Advanced Inpatient Psychiatry
Introduction
Updated: 1/09/26
Intro
PREREQUISITES AND PLACEMENT IN THE CURRICULUM:
- Completion of all third-year core clerkships
- Interest in psychiatry as a specialty or career
- No required readings prior to the rotation
PURPOSE:
This elective is intended to help prepare fourth-year medical students for inpatient psychiatric care during residency. Students will build upon and strengthen their foundation of medical knowledge, clinical skills, and professional values introduced during their M3 psychiatry clerkship, with the goal of increasing their comfort and clinical competence in inpatient psychiatric settings. This will be accomplished through participation in patient care activities appropriate for a fourth-year medical student under supervision.
OBJECTIVES:
- To utilize medical knowledge, clinical reasoning, and judgment to assess patient needs.
- To improve patient interviewing skills to obtain accurate, sensitive, and comprehensive clinical histories.
- To develop diagnostic hypotheses and case formulations and to propose evidence-based, cost-effective, and ethical treatment plans that prioritize patient-centered care.
- To actively participate in the supervised care of assigned patients and follow up on relevant clinical information.
- To communicate effectively with patients, families, and the interdisciplinary treatment team, including recognizing when consultative assistance is needed.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD:
Students will spend approximately 40 hours per week as part of an interdisciplinary inpatient psychiatry team. In general, students will be assigned to follow 3–4 patients at a time throughout their hospital stay. Responsibilities will include interviewing patients, attending group therapy sessions, presenting patients on rounds, writing admission histories and physical examinations, and writing daily progress notes and mental status examinations. Students may participate in entering orders under direct supervision, with all documentation and orders reviewed and co-signed by a senior resident or attending physician. Additionally, students will work with consulting services, participate in discussions related to patient handoffs, and complete discharge summaries under supervision. There are no weekend or on-call requirements. Students are expected to attend weekly Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Students will be supervised and evaluated by the supervising attending physician and/or senior resident. Supervision will include direct observation of patient interviews. Students will also prepare and present either several brief presentations or one longer presentation on a topic of psychiatry of their choice to the treatment team.
ASSESSMENT:
Students will receive informal mid-rotation feedback and a final end-of-rotation evaluation based on compiled faculty and senior resident assessments of clinical performance and professionalism.
Administrative Information
-
Program Number
CPSY609
-
Program Contacts
Elective Director: Sean Blitzstein, MD
Email: Sblitz@uic.edu
Coordinator: Graciela Bernal
Email: Bernal@uic.edu -
Program Information
Duration: 4 Weeks
On- Call: No
Weekends: No
Students Accepted: Min. 0 Max. 1
House staff used as Faculty: Yes
Lectures/Conferences/Faculty Contact: variable
Laboratory/Independent Study: 0
Outpatient: 0
Inpatient: 40
Total Hours /Week: 40