UF Department of Psychiatry

Residency Training Program

From the Residency
Training Director

Program Faculty

Purpose,
Philosophy
& Goals

Training
Facilities &
Services

Clinical Rotations

Curriculum

Resident Life

Post Graduate
Fellowships

Application
Process

About Gainesville,
Florida

The University of Florida offers six fellowships for those individuals who wish to further specialize. Further information is available upon request.

Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowships
The Department of Psychiatry offers a one-year fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAP) Fellows participate in a wide range of academic activities including clinical and basic science research, medical education, and patient care clinics. Inpatient evaluation, inpatient and residential treatment, consults, forensics, laboratory testing, drug education and prevention are available and provide the basis for the applicant to sit for the ASAM or Psychiatry Addiction Boards, Pain and Medical Review Officer certifications. Fellows have come from psychiatry residencies as well as applicants with previous careers in anesthesiology, neurosurgery, family medicine, medicine, surgery, and pediatrics.

Fellows have the opportunity to choose from an impressive list of available public sector addiction training experiences in the model drug court, prenatal prevention, child and adolescent treatment programs, dual disorders, health information, multidisciplinary overeating and eating disorders programs, state and local tobacco initiatives, as well as the more traditional veterans, methadone, detoxification units, relapse prevention methodologies, and day programs.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
The Department of Psychiatry offers a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for selected residents who have completed the PGY-3 year of training. The purpose of the training program is to prepare trainees according to guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Child Psychiatry and by the Committee on Child Psychiatry of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The training includes normal and abnormal child development with didactic seminars on cognitive, psychodynamic, and social and biological approaches including anatomical and biochemical studies. Supervised observations of normal children of all ages from birth through high school will be provided. Experiences are arranged with children and adolescents from the most severely disturbed, such as developmental disorders and central nervous system disorders, to mildly disturbed, neurotic patients. Both child psychiatry and pediatric neurology faculty provide supervision with input from neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, speech pathologists, psychiatric nurses and other professionals.

Community Psychiatry Fellowship
The Department of Psychiatry offers a fellowship in Community Psychiatry headed by Division of Community Psychiatry Chief Dick Christensen, M.D. Dr Christensen is the most highly decorated medical student educator in the Department and one of the only College of Medicine Faculty to ever win the Hippocratic Award on two occasions. Fellows are trained to serve as leaders, role models, service providers, planners, and researchers in the community psychiatry arena. The program emphasizes prevention and when that fails intervention and treatment of the sequelae of severe mental illness. Fellows learn effective approaches to homelessness, substance abuse, isolation, legal problems, and social stigmatization. Goals of this fellowship include promoting interest in community psychiatry among medical students, health providers, civic leaders and psychiatrists; developing future leaders in local, regional, and national organizations relevant to the practice of psychiatry in community-based settings; promoting and maintaining excellence in patient care for underserved populations including the homeless; and educating psychiatrists about pertinent issues in public mental health, including prevention strategies for both children and adults, needs assessment, and outcomes research.

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship
The Department of Psychiatry offers a fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry approved by Accreditation Council on Fellowships in Forensic Psychiatry. Fellows are assigned civil and criminal cases with adults and children dealing with competency, criminal responsibility, civil commitment, child custody, guardianship, disability, and personal injury. They have the opportunity to work with incompetent patients in a forensic institution and see prisoners in a weekly clinic at a county jail. In weekly seminars, they study the landmark cases with a lawyer and review the forensic literature of all the topical areas presented in the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry Examinations Syllabus. Through required written and oral presentations, the Fellows gain experience designed to help them prepare for the Forensic Board exams. There are opportunities for teaching forensic psychiatry to medical and law students and psychiatry residents. Support staff is available to promote and help conduct research. Training facilities include the Holland Law Center, North Florida Medical Reception Center, Alachua County Correction Center, Shands Teaching Hospital, and Gainesville VA Medical Center. The Fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Fellowships in Forensic Psychiatry.

Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship
The Department of Psychiatry offers a fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry which consists of six separate components: inpatient, outpatient, consultation, neurology, long-term care, and research/scholarly activity. Elderly patients are seen in multiple settings in order to provide the fellow with an all- inclusive geriatric experience. The principle didactic experiences include: a weekly reading seminar where book chapter topics are discussed in geriatric psychiatry, geriatric medicine, and neurology; a Special Topic seminar consists of lectures by experts in special geriatric fields. The fellowship has active collaboration with both geriatric medicine and neurology and their respective fellows. Training facilities include Shands Hospital, VA Medical Center, Integrated Health Services at Gainesville, Oaks Residential and Rehabilitation Center, and North Florida Rehabilitation and Special Care Center. The fellowship is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Research Fellowship
The Department of Psychiatry offers a one- year research fellowship for selected residents who have completed the PGY-3 year of training. The Fellowship is intended to prepare the trainee for entry into an academic career where they are expected to conduct original investigation in the field of anxiety disorders. Training in this area will enhance clinical practice as well as allow the trainee to function as part of a research team. Fellows are expected to establish and maintain a close working relationship with the faculty involved in their subspecialty area. Tutorial instruction, supervision, and formal didactics for the fellows are provided in addition to the current teaching program offered in the core psychiatry residency program.