Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program

The School of Medicine (SOM) was established in 1807 and is the fifth medical school (and the first public medical school) founded in the United States. It was the first medical school to institute a residency training program. The School is part of a large 11-campus University System of Maryland, which includes an overseas program housed in US military bases.

The Baltimore City campus consists of seven graduate and professional schools of which the School of Medicine is the largest. The campus also houses the University of Maryland Medical Center, a 747-bed teaching hospital, the Baltimore VA Medical Center, and the Walter Carter Center, a state psychiatric hospital serving Baltimore City. The University of Maryland Medical System (which includes these and other affiliated hospitals), provides a full range of health care for over 600,000 patients in Maryland annually.

UMMS includes facilities that are internationally recognized models such as the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, the Biotechnology Institute's Medical Biotechnology Center, and the Institute for Virology (headed by Dr. Robert Gallo). Nationally, the School of Medicine ranks 18th for total research grants to medical schools, and 5th for total research grants and contracts per full-time clinical faculty. The UM Medical Center is also one of the 41 "Top Hospitals" in the US (2007), determined by the Leapfrog Group based on hospital quality and safety.

Department of Psychiatry

The Department consists of 143 paid and 175 volunteer faculty, 74 general psychiatry residents, fellows in five specialized programs, and staff and trainees from affiliated disciplines. Research and clinical care include internationally recognized programs such as the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center for the study of neuroscience and schizophrenia (directed by William T. Carpenter, MD), and the Center for Health Services Research (faculty include Lisa Dixon, MD, Howard Goldman, MD, Tony Lehman, MD, and Jim Thompson, MD). Other examples of areas of excellence are the Center for Eating Disorders (Harry Brandt, MD and Steve Crawford, MD), the VA Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (Alan Bellack, Ph.D.) and the School Mental Health (Mark Weist, Ph.D). The Department ranks 11th nationally with regard to research funding awarded to Departments of Psychiatry.

The Department of Psychiatry has partnered with the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital System to provide a diverse and comprehensive training experience for residents and fellows. The training program is part of the "Maryland Plan", a collaboration between the State of Maryland and the University. The core clinical facilities for psychiatry thus include UMMS, Sheppard Pratt, the Maryland VA System and the State Mental Hygiene System (with the Walter P. Carter Center, the Spring Grove Hospital Center, the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, and the Regional Institute for Children & Adolescents - Baltimore).

Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry serves as a major teaching and research site for students, psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows, psychiatry residents, and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. It provides preventive and therapeutic mental health services for children and adolescents through inpatient, day, ambulatory, and community programs. On the Baltimore campus, the Division has a 12 bed child inpatient unit, Child Day Hospital, C/L service, private practice clinic, outpatient child and adolescent clinic (consisting of three specialty clinics), outpatient center for infant psychiatry (treating children under 6 years of age), and a school mental health program based in Baltimore City public schools (see Table 1, Fellowship Training Sites). On the Sheppard Pratt campus, training sites include an adolescent inpatient unit, inpatient neurology unit, day hospital, outpatient autism service, and school for emotionally disturbed children. Other sites include forensic settings, specialized schools, and a residential treatment center (see Table1).

The Division faculty represent the fields of child and adolescent psychiatry, clinical and experimental psychology, social work, and nursing. The faculty and teaching staff consist of seven full-time and 10 part-time child psychiatrists (including two past-presidents of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Drs. David Pruitt and Richard Sarles), as well as five psychologists, two social workers and two psychiatric nurses. Faculty members are receipients of grants from NIH, NIMH, HRSA, the US Department of Education, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the W.T. Grant Foundation. Supervision and teaching are provided by this interdisciplinary faculty who represent psychodynamic, biological and behavioral points of view. Research faculty in the Department in the fields of neuroscience, epidemiology and mental health services are available for consultation.

Special areas of excellence are infant psychiatry (Center for Infant Study and the Secure Starts Clinic for children under 6 years) and forensic psychiatry, which includes faculty expertise at the Court of Baltimore City (Medical Service), at juvenile justice centers, and a forensic unit at Spring Grove Hospital. The School Mental Health Program is also nationally recognized as a leader in developing school mental health services. As well as providing services in 23 public schools in Baltimore, and housing a research program and demonstration projects, the program includes one of two HRSA-funded Centers in the US for resources and consultation to institutions wanting to initiate or expand school-based services. The Division also includes an NIH funded research program investigating metabolic and other side effects of anti-psychotic medication employed with children and adolescents. While based in the Division, this program collaborates with experts in endocrinology, nutrition, and cardiology

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program

The University of Maryland offers a fully accredited (ACGME) two year child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program jointly sponsored by the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), the Sheppard Pratt Health System (SPHS) and the State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). A total of twelve full time positions are available. Trainees usually enter the program after the PGY-3 year of residency training in general psychiatry, i.e., following internship and 2 years of general psychiatry residency. Upon completion of three years of approved psychiatry residency and a two year child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program, trainees are eligible to take the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology examinations in general psychiatry and in child and adolescent psychiatry. Fringe benefits include professional liability insurance, health insurance, holidays, vacation and parking.

• Fellowship Training Sites
• Fellowship Rotations

Objectives and Philosophy

The goal of the fellowship program is to provide an integrated yet flexible set of learning experiences. The Division is committed to teaching those diagnostic, consultative and therapeutic skills essential to the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. A two-year didactic curriculum is designed to provide a sound knowledge base in child psychiatry. This is complemented by skill development and case-centered teaching in a variety of settings selected to provide a well-rounded experience that includes inpatient, outpatient, private and public-sector sites. Required experiences are designed to expose all fellows to normal child and adolescent development, early intervention and prevention of mental health problems, therapeutic interventions, community child psychiatry, forensic child psychiatry and research. In addition, the variety of training sites also enables fellows to develop special expertise in a particular area of interest.

Program Description

The Child Psychiatry Fellowship Program includes experience in the evaluation and treatment of children and adolescents in inpatient, partial day, outpatient, special school programs, standard public school and community settings. (See Table 1). Training and supervision are provided for individual, family, and group therapy, psychopharmacology, mental health consultation and research. Each fellow receives 3-4 hours/week of individual supervision. Fellows are also offered opportunities to teach general residents, medical students, and psychology interns. Learning experiences are organized longitudinally so that they continue throughout the two years of training. Fellows assume increasing professional responsibility, with appropriate supervision, as skills and knowledge develop.

The fellowship program is organized around a core of clinical services. The first year of training consists primarily of inpatient and day hospital experience at either the University of Maryland Hospital (UMMS), Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital (SEPH) or Spring Grove State Hospital. In addition, fellows begin long-term outpatient work and diagnostic evaluations in the first year. Infant psychiatry is also emphasized in the first year. The second year focuses on outpatient clinic work as well as experiences in school, pediatric and community consultation. (See Table 2 for rotation schedules.) Because of the number and diversity of training sites available, the program designs an individualized training program to meet the fellow's professional needs and to provide maximal personal growth. Clinical service assignments are made, to the extent possible, based on individual interests and preferences.

Training facilities at the University of Maryland include the Child Psychiatry Inpatient Service, the Child Day Hospital, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Out-Patient Clinic, the Child Psychiatry Pediatric Liaison Service, Pediatric Neurology and the Center for Infant Study. Training at the Sheppard Pratt System includes inpatient and day hospital services as well as a special school for emotionally disturbed children and an outpatient autism clinic. Fellows may also be assigned to the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA), a state residential and day treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children and teenagers. All fellows are assigned to the Baltimore City Juvenile Court, the Maryland School for the Deaf, and to 3-4 public schools in Baltimore City. Supervision for all consultation experiences is provided by on-site faculty.

Research experience is strongly encouraged, but not required. Experiences are available in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, school mental health, psychopharmacology and juvenile justice research programs, as well as other elective topics identified by the fellow and faculty member(s).

How to Apply

First-year appointments are made through the National Resident Matching program (NRMP). Applicants are selected for an interview based on their passing USMLE Parts I, II, and III, letters of recommendation; successful completion of three years of ACGME accredited General Psychiatry Residency and letter of recommendation from their General Psychiatry Training Director. International medical graduates must have a valid ECFMG certificate to be eligible for permanent immigrant studies as well as eligibility for licensure in the State of Maryland. One year of experience in a medical or surgical setting in the United States is required.

Residents in the General Psychiatry program at the University of Maryland may apply for early acceptance, whereby they submit their application by May 1, and are invited for personal interviews in April or May. An offer must be made by May 21 and accepted prior to June 1; this commitment is binding both for the trainee and the program. The training program will begin July 1 of the following year.

For those candidates not applying for early acceptance, applications should be completed by November 1. The application materials are the same for both early-acceptance and standard-timeline applications. We require a reference from the General Psychiatry Program Training Director and a minimum of two other letters of recommendation. References should be faculty members who know the candidate well and are in a position to comment on their suitability for the residency. Candidates may then be invited for a personal interview. Interviews are scheduled from July through November, meeting established NRMP deadlines.

Applications must include:

• Application
• A personal statement detailing your interest
• Three letters of recommendation, including one from the Director of your General Residency Program
• Curriculum Vitae
• Copies of ECFMG, USMLE, Step I, II and III certificates
• Copy of medical school diploma
• Transcript
• Dean’s Letter

For more information contact:
Kenneth M. Rogers, MD MSHS
Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training
University of Maryland
701 W. Pratt Street, Suite #429
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Phone: 410-328-3522
Phone: 410-328-0202
Email: krogers@psych.umaryland.edu

UMMC Department Of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry Inpatient Service is located in the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). The department consists of three adult inpatient psychiatric units (40 beds), one child inpatient unit (12 beds) and, a Children Day Hospital and an onsite school hospitalized children. Outpatient services for adults, children and adolescents are located in the 701 West Pratt Street Building. An important component of the Department is the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, one of the leading centers for research on schizophrenia, directed by William T. Carpenter, M.D. The Department has a full time equivalent faculty of 70 M.D., Ph.D., and Masters level professionals. Specialized teaching programs include the Combined Accelerated Program in Psychiatry (CAPP) for 12 medical students per year, a four year general psychiatry residency which recently created a combined integrated program with Sheppard Pratt Health Care System, specialized fellowships in forensic, consultation liaison, substance abuse, geriatric and administrative psychiatry, a Post-doctoral program in psychology, a clinical psychology internship are available and graduate post-graduate programs for students in social work and nursing are available. Currently there are 68 general psychiatry residents, 12 child and adolescent residents, 9 psychology interns and 7 fellows in various specialties.

UMMC Division Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry

The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry serves as a major teaching and research site for students, psychology interns, psychiatry residents, and child and adolescent psychiatry residents. It provides preventive and therapeutic mental health services for children and adolescents through inpatient, day, ambulatory, and community programs. On the Baltimore campus, the Division has, in addition to its administrative facilities, a 12 bed inpatient unit, and a Day Hospital, and outpatient services.

Faculty And Trainees

The Division has faculty representing the fields of child and adolescent psychiatry, clinical and experimental psychology, social work, nursing, special education and pediatrics. Supervision and teaching are provided by this interdisciplinary faculty who represent psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, biological and behavioral points of view. Research faculty in the Department in the fields of neuroscience, epidemiology and mental health services are available for consultation.