Course Descriptions

During the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, fellows are required to participate in several seminars, conferences and rounds during their time at Nationwide Children's Hospital. These courses are listed below along with a brief description.

Year I

Summer Introductory Course    

This introductory course includes basic interviewing skills of children and adolescents in both lecture and live interview format. Presentations are given on the most frequently encountered diagnoses of childhood mental illnesses as well as treatments including psychopharmacology and various psychotherapeutic modalities. Crisis management techniques and safety assessments are also reviewed.

Normal Childhood Development and Neurodevelopment

This course reviews normal development of children and adolescents. An initial overview of physical development is presented by faculty from the Behavioral Pediatrics Division of Behavioral Health and the Adolescent Pediatric Division of the Department of Pediatrics. Subsequent lectures include normal psychological development of children and adolescents beginning from prenatal development to adulthood. Topics include an overview of the biopsychosocial model of human development and development phases and major development tasks including organization of mental structure and maturation of physical capabilities and cognitions. Major developmental theorists are covered including Freud, Piaget and Kohut.

Psychopathology and Evidence-Based Treatment Modalities

This course provides complete up-to-date DSM descriptions of various childhood mental disorders including etiology, phenomenology and diagnostic criteria. Diagnoses include the disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety disorders, affective disorders, attention disorders, psychotic disorders, substance abuse disorders and gender and elimination disorders. The course will then review many types of treatment modalities to address these disorders, which are further discussed in the pharmacology course and therapy models course below.

Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology

The course aims to provide the necessary background and practical information critical to the successful psychopharmacologic treatment of children and adolescents. The course will review the pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, proposed benefits, efficacy and side effects of the major medication classes used in children and adolescents.

Evidence-Based Therapy Models

Various evidenced based therapies are reviewed including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Incredible Years and Parent Management Training, Motivational Interviewing and Multi-Systemic Therapy. The historical background on these therapies, the description of these interventions and the appropriate use of these tools are described.

Social Welfare and Systems of Care

The course covers various topics including foster care, special needs in education and social issues. Content is taught by a multidisciplinary team engaged in research and provision of services in this area.

Pediatric Medical and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

The course will introduce fellows to principles of consultation-liaison psychiatry in pediatric and other general medical settings. Relevant issues include the medical differential diagnosis of psychiatric symptoms, delirium, the relationship between physical and mental health, coping with chronic physical illness, psychopharmacology in the physically ill child and the assessment and management of medically unexplained physical symptoms in youth.

Family Therapy Course

This course provides further development of this mode of treatment that would have been introduced in adult training. Emphasis is given to treatment of children and their families in the context of childhood mental illness. Several models of family therapy are covered including Structural Family Therapy, Strategic Family Therapy, and Evidenced Based Models of Family therapy including Functional Family Therapy and Multi-systemic therapy.

Year II

Child Ethics, Advocacy and Forensics

This course will review the AACAP Code of Ethics and utilize the AACAP vignette-based curriculum to understand beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, fidelity and justice. This course also aims to provide an overview of forensic child and adolescent psychiatry, intended to prepare trainees to interact with the legal system as an expert witness or a court appointed evaluator. Topics covered include family and child welfare laws, child custody, competency to stand trial, juvenile justice, violence and mental illness.

Introduction to School Consultation

This course is an introduction to educational planning and consultation, describing the range of private and community school related services available to children with special needs.

Readiness to Practice and Career Development Seminar

This course is offered to assist fellows in the next phase of their clinical career. Typically, little time is spent in medical training on preparation for entering the workforce. Preparation of Curriculum Vitae is only the first step on this road. Course content will help fellows understand the nuances of post graduate choices in the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Billing structures, contracts and differences between academic versus private practice will be discussed. The differences between community versus hospital practice is explored.

Years I and II

How to Talk to Children and Adolescents

The course aims to provide an introduction to, and a practicum in, play therapy and other psychodynamic techniques for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents. Additionally it will review developmental models through a psychodynamic lens.

Research Literacy

This course will address research literacy and how to incorporate research into clinical practice via exposure to key studies (MTA, PATS, TADS, CAMS) and research paradigms (imaging, instruments used, epidemiological and implementation research).

Literature Seminar/Journal Club

Fellows select an article on a topic of importance in child and adolescent psychiatry (with faculty approval), review the article strengths and weaknesses including methodology and present key points to their peers and attending faculty, who facilitate discussion.

Psychiatry Grand Rounds at Ohio State

Weekly presentation of clinical and research-based finding relevant to the practice of psychiatry. Topics are often specific to child and adolescent psychiatry.

Pediatrics Grand Rounds

Weekly presentation of clinical and research based findings relevant to the care of children and adolescents, including emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, as well as problems coping with chronic illness. Some topics are specific to child and adolescent psychiatry and include presentations by Child and Adolescent Psychiatry faculty.

Interdisciplinary Case Conference at Nationwide Children’s

Fellows present challenging cases on a monthly basis with the faculty from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Developmental Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine and Child Abuse.

Clinical and Translational Research Series at Nationwide Children’s

This is a monthly seminar series designed to address fundamental concepts in research training. Topics include biostatistics and research design, for example.

Fellowship Core Competency Lecture Series at Nationwide Children’s

This is a monthly lecture series reviewing the six core competencies in a manner that relates directly to fellows’ practice. Topics include Recognizing and Managing Burnout, Social Determinants of Health and Handover Communication, for example.

QI Education Overview

This is a mandatory 2-hour course provided each year by Nationwide Children’s. Nationwide Children’s uses the Institute for Healthcare Improvement QI model. Trainees must demonstrate knowledge of key components of an Aim Statement, identify major causes (Key Drivers) that influence the Aim, implement at least one test of change (intervention/Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle and use data to determine if changes have led to improvement (within their own projects).

This QI education prepares trainees to consistently work in a well-coordinated manner to achieve health care QI goals. It will also enable fellows to fulfill Part 2 and Part 4 Maintenance of Certification requirements of their relevant American Board of Medical Specialties Board(s).