PSYC 300 - PSYCHIATRY

[228 Hours]

A six-week clinical clerkship provides students with an intensive experience in the evaluation and treatment of psychiatric patients. The clerkship includes both inpatient and outpatient experiences. The inpatient portion of the clerkship occurs at the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans and the Ochsner Clinic Foundation Hospital. Students participate in the clinical management of patients in general, co-occurring diagnosis, and geriatric services. Students experience numerous aspects of psychiatric practice, including emergency care and consult-liaison psychiatry. Students also participate in outpatient psychiatric treatment at sites throughout the New Orleans area, including public and private clinics. Throughout the clerkship, faculty, residents, and other mental health professionals supervise students as they learn to recognize psychiatric illnesses in their varied forms and manage patients using multiple treatment modalities. During the clerkship, emphasis is placed on approaching the patient using the biopsychosocial mode. Students demonstrate their understanding of this model by performing complete psychiatric and physical evaluations, including comprehensive mental status examinations. Students also perform basic case management services, in order to appreciate the larger system of care in which individual patients are placed. Complementing this clinical instruction are lectures and group discussions in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, as well as weekly case conferences and departmental Grand Rounds