The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine is committed to providing high quality educational experiences in psychiatry for the medical students at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. The main clinical educational venue is a 4-week clerkship during their third year.  

Curriculum

Patient Care

Students are assigned to a week-long primary clinical services which include

  • General Inpatient Unit
  • Child and Adolescent Unit
  • Consultation
  • Emergency Psychiatry Service

During the clerkship, students also attend outpatient clinics and have experience in Homeless outreach treatment program and observation of intensive outpatient group treatment. Students will also have observation of ECT treatments.  

Electives

Fourth-year medical students can participate in a variety of elective rotations including:

  • Outpatient Psychiatry
  • Consultation Psychiatry
  • State Mental Hospital
  • Rural Mental Health

Opportunities in Advanced Inpatient Management experiences (AIMs) in Adult Inpatient and Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry in addition to clinical experiences for Physician Assistant Students from the Physician Assistant Program at Wake Forest University.

Conferences

Clinical experiences are supplemented with

  • Didactic presentations
  • Small group case conferences
  • Chairman’s Rounds
  • Bi-weekly Grand Rounds

Weekly student case presentations are also part of our Clerkship. Clinical interviewing and assessment skills are the focus of weekly Preceptor meetings.  (Medical students beginning their clerkship should report for orientation to the Sticht Center at 10:00 am on the first Monday of their rotation.)

How to Apply

Applications for an acting internship rotation in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine are accepted through the Visiting Student Application System (VSAS). Applications will be accepted according to the dates in VSAS. Applications must be submitted 60 days prior to the requested rotation, and per university policy, all visiting students must rotate on the School of Medicine’s block dates.

Scholarship and Grants may be available for Clerkship programs. Extramural Medical Students can apply for fourth year electives in psychiatry by contacting the Office of Student Services at Wake Forest School of Medicine.