Psychiatry Residency

Curriculum


Curriculum

Didactic sessions are held weekly on Tuesday mornings for PGY1s and 2s and on Thursday mornings for PGY3s.  Core foundational topics are taught in the 1st and 2nd years by a variety of trained faculty from departments such as psychiatry, psychology, bioinformatics, pharmacology, forensics, and neurology. A variety of topics are covered such as DSM 5, Psychopharmacology, Neuroscience, Well Being course, Psychiatric Interviewing, Journal Club, Quality Improvement, Patient Safety and Clinical Research.

Community psychiatry topics are covered in the PGY3 year of training. PGY4s spend their didactic time devoted to self-directed learning, building on key interest areas and for board preparation. Fourth year residents obtain didactics while in elective rotations, including Neuromodulation, Consult-Liaison, Movement disorders, Palliative care, Administrative Psychiatry, Eating disorders, PTSD clinic, and Neurology.  In addition, PGY3s and PGY4s are given didactics dedicated to resident’s transition into the job market, including talks on Contracts and Negotiations, Billing, Student Loans, Finances, and Mistakes to Avoid.

Residents have a wellness curriculum that includes both experiential and didactic learning. Special topics are included to cover the hidden curriculum that psychiatry residents need exposure to.  Through program-funded initiative, residents have access to do their own psychotherapy that paves the way for trainees to have a deeper understanding of psychotherapy. Starting in the PGY 3 of training, interested residents can choose to spend additional didactic time in any of the following tracks:

I. Health professions Education track: 2-year course offered by the University of Missouri Kansas City School Of Medicine. Click here for full description.

II. Clinical Scientist track: offered by the Bioinformatics department at the UMKC SOM. Click here to learn more.

III. Psychotherapy track: offered by the Psychiatry department in the outpatient clinics in collaboration with the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute

Didactic sessions also covers preparation for Psychiatry Residency in Service Training examination and delivering high quality Case Conference and Grand Rounds. Quality improvement and basics of clinical research are also covered with goal to promote residents’ involvement in scholarly activity.

Didactic sessions utilizes both small group discussions, large group discussions, flipped classroom models and lectures.  All residents attend the weekly Case Conference and Grand Rounds meetings once a week.

Resident Wellness

Wellness is promoted throughout the program by all faculty members. Program offers all residents the opportunity to seek their own psychotherapy for wellness and as means for deeper understanding of self and others.  Wellness days are included in the didactic calendar on regular intervals.  Residents do extra- curricular educational and recreational activities with faculty.  The program offers social events in the fall, winter and spring for all residents and faculty for team building.

Group Process

Residents participate in Group process every other week in their PGY 1 and 2 years.

Group process explores issues of authority, tasks and boundaries and how it impacts the understanding of one’s professional identity. Process is aimed at promoting cohesiveness amongst the members.

Evaluation

Residents are evaluated based on direct feedback, using milestone 2.0 assessment by the core faculty, 360-degree feedback and periodic Clinical skills verification examinations for residents. Residents are provided with direct feedback at the end of the rotation by faculty.  Residents have the opportunity to provide feedback on faculty and didactic sessions.

The Core Competency Committee reviews the didactic session feedback and makes curricular modifications. The residents have regular monthly meeting with the Program Director to assess the quality of the program, didactics, and resident performance.