Residency Program Overview

We believe that our program is something special. We urge you to consider our program if your interests lie in the area of psychiatry.

The Psychiatry Residency Program at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is located in Fargo, N.D. The University does not own a hospital, but instead uses community facilities, including Sanford Health, the largest provider in the region, as well as the Veterans Administration Medical Center, First Step Recovery, the North Dakota State Hospital, and community mental health centers in Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn. This has several advantages, including the fact that community sites must demonstrate their ability to work effectively with residents in order to be part of the program.

The program accepts six residents per year, and is known for having a personal approach to the welfare of each resident. The residents are intimately involved in all departmental bodies and influence departmental decisions, and they truly feel they are part of the system here.

Philosophically the program stresses developments in psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry while still maintaining a strong base in psychotherapy training, particularly with an emphasis on skills and knowledge in delivering and supervising manual-based, structured forms of psychotherapy. The Aims of our program guide the training (see below).

The Psychiatry Residency Training Program has implemented training in telemedicine-delivered clinical services. The use of telehealth networks can assist behavioral health and primary care providers to improve healthcare services for medically underserved populations in rural and urban areas. Concentrated primarily in years 3 to 4 of the residency, telemedicine training includes clinical care and consultation services.

The residency allows for extensive time in the fourth year for elective experience. During this year, residents can subspecialize in various areas ranging from rural psychiatry to clinical research.

The Psychiatry Residency is nested in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, a multi-disciplinary department that includes psychiatry, psychology, neurology, neurosurgery, and neuroradiology. Therefore, despite the fact that the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is small, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science is large with a total faculty of approximately 130 statewide, mostly clinical faculty. Because of this, residents are given opportunities to interact with colleagues in related neuroscience fields. Dr. Andrew McLean serves as chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science is also gifted in terms of research opportunities because of a close affiliation with the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, which has joined Sanford Research, having many years of excellence in the region.

Program Aims

The Aims of the UND School of Medicine Psychiatry Residency Program are to:

• Prepare residents to practice compassionate, patient centered care in a variety of settings
• Strong interprofessional collaboration
• Excellent critical thinking skills and scientific knowledge

Many of our graduates will practice general adult psychiatry in our geographical region utilizing telemedicine and outreach.  This much needed service reduces mental health disparities and improves the health of our state.  Public and private settings are utilized in the training, providing a diverse patient population.

We adapt to individual resident's interests of pursuing fellowships and research opportunities.  Our residents gain expertise in strategies for lifetime learning through the program's emphasis on reviewing and comprehending recent literature and applying evidence based practice.  Personal wellness and resilience skills are encouraged.   Our program works to support the development of our faculty’s teaching skills and scholarly activities.

The University of North Dakota Psychiatry Residency Program is notable due to the diverse settings of training, the focus on rural mental health, eating disorder experience, clozapine clinic rotation and telemedicine service to state-wide locations.