Training Sites

With a total of 68 trainees across the core residency programs, MUSC Psychiatry Residency is one of the larger psychiatry programs nationally. In addition to General Psychiatry (4 years), we offer combined training in Medicine/Psychiatry (5 years) and Neurology/Psychiatry (6 years). The program is based at our main campus in beautiful downtown Charleston at the Institute of Psychiatry, the Medical University and Children’s Hospitals, and the on-campus VA Medical Center. Strong Community Psychiatry experience is obtained through our longstanding affiliation with the Charleston-Dorchester Mental Health Center, a public mental health center only a few miles from campus. Outpatient and Psychotherapy training has grown beyond the traditional office setting to include highly relevant integrative care opportunities, such as Women’s Mental Health, HIV Collaborative Care, Rural Telepsychiatry and several “Medical Home” settings. Residents receive training and experience in a range of Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioral Therapies with expert supervisors and comprehensive didactics.

General Psychiatry Rotations with ECT exposure occur on the inpatient units at the MUSC Institute of Psychiatry (IOP) and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center inpatient unit. All patients are seen daily by the attending physician. Residents work with an interdisciplinary team of mental health providers and include patients evaluated for and receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) under the supervision of our Brain Stimulation Team.

Institute of Psychiatry:

• General Psychiatry Unit (3N) is a 30-bed inpatient unit with 2 treatment teams, caring for a wide range of mental health diagnoses requiring acute inpatient hospitalization, such as severe depression and bipolar disorder. Each team has an attending, 2 residents and other interdisciplinary staff including social workers, pharmacists, RNs and MH Technicians.
• Acute Care Unit (ACU) is a 12-bed acute care unit with one treatment team consisting of an attending psychiatrist, several residents and other health professionals, caring for a higher acuity group of serious mental illness, psychosis, mania, and other behavioral syndromes.
• Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Unit (2N) provides brief crisis stabilization for youth ages 5 through 17 with severe emotional disorders. The treatment team works closely with the family, outpatient providers and community agencies to ensure a smooth transition back to the community. The 20-bed unit has 2 teams including an attending child & adolescent psychiatrist, child & adolescent psychiatry fellows, general psychiatry residents, and other interdisciplinary staff. With enough notice, interns with an interest in child psychiatry can replace one month of medicine with a month of pediatrics.
• Addictions Unit is a 12-bed unit where psychiatry residents will learn to manage detoxification and the evaluation and treatment of individuals with dual disorders. Diagnoses include substance use disorders (alcohol / cocaine / methamphetamine / opioid / sedative hypnotics), with or without psychiatric disorder [primarily bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder) and personality disorders]. The unit is managed using principles of behavior modification, medication-assisted treatment, and motivational enhancement. The specialization is dual diagnosis evaluation and treatment, but some patients have only substance use disorders without comorbidity.
• Senior Care Unit (SCU) is a 16-bed inpatient service that provides clinical management of geriatric patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders including major depression, psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, major neurocognitive disorders and others. The clinical team includes an attending geriatric psychiatrist, geriatric psychiatry fellows, psychiatry residents, pharmacy residents, and other interdisciplinary staff.

Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center

• General Adult Psychiatry Unit (3A) is a 22-bed adult psychiatry unit providing care to veterans with 3 clinical teams and 5 residents assigned. Diagnoses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar illness, substance use, trauma and anxiety disorders.