviews are recommended overall.

Recommended total number of interviews in the specialty

12- 15 interviews are recommended in the specialty.

General CV guidance

This should be an academic CV following formats of APA for research and scholarly activities. Do not include personal data (except contact) or high school data. You may use research or scholarly from undergrad, but you should be building your CV during medical school. Make sure to add special trainings or honors, fluency in languages, hobbies and interests. Include the following sections and headings: Education, Work Experience, Volunteer/Service, Research/Scholarly, Leadership, Honors and Awards, Professional Memberships, Certifications, Languages, Hobbies and Interests.

General Personal statement guidance

This is one of the most important documents for psychiatry and needs to be reviewed with your specialty mentor. Work closely with your specialty faculty advisor as these statements should be written specifically for this specialty. Address any red flags with your specialty advisor before you write them, include your passion for the specialty, as well as strengths, goals, and what you would like from a residency in terms of goals and learning. Keep your statement to one page, single spaced.

Rotations

What 4th year rotations would you encourage a student in this specialty to secure? Strive for two to three audition rotations in psychiatry, and emergency medicine during the second semester. Consider the following rotations as well:

• Neurology
• Radiology (imaging)
• ICU or critical care
• IM (GI, ENDO, Cardio) or FM (Need a medicine rotation)
• Addiction medicine
• Geriatric medicine
• Women’s Health

Additional thoughts or suggestions

Be honest about your competitiveness and listen to your specialty advisor. Meet with them early on to discuss this as this specialty has become more competitive. If you have interest in addiction or geriatric psychiatry, note this as these areas have shortages and programs would like residents for eventual hire in these areas.

Summary of Academic Metrics for LUCOM Students Entering Psychiatry:

Click the link above to visit an interactive data tool published by the NRMP to explore the national data pertaining to characteristics of students matching into each specialty: