The 4-year General Psychiatry Residency Training Program at Meharry Medical College has been designed to prepare resident physicians for the practice of psychiatry in the 21st century. Our program is accredited by the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education.
The core of each resident’s education is extraordinarily rich in clinical experiences throughout the years of training. Each resident diagnoses and treats a broad range of patients along a continuum of care, in a variety of treatment settings. Residents learn the various roles of the modern psychiatrist – primary clinician, consultant, team-leader, and therapist – with skilled direct and indirect supervision depending upon the level of training and demonstrated experience of the resident.
Clinical work and intensive supervision are complemented by a comprehensive curriculum of didactic seminars, rounds, and case conferences. Clinical and didactic education occurs in multi-disciplinary settings in which there are training programs for a full range of mental health professionals. Interdisciplinary conferences have been developed for trainees in psychiatry, psychology, social work, and psychiatric nursing.
Our residency program is committed to training psychiatric residents who:
- Are competent in the early identification of psychiatric disorders in all age groups, their differential diagnoses, and their treatment with the full range of available psychological, biological, behavioral, and social techniques;
- Understand the psychological, social, economic, ethnic, family, and biological factors that influence development;
- Have a strong sense of responsibility and respect for patients, and a commitment to high ethical standards and continuing professional development,
- Possess skills in collaborating with, teaching, and supervising other personnel such as medical students, providers of mental health, as well as, medical, forensic, and social services in a variety of community and institutional settings.
Post-graduate training is a critical period in the development of a psychiatrist, from learning new skills to enhancing the resident’s knowledge, to the development of one’s own identity as a psychiatric specialist. The residency sets the stage for an ongoing process of continuing education, growth, and maturation, rooted in both scientific medicine and the humanistic traditions. Graduates of the Meharry Psychiatry Residency Training Program are fully equipped for the practice of modern psychiatry, integrating the most venerable traditional modalities with state-of-the-art treatment strategies.