Combined Family Medicine Psychiatry Program

Residents in our Combined Family Medicine Psychiatry residency training program at the University of Pittsburgh acquire the knowledge and skills of both a family physician and a psychiatrist. Graduates of this five year program have the ability to provide compassionate and effective care for their patients from an integrated physical and behavioral health perspective.

Our Curriculum

Through our joint family medicine-psychiatry curriculum, residents spend varying amounts of time per year in each discipline with longitudinal outpatient experiences across all five years. These outpatient experiences represent family medicine primary care, psychiatric specialty care, and an integrated family medicine/psychiatry experience in a community health center. 

Within our combined program, clinical rotations in primary care are generally in four-week blocks, with 13 blocks per year. The clinical rotations in psychiatry are four to ten weeks and are integrated with the primary care experience (with the exception of longitudinal ambulatory psychiatry). Formal teaching is provided in each discipline separately.

Residents in this program may also apply for these programs:


Classroom Training

An evidence-based approach to medical care is strongly emphasized in family medicine classroom training. This training takes place at UPMC McKeesport or UPMC St. Margaret and consists of organized lectures, seminars, workshops and case conferences specifically focused on topics pertinent to primary care. In all, the family medicine residency program devotes at least 20 hours each month to such sessions, with a structured curriculum based on program evaluations. In general, a resident in the combined program will attend the family medicine didactics when they are on a family medicine rotation. 


Together with General Psychiatry Trainees, Combined Family Medicine Psychiatry residents attend the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Thursday afternoon didactic courses from mid-PGY1 out to the end of PGY4. This formal teaching focuses on a fundamental psychiatric knowledge base upon which subsequent training and education will build. The curriculum includes lectures, seminars, case conferences, grand rounds and workshops.

Classroom Teaching

In addition to formal didactics are the following educational activities at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital:

  • Weekly Clinical Case Conferences
  • Grand Rounds where nationally and internationally recognized experts present a variety of clinically-relevant topics
  • Resident Grand Rounds where senior residents present cases and a multidisciplinary faculty panel discusses the contemporary state of knowledge
  • Quarterly workshops, taking place based on resident needs and interests
  • Journal Club where residents have the opportunity to be paired with junior and senior faculty, present a recent paper and lead an academic discussion about psychiatry-related topics


Our Training Sites

Psychiatry training takes place at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), an institution consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the nation. WPH is well-known and highly regarded for its inpatient and outpatient programs, community services and specialized programs, including services in crisis intervention, community-based care, and interventional psychiatry.

All Family Medicine training takes place in the UPMC McKeesport Hospital or UPMC St. Margaret Hospital systems:

UPMC McKeesport is consistently recognized for using evidence-based clinical processes. Signature services at this site include heart and vascular care, imaging, digestive health, wound healing, palliative care, and behavioral health.

UPMC McKeesport
UPMC McKeesport Hospital

UPMC St. Margaret is an acute care and teaching hospital with a focus on overall health and wellness. This Magnet® designated hospital provides state-of-the-art services in family medicine, geriatrics, general surgery, oncology, cardiac health, orthopedics and rehabilitative care.

UPMC St. Margaret Hospital
UPMC St. Margaret Hospital

Please note that the following schedules serve as examples, but the order and structure of specific rotations may change as it is our goal to provide individualized training.


 

Training by Year

The goal of the PGY1 (internship) year is to learn the basics of family medicine and psychiatry to provide a foundation for subsequent training in both primary care and psychiatry. The first year is weighted towards family medicine, as four months of training in general medicine is also required for psychiatry training. A total of eight four-week blocks and one two-week block are spent in family medicine rotations to begin residency training.

This initiation into medicine is followed by psychiatric rotations that include an eight week block on the Dual Diagnosis Unit (UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospitla, 10th Floor), a four week block on Neurology Consults (Presbyterian Hospital-PUH), and a six week block in Psychiatric Emergency Services in the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center (DEC) at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital.

Family Medicine McKeesport

Time PeriodRotations
4 weeksFamily Medicine 101
8 weeksInpatient Family Medicine
4 weeksICU
4 weeksObstetrics
4 weeksInpatient Surgery
2 weeksNight Float
4 weeksOutpatient Pediatrics
4 weeksOutpatient Gynecology

Family Medicine St. Margaret's

Time PeriodRotations
2 weeksOutpatient Family Medicine
8 weeksInpatient Family Medicine & Geriatrics
4 weeksICU
4 weeksObstetrics
4 weeksInpatient Surgery
2 weeksNight Float
2 weeksOutpatient Pediatrics
2 weeksNewborn Nursery
4 weeksPediatrics Emergency Department
2 weeksEmergency Department
34 weeks (8.5 blocks) total
  • ½ day FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations
  • ½ day Family Medicine Didactics during these rotations
  • No ½ day Psychiatry Didactics during first 26 weeks of these rotations
  • Combined residents would be unable to attend UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital didactic courses during "Night Float" or ICU rotations, therefore they should not do these after week 26 of PGY1   

NOTE: rotations on the Family Medicine side are subject to change based on flexibility, availability and personalization of schedule.

 

Psychiatry

Time PeriodRotations
8 weeks10th floor - Inpatient Dual-Diagnosis Psychiatry
4 weeksNeurology (Presbyterian Hospital)
6 weeksEmergency Psychiatry
18 weeks (4.5 blocks) total
  • ½ day Psychiatry Didactics during these rotations
  • Optional ½ day FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations

 

Details of the Family Medicine rotations can be found on the websites of the individual family medicine residency sites:

Details of the psychiatric rotations can be found on the general psychiatry residency webpages
 

The second year expands on the inpatient experiences in both disciplines and offers the beginning of psychotherapy training.

Family Medicine McKeesport

Time PeriodRotations
2 weeksNight Float
4 weeksInpatient Pediatrics
4 weeksNewborn Nursery & NICU
4 weeksEmergency Medicine
4 weeksObstetrics

Family Medicine St. Margaret's

Time PeriodRotations
4 weeksCardiology
4 weeksInpatient Pediatrics
4 weeksGynecology
4 weeksObstetrics
2 weeksOutpatient Family Medicine 
18 weeks (4.5 blocks) total
  • ½ day FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations
  • ½ day Family Medicine Didactics during these rotations
  • ½ day Psychiatry Didactics all year

NOTE: rotations on the Family Medicine side are subject to change based on flexibility, availability and personalization of schedule.

 

Psychiatry

Time PeriodRotations
8 weeksInpatient Adult Mood Disorders Unit
4 weeksNeurology (Presbyterian Hospital and/or Children's Hospital)
10 weeksInpatient Adult Psychosis Unit
10 weeksAdult Consult & Liaison Psychiatry (Presbyterian Hospital)
34 weeks (8.5 blocks) total
  • ½ day Psychiatry Didactics all year
  • Optional ½ day FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations

The PGY3 year expands on knowledge and skills gained in the first 2 years of both disciplines, with a focus on Psychiatry. There is an emphasis on longitudinal outpatient experiences working alongside the combined residents’ categorical psychiatry colleagues. There are twelve months of psychiatry rotations during PGY3 with one half day per week required in a Family Health Center.

Psychiatry

Time PeriodRotations
52 weeksOutpatient Psychosis (CRS Clinic) ½ day weekly
52 weeksOutpatient Adult Mood Disorders (Bellefield Clinic) ½ day weekly
26 weeksOutpatient Geriatric Psychiatry (Benedum Clinic) ½ day weekly
26 weeksOutpatient Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CCF Clinic) ½ day weekly
52 weeksAmbulatory Psychiatry Elective(s) ½ day weekly
52 weeksPsychotherapy Patients (Ambulatory) ½ day weekly
VariableForensics
VariableCommunity Psychiatry
52 weeks (13 blocks) total
  • ½ day Psychiatry Didactics all year
  • ½ day FHC (ambulatory) all year
  • No Family Medicine Didactics during this year

The PGY4 year is more concentrated on strengthening residents’ skills in providing outpatient and inpatient medical care with opportunities to integrate Psychiatry and Family Medicine Skills.

Family Medicine McKeesport

Time PeriodRotations
8 weeksInpatient Family Medicine 
4 weeksOutpatient Geriatrics
4 weeksPediatrics Emergency Department
4 weeksNight Float
4 weeksAmbulatory Pediatrics
4 weeksSports Medicine
6 weeksElectives
4 weeksOutpatient Orthopedics
6 weeksSenior ED Admitting
4 weeksObstetrics (continuity)
4 weeksCardiology

Family Medicine St. Margaret's

Time PeriodRotations
4 weeksInpatient Family Medicine 
4 weeksInpatient Geriatrics
2 weeksPediatrics Emergency Department
2 weeksNight Float
4 weeksDermatology
4 weeksSports Medicine
4 weeksElectives
4 weeksOutpatient Surgery
4 weeksOutpatient Medical Management
4 weeksOutpatient Family Medicine
4 weeksICU
4 weeksOutpatient Geriatrics
4 weeksOutpatient ENT & Ophthalmology
4 weeksTeaching Selective
52 weeks (13 blocks) total
  • 2 half-days of FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations
  • 1-2 half-day Family Health Center office hours
  • ½ day Family Medicine Didactics during these rotations
  • ½ day Psychiatry Didactics during first 26 weeks of these rotations

NOTE: rotations on the Family Medicine side are subject to change based on flexibility, availability and personalization of schedule.

The PGY5 year provides an opportunity for residents to further bring together knowledge they have gained in both disciplines and to explore electives designed to integrate their skills. Residents also have the opportunity to “round out” their training experience by choosing electives that integrate medical and psychiatric care in a single setting.

Family Medicine McKeesport

Time PeriodRotations
4 weeksInpatient Family Medicine 
4 weeksInpatient Family Medicine at WPIC
4 weeksDermatology
4 weeksOutpatient Surgical Subspecialties
8 weeksElectives

Family Medicine St. Margaret's

Time PeriodRotations
2 weeksPediatric Emergency Room
2 weeksNight Float
4 weeksOrthopedics
14 weeksElectives
2 weeksEmergency Department 
26 weeks (4.5 blocks) total
  • 3 half-days of FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations
  • ½ day Family Medicine Didactics during these rotations

NOTE: rotations on the Family Medicine side are subject to change based on flexibility, availability and personalization of schedule.

Psychiatry

Time PeriodRotations
16 weeksOutpatient Psychiatry Electives
5 weeksInpatient Elective
5 weeksInpatient Geriatrics
26 weeks (6.5 blocks) total
  • No mandatory Psychiatry Didactics all year
  • 3 half-days of FHC (ambulatory) during these rotations

The PGY5 resident will now have three half-days per week in the family health center throughout the year.

The Psychiatry curriculum in the PGY5 year includes required experiences in Community Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Both of these experiences are ambulatory in nature.
 


Interested in our Combined Family Medicine & Psychiatry residency training program? Read about how to apply and learn about the city of Pittsburgh.