The Outpatient Clinic provides a site for ongoing care of patients who are discharged from the psychiatric inpatient and day treatment services, and to provide diagnostic evaluations and treatment for outpatients. There were approximately 10,000 outpatient clinic visits in 2006.
Residents conduct evaluations, and treatment with a wide range of children and adolescents. Treatments are broad based and include: pediatric psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, behavior management crisis intervention and short-term therapies. Second opinion consultation is used to assist local providers. Residents have live and videotaped demonstration and observation of child and family interviews.
CMC Outpatient Clinic is a required 12-month rotation 4 days per week for second year residents. Two hours per week are spent in individual supervision with full time and clinical faculty in addition to morning didactics and teaching rounds. Additional supervision is provided in a group format for family therapy, and psychopharmacology.
Second year residents see approximately 2-3 new cases each week, and have 4-5 follow-ups per day. Cases are carried throughout the 12-month rotation, and an appropriate disposition is made at the conclusion of the 12-month rotation. First year fellows carry long-term patients into their second year of training.
Faculty consists of three full-time child psychiatrists, one part time child psychiatrist, two full-time child psychologists, one full time social worker, a registered nutritionist (for eating disorders) one mental health nurse practitioner and several mental health ancillary staff.
Catherine Karni, M.D., is the Medical Director of the Outpatient Clinic, Kirti Saxena, M.D. is the Assistant Medical Director. Other faculty that provide supervision include: Graham Emslie, M.D., David Waller, M.D., and RongRong Tao, M.D., Ph.D. Evaluations and treatment are discussed with these attendings. Psychotherapy supervision is one hour per week. Caseload supervision is one hour per week.
CMC outpatient experiences provide continuity of care from a more acute presentation (inpatient/day treatment, consultation, emergency) to a less acute and less restrictive modality. The resident’s faculty advisor coordinates selective assignment and treatment of patient populations.
The Outpatient Clinic also hosts several specialty clinics for the following areas: Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression and ADHD.
In the Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinic, directed by Dr. Catherine Karni, children from 18 months to 5 years old are evaluated for sings and symptoms of autism. The assessment is provided by a multidisciplinary team, including, a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a speech therapist. A summary of findings is provided to the families immediately following the evaluation by the multidisciplinary team. An individualized treatment plan is created including appropriate referrals for services in the school setting, as well as referrals for additional assessments as needed and ongoing medication management.
The Pediatric Mood Disorders Program consists of the Pediatric Bipolar Clinic, which is directed by Dr. Kirti Saxena and the Pediatric Depression Clinic, which is directed by Dr. RongRong Tao. The mission of the Pediatric Mood Disorder Program is to provide state-of-the-art treatment of children and adolescents with bipolar spectrum disorders and depressive disorders, research in psychopharmacological and psychosocial interventions, and training of the child psychiatry fellows. Services offered: diagnostic assessment of youth with Bipolar spectrum and Depressive disorders, pharmacotherapy, individual and family focused cognitive behavioral therapy, psychological evaluation, and research programs in clinical trials and psychosocial treatments.
The ADHD Clinic, also directed by Dr. Kirti Saxena provide services for children ages 3 to 17 years old. Diagnostic evaluations are provided, as well as medication management and behavior modification therapy with parenting skills.
