Curriculum & Schedules
Didactics
The didactic curriculum is focused on teaching concepts and skills that aid the growth of our residents into clinically excellent, compassionate, and culturally humble psychiatrists. We use multiple integrative approaches from adult learning theories and universal design for learning principles to facilitate sessions and promote engagement.
In addition to what’s taught, our curriculum is structured to enhance mentorship and develop residents as teachers. Every resident is expected to collaborate with a faculty member to co-teach one didactic session.
All residents have protected time for weekly didactics on Tuesday afternoons(12-4 pm). Residents are excused from clinical duties to attend. The first hour is set aside for lunch and time to connect with fellow residents and program leadership. Following this, there are three fifty-minute sessions taught in person by faculty. The sessions are mostly split by PGY year but may be combined for shared learning opportunities.
Our didactics are made up of core themes like Psychopathology, Psychopharmacology, Neuroscience, Interventional psychiatry, Community psychiatry, Special populations, and the Psychiatry subspecialties. Structural Competency, Advocacy, Leadership, Systems-Based Practice, Interprofessional Education, Communication skills, Evidence-Based Medicine, and Research are interwoven across all four years of the didactic curriculum. Twice a year, we host a half-day didactic summit event highlighting a topic of interest facilitated by experts across specialty disciplines within psychiatry.

Electives
As a resident, you may choose to engage in clinical electives in a number of specialized areas and sites:
- Addiction (UMMC or VA)
- Center for Sexual Health (UMMC)
- Community-based Ambulatory Psychiatry (CUHCC, various community and rural sites)
- Consult-Liaison (multiples sites including Primary Care and OB clinics)
- ECT (UMMC)
- Geropsychiatry (VA)
- Neuromodulation/Interventional Psychiatry
- Palliative Care
- Perinatal Psychiatry (Hennepin County Medical Center, Abbott Northwestern Hospital or UMMC)
- Primary Care/Mental Health Integration (VA)
- PTSD (VA)
- Public/Forensic (Anoka or St. Peter)
- Sleep Medicine (VA & Southdale)
- Psychotherapy
- Family Psychoeducation
- Family Therapy, Anxiety Interventions
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Cognitive Processing
- Prolonged Exposure
- Time-Limited Psychodynamic Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- DBT
Psychotherapy Training
We are committed to offering a strong education in evidence-based psychotherapy. We emphasize that all interactions we have with our patients are an important ground for learning about and applying patient-centered psychotherapy principles.
PGY-1
First year residents learn basic principles of psychotherapy to apply to their inpatient work, including motivational interviewing and common factors of psychotherapy.
PGY-2
PGY-2s begin their formal psychotherapy training in the outpatient clinic, receiving individual and group supervision while providing weekly Supportive Psychotherapy to two patients weekly. Didactics include:
• Introduction to Psychotherapy
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Supportive Psychotherapy
• Psychodynamic Theory
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Family Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Cultural Competency
• Spirituality
PGY-3
PGY-3 residents continue their psychotherapy education with a focus on CBT and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Each resident carries two CBT and two psychodynamic patients during the year, along with medication management patients and one Family Therapy case. Residents also complete a four-month Group Psychotherapy rotation. Additional trainings in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Individualized Resiliency Training (IRT) are also offered.
PGY-4
In the PGY-4 year, residents continue with their long term outpatient psychotherapy cases, with a focus on psychodynamic work. PGY-4s may also pursue a range of additional psychotherapy elective experiences.
Scholarly Work
As a resident, you will have the opportunity to participate in both required and optional scholarly work.
Required: All residents are required to participate in Morbidity and Mortality Conference, Complex Case conference, Journal Club, and Grand Rounds. All senior residents will present to junior residents during didactics with support from faculty, and all residents will work with medical students. During the dayfloat rotation of PGY2, the resident will be required to plan and execute educational offerings for the medical students on inpatient psychiatry.
All residents will participate in our research fluency curriculum.
Optional: Residents may participate in a staged research program over the course of four years in training, which would culminate in a publishable project by the end of training. Residents in the program would work with a UMN mentor on meeting milestones annually before progressing to the next stage. Residents who meet their milestones may be eligible for research elective time in PGY4.
All residents have the opportunity to work with faculty on projects and may be included in poster presentations or publications.
All residents have the opportunity to present at M&M and Complex Case conference. Residents are also invited to have lunch with our Grand Rounds speakers.
Post-Residency Fellowships
Leadership Opportunities
A key goal of our residency program is to support the development of future psychiatric leaders for Minnesota and beyond. We are always eager to learn about your leadership goals and to develop individualized opportunities for you to grow these skills.
Chief Resident: the Chief Resident role is held by a PGY-4 resident, chosen by the Program Director and co-residents, who has demonstrated educational, mentorship, and/or administrative leadership strengths and interests. We are planning on expanding additional leadership opportunities for all senior residents– stay tuned!
University of Minnesota Medical School Residency Leadership Academy
The Medical School’s Resident Leadership Academy provides training for residents to broaden their leadership skills as they move towards their professional goals. Its mission is to foster teamwork and collaboration to drive mutual accountability within the Medical School and across departments and disciplines. Another goal is to facilitate the development and recruitment of physicians capable of becoming highly effective organizational leaders in the Medical School.
Residents are able to participate in the Resident Leadership Academy (RLA) during their 3rd year of training. They are nominated by their department and selected by a committee. There are typically (2) active and highly engaged residents selected from the Psychiatry Residency to participate in the RLA. Please reach out to Dr. Kay Powell, one of the APDs, or the Program Administrator with any questions. Learn more.
Individualized Leadership Apprenticeship Experiences
We are ready to design individualized elective and apprenticeship experiences based on your unique leadership interests. These can include working with the Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs to learn about healthcare system leadership; working with one of the Department Councils – Clinical, Education, or Inclusive Excellence – to understand the operational needs of the department’s mission areas; or serving on Task Forces and QI projects. Please let Department Chair Dr. Sophia Vinogradov know if you have these interests.
Schedules
Year 1 is spent on inpatient units where Neurology and Primary Care requirements are completed and general inpatient Psychiatry training is begun. Residents rotate at the University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC), the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, and the Minneapolis VA Medical Center (VAMC).
- 5 months of Inpatient Psychiatry (avg. 5 months at UMMC, 1 month at VAMC)
- 2 months of Neurology (VAMC)
- 2 months of Internal Medicine (VAMC)
- 1 month of Pediatrics (University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital)
- 1 month of Emergency Medicine (UMMC)
Average Workweek
- Inpatient Psychiatry: 50 hours per week
- Inpatient Pediatrics: 50-55 hours per week
- Neurology Consults: 45 hours per week
- Emergency Medicine: 40 hours per week
- Inpatient Medicine: 50 hours per week
Night & Weekend Duties
- Inpatient Pediatrics: 6 days a week, no overnight duties
- Inpatient Medicine: 1 weekend day shift per week, no overnight duties, no call
- Inpatient Neurology: Work one weekend day per month, no call
- EMMD: No overnight or weekends
- Inpatient Psychiatry: 6 weekday evening call shifts per month with PGY-2 senior Weekends and holidays are protected. No overnight call.
Year 2 introduces specialty areas such as Consultation-Liaison, Child-Adolescent Psychiatry, Geropsychiatry, Forensics and Addiction. One-half day per week is also spent in outpatient psychotherapy training.
Sample schedule
- July - Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry (UMMC)
- August – Swing shift (VAMC)
- September – MICD (UMMC)
- October – Nightfloat
- November – Geropsychiatry (VAMC)
- December – Inpatient Psychiatry (UMMC)
- January – Neuromodulation (various)
- February – Consult/Liaison (VAMC)
- March - Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry (UMMC)
- April – Nightfloat
- May – Dayfloat (UMMC)
- June – Elective
- Supportive Psychotherapy Clinic: Tuesday afternoon (September to June)
- Emergency Psychiatry during C/L, Gero, and Nightfloat blocks
Average Workweek
40-60 hours.
Night & Weekend Duties
- 4-8 weeks of night float throughout the year (5 nights on, 2 nights off). After 10pm, this is home call.
Year 3 provides 12 months of continuous outpatient training as well as experiences in community mental health and group/family therapies.
Sample Schedule
- Resident Psychiatry Clinic
- Child Anxiety Clinic
- Group Therapy
- Women’s Group
- Family Therapy
- CBT
- Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- CUHCC (Community University Health Care Center) Clinic
Average Workweek
40-50 hours.
Night & Weekend Duties
None required by the residency program.
Year 4 activities are available at a variety of sites according to a resident’s interests. Opportunities include the Child-Adolescent Fellowship (fast-track after PGY3) and a variety of outpatient practice settings, including required experiences as a supervisory resident, working with junior residents and medical students. A chief resident and research opportunities are also offered.
Sample Schedule
- VA Internal Medicine Clinic (as a Psych consultant)
- DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) at UMMC
- UMMC Resident Psychiatry Clinic
- 1 month on Station 12 (Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit) at UMMC
- Smiley’s Family Medicine Clinic (Integrated Care)
- Substance Use Disorders
Average Workweek
40-50 hours
Nighttime & Overnight Duties
None required by the residency program.
Residents are eligible to moonlight after the PGY-2 year and once Step/COMPLEX exams have been passed. Most residents who moonlight choose to do so at the VAMC.