The General Psychiatry Residency Program of Palmetto Health Alliance and the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine is the outgrowth of a unique partnership between academic and public psychiatry. This partnership supports general and child and adolescent psychiatry residencies, a fellowship in forensic psychiatry, as well as training programs for other mental health professions. The training emphasizes a multi-disciplinary approach to mental health services, community liaison and public service, while simultaneously promoting academic excellence and research. Established in 1963, the four-year General Psychiatry Residency Program produces skilled clinicians capable of treating complicated patients in public, private, inpatient and outpatient settings using multiple treatment modalities. Six residents are accepted each year.
Clinical programs stress training in both psychotherapeutic and somatic interventions.
Following separate didactic introductions to psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, family and group therapy, residents have required supervision of cases by general psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, and other therapists who specialize in each modality. Biologic therapies are reviewed repeatedly in a four-year psychopharmacology curriculum. The program is stimulating and challenging, offering a number of opportunities for professional and academic development. A major goal of our General Psychiatry Residency Program is to prepare psychiatrists to deliver comprehensive mental health care to their patients and their families in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings, including the public sector and private practice. An approach to human behavior and mental illness that emphasizes the importance of biological, psychological and social factors is employed.