Elective Opportunities
Elective courses must be approved by the preceptor; any member of the department may act as preceptor.
Elective work may be done within the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions or under the supervision of Hopkins’ faculty in affiliated institutions in the Baltimore area. In addition, students may request sponsorship of the department for an assignment to another medical school in the United States or abroad.
In addition to training programs in research and clinical psychiatry, the department offers elective seminars and independent study projects.
It is the policy of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences to maintain flexibility in its elective programs, and to attempt, as much as possible, to design programs that meet the needs of the individual students.
Dr. MacKinnon is the coordinator of electives for first and second-year students. Dr. Parekh and Dr. Gerstenblith coordinate electives for third and fourth-year students. Students are invited to discuss their interests and needs with them, or with any member of this department they may wish to consult.
Although there are numerous clinical and research electives available in the department, they should not be considered as prerequisites for residency training in psychiatry.
For those students who are strongly considering a psychiatry residency, it is recommended they complete a four-week subinternship in psychiatry, as well as devote a majority of their elective time to broaden and deepen their education in the other basic science and clinical areas.
The subinternship experience is good for students who wish to find out if they will like psychiatry as a career before making decisions about entering the field. It is also quite helpful for students who are not going into psychiatry, but realize a broadened clinical experience in this field would be useful in their chosen specialty. Students who may be interested in training in psychiatry should consult Dr. Vinay Parekh (vparekh1@jhmi.edu) and Dr. Avi Gerstenblith (tgerste1@jhmi.edu) as early as possible to discuss their educational plans.
For all students, elective opportunities in psychiatry will allow them to improve their skills and to develop new areas of interest in the field.
The elective programs described on the following pages are representative of opportunities for elective work that are available in this department, but many other opportunities can be developed through direct collaboration of individual students and individual faculty members.
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| ME.370.650 | Genes to Society - Mind, Brain, Behavior | 0 |
| Second Year | ||
| ME.800.645 | Topics in Interdisciplinary Medicine - Substance Use Disorders | 0 |
| Second, Third, or Fourth Year | ||
| ME.370.601 | Psychiatry Core Clerkship | 0 |
| Elective Opportunities | ||
| ME.370.801 | Research Practicum | 0 |
| ME.370.699 | Psychiatry Elective | 0 |
| Subinternship in Psychiatry | ||
| Community Psychiatry | ||
| Forensic Psychiatry | ||
| Geriatric Psychiatry | ||
| Clinical Research on the Behavioral Pharmacology of Substance Use Disorders | ||
| Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Disorders | ||
| HIV Psychiatry Service | ||
| Research in Molecular Neurobiology of Brain Diseases | ||
| Clinical Neuropsychiatry | ||
| Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatric Disorders | ||
| Research in Eating Disorders | ||
| Clinical Research in Schizophrenia | ||
| Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia | ||
| Psychosomatic Medicine/Chronic Pain | ||
| ECT and Novel Brain Stimulating Therapies | ||