Our Child Fellowship Program offers an array of experiences and challenges. During the first year of the fellowship, we primarily work inpatient and see both pre-adolescents and adolescents at our 18-bed child unit.
To have a wider and immersive experience, we also go to a rural psychiatric facility, Royal Oaks Hospital in Windsor, MO, and treat pre-adolescents to have an exposure to various other psychopathology and psychosocial problems in this age group. In addition, during the first year as a part of the Child Consult Liaison Services, we evaluate children in the University Hospital ER and cover consults at the Children's Hospital.
During the second year of our fellowship, we work in different outpatient clinics both at the University as well as in the community. We have the privilege to work at the Thompson Center, a primary center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental disorders in Missouri where we work with pediatricians, psychologists, behavioral analysts and social workers to provide comprehensive care to patients. We also get to work with the Juvenile Justice System and Division of Youth Services and treat children in these institutions, sometimes through telemedicine.
Our education is very important to our leadership, therefore, we have speakers from different facilities as well as our own who present lectures during didactics every Wednesday. Emphasis is placed on learning and experiencing child psychotherapy and gaining first-hand experience by working in the Child Clinic. We get to learn normal child development by observing children at play in a supervised day care. In addition, we are sent out to the community to learn from different resources and programs in order to provide better case coordination for our patients. We also work with Columbia Public Schools and provide our expertise in behavioral problems by working with a team of psychologists, teachers and behavioral analysts. As a part of becoming well rounded Child Psychiatrists, we are strongly encouraged to do scholarly work, research and attend conferences to gain more exposure to current trends in our field. We have excellent leadership at the helm who provide us with a safe and secure environment to flourish. To top it all, we do not have call shifts! If you are interested in Child Psychiatry, this is the place to be!
-Meelie Bordoloi
