Structured didactics + collaborative conferences in child and adolescent psychiatry
At Tufts Medicine, our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship offers a comprehensive didactic curriculum designed to deepen clinical expertise and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Weekly seminars, including skills building and knowledge base sessions, cover a wide array of topics such as child development, ADHD, mood disorders and trauma-informed care. Fellows also participate in monthly Neurobehavioral Conferences alongside Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology divisions, enhancing their ability to approach complex cases from multiple perspectives. This structured educational framework ensures fellows are well prepared for the diverse challenges in child and adolescent mental health care.
Fellowship weekly schedule + training calendar
Monday: N/A
Tuesday:
- 12:00-1:00 pm: Neurobehavioral Conference (monthly)
Wednesday — Weekly Didactics:
- 9:00-10:15 am: Skills Building Seminar
- 10:30 am-12:00 pm: Knowledge Building Seminar
- 12:00-1:00 pm: Fellows lunch
- 1:00-2:00 pm: Journal Club & Case Conference
Thursday:
- 12:00-1:00 pm: Psychiatry Grand Rounds (weekly)
Friday: N/A
Interdisciplinary conferences for child psychiatry fellows
Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds
Psychiatry Grand Rounds are open to the entire department and take place on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. Guest speakers present special topics and current research in psychiatry, neuropsychology, neurology, medicine and basic sciences such as molecular biology and genetics. Discussion is encouraged.
Neurobehavioral Conference
The divisions of Development Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry meet monthly to discuss topics and cases that are relevant to all three fields. A fellow from each division presents a case and leads the discussion.
Weekly Wednesday Didactics
- Skills Building Seminar: Skills Building Seminars are composed of both video reviews and case conferences, which are presented by fellows on a rotating basis. These may include interviews with child/adolescent patients, family interview sessions and consultation issues. Also included within this seminar series are talks from invited speakers to discuss various topics of interest. Past topics have included: Applied Behavior Analysis, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Adoption and Narrative Family Therapy.
- Knowledge Base Seminar: Knowledge Base Seminars are part of a two-year curriculum designed to provide fellows with a comprehensive education on a wide variety of psychiatric issues. During the summer months (July and August), first and second-year fellows are separated; first-year fellows attend Summer Orientation and Introduction to Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, while second-year fellows attend Transition to Practice seminars. For the remainder of the year, all CAP fellows attend seminars together. Topics include: Child Development, ADHD, CD/ODD, Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety, OCD, Attachment, PTSD, Poverty, Advocacy, Med/Psych and Consultation / Liaison, School Consultation, Forensics, High Risk Children & Adolescents.
- Journal Club and Case Conference: Journal Club is held monthly. One fellow is assigned to provide the article and lead the discussion. Historical papers in the field of Child Psychiatry are reviewed, as well as contemporary articles to answer clinical questions. During Case Conferences, fellows are assigned on a rotating basis to present an outpatient treatment case to an interdisciplinary group.
- Seminar Series: In addition to the above-mentioned lectures, fellows are expected to attend 4-6 series of lectures that are focused on specialized topics. These topics include:
- PsychopharmacologyPsychotherapy, including CBT, DBT, Mentalization Based Therapy, Play Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Family Therapy
- Neuropsychological testing
- Attachment-Based Child Development (ABCD Series): This unique series is taught using a flipped classroom model in collaboration with the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatric division.
Some of these series are run by faculty in the division. Psychopharmacology and psychotherapy lectures are often presented by invited speakers from other institutions, in order to gain exposure to viewpoints from a variety of practitioners within the community, as well as from other academic institutions.
