• What do graduates of the program end up doing? The majority of recent graduates have gone into private practice. Many others have pursued other fellowships, such as forensics or substance abuse, or gone to work for the Department of Mental Health in community clinics, developmental clinics or various juvenile justice settings. A few other graduates have remained at UCLA as clinical, teaching or research faculty.
• I hear there are many internal candidates applying, what are my chances as an out-of-state applicant? The fellowship has a commitment to diversity, and we believe that fellows from different training programs contribute greatly to the richness of the training experience. Despite the high rate of matriculation from the UCLA adult psychiatry program, internal candidates are never guaranteed a spot in the fellowship before the interview and match process occur.
• How expensive is LA? It's not cheap and is more than many other U.S. cities but less so than New York City or San Francisco. Nearby graduate student housing provides a limited but affordable housing option. Current residents can also help you identify other less expensive areas of Los Angeles in which to live.
• What is call like? Call is divided among the first year fellows and consists of in-house call from 5pm-9pm on Mondays through Fridays. You may be paged roughly 0-4 times per night; however the average is one patient per night. All calls are for new evaluations, since floor issues are covered by the adult psychiatry residents on-call. After 9pm and on weekends, in-house call is covered by the adult residents, and the child fellows is on 'home call' and only has to come in to confirm the disposition plan for ER patients who have already been worked-up by the adult resident and are being discharged to go home. Typical weekend duty is light, 0-1 calls per weekend.
• I know UCLA is very research-oriented. Is this a research-heavy fellowship? Absolutely not. The goal of the fellowship is to produce well-trained clinicians who are capable of using and understanding the research base. Currently a research track is being established for those candidates who are interested in a more intensive research experience and faculty are available to mentor fellows who are interested in establishing a research career, but the focus of the fellowship is clinical.
• Is traffic in Los Angeles really that bad? Sadly so - the reputation is well-deserved, but there are many ways to avoid the mess. Some fellows live near enough to the hospital to walk or bike to work. Others live further away and time their commute or use public transportation to avoid the rush hour traffic.
• Is moonlighting allowed? Yes, but there are no moonlighting opportunities within the UCLA system. Most fellows find the first year too busy to look for additional work. Most of the second years have moonlighting jobs and there are many opportunities available, including starting a private practice, throughout the city.
• How much psychotherapy training is there in the training? This is variable depending on the individual fellow's interest. Requirements for therapy training are in place but are minimal (you need to see 3 patients for long-term therapy throughout your fellowship). That being said, fellows often exceed this requirement based on their individual interests and have several more patients than those required.

Call is shared by the first year fellows on alternating weekdays (Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs) and weekends (a single weekend of Fri, Sat, Sun). Over the course of the year, call is on roughly a q6 basis. There is no call in the second year.

Call consists of performing evaluations on new child patients who present to the ER and direct admits to the inpatient wards from 5-9pm Mon-Fri. After 9pm on weeknights and all day Sat and Sunday, these evaluations are done by the adult residents with help from the child faculty members on call.

After 9pm on weeknights and on the weekends, the child fellow has only 3 responsibilities. If a patient is evaluated by the adult resident in the ER after 9pm or on the weekend and deemed appropriate to be discharged home with family, then the child fellow is asked to come into the ER and see the patient to confirm the plan and discuss with the child attending (via phone). If a patient is boarding in the ER for a bed, the fellow is required to round on that patient and write a note and boarding orders (if not already done by the adult team). The final duty (only on weekends) is to come in to perform any physical exams on children admitted overnight whose physicals may not have been performed in the ER.

There is no rounding on inpatients on the weekends as this duty is covered by the faculty members.

Please return the completed application form as well as documents listed in the detailed instructions. Personal interviews for the clinical program will take place on Fridays on the following days:

• September 19, 2008
• October 10, 2008
• October 24, 2008
• November 14, 2008
• November 21, 2008
• December 5, 2008

Applicants interested in doing an additional year of research in child psychiatry following the completion of the clinical program will be interviewed on two days: Fridays specified above and preceding Thursdays.

Please note that if you are applying from a non-California training program and you attended medical school in the United States, we no longer require California medical license PRIOR to NRMP rank list deadline. Should you match with our program, however, you will be expected to start the application process in mid January and closely follow all deadlines. For details regarding licensure in California please refer to the California Medical Board website at www.medbd.ca.gov.

Please also note that if you are a foreign medical graduate, California has very strict (different) rules than many other states, and even if you have a US medical license there are special steps you must take. Please call Alicja Cziao, the training program coordinator, at (310) 794 3712 for clarification, to give you plenty of time to meet these special arrangements.

To make your interview day as informative as possible, your schedule is individually arranged. Therefore, we require a minimum of three weeks to arrange for appointments. Please provide either an e-mail address or fax number to which we can confirm your appointment date soon after we receive your application, and to which we can send details of your itinerary just 2 days before your appointment. If you will be traveling elsewhere just prior to your visit to UCLA please call or email us again with a number to which we can fax your schedule.

Our program complies with the policies and procedures of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and all six slots are filled through this program. You can sign up for it by calling (202) 828 0676 or at the website at www.nrmp.org. The due date to register with NRMP and to obtain the match number is December 17, 2008 for training starting on July 1, 2009. Notification of the NRMP results will take place on January 7, 2009.

INTERVIEW DAY SCHEDULE:

• 8:00-8:30 meeting with the program’s coordinator
• 8:30-9:30 breakfast with the faculty
• 10:00-12:00 individual meetings
• 12:00-1:00 lunch with the fellows
• 1:00-4:00 individual meetings
• 4:00-4:30 hospital tour with the chief fellows
• 4:30 social event with the fellows in a local restaurant

Summary:

To apply for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, please complete the following:

1. Download our application form (and PRESTO form).
2. Fill it out completely and legibly (see detailed instructions and checklist).
3. Attach supporting documents (or arrange for other materials, like letters of recommendation, to be mailed by their authors).
4. Submit your application via US Mail or the express courier of your choice.
5. Contact Alicja Cziao at the address below for an informational packet about our program.

All application materials should be directed to:

Alicja Cziao, Training Program Coordinator
760 Westwood Plaza, C8-225
Los Angeles, CA 90095
310-794-3712
acziao@mednet.ucla.edu