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Mission Statement

The mission of the Duke University Psychiatry Residency Education Program is to promote the development of post-graduate psychiatrists who will be exceptional communicators, skillful psychotherapists, highly competent practitioners, and effective leaders.  Our graduates will be virtuous physicians who value lifelong learning, adhere to the highest ethical standards of the profession, and serve the community as role models.

Evidence-Based Medicine: The Central Theme

• Extensive, practical skills training in information technology, critical appraisal and medical decision-making to prepare you for lifelong learning
• Lots of practice writing and presenting CATs (Critically Appraised Topics)
• Critical mass of attending and supervisors trained in EBM approaches who apply these to medication and psychosocial therapies, alike
• Training for chief residents in how to model and teach EBM skills

Psychotherapy Training: Balances the Biological

• Starts early in PGY-1 year with basic therapy skills class
• Option to pick up a psychotherapy case and therapy supervisors mid-intern year
• Weekly intern process group
• Live supervision of therapy patients behind one-way mirror starting in PGY-2
• Live supervision of couples and families 6 hours/week in PGY-3 Family Studies
• Training and supervision from faculty who teach and research empirically-validated psychotherapies
• Access to great therapy cases – managed care patients and Duke students

Program Breadth and Flexibility

• Over a year’s worth of elective time may be scheduled flexibly, including our “4th year first” option
• Wide range of electives in clinical care, policy, advocacy and research
• Customized electives are encouraged and supported, (e.g. international travel, advanced degree coursework, tutorials, interdepartmental projects) including option to enroll in the 18-month Global Health Residency track

Unique at Duke

Our yearly inservice exam is homegrown and unique to Duke. It’s designed for LEARNING DURING TESTING. Your responses are recorded on “scratch-off” scorecards, like lottery tickets, revealing a star under the correct answer. The questions are constructed so that you must identify the false statement, rather than select the true statement. This immediate feedback allows you to acquire new information and reinforce your recognition of true information from the other choices in each question. Unlike the nationally available inservice exam (“PRITE”), our exam includes questions about content of the current medical literature from high quality systematic reviews and questions that test skills in evidence-based clinical practice (EBM).

Our core didactic series for PGY-1s and 2s is taught using case-based TEAM LEARNING. In Team Learning, unlike PBL, each team member is expected to learn the basic content prior to class and come prepared for application of that knowledge in the group exercise. Three permanent teams tackle the exercise and then receive feedback on their solutions from the module’s expert faculty discussant who leads the large group discussion. Accountability for learning is provided by frequent testing and peer expectations for all to arrive prepared and participate actively. This learning format is designed to eliminate passive learning, increase effective team problem-solving skills, and promote habitual study during residency.