Residency Program Overview

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About the Program

The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita offers a fully accredited ACGME four-year General Psychiatry Residency Program, approved for a total of 20 positions. We pride ourselves in having a program that prepares residents for the psychiatric career opportunities awaiting them when they finish their training. Clinical rotations include general hospital psychiatry units (Via Christi Behavioral Health), an outpatient clinic, in a clinical trial research setting, as well as a community psychiatry setting (COMCARE).

A major strength of our program is the extensive contact our faculty maintains with the residents. Residents on our clinical services meet with faculty daily. Our faculty has a wide range of interests and expertise. One of our faculty, Sheldon H. Preskorn, M.D., co-author of the Principles and Practice of Psychopharmacology, is a widely cited and internationally known psychopharmacology researcher. He is a graduate of the Washington University psychiatry program in St. Louis and has authored chapters in most of the current major psychiatric textbooks. Residents have considerable exposure to faculty psychiatrists who are involved with new developments in their fields, thereby becoming familiar with "the cutting edge." The small size of the program allows close, regular contact with the faculty.  Community volunteer faculty are actively involved in resident education.

Residents develop expertise in psychotherapy through regular supervision from experienced faculty in both psychiatry and clinical psychology. The department offers a neuropsychology internship and fellowship program that attracts top psychology graduates who enrich the program through their interaction with the psychiatry residents.
Members of our faculty are extensively involved with organized medicine. Jana Lincoln, M.D., is the current Kansas Psychiatric Society (KPS) President-Elect. Dr. George Dyck Emeritus professor and past chair of the department has served as past president of the Kansas Psychiatric Society, (KPS) the District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association. This broadens the perspective for residents in this day when cooperation among physicians on a national level is increasingly important.

Faculty members have been involved with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). All of our clinical faculty are board certified in general psychiatry, two in child and adolescent psychiatry, two with added qualifications in forensic psychiatry, three in psychosomatic medicine and four others with added qualifications in geriatric psychiatry. 
Other areas of expertise provided by faculty are in family systems therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and neuropsychological testing.  The expertise of our faculty is supplemented by a visiting speakers program (Grand Rounds) featuring prominent national experts.

Research opportunities are plentiful. In recent years residents, together with faculty, have published numerous journal articles, book chapters and have made presentations at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association as well as at other meetings. Residents have also received awards, including an award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for community service.

The KU School of Medicine-Wichita offers residencies in all major medical specialties with a total of over 200 residents, the majority of whom are in primary care specialties, giving our residents the opportunity to interact with trainees involved in all aspects of medicine.

The University of Kansas offers a graduate degree program to attain masters of public health through the Department of Preventive Medicine. This program is targeted for people already working in the health professions with classes held on weekday evenings. By starting in the PG-2 year, a resident could complete the M.P.H. during the three years of residency through devoting extra time and effort mostly in private study and some class time.

We value our residents' input into the program. Therefore, we annually arrange a resident retreat weekend for residents and their families. In addition to recreation, the residents produce an annual program evaluation report. The faculty takes the recommendations provided very seriously. Numerous improvements in the program have resulted from this process.

Our salary schedule is set by the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education (WCGME). Moonlighting is permitted after the first year, once a permanent license is obtained. A variety of opportunities are available. Currently, first and second-year residents have in-house call responsibilities; third-year residents have only "back up" duties by telephone. PGY3 residents also rotate doing weekend rounds on the geriatric psychiatry unit. PGY 4 residents do not have call responsibilities.