Residency Information

Salary:

• PGY-1- $58,220
• PGY-2 - $60,076
• PGY-3 - $62,220
• PGY-4 - $65,221

Chief Resident - $67,721

Benefits:

Residents uniquely receive employee medical/dental/vision insurance in addition to their salary

10 hours of sick leave accrued per month.

10 hours of vacation leave accrued per month.

Family medical/dental/vision available

Optional retirement program. (If you are employed with the State after residency your residency time counts towards retirement).

Paid Holidays: for State and Federal holidays

Multiple moonlighting opportunities are available for fully licensed residents.

Longevity Payment Program: annual bonus based on years of service

Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Retirement Savings Program through Pathfinder

Benefit Details

Students:  We have partnered with both the University Of Oklahoma College Of Medicine and the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine to offer core clerkship rotation sites.  We also offer electives to both in state and out of state students.  

 
We welcome international medical schools and have partnered with many Caribbean schools to provide core and elective rotations.   

Please contact Residency Coordinator Laura Verser for more information.

Observerships:   At Griffin Memorial Hospital we provide a one month long observership for international medical graduates.  The aim of this observership is to familiarize applicants to the U.S. healthcare system, particularly the mental health system.  Our observership is an excellent opportunity to learn detailed history taking and treatment planning of acutely mentally ill patients.   We currently have adult inpatient and outpatient sites available for the rotation.   
 

Eligibility Criteria:

IMG applicant applying to our program should meet following criteria:

1. Completed USMLE step 1, 2 hence ECFMG certified.  We prefer step 3 if the candidate has been out of clinical practice for more than 5 years.  
2. No more than two failed attempts in total on all 3 exams
3. No more than 7 years post-graduation from medical school unless the gap in training can be adequately explained by meaningful work experience

Application Process:

We offer 7 spots each month from February - October of each year.  We do not offer observerships in the months of Nov-Jan.  This time is reserved strictly for our second look observers and is by invite only based on the evaluation of their initial rotation with the program.  There are only 2 spots each month during this time and are offered based strictly on resident and attending recommendations.  

The completed application must be received at least ten weeks in advance of a start date requested.  This will allow for the application screening and the process of selection as explained below.  

The decision to offer an observership will be made after your application has been screened to meet eligibility criteria and at least 2 Skype based interviews; which will be conducted by our residents.  Once the decision has been made you will be informed by the program coordinator about the decision.  The timing is at the discretion of program coordinator based on available spots at any given point in time.  
Please keep in mind that completing an observership with the program doesn’t automatically result in an invitation for an interview for residency.  

Applications

A formal application should be submitted to the program coordinator 10 weeks in advance of the requested date.  The standardized applications such as an ERAS application are acceptable.  If ERAS application is not available the common application form can be substituted.

The following are required to be submitted to the Committee for consideration of participation in the program:

• Cover letter detailing desired rotation
• Completed Application (such as ERAS) or Common Application Form
• Curriculum vitae
• Two letters of reference
• USMLE score reports
• ECFMG certificate
• Documentation of up-to-date immunization record
• Passport size photograph for identification
• Background report from the state you are currently residing in.  If coming from overseas a police report dated within last three months must accompany your application.
• If you are registered on ERAS we accept the background check provided there.  

Cost:  There is a $400/month fee for the observership.

Evaluation: The evaluation of the observer is based on the rotation attending's feedback in addition to the rotating resident’s feedback.   Other formal or informal feedback includes general interaction with residents and faculty.  

Reference Letters: Candidates may request letters of reference from the teaching attending however; this is at the attending’s discretion to oblige or to not.   It is the candidates' responsibility to obtain such letters and not the responsibility of the program to furnish letters of recommendation.

MORNING REPORT:  All inpatient residents start their day with morning report, starting at 7:30AM to 8:00 AM, with the post call resident and Dr. Ardoin.  This is a formal check out with case discussion and on call issues, to get attending feedback and 1:1 teaching with residents.

QUARTERLY RESIDENT CONFERENCES: Grand rounds are led by 4th year residents once a quarter.  This involves a wide range of clinical and research topics that are presented in the lecture format and are followed by a question and answer session.  

JOURNAL CLUB is led by a resident monthly.  It consists of a resident presenting a clinical topic with relevant articles reviewed and then presented in a consolidated manner, to the staff and fellow residents.  

MORTALITY & MORBIDITY CONFERENCE is led by a PGY-3 residents once a quarter and includes presenting and reviewing a clinical case or incident of significance, in order to improve patient care and outcomes.  

JOURNAL REVIEW consists of one afternoon a quarter, dedicated to review of three to four journals in Psychiatry.  Each class is assigned a journal to review and are expected to present selected articles to the peer group, in a non-formal and non-classroom setting.  This is an opportunity to catch up on latest research and trends collectively as a group and cover a wide array of topics in one setting.

Residents have 8 hours of protected didactic time every week.  The schedule includes case based learning, Kaplan and Sadock review, DSM-5 review, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and essential readings in psychotherapy.  It also includes child and adolescent supervision, psychotherapy case conference, psychiatric interviewing, substance abuse for PGY-1 and 2 and advanced psychopharmacology for PGY-3, CBT class, family and child therapy, and advanced psychotherapy for PGY-3 and 4.  PRITE exam review is also a part of didactic time in August and September of each year.    
 
PROCESS GROUP: Our residents attend a weekly resident process group that is supervised by a none-institutional faculty member. The purpose of this group is to provide a protected space for residents to process the work and interpersonal dynamics of being a resident.

CASE CONSULTATION:  PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents attend weekly case conferences with Dr. Morris. This class consists of therapy case presentations by residents in a formal setting with transcribed notes from therapy sessions. PGY 1-3 attend a similar weekly case consultation led by Dr. Michael Garrett, focusing on CBT for psychosis (find more information at the bottom of the page).

THERAPY SUPERVISION:  All residents are required to carry therapy patients starting in their second year of their training. As a PGY-2, you carry 2 therapy patients and receive supervision for these patients during Dr. Morris's case conference classes. PGY-3 residents carry 4 therapy patients and receive their own therapy supervisor with whom they meet weekly. The supervisors are not affiliated with the program and the majority of them have psychoanalytical training and well-established psychotherapy practices.    
 

GUEST LECTURES:  Residents have been fortunate to attend 1-2 day workshops with out of state guest speakers.  Various guest speakers have included Lee Rather of Psychoanalytical Institute of Northern California and Pasqual Pantone of William Alanson Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in New York City, and Dr. Bruce Liese of University of Kansas to name a few.

CBT TRAINING AND SUPERVISION FOR PSYCHOSIS:  In October 2015, Griffin residents attended a two-day program with Dr. Michael Garrett of Suny Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Garrett focuses on treatment of psychosis with emphasis on therapy, especially CBT in psychosis. As a result of the training, a few residents with therapy cases started weekly supervision with Dr. Garrett after the didactic program. The residents later participated in a workshop with Dr. Garrett to present a new pilot program at AADPRT in Austin, TX in March of 2016. This pilot program at Griffin has been a didactic and supervision model geared towards training residents in psychotherapy of psychotic patients using CBT technique. Since then, the program has continued, and residents currently have weekly case presentations with Dr. Garrett over Zoom/Teams. For more information on Dr. Garrett's work, please visit his website.

PGY-1:
Inpatient and Emergency Psychiatry: 5 months at Griffin Memorial Hospital

Medicine: 3 months at Saint Anthony Hospital located in Oklahoma City, OK (call coverage by Saint's residents)

Emergency Medicine: 1 month at Norman Regional Hospital located in Norman, OK

Neurology: 2 months at the University of Oklahoma. 1 month on inpatient service and 1 month on consult service (call coverage by OU Neurology). Located in Oklahoma City, OK

Child and Adolescent: 1 month at the Children's Recovery Center (Crisis Unit), located in Norman, OK

PGY-2:
Inpatient and Emergency Psychiatry: 6 months at Griffin Memorial Hospital

Geriatric Psychiatry: 1 month at the VA in Oklahoma City, OK

Consultation Liaison: 1 month at the VA and 1 month at the University of Oklahoma. Both rotations are located in Oklahoma City, OK 

Child and Adolescent: 1 month at The Children's Recovery Center (Crisis Unit), located in Norman, Oklahoma

Forensic Psychiatry: 1 month divided between Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita, OK and local drug and mental health courts

Substance Abuse Treatment: 1 month at The Recovery Center in Oklahoma City, OK. This rotation may be substituted with an elective rotation during PGY-2 year and instead completed during PGY-4 year. 

PGY-3:
Outpatient clinic: 12 months at Central Oklahoma Community Mental Health Services, located in Norman, Oklahoma. Residents will have some telemedicine clinics through other state facilities such as NCBH and Jim Taliaferro Community Mental Health. There is an optional half day child clinic for residents interested in perusing a Child and Adolescent fellowship. 

PGY-4
Child and Adolescent: 1 months at The Children's Recovery Center (Residential Care Unit) in Norman, Oklahoma. Residents are responsible for treatment of patients with substance abuse

Inpatient Psychiatry: 1 month at Griffin Memorial Hospital

Consultation Liaison: 1 month at the VA or the University of Oklahoma. Both rotations are located in Oklahoma City, OK 

Substance Abuse Treatment: 1 month at The Recovery Center in Oklahoma City (if not already completed during PGY-2 year) 

Clinical Electives: 9 months of electives

• Outpatient:
  • Therapy cases
  • Medication management
  • Suboxone clinic 
  • Child clinic
  • Group therapy 
• PACT Team
• Living Hope Eating Disorder Treatment Center
• Research rotation 
• Interventional psychiatry: 
  • ECT 
  • TMS
  • Ketamine
• Sleep medicine 
• Sub-attending rotation in inpatient, geriatric, consult liaison, or outpatient 
• Other rotations are available through the University of Oklahoma such as LGBTQ clinic, Endocrinology, or Neurology

The thought of call is intimidating for most beginning residents.  Our PGY-1 residents have short call 5 PM to 10 PM from July 1st with direct supervision from an upper level on call resident who is on site.  They continue to have the same level of supervision on weekends for 12 hr. shifts by PGY-4 residents for a minimum of 8 weeks.  The PGY-4 sees patients with them, trains and helps interns in managing call prior to them graduating to solo call.  When the supervising residents and the faculty feel that the intern is functioning at an appropriate level, they are approved for solo call. All calls are supported by a back up attending regardless of PGY level.
 
PGY -1 call load is 4-5 calls a month. PGY-1 residents do only weekend call and 12 hour shifts in order to abide by ACGME duty hour rules.    

PGY 2-3 call load is 2-3 calls a month each and only weekdays.  They get a post call day other than the Friday call.  There is no weekend call for PGY-2 and 3.   

PGY -4 have no call duty after supervision call duties are complete.  

Holiday calls are 12 hour shifts for 11 to 12 state and federal holidays.  By the time residents start their 4th year and leave the call pool, everyone has done at least 5 holiday calls over the span of 3 years of call.  Each 12 hour holiday shift accrues compensatory time that can be used at a later day as annual leave per state policy.

PGY-1 Residents

Being an intern in any residency is exciting, intimidating and challenging but if you are a PGY-1 resident at Griffin, you can know that you will be offered plenty of support. Intern year is the hardest year of any residency program by default and it is no different for our interns as well. A typical year consists of inpatient rotations, medicine, and neurology as well as the child psychiatry rotation. A regular day on inpatient unit starts with a formal 30 min check out with Dr. Ardoin and the on call resident Monday through Friday at 7:30 am. After check out residents head to their assigned units and conduct treatment teams with their supervising faculty. These treatment teams last typically until noon. Residents complete their notes and take care of patient care needs later during the day. Inpatient residents also cover admission in the ER on designated days. Wednesday and Fridays are our didactic days in the afternoons. As interns we cover weekend shifts for the whole intern year to keep in line with ACGME work hour requirements. A typical weekend call consists of walk in evaluations, emergency detention patient admissions, house call coverage for our 4 inpatient units as well as admissions and house call coverage at the Children Recovery Center. As interns at Griffin, we get a minimum of 8 weeks of supervised call experience from July to August along with short call with supervision during those two months as well. Having upper level residents with us for 8 weeks helps us transition from students to residents and eventually transition into independent confident interns. While we are off campus for rotations, we follow the schedule set by the respective rotation.

Life as an intern is a blur at times but knowing that there are residents who have gone through this before us and are there to help us transition is definitely one of the best parts of being an intern at Griffin.

PGY-2 Residents

Transition to PGY-2 is a great time for our residents. Confidence continues to build from intern year and PGY-2's transition into more independent care. The whirlwind of intern year is behind us and it is time to settle down and assume the leadership role of helping the incoming intern class. Long gone are the weekend calls and we are ready to move into the weekday call pool with a post call day and a more consistent presence at Griffin. Second year consists mainly of inpatient months at Griffin, a child psychiatry month, two consultation liaison months at OUHSC, and a month of forensic medicine as well as telemedicine. A typical day on inpatient is similar for interns and 2nd years with the exception of a higher patient load for PGY-2's. As a PGY-2 you start to carry therapy patients and attend weekly therapy supervision with your supervisor. The didactic schedule remains the same for 2nd years and interns.

Life as a 2nd year is definitely less hectic and very well earned after a challenging intern year. This is also a time to have more consistent presence at GMH and a great time to bond with each other and fellow residents as you assume more of a leadership role in the program.

PGY-3 Residents

PGY-3 is the time to move on to the world of outpatient psychiatry. There are 12 months of outpatient clinic as a 3rd year resident. A typical day starts at 8:00 am, with med clinic Monday through Friday. Residents see patients in 30 min time slots for follow ups and 1.5 hour slots for new evaluations. We get supervision daily and attending are available at all times. A typical 3rd year carries approximately 150 patients for our case load. 3rd years are also able to choose from variety of tracks including therapy, child, substance, and med management. This year is essential for learning skills to establish self as an independent psychiatrist and get ready to graduate in a year. 3rd year call responsibilities are similar to 2nd year call responsibilities. As 3rd years we continue to see our therapy patients and supervisors for our therapy cases. 3rd years have didactics on Friday afternoons.
 
Life as a 3rd year resident is geared towards independent practice in preparation for life outside of residency. This is the year when most of us also start to moonlight and exert the skills we have learned so far as independent physicians.

PGY-4 Residents

This is the last year of residency. A year to get ready for graduation, start getting ready for board exams and variety of rotations including child residential unit, research, and clinical elective months. In addition as 4th year residents we do not have call duties other than the 8 weeks of initial supervision with the intern class. A typical day as a 4th year revolves around the rotation we are assigned to at the time.
 
Life as a 4th year is the last step towards finally saying good bye to life as a resident, moving on as fully trained physicians and taking on life as psychiatrists. It is exciting, intimidating and challenging much like the intern year, as the training comes full circle as we prepare for our careers in medicine.