Psychiatry residency is four years long. The intern year is spent in Internal Medicine, Neurology and Acute (Inpatient) Psychiatry. The following three years consist of multiple rotations, including child and adolescent psychiatry, consult liaison psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, outpatient psychiatry, and training in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy training is longitudinal, and residents are required to have cases in a multitude of different psychotherapy modalities.
There are also combined degree programs. Triple Board (Adult Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Pediatrics) is 5 years long. Med-Psych (Adult Psychiatry and Internal Medicine) is 5 years long. There is no additional training required beyond these residencies, but there are several boarded fellowships available.
It is sometimes possible to combine Psychiatry residency with Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship by applying for fellowship to start after the PGY3 year. This reduces a year off the training time for a total of 5 years instead of 6 years.
There are multiple boarded fellowships: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2 years), Geriatric Psychiatry (1 year), Forensic Psychiatry (1 year), Addiction Psychiatry (1 year), and Psychosomatic Medicine (1 year), Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Sleep Medicine, and Pain Management. There are also non-boarded fellowships/trainings in many areas including, but not limited to, Perinatal Psychiatry, Infant Mental Health, Eating Disorders, HIV Psychiatry, Integrative Medicine, Research, Schizophrenia, Community Psychiatry, Electroconvulsive Therapy, and other minimally invasive procedures.
What Does a Typical Workday Look Like?
Important Qualities and Traits
Qualities recognized as important to psychiatry include:
- The ability to listen “actively” and observe “comprehensively.”
- Psychological mindedness and curiosity.
- The ability to skillfully engage and develop therapeutic alliance with patients from the first encounter.
- Compassion and empathy, but pragmatic firmness about boundaries.
- Nonjudgmental stance and cognizance of one’s own limitations.
- Impeccable integrity and ethical conduct.
There are multiple areas of research occurring within the Department of Psychiatry including:
- Infant Mental Health – the effects from neglect and deprivation
- Collaborative care models
- Genetics – the effects on DNA from stress and trauma
- Schizophrenia and outcomes with first-episode psychosis intervention
- PTSD in children and the best treatment modalities
- PTSD and family therapy
There is a research webpage where details can be accessed.
Additionally, students may want to pursue research opportunities through the DeBakey Scholars Program. This program offers medical students the opportunity to pursue and complete a longitudinal, structured, closely supervised research experience culminating in a capstone presentation prior to graduation. For more information, contact Dr. Derek Pociask.
Mentorship: Residents in Tulane’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences are paired with students based on common interests. Both adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry residents have offered to mentor students.
Education: We hold three lunch presentations throughout the year, which bring in speakers to discuss a range of mental health topics. We also sponsor medical student attendance at Tulane's Brain and Behavior Conference in December and Forensic Psychiatry Conference in April, including a special lunch with faculty.
Service: This varies year to year. In the recent past students have volunteered at the Sensory Friendly Family Night at the Louisiana Children’s Museum, a time when the museum is opened just for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families so they can enjoy the museum after hours.
Summary Statistics (from "Charting Outcomes in the Match 2024")
Matched N = 1,051
1. Mean number of contiguous ranks | 11.5 |
2. Mean number of distinct specialties ranked | 1.1 |
3. Mean USMLE Step 1 score | 226* |
4. Mean USMLE Step 2 score | 246 |
5. Mean number of research experiences | 3.0 |
6. Mean number of abstracts, presentations, and publications | 7.5 |
7. Mean number of work experiences | 1.9 |
8. Mean number of volunteer experiences | 4.5 |
9. Percentage who are AOA members | 9.2 |
10. Percentage who graduated from one of the 40 U.S. medical schools with the highest NIH funding | 30.4 |
11. Percentage who have Ph.D. degree | 4.8 |
12. Percentage who have another graduate degree | 20.5 |
Note: Only U.S. MD seniors who gave consent to use their information in research are included.
*Only applicants who reported taking Step 1 prior to the transition to pass/fail included.
Special Considerations When Applying for Residency
There are no special considerations when applying for residency.
Away rotations are not necessary, but if interested in a specific program, are a good way to make yourself known. If you are interested in a program in which you have a connection (i.e., you went to undergrad there and want to move back), you should convey that to the program.
Students should look for programs they feel are a good fit in terms of size, program strengths coinciding with student interests, and “personality” of the program as a whole.
Personal statements are fairly important in this field and should clearly address why one is pursuing psychiatry. Letters of recommendation, even the ones NOT from psychiatrists, should convey the qualities about the student that are consistent with success as a psychiatrist. Always ask people writing letters to highlight your interpersonal skills.
Always reach out to programs you are truly interested in if you haven’t heard from them within a month after residency applications.
Where Past Tulane Students Have Matched
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How Many Programs Should I Apply To?
NRMP's Charting Outcomes in the Match 2024
NRMP's Program Director Survey 2024
Applying to the Psychiatry Match by AACAP
American Psychiatric Association student resource website
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry student resource website
Tulane’s Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Katrina D’Aquin can put you in touch with potential mentors.
Books
Reading books based on first-hand experiences with mental illnesses can be very powerful and fascinating. They do not serve to educate about pathology, but to give a window into a person’s experience of pathology. Dr. Weiss’s top three recommendations:
