Welcome from Our Program Directors

Congratulations on your decision to begin a career in psychiatry! Your journey will be intellectually exciting, personally rewarding and emotionally transformative. Indeed, this is a remarkable time to enter the field. The explosion of knowledge in the neurosciences and the integration of this knowledge with a sophisticated psychological understanding of the individual patient makes the practice of modern psychiatry complex, challenging and engaging.

Our residency program prepares trainees for this changing world by enabling them to become excellent clinicians who integrate biological, psychodynamic, phenomenological and sociocultural models to treat patients effectively.

Residency training is, first and foremost, a postgraduate education. Our program’s resident education encompasses a vast depth and breadth of patient care experiences and is not compromised by service delivery. While psychotherapy training is often overlooked or short-changed in training programs, becoming a competent psychotherapist is crucial and central to a psychiatrist’s professional identity and function. A developmental perspective on training is also key to our philosophy, reflecting a belief in the maturational aspects of becoming a psychiatrist.

In addition, individual supervision is a cornerstone in developing clinical excellence. Our extensive and diverse faculty of psychopharmacologists, psychotherapists, clinical researchers, service directors and specialists provide one-on-one and small group supervision in various areas, including psychopharmacology, psychotherapy including psychodynamic, supportive, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), family and couples, and group therapy. We also have all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) fellowships and clinical expertise in addiction, consultation and liaison, child and adolescent, geriatric and forensics psychiatry. An extensive didactic curriculum further cultivates professional and leadership development. Finally, residents become part of our family, wherein their well-being and clinical and intellectual development are paramount. Through regular meetings with senior faculty, residents in our program actively provide feedback on their educational experience and the overall training program. The training program belongs to the residents.

The personal psychological growth of the resident and the development of increased emotional awareness are crucial to becoming an excellent clinician, as the psychology of both patient and clinician is centrally involved in all psychiatric treatments. To facilitate personal psychological growth and awareness, residents have a weekly experiential group with other residents; preceptors are available to each resident, and individual psychotherapy, if desired, is readily facilitated.

Finally, this Department views the four-year psychiatric residency as a powerful developmental experience. There are specific stages during which the resident evolves in terms of clinical identity, personal emotional growth and psychological awareness. It is a demanding but incredibly fulfilling journey. We appreciate and welcome your interest in our program.

Ana Ozdoba, MD, Program Director, Residency Training
Joseph Kim, MD, Associate Program Director, Residency Training