Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute

[Junito]

Clinical Rotations: Psychiatry

Website: http://www.nvmhi.dmhmrsas.virginia.gov/

* I could not find the affiliation. If some one finds it, please post.

[dadofsmustudent]

http://www.gwupsychiatry.org/training_institutions.html

[AmericanIMG]

can anyone tell me about this place? any good? PM me if you have the chance.

[mdMDmd]

Can anyone shed some light on the psych rotation here . . . .whats the deal?

and be frank . . . .how demanding/easy/hard?

good teaching?

location? where do you live?

Thanks for the input!

[mshah1]

Hi,

This rotation was a great rotation. It's demanding in the aspect you deal with very intense situations but it is not demanding as far as the time. On call is generally during the day while you are there for admissions..otherwise there is no on call past normal work hours. Everyone at this site is very helpful and easy going. My only concern is there is no set standard for grading in the aspect that everyone has one doctor they work with and they grade you solely. So some doctors grade easier than others and some grade harder. Either way..if you really want to see what we studied about in psych class...you should go to this site..

Living arrangements are hard to find. You might want to check Craig's list for a place in Falls Church, VA or Fairfax, VA. I found something off Craigs list for a good deal.

[mdMDmd]

thanks mshah for the response!

[Jeep23Guy]

I'm starting there on 1/15/06 (just found out this morning). Anybody have any info on housing? Anybody else starting?

[dapimp36]

I think they are off on the 15th, it is a holiday.

[Jeep23Guy]

Yup, after emailing my contact, I do start on 1/16. Thanks for that. Still having quite a bit of trouble with housing. I have a buddy that lives about 5 miles away and he said that any further than that and the commute would be about an hour in rush hour. Anyone know anything?

[SMUSMU]

It's not that bad of traffic... Perhaps, it can be bad during the rush hour because there are I-495 and route 50 right nearby, but if you live within 10 miles from the hospital, then you will be ok. If you live 10 miles from the hospital, then it will take you about 30 minutes to get to the hospital during the rush hour... and if you live less than 10 miles from the hospital, it's much better to take the local route during the morning rush hour...because I-66 Eastbound is just crazy from 7am to 9am...even the carpool lane (HOV) is backed up during this hour.

There are so many rooms available for short term rent...do some research such as the washington post newspaper, etc...
Try to look for a place in Fairfax or Falls Church or Vienna, and Annandale is ok too.

Good luck.

[Jeep23Guy]

Thanks a lot for that. I just have one more question. I was never told what time to show up for my first day and I forgot to ask...anyone know that answer?

[Jeep23Guy]

Finished my first week here. We have pretty much normal hours. I arrive usually around 7:45 - 8:00 for the morning 8:10 meeting. Then we have team meetings where we discuss and meet with patients until usually 10:00 or 10:30. The rest of the day, I usually do several things...1. meet with my assigned attending where he does some lecturing (drugs, diagnosis, etc.) or talk about patients or 2. meet with my patients (I was assigned 7).

There is a lot of paperwork here. We are expected to fill out the weekly reports for each of our patients. The rotation seems good so far...my attending is really cool and a good teacherr.

[SMUSMU]

Thanks for sharing, Jeep23guy.

Do u see any GW students? or is it all from SMU?

Thanx

[Jeep23Guy]

I regularly see 2 GW students (1 has the same attending as I do, so we're together a lot) and there are 3 other GW students that I see almost every day. There are 2 other SMU students, 1 Xavier student, and 2 students from USUHS that I see a few times a week. There may be some more, but I haven't seen them. We all have lectures together.

[sinchu77]

Just started my 6 week psych rotation here today. Seems pretty good. Lots of educational lectures for the students. (all 3 from GW).

Had a drug test today. No big deal, but it was the first time anyone asked me to give one. I have finished IM, Surg, OB/Gyn, Neuro and FP so far but this was a first for me.
Anyone else asked to give one? They had another med student and a resident from Walter Reed who was starting today give samples as well.

[Junito]

I was required to do a background check as a state requirement for my elective...I also had to submit a CV and tons of paperwork, but nothing compares to having a drug screening. I wonder what prompted this to happen? I can only imagine!:shock:

[Jeep23Guy]

Must be some sort of law in Virginia. They have some strange ones there. The people in that hospital DO NOT need someone messing with them that is on drugs. They already have enough problems as it is.

[SMUSMU]

Jeep23guy,

what do you mean by that?

How was your experience in that hospital?

Thanks

[charlottenian]

great rotation, good setup with the teaching schedule and northern virginia is a lovely area... Just watch out for one attending who dislikes FMG's and military students (for reasons that will be obvious when you see him)... otherwise a great learning experience with a very nice schedule

[nobigdeal]

If I may ask who is he? you can give me a hint?

[car4sale]

Hi,
I am starting my Psych rotation at Northern Virginia Mental Health on Jan 15, 2008 and I need help finding apartments for short term lease..that are close to the hospital.

PLEASE HELP!

[C-LAB]

If anyone has rotated here for psych, I would welcome some advice. Whats it like? Nights? Books? Where to live? I start august 18th there

[butterflymd]

ALexandria is a nice place to live if you are in Northern Virginia and not that expensive. Also if you are going to drive you might consider living in the MD area which is also nice.

[C-LAB]

anything else?

[azulpanther]

Have you tried trying to find the evaluations of this rotation on smuonline. Maybe you could find some useful information there.

[gschneid]

My gripe about the evals on smuonline is that there are no dates of when the comments were posted. How do we know if the comments are current? Sometimes you can see a pattern of good comments followed by a string of bad then a string of good. Some of the sites seem to oscillate back and forth.