Residency Training Program

Application Criteria

Post Graduate Residency Training Program

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in the University of Massachusetts Medical School Psychiatry Residency Training Program.

  1. All applications for the General Psychiatry Program must be submitted via ERAS. PGY-I applications for July 2007 should be submitted via ERAS.  Applications to the Combined Programs (either Combined Child or Psychiatry/Neurology) are also submitted via ERAS. 
  2. We prefer international graduates to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. We do not sponsor H visas except in very rare circumstances. We do accept J-1 visas.
  3. International medical graduates must possess a valid ECFMG certificate.  The state of Massachusetts requires passage of both Parts I and II of the USMLE exam (FLEX is no longer acceptable).
  4. International medical graduates need to have graduated from medical school within the past 10 years.
  5. We require applicants to have had one year of clinical experience in the United States (or Canada, if Canadian citizen).
  6. Because communication skills are the core of psychiatric skills, we require absolute fluency in spoken and written English.
  7. Although we do not have absolute cutoffs for USMLE scores, we prefer candidates who have good USMLE scores.  International candidates who have had psychiatric residency training in their country of origin, or who have Ph.D. degrees in research areas related to psychiatry are more competitive.
  8. We require letters of recommendation from U.S. physicians familiar with your work and ask that at least one be from a psychiatrist.
  9. We will be unable to process any applications received after December 15, 2007.
  10. We are unable to respond to email queries about our interview criteria.

If you are an international medical school graduate, please read this carefully. Please do not apply if your application does not fulfill the above criteria.  Please do not send any application materials by email.  We do not review email documents. 

Thank you very much for your attention to these important details.

Sincerely,

Sheldon Benjamin, MD 
Director of Psychiatric Education and Training