Rotations and Call

PGY1

Medicine
Four months. Two months of inpatient medicine and one month of emergency medicine at CPMC’s Van Ness Campus, and a one-month outpatient ambulatory selective at San Francisco Free Clinic or UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

Neurology
Two months. A variety of inpatient and outpatient experiences on the Neurology service at CPMC, with rotations on vascular neurology, epilepsy, cognitive disorders, movement disorders, and consult-liaison neurology.

Psychiatry
Six months. Non-contiguous one-month blocks on 3 South, CPMC’s state-of-the-art 18-bed inpatient unit. Safety-focused, with on-site security officers, ligature point mitigation, and advanced electronic patient safety monitoring systems. Full multidisciplinary team includes nursing, social work, case management, on-site psychologist, MS3 and MS4 medical students, two attending psychiatrists, chief resident, and PGY1 and PGY2 residents. With faculty supervision and support, residents gain experience with full range of patient care, including family meetings, group therapy, and Behavioral Health Court.

PGY2

Adult Inpatient Psychiatry
Three months on 3 South.

Emergency and Consult-Liaison Psychiatry
Eight months. Non-contiguous month-long blocks are distributed among three different CPMC campuses (Van Ness, Davies, Mission Bernal) and two types of consultative services (CL and ER). Work closely with experienced CL attendings and two chief residents to care for a cross-section of San Francisco’s diverse community, including some of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised. 

Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry
Two months. Based at our longtime partner, UCSF’s St Mary’s Hospital. This inpatient child psychiatry experience is complemented by the outpatient Child Development Center rotation in the PGY3 year.

PGY3

Adult Outpatient Psychiatry
Twelve months. Continuous, longitudinal outpatient experience at CPMC-Davies with a diverse patient population. Receive in-depth training in evaluation, differential diagnosis, psychodynamic formulation, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy. Faculty preceptors observe resident cases and can offer real-time guidance and support as needed. Twice-daily “educational huddles” further enhance learning. Weekly faculty caseload supervision and separate expert psychodynamic psychotherapy supervision are offered to all clinic residents. 

Adult Outpatient Psychiatry in sub-specialty areas
One day per week. Rotations include correctional and forensic psychiatry at San Quentin State Prison, women’s mental health and collaborative care psychiatry at the Mission Bernal Women’s Mental Health Clinic, interventional psychiatry at Mindful Health Solutions, and outpatient child psychiatry at CPMC’s Child Development Center. 

PGY4

Adult Outpatient Psychiatry
Four half-day blocks per week. Continuous, longitudinal outpatient experience at CPMC-Davies. 

Chief Resident
Leadership and administrative skills training opportunity in Inpatient, Outpatient, and Consult-Liaison and Emergency Psychiatry.

Electives
Up to two months. Individually arranged based on the interests of the resident. An optional research course is offered to all senior residents at CPMC through the Quality Improvement Department.

Call is in the form of weekday short call, weekend 12-hour call, and night float. A “buddy call” system and our graduated autonomy policy help PGY1 residents prepare for call. Call frequency decreases with seniority.