Clerkship
BIDMC/MMHC Opportunities for Fourth Year Medical Students interested in Psychiatry
The BIDMC-Harvard Psychiatry Residency Training Program strongly encourages medical students interested in pursuing careers in psychiatry to participate in one of our visitng student rotations through Harvard Medical School. If you are interested, please feel free to reach out to Associate Program Director Tim Scarella (tscarell@bidmc.harvard.org, 617-667-8347) to discuss your interest or with any questions on how to apply for a visitng clerkship.
In addition to patient care responsibilities on the services described below, students will participate in the full range of didactic classes that are ongoing for the core clerkship, including seminars on psychopathology, psychopharmacology, forensic psychiatry, psychodynamic concepts, interviewing, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. With the permission of the course director, qualified students can attend resident didactic courses. Clinical instruction will be from staff psychiatrists, residents, and chief residents. These opportunities are included in the Harvard Medical School course catalog under the course titled "Advanced Adult Psychiatry", which can be accessed here.
Inpatient Psychiatry at BIDMC
Students rotating on our inpatient psychiatry unit will work one-on-one with one of our faculty physicans to provide direct patient care. The student will be expected to act as a sub-intern, taking primary responsiblity for the care of acutely ill patients with psychotic disordes, mood disorders, personality disorders, substance use disorders, and other psychiatric disorders. Students will take part in the resident didactic curriculum, weekly case conference, and weekly journal club.
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at BIDMC
This is an opportunity to be integrated within the busy and clinically diverse Cosultation-Liaison service and BIDMC. Our busy service, consisting of eleven attending psychiatrists, residents, and psychiatric nurse specialists, covers the medical/surgical floors as well as the emergency department. This includes busy inpatient units for oncology, obstetrics, cardiothoracic surgery, liver transplant, neurology, and trauma ICU patients. The service also has a particular expertise in the management of medically unstable patients with eating disorders. The medical student will act as a sub-intern and be expected to carry a panel of patients under the supervision of a faculty physician, carrying out all of the tasks of the consulting psychiatrist including patient assessment, treatment planning, and coordination with medical teams and allied specialites. Students will participate in daily teaching rounds and in the didactic curriculum.
Massachusetts Mental Health Center: Program at 20 Vining Street
Visiting medical students who choose to rotate at The Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC) will have the opportunity to participate in a month-long rotation in the Partial Hospital Program. MMHC is a Harvard Medical School-affiliated community mental health center operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. MMHC's Partial Hospital Program is an intensive, group-based outpatient program that aims to stabilize individuals with serious mental illness who are experiencing active and distressing psychiatric symptoms and to assist them in maintaining meaningful recovery in the community. The program runs Monday through Friday and consists of two tracks from which the student may choose. One track focuse on individuals with psychotic and major mood disorders, and the other focuses on using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for treatment of those with chronic difficulty with self injury and suicidality. Students follow several individual patients, serving as primary treater, care coordinator, and advocate, providing both individual psychotherapy and medication treatment. Students also co-lead a range of psychotherapy groups. Direct supervision is provided by an attending psychiatrist and a chief resident,. The rotation has weekly didactic sessions and case conferences to supplement practice-based learning from rounds and individual supervision.
Additional Information
For additional information on any of the courses described above, please reach out to:
Jennifer Batel, M.D. and Marta Herschkopf, MD
Co-Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry, Beth israel Deaconess Medical Center
jbatel@bidmc.harvard.edu; mherschk@bidmc.harvard.edu
