Training Sites
We are a large program that has access to a variety of clinical training sites, each of which provides residents with a unique learning experience.
Through research, education, and patient care, these scientists are unraveling the mysteries of complex human behavior. Researchers are identifying the biological, psychological, behavioral, and socio-cultural underpinnings of the human experience, as well as the causes and consequences of disorders ranging from autism, addiction, and Alzheimer’s disease, to depression, developmental disability, and multiple sclerosis.
The Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA (RNPH), a 74-bed acute psychiatric hospital, is among the leading centers in the world for comprehensive patient care, research, and education in the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities, and neurology. A key part of UCLA Health System, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital is the major psychiatry teaching facility of the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences. The staff of Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital is composed of faculty from the departments of psychiatry, neurology, medicine, and pediatrics as well as members from the professional disciplines of nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, speech pathology, social work, and special education. Patients of the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and their families participate actively in their plan for treatment, during hospitalization, and after discharge, and special procedures and personnel are employed to ensure the most effective involvement of families in the care of patients.
300 Medical Plaza is an ambulatory care teaching and clinical care facility located across the street from the Semel Institute, which is a major site for outpatient psychiatric care, education, and research.
Founded in 1955, the UCLA Medical Center became the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in 2008, reopening in a new 10-story structure (eight above ground) that takes hospital design to a new level. It is the biggest construction project in the history of the University of California. The center, which houses the UCLA Medical Center, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, and the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital (RNPH) at UCLA, is a technological and architectural masterpiece designed to meet the evolving needs of a 21st-century patient care and research center. Our residents play the role of psychiatric consultants in this hospital, both in the Emergency Department and on the medical/surgical units.
The West Los Angeles VA Medical Center is a 500-bed hospital complex affiliated with the UCLA School of Medicine. Over 230 residents are currently completing training in 20 specialties. The Psychiatric Section is a 45-bed service, with an emphasis on acute intensive care, which offers a wide range of treatment and investigative approaches for patients with acute and chronic illness. The diverse inpatient, partial hospital, and outpatient services include both general and specialized (for patients with schizophrenia, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, alcoholism and substance abuse, family problems, geriatric mental disorders, neurobehavioral disorders, and mixed medical-psychiatric disorders) treatment units.
Extensive rehabilitation services are available for patients with chronic illness. Community psychiatry outreach programs are also available. Our residents have the opportunity to gain experience with all of the major psychiatric syndromes, to learn to work within a team structure, and to gain exposure to a full variety of clinical treatment modalities. We encourage residents to collaborate with faculty on research projects as time and other resources allow.
The VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center is a large outpatient medical complex located in the San Fernando Valley. Our residents spend 2 months there during intern year completing their Ambulatory Medicine rotation.
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a world famous 500 bed acute general hospital that provides a rare combination of academic excellence and the rich patient flow of a major public teaching hospital. Jointly administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the hospital contains distinguished departments and training programs in all major specialties, and the Department of Psychiatry is in its fifth decade of research, training, and service to patients and their families. Our residents spend one month rotating here in the Psychiatric Emergency Department during their intern year.
During the PGY-3 or 4 years, residents with an interest in global mental health can conduct 1-month rotation at the Tintswalo Hospital in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Psychiatry residents rotating at Tintswalo work daily in primary care clinics with a general practitioner who has advanced training in mental health to evaluate and treat patients with psychiatric illnesses in a rural community setting. Residents also play an active role in teaching and training nurses and physician assistants to evaluate psychiatric disorders that are commonly seen in rural clinics including depression, new onset psychosis, postpartum mental disorders, psychiatric complications of illness such as HIV/AIDS, and post-traumatic disorders. Psychiatry faculty from UCLA provide telesuperivison via online video conference to discuss cases the residents have seen in the clinic. Given that practicing psychiatry in South Africa presents numerous barriers including access to medication and treatment and understanding of the cultural perspective on mental illness, the residents will rely on feedback and instruction from local staff and health care providers to ensure that they are delivering culturally competent and evidence based care. The long-term goals of this experience are to train residents that will continue to work in community-based and international settings (academic, research, non-profit, governmental, clinical, etc.) where mental health care access is limited in the context of a profound cultural stigma against mental health.
In addition to the core training sites at UCLA and the VA, our residents also have the option of rotating in a variety of partner sites throughout the Los Angeles area. For more information, see the Community and External Clinics sections of the Clinics page.
Our residents have access to each of the several psyhoanalytic centers in the Los Angeles area, including:
- New Center for Psychoanalysis: newcenterforpsychoanalysis.org
- Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis: icpla.edu
- LA Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies: laisps.org
- Jung Institute: junginla.org