Program Curriculum
Our four-year curriculum is designed to prepare psychiatrists to combine clinical excellence with compassion, curiosity, and a commitment to serve our region’s varied communities. Residents will learn within our network of organizational partners and will experience a broad range of clinical settings. We emphasize close faculty mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of understanding the people and communities entrusted to our care.
Across all years, an engaging didactics curriculum will be offered to complement the clinical rotations occurring and provide a rigorous base of knowledge and professional development.
Our faculty possess rich and diverse clinical backgrounds and are eager to support residents progressively assuming greater responsibility while learning to lead teams, improve systems of care, and advocate for equitable access to high-quality mental health services.
We are also committed to both model and teach balance in our professional and personal lives, and we include a longitudinal curriculum on physician wellness.
Rotation Sites
The residency’s six participating rotation sites create an unusually broad educational environment. Residents train across a federally qualified health center, a community mental health center, a regional referral general hospital, a major academic tertiary-care center, a Veterans Affairs health system, and a tribally governed health care organization. This network provides exposure to the full spectrum of psychiatric practice while maintaining the program’s central mission of preparing psychiatrists to serve underserved communities throughout Northern Arizona.
- Elk Ridge Community Health, a division of El Rio Health
- The Guidance Center
- Flagstaff Medical Center
- Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation
- Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System
- Banner Desert Medical Center
Training at a Teaching Health Center
PGY-1
PGY-1 provides closely supervised experiences in general medicine and primary care and neurology along with initial experiences in high-acuity inpatient and emergency psychiatric services. These provide solid foundation for professional development as a psychiatric physician.
- Outpatient Family Medicine – 2 months
- Inpatient Medicine – 3 months
- Neurology – 2 months
- Inpatient Adult Psychiatry – 4 months
- Emergency Psychiatry – one month
PGY-2
PGY-2 provides additional autonomy as professional skills develop with further rotations in inpatient adult and adolescent psychiatry, plus specialty services including consultation-liasion, addiction, and geriatrics. Initial training in interventional psychiatry begins as well.
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry – 3 months
- Inpatient Adult Psychiatry – 4 months
- Geriatric Psychiatry – one month
- Addiction Psychiatry – 2 months
- Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry – 2 months
PGY-3
PGY-3 Outpatient Psychiatry – 12 months
PGY-3 includes a range of outpatient psychiatric services including comprehensive care (medications, supportive psychotherapy, lifestyle psychiatry, social services) and focused psychotherapy skills training in multiple modalities. PGY-3 also provides in-depth experience at a Tribal healthcare system and expert training in telehealth psychiatry services for reaching rural communities without local providers.
PGY-4
PGY-4 offers greatest autonomy and flexibility, with service chief rotations, further training in interventional psychiatry, continuity of care with outpatients, and elective months that can be tailored to individual interests. experience at a Tribal healthcare system and expert training in telehealth psychiatry services for reaching rural communities without local providers. There is dedicated time for scholarly activity which can be fulfilled in a variety of ways.
- Interventional Psychiatry – 3 months
- Senior Resident Service Chief– 4 months
- Electives – 5 months
If you have questions or would like more information, please email us.
Maria Smith, Psychiatry Residency Coordinator