Combined Internal Medicine/Psychiatry Program | Milwaukee Psychiatry Residency

Combined IM/Psychiatry residents are dual citizens, splitting their time between both categorical programs, distilling seven years of training into five years by capitalizing on the clinical skills that overlap both disciplines. Combined residents participate in rotations and didactics of the sponsoring categorical programs as well as develop new rotations and experiences in integrated care.

Combined Internal Medicine Psychiatry Residents AMP 2025

I have been fortunate to learn from so many excellent educators here at MCW. I have also benefited from abundant opportunities to teach: ward teams of eager learners, IM noon reports, Psychiatry case conferences, formal sessions at the Medical College. More than anything, your encouragement and belief have deepened my passion for medical education. It means the world that I have mentors and program leaders who champion my growth as an educator.

Will Graft, Current Resident

We are looking for innovators, integrators, and ignitors of change.

So much is happening at MCW in the Behavioral Health integration movement – it’s the perfect time for dual-board training here.

Funded by both the Milwaukee VA and Froedtert Health, the combined program capitalizes on the strengths of both categorical programs while building its own identity with Med/Psych rotations and didactics. We have many engaged dual-boarded faculty who work with our residents on the Complexity Intervention Unit, as well as in consultation-liaison psychiatry, perioperative medicine, eating disorders clinic, and integrated behavioral health.

Med/Psych residents at MCW are pioneering new programs and improving existing integrated efforts at the VA while leading our new Complexity Intervention Unit at Froedtert Hospital to care for acutely comorbid patients.

Program Highlights

In our Complexity Intervention Unit (CIU), residents work with categorical residents from both programs and a robust interdisciplinary team to care for medically and psychiatrically complex patients. Additional combined training experiences include the 16th Street Clinic and Inclusion Clinic (LGBTQ+ care clinic).
Defined medicine-psychiatry didactics and dual-trained faculty-supervised case conferences give our residents an academic home outside of the categorical program offerings.
Our residents have abundant opportunities for growth and career development through formal and informal mentorship with faculty in both departments of medicine and psychiatry.
Monthly experiential groups offer a space for the residents to meet, share, and process challenging clinical experiences.

Meet Our Residents

My experience in the CIU is unmatched. It truly gives me the opportunity to practice both medicine and psychiatry simultaneously.

Keayra Morris, Current Resident

Program Director Statement

The Combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin continues to grow and thrive. We are near our full complement of residents, having nine residents this academic year. Our residents are exceptional, seen as leaders among their peers in the categorical programs and known to exhibit diverse interests in clinical care, academia, advocacy, and research. I am very excited to have our first chief residents this year, who will bring further support, leadership, and teaching to our program.

As a program, we are striving to define our own academic prowess. This year, we introduced a Med-Psych didactic series to complement the didactic series of each categorical program. We want to continue our collaboration with our colleagues in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry through shared lectures and clinical experiences. Finally, we have created unique clinical elective opportunities for our residents to explore based on their own individual interests in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and integrated behavioral health (IBH).

It is truly an exciting time at our program. We look forward to meeting you.

Reasons to live in Milwaukee

Milwaukee is a one-of-a-kind city with a vibrant and diverse culture, this charming, yet metropolitan must-see is just 90 minutes north of Chicago and nestled on the coast of Lake Michigan. Whether you’re catching a show at Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival, immersing yourself in the old world charm of the Historic Third Ward or taking in the sights and sounds of one of the many cafés, beer gardens or restaurants that line the city’s riverbank and shoreline, Milwaukee never disappoints. Find out why MCW residents and fellows take pride in calling Milwaukee home.

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Internal Medicine

30 months total of internal medicine
4 weeks of emergency room during years 1 or 2
4 weeks of care for ICU during years 1 or 2
4 weeks of care of ICU during years 3, 4, or 5
At least 33% (thus 10 months of 30 Medicine months) must involve ambulatory experiences
Continuity clinic
At least 4 months of subspecialty experiences (inpatient, outpatient, or a combination)
Significant exposure to inpatient cardiology

Learn more about the medicine curriculum

Psychiatry

30 months of psychiatry training
2 months of neurology (1 month in either PGY1-2, and 1 month in PGY3-5)
Between 6 and 16 months of inpatient psychiatry
Inpatient geriatric, addiction, and/or forensics can count as inpatient psych months but only above an initial 6 months of general inpatient psychiatry
12 months of organized, continuous, and supervised clinical experience in outpatient treatment with experience in both brief and long-term care of patients
2 months of child and adolescent
2 months of consultation-liaison psychiatry
1 month of geriatric psychiatry (inpatient or outpatient)
1 month of addiction psychiatry
Exposure to the evaluation of forensic issues including writing a forensic report
Exposure to an organized 24-hour psychiatry emergency service, a portion of which may occur in ambulatory urgent-care settings
Exposure to community psychiatry (community-based settings, crisis teams, public hospitals, community mental health centers)

Learn more about the psychiatry curriculum

Sample Rotation Block Grid

Combined IM Psychiatry Residents Sample Rotation Block Grid.

Residents attend a half-day of didactics weekly and rotate in a Primary Care Continuity Clinic throughout the entirety of their training.

Key:

Combined IM Psychiatry Residents Sample Rotation Block Grid Key.

FH = Froedtert Hospital, VA = Veterans Affairs Medical Center, CIU = Complexity Intervention Unit, APH = Aurora Psychiatric Hospital, MHEC = Mental Health Emergency Center, RBH = Rogers Behavioral Health

I was looking for a residency program that would allow me to grow into a well-rounded physician and was impressed by the strong sense of comradery among peers and faculty.

Daniel Pham, Current Resident

Since we are a newer program with prior med-psych influence, residents have the benefit of both learning from seasoned med-psych faculty while also pioneering the development of new combined training experiences.

Anji Li, Current Resident

Frequently Asked Questions

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What will graduates of this program do?

Based on national needs for healthcare providers, we foresee that trainees completing this program will seek local and national positions combining medical and psychiatric scopes of practice. While they may seek fellowship opportunities for specialization, many enter the workforce and fill administrative roles in behavioral health integration. Graduates are ready to care for complex patients in inpatient and outpatient settings, in high acuity or chronic disease management.

Will residents in the combined program have faculty mentors?

Yes, we have a solid mentorship program with three dual trained faculty members serving as mentors. Two of the dual trained faculty are Medicine/Psychiatry and one of the dual trained faculty is Family Medicine/Psychiatry trained. Each resident will be assigned a dual trained faculty member as one of their mentors, meeting with them regularly.

Is there a preferred number of letters of recommendation for each specialty?

We must see a letter from a psychiatrist, and one from an internist. A letter of support from a combined-trained faculty member is welcome, but not required. Candidates are expected to describe in their personal statement their reasons for applying to the combined program, and thoughts about their future career goals.

What is the process for coordinating the application process between the two departments?

Applications will be reviewed by the program director and the interview process will proceed virtually, with a sample of meetings from both departments that may be spread across multiple days.