PGY 1
The PGY-1 resident spends approximately seven months on general inpatient and emergency psychiatry services.
The goals of this clinical training are for the resident to:
- Become familiar with medical conditions that may display symptoms likely to be regarded as psychiatric and vice versa
- Appreciate the interplay of medical and psychiatric factors involved in the expression of medical illnesses
- Understand elements of differential diagnosis and the treatment of various psychiatric conditions
- Communicate effectively and ethically within a multidisciplinary team
PGY 2
The second year of residency is characterized by rigorous exposure to many of the most challenging aspects of hospital-based psychiatric practice. Residents learn to appreciate the biological, psychological, social and cultural factors that underlie normal behavior and psychopathology.
Faculty mentors provide support during rotations in:
- addiction psychiatry
- child and adolescent psychiatry
- community inpatient psychiatry
- electroconvulsive therapy
- emergency psychiatry
- geriatric psychiatry
- inpatient psychiatry
Goals for the second year of residency:
- Become proficient at gathering and synthesizing data, diagnostic formulation and treatment planning
- Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication with patients, their families, colleagues and others involved in the treatment process.
- Adhere to the professional and ethical attributes inherent to the psychiatric field
- Function within a multidisciplinary team setting
- Use appropriate resources that are available within a systems-based practice
PGY 3
The third year of psychiatric residency represents an exciting transition from inpatient- to outpatient-centered experiences. During this year, residents develop further autonomy with clinical care, although faculty continue to provide clinical oversight and a mentor is assigned for psychodynamic therapy cases. Outpatient psychopharmacology, in combination with psychotherapy, becomes a mainstay for the third-year resident.
Residents work at our outpatient clinic and may also be assigned to other sites depending on their interests. This can include a geriatric facility, veterans’ clinic or rural practice settings.
Goals for the third year of residency:
- Develop progressive responsibility and further autonomy while applying the principles of both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic care
- Gain proficiency in psychotherapeutic techniques, including cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, family and couple therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, group psychotherapy and brief psychotherapy
- Become proficient in outpatient psychopharmacological treatment
- Function capably as a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team within many diverse clinical venues
PGY 4
By the fourth year, residents should be fully incorporating core competencies into their daily routine. These senior residents serve as leaders and mentors to younger residents and are viewed as capable colleagues by fellows and physicians.
- Residents have earned maximum autonomy, yet still receive daily supervision and mentoring by faculty. Career guidance and the approach to lifelong learning are highlighted
- Residents continue working in outpatient settings with additional elective rotations available, including those in consultation-liaison and forensic psychiatry
- Fourth-year residents also have significant teaching responsibilities and work collaboratively with departmental faculty on quality improvement projects, Grand Rounds and other scholarly works
- Readily employ core competencies in everyday practice
- Develop autonomy and competency with all aspects of psychiatric care, including treatment of patients with subspecialized needs
- Serve as a role model to more junior peers and advance the principles of professionalism
- Develop a strategy for lifelong learning
- Nurture educational and personal growth to meet the challenges of a career in psychiatry