Education Curriculum

The Menninger Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine has established a coordinated sequence of clinical and didactic experiences to facilitate achievement of the specific educational goals of each post graduate year level. Residents are apprised of the educational goals for each clinical rotation. Feedback on the resident's progress is provided at regular intervals and a more focused review of each resident's performance occurs semiannually. At the time of the semiannual reviews, time is also allotted for program feedback collected from each resident. Careful attention to resident feedback enables the continuous improvement of academic programs.


Postgraduate Year-I
The first postgraduate year in psychiatry includes four months of primary care, two months of neurology, and six months of psychiatry. The department also may sponsor one or two residents in the Baylor Transitional Program (applicants interested in a transitional first postgraduate year must apply separately to the Transition Program). Psychiatry residents rotating on medicine, neurology, and pediatrics rotate on specific services chosen through a collaborative agreement with the residency directors of the respective departments. While on non-psychiatry rotations, residents function as a level I trainee of the host department. However, regular contact with the Department of Psychiatry is maintained through a monthly luncheon with the residency director, associate director and chief resident(s), as well as participation in Departmental social activities.

The six month psychiatry rotations for first-year residents are at the Harris County Hospital District. For four or five months, the first-year resident is responsible for up to five inpatients under the daily supervision of a full-time Baylor faculty member and fourth-year resident. Baylor medical students, a psychologist, a social worker, and a psychiatric nurse are also members of the treatment team. The first-year resident performs the initial evaluation of newly admitted patients and implements the treatment plan developed collaboratively with the attending psychiatrist. Additionally, the first-year resident spends one or two months at the Ben Taub Psychiatric Emergency Room. As is the case with the inpatient rotation, the supervision of patients on these services is by full-time faculty and senior residents of the Department of Psychiatry.