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Program Overview

A psychiatry residency at the University of Rochester incorporates a unique combination of clinical and didactic experiences. You'll graduate with depth and breadth of knowledge and training that will prepare you for a smooth transition into your choice of clinical practice, a fellowship, teaching, or research.

The following information outlines the goals and clinical and didactic experiences of each training year.

PGY-1 Year | PGY-2 Year | PGY-3 Year | PGY-4 Year

PGY-1 Year

Because our department has always believed that psychiatry's roots are firmly in medicine, we offer two internship options :

  • Standard track (with a four-month internal medicine experience)
  • High medicine track (with a ten-month internal medicine experience)

For those planning to pursue a child psychiatry residency, pediatric internship rotations may be arranged. All PGY-1 residents have a two- month neurology rotation. Standard track residents complete the year with six months of inpatient psychiatry rotations in a variety of settings described in the Program Highlights section.

Whether on medicine, neurology or psychiatry services, residents come together for seminars one afternoon a week throughout the PGY-1 Year. Courses include:

  • Foundations of Psychotherapy
  • Psychopathology and Basic Psychopharmacology Seminar
  • Emergency and Crisis Psychiatry
  • Normal Development
  • Psychological Testing
  • Introductions to clinical practice, family work, and managed care principles
  • Residents' Morning Report
  • Acute Services Case Conference
  • Psychotherapy Supervision Group
  • Departmental Grand Rounds

A Resident-Organized Seminar Series and Multicultural Workshop Series round out the didactics.

View schedule schematic for PGY-1

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PGY-2 Year

The PGY-2 year is designed to ensure that residents gain confidence in the care of acute psychiatric patients. It includes exposure to a wide range of psychopathology in settings that teach focused, acute interventions. Over the course of this year, the resident rotates through:

  • General psychiatry acute services (with both inpatient and partial hospital components allowing continuity in patient care and training), done both at SMH and RPC
  • Child and adolescent psychiatry acute services (with inpatient and partial hospital components)
  • Consultation liaison psychiatry
  • Psychiatric emergency
  • Addiction psychiatry services
  • Geriatric inpatient psychiatry acute services
  • Eating Disorders experience at Unity Health system

Didactic experiences are consolidated into one half-day per week and include:

  • Neuroscience in Psychiatry
  • Advanced Psychopharmacology
  • Individual, Group, and Family Therapies Seminars
  • Residents' Morning Report
  • Acute Services
  • Case Conference
  • Psychotherapy Supervision Group
  • Departmental Grand Rounds

Resident-Organized Seminar Series and Multicultural Workshop Series continue in the PGY-2 year.

View schedule schematic for PGY-2

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PGY-3 Year

This year of training is focused on ambulatory psychiatric experiences in a variety of general and specialty settings at Strong Memorial and in the community. Priorities in this year include adding to and honing skills in various therapeutic modalities, including:

  • Pharmacotherapies
  • Short and long-term individual therapies (utilizing psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral therapy, and interpersonal therapy)
  • Group and family therapies
  • In-depth experiences with the seriously and persistently mentally ill, forensic, and geriatric populations

Residents have two psychotherapy supervisors to aid in developing psychotherapy competencies.

Didactic experiences include:

  • The year-long Long-term Care Seminar
  • Advanced Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Seminar
  • Advances in Psychotherapy Seminar (from psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral perspectives)
  • Special supervisory sessions for family, developmental disabilities, and child cases.
  • Departmental Grand Rounds

The Resident-Organized Seminar Series and the Multicultural Workshop Series continue in the PGY-2 year.

View schedule schematic for PGY-3

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PGY-4 Year

This is a year for consolidation, mastery, leadership, and exploration as the resident approaches graduation and prepares for the transition to practice or fellowship training. To facilitate these developmental tasks, much of the PGY-4 year is reserved for electives.

Each resident is required to:

  • Pursue an area of clinical interest in-depth, typically in a "junior attending" role, and to complete a scholarly project worthy of publication
  • Maintain an office-based practice with ongoing ambulatory patients

Residents may focus the remainder of this year on mastering an area of clinical, administrative or research interest.

Didactics are limited to:

  • Departmental Grand Rounds
  • The resident luncheon series
  • Numerous elective seminars and workshops.

View schedule schematic for PGY-4

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