Consultation Experiences

• Consultation/Liaison Activities: Psychology interns will participate in inpatient consultation/liaison throughout the training year. All faculty supervise this experience.

  Interns participate in consultation to pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists, in particular, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Transplant Services and Neurology around health related behavioral concerns, such as poor medical adherence, pain, psychogenic symptom presentation, behavioral feeding disorders, and general coping issues.  Consults often involve a combination of psychological assessment, diagnostic formulation, treatment (individual and family), and outpatient follow-up post-discharge.

  By the end of this rotation, interns will be expected to independently …

  • Comprehensively interview the child and parent
  • Coodinate with necessary services in the hospital, i.e., be an effective part of a multidisciplinary team
  • Conceptualize the case
  • Provide a written and verbal summary outlining recommendation for the hospital stay and post discharge.
• Community and Primary Care Consultation: Training experiences in diverse, underserved populations.

  Interns have two opportunities for consultation and training in diverse populations. As part of consultation through a Social Venture program, interns have a unique opportunity to provide on-site consultation to nearby child-care centers and charter schools (see website svpde.org). These centers and schools are comprised of over 95% minority populations, providing excellent diversity training experiences. Two of these centers serve primarily African American populations and one center serves primarily a Hispanic population. Opportunities for providing consultation in Spanish exist.

  Interns also have the opportunity to consult in our satellite primary care offices during a six-month rotation. Primary Care Consultation is a rapidly growing area for psychologists and offers an opportunity for community outreach in underserved areas. Interns conduct intakes and learn skills in consulting with primary care staff regarding in office-based behavioral treatment strategies. The hospital’s satellite offices are in underserved, poverty areas of the city. One site serves primarily a Hispanic population and physicians at this office are Spanish speaking and provide consultation and diversity training. Opportunities for providing therapy and consultation in Spanish are available. Another primary care site serves a primarily urban, African American population and again, physicians represent diverse ethnic backgrounds and are community role models for providing culturally sensitive treatment.