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Community Psychiatry Training Program Curriculum

With an emphasis on management, access to care, and mental health systems, the Community Psychiatry Program brings a unique set of clinical training and education to the traditional residency program. Each graduate of the program possesses the diverse clinical experience, is prepared for leadership opportunities, and well equipped with the necessary knowledge to practice psychiatry in the community based public sector.

The core aspects of our curriculum are focused on the following:

  • Population Health
  • Health Disparities
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Integrated and Collaborative Care
  • Outcomes-Based Research
  • Systems of Care
  • Models of Mental Health Care Treatments

We divide our two-year curriculum model into four blocks for the PGY3 and PGY4 residents in addition to the CAP Community Track Fellows.

  • Block 1 Population Health, Outcomes, and Integrated Care.
  • Block 2 Health Disparities, Social determinants of Health, Advocacy, and Public Policy.
  • Block 3 Public Health Systems, Healthcare financing, and Physician Leadership.
  • Block 4 Program Design, Grants, Budget, and Program Development

The Community Psychiatry Track curriculum subsets from the General Residency Track as the amount of Public Sector Clinical Training for residents increases as they advance each year. During the PGY1 year, rotations in the Inpatient Medicine and Outpatient Primary Care Continuity Clinic are replaced with community-based placement sites. As a PGY2 resident, the half-day Psychiatry Continuity Clinics are based at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) for integrated care. As a PGY3 and PGY4 resident, the clinical and educational training is predominantly centered around a specialty didactic series and at community rotation sites for outpatient psychiatry.

Our didactic series incorporates group supervision and journal club that cover the following topics/areas:

  • Ongoing mentorship from UCSD Psychiatry faculty and leadership.
  • Workshops, specialized training, and experiential learning.
  • Featured guest speakers from professional organizations, executives in the behavioral health field, and community leaders in the San Diego Region.
  • Special tours of clinical sites and programs that feature diverse treatment modalities.
  • Healthcare Reform
  • Trauma-Informed Care
  • Lessons learned when the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Model is implemented.
  • Psychosocial Rehabilitation
  • The homeless population, available housing, and residential programs.
  • Health disparities surrounding communities of color.
  • Forensic Issues in the Public Mental Health Sector.
  • Socio-economic and environmental determinants of health.
  • Working with the incarcerated population, correctional facility staff, and probation committees.