Program Didactics


Post Graduate Year One (PGY-1)

PGY-1 Orientation (One week)

An introduction and overview of psychiatric patient-care, clinical rotations, general hospital policies and procedures and on-call case discussions. The orientation also includes an overview of medical student experiences in psychiatry and general guidelines for resident teaching.

Psychopharmacology Crash Course/Clinical Psychopharmacology (19 weeks)

A discussion of the DSM diagnoses most likely to be encountered while on call along with relevant psychopharmacological interventions designed to prepare incoming residents for on call experiences. This course will also cover the major classes of drugs utilized in psychiatric practice including indications, dosages, monitoring, adverse reactions, drug interactions and FDA concerns.

Foundations of Psychopharmacology (19 weeks)

This course covers a conceptual understanding of the recent paradigm shift in psychopharmacology with increased emphasis on brain circuitry, neuroimaging, genetics and signal transduction cascades. This course focuses on understanding mechanism of action and neurophysiological perspective on medications and neurotransmitters.

Introduction to Psychiatric Interviewing (21 weeks)

This didactic series will teach future psychiatrists the art of interviewing and provide an in-depth review of important psychiatric skills such as empathy, asking sensitive questions and flow of the interview. The course will also cover formulation of initial biopsychosocial assessments. One of the highlights of the course is that each student will have a psychiatric interview recorded and receive feedback afterwards.

Psychopathology (22 weeks)

Residents learn about on identifying the phenomenological diagnostic criteria of mental disorders encountered in psychiatric practice as well as conditions that present in general medical settings.

Emergency Psychiatry (Eight weeks)

This course focuses on acute mental health illnesses in emergency settings and includes a discussion of common situations that will be encountered on-call, managing common situations encountered on call. The instructors will also review psychopharmacological interventions to be used in emergency situations.

Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (11 weeks)

A didactic series intended to instruct residents about assessment and management of psychiatric clinical issues seen on the Consult-Liaison service. Topics reviewed include medical mimics of psychiatric disorders, identification and diagnosis of depression in the medically ill, treatment of terminally ill patients, management of acute agitation and psychotropic medication use in the medically ill population, informed consent/capacity assessments and mental illness in medically-ill patients. This course prepares residents for this rotation in the PGY-2 year.

Neurobiology (10 weeks)

This course focuses on understanding the basic neuroscience principles behind mental illness and the interplay between CNS structures and function. Residents will review important aspects of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the central nervous system that apply to psychiatry.

Clinical Case Conference (19 weeks)

The class covers interactive case presentations starting with how to conduct a full history and physical exam and progressing through how to manage patients. Treatment options are discussed along with how to start each medication and how to make changes as treatment progresses. Residents are provided with a foundation of knowledge to build from as they begin to practice.