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The curriculum in biological psychiatry includes biological psychiatry, consultation-liaison, introductory psychopharmacology, and advanced psychopharmacology seminar series. The biological psychiatry seminar series covers neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, genetics, and brain imaging, and the biology of emotion, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, childhood psychiatric disorders, and substance abuse. The consultation-liaison series and child psychiatry lectures review delirium, dementia, Tourette's, and psychiatric manifestations of AIDS, seizure disorders, head injury, stroke, and other neurological disorders. Through the introductory and advanced psychopharmacology series, clinical supervision, the University Medical Center ECT program, a "refractory treatment" elective, readings, and clinical experience residents develop a working knowledge of each of the established somatic treatments of psychiatric disorders. The curriculum is designed to give each resident an understanding of the biological factors that are involved in the development and treatment of psychiatric disorders, an appreciation for emerging developments in research, and the knowledge and skills needed to address biological issues in the evaluation and treatment of patients with psychiatric problems.
Clinical neuropsychology is an applied science concerned with the behavioral expression of brain dysfunction. The neuropsychology program in the Department of Psychiatry provides comprehensive assessment of higher mental functions of patients with known or suspected brain dysfunctions. Follow-up counseling with patients and their families is often implemented.
Psychology interns and residents have the opportunity to work with a variety of cases that illustrate brain-behavior relationships. A neuropsychological assessment is a process evaluation in which standardized tests are used as a source of core information. Qualitative observations, which may involve non-standardized tasks, supplement this basic information to answer specific questions about brain functioning. Among the cases referred to the program are patients with intractable epilepsy, neuropsychiatric disorders, tumors, head injuries, strokes and degenerative conditions.
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