Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry is the newest board-certified subspecialty in psychiatry. Consultation liaison psychiatry is the psychiatry of the medically ill. Specialists in this area provide consultation and continuing care in both inpatient and outpatient medical settings.
The subject matter of the field includes psychiatric aspects of medical illness, both its physiological effects and its psychological aspects, ranging from delirium to the emotional adaptation to the ill state. The subject matter also includes the medical aspects of psychiatric illness, ranging from side effects of psychiatric medications to the sequelae of anorexia.
Board certification requires completion of an ACGME-approved 12-month fellowship. Our program provides supervised clinical training in both inpatient hospital and outpatient clinics, based at Yale New Haven Hospital and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
Core Philosophy
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Graduating CL Fellows, Faculty and Staff celebrated at Mory’s Association in June 2025
Direct clinical experience with sophisticated supervision is the primary forum for learning to care for patients in the Yale fellowship program. Adequate training involves knowledge and skill acquisition in direct patient care, often as a member of a multidisciplinary team.
In the process of training it is anticipated that each psychiatric fellow will acquire specialized clinical skills strongly grounded in a theoretical knowledge base, while learning to work effectively with allied mental health professionals. The advancement of qualities central to professional identity development, including a strong sense of patient responsibility, integrity, empathy and respect for patients, is emphasized.
Core Values
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Current 2024-2025 CL Fellows recently visited Fellowship Place in New Haven whose mission is to serve adults living with mental illness by offering a full range of therapeutic support and rehabilitation services.
L to R: Alexander Poznanski, MD, Faith Donaghey, MD, Danielle Jones, MD, Fellowship Place Director of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services, Charlotte Sabovic, LCSW and Loay Alrojolah, MD.
- Medical Knowledge – Knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of the knowledge to patient care.
- Patient Care – Provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, evidence based, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
- Interpersonal Communication Skills – Interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families and multidisciplinary health professionals.
- Professionalism – A commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles.
- Practice Based Leaning and Improvement – Ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence and continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning.
- Systems Based Practice – Understand the system of care, how it functions and how to advocate for their patients receiving the best available care.
- Innovation and Self Development – Active in improving their practice and contribute to the development and dissemination of new knowledge.
Concentration Tracks
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Trainees may apply to two specialized tracks. Both tracks do prepare trainees for ABPN certification in C-L Psychiatry:
Concentration in Women’s CL Psychiatry (1 fellow)
In this track, trainees spend most of their outpatient clinical time in reproductive psychiatry settings. These will include the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Clinic and the Sexuality, Intimacy, and Menopause Clinic at the YNHH, about 1 day per week, and the Women’s Clinic at the VACHS, about 1 day per week. Fellows will do their inpatient CL experience at the YNHH over a 12-month period. The total inpatient experience will be somewhat smaller, about 48% time, and the outpatient experience somewhat greater, about 42%, compared to the regular fellowship program.
Concentration in Child and Adolescent CL Psychiatry (1 fellow)
In this track, trainees will rotate with the Child Psychiatric Consultation Service at YNHH about 1 day per week. Trainees also participate in additional rounding and didactices related to pediatric patients. Outpatient pediatric clinic experiences will depend on fellow career interests.
Program Components
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The fellowship consists of inpatient consultation experience (approximately 70% of training), outpatient clinics (20%), and didactic training (10%). Training occurs at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and the Veterans Administration Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS): trainees will spend 9 months at the YNHH and 3 months at the VACHS (duration of these rotations may vary depending on number of fellows in training). At YNHH, outpatient experiences will include service in the Transplant Clinic and in the HIV Clinic, as well as other sites depending on individual interests. At the VACHS, outpatient experiences may include the Women’s Clinic, Opioid Reassessment Clinic, Palliative Care Clinic, Detox and Stabilization Clinic, Telepsychiatry Clinic, and several Primary Care Clinics using different care models, depending personal training goals.
Inpatient Consultation Experience
Fellows complete their inpatient training chiefly at the Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH).
Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 700-adult bed tertiary care hospital. It is the primary teaching hospital for Yale University School of Medicine, with a full range of advanced specialized units. Recent research on our service has indicated that increased, proactive psychiatric consultation can improve care, decrease length of stay and reduce expenses (PubMed link). In consequence, the hospital has provided funding for a proactive, multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses and social workers on certain units. Fellows will therefore have the opportunity to learn both the traditional consultation model and a newer more integrated model of consult service delivery. Click here for a complete description of our Behavioral Intervention Team.
The Veterans Administration Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS) is a 200-bed tertiary care hospital also affiliated with the School of Medicine. VACHS offers a full range of inpatient, outpatient and rehabilitation care, in medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and neurology. The VACHS offers a full range of inpatient, outpatient and rehabilitation care, in medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and neurology. At both institutions, fellows work as part of a close-knit team and receive instruction in CL psychiatry at the bedside, and also assist in the education of residents in psychiatry, medical students, and other trainees.
Fellows in the regular program will spend about 65% of their time in inpatient CL care.
Outpatient Experiences and Electives
Outpatient experiences include serving as psychiatric consultant in clinics at YNHH or at the VACHS in West Haven. Fellows in the regular program will spend about 10% of time in outpatient clinics whild at YNHH, and 60 to 80% at the VACHS.
Depending on the fellow’s educational goals, the fellows may also choose outpatient electives such as bariatric psychiatry, palliative care clinic, sickle cell clinic, the addiction clinic, the women’s sexuality, intimacy, and menopause clinic, and other sites. Outpatient experience in transplant psychiatry is required of all fellows.
Finally, fellows may elect to pursue a research project in CL psychiatry or related area of psychiatry, or other supervised academic work.
Didactic Experience
Fellows participate in weekly didactic seminars in consultation-liaison psychiatry over the course of the year. The seminar series is divided into core topics in the initial part of the year, followed by specialized topics later in the year. Faculty are drawn from the consultation-liaison psychiatry program faculty, but also from a range of other medical specialties.
Another seminar series is oriented towards research methodology. Fellows learn about methodology for clinical trials, case control studies, epidemiological research, and other types of research designs. Fellows then participate in seminars to study how these designs are used in published research. The seminar series emphasizes the challenges of implementing these designs in the context of consultation-liaison psychiatry.
Fellows also participate in a case conference series, with the opportunity to present cases and moderate discussion. The series offers a particular forum for multidisciplinary collaboration, both learning from other colleagues and teaching other colleagues.
In addition to these activities, many of the elective rotations offer site-specific rounds/seminars that include case-based discussion and relevant literature review.
Sample Didactic Topics
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(Seminars presented in Academic Year 2018 – 2019) |
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Seminars In Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Principles of evaluation:
Psychiatric disorders in the medical setting:
Clinical settings of consultation-liaison psychiatry:
Pharmacological considerations:
Systems issues in consultation-liaison psychiatry:
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Research Seminar Series
Chapter Reviews
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Scheduled Seminars and Conferences
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Seminar in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Brief Description: Seminars will be offered by staff from the Fellowship program and by invited faculty from other departments, and will cover the subject matter of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at an advanced level. Seminars will include core issues in consultation. Drs. Desan, Zimbrean, Dahal, Hurwitz, Shenouda, and staff.
1 hour; Weekly (approx.); 50 sessions with an additional 10 review sessions
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Case Conference
Brief Description: This seminar will focus on selected cases from the service, presented by staff or fellows. Fellows will have the opportunity to present cases and lead discussion. Drs. Desan and staff at YNHH.
1 hour; 1-2 per month; at least 15 sessions
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Research Conference
Brief Description: This seminar will review selected research studies in the area of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, with a view to understanding the design of clinical studies in this area. Observational and epidemiological studies, prospective and retrospective designs, controlled trials, statistical and meta-analytic methods will be covered. Dr. Desan and staff.
1 hour; Monthly; 6-9 sessions
Outside Supervision in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Brief Description: Fellows at the YNHH Psychiatric Consultation Services have important educational, supervisory and administrative roles. The fellow(s) have the option to meet with a voluntary faculty to discuss ongoing issues in these areas, including didactic methods used in their teaching with junior trainees on the service and in their liaison activities with individuals from other departments, approaches to providing feedback and supervision, and performance of their organization role for each service.
1 hour; Monthly; 12 sessions
Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds
Brief Description: The Grand Rounds series of the department brings invited speakers from many areas of psychiatry and offers a superb update on current work in the field.
1 hour; Weekly, except in the summer; approx. 36 sessions
Additional didactic events may be available by special arrangement for trainees with specific interests in the following topics: substance abuse, geriatric psychiatry and medicine, investigative medicine, and responsible conduct of scientific research and bioethics.
Teaching, Administrative and Research Role
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Research
Our trainees and faculty members engage in cutting-edge, translational research to develop novel and improved strategies to prevent or treat psychiatric conditions among the medico-surgical patients. The three primary research goals of the Yale PM Service are:
- To elucidate etiopathogenesis and discover innovative treatment strategy of common psychiatric syndromes among medico-surgical patients.
- To examine the impact of presence, incidence, detection, and treatment of psychiatric co-morbidities in the quality of life, morbidity and mortality of the medico-surgical patients.
- To develop innovative ways to efficiently deliver medico-surgical services for mentally ill patients both in the inpatient and outpatient setting and bridge the disparity gap in health service between those with severe mental illness and without.
Our Sites
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The principal component of the fellowship is training in inpatient hospital consultation psychiatry at the YNHH and VACHS.
Yale New Haven Hospital
Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 700-adult bed urban tertiary care hospital. It is the primary teaching hospital for Yale University School of Medicine, with a full range of advanced specialized units, and a diverse group of patients spanning all socioeconomic strata. The hospital also offers a range of outpatient clinics. Both inpatient and outpatient units provide settings for training of fellows in our program.
The hospital provides the opportunity for a vast diversity of consultations across the spectrum of medical fields. The Psychiatric Consultation Service is well-integrated into the hospital. Consultations seen by the service are reviewed daily in morning on rounds, permitting team discussion of the fellows’ consultations and also permitting each trainee exposure to all consultations seen by the service. Fellows receive close supervision, as virtually all consultations are also seen by an attending psychiatrist. Fellows will also participate in education and supervision of more junior psychiatry residents and medical students. Fellows and other members of the consult service often are invited to participate in case conferences and rounds on other services in the hospital, allowing the fellows experience in the liaison and educational aspects of the consultant role. As noted elsewhere, part of the psychiatric consultation service operates in a multidisciplinary, proactive model: fellows will also receive training in this new system, which we believe may become a standard approach in the future.
The Veterans Administration Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS)
Fellows may complete much of their outpatient experiences at the VACHS. VACHS is a tertiary care facility associated with the Yale University School of Medicine. The VACHS offers a full range of inpatient, outpatient and rehabilitation care, in medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and neurology. It also offers the Comprehensive Cancer Center, the National Center for PTSD, the Eastern Regional Blind Rehabilitation Center (ERBC), the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (health services delivery research), and the Women’s Health Center. The VACHS is recognized nationally as a psychiatry research center, including research in the areas of Addiction Psychiatry and PTSD. VACHS is situated approximately 4 miles from YNHH. A shuttle runs continuously between the VACHS and YNHH during the day.
Apply
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If you are interested in applying for the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program at Yale University School of Medicine, please contact the program coordinator, Veronica Korn. Beginning in 2024, we will only accept applications via ERAS. We participate in the National Resident Matching Program. Most applications are received in August and September and we conduct interviews from September through November. All interviews are conducted by virtual means.
Feel free to contact our office, if you have any questions at 203-785-2618 or veronica.korn@yale.edu.