Advances from neuroscience research now make it realistically possible to discover the biologic causes and pathogenesis of many psychiatric illnesses, and this in turn will provide the major avenues for developing improved treatments, prevention of illness, and cure of patients. Our goal is to construct a training program that will attract and engage medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and psychiatric residents in translational clinical neuroscience research careers where they will apply knowledge from basic neuroscience to clinical research in psychiatry. The program will consist of two componets: 1) a modern psychiatry oriented didactic curriculum which integrates basic and clinical neuroscience with clinical psychiatry and, 2) full-time 12 month structured and mentored clinical neuroscience research training experiences. The curriculum is distinguished by its integration across disciplines with a focus on understanding psychiatric illness. Case reports, live interviews, and video clips will be used to illustrate the clinical relevance of each aspect of basic neuroscience. Each year core aspects of the curriculum will be presented in an interactive lecture format to 200 1st and 2nd year medical students, 30 graduate students, 17 psychiatric residents and 35 postdoctoral fellows. A novel and unique aspect of the program is the development and use of an extensive interactive electronic syllabus covering all facets of the curriculum (i.e. full text with computer access to abstracts of references and additional readings, interactive graphics, animation, video taped patient presentations, and opportunities for self study and self evaluation). This will be available on a Yale University Intranet to all students, residents, and fellows who attend the lectures. A key aspect of the program is the opportunity for selected individuals to elect a 12 month structured and mentored clinical research training experience where they will receive training in specific clinical research methods under the supervision of senior investigators who are themselves conducting clinical neuroscience research. The didactic curriculum and the mentored clinical research experiences will be specifically tailored to the educational level and experience of the participants. The entire program will have built in methods for evaluation with yearly follow up. Aspects of this Program will be available as a model for possible utilization at the national level.
