University of Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry

Outpatient Care

The Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute and Clinics (WisPIC) is a free-standing UW clinic approximately 5 miles from UW Hospital. It is the home of the Department of Psychiatry, including its clinical and research missions.

Residents begin their continuity clinics in the PGY2 year, with the opportunity to follow a robust caseload of patients with diverse diagnoses and treatment plans for up to 3 years.

WisPIC is the central site of psychotherapy training in the program. PGY2 residents begin with the fundamentals of psychotherapy and exposure to basic cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic principles. PGY3 residents developed more advanced skills, including the treatment of patients with personality disorders, marital-family therapy and brief psychotherapy. PGY4 residents have the opportunity to participate in group psychotherapy.

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Community Psychiatry

The Mental Health Center of Dane County is nationally recognized as a model community mental health program and was formerly designated by the National Institute of Mental Health as a National Community Support Training Program. MHCDC offers comprehensive care for persons with severe and persistent mental illness and assesses about 4000 clients per year and treats about 7000 clients per year. The Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model of community psychiatry was developed in Madison, and the programs at MHCDC are in fact ACT teams.

MHCDC and the VA are the primary site of community psychiatry training for residents. PGY3 residents spend 1/2 day per week at a Community Support Program at either the VA or the MHCDC. They become integral members of treatment teams and provide services wherever needed, including in clients’ homes.

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Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Residents join the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) clinic at WisPIC during their PGY2 year, affording them early exposure to this critical field, and allowing them more opportunity to decide on whether or not they would like to pursue a career in CAP. Residents continue to see their CAP patients even after the end of the PGY2 year, so that they can have a longitudinal experience for up to 3 years. Residents work closely with CAP fellows who also rotate in this clinic.

Residents may elect to receive additional experience at the Meriter Hospital CAP inpatient unit, a freestanding 22-bed facility that opened in 2004.

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Inpatient Psychiatry

Residents hone their acute psychiatric skills in three settings:

• University Hospital: an 18-bed medical-psychiatric unit with approximately half involuntarily committed patients that serves southern Wisconsin
• Madison VA Hospital: a 15-bed psychiatry unit in a hospital that is physically attached to University Hospital

Both site grant residents experience in electroconvulsive therapy. A PGY3 rotation in Quality Improvement is based on these units, too.

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Geriatric Psychiatry

PGY2 residents spend 1/2 day per week for 6 months at the Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic at WisPIC. This provides them with a comprehensive overview of the the most common issues affecting older adults, including depression, anxiety and dementia.

Additional experience is available as electives at WisPIC or at Mendota Mental Health Institute.

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Addiction Psychiatry

The Madison VA Hospital is home to comprehensive addictions services. PGY2 residents participate in outpatient addiction evaluations, inpatient addiction consults and an addictions therapy group. They learn about methadone maintenance at Madison Health Services.

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Emergency Psychiatry

PGY2 residents spend 1/2 day per week for 6 months at either the UW Emergency Department or the VA Integrated Primary Care/Behavioral Health Clinic. PGY1 and PGY2 residents also see emergency patients when on-call. In addition, PGY3 residents see patients in the UW ED as part of their Consultation-Liaison rotation.

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Forensic Psychiatry

PGY3 residents rotate at Mendota Mental Health Institute, one of two state hospitals in Wisconsin. You will gain experience in forensic evaluations, treatment to competency, court-ordered psychological evaluations (as part of the involuntary commitment process) and decisional capacity evaluations.

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Neurology & Neuropsychology

As part of our commitment to providing residents with outpatient training experiences, we have developed a unique Neurology rotation for PGY3 residents that includes:

• General outpatient neurology at University Hospital
• Movement disorder clinic at University Hospital
• Epilepsy clinic at University Hospital
• Neuropsychology clinic at University Hospital
• Memory assessment clinic at University Station outpatient clinic

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Electives

For 4-year residents, electives make up about 50% of the PGY4 year. Residents with prior residency experience will have electives in their PGY1 and PGY3 schedules. Residents have over 20 electives to choose from, including:

• University Health Services, which provides mental health services to UW undergraduate and graduate students
• Medical Student teaching, namely participation in a small-group class on psychiatry for first-year medical students
• Group Psychotherapy at WisPIC, where residents act as co-facilitators with faculty or other trainees
• Women's Mental Health at WisPIC or the VA
• Psycho-Oncology Clinic at the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Psychocutaneous Clinic, staffed by a psychiatrist at a UW Dermatology clinic
• Sleep Disorder Clinic
• Research electives with various research faculty

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