Training

The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program was established in 1968 by Drs. Hal Boverman M.D., Herbert Woodcock, M.D., John Lingus M.D., Bill Sack M.D. and Ivan Inger PhD. The subsequent 40 years of education and service to the community has greatly influenced mental health policy, the lives of many thousands of children and families and the functioning of agencies across our region.

We are one of only two training programs in the large territory of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. We have successfully maintained continuous ACGME accreditation for our two year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Our graduates are expected to achieve competence in understanding and helping children and families from a biopsychosocial perspective. There is a strong emphasis on utilization of principles that help children and families achieve health through the broad array of attachment and development promoting strategies. 

Residents receive close supervision in a broad range of clinical experiences with varied populations. These include rotations with severely disturbed children and adolescents at Providence Medical Center (acute inpatient service)  and the Christie School (residential treatment program): with children on the Pediatric Consultation/Liaison Service at Doernbecher Children's Hospital; with developmentally disabled children at the CDRC and Center for Continuous Improvement with seriously emotionally disturbed preschool-aged children at the Lifeworks NW Children's Psychiatric Day Treatment Center; and with juvenile offenders at the MacLaren Correctional Facility and with adolescents suffering addictions at DePaul Services.

The OHSU Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic located in Doernbecher Children's Hospital, offers a continuous outpatient experience with a diverse patient population. Children attending this clinic present the full array of childhood psychopathology. These clinical experiences are accompanied by didactics, interviewing and psychotherapy instruction. 

Trainees are also offered opportunities to participate in research. Please explore many further details of our program below.

Overall Program Goals And Objectives

This residency program seeks to develop competent child and adolescent psychiatrists who will meet the mental health needs of children and families of Oregon, Southwest Washington and the Western states. Residents will attain comprehensive knowledge in biological, psychological, and social factors influencing childhood health and development, display skill in integrating these areas of knowledge in practice, and remain flexible learners for the duration of their professional lives. The clinical application of this training is oriented towards public service with psychiatrically disturbed children and their families in collaboration with other professionals. Training at OHSU attends to the specific attributes of the culture and community influencing the children and families receiving service in our region. Residents in this program are expected to achieve the following ACGME defined core competencies as they apply to the practice of child and adolescent psychiatry:

• Patient Care: Residents must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.

• Medical knowledge: Residents must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.

• Practice Based Learning and Improvement: Residents must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning.

• Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Residents must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals.

• Professionalism: Residents must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles

• Systems Based Practice: Residents must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care.

The training provides a carefully selected range of closely supervised experiences offering opportunities to observe and interact with normally developing and psychiatrically disturbed children and adolescents.   The range of clinical settings offer exposure to different levels of symptom acuity, in a diverse array of clinical and community settings with an emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration and advocacy.

The didactic learning also embraces a broad goal of understanding the continuum of normal to disturbed child development in terms of complex interplay of biological, psychological and environmental factors.

At completion of training graduates are expected to:           

1.         Practice in a professional, ethical manner that respects the rights and individuality of the patients and their families with allegiance to fiduciary responsibility.

2.         Practice with a comprehensive awareness of the therapeutic elements of the physician patient relationship.

3.         Demonstrate understanding of the continuum of normal to disturbed child development from a biopsychosocial perspective.

4.         Attain competencies in core clinical skill areas including various psychotherapies, psychopharmacology, psychosocial intervention, pediatric consultation-liaison, and community consultation.

5.         Act as advocates on behalf of their patients and other underserved children and adolescents on individual community and regional levels.

6.         Gain an appreciation of the research literature applicable to child psychiatry and demonstrate the capacity to evaluate treatments for child mental disorders according to their scientific merit.

7.         Understand, utilize and support the multidisciplinary continuum of healthcare and social services which may participate in the healthy functioning and development of the children and families that they serve.

Participating Institutions

Director of Fellowship Education

Craigan Usher, M.D.

Program Coordinator

Abby Schwalb

Fellowship Program

The OHSU residency in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is an ACGME fully accredited two-year fellowship in child psychiatry. Learn more

Program Goals and Objectives

Participating Institutions

How to Apply

Current Fellows

Faculty

Primary

Emeritus

Affiliated