Milwaukee (MKE) Residency Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin

Hi, everyone! My name is Noel, and I’m a first-year psychiatry resident. I’m from Chicago, and although I’d never been to Milwaukee, I’ve been delighted to find that it’s a charming and fun-sized version of my hometown, complete with Lake Michigan to make it feel like home! I’m rotating at the Zablocki VA psychiatry inpatient unit, 3C. This is my first time working with veterans, and it’s a privilege to learn about their unique needs each day. Here’s a day in my life:

6:00 a.m. - I rage against the dying of the night. Then I get ready for the day. I make “overnight” oats the morning of, and I’m testing different recipes. As the mornings get chillier, I’m reminded that Autumn is upon us!

7:30 a.m. - I like to be in the resident workroom a little early; the day officially starts at 8AM. During this time, I skim notes, review overnight events, and start the H&P for new overnight admits.

8:30 a.m. - On M/W/F, we have morning report: social workers, nurses, students, rehab program coordinators, pharmacy residents, psychiatry residents, attendings, and other staff go through all the patients on the unit and provide updates relating to care, discharge planning, overnight events, etc. Morning report keeps everyone aligned on care plans; I wish we had it every day!

9 a.m.-11 a.m. - Time to see patients! Medical students lead interviews for patients they’re following. We review medications and goals, set expectations regarding inpatient stay, and assess our patients’ longitudinal progress. Occasionally, we may even partake in a scheduled ECT procedure!

11 a.m.-12 p.m. - Lunchtime! The cafeteria at the VA has plenty (tax free!) options. I’ve enjoyed the sushi and have been meaning to try the pizza. We typically don’t see patients during lunchtime; instead, we put in orders, work on notes, or finalize discharge orders/notes for patients who are leaving. Throughout the day, we also handle questions from nurses or staff about our patients.

12 - 2 p.m. - Along with the above tasks, we typically see new admits during this time. Later, we may staff (with the attending) any patients we had seen independently or run through the list and make sure nothing is missed.

2 - 3 p.m. - On Fridays, we have journal club. In a casual setting, this is a great opportunity to share with your fellow residents, attendings, and students a cool research article related to addiction. Last week I presented a study that evaluated Chantix in promoting vaping abstinence in youth.

3 - 4:30 p.m. - Medical students can leave if there is nothing left to do. I will finish notes and write admission orders for any new daytime admits.
I usually head home around 5PM. I have dinner, unwind with TV or video games, catch up with friends and family, or go out with my co-residents if we have something planned. When my partner is in town, we explore Brady street’s restaurant scene! Overall, it’s the beginning of the year; I’m taking it easy and settling into my new life in Milwaukee.

I’m Claire Cohen, a PGY-2 currently in my outpatient year at MCW!

One thing that really drew me to this program in particular was the early immersion in outpatient therapy training compared to many programs, who do not start their outpatient immersion year until PGY-3.

While, at least as of now, I eventually envision myself in a primarily inpatient-setting, I really firmly believe that solid therapy skills are an integral part of being a good psychiatrist. 

One of my favorite parts of intern year was the incredibly wide variety of experiences I had, which allowed me to engage in so many different aspects of psychiatry and help me gain unique and applicable skills from each rotation. I feel really lucky that my second year has provided the same degree of variation as my last.

Each Monday, I arrive to the VA around 7 a.m. to do some pre-charting on my morning trauma clinic patients, which I begin seeing at 7:45. I then attend a staffing meeting at 11:15 where the whole team staffs the patients we’ve seen that morning. We then have another staffing meeting for our geriatric psychiatry patients, which I begin seeing at 1 PM and typically finish around 5. I love the wide variety of patients I see throughout my Mondays.

On Tuesdays I am at our Froedtert-affiliated medication management clinic, where I see new and follow-up patients with a wide variety of psychiatric conditions. This is essentially a general psychiatry clinic, which is staffed by our associate program director, program director and chief resident. I have already learned a tremendous amount about general pharmacology and medication management.

Wednesday mornings and Friday mornings are dedicated to didactic learning sessions, of which about half are in person and half are remote. These are given by many different psychiatrists and psychologists in the department on a vast number of relevant topics, often by experts in the field.

My Wednesday afternoons, Friday afternoons and every other Thursday, I am at the Center for Psychotherapy, where I see my therapy patients. This clinic allows me to establish strong and longitudinal relationships with my patients, as many of them I see weekly or biweekly. We also do some medication management in this clinic, though the predominant focus is therapy based. One of the best parts of this clinic is that we set our own schedules on these days, which has allowed me to learn more about my own workflow and also gives me the flexibility to plan my day how I see fit. It has also taught me some additional practical aspects of clinic-life, such as billing for appointments.

Every other Thursday, I am at Children’s Hospital in outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. This provides another early and niche learning experience. I have loved being able to work with a population of patients  I'd  previously had very little exposure to. I’ve learned so much already!

Unlike some of my first year rotations (particularly when off-service), most weekends this year are my own! I’m so lucky to have developed such meaningful relationships with my co-residents. More weekends than not are spent spending time with them. I’ve also had a considerable amount of  time to travel both around the state and outside of Wisconsin as a direct result of MCW’s commitment to ensuring we are able to maintain lives outside of residency. We do rotate call weeks between each of the second years, which involves spending about every tenth weekend on the inpatient unit at the VA, but on weekends we are not on call, we do not have any weekend responsibilities.

Overall, second year has been a big change from first year, and getting into my “groove” has not been without its bumps in the road, though faculty and my peers have been really helpful to making this transition as smooth as possible. It’s been really fun gaining more autonomy while still feeling supported when I need it. Everyone I’ve interacted with at MCW has been so approachable and the culture here has clearly set this as the standard.

Hi! My name is Abby and I’m a PGY-3 currently rotating on the consult psychiatry service at Froedtert. After spending my PGY-2 year in outpatient psychiatry, it’s been exciting to be back in the hospital setting! So far, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many interesting cases and really enjoy being part of a collaborative team. Here’s what a typical day looks like for me:

6 a.m. – I wake up, feed my cat, make coffee, and head out for a morning walk. I live in downtown Milwaukee, and my partner and I love walking along the River Walk or Oak Leaf Trail. If we have time, we’ll grab a coffee at the Third Ward Colectivo before heading to Froedtert (about a 15–20 minute drive).

8 a.m. – I arrive in the team room and start chart reviewing patients we’re following. The team is made up of 2-3 attendings, a CL fellow, another PGY-3 resident, and 1-3 medical students. We also share our room and collaborate with health psychology and substance use psychotherapy. We discuss anything that happened overnight and decide which patients we need to follow up on for the day.

10 a.m. – 12 p.m. – My co-resident and I typically see our follow-up patients with the attendings and medical students. Afterward, we discuss and communicate our recommendations to the primary teams. We usually get a few new consults each day, so we respond to pages and see  patients as we get new consults.

12 – 1 p.m. – We will typically take a break for lunch. I might head to the Sky Walk Café and catch up with co-residents who are also rotating at Froedtert if time permits. Our attendings are often kind enough to bring in treats, so I may have a cookie or chocolate of some sort to look forward to! We often do table rounds during this time to review all our patients’ plans as a team.

1 – 4 p.m. – We see any remaining follow-ups or new consults. This rotation also allows for plenty of opportunity to teach medical students, so I will often spend time reviewing documentation and going over topics with them. After seeing all our patients and communicating our recommendations to the teams, we have time to finish up our notes. With multiple attendings who rotate through the service, this is a great opportunity to get different perspectives on cases from faculty with a range of experiences and clinical expertise.

After work – I usually head home to make dinner! I’m grateful to have time during residency to work out, spend time with friends and family, relax with my partner, and catch up on reality TV! My co-resident and I alternate holding the consult pager overnight. The pages are infrequent, and we always have an attending available for backup if we have questions or concerns.

This rotation has been a great opportunity to grow in my confidence in not only evaluating and treating patients, but communicating with other teams and teaching. I’m learning something new every day and love the chance to dig into cases as a team. With three months of Froedtert CL this year, the variety of cases keeps the experience exciting, challenging, and fulfilling!

My name is Austin Kayser and I am currently a PGY-4. I am originally from Appleton, WI, but Milwaukee has really become a second home. So much so that my wife and I are planning on staying here after graduation! I am excited to share with you what my fourth-year schedule has been like.

I am pursuing outpatient psychiatry in a private practice after graduation. The freedom I had to choose my own schedule has really allowed me to explore areas of medicine I am truly interested in as well as prepare for my career after residency. I chose to split my week up so each day I am at a different place (though I could have set it up as a block schedule, instead).

On Mondays I am working with the hospital medical ethics department which has been one of my favorite experiences of my entire medical career. I see consults with the supervising ethicist, explore philosophical topics related to psychiatry, and write reflection papers about the ethical dilemmas I am learning about. This was a rotation that I designed myself, but our program leaders were enthusiastically supportive in helping me do so.

On Tuesdays I see my longitudinal psychotherapy patients in the morning. I prefer to see patients in person, but we do have the option to see them virtually, too. In the afternoon I am at our Inclusion Clinic, which serves members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Milwaukee area. Wednesday mornings are a mix of in-person and virtual didactics and in the afternoon, I am off to the VA where I am learning how to do dialectical behavioral therapy in a group setting. Thursday’s, I spend the full day at The Lighthouse Clinic, an outpatient private practice. At the Lighthouse Clinic I have a great deal of autonomy which has really allowed me to start shaping my identity as a future outpatient provider. Finally, on Fridays I rotate with the outpatient neurology team in the epilepsy clinic and movement disorder clinic.

Being completely in control of my fourth-year schedule has allowed me to really grow not only as a clinician but also as a person. I am always done by 5pm at the latest and have every weekend off as well. This has really allowed me to explore this city that I love, spend time with my family and friends, and go on small weekend trips. A major goal of mine this year has been to spend as much time as I can with my wonderful co-residents and my schedule has given me plenty of time to do just that.

Learn more about curriculum and rotations

Clinical Excellence: Develop residents into thoughtful, skilled, and caring psychiatrists who provide evidence-based and patient-centered care in a variety of settings.

Education: Train residents to be life-long learners and effective educators for a wider audience, including health care providers, patients, families, and their communities.

Community Engagement: Foster resident involvement in education and advocacy for the mental health needs of our community.

Scholarship: Promote development of clinicians who participate in scholarly activities throughout their practice, community, and specialty.

Wellness: Continue to support faculty and resident wellness, promoting balance, self-care and development of meaning within our profession.

Learn more about Milwaukee

View MCW-MKE Residency Program application FAQs

The Visiting Student Health Equity Program offers participating students an opportunity to connect with MCW faculty, students, and trainees, while receiving mentoring and advising from faculty and trainees. This program is open to all full-time senior medical students attending an LCME-accredited medical school or COCA-accredited osteopathic medical school.

Learn more about the Visiting Student Health Equity Program

The Board of Directors of MCWAH establishes stipends for Housestaff. The annual stipend levels for the academic year beginning July 1, 2025 are:

PGY1 - $71,790
PGY2 - $73,050
PGY3 - $76,890
PGY4 - $79,310

Learn more about program benefits from MCWAH