The Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Internal Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina offer an integrated training program that prepares residents for specialty board eligibility in both Psychiatry and Medicine. The program meets all objectives and quidelines for combined training leading to dual certification established by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (November 1996), and includes the components of our independent Internal Medicine and Psychiatry programs which are fully accredited by their respective Residency Review Committees. The facilities are the same as those used by the independent programs. All training sites are located within a four-block diameter area to facilitate cohesion among program housestaff and faculty.

The program provides residents with instruction and experience in the prevention, detection and treatment of acute and chronic medical and psychiatric illness presenting in both inpatient and ambulatory settings. The faculty are responsible for resident supervision during clinical rotations sponsored by their respective departments. Availability of faculty from both specialties for consultation during clinical rotations is ample. The level of hospital and faculty commitment to the combined program is excellent. Residents attend joint educational conferences involving primary care residents from internal medicine and psychiatry as well as the didactic offerings of the independent programs.

Clinical assignments expose trainees to the psychiatric and medical problems of patients from adolescence to old age in each discipline. Residents receive close supervision regarding team approaches to the provision of patient care, the socioeconomic aspects of illnesses, and the ethical care of patients. The curriculum incorporates progressive responsibility for patient care, supervision, and teaching of medical students and junior residents.

A special focus of this program is on the continuous care of a panel of primary care medicine and psychiatry clinic patients. Residents are assigned to one of four primary care teams at the McClennan-Banks Adult Primary Care Service and the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center. These teams are physician-led, population-based, and oriented towards comprehensive biopsychosocial care. During the first year, residents develop a panel of approximately 100 patients which they will follow in weekly afternoon clinics and grows to around 200-300 patients by the third year. 

Clinical Assignments:

YEAR 1
  Psychiatry rotations: 
      Inpatient (3 mo) 
      Neuropsychiatry (2 mo)
      Outpatient (1 mo)
  Medicine rotations: 
      Inpatient (4 mo)
      Emergency Department (1 mo)
      Continuity Clinic (1 mo)

YEAR 2
  Medicine rotations: 
      Inpatient (3 mo)
      Continuity Clinic (2 mo)
      Geriatrics (1 mo)
  Psychiatry rotations:
      Inpatient (6 mo)

YEAR 3
  Psychiatry rotations: 
      Addictions (2 mo)
      Consultation-Liaison (2 mo)
      Child/Adolescent (2 mo)
  Medicine rotations: 
      ICU (1 mo)
      Inpatient (2 mo)
      Continuity Clinic (2 mo)
      Subspecialty Consults (1 mo)

YEAR 4
  Medicine rotations: 
     ICU (1 mo)
     Inpatient (2 mo)
     Continuity Clinic (2 mo)
     Subspecialty Consults (1 mo)
  Psychiatry rotations:
     Adult Outpatients (6 mo)

Year 5
  Psychiatry rotations: 
     Adult Outpatients (6 mo)
  Medicine rotations: 
     ICU (1 mo)
     Inpatient (2 mo)
     Continuity Clinic (2 mo)
     Subspecialty Consults (1 mo)

For more information please contact Liz Puca at pucalm@musc.edu