Letter to Applicants from the Training Director

Karen Poulos, M.D.
Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program

Greetings from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. The mission of our training program is to educate the next generation of leaders in the field of child mental health. We anticipate that our graduates will pursue careers across the spectrum of clinical, teaching, and research settings.

UNC Child Psychiatry residents train in a supervised and supportive environment. Our faculty members are approachable and readily available for mentorship, consultation, and research collaboration. Our training provides residents with a balanced, broad-based biological, psychological, and social foundation in their approach to children and families with mental illness. We feel expertise in psychotherapy is essential to the practice of child and adolescent psychiatry. We provide three (3) hours of individual supervision a week to ensure this goal is met.

UNC Child and Adolescent Psychiatry applicants come from all over the country with a variety of backgrounds and interests. There are five positions available each year on a competitive basis. We typically accept applications during a resident’s PGY-II or PGY-III year in anticipation of entry during their PGY-IV year of training.

If you are invited to interview with our department, we will contact you to arrange a date during January, February, or March. The interview day will include individual meetings with faculty and residents. You will also be invited to meet some of our residents in an informal lunch setting.

We thank you for considering our program and look forward to hearing from you.