Research Training
NRTP Seminar
A core component of the NRTP is the weekly Neuroscience Research Training Program Seminar. This is a forum where trainees, faculty and invited psychiatry researchers discuss current developments in the field, their own research and mentor each other about research careers over lunch. The NRTP Seminar is a part of the NRTP curriculum for the entire four years.
Mentorship
The Psychiatry Department at Yale has a long tradition of mentoring pioneers in molecular, clinical and translational psychiatry.
Choosing a MentorDuring the application process, applicants will have the opportunity to meet faculty members who share their scientific interests. Throughout the PGY I and II years, trainees meet and work with research faculty in the department, by attend the informal NRTP Seminars and participating in research protocols during their inpatient rotation on the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit (CNRU). The program director and faculty members are readily available to discuss trainees' research and guide them in the identification of their mentors. Most NRTP residents have chosen to work with mentors who are faculty members in the Department of Psychiatry; however, any Yale faculty member studying neuroscience, psychology or psychiatry can be a mentor for an NRTP trainee.
Research Project
Recent NRTP graduates have had diverse research interests, such as:
- gene-environment interactions in the development of depression,
- mindfulness for substance abuse treatment,
- rodent models of maternal deprivation, and the
- role of the basal ganglia in habit learning.
The projects can be clinical, translational or basic research, or a combination. Trainees choose projects by their PGY III year, in collaboration with their mentor. NRTP faculty members provide advice and guidance in the choice of the project. By the middle of the PGY III year, trainees have begun data collection so that they are able to present preliminary results by the middle of the PGY IV year. By the end of the PGY IV year, residents are expected to have made an original research contribution, resulting in publication.
Other Research Training in Psychiatry at Yale University
The Albert J. Solnit Integrated Training Program is designed to train physician-scientists in child psychiatry. Residents in the Integrated Program are invited to attend the weekly NRTP seminar, and form, with the NRTP, a large and vital research community for trainees. Research funding is also available for research in the PG IV year for residents in the adult psychiatry program.
A long tradition of outstanding mentorship has been a cornerstone of the NRTP. There are countless possibilities for mentorship and scientific opportunities, as the Department of Psychiatry includes about 200 full-time faculty members, and NRTP trainees have the option of working with any faculty member at the university.
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