Did a 6 week rotation at Metropolitan State in August of 2005.


Metro, as it is known, is an interesting place to do the Psych core and any electives in psych you may want to do. Their program starts every 7-8 weeks and is a combination of AUC, SG and Ross students. The student program is run by Dr. Herbold who is a great lecturer, loves to have students and is more than willing to sit down with you and explain the finer aspects of the human psyche. Olivia Jones, the Student Coordinator, is a darling and will go way out of her way (as long as you're not an ***) to help you with whatever you need.


The hospital has a forensic unit (male & female), an adolescent unit (male and female), adult chronic care unit (elderly) and a number of step down units. The staff, including all of the doctors that I encountered, enjoyed having students, spent a significant amount of time with each of us and were, almost always, around to offer pointers and help when interviewing patients. There are lectures and presentations almost every day, CME programs to take part in and lots of opportunities, for those that have the desire, to explore all sides of chronic psychiatric care at a large hospital. There is also one of those pesky Ross exams to take at the end. Students are given a lot of leeway and a lot of freedom but you are expected to be a part of the treatment team, take part in the counseling sessions, make all the lectures and clinical presentations. Note on the Ross exam: It is so outdated that I doubt it is a good reflection of the knowledge you have gained during the rotation. This is one of those exams where you walk away wondering what the exam author was thinking when they wrote the exam.


With all that said, I don't think a psych rotation at MSH is anything like our American counterparts are doing. The staff on the units are seriously overworked and the hospital, as far as I am concerned (I was assigned to an adolescent unit), has had a hard time separating those that truly need psychiatric care and those that are "working" the system, i.e. psych hospital instead of going to jail. Because many of the units have behavioral problem patients/inmates, the time (and caring) that should be given to those in real need is, instead, spent defending the more developmentally delayed from the roving gangs that are constantly causing riots and beating senseless those that can't defend themselves. The staff is caring, for the most part, and tired of having to defend the needy patients from physical and emotional abuse.


You can get information on living accommodations from Olivia Jones, the Student Coordinator. There are a number of hotels in the area that cater to the business traveler and have “deals” for short stays. I chose to live in Brea, which is 20 miles east of the hospital and an easy commute (about 45 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes in the afternoon). There is an apartment complex in Brea, Country Hills Apts, that you can find online who were willing to rent to me (at a large premium) for 6 weeks. Norwalk is close (not near) the beach and the mountains and you can spend your weekends swimming or hiking and Ontario airport is a good place to fly in/out of. It’s a lot cheaper than LA and has less traffic.