Confused about Child Psych

[notdeadyet]

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm confused about child psychiatry. I had a few questions:

My understanding from the FAQ is that although it's offered as a two year fellowship, it's often incorporated into the general psych residency so that you're finished in five years. Is this correct?

If you attend a residency that doesn't have a FREIDA-listed child psych fellowship, does this mean that you need to finish all four years of you psych residency, then attend a two year fellowship at a school offering the fellowship? Or do you transfer after your third year of general psych?

Lastly, if you do the five year combined psych/child psych fellowship, are you still considered a general psychiatrist as well as a child psychiatrist? I'm just curious if you wanted to treat children as well as adults, if the five year program would rob time otherwise devoted to adult psych.

Thanks for any and all advice...

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[jjbmsiv]

You'd have to apply to specific programs that allow for the combo child fellowship 5 year plan. Not every school that offers child psych offers this, so caveat emptor. Otherwise, yes, you would have to do a full 4 year residency, followed by 2 year child fellowship. You are certified in both adult and child, as long as you kept both board certifications up to date. Hope this helps.

Oh, see that sticky at the top of the forum about residencies? You should read that. Yeah.

 

[notdeadyet]

You'd have to apply to specific programs that allow for the combo child fellowship 5 year plan. Not every school that offers child psych offers this, so caveat emptor. Otherwise, yes, you would have to do a full 4 year residency, followed by 2 year child fellowship.

Huh. My understanding is that some programs will let you leave after you third year to do the two year fellowship. I was curious if that was rare or real.

You are certified in both adult and child, as long as you kept both board certifications up to date. Hope this helps.

It does. But does the five year option reduce the amount of time spent on adult psych? Are you as prepared for adult psych as a grad from a standard four year program or has something been sacrificed?

Oh, see that sticky at the top of the forum about residencies? You should read that. Yeah.

Yeah. I'd read them. Handy info, but they didn't have the answer to my specific questions. It alluded to transfering after third year to a different child psych fellowship, but I couldn't get a feel for whether or not that was often done. And it didn't address if you were dual-certified.

Thanks for your help....

 

[nitemagi]

I visited many programs that let people leave after their third year to do their child fellowships at other institutions. It's called fast tracking, but I do believe is only available if you want to do child, versus any other fellowship.

 

[maranatha]

Huh. My understanding is that some programs will let you leave after you third year to do the two year fellowship. I was curious if that was rare or real.

As Nitemagi stated, yes, you can leave after your third year. If your program does not offer a combined program, you can also apply to their fellowship, assuming they have a child program.

It does. But does the five year option reduce the amount of time spent on adult psych? Are you as prepared for adult psych as a grad from a standard four year program or has something been sacrificed?

That is a good question. I have heard mixed opinions about this. Some residents will decide to do 4 years of adult before the fellowship because of the concern you mentioned, but many feel the 5-years is fine. I also want to treat both children and adults and haven't decided which way to go yet. One way to help is to go to a combined program and ask to continue treating some of your adult patients during the child portion of your training.

 

[notdeadyet]

jjbmsiv, nitemagi, maranatha- thanks for all of your help. You really cleared this business up for me.

 

[swanny]

Some programs are supportive of residents who want to "fast track" and enter a child fellowship after three years. Some are a little resistant. You'll need to complete certain minimum requirements, which take up about 36 months. It is usually a lot easier to do so if there is a child fellowship affiliated with the general adult program (because they will see that all the required rotations are in the first three years of training). I completed four years of adult before going into the two year fellowship, and I think the extra year was very helpful in developing my skills and experience. However, I know many child psychiatrists who completed training after five years, and they do very well with kids and adults.

 

[raspberry swirl]

the 6 programs i interviewed at all allowed residents to leave for a child fellowship after their 3rd year ... my understanding is that all programs will "let" you, in reality, it comes down more to whether or not they are helpful in creating a schedule for you that allows you to finish all your requirements in time.

and yeah, the stickies at the top are a good thing to read before you post in a particular forum.

 

[Kluver Bucy]

In order to begin a child fellowship, you need to do three years of psych residency. During that time, you'll need to fulfill some prerequisites (addiction, CL, and child). The fellowship can be at a different residency program. If your residency program doesn't have a child fellowship then you'll need to go somewhere else. If your program won't let you take any of the prereqs until fourth year (and I've heard of this happening), you'll have to wait until after fourth year to start a child fellowship.

 

[msl2007]

There are also 5 year programs that are pediatrics/adult psych/child psych combos, and afterwards you are triple boarded. You can choose to maintain all three boards (by taking the tests as they come up) or drop the adult, etc.

I was considering this and liked the idea of triple boarding so that I could more easily work in/run an independent child psych hospital, plus you get some billing advantages (according to an attending at the child psych hospital).

I also liked this option becuase you only it breaks up the adult psych. I am more of a kid person.

 

[DCHawk10]

Do any of you think that Child Psych could potentially become an option as a pediatric fellowship in the future? i.e. - bypassing adult psych?

 

[maranatha]

Do any of you think that Child Psych could potentially become an option as a pediatric fellowship in the future? i.e. - bypassing adult psych?

I've heard about this as a potential fellowship. Thu I'm not sure how far along this is to being a reality. IMHO, however, given that child psych typically involves the families, I think skipping the adult part would make one an "incomplete" child psychiatrist.

 

[swanny]

There are no current plans to do so. The only thing in the works at this time is the development of a "Pediatric Portal" which will allow pediatricians (those who have completed a pediatric residency) to complete a special three year program (18 months adult and 18 months child) and be eligible for certification in adult and child psychiatry. This is a pilot program that has not yet been started, but the ACGME Psychiatry RRC is seeking 10 programs to try and initiate the project. The idea of having pediatricians receive just child psychiatry training and then be eligible for child psychiatry board certification hasn't been supported.
Of course, you can consider the peds/adult psych/child psych triple board program if you haven't started residency; or enter a program with one year of pediatric residency and then complete adult psychiatry training requirements, then child psych requirements (about four more years total). Alternatively, after completing pediatric residency, you could do a fellowship in developmental pediatrics and work with a similar patient population.

 

[notdeadyet]

and yeah, the stickies at the top are a good thing to read before you post in a particular forum.

As I think I mentioend above, the stickies were handy but didn't address how amicable programs are to transferring to a child psych fellowship after third year, nor the issue of whether or not you are double boarded.

I'm pro-sticky, but sometimes they don't go into specific details. Hence, threads. Thanks though....