Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship

Advanced training in leading-edge psychosomatic medicine

USC, in conjunction with LAC+USCMedicalCenter, annually offers two positions for a one-year, ACGME-accredited fellowship in psychosomatic medicine. Rotations provide fellows opportunities to gain expertise in inpatient and outpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry and to develop clinical research interests and supervise trainees in an academic setting.

Theoretical Background and Mission

Psychosomatic medicine fellows are trained to utilize the bio-psycho-social model and to become familiar with a variety of treatment modalities including pharmacological, cognitive–behavioral, psychodynamic, group and family interventions. We believe that psychosomatic medicine contributes an essential element to medicine’s multidisciplinary teamwork approach.

We advocate for the special needs of mentally ill patients in non-psychiatric medical care settings and improve the care of medically ill patients by reducing emotional barriers to care.

Our casework is usually complex and challenging. Los AngelesCounty and KeckHospitals are centers of excellence for state-of-the-art clinical care, education and research. We value completeness, accuracy and an appropriately nuanced analysis in each and every consultation, and provide fellows the time and resources to meet these expectations. Training is oriented toward preparing fellows for practice in an area of psychiatry specific to psychosomatic medicine with leadership opportunities in teaching and scholarship within our subspecialty.

Clinical Resources

LAC+USC Medical Center is a 600-bed, publicly funded county hospital and tertiary care center offering full medical, surgical, emergency and intensive care services. Rotations at LAC+USC allow trainees to see patients on a variety of medical and surgical services and practice consultation-liaison psychiatry within the context of a large hospital system that has a culturally rich and highly diverse patient population.

KeckHospitalhas rotations that allow trainees to see patients on a variety of medical and surgical services and practice consultation-liaison psychiatry within the context of a private hospital system that houses multiple subspecialties that are integrated into the multi-hospital system.

Outpatient rotations include maternal wellness, transplantation, collaborative care, HIV clinic, IP and OP palliative care, and bioethics.

Teaching

Fellows work closely with medicine and surgery residents and medical students from USC. Fellows have opportunities to provide supervision and didactic presentations to PGY3 psychiatry residents, medicine and surgery residents, and medical students who are performing psychiatric evaluations. Teaching activities are required by our program.

Scholarship

Fellows are required to develop skills in scholarship by producing either a paper appropriate for peer-reviewed publication or a proposal for research. Regular meetings with faculty will support and facilitate this objective.

Education

In addition to direct supervision, lecture series and general didactic activities throughout fellowship training, fellows are encouraged to attend the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine in November.

Salaries and Benefits

Fellows are employees of the Los AngelesCounty. Fellows’ salaries are determined in negotiations among the county’s legal bargaining unit, the Council of Interns and Residents, and the county’s Department of Health Services.

Salary as of July 1, 2017

PGY5 $70,000

Benefits

Bonus / $2,000 for interns progressing to a second year in a county facility
Meals / $10 per meal, $25 per day at LAC+USCMedicalCenter; meals are reimbursed during off-campus rotations
Parking / Available at no cost at LAC+USCMedicalCenter
White coats / Provided
Vacation / 24 days paid vacation each year
Sick leave / 8 days per year, of which 3 may be used for personal leave
Professional liability insurance / Provided (Los AngelesCounty self-insures)
Maternity leave / Available — most residents use sick leave, vacation time and limited unpaid leave
Parental leave / Available as required by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Medical/dental benefits / Choice of several offered plans; family coverage available at additional cost
Life insurance / $2,000 term policy is provided; additional insurance may be purchased

Contact

For more information, contact:
Thomas Garrick, MD, Director

Program Director, Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship
Phone: (310) 995-1885

Bertha Vazquez, Coordinator

LAC+USCMedicalCenter

2010 Zonal Avenue, OPD Bldg

Attn: Bertha Vázquez, room1P1A

Los Angeles, CA90033

Phone number 323-409-7976