Psychiatry/Neurology Clerkship Course Description

(PS010, PS011, PS012, PS013, PS015, PS019 / NE 011, NE012, NE013, NE015, NE017)

This clerkship is an 8-week experience with both clinical psychiatry and neurology. The major components of the clerkship are: 1) weekly didactic sessions, and 2) ambulatory, inpatient and consultation clinical experiences in both psychiatry and neurology.

Didactic Sessions: All clerkship students meet every Monday afternoon (2pm-5pm) at the Semel Institute for lectures.  Lectures will be presented to all of the students on the rotation and will cover basic information about the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological conditions that commonly present in general medical settings. Students will apply information from the first two years of medical school as well as from the assigned textbooks and readings.  Students will be expected to read in preparation for the didactics. 

During their three weeks of neurology experience, all students will convene on Wednesday mornings at UCLA to attend neurology grand rounds, followed by interactive teaching from the Neurology Casebook, for which students prepare by reading the cases in advance and developing thoughts about questions asked. Additional casebook teaching takes place through the residents and fellows at the clinical sites.

Clinical Experiences: Students will spend five weeks with primary emphasis in psychiatry and three weeks with primary emphasis in neurology. For psychiatry, students will be assigned to one of six clinical sites: RNPH/UCLA, West LA VA, Harbor-UCLA, San Fernando Valley (Sepulveda VA/ Olive View), Cedars-Sinai, and Kedren Community Mental Health Center. Students may be at more than one site during their 8-week clerkship. Students do not take overnight call on the Psychiatry Clerkship. Specific details of call vary by site, but it will be once a week, and will involve covering psychiatric patients seen in the Emergency Department from 5 pm to 11 pm.

While on the Neurology clerkship, students will be assigned to one of the five clinical sites: RRUMC, Cedars-Sinai,  West LA VA, Olive View-UCLA, or Harbor-UCLA for the duration of their three-week clinical experience.

Grading/Evaluation:

Students will take two separate written NBME shelf examinations and receive an evaluation of their clinical skills in both psychiatry and neurology.  Summary evaluations in Psychiatry and Neurology will be based on the NBME shelf exam, clinical skills evaluations, and timely completion of all core clerkship requirements. Separate evaluations will be completed by psychiatry and neurology for each student.  Students will also be asked to provide feedback about the clerkship, to provide ongoing quality improvement.

Psychiatry/Neurology Orientation

The Orientation for the combined Psychiatry/Neurology clerkship is held at the Semel Institute, in the 3rd floor classroom (room #37-415 Semel) at 8:00 am on the first day of the rotation. Students will review and practice doing a brief psychiatry interview, a mental status exam and a neurological exam in small groups.  Students also attend three one-hour lectures on Stroke, Psychopharmacology and Neuroradiology. 

On all Mondays, all students report to the Semel Institute from 2 - 5:30 pm. for lecture.  Carla Cronkhite Vera (310-206-5110, cvera@mednet.ucla.edu) is the contact person for Psychiatry. Contact Mario Romero (310-825-6881, mrromero@mednet.ucla.edu) for questions regarding your Neurology rotation.

Criteria for Letter of Distinction in Psychiatry

Letters of Distinction in Psychiatry are awarded at the discretion of the clerkship director and are based on the student’s clinical and examination performance.  To obtain a Letter of Distinction in the Psychiatry clerkship a student must:

• Be nominated by a faculty member.  Students must demonstrate to the attending and resident physicians on the clinical units superlative clinical and interpersonal skills in caring for psychiatric patients and working with the interdisciplinary team. Remarks on the Medical Student Evaluation forms from evaluators must be at the outstanding level (6 or 7) with an average overall score of 6.0 and above. 
• Scoring at 80th percentile or above on the shelf examination.
• Complete all of the clerkship requirements including didactic attendance, patient data logs, interview demonstration sheet and self-assessment study modules/quizzes on time.

Criteria for Letter of Distinction in Neurology

Letters of Distinction in Neurology are awarded at the discretion of the clerkship chair based on their performance. The student must meet the following to be considered for a letter of distinction in Neurology:

• Student must be nominated by a faculty member, on the evaluation form. Faculty are given the following criteria to take into consideration:
• Precise, reliable history taking, with problem-oriented focus.
• Physical examination is complete and accurate.
• Case presentations are polished.
• Differential diagnosis is comprehensive and appropriate.
• Good clinical judgment.
• Effective communication with patients, families and housestaff.
• Overall attitude reflects commitment, trustworthiness and respect.
• Remarks on the Medical Student Evaluation forms from evaluators should be outstanding. The evaluations must also demonstrate that the Attending and Resident physicians on the team feel that the student has outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills, as well as applicable fund of knowledge.
• The final NBME exam grade must be at or above the 80th percentile of national norms.
• They must attend all Monday lecture sections and group discussion sections.
• All evaluations and clerkship requirements must be submitted on time.

Course Chair:

Timothy Fong, M.D.
(310) 825-1479
tfong@mednet.ucla.edu

Course Chair:

Yvette M. Bordelon, M.D., Ph.D.
(310) 206-2154
ybordelon@mednet.ucla.edu

Coordinator: 

Carla Cronkhite Vera
(310) 206-6110
cvera@mednet.ucla.edu

Hospital Site

Site Director(s)

Student Coordinator

West LA Greater VA Medical Center

(BVA - PS010)

Joseph Pierre, M.D.
(310) 478-3711 x43846
drjoe@ucla.edu

Dr. Joseph Pierre
(310) 478-3711 x43846
drjoe@ucla.edu

Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA

(UCLA - PS011)

Barry Guze, M.D.
(310) 825-0569
bguze@mednet.ucla.edu

Carla Cronkhite Vera
(310) 206-5110
cvera@mednet.ucla.edu

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

(CS - PS012)

 Waguih IsHak, M.D.
(310) 423-3481
waguih.ishak@cshs.org

Yvonne Neeley
 (310) 423-3481
yvonne.neely@cshs.org  

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

(HARBOR - PS013)

Mary Read, M.D.
(310) 222-3344
mread@dmh.lacounty.gov

Pat Venaglia 
(310) 222-3394
pvenaglia@dmh.lacounty.gov

Sepulveda VA Medical Center and Olive View UCLA Medical Center

(SVA/ OVHA - PS015)

Dr. Randy Mervis
(818) 364-3432
jmervis@ucla.edu

Benjamin Woo, M.D.
(818) 364-4448
bkpwoo@gmail.com

Dr. Randy Mervis
(818) 364-3422
Jmervis@ucla.edu

Benjamin Woo, M.D.
(818) 364-4448
bkpwoo@gmail.com

Curley L. Bonds, M.D.
(310) 66-3588
cbonds@mednet.ucla.edu

Madelineine Valencerina, M.D.
(323) 733-3886 x 476
mvalencer@aol.com

Hospital Site

Site Director(s)

Student Coordinator

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Ctr.

(UCLA - NE011)

Leia Nghiemphu, M.D.
310-825-5321
pnghiemphu@mednet.ucla.edu

Mario Romero
(310) 825-6681
mrromero@mednet.ucla.edu

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

(CS - NE012)

Diana Halim

(310) 248-6842

diana.halim@cshs.org

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

(HARBOR- NE013)

Natalie Diaz, M.D.
(310) 222-3897
nadiaz@dhs.lacounty.gov

Nancy Gonzalez
(310) 222-3897
nagonzalez@ladhs.org

West LA Greater VA Medical Center

(WVA NE017)

Antonio Delgado-Escueta, M.D.
(310) 268-3129
escueta@ucla.edu

Lois Bass
(310) 478-3711 x41408
lois.bass2@va.gov

Olive View UCLA Medical Center

(OVH – NE015)

Charles Flippen, M.D.
(818) 364-3104
cflippen@ucla.edu

Diana Murray
(818) 364-3104
dimurray@ladhs.org