PGY-3 Rotation Schedule Description

OUTPATIENT PSYCHIATRY (THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MEDICAL CENTER - SOUTH CAMPUS) (12 months)
The outpatient psychiatry experience will take place at the new The University of Arizona Medical Center - South Campus psychiatry clinic.  During the outpatient rotation, which constitutes the entire PGY-3 year, residents develop primarily long- and short-term dynamic, supportive, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy skills, as well as enhance their psychopharmacologic knowledge.  They also are expected to develop some group, and family and/or couples therapy skills, and to become experienced in psychopharmacologic management of outpatients.  Resident learn to blend medication management with psychotherapeutic approaches.  In addition, residents attend seminars, case conferences, and weekly supervision.

The average caseload for residents in the general outpatient clinic includes 12-14 hours per week of individual adult psychotherapy or medication management. In addition, residents co-facilitate a group and average one and a half new outpatient consultations, or “intakes,” per week.  Residents are also expected to follow an ongoing couple or family during the PGY-III year.  It is expected that at least two of the patients a resident follows be in long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy.  Every effort is made to ensure that the resident sees patients representing diverse backgrounds in terms of gender, diagnosis, age, phase of life, developmental level, and cognitive style.

All new patient intakes and consultations are reviewed and supervised by a full-time faculty psychiatrist, and psychiatric residents are assigned individual supervisors.  These supervisors participate in the intakes with the residents on assigned patients and are familiar with residents’ caseloads.  They also meet with patients as needed.  In addition, residents have 1.5 hours per week for group psychotherapy supervision, and ½ hour per week for family or couples therapy supervision, and 1 hour per week of cognitive behavioral therapy supervision.  The caseloads of the third year residents assigned to the outpatient division are monitored by the Medical Director of the Outpatient Clinic.

Residents are assigned in-house call based at The University of Arizona Medical Center - South Campus.  Generally, PGY-I residents have six call nights each month, PGY-II residents have five call nights each month, and PGY-III residents have four call nights each month.  PGY-IV residents are not assigned call.  Residents assess and evaluate patients in the Emergency Department, cover the Inpatient units, and assume the duties of the Psychosomatic Medicine resident between the hours of 1700 and 0700.  These residents have attending back up via phone.