A. Goals and Objectives

A major goal of the Residency Training Program at OHSU is to graduate psychiatrists who have mature judgment; extensive knowledge about diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of all psychiatric disorders and common neurological disorders; competence to render effective professional care to patients; awareness of personal limitations; and recognition of the necessity of continuing their development throughout their professional careers.

Each rotation in the RTP has specific educational objectives in the areas of knowledge, skills and attitudes. *
Each is designed to provide a balanced mixture of clinical service, didactics and seminars, and supervision, which will enable residents to attain those educational objectives.

B. Clinical Experiences

A typical four-year rotation plan for OHSU residents is presented below:

PGY-1 follows a mixed internal medicine/psychiatry categorical schedule. Rotations consist of two months inpatient medicine, two months ambulatory medicine, two months neurology, and six months inpatient psychiatry (OHSU and/or the Portland VAMC).

PGY-2 includes three months of inpatient psychiatry at Portland, Oregon State Hospital, six weeks of night float in the psychiatric emergency room at OHSU, six weeks of geriatric psychiatry at OHSU, 3 months as consult/liaison at OHSU and the VA, and six weeks of inpatient psychiatry at the VA. In addition, all PGY-2 residents spend one half day per week in the Adult Outpatient Clinic or in the primary care psychiatry program and one half day in outpatient supervision, and psychotherapy didactics at OHSU. PGY-2s begin to follow psychotherapy cases and participate in faculty specialty clinics.

Primary call for the VA and OHSU is covered by PGY-1 & -2 residents on ward rotations. At the VA, this is done in 24 hour shifts, with the option of taking call from home, usually every 5th day. There is a night float system at OHSU which operates Sunday through Thursday, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The ward residents cover weekday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. shifts, and 12-hour weekend shifts usually every 5th day. Responsibilities include handling issues on the ward, admissions, and consults to the emergency room or other services. PGY-3 & 4 residents take backup call from home to support PGY-1 and PGY-2 residents if the need arises. Faculty also take backup call from home.

PGY-3 residents spend one year in child and adolescent psychiatry and community psychiatry. The second half of the year is spent on the dependence treatment rotation with three months at the Chemical Addiction Rehabilitation Service at the Vancouver VA and at the General Medicine Psychiatry program at the Portland VA.

PGY-3 residents (like the PGY-2s) spend one half day per week in the Adult Outpatient Clinic at OHSU or the Psychiatry Primary Care at the VA, where they continue to follow patients, and one half day in outpatient supervision and psychotherapy didactics.

Community psychiatry is offered two days a week for six months in tandem with child psychiatry. The focus of the community rotation is on the care of under-served rural populations and/or the urban deinstitutionalized chronically mentally ill. Residents can select from more than 40 potential training sites in rural and urban mental health programs, forensic psychiatry, transcultural settings and community support programs. Travel and lodging costs to all parts of Oregon are paid for by the program. Elective experiences in public community programs, state institutions or the OMHD central office are available for PGY-4 residents on either a six-month or one-year half-time basis as well. Supervision is provided both on site and at OHSU.

The core of the child and adolescent psychiatry experience is the evaluation and treatment of selected children and adolescents and their families in an outpatient setting at OHSU. The intent is to give the resident familiarity with clinical psychiatric syndromes in children and adolescents, provide tools and working knowledge to help him or her be a competent evaluator of children and adolescents, and enable the resident to develop competence in family assessment and therapy. An underlying goal is to teach a developmental, multi-factorial approach to understanding people that should be as helpful in the psychiatrist's work with adults as with children and families. The resident can broaden this basic experience by electing a child and family-oriented community psychiatry placement concurrent with the child psychiatry rotation, and by continuing selected treatment cases into PGY-4.

As in the PGY-2 schedule, all PGY-3 residents spend one half day per week in the Adult Outpatient Clinic at OHSU or Psychiatry Primary Care clinic at the VA, where they continue to follow their patients, and one half day in outpatient supervision and psychotherapy didactics.

The PGY-4 schedule consists of half-time in the Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic of either OHSU or the VA. During this rotation, the resident learns to care for ambulatory patients through various psychopharmacology and psychotherapeutic methods. Brief, time-limited therapies and long-term psychotherapy are possible and residents can arrange experience in group or family therapy.

PGY-4 residents also spend half-time on electives during which they pursue one or more administrative, clinical, teaching or research experiences in association with the departmental faculty at the VA, university services or in the community. Residents design their experiences with faculty guidance and have the opportunity to bring their own special interests to bear on their education.

HOME | How to Apply