Psychiatry Education & Training

The Department of Psychiatry at SickKids offers a variety of educational experiences in child and adolescent psychiatry for interprofessional trainees, including students, residents and fellows, as well as social work students and psychology interns.

Through Ambulatory clinics, Consultation-Liaison, Inpatient and Day Hospital Programs, our department provides valuable learning opportunities within collaborative interdisciplinary teams. Options for clinical opportunities vary and include training in pharmacological interventions, as well as psychotherapy, with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) being a particular strength of our department. Training opportunities also involve virtual experiences, including virtual care and telepsychiatry.

Medical education

Undergraduate

Our department provides core child and adolescent psychiatry training for the University of Toronto Psychiatry clerkship block, which builds on the Foundations Curriculum.

The Department offers elective experiences for medical students from the University of Toronto and elsewhere. Electives are typically two to four weeks in length.

Postgraduate

Our department is a core training site for general Psychiatry Residents in the University of Toronto Residency Program as well as the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Subspecialty stream.

Given the diversity of clinics and expertise of our staff, we also regularly attract senior residents seeking further experiences such as electives in child and adolescent psychiatry as per the U of T Postgraduate Medical Education guidelines. We are also able to provide electives of two to four weeks for psychiatry residents across the province and country for elective opportunities.

Our department also provides training in child and adolescent psychiatry to paediatrics residents and fellows from the University of Toronto Paediatrics training program. These training opportunities allow for collaborative and interdisciplinary learning with a focus on ensuring that interested paediatric trainees obtain the necessary skills to assess and manage common paediatric mental health presentations. These opportunities are open to paediatric residents in the general paediatric program as well as subspecialty paediatric fellows in Community Paediatrics, Developmental Paediatrics, and Adolescent Medicine Fellows.

Review application details for electives via U of T PGME

Fellowships

Department of Psychiatry Fellowship Program

The Department of Psychiatry offers fellowships in affiliation with the University of Toronto’s Psychiatry Fellowship Program. These clinical and/or research fellowships are typically one to two years where graduate general psychiatry residents, graduate child and adolescent sub-specialty residents may apply.
We offer fellowship opportunities to both national and international candidates. Fellows work with a primary Supervisor to obtain skills and expertise in one or two specific clinical or research areas within the department and report to the Fellowship Director.

All applicants must follow the application process through the Post-Graduate Medical Office (PGME). They must also meet SickKids’ application requirements.
Visit the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry Fellowship Program website for more information about the application requirements and how to apply for a fellowship.

Please email ashley.allen@sickkids.ca regarding questions or concerns pertaining to SickKids Psychiatry fellowship offerings

General Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship

This fellowship provides advanced training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) within SickKids’ Department of Psychiatry. Fellowship training may encompass a variety of psychiatry offerings based on the agreed upon educational objectives of the fellow and fellowship director.
Training opportunities include:

Ambulatory Psychiatry (AP)
Paediatric Consultation-Liaison (CL)
Psychiatry, Inpatient Psychiatry (IP)
Urgent outpatient care/After-hours Emergency Room
On call (on-site) Psychiatry

Neurodevelopmental Child and Youth Psychiatry and Genetics – Clinical Research Fellowship Program

SickKids offers a unique training fellowship opportunity in Neurodevelopmental Child and Youth Psychiatry under the supervision of Dr. Jacob Vorstman and Dr. Louise Gallagher. Fellows will work in an interdisciplinary clinical and research environment.
Training opportunities include:

Assessing children and youth with various degrees of intellectual disability and other neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g., autism, language disorders, etc.) in the context of rare genetic disorders
Diagnostic assessment of children at risk for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions
Structured clinical interviewing and observational assessment (e.g., KSADS, ADI, DAWBA, ADOS)
Clinical research methods (e.g., eye tracking and EEG data acquisition)

Tics and Tourette Syndrome – Clinical Research Fellowship Program

This clinical research fellowship opportunity provides fellows with advanced training in Tourette syndrome (TS) and other tic disorders at the Tics and Tourette Clinic, a provincial clinic within the Department of Psychiatry at SickKids.
The goal of the fellowship will be to gain expertise in TS and tic disorders, working within the multidisciplinary stepped care model of the clinic by collaborating with colleagues in psychiatry, psychology and neurology.
Training opportunities include:

Developing expertise in the diagnostic assessment and comprehensive management of Tourette syndrome and common comorbidities
Developing expertise in distinguishing tics from functional tic-like behaviours
Engagement in quality improvement and/or research projects that have direct clinical impact
Participation in department on call shifts
Research opportunities

Depression and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk – Clinical Research Fellowship

This fellowship opportunity provides advanced training in depression and associated increased risk of Cardiometabolic/Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), within the Children’s Integrated Mood and Body (CLIMB) clinical research program in the Department of Psychiatry at SickKids. The fellow will engage in quality improvement and/or research projects that have the potential for direct clinical impact. Fellows will participate in department on call shifts.

The goal of the fellowship is to gain expertise in child and adolescent-onset of depression and the biopsychosocial factors that increase an adolescent’s risk for future CVD, with a specific interest in potential biomarkers and novel intervention targets. The fellow will develop expertise in the diagnostic assessment and management of depression and common comorbidities, including anxiety disorders, emotion regulation difficulties, self-harm behaviours, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, substance use, and disordered eating. In addition, the fellow will develop expertise in the assessment and management of health behaviours to improve both depression and cardiometabolic outcomes, and in the interpretation of laboratory indicators of increased CVD risk.