Tracks
We offer three different UCLA Psychiatry Residency tracks to which you can apply. The California State Board of Medical Examiners accepts each of our programs as a fulfillment of the requirements for state licensure. Each track has a different NRMP number to use when creating your rank list.
Most people apply to the regular General/Categorical Psychiatry Track. Our Research Track, open to two residents each year, includes protected research time throughout residency. Our Community Psychiatry/Harbor Track places one intern each year at the LA County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, for an in-depth exposure to community psychiatry and medicine.
General/Categorical Track: NRMP 3030400C0
12 positions are available in the General/Categorical track. Combined with the Research and Harbor tracks, a total of 15 residents make up each class.
Research Track: NRMP 3030400C1
The Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences allocates two residency positions each year for trainees who have already demonstrated substantial promise as academic researchers, primarily M.D./Ph.D. or those with equivalent training in research.
During the period of training, research track residents will meet all requirements of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology to be eligible for board certification examinations. They will also receive training and experiences individually designed to promote their proficiencies and potential for research careers, with a view toward preparing them for academic positions as independent investigators. Research track residents will be assigned mentors to help guide their research training and career development.
Please see our Research Track page for more information.
Community Psychiatry/Harbor Track: NRMP 3030400C2
The Community Psychiatry/Harbor track is a unique opportunity for one UCLA resident per class to spend their first year of training at the LA County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. This resident then joins the general and research track residents at UCLA for PGY-2 through 4. The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a 500 bed acute general hospital located approximately 20 miles south of the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center. This is an extremely popular option for those applicants who want to receive training at UCLA but wish to receive a greater emphasis in community psychiatry, treating underserved populations, or obtaining experience working within a county system.
The LA County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center provides public mental health care to more than two million people in LA County. The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has its own psychiatry residency program, which is a separate residency program from the main UCLA program. The Harbor-UCLA residency program has an intimate class size of about 7 residents per class, and is often described as a program with a highly personal, family feel to the residency culture. The service areas and treatment teams are directed by faculty from the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine.
The UCLA resident who matches into the Harbor track spends their entire internship year at the Harbor campus. During this time, the UCLA resident essentially becomes a part of the Harbor-UCLA psychiatry residency, rotating through the same services and taking part in the same didactics as the residents in the Harbor-UCLA training program. As such, the Harbor track resident is considered an employee of LA County during this first year and thus receives the salary and benefits of a Harbor-UCLA resident. During PGY2 and onward, the Harbor track resident then becomes an employee of UCLA and receives UCLA housestaff salary and benefits. The UCLA residents who have matched at the Harbor track find this unique, year-long experience an essential component of their education and training, and find that it adds a dimension to their training not easily available through the regular UCLA residency track.
Optional: After your interview, you may wish to contact Dulce Madrid (dvmadrid@mednet.ucla.edu) who can introduce you to current or former Harbor track residents.