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Child Psychiatry

We know you’re as dedicated as we are to caring for kids and their mental well-being. This clerkship will help you better care for your present and future patients.

Core and Elective Inpatient Clerkships

4th year Medical Students

Description:

The Psychiatry Department and the Division of Child Psychiatry at Valleywise Health recognizes the essential importance of psychiatric education in the medical student curriculum.

The Core Clerkship in Psychiatry is offered in the Valleywise Health Department of Psychiatry. Valleywise Health Clerkship assignments are available on inpatient units, consult-liaison services and child psychiatry services. There are nine acute inpatient psychiatric units, which provide psychiatric services to a wide range of patients. Five of the adult general psychiatric units are located at the Valleywise Health Behavioral Center in Mesa. There are three additional general psychiatric units and one combined special needs/general medicine unit are located at the Annex campus.
The majority of patients on all of the units are hospitalized on an involuntary basis.

The adolescent inpatient unit is a 14 bed psychiatric unit that serves ages 13 to 17. The patients have various diagnoses including autism spectrum disorders, major depressive disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, and bipolar disorders in addition to others. The unit serves all functional and developmental levels. Patients are seen daily by a child and adolescent board certified psychiatrist, have social work and therapist involvement, and attend groups throughout their hospital stay. Typical length of stay is 7-10 days, however this is individual to patient needs.

Typical flow of the day depends on patient needs, however interdisciplinary rounds start at
7:45am on the unit. The staff are using a model of care developed by Dr. Ross Greene related to collaborative and proactive solutions. Our goal is to identify the unsolved problems, lagging skills a teenager may have, and collaboratively solve them with them to build on their skill set. See https://www.livesinthebalance.org/ ffor additional information. Staff continuously work on “Plan B” with the patient to help them solve these problems.

Child Psychiatry Elective:

Faculty: Drs. Claire Sollars, Erum Ali, Nicholas Baldwin and Robert Shuch

Length of Time: 4 weeks (maximum)

Description/Learning Goals and Objectives:

  • Observe and participate in the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of
    children and adolescents with a wide range of developmental and psychiatric
    disorders.
  • Summarize and present clinical findings
  • Demonstrate the ability to develop and discuss differential diagnosis
  • Identify and discuss various treatment modalities in psychiatry
  • Develop competence in psychopharmacological options
  • Demonstrate competency in recognition and management of danger to self,
    danger to others and other emergency psychiatric presentations
  • Participate in appropriate multidisciplinary meetings, court ordered evaluations,
    case conferences, and lectures, diverse population and pathology
  • Provide student(s) with hands-on practical experience on the adolescent unit.
  • The emphasis will be on learning an organized diagnostic and therapeutic
    approach to the acutely ill patients.
  • Student(s) may have the opportunity to participate in different settings, including
    outpatient clinic, residential treatment center and an infant mental health clinic

Child Psychiatry Elective:

All students must apply through Clinician Nexus . Contact Mary Berens Clerkship Coordinator, BEFORE submitting your application to inquire about desired rotation dates.