The Department of Psychiatry welcomes medical students and provides a broad range of clinical and research experiences in the ForWard Curriculum. Our faculty, residents, and fellows are dedicated to delivering a rich and rewarding education that will provide solid foundation as students transition to the next step in their careers.
Faculty Leadership in Medical Education
Michael Peterson, M.D., Ph.D.
Position title: Vice Chair of Education, Residency Training Director, Professor (CHS Track)
Phone: Sleep and psychiatric disorders; bioethics and psychiatry; psychosis due to general medical conditions.
Neeta Shenai, MD
Position title: Associate Professor (CHS Track)
Phone: Phase 3 Director in Psychiatry
Marc Kalin, D.O.
Position title: Associate Professor (Clinical Track)
Phone: Phase 2 Department Block Leader for Acute Care
Travis Kruger, M.D.
Position title: Assistant Professor (Clinical Track)
Phone: Phase 2 Department Block Leader for Chronic & Preventive Care
William Taft, M.D.
Position title: Associate Professor (Clinical Track)
Phone: Assistant Block Leader for Mind and Motion
Claudia Reardon, M.D.
Position title: Professor (CHS Track)
Phone: Psychiatry Student Interest Group Faculty Advisor
Medical Student Education Program Specialist:
ForWard Curriculum in Psychiatry
The ForWard Curriculum is an innovative model of medical education with a three-phase model that fully integrates basic, public health and clinical sciences throughout our medical students’ education.
At the end of Phase 1, medical students complete the Mind and Motion course, which unifies concepts in Psychiatry as well as basic science domains such as anatomy, neuroscience, cell biology, and neuropharmacology. Common psychiatric disorders, therapies, pharmacology, and the psychiatric interview are introduced to students.
Phase 2 medical students rotate through Psychiatry during the Acute Care Block and the Chronic and Preventative Care Block in the ForWard curriculum. Each of these 12 week integrated blocks builds upon the foundational basic science concepts in Phase 1.
Phase 3 medical students considering a career in Psychiatry can select to complete one of our advanced Clinical Electives or our many other available electives, and have the option to enroll in our internship preparatory course.
Psychiatry Electives:
- Advanced Psychiatry Consultation and Liaison Clinical Elective*
- Advanced Inpatient Clinical Elective*
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinical Elective*
- Sports Psychiatry: Improving the Mental Health of Athletes
- Dementia and Public Health
- Assessment & Treatment in a Forensic Hospital Setting
- Geriatric Clinical Elective
- Behavioral Health Clinical Elective
- Inpatient Clinical Elective
- Psychiatry Consultation and Liaison Clinical Elective
- Independent Research and Reading
- Individualized clerkship
*Indicates electives offered to visiting students
Visiting Medical Students
The Department of Psychiatry warmly welcomes visiting students in their fourth or final year of an MD or DO program at a school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Assocation. We offer visiting electives in Consultation- Liaison Psychiatry, Inpatient Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for 4 weeks duration from October through January that are competitively approved by the Psychiatry Visiting Student Selection Committee. The dates of the rotation for the 2025-2026 academic year are: 9/29 to 1024, 10/27 to 11/21, 11/24 to 12/19, 1/5 to 1/30.
Before applying through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO), preapproval at the departmental level is required. Please submit the following to Dr. Neeta Shenai (nshenai@wisc.edu) and Jess Mills (jamills2@wisc.edu) by June 15th:
- Curriculum vitae
- Personal statement (no more than 500 words describing personal or professional reasons for choosing UW Psychiatry)
- Step 2/COMLEX 2 score or statement that Step 2/COMLEX 2 has been completed
- Statement of attestation that the personal statement is your own.
- Psychiatry Clerkship Evaluation
After you receive approval through the Department, please apply through VSLO for institutional approval. For detailed application criteria and processes, see the UWSMPH Visiting Students page. Current UWSMPH students receive first priority for electives. If space is available, electives are then opened to visiting students. The Department of Psychiatry does not accept international visiting students in their electives, per UWSMPH policy.
For any questions please contact:
Jess Mills
Medical Student Coordinator
(608)265-9578
jamills2@wisc.edu
