Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service (The Intersection of Medicine and Psychiatry)

Catalog description

VISITING: Open to visitors. TYPE OF CLERKSHIP: Elective. DESCRIPTION: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) has multiple names including Psychosomatic Medicine (PM) and Medical Psychiatry. It comprises the area of psychiatry concerned with the psychobiological care of the medically ill, which includes persons of all ages and those cared for in specialized medical settings including critical care units. CLP-psychiatrists, in addition to providing expert formal psychiatric consultation to medical and surgical patients in the general hospital, specialized hospitals and outpatient clinic settings, also train psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists in the recognition of normal and abnormal reactions to illness and appropriate psychological care of patients with such reactions. The CLP psychiatrist may function both as a consultant and as part of the primary medical/surgical treatment team. Via conjoint rounds and teaching conferences (primary intervention), formal consultations (secondary intervention), and involvement in inpatient treatment and discharge planning (tertiary intervention), the CLP psychiatrist provides a comprehensive approach to the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral needs of the patient. Thus, one unique feature of our program is how the members of our team are integral member of so many other medico-surgical teams throughout the medical center. Participation in this rotation should allow students to learn about diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders common in all medical and surgical specialties, e.g., depression, anxiety, delirium, alcohol abuse, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, and somatic symptom and related disorders. Students will accompany psychiatric residents, fellows, and faculty five days a week in performing consultations on medical-surgical and critical care units at Stanford and in performing follow-up visits. Team rounds…