Program Components
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 will include the Women’s Clinic and the Telepsychiatry Clinic, and possibly other options reflecting personal training goals..
Inpatient Consultation Experience
Fellows complete their inpatient rotation 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. 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. It is approximately 4 miles from YNHH. A shuttle runs continuously between the VACHS and YNHH during the day.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.
Outpatient Experiences and Electives
Outpatient experiences include serving as psychiatric consultant in clinics at YNHH or at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS) in West Haven.
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.
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.