Rotations

Full Year Rotation

Outpatient Therapy (Required)

Throughout the entire year, interns carry approximately 8 outpatient cases in the Outpatient Psychology Department located at the Takoma Park clinic or at the main hospital location. Interns obtain closely supervised practice in therapeutic intervention, including individual child therapy and family therapy. There may be opportunities for work in group therapy settings as well. Outpatient supervisors have wide range of expertise including mood, anxiety, pediatric psychology and therapy with young children. This clinic provides training for psychology interns and externs, child psychiatry fellows and general psychiatry residents. The patient population in the outpatient clinic is culturally and economically diverse and often includes families with multiple psychological, social and medical problems. Referrals to the outpatient clinics come from families, community physicians, schools and other departments within the hospital.

Interns have flexibility in their selection of cases in order to tailor their training to their individual needs and interests. Although everyone is encouraged to maintain a varied caseload for optimal training, an intern with interests in clinical child training may take cases that include anxiety, ADHD, depression and peer and school difficulties. Interns with particular interest in pediatric psychology could see cases from any of the specialty clinics to address issues that include adherence to medical regimen and adjustment to medical diagnosis.

It should be noted that training in issues of child abuse/neglect, as well as risk assessment and safety planning, is provided throughout the outpatient and inpatient programs. 

Semester A Rotations

Inpatient Experience (Required)

Interns spend 3 days per week for 3 months on the Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. This is a short stay facility for adolescents (ages 13-17) who usually have a history of self-injury, suicidal behavior, severe aggression, mania or psychosis. Patients on this unit usually have a history of self-injury, suicidal behavior, severe aggression, mania, or psychosis. Interns will collaborate with a dynamic multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists, medical trainees, social workers, nurses, expressive therapists, child life specialists and child psychiatric specialists. Interns carry a caseload of 2 patients. They are responsible for conducting thorough diagnostic interviews, individual therapy, crisis management and discharge planning. They will have the opportunity to participate in family meetings and morning patient rounds. Interns will have the opportunity to participate in the therapeutic milieu as well as group therapy. Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques are generally utilized to achieve stabilization and create safety plans.

Primary Care Experience (Required)

Interns spend 2 days per week for 3 months performing consults and short-term therapy in one of the five community-based Children’s National primary care centers. This rotation involves providing mental health consultation within a primary care setting as part of multi-disciplinary team. Direct services are provided to children, adolescents, young adults and families. Consultations for patients include initial assessment, service referrals and follow-up to help ensure linkage to mental health care. Consultation is also provided to the medical team. The opportunity for brief patient intervention is available and tailored to the interests and learning needs of the intern. For bilingual (English-Spanish) interns, there is opportunity to rotate through the primary care center that primarily serves the Latinx community.

Pediatric Consultation Service (Required)

During the three months that interns are rotating through the Primary Care Experience, they also spend one day doing inpatient consult/liaisons to patients admitted to the hospital. This is a busy clinical service that provides mental health consultation to the Hospitalist team. Referrals include a vast array of mental health concerns for children with acute and chronic illnesses and include concerns related to mental health, adjustment, coping and adherence to medical conditions. The intern is supervised on Consult by a psychologist in the Hospital Medicine service.