The orientation period includes the first two weeks of the internship and covers such topics as departmental structure, standard operating procedures, a tour of the hospital, rotational competencies, preparing individual development plans, the importance of dissertation completion, seminar scheduling, office assignments, etc. As with every other newly reporting staff member, the intern will spend a full week during the first month attending hospital orientation and will attend training on the military electronic health record for clinical documentation.
II. Clinical Rotations
A. Adult Outpatient Rotation (16 Weeks): The Outpatient Rotation offers interns the opportunity to develop the necessary competencies that they will require to provide appropriate care in hospital and operational environments. These opportunities include experience with a variety of general mental health evaluations, military-specific evaluations, and experience in providing psychotherapy. Military evaluations include: Command Directed Mental Health Evaluations, Deployment Screenings, plus evaluations for: Drill Sergeant, Fitness for Duty, Sniper, Recruiter, Security, and Temporary Disability and Retirement. Additionally, the intern will co-facilitate a therapy group and participate in at least one couple's therapy case during the rotation. Interns will learn how to assess and manage risk for self-directed and other-directed aggression, as well as learn how and when to refer patients to more intensive or controlled treatment environments. Interns will gain experience communicating with military commands regarding Service member's performance and fitness for duty. Didactic experiences include reading and discussion related to military-specific issues as well as profession-wide competencies. The residents will also gain experience in managing their appointment template and in the logistics of administrative management in an outpatient clinic.
B. Psycho-Diagnostic Assessment Rotation (16 Weeks): The Psycho- Diagnostic Assessment Service at WRNMMC receives testing referrals from the Inpatient Psychiatry Service, the Psychiatry Continuity Service, the Trauma Recovery Program, the Adult Behavioral Health Clinic at WRMMMC as well as from other Military Treatment Facilities within the National Capital Area. The training goals of this rotation include; familiarizing the Navy interns with the most frequently used psychological assessment measures in Navy and other military settings, developing an understanding of the administration and interpretation of these measures, as well as gaining experience working in a consultation role within a medical system. Interns attend weekly individual and group supervision, as well as a didactic seminar. Group supervision is also, along with the didactic seminar, an opportunity to review test construction, validity and reliability issues, as well as current literature on tests such as the MMPI-2, MMPI-2RF, the MCMI-III, and other commonly used measures. In addition, we do spend some time reviewing the new RPAS Rorschach system.
While on the Assessment Service, interns also participate in a brief rotation with the Psychiatric Consultation and Liaison Service where they assist in covering emergency room evaluations. Crisis management skills, along with risk assessment are the critical learning objectives of this experience. In addition, interns gain experience working on a multidisciplinary clinical team.
7
