Residency and Fellowship Programs

Louisiana State University
School of Medicine (Baton Rouge) 
Psychiatry Residency Program

 

THE RESIDENCY APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS HAS STARTED!
EXPECTED FIRST WAVE OF INVITES WILL BE SENT OUT FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER!

All 2025-2026 interview activities will be be virtual. We participate in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP www.nrmp.org). Applications will only be accepted through ERAS- Electronic Residency Application Service. Residency applicants can start applying through ERAS on September 3, 2025. We will begin reviewing applications immediately upon release on September 24, 2025 so it is important that applicants have fully completed applications submitted timely. 

In order for your application to be reviewed, it must include all of the following:

• Registration with ERAS and NRMP (2 seperate registrations)
• 3 letters of recommendation - 1 letter MUST be from a board certified psychiatrist. All letters should be from individuals with whom you have worked in the past 12-18 months. However, we recognize the changes in medical education that have occured due to COVID that may have prevented some applicants from being able to meet these requirements.
• USMLE and/or COMLEX  transcript (full transcript)
• Medical school transcript 
• Personal statement 
• MSPE/Dean's Letter

Program Standards for Reviewing Applications

Our resident selection criteria conform to the guidelines of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME [acgme.org]) outlined in the ACGME Institutional Requirements. 

For post-medical school applicants: Preference will be given to applicants who have graduated from medical school within the past 2 years, have successfully completed Step 3, and participated in either clinical/mental health related work or advanced education (such as a Master's degree) in the US during their time out of school. 

For Osteopathic applicants: Our program has no prefernce for USMLE vs COMLEX. Either/or both are accepted.

FOR ALL APPLICANTS: Though academics is an easy way for programs around the nation to screen applicants, we also take into consideration an applicant's motivation, integrity, interpersonal skills, maturity, and preparedness; all as evidenced through the different components of the ERAS application and involvement in the virtual Meet and Greet sessions hosted by our residents. It is important to mention that our program, in line with LSUHSC's overall mission, gives preference to any applicants that are from the state of Louisiana or have connections to the state of Louisiana (undergraduate education, medical school, family, birth roots, etc). If this pertains to you, it is recomended to mention this in your personal statement that you submit to our program or write to the Program Coordinator. However; each year our intern class comes from all over the country and beyond. So do not let this discourage anyone from applying. Lastly, our program does not use "cut off" scores when reviewing applications. Refer to the points above for selection criteria.

Interview Invitations

Our program uses an online software, Thalamus, to manage the scheduling process for interviews. You will recieve an initial invite via your ERAS account, and then immediately after to the email address that you have listed in ERAS. You will have 5 days from the sent date of the invitation to respond and secure your spot. After that, we will move on to the next wave of invites, meaning that it is very likely only waitlisted dates will be available by that time.

Virtual Interview Day Format

Overall, we interview 80-90 applicants each year. Interview day activities include (and not necssarily in this order) a brief program introduction with technical Q&A with the Program Coordinator, a robust program overview with the Program Director, and 4-5 interviews (last about 15 mins each). 5 applicants participate in the AM session, and 5 applicants participate in the PM session, with a joint session being a part of the day for the program overview and chief resident interview. Selected interview dates for this year will be posted when confirmed.

Communication

Communication regarding interviews is all done electronically. This is to protect both you and the program. You must use the same email address that you provide in ERAS for all communication. Please know that our program values and respects the mental strain that applicants go through in the decision processes post-interview and ranking. Because of this, we do not intiate any post-interview communication unless it is something that you requested during your interview that we were not able to immediately provide. If the applicant wishes to contact the program post-interview, they are certainly welcome to do so.