Skip to Main Content

Four new fellowships funded at VA Connecticut Healthcare System

October 18, 2013

Four newly-funded fellowships, directed by Yale Department of Psychiatry faculty, will train the next generation of physicians and psychologists.

The new fellowships are based at the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, a primary training site for Yale School of Medicine and its Department of Psychiatry.

For several years, including 2013, Yale has hosted the top medical school training program in substance abuse, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

For additional details or to apply to any of the new fellowships, please contact the program's director.

Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addiction Treatment

In the past decade, there has been a shift in the understanding of substance abuse, addiction, and treatment strategies. The Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addiction Treatment ensures that VA’s educational programs advance optimal treatment strategies for Veterans. The fellowship emphasizes clinical knowledge and skills in addiction treatment, interprofessional education, design and practice of policy guideline development, and applied research and implementation skills. The fellowship is directed by Ismene Petrakis, MD and Steve Martino, PhD, both professors of psychiatry at Yale.

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Integrated Addictions Care

This one-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in Integrated Addictions Care is part of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System Center of Excellence (COE) in Primary Care and the APA-accredited Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Training focuses on preparing a psychologist with addictions expertise to work in an interdisciplinary team-oriented, patient-centered, primary-care based healthcare setting to address the addiction assessment and treatment needs of primary care patients. The fellowship is directed by Steve Martino, PhD, professor of psychiatry, and John Sellinger, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, both at Yale.

Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship with an emphasis on HCV, HIV, and substance abuse

The one-year Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship Program with an emphasis on hepatitis C virus (HCV), HIV, and substance abuse is part of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System's APA-accredited Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. A psychologist with addictions expertise will be trained to address the substance abuse and mental health assessment and treatment needs of patients with HCV or HIV in an interdisciplinary team-oriented, patient-centered, healthcare setting. Steve Martino, PhD, professor of psychiatry and John Sellinger, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, both at Yale, direct the fellowship.

Chief Resident in Quality and Safety

This position, the second of its kind to be awarded for mental health services in the VA, is a new PGY-5 level placement with an emphasis on administrative psychiatry, specifically quality improvement and patient safety. The program's focus will be on understanding systems of care and how they contribute to the mental health and recovery of veterans, the delivery of mental health services, and the science of patient safety. The trainee will get in on the ground floor of the emerging field of "improvement science" as well as develop a quality improvement project and contribute to the VA’s Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum on a national level. Louis Trevisan, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale, is the program's director.

Submitted by Shane Seger on October 18, 2013