Program Overview

Introduction to the Rural Track Extension to the Medical College of Wisconsin Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship

The Rural Track Extension to the Medical College of Wisconsin Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship is designed to address the severe shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in rural areas, particularly in Northeast and Central Wisconsin. This program is an extension of the Milwaukee-based Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and aims to provide comprehensive training to fellows, enabling them to become competent child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Program Overview

The Rural Track Extension is a two-year ACGME-accredited program that offers a broad training experience with patients from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Fellows are immersed in multiple systems of care, including public, private, medical, correctional, and behavioral health settings. The program focuses on providing a patient-centered approach, ensuring that fellows are well-prepared to effectively treat and advocate for children and families.

Curriculum and Didactics

The curriculum covers a wide range of topics critical to child and family work, including:

• Biological, psychological, and sociocultural components that influence normal development
• Therapy series, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Family Therapy
• Psychopharmacology, Integrative Psychiatry, and Pharmacogenomics
• Substance Abuse, Consultation to Community and Schools, and Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Pediatric Neurology, Neuropsychological Testing, and Metabolism, Elimination, Interactions, and Side Effects (MEISE)
• Psychopathology, Infant Mental Health, and Medical Toxicology
• Cultural Psychiatry, Community Engagement, and Forensic Child Psychiatry

Program Rotations

The program includes rotations in various settings, such as:

Year 1

• Bellin Health Psychiatric Center: Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Children's Wisconsin: Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Pediatric Emergency Psychiatry
• Winnebago Mental Health Institute: Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Inpatient Substance Abuse Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Prevea Health: Psychopathology Clinic and Psychopharmacology Clinic

Year 2

• Children's WI: Pediatric Neurology
• Bellin Health: DBT group and Psychopharmacology for specialized populations
• Prevea Health: Psychotherapy and Psychopharmacology continuity clinic
• Brown County Health and Human Services: Juvenile Justice, CPS, Birth to 3, and Wrap around care
• Catalpa Health: Psychometric testing and Intensive Out Patient therapy program
• Family Services of NE WI: Child Advocacy, Crisis Center, Residential treatment center, and Day Treatment
• School-based mental health: Green Bay Public Schools and Syble Hopp School

Seminars and Conferences

Fellows participate in seminars, case conferences, journal club, and department of psychiatry grand rounds, covering topics such as research, practice and professionalism, normal development, and therapy series.

Application Process

The program offers one position annually, and candidates apply through the Electronic Resident Application System (ERAS). Applications are accepted from July 1 to November 30, and interviews take place in the fall for the upcoming academic year.

Program Leadership

The program is led by:

• Erica Arrington, MD, Program Director
• Jennifer Fischer, MD, Associate Program Director
• Brenda Konczal, Education Program Coordinator III

Faculty

The program faculty includes:

• Kenneth Casimir, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor
• Colleen Manak, MD, Assistant Professor
• Althea Noukki, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor and Clinical Director, Brown County Human Services
• Kayla Pope, MD, JD, Medical Director of Winnebago Mental Health Institute and Assistant Clinical Professor
• Laura Pulido, MD, Assistant Professor
• Patrick Stumbras, PsyD, Assistant Clinical Professor
• Jennifer Zaspel, MD, Assistant Professor

Accreditation

The Child and Adolescent Fellowship is accredited by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and graduates are eligible for board certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.