A psychiatric fellowship in the United States

The development of subspecialty fields in psychiatry will likely motivate many new graduates of Canadian psychiatric residency programs to seek additional fellowship training. There is little information to guide psychiatric residents interested in arranging a fellowship year. This article discusses the experience of three Canadian psychiatrists who recently completed a fellowship year in a well known academic centre in the United States. The reasons for considering an additional year of training are discussed. The practical aspects of finding and funding a fellowship year are also addressed. The individual experiences of the authors as fellows in consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychobiology, and sleep disorders medicine are described. Finally, personal stresses which appeared to be commonly experienced by psychiatric fellows are explored.