Emergency Psychiatry Fellowships

[prominence]

I know there are plenty of moonlighting and locum tenens opportunities for psychiatrists to work in the ER.

I am interested in emergency psychiatry. I know some hospitals have a seperate ER just for psychiatric patients (especially in NYC).

Do you need specific qualifications (i.e. 3-5 years of clinical experience post-residency and/or fellowship) to be competitive to land a position as a full-time psych ER attending? I personally do not know any psych ER attendings (at my residency program, the Emergency medicine residents and attendings admit the patients to the psych units), and I was curious as to how difficult it was to get such a full-time job, upon completion of a psychiatry residency.

Also, does anyone know of any programs which offer an emergency psychiatry fellowship? I am only aware of NYU and Columbia U.

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[prominence]

Any replies would be helpful, and thanks in advance.

bump.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

In my experience, the requirements for emergency psychiatry are to just show up and start evaluating patients! It is a crying need, especially in our large urban hospitals. The problem will be finding someone to pay you to do it.

 

[Doc Samson]

A useful resource might be the American Academy of Emergency Psychiatry (AAEP) at www.emergencypsychiatry.org - they have their own sub-meeting at the APA if you're going to San Diego.

 

[prominence]

thanks oldpsychdoc & doc samson for your helpful replies.

i did come across the AAEP website, but they don't list any directory of fellowships (if such a thing exists). i don't know if there is additional access to resources if you become a member.

 

[jjbmsiv]

Any idea of this subspecialty will be getting its own official fellowship, rather than these unofficial ones? Right now I'm torn between joining the ranks of C/L, er, psychosomatic medicine, and ER Psych, and I would much rather spend a fifth residency year doing something meaningful to the Board than not.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Any idea of this subspecialty will be getting its own official fellowship, rather than these unofficial ones? Right now I'm torn between joining the ranks of C/L, er, psychosomatic medicine, and ER Psych, and I would much rather spend a fifth residency year doing something meaningful to the Board than not.

Pile on elective time in PGY4 in ED psych, and go to work as an attending. The fellowships are not likely to enhance your marketability, unless you're planning to do something more academic.

 

[kugel]

As others have mentioned, many of those working in emergency psych are doing it for moonlighting or for even less terrific reasons. Most Psych emergency locations are thrilled to have someone who wants to do this full-time. The few of us who know that's what we want can go just about anywhere that's big enough to have full-time work.

Because of the way California laws and MH System are set up, there are quite a few separate psych emergency depts. Many are run by the county hospital and/or the county MH Dept. Some are "contracted" with the county, but docs are actually in the employ of a separate agency. The more urban, the more busy and more "medically" oriented they tend to be. Some are in conjunction with university hospitals.
Texas has quite a few Psych Emergency Svcs (PES).
Buffalo is known to have a good PES
Atlanta has a good one at Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown


What part of the country are you thinking of? If you have any interest in Calif, I can help direct you further.

 

[jjbmsiv]

Thanks for the info. I'm from Pennsylvania, and would like to stay in the general area, give or take a few states north or south.

 

[la_tortuga]

wpic in pittsburgh has one of the busiest psychiatric ed's in the country. . .

 

[Ollie123]

Out of curiosity, which hospitals in Buffalo are you referring to?

I heard Buff General was pretty good but have heard/seen only bad things about the rest. Then again, I have pretty limited experiences with most.

 

[prominence]

What part of the country are you thinking of? If you have any interest in Calif, I can help direct you further.

thanks for the extremely helpful reply.

i was curious about psych ER services within cities such as:

-houston
-dallas
-phoenix
-las vegas
-san diego (strongly considering setling down here)

 

[prominence]

bump