Areas of Concentration
We intend for our PGY 3-4 residents to identify particular areas of interest and passion where they will develop expertise and leadership. Many use elective time to craft individualized, eclectic programs. Others apply for entry into 1 of 7 areas of concentration in our residency and achieve distinction:
Chad Lane, M.D., Director
Residents who aspire to a future as academic clinical psychiatrists will focus on identifying a clinical focus of expertise, developing their teaching and presenting skills, and learning how to turn clinical and teaching enthusiasms into scholarly productivity.
- Activities
Mentorship
Residents are paired with one primary mentor who helps them work toward personalized career goals and develop a network of mentors and colleagues for additional guidance and collaboration.
VA Teaching Elective
Residents have priority in scheduling this popular elective in which residents design, deliver, and evaluate a series of didactics for 3rd-year medical students and work with faculty to bolster their knowledge of curriculum development through reading and special projects.
Curriculum Development Elective
Residents have the opportunity to create a novel curriculum of their choosing. Previous residents have designed medical student elective curricula on innovative topics like Pop Culture in Psychiatry and Wellness and Spirituality.
- Example Projects and Publications
Example Projects
- Development of psychiatry residency courses and special seminars on such topics as literature and psychiatry; advocacy; domestic violence; spirituality; visual arts; and forensic psychiatry
- Acting as psychiatry mentors in the UT Southwestern Colleges: teaching physical exam and interview skills to 1st and 2nd year medical students
- Development of a "Being Well Through a Muslim Lens" course for the community
- Creation of UT Southwestern's HEAL for Muslims group, a cross-department network of Muslim residents and fellows
- Research investigating barriers to resident research and empathy and reflection in medical education
Example Publications
- Recruitment of Black Men and Women into Academic Psychiatry
- A Dark Spot on a White Canvas: Thoughts on Being a Black Academic Psychiatrist
- Moral Distress in Medical Student Reflective writing
- Addicts and Admits: Metonymy in Medical Students’ Reflective Writing
- “He Bore it Like a Scarlet Letter”: Medical Student Reflections on Substance Use Disorders
- FAQs
Q. When do residents join the concentration?
A. All residents are invited to apply for the concentration in the second year of residency. Third-year residents are also welcome to apply.
Q. Can residents join the concentration and still fast track into child psychiatry?
A. Yes, in these cases, residents work with their mentors to adjust the timing of concentration activities to fit the residents’ schedule.
Q. How can I get more information?
A. Please contact the concentration director, Chad Lane, M.D., for additional information: chadrick.lane@utsouthwestern.edu
Interventional Psychiatry Concentration
Josh Hubregsen, M.D., Director
Residents gain advanced education, mentorship, and research in ECT, TMS, and other neuromodulation techniques. This concentration takes advantage of our robust interventional psychiatry programs and stands as one of the few across the U.S. and the first in Texas to offer advanced training in this evolving field.
- Overview
Interventional psychiatry is an emerging field that utilizes procedural-based treatments to alleviate mental distress, often when traditional pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments have failed. Many interventional approaches aim to identify and then correct dysfunctional brain circuits. While traditional neuromodulation techniques have largely centered on ECT for depression, varied interventional approaches have now expanded to include TMS, ketamine-based therapies, MST, DBS, VNS, tDCS, nerve-blocks, and psychedelics aimed to treat a variety of conditions.
Interested residents apply in the mid-point of PGY2. Selected residents participate throughout PGY 3-4, and accommodations are made for residents fast tracking into child and adolescent psychiatry.
- Education and Training
Our education and training in neuromodulation techniques take advantage of the opportunities in our residency program. Residents complete electives that prepare them to manage patients with treatment-resistant depression, learn to deliver high-quality, evidence-based ECT, and gain familiarity with administering ketamine-based treatments and performing TMS mappings. Through ECT training, residents gain procedural familiarity in preparation for credentialing, to develop familiarity with anesthesia and airway management protocols, and to master electrode-lead placement management throughout all phases of ECT.
Over the 2-year concentration, residents can tailor the track to meet their career/professional aspirations. The educational component is flexible to allow residents time to hone their skills in the neuromodulation techniques that they find most appealing, such as TMS, ECT, and esketamine. Residents graduate with a well-rounded education in neuromodulation to become leaders in interventional psychiatry.
- Mentorship
Along with education and training, a primary focus is mentorship. From the beginning through the end of the concentration, residents are expected to meet with mentors in their areas of interest. Mentors serve as guides and assist in education, research, and networking for residents.
Residents may also have multiple mentors across various modalities. For example, a resident may have an ECT mentor and a TMS mentor. Residents themselves may become mentors to medical students, pre-med students, and other learners who are interested in expanding their education about interventional psychiatry.
- Scholarly Project
The final aspect is a scholarly project to be completed by the end of residency, such as original research, case reports, education/advocacy pieces, and legislation. The project goal is broad so that residents can generate individualized products in line with their passions. Scholarly projects also serve to synthesize the other objectives of education and mentorship into tangible outcomes that have the added benefit of bolstering our reputation as a leading institution in research and innovation.
Examples of Past Scholarly Work
- A Model for Formal Residency Training in Interventional Psychiatry article published in Academic Psychiatry
- Assistance in the creation of the new ECT service at Parkland Hospital
- Presentations at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting
- Presentation at the International Society of ECT and Neuromodulation Annual Meeting
- Presentation at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Annual Meeting
Mental Health, Policy, and Law Concentration
Sarah Baker, M.D., Director
Residents prepare to become leaders in forensic psychiatry and mental health advocacy, using their clinical expertise and policy analysis skills to advocate for policies that address challenges facing people with mental illness within the legal system. Residents learn how to analyze health-related public policy problems and work toward developing solutions and gain valuable forensic psychiatry experiences to inform their advocacy efforts.
- Objectives
- Expand knowledge of forensic psychiatry, including ethics, landmark cases, regulations and statutes governing medical practice, and forensic evaluation and report-writing, as well as correctional psychiatry
- Gain an understanding of the foundations of U.S. health policy, including understanding the role of key stakeholders
- Develop expertise in policy analysis and development
- Improve clinical expertise in caring for forensic patient populations
- Provide mentorship within the field of forensic psychiatry, including opportunities for scholarship
- Requirements
- Meet monthly with concentration mentor (a faculty forensic psychiatrist)
- Participate in forensic clinical electives
- Forensic Unit of Terrell State Hospital
- Special Needs Offender Program at Metrocare
- Participate in mental health policy electives by developing individual advocacy projects and working toward implementation, with the mentorship of faculty at UTSW and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
- Scholarly work in forensic psychiatry and/or mental health policy/advocacy
- Attendance at UT Southwestern Forensic Seminar Series and local Forensic Group meetings
Aly Nakamura, M.D., Director
Residents interested in developing advanced psychotherapy skills and scholarship receive supplemental clinical and educational experiences from our residency’s robust core psychotherapy curriculum training. Track residents can also focus on a specialty concentration, including beginning their certifications in CBT or psychoanalytic therapy.
- Clinical Training
Concentration residents begin their psychotherapy electives during PGY3. Because of the depth of our faculty’s expertise, our program provides a broad range of educational experiences at diverse clinical sites, including the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University’s psychiatry outpatient clinic, the VA, and community health clinics.
In addition to psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapies, more specialized modalities offered include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, and Exposure Response Prevention. Trauma-focused therapies such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy are also available.
- Mentoring
Concentration residents are paired with psychotherapy mentors who help them develop personalized career goals. Mentors are selected per individual residents' clinical and career interests.
- Research
Residents can participate in ongoing clinical trials that focus on psychotherapeutic interventions within medical populations.
- Scholarly Project
Residents work with mentors and the concentration director to develop a scholarly project. Past projects include a CBT-based group therapy intervention for patients with eating disorders, psychotherapy practice habits of UTSW residency alumni, and a survey of psychotherapists’ attitudes toward and experiences of telehealth psychotherapy.
- Clinical Training
Residents rotate among a variety of sites that serve children, adolescents, young adults, and college students, including at UTSW, Children’s Health outpatient psychiatry clinic and suicide prevention program, Paul Quinn College health and wellness clinic, UT Arlington counseling center, and UTSW’s Student Wellness and Counseling. Residents develop clinical skills in assessment, diagnosis, and management of eating disorders, first episode psychosis, autism spectrum disorders, developmental disorders, and adolescent substance use disorders.
- Psychotherapy
Residents have the opportunity to work with young adults who are managing issues of transition to adulthood and may participate in the LAUNCH group at Children’s Health, a 6-week skills-based group to help high school students transition to adulthood.
- Didactics
Residents participate in bimonthly didactic meetings, with topics such as the transitional age brain, addressing suicide on college campuses, college mental health developmental/learning disorders, and mental health issues for college students who are minorities.
- Scholarly Project
Residents complete a scholarly project before the end of training that includes the topic of transitional age youth or college mental health.
- Mentorship
Residents receive mentorship to provide support in developing and working toward career goals.
- FAQs
Q. When do residents join the concentration?
A. Our residents are invited to apply to the concentration at the end of PGY2, and concentration activities continue through PGY 3-4.
Q. Can residents join the concentration and still fast track into child psychiatry?
A. Yes, residents who wish to pursue a CAP fellowship will need to declare their interest early, so we can ensure completion of program and concentration requirements.
Q. Do I have to complete a CAP fellowship to complete the concentration?
A. No, the TAY concentration is constructed such that residents will be prepared to work well with young adults and adolescents even if they do not pursue a fellowship. Residents gain exposure to working with children and families during their time on the concentration. As such, they may be interested in pursing CAP fellowship, which would be fully supported.
Q. How can I get more information?
A. Please contact the concentration director, Jessica Moore, M.D., for additional information: jessica.moore@utsouthwestern.edu
Women's Mental Health Concentration
Meitra Doty, M.D., Director
Residents develop expertise in managing psychiatric disorders related to reproductive life events such as pregnancy and postpartum, perimenopause, and gender-specific disorders in psychiatry. This 2-year concentration begins at PGY3 and allows residents to seek in-depth clinical knowledge in diagnosis and managing psychiatric conditions related to women, familiarize with essential readings of women’s wellness, and participate in scholarly activities.
- Clinical Training
Residents rotate at three core training sites: the combined OB-complications and postpartum depression clinic and violence intervention and prevention clinic at Parkland, the Women’s Stress Disorders and Military Sexual Trauma clinic at the VA, and the Eating Disorders Research and Outpatient Clinic at UTSW. Under faculty supervision, residents develop clinical skills to diagnose and manage psychiatric disorders in the peripartum period, PTSD and trauma and stressor-related conditions, eating disorders, and complex personality disorders in women, using evidence-based treatments.
- Psychotherapy
Residents have opportunities to train in advanced, evidence-based psychotherapies such as cognitive processing therapy for PTSD, cognitive behavioral therapy for peripartum disorders and eating disorders, and dialectical behavioral therapy for personality disorders. In addition, residents attend a monthly psychoeducation group for women seeking psychiatric consultations.
- Didactics
The Women’s Mental Health and Wellness Group and Reading elective is a yearlong, half-day rotation offering essential readings of women’s mental health and wellness.
- Scholarly Activities
Residents present at case conferences at the end of their core clinical rotation, present at VA mental health grand rounds, and complete a scholarly project before graduation. Residents prepare an article (review, case report, or research) during their rotation with the eating disorders team.
Example projects and accomplishments:
- Residents created a new elective providing psychotherapy services clinic for female inmates in the Dallas County Jail System
- A resident received the Association of Women Psychiatrists travel award while a resident in this concentration, which included contributing to its newsletter, where the resident highlighted the unmet mental health needs of women in incarceration
- Residents gave Grand Rounds presentations on PTSD during pregnancy and the postpartum period, a model for behavioral integration in women’s health, and military sexual trauma