Residency Education
To ensure that the program reflects the
housestaffs' professional interests and meets their academic needs,
residents participate in designing administrative policies.
Representatives elected from each postgraduate year serve as voting
members on the Residency Education Committee, along with faculty members
from each departmental division.
Policies developed by the committee are implemented by the Program
Director and Associate/Assistant Directors, with help from the Chief
Residents and other faculty members.
Once the recommendations are approved by the Chair of the Department of
Psychiatry, cooperating institutions adhere closely to these
recommendations.
Supervision
The transition from student to professional is necessarily abrupt but
invariably rewarding. Proper supervision can ease the passage,
maximizing both educational benefits for the resident and the
therapeutic benefits for the patient.
At each stage of training, residents rely on experienced professionals
for guidance. The demands made upon the residents' personal
sensitivities as well as their clinical abilities are
considerable and remain as challenging throughout psychiatrists' careers
as they are during the first months of training.
As residents gain experience, perceiving more complex problems and
formulating more sophisticated questions, the degree and form of
supervision needed varies accordingly. Supervisory services afforded
throughout the UTHSCSA psychiatry training program are designed to meet
these changing needs. Supervisors provide continuity, a stable source of
advice and reference, and a fresh point of view when change is in order.
With a faculty/resident ratio of nearly 2 to 1, there are ample
opportunities for informal consultation.
Formally, each resident is assigned three supervisors.
Training directors oversee the educational
experience of the residents to ensure an appropriate mix of the various
components; recommend appropriate reading material; review evaluations
with the residents; assist in solving problems and in selecting elective
activities; and help the residents design the most appropriate courses
to take in the pursuit of personal and professional objectives.
Clinical supervisors work with residents at each clinical rotation to
assist with patient care issues as well as professional development.
Two psychotherapy supervisors are assigned to each resident to assist in
the logic, application, and integration of techniques used in
psychotherapy. Residents follow selected patients over a prolonged
period to assist in developing treatment skills and an understanding of
the psychodynamics which cause behavioral reactions.
As residents gain proficiency and continue through the program, they are
assigned an increasing number of patients with appropriate levels of
supervision.
Policies and Guidelines
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