Curriculum and Clerkships

The program begins in January and progresses through sequential semesters. Didactic coursework occurs in Year 1 and early Year 2, followed by structured clinical rotations.

Year 1 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Year 1 — Maymester (3 weeks)

Year 2 — Summer Semester (June–August)

Year 2 — Fall Semester (August–December)

Year 2 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Year 2 — Maymester (3 weeks)

Year 3 — Summer Semester (June–August)

Year 3 — Fall Semester (September–December)

Year 3 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Program Total

102 credit hours

Required clinical experience

The program includes 44 credits of required clinical experience.
Examples of rotation types include:

• Adult Inpatient Psychiatry
• Substance Use Clinics
• Outpatient Mental Health Clinic

Year 1 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Year 2 — Summer Semester (June–August)

Year 2 — Fall Semester (August–December)

Year 2 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Year 2 — Maymester (3 weeks)

Year 3 — Summer Semester (June–August)

Year 3 — Fall Semester (August–December)

Year 3 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Year 3 — Maymester (3 weeks)

Year 4 — Summer Semester (June–August)

Year 4 — Fall Semester (September–December)

Year 4 — Spring Semester (January–April)

Program total

102 credit hours

Required clinical experience

The program includes 44 credits of required clinical experience.
Examples of rotation types include:

• Adult Inpatient Psychiatry
• Substance Use Clinics
• Outpatient Mental Health Clinic

Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology I – General Systems
This course will help students understand the basic anatomy and functioning of major human organ systems and identify functional abnormalities that might impact emotional or mental wellness. The course will cover the physiologic and anatomic changes that accompany common psychiatric conditions and substance use disorders and will help the learner identify common medical conditions that occur in psychiatric patients, which may complicate treatment. Students will be taught to select appropriate laboratory and diagnostic tests to evaluate and manage patients with psychiatric conditions or substance use disorders.

Behavioral and Motivational Interviewing
This course teaches communication strategies and skills that will facilitate interviewing and interacting with patients. Students will be taught the various components of a psychiatric/behavioral health history. They will be taught to consider a patient’s readiness for change and to provide motivational interviewing techniques to help encourage positive change.  They will be taught and will practice basic approaches and interventions of supportive therapy.

Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology II – Neurobiology
This course focuses on the clinical neuroscience that applies to the clinical care of patients with mental illness or substance use disorders. Students will be able to describe the basic components and functions of the nervous system and discuss indications for common neuroimaging, neurophysiological, or neuropsychological testing. Students will be able to identify the basic features of common neurological disorders and be able to discuss the interplay between psychiatric and neurologic conditions. They will be taught and will practice how they can discuss the neurobiological processes underlying common psychiatric illnesses with patients.

Patient Care I – 3 credit hours
This course further familiarizes students with components of clinical care. They will be taught and practice conducting a comprehensive mental status examination, including a suicide and violence risk assessment. They will be taught and practice how to verbally present a clinical encounter and how to collaborate as part of an interdisciplinary medical team.

Psychopharmacology I – 3 credit hours
Students will learn about basic pharmacology principles and the functioning of a variety of frequently modulated neurotransmitters. Students will be taught to safely and effectively prescribe psychiatric medications. They will be able to link the neurochemical effects of the medications to their clinical manifestations and side effects. Students will be taught dosing strategies to optimize clinical efficacy and minimize adverse effects. They will be taught the value of measurement-based care and of monitoring adherence. Students will learn to work collaboratively with patients to select the optimal choice of psychiatric medication, considering factors such as proven efficacy, cost, and risks of side effects. This block will focus on antidepressant, antimanic, and antianxiety medications.

Psychiatric Diagnoses I – Mood & Behavioral Disorders – 3 credit hours – (8 weeks)
Students will be taught to use their clinical interview, laboratory studies, and collateral information to conduct a diagnostic psychiatric evaluation. They will consider medical and drug causes of the patient’s presenting symptoms. They will practice using the DSM criteria for diagnoses but also learn to take the patient’s biopsychosocial and cultural factors into account. They will learn to create and then systematically narrow down a differential diagnosis. They will practice creating treatment plans to manage psychiatric illness. This first block will focus on depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, including compulsive, gambling disorder, and malingering and factitious disorder.

Psychiatric Diagnoses II – Anxiety & Trauma
Students will be taught to use their clinical interview, laboratory studies, and collateral information to conduct a diagnostic psychiatric evaluation. They will consider medical and drug causes of the patient’s presenting symptoms. They will practice using the DSM criteria for diagnoses but also learn to take the patient’s biopsychosocial and cultural factors into account. They will learn to create and then systematically narrow down a differential diagnosis. They will practice creating treatment plans to manage psychiatric illness. This second block will focus on anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, eating disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Substance Use Disorders I – Alcohol and depressants – 3 Credit Hours
This course teaches students to use their evaluation and diagnostic skills to work with and manage patients with substance use disorders. They will practice creating biopsychosocial and cultural conceptualizations of their patients. They will be trained to look for the medical complications of substance use and withdrawal. They will practice creating and refining a differential diagnosis using their clinical exam, examination, laboratory studies, and collateral information. They will learn to create a treatment plan to address substance use disorders. This block will focus on alcohol, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates.

Patient Care II – 3 credit hours
This course focuses on additional aspects of modern health care. Students will be taught to identify and manage factors that degrade or promote professional well-being. They will be taught and will practice concisely and accurately documenting a clinical encounter. Students will be taught to obtain informed consent for any proposed intervention and recognize factors that may impair a patient’s ability to provide informed consent. They will be taught and will practice assessing patients for the capacity to make medical decisions. This course introduces them to identifying and managing ethical dilemmas common in healthcare. They will learn some of the approaches to working with patients over an extended period of time.

Evidence-Based Medicine – 3 credit hours (8 weeks)
This course focuses on the skills required to create and answer research questions. Students will be trained to understand, uncover, and correctly interpret medical research to guide the care they provide. There will be a focus on identifying system failures and the student’s ability to contribute to a culture of safety and continuous improvement within healthcare. They will become familiar with and practice using quality improvement methodologies. They will become familiar with using published treatment algorithms and clinical practice guidelines to guide care for individuals with mental illness and/or substance use disorders.

Psychopharmacology II
Students will be taught to safely and effectively prescribe psychiatric medications. They will be able to link the neurochemical effect of the medications to their clinical manifestations and side effects. Students will be taught dosing strategies to optimize clinical efficacy and minimize adverse effects. They will be taught the value of measurement-based care and of monitoring adherence. Students will learn to work collaboratively with patients to select the optimal choice of psychiatric medication, considering factors such as proven efficacy, cost, and risks of side effects. This block will focus on antipsychotic medications, stimulants, and medications for major neurocognitive disorders, and for medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder. There will be special attention paid to providing care to a variety of populations. They will learn to deprescribe psychiatric medications and to prescribe medications in a way to minimize the risk of addiction.

Psychiatric Diagnosis III – Psychotic & Neurocognitive
Students will be taught to use their clinical interview, laboratory studies, and collateral information to conduct a diagnostic psychiatric evaluation. They will consider medical and drug causes of the patient’s presenting symptoms. They will practice using the DSM criteria for diagnoses but also learn to take the patient’s biopsychosocial and cultural factors into account. They will learn to create and then systematically narrow down a differential diagnosis. They will practice creating treatment plans to manage psychiatric illness. This third block will focus on psychotic disorders, major neurocognitive disorders, and delirium.

Psychiatric Diagnosis IV – Personality/Somatic/Dissociative
Students will be taught to use their clinical interview, laboratory studies, and collateral information to conduct a diagnostic psychiatric evaluation. They will consider medical and drug causes of the patient’s presenting symptoms. They will practice using the DSM criteria for diagnoses but also learn to take the patient’s biopsychosocial and cultural factors into account. They will learn to create and then systematically narrow down a differential diagnosis. They will practice creating treatment plans to manage psychiatric illness. This fourth block will include personality disorders, somatic disorders, and dissociative disorders.

Substance Use Disorders II
This course teaches students to use their evaluation and diagnostic skills to work with and manage patients with substance use disorders. They will practice creating biopsychosocial and cultural conceptualizations of their patients. They will be trained to look for the medical complications of substance use and withdrawal. They will practice creating and refining a differential diagnosis using their clinical exam, examination, laboratory studies, and collateral information. They will learn to create a treatment plan to address substance use disorders. This block will focus on cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, opiates, and inhalants. There will also be a discussion of the risk of substance use disorder in medical providers.

Patient Care Interactive Workshop
These highly interactive workshops will give students the ability to practice clinical skills and receive formative feedback from peers and supervisors. They will demonstrate the ability to develop a therapeutic alliance, complete a behavioral health history, and conduct a mental status examination. They will create a targeted differential diagnosis and describe a plan to narrow the differential and manage the most likely disorder. They will practice discussing their findings with patients and supervisors. They will practice prescribing medications for mental illnesses and substance use disorders and documenting their clinical encounters. They will demonstrate the ability to alter medication management based on the response of the patient. They will need to use treatment algorithms and clinical practice guidelines, as well as other published medical literature, to determine appropriate next steps for the described patients.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health
This course delineates some of the aspects of mental health care that are unique to children and adolescence. Students will be taught to take a developmental approach to understanding mental illness and substance use in these populations. They will be taught the variations in the presentation of common mental illnesses in these populations. They will be taught to modify medications and management as appropriate.

Geriatric Mental Health
This course discusses aspects of mental health care that are unique to geriatric populations. They will be taught the physical, psychological, and cognitive changes that are typical of an aging population. They will be taught how common mental illnesses and substance use disorders may have a different presentation in this population. They will learn how medication management might be altered in this population, and there will be a special focus on identifying and working with grieving and bereavement.

Internship
Certified Mental Health Assistant students will spend about 20 hours per week at clinical sites observing the interaction of mental health providers with their patients. They will gain experience with psychiatrists who are evaluating and managing patients and the interaction of the multidisciplinary treatment team. This experience will give students an opportunity to practice their interviewing skills as well as their motivational interviewing and supportive therapy techniques. There will be opportunities to discuss the management of patients with all members of the interdisciplinary treatment team. This class will prepare them for their clinical rotations.

Enhanced Clinical Care Seminars
These seminars last two hours per day and will give students an opportunity to share what they have learned during their internship. They will discuss common and atypical presentations of mental illness and substance use disorders. They will compare the practice they are seeing with what they have been trained to provide. This will be an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning as various students share their experiences.  Clinical facilitators will help students work through more complicated vignettes and scenarios to sharpen the diagnostic and management skills of students.

Inpatient adult psychiatry
Students will spend at least 36 hours per week interacting with patients under the supervision of a psychiatrist. They will interview patients, attend treatment team meetings, present patients, discuss their differential diagnosis, and present and defend their patient management plans based on the DSM diagnosis and their biopsychosocial formulation. This will be an opportunity for students to enhance their interviewing skills and practice mental status examinations and risk assessments. They will improve their competence with motivational interviewing and supportive therapy techniques. They will manage patients’ medications over the course of their hospitalization. They will become an active part of the Interdisciplinary treatment team and will play a pivotal role in managing patients.

Outpatient Clinic
Students will spend at least 36 hours per week interacting with patients under the supervision of a psychiatrist. They will interview patients, attend treatment team meetings, present patients, discuss their differential diagnosis, and present and defend their patient management plans based on the DSM diagnosis and their biopsychosocial formulation. This will be an opportunity for students to enhance their interviewing skills and practice mental status examinations and risk assessments. They will improve their competence with motivational interviewing and supportive therapy techniques. They will manage patients’ medications over time. They will become an active part of the Interdisciplinary treatment team and will play a pivotal role in managing patients.

Substance Use Disorder Clinic
Students will spend at least 36 hours per week interacting with patients under the supervision of psychiatrist. They will interview patients, attend treatment team meetings, present patients, discuss their differential diagnosis, and present and defend their patient management plans based on the DSM diagnosis and their biopsychosocial formulation. This will be an opportunity for students to enhance their interviewing skills and practice mental status examinations and risk assessments. They will improve their competence with motivational interviewing and supportive therapy techniques. They will manage patients’ medications over time. They will become an active part of the Interdisciplinary treatment team and will play a pivotal role in managing patients.

Integrative Care Seminar
These highly interactive, but virtual, seminars will give students an opportunity for peer-to-peer instruction. They will discuss common and atypical presentations of patients that they have seen. They will discuss the management of patients they have participated in and will discuss how closely those align with the recommendations of published treatment algorithms and clinical practice guidelines. They will discuss the positive and negative effects of medications they have seen in their patients. Faculty facilitators will also share more complicated standardized vignettes and scenarios to sharpen the clinical and management skills of students.

The following clerkship sites will be available to MS MHP students starting in 2028:

• Glenbeigh ARMC Healthcare System (all campuses)
• Mercy Health Behavioral Hospital (Youngstown campus)
• Axess Family Services
• One-Eighty health services