Didactic Curriculum

Adjunct professor Dr. Mehul Mankad leads an Academic Half-Day session on Law and Psychiatry.
Adjunct professor Mehul Mankad, MD, leads an Academic Half-Day session on Law and Psychiatry.

Protected time for didactic learning (“Academic Half-Day”) takes place on Tuesday afternoons throughout the entire four years of training. Academic Half-Days consist of several components, including courses, weekly conferences and site-specific conferences. We aim for a mix of classes learning alone and inter-class educational experiences.

Academic Half-Day

Academic Half-Day courses address key topics in residents’ development as psychiatrists, ranging from systems to various psychotherapies to ethics. They vary in length from one to twelve months. See below to learn about the specific curriculum for each year of the residency.

  • Acute Care Interviewing (1 month)
  • Behavioral Agitation Management (0.5 months)
  • Electroconvulsive Therapy (1 month)
  • EDI Series: Structural Competencies (1 month)
  • Foundations of Psychiatry (12 months)
  • Geriatric Psychiatry and Aging (2 months)
  • Human Development (3 months)
  • Intern Process Group (11 months)
  • Mindfulness and Burnout (0.5 months)
  • Motivational Interviewing (1 month)
  • Psychotherapy in Acute Care Settings (2 months)
  • Residents as Teachers (2 months)
  • Site-Specific Clinical Introductory Series (1 month)
  • Art of the Psychiatric Consult (3 months)
  • Biological Psychiatry (BIOPSY) (10 months)
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (2 months)
  • Community & Social Psychiatry (3 months)
  • EDI Series: Social Determinants of Mental Health (1 month)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills (2 months)
  • Foundations of Psychotherapy (3 months)
  • Introduction to Acute Care Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Introduction to Outpatient Psychiatry (1 month)
  • Law and Psychiatry (4 months)
  • Orientation to Outpatient Psychiatry (0.5 months)
  • Pediatric Collaborative Care (1 month)
  • Quality Improvement / Patient Safety (2 months)
  • PGY2 Process Group (6 months)
  • Recovery Model for Treatment of Psychosis Through the Lifetime (1 month)
  • Sexuality and Gender (1 month)
  • Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (2 months)
  • Attachment and Trauma (1 month)
  • Biological Psychiatry (BIOPSY) (12 months)
  • Career Series I (2 months)
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (1 months)
  • Continuous Case Conference (4 months)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (2 months)
  • DukeLine
  • History of Psychiatry (2 months)
  • Interdisciplinary Approaches to Trauma (2 months)
  • Introduction to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy - Technique (6 months)
  • Palliative Care and Psychiatry (1 month)
  • PGY3 Process Group (6 months)
  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy I (6 months)
  • Quality and Patient Safety (1 month)
  • Substance Use Disorders (1.5 months)
  • Writing Seminar (1 month)
  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (2 months)
  • Addiction Psychiatry (1.5 months)
  • Advanced Topics in Community and Social Psychiatry (2 months)
  • Advanced Topics in Psychiatry (3 months)
  • Biological Psychiatry (12 months)
  • Capstone (2 months)
  • Career Series II (1 month)
  • Consolidations of Psychiatry: PGY4→1 teaching experience (4 months) 
  • Continuous Case Conference (4 months)
  • Eating Disorders (2 months)
  • EDI Series (Anti-Racism) (2 months)
  • Neuroscience, Philosophy & Psychotherapy (2 months)
  • Perinatal Psychiatry (1 month)
  • Prescribing Wisely (1 month)
  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy II (6 months)
  • Research Literacy (1 month)
  • Approaches to Inpatient Opiate Use Disorders
  • EDI Series 
  • QI (Incident Review, PDSA Cycle Project Review) 
  • Pharmacology Jeopardy
  • Residency Elective Fair, Residency Retreat, Class Feedback Exercise
  • Special Residency Education Days

Weekly conferences include:

  • Chair’s Conference
  • Med-Psych Conference
  • Psychiatry Grand Rounds
  • VA Evidence-Based Medicine Conference
  • Site-Specific Educational Conferences

Duke also provides many opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration and committee participation for interested residents.