University of South Alabama Department of Psychiatry

The primary goal of the training program is to produce physicians who are capable of providing high quality psychiatric services in a variety of contemporary settings and to identify and mentor those who are capable of becoming adult leaders in the field of psychiatry. First and foremost our philosophy emphasizes that as clinicians we must be dedicated and available to our patients. Our program recognizes that adequate training for the current and future practice of psychiatry requires continued utilization of new research in a field that is rapidly developing in order to go beyond the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes residents need to develop a professional identity. With this concept in mind, the USA Department of Psychiatry has expanded its faculty and has recently undergone a revision which will put emphasis on:

• A two year neuroscience teaching protocol.
• A revision of the didactics to include more emphasis on family, supportive, dialectical, and cognitive and behavioral therapy.
• The psychopharmacology course will be an intensive year long didactic with emphasis on related case discussions.
• The didactics will also include topics, such as, socio-cultural issues, and child and adolescent diagnosis and treatment.
• Our rotations have been updated to include specific experiences including Geriatric Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, crisis intervention, acute stabilization, outpatient treatment, a Consultation and Liaison service, and specific outpatient groups focusing on Dialectical Therapy, Substance Abuse diagnosis and treatment, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder cognitive behavioral groups and Anger management groups.
• Electives will be offered in a substance abuse methadone clinic, child psychiatry residential programs, community psychiatry, ECT, and sports psychiatry.

The program will be expanding further since we have a collaboration with a well established mental health entity called AltaPointe which can offer a wider variety of choices for training experiences. The USA Psychiatry program is approved by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education’s Residency Review Committee for four years of training.