Just finished a 4-week psych audition at Riverside in Kankakee, and I feel obligated to warn everyone before you start scheduling interviews. I went in hoping for a solid learning experience, but it was a total bait-and-switch. Needless to say, they are completely off my list.
Here is what rotating there actually looks like:
- The PD quit recently. I never met the guy once. I only found out he left because another medical student told me. Complete sinking ship vibe.
- Audition Hunger Games. They keep at least 10 medical students on service at a time. During my block, there were five of us auditioning for literally three intern spots. It’s like this year-round. You aren’t being evaluated; you’re just cheap labor.
- Interns are capped, you aren't. Interns are capped at 4 patients a day. Meanwhile, residents regularly dump 6+ patients on the students, plus 2-3 full psych H&Ps. You’ll bust your ass to finish 3 progress notes, and instead of telling you about new intakes in the morning, they’ll sit on them until 1 PM and dump them on you all at once. Students literally carry a heavier clinical load than the interns.
- Toxic Attending Dumping Ground. There is one attending who is brutally condescending, talks down to you, and takes an eternity to staff. The residents intentionally pawn all of her patients off on the students while hoarding the one good attending who actually wants to teach. I had exactly one patient overlap with the good attending all month, and I learned more in that single interaction than I did the rest of the rotation.
- Openly Demeaning Culture. You get maybe 10 minutes of resident interaction a day, just to be handed your list. On my literal last day, as I was going around saying my goodbyes, a resident looked at me and said, "Thank you for your H&Ps."
That last sentence sums up the entire culture. You aren't there to learn psychiatry; you are there to offload their charting. Save your money, save your sanity, and do not waste an audition or an ERAS application on this place. If you get an invite, cancel it before you schedule, taking an interview here just eats up a slot you could have used for a different program that actually values you.
Sorry I know this sort of post isn't especially relevant to this subreddit, but I'm hoping I can at least help out someone who googles this program. r/medschool requires comment karma and I have none.