The department interfaces with all clinical and basic science departments within the West Virginia University School of Medicine, which supports resident access to a wide range of clinical, academic and research experiences. The residency training programs conducted by the department are based on a comprehensive study of the neurosciences and an appreciation for the complexities of human behavior. All psychiatry training programs meet the requirements of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and combined programs are additionally approved by the component boards. Faculty mentors for residents model the complementary roles of the psychiatrist as clinician, teacher and researcher. Residents are active participants in the educational activities of the department with supervised teaching responsibilities for medical students and other trainees.
Residents learn basic investigative principles used in the behavioral sciences.
All residents are expected to develop these skills during training through participation in research. Current research in the department includes investigation of trauma and anxiety disorders, Alzheimer's disease, behavioral physiology, responses to chronic illness, cognitive and memory dysfunction, services research on outcomes in serious mental illnesses, nicotine addiction, and cardiac disease prevention and treatment. The multi-disciplinary faculty in the department is committed to teaching excellence. Daily seminars build a firm foundation of contemporary conceptual models incorporating biological, behavioral, psychodynamic, and sociologic theories. Through direct patient care supported by individual and group supervision, residents develop the clinical techniques related to the application of these theories in varied settings.