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If you’re unsure about something, don’t be afraid to ask for help! The residents and attendings at UNC are always willing to answer questions and promote experiential learning."
-Class of 2022 member

One hallmark of the UNC General Psychiatry residency program is our focus on Ambulatory Psychiatry, so the predominant outpatient year is PGY-2 rather than the typical PGY-3. By starting the outpatient experience the second year and continuing throughout residency, we are able to ensure prolonged training and subsequent mastery in outpatient psychopharmacology and psychotherapy.

Rotations

Residents are able to rotate through a variety of outpatient settings, including clinics near UNC Hospitals (Vilcom), community centers in Chapel Hill, and sites throughout North Carolina.

UNC Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Women’s Mood Disorders
Child Developmental Disorders Geriatric Psychiatry
Adult Developmental Disorders Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Schizophrenia Treatment & Evaluation Eating Disorders
Acute Diagnostic & Treatment

Day Float

Second year residents will spend 3 – 4 one-week blocks on the Day Float Service, where they assist with admissions from the Emergency Department, performing interval History & Physical (H&P) notes on patients once they are admitted to an inpatient unit. Each one-week block consists of shifts Monday – Friday. There are no clinic responsibilities for the PGY-2 during day float.

Call Schedules

Call for the year is divided evenly among the second-year residents as a group, and all second-year residents take both weekday calls and 24-hour weekend calls. As a second year, call will consist of managing medical and psychiatric concerns on the inpatient psychiatric units, evaluation and assessment in the Emergency Department, and consults throughout the hospital. The call structure is supervised in all settings by senior residents and faculty who are available for guidance and actively participate with the resident in clinical decision making.

Psychotherapy

During this year, residents also begin training in psychotherapy. Residents engage in long-term psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, insight-oriented psychotherapy with three to four carefully chosen patients. Cases are discussed with a minimum of two long-term psychotherapy supervisors, who each provide one hour of supervision per week. Additional supervision and didactic experiences are available through the Psychoanalytic Institute of the Carolinas located in Chapel Hill.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

PGY-2 residents are also guided in cognitive behavioral therapy and will work with approximately two patients and one supervisor who provides an hour of supervision each week.

Moonlighting

Beginning in PGY-2 and upon completion of USMLE Step 3, residents may choose to supplement their clinical training with moonlighting shifts at the UNC Emergency Department, Central Regional Hospital, or Youth Behavioral Health Hospital. While the General Residency clinical experience is very expansive and moonlighting is not a necessity, some residents enjoy the option to hone their practical application skills with patients in a variety of settings.

AHEC

An average of one day per week is dedicated to an elective choice of an advanced community psychiatry assignment through the North Carolina Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program. This may include clinical work with special populations (substance abuse, adolescents, criminal justice, rural services, mobile crisis, assertive community treatment teams, etc.) or it may focus on administrative issues within the community or research interests.