Outpatient Psychopharmacology

Contact: Maurizio Fava, M.D.

Duration: The residents see patients and participate in all didactic activities every Tuesday from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. Each week there is a case conference for one hour and individual or group supervision for one hour; every other Tuesday there is an evaluation for one hour (once a month the evaluation is supervised). Patient care occupies the remaining hours, including follow-ups of patients under treatment. The residents rotate through the Depression module for two months, the Bipolar for two months, the Geriatrics for one month, the Substance Abuse for one month, the Psychosis for two months, the Anxiety for two months, the Perinatal for one month, and the OCD for one month. The rotation includes approximately 5 residents in group A, and 5 residents in group B. Each group rotates through the same modules but at alternate halves of the PGY-III year.

Educational Goals: By the end of this rotation, residents will have:

1. Developed a more comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorder.

2. Received a more specific, diagnosis-based training.

3. Gained experience in long-term psychopharmacology.

4. Improved their diagnostic skills.

Course Description: The residents rotate through different modules: the Depression module, the Anxiety module, the Bipolar module, the Perinatal module, the Geriatrics module, the Substance Abuse module, the Psychosis module, and the OCD module. During each module, the residents have weekly case conferences/didactic seminars (once a month the case is presented by one of the residents in the rotation), and group supervision twice a month. They also have new patient evaluations every two weeks (which are supervised once a month by the resident’s supervisor). The case conferences/didactic seminars are led by a staff physician with expertise in the specific disorder under study. The residents are each assigned to two individual supervisors per year ¾ one for the first six months of the PGY III and one for the second half of the year ¾ who meet with them every other Tuesday to discuss their cases and review their case load.

Expectations: The residents are expected to learn about the diagnosis and short- and long-term treatment of various psychiatric disorders and to have a deeper understanding of these disorders.