The Resident will:

  • Develop an identity as a competent and caring physician during a four-month clinical rotation in either medicine or pediatrics or a combination thereof.  The resident will develop basic skills in the diagnosis and management of medically complex patients.  These rotations at the University of Chicago Medicine and the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital offer broad clinical experience and appropriate responsibility. 
  • Increase knowledge of neurologic disorders to include diagnostic and treatment planning skills during a two-month rotation at the University of Chicago Medicine.  Rotations may be on the general neurology services, the consultation services, and/or on the pediatric neurology service.
  • Develop knowledge and skills in the inpatient management of severely disturbed and mentally ill patients.  Management includes in-depth experiences in diagnosis, treatment planning and case management, family treatment, group therapy, psychological testing, individual psychotherapy, and psychopharmacologic therapies as well as other somatic therapies.  This occurs during the 2-month rotations at Ingalls Hospital and at NorthShore, as well as during the Consultation/Liaison Psychiatry rotation.
  • Develop knowledge and skills in the role as psychiatrist consultant on the consultation liaison service, becoming familiar with the intersection of medical and psychiatric illnesses and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team and physicians and staff throughout University of Chicago Medicine.  Residents will participate in the C/L Case Conference Seminar.
  • Develop knowledge of Emergency Psychiatry to include psychiatric assessment, triage, and immediate intervention and treatment.  This occurs primarily through evening and weekend call, which is supervised on-site by a senior resident directly for the first patients, and on-site indirectly thereafter.
  • Begin to develop skills as a psychiatrist educator through teaching University of Chicago medical students and through teaching colleagues.  This occurs regularly on inpatient services, ER, and Consultation/Liaison services, as well as in scheduled C/L/Emergency Psychiatry case conferences.
  • Begin to develop an identity as a psychiatrist and explore a career plan. To accomplish this, a mentor will be assigned to each incoming PGY I who will assist the resident in exploring the various subspecialties and career paths in Psychiatry and mentor the resident through his/her four years at the University of Chicago.
  • Understand the scientific principles of various disciplines underlying clinical psychiatry, including the neurosciences, behavioral assessment, and other topics.

The Resident will:

  • Develop an identity as a psychiatrist, cultivate a thorough understanding of and empathy toward patients with psychiatric disorders and their families, and increase appreciation of the stigma of mental illness within the society of the hospital, the city, and the country.
  • Develop an appreciation of scientific thought and methods as applied to the underlying sciences and to practice issues in psychiatry.  This occurs in an in-depth interactive seminar throughout the year, and through optional tutorials with research scientists in the Department.
  • Develop basic knowledge and understanding of available public psychiatric services, including intake and services in the state hospital system, community agencies and their resources, community mental health clinics, mobile assessment units, residential living options as well as the spectrum of care necessary in the treatment planning for chronically disturbed patients including psychosocial treatments in the day hospital setting.  This education occurs primarily during the two-month community psychiatry rotation at Thresholds community mental health programs and on their Assertive Community Treatment teams. 
  • Continue to develop knowledge and experience in Emergency Psychiatry as the full-time daytime consultant to the Adult ER at the, and as the on-call consultant to the children’s ER at the University of Chicago.  In addition to the necessary general knowledge, knowledge of systems necessary for the psychiatrist consulting to other medical specialties is reinforced.
  • Continue to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose and treat seriously disturbed patients, both on the inpatient services at Ingalls Hospital and NorthShore Hospitals and on the Consultation Service at the University of Chicago Medicine. In addition, the resident will spend 6 months in the Monday Afternoon Clinic at the UofC, a clinic for the seriously and persistently mentally ill.
  • Continue to develop knowledge and skills in the role as psychiatrist consultant on the Consultation-Liaison service, becoming familiar with the intersection of medical and psychiatric illnesses and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team and physicians and staff throughout University of Chicago Medicine.  Residents will consult on patients with delirium, dementia, and depression among other problems, and will assess psycho-oncology patients as well as those presenting for organ transplantation.  Residents will participate in the C/L Case Conference Seminar. 
  • Develop knowledge of chemical dependency, addiction, and their treatments, both inpatient detoxification and outpatient management, including participation in group psychotherapy. 
  • Develop skills as a psychiatrist educator through teaching University of Chicago medical students and through teaching colleagues.  This occurs regularly on inpatient services, ER, Consultation/Liaison services, in outpatient clinics, as well as in scheduled Psychiatry case conferences.
  • Develop in-depth knowledge of psychopharmacology to include advanced psychopharmacologic treatment of major psychiatric disorders, treatment of difficult patients, consulting to non-M.D. therapists.
  • Begin an in-depth study of psychotherapeutic theories to include individual supportive, psychodynamic, family and group therapy, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy.  The resident will treat two patients in weekly psychotherapy in the PGY-2 year, under weekly supervision.
  • Gain an understanding of human development over the life cycle, including a normal and abnormal child and adolescent development, adult development, and geriatrics.
  • Begin to develop a knowledge base in the clinical applications of forensic psychiatry.  
  • Understand the scientific principles of various disciplines underlying clinical psychiatry, including the neurosciences, statistical inference, molecular and population genetics, behavioral assessment, neuropsychiatry, and other topics.

The Resident will:

  • Develop a leadership role in the outpatient clinic setting, with increased numbers of diagnostic evaluations as well as consultation to non-M.D. clinicians, increased teaching and supervision of medical students, and supervision of junior psychiatry residents taking call.
  • Develop an understanding of the diagnostic assessment and ongoing treatment of a wide variety of psychiatric disorders seen in the outpatient clinic, including disorders of mood and anxiety, attention, addiction, memory and aging, neuropsychiatry, personality, and medical/psychiatric disorders including transplant psychiatry and psycho-oncology.  Residents may elect to rotate at the University of Chicago Student Health Clinic.
  • Continue to study psychotherapeutic theories to include short-term dynamic, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal models and their applications to patients with particular diagnoses.  Residents will continue to see patients in ongoing therapy with treatment planning based on the patients’ needs and abilities.  Residents will treat several patients with CBT, run at least one brief or long-term psychotherapy group, treat a number of patients in long term psychodynamic psychotherapy, and learn to evaluate families for treatment.
  • Develop the basic knowledge and skills for diagnostic evaluations and treatment planning in a closely supervised child outpatient clinic.  Residents will join in the ongoing care of children and adolescents for one year.  The resident will expand knowledge of diagnostic evaluations to include the multidisciplinary diagnosis of toddlers, and school-age children and adolescents in the context of their families.
  • Develop familiarity with clinical and research interviews, rating scales, and psychological testing used in outpatient child and adolescent clinics.  Residents may elect to take additional Child and Adolescent training in their PGY-4 year.
  • Develop and begin to execute a research project with a faculty mentor, often within the mentor’s research team.
  • Develop an in-depth understanding of the scientific principles of clinical psychiatry and research, through critical study and evaluation of papers in such courses as the PGY-3 Psychopharmacology Conference, and critical presentations of scientific papers at Journal Club.
  • Perform a forensic evaluation under supervision, and write up a full forensic report.  This may occur in PGY-3 or PGY-4.

The Resident will:

  • Develop a special area of expertise within psychiatry.  Some areas chosen include lab or clinical research, psychodynamic psychotherapy, family therapy, the therapy of substance abuse, and student mental health.
  • Advance administrative and leadership capabilities through positions of Department Chief Resident, Inpatient and Outpatient Chief Resident, or CL/ER Chief Resident, under supervision of appropriate faculty.
  • Complete a research project under the supervision of a faculty research mentor, and present that project to all residents and faculty on Research Day at the end of PGY-4.
  • Develop and carry out a Quality Improvement project, usually based on problems noted while carrying out the administrative and clinical responsibilities of a Chief Resident.
  • Develop competence in Electroconvulsive Therapy, both in assessing patients prior to receiving ECT and in administering ECT and monitoring response.  Residents will rotate on the ECT service part-time, for 2 months, but may elect to receive Certification in ECT with a 3-month rotation.