The Department of Psychiatry offers three specialty tracks for residents who desire a special emphasis on research, geriatric psychiatry, or child and adolescent psychiatry during their residency training.
Research Track
The UI Department of Psychiatry offers a research track (RT) for selected residents with a strong interest in research. Typically, these individuals will have demonstrated interest through prior research experiences, publications, and presentations. The expectation is that RT residents will develop into highly skilled physician-scientists. RT residents are assigned a faculty mentor to help begin the process of professional development. The mentor is typically a senior investigator in the trainee’s area of interest. Thus, research mentors are also available in other departments within the Carver College of Medicine. Residents are provided with dedicated research time during their four years of training. These experiences involve supervised laboratory and/or clinic experimentation, as well as independent scholarly literature review. Click to learn more about the research track.
PGY-1
- Resident is assigned a faculty mentor
- Training plan is developed to fit trainee’s research interests
- One block dedicated to research experience
PGY-2
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Two blocks dedicated to research experience
PGY-3
- Resident transitions to outpatient clinic blocks in third year
- 40% effort (2 days per week) allotted to research experience
PGY-4
- Continued engagement in research block electives as able
- Develop applications for fellowship training or individual career development award
- Apply for faculty positions, if desired
RT residents are encouraged to publish a scholarly review or empirical experimental findings. They are additionally encouraged to participate in a national or international scientific meeting (supported by the department).
Candidates interested in the RT are encouraged to discuss their interest with Dr. Alexander Thompson. The RT resident may also be eligible to enter the Physician Scientist Training Pathway (PSTP). Find additional information about the PSTP program here.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Track
Residents in the General Psychiatry Training Program with interest in completing a CAP fellowship have the opportunity to participate in our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) track.
Residents accepted into the CAP track will have the following experiences during their General Psychiatry training:
PGY-1
- Assigned Child and Adolescent faculty mentor
- 1-2 blocks of Pediatrics as part of primary care requirement
- Invitations to CAP didactics
PGY-2
- Optional second year COC clinic in the CAP outpatient clinic
- 2-3 blocks of Child and Adolescent psychiatry (inpatient and outpatient)
- Invitations to CAP didactics
- Opportunities to receive mentorship from CAP research faculty
PGY-3
- One half-day of CAP clinic during the third year outpatient clinic experience
- Opportunities to co-facilitate outpatient DBT group with adolescents
- Opportunity to participate in preschool observation or autism full team evaluations
PGY-4 & 5
- Resident formally enters the CAP Residency
For more details related to the University of Iowa’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency, please visit the program’s webpage.
Public and Rural Health Track
The Public and Rural Psychiatry Track is designed to provide an added focus for residents who are passionate about mental healthcare delivery models and would like increased experiences in the public psychiatry sector. Residents who complete the track will be equipped to become leaders in community psychiatry and engaged in population-level mental healthcare. Residents will be introduced to a variety of models of care throughout their training. The goal of the track is to increase the number of psychiatrists prepared to meet the recruitment and retention needs of public agencies in Iowa.
Residents are assigned a mentor who has an interest in public and rural psychiatry to work with throughout their training. During the four years of psychiatry training, a variety of additional opportunities are available to track residents, including family medicine rotations in rural communities, opportunities to work with community agencies, participate in telepsychiatry to rural communities, engage in additional lectures and workshops focused on public and rural psychiatry, and work in a variety of psychiatry practices located in rural Iowa settings.
Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Track
The UI Department of Psychiatry offers an Intellectual and Development Disability (IDD) Track to psychiatry residents who are interested in obtaining specialized training, education and experience in working with individuals with an intellectual and/or development disability (IDD). UI Hospitals & Clinics is home to numerous specialized programs which all focus on improving the lives of individuals with IDD through clinical care, education, advocacy and research. This track can be tailored to focus on clinical, advocacy and/or research experiences depending on the learner’s interests. For residents that want to focus on research, this track can be combined with the Research Track at UI Hospitals & Clinics.
The IDD Track supervisor will work with each resident in this track to tailor their experiences to their individual interests. In addition there will be a monthly IDD journal club offered to all IDD Track participants.
Interventional Psychiatry (IPSY) Track
The division of Interventional Psychiatry at the University of Iowa has robust clinical and research programs involving different treatment modalities. Clinically, we have an active Electroconvulsive Treatment (ECT) service performing over 2,000 treatments each year. Our Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) program administers treatment for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and also performs navigated TMS for pre-surgical mapping. Trainees can receive exposure to a variety of TMS stimulators and neuronavigation equipment from different manufacturers (Magventure, Magstim, Nexstim, Localite, Brainsight, and other). We have active and growing intranasal esketamine and intravenous ketamine services. In addition, we are the only site in the state of Iowa and one of few in the Midwest region with an interdisciplinary team capable of managing patients with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for treatment of OCD and Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) for the treatment of refractory depression.
Roughly half of our IPSY faculty are research/tenure-track faculty and we have active research programs involving TMS, ECT, DBS, and esketamine. We are involved in the GenECT study and have been identified as one of four sites in the U.S. to recruit subjects for an inpatient accelerated intermittent theta-bust stimulation (aiTBS) trial. We also maintain a biomarker registry of patients who receive interventional treatments and have close collaborations with the departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, as well as the Iowa Neuroscience Institute.
The main objective of the IPSY track is to develop psychiatrists highly skilled in the assessment for and delivery of IPSY treatment modalities. Enrollment in this track provides opportunity for close mentorship with IPSY faculty as well as expanded exposure to the IPSY service. Residents’ experience will be tailored to their individual interests. For those interested in research, enrollment in the IPSY track may be combined with enrollment in the Physician Scientist Training Pathway.
For inquiry on the IPSY track, please contact Dr. Anthony Purgianto (anthony-purgianto@uiowa.edu).