Mission

Promote excellence in clinical care for beneficiaries with general and complex psychiatric medical conditions integrating an interdisciplinary approach of education that improves the quality of life for DOD beneficiaries, their caregivers, and the community.

Vision

To cultivate a cohort of skilled and compassionate psychiatrists who excel at navigating the intersection of mental and physical health. We aim to empower fellows with the ability to seamlessly integrate psychiatric expertise into diverse medical settings, fostering holistic patient care. Through innovative training, collaborative experiences, and a commitment to evidence-based practices, our fellowship envisions shaping leaders who positively impact both the field of psychiatry and the broader landscape of military health care.

Aims

Clinical Mastery

Equip fellows with advanced clinical skills to assess and manage psychiatric conditions in medically complex patients across various medical specialties.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Foster the ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams, enhancing communication and cooperation between psychiatry and other medical disciplines.

Research Proficiency

Develop fellows' research capabilities, encouraging exploration of topics relevant to consultation-liaison psychiatry, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field.

Educational Leadership

Prepare fellows to be educators and mentors, capable of disseminating knowledge in consultation-liaison psychiatry to medical professionals, trainees, and the broader health care community.

Cultural Competence

Cultivate an understanding of cultural and diversity issues, ensuring fellows provide equitable and inclusive care to patients with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Leadership Development

Nurture leadership qualities in fellows, empowering them to take on roles that advance the practice and recognition of consultation-liaison psychiatry within health care institutions.

Patient Advocacy

Instill a commitment to advocating for the mental health needs of patients within medical settings, promoting comprehensive and patient-centered care.

Self-Reflection and Wellness

Encourage ongoing self-reflection and the adoption of wellness practices, ensuring fellows maintain personal and professional balance throughout their careers in consultation-liaison psychiatry.

The program has weekly individual supervision sessions to discuss complicated cases. Program didactics focus on a combination of organ-based systems approach with disease-specific topics to best prepare for the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Boards.  There are opportunities to participate in Grand Rounds and twice weekly Noon Conferences with the psychiatry residency also exist. Virtual didactics with other Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowships outside of the DOD are also under development.

Fellows in our 12-month program complete the following rotations: 

• Wards - 4 blocks
• Clinic - 2 blocks
• Elective/Clinic - 2 blocks
• Procedural Psychiatry/Research - 2 blocks
• Psychiatry Consult Liaison Service - 2 blocks 

Elective rotations are offered for the following rotations:

• Neuropsychiatric inpatient ward
• NICoE (TBI)
• Armed Forces Retirement Home
• Palliative care
• Women’s health
• Chronic pain clinic

Fellows are expected to be credentialed as general psychiatrists and take call as staff attendings, typically two 1-week call blocks.

The program places a large emphasis on functional neurological disorders, especially as they can manifest in the patient with a history of trauma as well as professional development regarding military medicine and the health care system.

Leadership opportunities include running the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service and leading multi-disciplinary meetings, among others.

Scholarly activity is expected during your fellowship year, but this can be tailored to the fellow’s specific interests and goals.

The program emphasizes an individualized approach to participate in Quality Improvement projects, often related to access to care for the medically complex patient.

Leadership opportunities include running the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service and leading multi-disciplinary meetings, among others.

• WRNMMC
• Inova Fairfax

The Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship can offer rotations to fourth-year psychiatry residents or visiting opportunities to practicing psychiatrists who want to return for additional training. Rotators will have an opportunity to work with both the inpatient and outpatient opportunities on the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service. Those interested should contact dha.ncr.walter-reed-med-ctr.list.ncc-consultpsych@health.mil as rotation logistics will depend on the applicant’s current situation.

Interested applicants should contact the program at dha.ncr.walter-reed-med-ctr.list.ncc-consultpsych@health.mil to schedule an in-person or virtual interview. Opportunities will be available to meet some of the core faculty and current fellows with both virtual and in-person interviews.

Program graduates take the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry board exam. This exam is offered bi-annually. To become fully board certified, applicants are eligible to take board certification exam immediately following graduation, provided they were certified in general psychiatry by December 31 of the year prior to the examination administration. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the ABPN by July 31 each year.

Opportunities for teaching include residents from psychiatry and other programs (neurology, internal medicine) and medical students rotating on the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service.

Occasional requests for teaching opportunities come from outside agencies such as the Armed Forces Retirement Home, advising their staff members and residents on topics such as suicide and mood disorders.

Fellowship faculty have diverse backgrounds, to include dual residencies in psychiatry and internal medicine, pediatrics, or family practice, plus fellowships in child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Mentorship opportunities exist with senior faculty at the Uniformed Services University and through professional societies.

Well-Being activities are partnered with the NCC Psychiatry Residency, as well as opportunities with other Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowships across the U.S.