Psychiatry Residency Columbia - Educational Goals

Preparing psychiatrists for a variety of settings

A major goal of the Prisma Health/University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia General Psychiatry Residency Program is to prepare psychiatrists to deliver comprehensive mental healthcare to patients and their families in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings, including the public sector and private practice.

The educational curriculum employs an approach to human behavior and mental illness that emphasizes the importance of biological, psychological, social, spiritual, and cultural factors. In addition to enhancement of clinical acumen, residents also have abundant opportunities to improve their teaching, presentation and research skills.

Graduate medical education is based on the principle of progressively increasing levels of responsibility in caring for patients under the supervision of faculty. Faculty members on each rotation, in collaboration with the training program, have developed competencies which clarify the goals and expectations for each rotation. Each postgraduate year has its own defined levels of competency in patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, problem based learning, systems-based practice and professionalism. Upon achieving these standards, residents are given more degrees of independence in patient care, with the guidance of attending supervisors. The residents are expected to engage in self-directed learning, independent reading, and scholarly activity.