Fellowship Program Director: Lisa Catapano, M.D., Ph.D.
Overview
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Division of Intramural Research (DIRP) offers an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved residency program for the fourth year of post graduate psychiatric training (PGY4). This program offers research training in the area of biological psychiatry and is conceptualized as an elective fourth year of residency. This residency program offers extensive training opportunities in clinical and translational research in psychiatry and neuroscience. The core training program is mentorship-driven and focuses on the acquisition and refinement of research skills including the evaluation and clinical care of research subjects, development of research protocols, performance of clinical and/or laboratory research, and preparation and presentation of study results. Clinical Research Fellows join specialty research groups that study the mechanisms or treatments of major psychiatric illnesses. Emphasis in these programs is on psychopharmacology, behavioral endocrinology, psychosomatic medicine, child psychiatry, brain imaging, molecular biology, and neurogenetics. Successful candidates have a strong background in research and a commitment to an academic career path.
Program Structure
Clinical and research training are integrated during the three-year clinical fellowship program. Fellows assume responsibility for the evaluation and clinical care of inpatient and/or outpatient research subjects in addition to providing on-call psychiatric consultations to NIH Clinical Center patients. Research design, methodology, statistical analysis, and data presentation skills are developed through interaction with mentors, didactic sessions, and practical experiences. Trainees are exposed to specialized coursework including the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research, Neurobiology of Mental Illness, Grant-Writing and Clinical Research Bioethics. For trainees with primarily laboratory interests, basic research training opportunities are also available.
Post-Residency: NIMH also offers a three-year, non-accredited post-residency research fellowship in psychiatry and clinical neuroscience for psychiatrists and physicians in related fields such as neurology. For more information on the post-residency, please see the 'Additional Information' link below.
Additional Information
NIMH Clinical Fellowship and PGY4 Programs
Application Information
Apply to the residency and post-residency programs through the NIH Graduate Medical Education Application System. Successful candidates have completed all required general psychiatry residency rotations and satisfied all core competencies. Residents who transfer to the NIMH usually continue as a clinical fellow for two additional years of research training.
Applicants must successfully complete three years in an approved ACGME general psychiatry residency (including all clinical requirements for certification) by the time they enter the program. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply early in their PGY-3 training year. The application materials include a curriculum vitae, personal statement and three letters of recommendation including one from their Program Director. The expected length of stay for residents participating in the program is three years (an additional two years of fellowship follow the conclusion of residency training).