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Program Highlights

Our Mission is to develop solid clinical psychiatrists who provide dedicated, compassionate, equitable and safe care, and can become experts in their chosen fields. We strive to fill the mental health and substance abuse treatment needs of our medical center, city and region, so we seek applicants that reflect our community.  Our graduates will be ready for a broad range of clinical opportunities in Psychiatry, including as psychiatrist-educators and, for those interested, as researchers.

We accomplish this mission through broad education and training both in clinical experiences and didactics. This includes training in biological psychiatry; psychodynamics, psychotherapy, and ethnic psychology; social determinants of health; and teaching about teaching. We also strongly seek to develop individual resident interests. The residency strives to provide this in an atmosphere that promotes respect, integrity, inclusivity and cultural humility, curiosity and self-learning.   

Our Approach

Diverse Clinical Settings and Patient Populations

The Department of Psychiatry provides a full range of mental health services across the life span including all levels of care from general outpatient to crisis intervention, a range of inpatient and outpatient consultation-liaison services, partial hospitalization and inpatient care, as well as many preventive and supportive services. Our patient base ranges from rural farmers to affluent suburbanites to inner city residents.

Attention to Diversity and Inclusion

We strive for an atmosphere that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. Such an atmosphere is crucial not only within the program itself and among the residents but also to better understand and work with the diverse array of patients. We attend to diversity and inclusion in clinical work and program didactics. We offer the quarterly experience of Theater for Healthcare Equity as a place to experientially discuss the often-difficult topics of power and bias as they occur in clinical settings, as well as a series on Ethnic Psychologies.  The residency is an affiliate of the URMC Association of Minority Residents and Fellows (AMRF).

Great Teaching

Our affiliation with the University of Rochester means we have the resources of one of the nation's best medical schools. Our residents have a high level of satisfaction with attendings, and residents (at all levels) are involved in teaching medical students.

Scholarly Distinction

Our large department boasts over 100 accomplished full time or part time clinical and research faculty members with various areas of expertise. Our well-funded, innovative clinic and community based research portfolio extends across the life span, and has local, national and international reach. Residents are encouraged to take an active role in research projects, with robust mentorship provided. We have an excellent track record of obtaining NIH Mentored Career Development awards for junior faculty.

Reasonable Workload

Clinical rotations are developed based on learning objectives, and many of our clinical services are not resident dependent. There is no overnight call. The duration/pace of the typical workday varies by rotation. In Psychiatry this is typically manageable, as is the day call schedule. At times the work can be demanding, and workdays and workweeks are sometimes longer. While patient work can be satisfying, time away from the hospital and clinics is necessary. We value work/life balance.

Residents benefit from more individual attention and one-to-one supervision with attendings, involved program leadership, and ample opportunity to build rapport with colleagues.

Strong Fellowships

Many of our residents pursue fellowships within our institution, which means that if you are interested in forensic, geriatric, child/adolescent, consultation liaison psychiatry, or addictions psychiatry you will have the opportunity for a considerable amount of exposure in your area of interest.

Our Goal

We will graduate residents who are:

  • Equipped to become lifelong learners, able to stay on top of the literature as it emerges and with sufficient flexibility to evolve with new understanding.
  • Equipped with a social conscience, aware of the social determinants of mental health, working towards leveling the playing field and maintaining high ethical standards of practice.
  • Equipped to understand and respond to patients from a biopsychosocial perspective avoiding reductionistic thinking and based on a framework of cultural humility. This means being open to being taught by our patients who grant us the privilege of allowing us into their lives.  This means the program has sufficient flexibility and respect for individual difference so as to allow residents to launch their careers as evolving clinicians, researchers, and teachers.
  • Willing to pursue their professional development, acknowledging the importance of the biopsychosocial perspective not only in those we treat, but in our colleagues as well.