The UC Davis Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Internal Medicine enthusiastically support the combined Internal Medicine-Psychiatry (IMP) Residency Program.  The IMP Program, which began in 2007, is a 5-year residency program in which residents complete requirements for both internal medicine and psychiatry training.  At the end of the 5 years, graduates are board-eligible in both specialities.  

Residents work in a collaborative program between the Internal Medicine and Psychiatry Residency Training Programs. These two programs are both very strong and highly regarded nationally, and both are ACGME-accredited.  IMP residents work on rotations in each department, but also have special activities, seminars and rotations that integrate these two fields, with a strong focus on treating the patient and not just a disease.

In addition to dedicated staff from both departments, we currently have six dually trained faculty members in general medicine and psychiatry, all of whom are full-time internal medicine/psychiatry supervisors and mentors. Moreover, our two internal medicine/psychiatry clinics, VA psychiatric intensive care unit, and county-based, special population inpatient unit are all staffed by “med/psych” faculty.  We believe these unique clinical sites and the relatively high number of dually trained faculty are essential components for a top-notch internal medicine/psychiatry training experience.

Between the UC Davis Family Medicine/Psychiatry and Internal Medicine/Psychiatry Programs, we have a total of 15 residents and look to expand further by July 2013.  In 2009, our two combined training programs were awarded a 6-year grant of $2.8 million from the California Department of Mental Health to create the Integrated Medicine/Psychiatry Ambulatory Residency Training (IMPART) Program.  This has helped to build our combined programs and we are developing a replicable and integrative “Med/Psych” curriculum that can be used at other training programs. Part of this curriculum includes the development of a text titled, Lippincott’s Primary Care Psychiatry.  This recent publication was a collaborative effort from residents and faculty in the Departments of Psychiatry, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine, and serves as an important learning tool for those who wish to learn more about the practice of psychiatry within the primary care setting.

UC Davis Internal Medicine-Psychiatry residents are natural leaders in their community and are involved in many extracurricular scholarly activities.  Over the past five years, our residents have collectively published widely in peer-reviewed journals and national clinical guideline resources (e.g. American College of Physician’s Information and Education Resource or PIER Depression Module).  Our residents and most recent graduate have been selected to numerous prestigious fellowships and leadership positions during residency training, including: 

• The American College of Psychiatrists Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) Fellowship
• The American Psychiatric Association Leadership Fellowship
• The Gene Cohen Fellowship for the Committee on Aging
• The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
• The Ingrid and Dr. Allan Anderson Honor Scholar, American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry
• Central California Psychiatric Society Council Member
• Our most recent and first graduate, Margaret Leung, was selected as the 2011 Association of Medicine and Psychiatry Combined Resident of the Year (Fenton Award).
• Our current chief resident, David Hsu, has been accepted to the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital (starting in July 2013).

If you would like to learn more about our innovative curriculum and get a preview of the program by meeting the residents and staff, we offer a one-month internal medicine/psychiatry elective rotation.

If you have an interest in combined internal medicine and psychiatry training, please do not hesitate to contact us directly with any questions. The best first contact is to Dr. Keenan.  His contact information is listed below.

Craig R. Keenan, M.D.
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Training Program
E-Mail: craig.keenan@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Office: 916-734-2393

Jessica Ferranti, M.D.
Training Director, Psychiatry Residency Training Program
E-Mail:  jessica.ferranti@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Office: 916-734-3294