Why UTSW Psychiatry?

I’m initially from Wisconsin, but I couples matched with my wife (who is also a psychiatry resident), so we ended up applying to a huge amount of programs around the country. Throughout that pre-interview scoping-out process, UT Southwestern checked all of my boxes: it was a well-rounded and thorough program with a good variety of sites, placed a heavy and thoughtful emphasis on therapy (relatively rare throughout the South and Midwest, where the majority of our applications were located), and had access to nearly every psychiatry-related service throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, meaning that they had offerings in both my wife’s and my areas of interest: transitional-age youth for her, community psychiatry for me.

When it came time to interview, I was struck by both how kind everyone was and how interested they seemed in me as a person, rather than a walking ERAS application. I came away feeling like this was a program that had everything I wanted on paper, yes, but also a program where the people knew each other and took care of each other. Throughout the cycle, I had the great privilege to also interview at other programs that had other flavors of what I wanted on paper, but I kept coming back to UTSW. My rank list changed dozens of times throughout the season, but UTSW sat on top from the time I interviewed to the time I submitted.

Now that I’m here, those initial impressions have been confirmed. The administrators of our program do indeed know us and take care of us, and despite the program size, they remain quite accessible (Dr. Brenner once met up with me just to discuss a novel we had both recently read) and willing to work with residents on an individual level beyond what I’d expect. After a difficult situation during my first month of residency, so many people called me to offer support, advice, or time off. Recently, when I unexpectedly needed time off, they worked with me (on short notice) to ensure that I could take a full week off from my clinical duties.

Beyond the admin, I genuinely can’t say enough about my co-residents. Our PGY-2 class has maintained a weekly “family dinner” since the first month of intern year, with folks filtering in and out as they have time, and it’s been a highlight of the past 2 years for me. It’s been wonderful getting to know people from all over the US who are equally passionate about psychiatry but also passionate about so many other things. It’s a group that has helped me find everything from a church in Dallas to some stiff pickleball competition. And because we have that dynamic outside of work, we take care of each other on the wards as well

On the interview trail, I remember being frustrated about how frequently residents identified their co-residents as the best part of their program because I wanted to hear about tangible things, like programs or tracks or whatever else. Now that I’m here, though, I can’t imagine doing residency without a community like this one. Wherever you go, residency is going to be hard: every program, no matter how good (or how many tracks), is going to have its unique challenges and shortcomings. The tangible stuff is great, but looking back at my first year, my main reflection is that I’m glad I get to go through residency surrounded by people like these.

Career Goals

If I had to pick right now, I can see myself as an outpatient psychiatrist in a community and/or collaborative setting, with a deep focus on psychotherapy – I did public health research in medical school focusing on access to care, and I think creative models of reaching underserved patients is a fascinating (and relatively new) frontier in psychiatry. But to be honest, I don’t know! I have a lot of interests, and that’s part of the reason I picked UTSW – I felt like they had so many opportunities available to residents, with enough electives and flexibility that would let me explore them.

Education

Undergrad: University of Oklahoma (BA in International Studies, BS in Chemical Biosciences)

Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (MD)