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Psychiatry Residency Program |
Overview
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The Ponce School of Medicine
Psychiatry Residency Program offers a general psychiatry-training
program that prepares residents for the broad practice of
contemporary hospital, federal hospital, and academic and private
practice psychiatry. Our educational framework builds on the
understanding that a person is a composite of mind, brain, body and
environment. We organize and synthesize all treatment approaches
according to this Biopsychosocial perspective.
The four-year program accepts four (4) residents each year. The
resident-to-staff ratio is high, and individual clinical supervision
is emphasized. Clinical rotations are carefully coordinated between
the campuses of the San Juan VA Hospital of the VA Caribbean
Healthcare system and the Ponce School of Medicine Affiliated
Hospitals and clinics. The Ponce School of Medicine is affiliated
with several private public and federal hospitals. The VA Caribbean
Healthcare services include a Veterans Administration General
Hospital in San Juan, with a well-established Psychiatry Service;
the First Hospital Panamericano is a private psychiatric hospital
with many subspecialty programs. The Dr. Pila’s, Loiza Health Center
and Hospital San Lucas are private hospitals in which the family
medicine, internal medicine and/or pediatrics rotations will be
offered. The Ponce School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry has
developed in the Mayaguez area an Outpatient Mental health Clinics
(Ponce healthcare services). We also have contract with a Child an
Adolescent (government own clinic) where child and adolescent
rotation is established in conjunction with PSM Child and Adolescent
Fellowship program-ACGME accredited. Residents are provided the rich
array of clinical experience through the combination and diversity
of clinical opportunities at the above-mentioned institutions.
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Education
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Throughout the entire
four-year program, considerable time is spent by the resident in
organized instruction, including seminars, teaching conferences by
the faculty and visiting lecturers, continuous case conferences, a
Journal Club, and two hours per week of individual supervision
increasing steadily up to five to six hours per week. There is
supervision both in group therapy as well as in the outpatient
clinic by members of the faculty. The methods of therapy include
pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy-dynamically-oriented, as well as
brief, cognitive, and supportive individual and group psychotherapy.
Appointments to the House Staff are made yearly. Advancement to a
higher level depends upon the satisfactory completion of work done
in the preceding year. The ACGME (Accredited Council of Graduate
Medical Education) requires that all residents have 6 core
competencies which include: Patient care; Medical Knowledge;
Professionalism; System Based; Interpersonal Communication and
skills; Practice base learning and improvement. Our residency not
only evaluates patient in base of these competencies but also in the
psychotherapies including pharmacotherapy.
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Application Process
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The application is made for
PGY-I positions, only through ERAS. US graduates may do this through
their medical school and international graduates can do so through
ECFMG. Documentation should include the ERAS Application Form, a
personal statement C.V., valid ECFMG certificate (if appropriate),
and/or license (if appropriate)) A transcript of medical school
grades is required as well as an official statement of the
applicant’s record, and two letters of reference from those who are
best qualified to document the applicant’s ability and experiences.
Transcripts and references are provided through ERAS. All those
applying for PGY-I positions must be in the NRMP match. There is a
requirement for Parts 1 and 2(cs/ck) of the USMLE. (Scores will be
considered in interview selection). For international or foreign
applicants there is a requirement that all applicants must have
one full year US hospital clinical experience.
Proficiency in Spanish and English language skills are a
crucial requirement. Other requirements may apply at the discretion
of the selection committee.
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Faculty
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The faculty members who are
engaged in teaching residents, interns and medical students include
full-time and part-time psychiatrists, psychologists, social
workers, social scientists, and voluntary clinical faculty members;
the latter are almost entirely psychiatrists. The attending faculty
gives, on average, a minimum of two hours per week in teaching
assignments to the graduate teaching programs.
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Facilities
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There are two
main primary training facilities. The first two year are mostly
spent in the VACHS- San Juan VA Hospital, offering a wide range of
mental health services including inpatient/psychosomatic
medicine(-C/L), addiction therapy clinics among others. There is a
stabilization unit for psychiatric emergencies, adult inpatient
units, partial hospitalization program and an adult outpatient
clinic. The second main training facility is the PSM health
-Psychiatry Ambulatory clinic. This is a Community Mental Health
Outpatient Clinic based in Mayaguez, which provides experience in
outpatient managed care with adult/child patients. The child and
adolescent rotation is complemented in Mayaguez ASMCA facilities in
conjunction with PSM child & Adolescent Fellows (ACGME Approved
fellowship) . The ECT experience will be provided in SAN Juan VA
Hospital. The Forensic experience will be done in the outpatient
clinics as per assignment by our forensic psychiatrist whom is board
certified in Forensic Psychiatry.
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