General Psychiatry Residency Program Overview: Second Year
Second Year – How to function as a psychiatrist
Second year is both challenging and rewarding. It is when many residents start really feeling like a psychiatrist. Three months of the year are spent in consult-liaison psychiatry rotations in various hospital settings, during which residents receive training in the management of psychiatric symptoms and conditions in the medically ill. In addition, they learn how to serve as consultants to other specialties. Two months are dedicated to more advanced inpatient training on the University Hospital psychiatric unit, including 3 weeks of night-float. Residents will get an additional month of emergency psychiatry training at Brook Army Medical Center.
Residents spend one month in addiction psychiatry at Villa Serena, a residential rehabilitation facility for veterans with substance use disorders. Residents also gain experience in interventional psychiatry. They will learn how to conduct extensive interviews, administer ketamine, TMS, and ECT, as well as gain a better understanding of treatment resistance across the lifespan.
Residents also begin their weekly psychotherapy clinic, which continues through the rest of their residency training. Additionally, PGY2 residents receive a unique introduction to outpatient psychiatry on a 3-month longitudinal block rotating through various child/adolescent and geriatric psychiatry outpatient clinics.
Elective Time
A highlight of second year is two and a half months of elective time, providing residents the opportunity to explore their own interests in psychiatry. The program provides extensive and diverse options for clinical and research electives, including over 40 options. Residents are also able to develop their own electives.
PGY-2 Rotation Timeline Overview
- Consult-Liaison Psychiatry (12 weeks) at University Hospital, ALM VA Hospital, and/or Brooke Army Medical Center
- Advanced inpatient Psychiatry (8 weeks) at University Hospital
- Interventional Psychiatry (4 weeks) at ALM VA (additional sites available by elective)
- Addiction Psychiatry (4 weeks) at Villa Serena (run by ALM VA Hospital)
- Specials (12 weeks)
- Outpatient geriatric psychiatry (1.5 days per week)
- Child and adolescent psychiatry (1.5 days per week)
- Elective (1 day weekly)
- Elective Block (8 weeks)