Psychiatry Residency Program
Welcome to the Boston University Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program!
This web page is designed to give you information about the Residency Program and our two fellowships, Addiction Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine. Our philosophy to graduate medical education in Psychiatry is to help you learn the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes and to develop lifelong learning to be a Psychiatrist today and in the future.
Our Philosophy
The training program in the Boston University Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program is designed to provide a breadth of knowledge of psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience, psychotherapies, and psychopharmacology. The bio-psycho-socio-cultural model forms the basis of our approach. Our educational program progresses across four years of training from the basics in the PGY 1 year through advanced courses in the PGY 4. Educational programs include the core seminars and special programs, as well as, multiple learning opportunities with each clinical rotation including rounds, clinical case conferences, and case-based learning for residents to learn about patient evaluation, psychopathology, and treatments. The Department of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine is nationally recognized for its strength in Addiction Psychiatry, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Cross Cultural and Community Psychiatry and Psychiatry Services to a diverse community.
If you have additional questions, please contact the Program Coordinator, Maria Nunez (maria.nunez@bmc.org)
Core Training Sites
Boston Medical Center Boston Medical Center
Boston Medical Center (BMC) is an academic hospital with 575 inpatient beds and a full spectrum of outpatient services. BMC was formed in 1996 from the merger of University Hospital and Boston City Hospital. The merger brought together a public hospital and a private academic hospital. The culture borne from this merger maintains a commitment to service for the people of Boston regardless of social status or ability to pay. The patient population ranges from patients with full private insurance to homeless patients with public or no insurance. The diversity of the patient population is remarkably broad and the commitment to “exceptional care without exception” remarkably strong. The majority of training takes place at Boston Medical Center which is also a major training site for the Psychosomatic Medicine Fellows. Residents work in a collegial environment of medical education and training with colleagues in all medical and surgical specialties.
VA Boston Healthcare System VA Boston Healthcare System
The VA Boston Healthcare System grew from the merger of 3 veterans hosptials to create a larger, integrated healtcare systems for veterans in Boston and area suburbs extending through the south and southeastern parts of Massachusetts. Today, the VA Boston Healthcare System has 3 campuses, Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury and Brockton and a series of Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC). The Boston University Psychiatry Residency Program has training on 2 of the 3 campuses, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury, and in the CBOC located in the historic North End. Outpatient primary care medicine, Cognitive Behavioral Clinic, and fourth year electives at the National Centers for PTSD and in specialized programs such as Schizophrenia take place on the Jamaica Plain campus. Consultation-liaison psychiatry and nightfloat rotations are on the West Roxbury Campus, the primary site for medical and surgical care of veterans in the VA Boston Healthcare System. The West Roxbury Campus is a major training site for the Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship program. The North End CBOC is an training site for third and fourth year residents for long-term treatment of veterans with psychiatric illness and co-morbid addictions. This CBOC is a major training site for the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship where fellows and residents are taught by a national expert in Addictions, John Renner MD.
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hosptial/ Bedford VA Bedford VA
Edith Nourse Rogers began a long career of service to veterans during the First World War when she volunteered with the Red Cross in France and at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, where her husband was a United States representative from Massachusetts. At various times, she held the post of inspector of new Veterans Administration hospitals and served as a member of the electoral college, but after her husband died and she was herself elected to Congress for 35 continuous years, she became primarily known for her effective support of veterans’ legislation and her advocacy for military auxiliary organizations and for female members of the military. The veterans’ hospital that bears her name today is located in Bedford, Massachusetts, about 16 miles northwest of Boston in an area surrounded by woods and a golf course, and accessible by bus and by car. The hospital maintains active medical and psychiatric outpatient clinics. Inpatient units are primarily psychiatric, with the exception of medical geriatric and nursing wards. The Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center (GRECC) is located at Bedford VA providing additional learning opportunities in Geriatric Psychiatry. Many of the Psychiatry Faculty have Added Qualifications in Geriatric Psychiatry.
Bournewood Hospital Bournewood Hospital
Bournewood Hospital began as a psychiatric hospital in 1884, moving to its present location in Brookline in 1895 during the period in mental health care known as the asylum movement. This movement championed by Massachusetts native Dorthea Dix believed that people with mental illness needed a healthy environment to heal. Bournewood hospital is an idyllic 12 acre wooded campus with four Victorian buildings that were designed by Boston architect William Ralph Emerson, who was known for his shingle-style houses and inns. The hospital is built over and around outcroppings of the famous Roxbury Conglomerate or Puddingstone, the bedrock of large areas in Boston and Greater Boston. During the asylum movement, patients had long lengths of stay where they could play billiards, tennis, croquet, and relax in the small library. Today, Bournewood Hospital is a leader in psychiatric and chemical dependency fields. The Hospital meets the needs of patients combining personalized care with the latest treatment advances in order to remain current in today’s fast-paced medical environment. Many patients are in managed care insurance companies providing residents the benefit of learning patient advocacy and effective communication with managed care benefits managers. A broad range of psychopathology in an acute care setting rapidly advances first year residents’ training in patient evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. Second year residents train on the inpatient adolescent and day hospital program learning of the unique clinical presentations of adolescents. The Program Chief resident adds to the education and training of Boston University School of Medicine third year clerks and Psychiatry residents on rotation.
Boston University
Fourth year electives on the Charles River Campus include specialized training in CBT, Spiritually Integrated Treatment, and Student Mental Health in one of 3 clinical settings.
Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders CARD
CARD is located in vibrant Kenmore Square close to Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, and near the famous Citgo sign and the subway T station. David Barlow PhD, a world renowned expert in anxiety disorders and cognitive-behavioral-therapy designed the Center as a training center for Psychologists specializing in CBT for anxiety disorders. CARD remains a vital training site for Psychology trainees and for Boston University Medical Center Psychiatry fourth year residents can to learn evidenced based CBT for a range of anxiety disorders.
The Danielsen Institute The Danielsen Institute
The Danielsen Institute is located on beautiful Baystate Road in a classic Boston brownstone. The Danielsen Institute is a nationally recognized leader in the development of Spiritually Integrated Treatment (SIT) for mental illness and is a training site for Pastoral Counselors. The clinic treats students, faculty, and staff who present with a range of mental health concerns. Treatment includes psychodymanic psychotherapy, couple therapy, and pharmcotherapy. Patients determine if their personal spiritual issues may be relevant to their treatment and if so, these issues are integrated into their treatment. The Danielsen Institute is the lead on a grant proposal to disseminate SIT to other clinical settings across the US. Residents interested in expanding their training in psychodynamic psychotherapy and/or in SIT may select this elective.
BU Student Mental Health BUSH
The BU Behavioral Health clinic is part of the Student Health Service providing initial care to undergraduate and graduate students. The clinic is located on Commonwealth Ave between the Agganis Arena, West Campus and the Sherman Student Union, mid-campus. The clinic offers many support groups, assessment, short-term treatment and gives the fourth year resident who selects this elective experience in treating a late adolescent and young adult age group in an university setting.
