General Psychiatry Program

PGY-1    PGY-2    PGY-3    PGY-4

4-year Rotation Schedule

Didactic course Descriptions

"PIT" Program - (Psychotherapy In Training Program)

Application Procedures

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Year One

The first year, the internship, is designed to provide a foundation for subsequent training in psychiatry.  The clinical rotations and didactic curriculum are integrated to prepare residents to competently manage a broad variety of medical and psychiatric disorders and emergencies.  This is the first step in acquiring mastery over a wide variety of skills that are required by a modern-day psychiatrist.  

Residents in the General program spend 3 months in family medicine, 2 months in neurology and 1 month in Medical Care of the Psychiatric Patient, (MCPP), though some choose to spend more time in these rotations during electives. Family medicine is done through the UPMC St. Margaret’s family medicine program and includes 3 months of inpatient medicine. Residents spend 2 months with the UPMC neurology program and work on the neurology consult team.

Residents rotate through the Psychiatric ER for 3 months and continue to take overnight call in the ER throughout their 2nd year. The free standing Psychiatric Emergency Room, separate from the medical Emergency Department at UPMC, provides psychiatric evaluation, brief counseling and crisis intervention, routine pharmacologic management, and referrals for acute inpatient hospitalization, partial day programs, and outpatient clinics.  During the evenings, the residents are the primary medical doctors in the emergency room, working with a supervising attending, "in house", with child attending supervision by phone as needed. 

A 3-month rotation in Substance-related disorders and anxiety disorders is divided into a 1-month rotation at the Center for the Treatment of Addictive Disorders (CTAD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - Highland Drive, and a 2-month rotation at WPIC on an inpatient service specializing in acute treatment of substance-related disorders.

The formal didactic curriculum during PGY-1 focuses on fundamental psychiatric knowledge base upon which subsequent training and education will build on.  The curriculum includes lectures, seminars, case conference, grand rounds and workshops.  These programs are directed  and taught by faculty, many of whom are renowned experts in their areas. 

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Year Two

The second year of residency training is an exciting year that provides a core set of experiences that essentially define the scope of psychiatry.  Residents undergo clinical rotations in adult, child, geriatric and Consultation and Liaison psychiatry services.  The didactic curriculum is closely integrated with these clinical experiences.  Residents begin psychotherapy training with patient assignments and individual supervision in the middle of PGY2.  At the end of the second year, residents will be able to competently diagnose and treat a wide variety of common psychiatric disorders.   

Residents in the General program spend 10/11 weeks four specialty services, reflecting the four broad divisions in clinical psychiatry.  Each inpatient service has "teaching teams" with one resident supervised by one attending.  Residents carry no more than 8 patients at any given time.  On each service, residents work closely with the supervising attending and the treatment team, comprising nurses, social worker and other clinicians.  Residents are given increasing and graduated independence in managing the assigned patients.  There is onsite medical coverage and specialty consultations are available through Presbyterian Hospital, which is physically connected to WPIC.

The Consultation and Liaison (C/L) Psychiatry service provides psychiatric consultation to all units (medical, surgical, transplant, intensive care units, oncology, obstetrics, gynecologic, etc.) at Presbyterian Hospital, and on occasion, the UPMC Emergency Service.  Presbyterian Hospital is connected to WPIC by and indoor tunnel.  Residents are assigned patients for consultation and, under supervision, provide a set of management recommendations and follow these patients for the duration of the patients' hospital stay.  There are daily lectures and seminars on C/L topics while on this service.  Residents on this service are exempt from call at WPIC.  Instead, they provide evening and weekend coverage to the C/L service.

Residents continue to take overnight call at WPIC throughout their 2nd year, except while on C/L rotation. 

The formal didactic curriculum during PGY-2 expands on acquiring fundamental psychiatric knowledge that began during PGY-1, and is closely linked to the clinical experiences during this year.   The curriculum includes lectures, seminars, case conference, grand rounds and workshops.  These programs are directed  and taught by faculty, many of whom are renowned experts in their areas. 

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Year Three

The third year of residency training is focused on extending the skills and knowledge acquired during the first and second years of residency.  During PGY-3 residents work in several general and specialty clinics that provide an opportunity to learn about different models of care utilized today.  These models include following patients independently, seeing patients with counselors,  and working closely with treatment teams.  Residents are required to complete  two year-long clinics as well as the six-month requirements of Geriatric and Child psychiatry.  In addition to these requirements, residents are required to choose at a minimum 3 six month electives.  An elective typically occurs once per week for a half-day per week.   Each clinic is directed by faculty who are experts in their fields.  Residents continue psychotherapy training with additional patient assignments and individual supervision.  At the end of the third year, residents will be able to competently diagnose and treat patients, and provide longitudinal care in a variety of outpatient settings.  They will achieve increasing levels of competency in psychotherapy.

The formal didactic curriculum during PGY-3 provides a series of advanced topics, including the psychiatric literature.  These programs are directed  and taught by faculty, many of whom are renowned experts in their areas. 

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Year Four

The final year of the four-year general psychiatry training program is designed allow a majority of the time available as elective time, to develop individual proposals for didactic, clinical, or research training suited to their specific career goals.  This is also an opportunity to "round off" the training experience by choosing electives to fortify specific aspects of training experience.  This outstanding feature enables senior residents to continue to handle longitudinal cases under supervision while carrying a light course load.  There are no call obligations in the senior year.  Final-year proposals are submitted for review late in the preceding year.  There are a large number of existing elective opportunities and new ones are regularly proposed by residents and faculty.  Many residents choose elective training sites to explore career opportunities.   

The elective opportunities are an example of the breadth of clinical services and training opportunities offered within the training program.

The formal didactic curriculum during PGY-4 provides a series of advanced topics.  Some of the time in the curriculum is set aside each year to accommodate requests by the senior class for additional coursework. 

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PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING

Psychotherapy training is an important and integral component of residency training.  There is a strong commitment in the program to the development of sound psychotherapeutic skills, even though there appears to be reduced insurance coverage for such services. We believe that long-term psychotherapy is a powerful educational experience and aids significantly in becoming effective at shorter-term therapies.

At WPIC, longitudinal psychotherapy training is overseen by the Psychotherepy Training Committee, which is devoted solely to resident and psychology intern education. The Pittsburgh Coalition for Dynamic Therapy, a recent addition to the program, provides additional long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy experience, with supervision provided by faculty of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Institute. In fact, many residents take advantage of the courses offered by the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Institute.

Residents first begin exposure to psychodynamic principles during PGY-1 lectures and introduction to psychotherapy during PGY-2, with longitudinal case assignments commencing in the PGY-2 year. Training for brief psychotherapy (Interpersonal & Cognitive Behavioral therapies), family and group therapy is also an integral part of psychotherapy training at WPIC. There is a year-long psychodynamic continuous case conference during the senior year.

We have instituted a Resident and Psychology Intern Psychotherapy Training Clinic which successfully began on July 1, 2006 and has simplified the resident access to psychotherapy patients for all modes of therapy.

The Director Of Psychotherapy Training is Dr. Karen Katunich.

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LIFE AS A RESIDENT

Beginning residency is an exciting time.  You will embark on an experience that will equip you with the skills and knowledge to practice psychiatry in the today's world.  Beginning residency is also accompanied by new challenges...

Our program is interested in each resident's professional and personal well-being.  The following information form this link may be useful to you in thinking about life as a resident at WPIC.

Life as a Resident

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APPLICATION PROCEDURE & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Applicants for the General Psychiatry Residency Training Program must be a senior in an approved medical school or hold an MD degree.  We encourage applications from minority students.  Applicants with specialty training in in other areas of medicine are also welcome.  

Applications are accepted through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service).  We require a complete application form, personal statement (including a statement regarding areas of interest), medical school transcript and three letters of reference. Applications will be accepted until December 16. After completion of the review process by the Selection Committee, applicants will be notified by email or mail.  Dates for the interview will be determined at the time of the invitation.  We generally interview on Mondays, November through January. 

Applicants requiring ECFMG certification must ensure that USMLE transcripts are are available for review on the ERAS application. 

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Further information may be obtained by contacting:

Michael J. Travis, MD
Director of Psychiatry Residency Training
Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic
University of Pittsburgh
3811 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412) 246-5320
Email: travismj@upmc.edu

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