The PGY-2 year provides opportunities for more independence in the care of acutely ill psychiatric patients. Residents work more autonomously in inpatient, hospital consultation/liaison and emergency room settings, solidifying skills and building self-confidence.

A typical schedule is:

• 5 months of inpatient psychiatry at the state hospital, John Umstead
• 2 months of consultation/liaison psychiatry, 1 month of inpatient geropsychiatry and 1 month of emergency room "night float" at Duke Hospital
• 1 month of child psychiatry at either the Child Psychiatric Institute or the University of North Carolina Hospitals
• 1 month of addiction psychiatry at Fellowship Hall
• 1 month of “day float” at the Durham VA Medical Center to relieve the post-call intern

The Consultation/Liaison service at Duke Hospital builds on the experience of the intern year, offering opportunities to work with patients with complex medical and surgical illnesses as a valued consultant to our Medicine colleagues.

At John Umstead Hospital (JUH), our affiliated state hospital, residents put their skills to the test as they a re given more independence in medical decision-making for their patients. Attending supervisors do not carry their own patients, but supervise residents' patients and provide cross-coverage for residents when residents are absent for clinic or the Academic Half-day. Attending supervisors are fulltime employees of JUH and also hold faculty appointments at Duke University Medical Center , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where they spend 4-8 hours per week pursuing clinical or scholarly activity. The John Umstead experience is highly rated b y residents for the chance to function autonomously and consolidate their learning.