NCC Psychiatry Residency Program
The National Capital Consortium (NCC) Psychiatry Residency Program is a unique and innovative military graduate medical education program in psychiatry. Three military medical institutions with traditions of excellence in graduate medical education, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), Fort Belvoir Community Hospital (FBCH), and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), comprise this integrated psychiatry residency program. NCC psychiatry residents consistently score among the highest in the nation on standard training examinations and a large number of graduates have gone on to distinguish themselves as national and world leaders in psychiatry. The program has been fully integrated since 1996 and took part in the successful merging of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center in 2011.
The National Capital Military Psychiatry Residency is a four-year program designed to prepare military medical corps officers for the practice of general psychiatry in military and community settings. The program's mission is to train physicians to become effective psychiatrists in the variety of future roles they will fill, from military medical operations to multi-disciplinary mental health settings to primary care and other medical-surgical settings. Military psychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology are particularly strong areas of emphasis of the program. The program's faculty members include nationally known leaders in a number of areas of psychiatry, including psychopharmacology, psychoanalysis, neuropsychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry, and military psychiatry.
Combined residency training opportunities are also offered by the program. Army residents may apply for a 3+2 child psychiatry fellowship, and if accepted, may complete both general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry training in a total of five years. There is also a five-year combined internal medicine/psychiatry training program offered by the NCC Psychiatry Residency and the NCC Internal Medicine Residency Programs. Graduates of this combined program complete requirements necessary for graduation from both residencies and for board certification in both general psychiatry and internal medicine.
The integrated Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the flagship medical center of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and has a rich tradition of excellence and leadership in military medicine and graduate medical education. Nearby is one of the world's largest institutes of military medical research, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In addition, across the street from WRNMMC is the National Institutes of Health, and Walter Reed shares the campus with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). USUHS is America's medical school, where the uniformed services train approximately 170 future physicians every year. Residents have opportunities to teach medical students in the classroom for small group work, and in the field, during the MS-4 capstone experience, Operation Bushmaster. USUHS medical students also rotate in the residency's participating institutions during their second, third, and fourth years.
Potential applicants are encouraged to visit the program and speak with both the program director and resident recruiting chairs. Rotations are traditionally offered in adult inpatient, outpatient child and adolescent, and consultation/liaison psychiatry, as well as in inpatient neuropsychiatry, though rotations in adult outpatient and partial hospitalization services can be arranged if the applicant has a strong interest in one of these areas. Applicants from the Army and Navy may apply to this residency by following the annual instructions published on their respective service's GME websites.
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Exposure to different perspectives in an environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive enhances learning and development of culturally adept psychiatrists, physician-advocates, and military leaders. The NCC Psychiatry Residency is committed to a professional, civil, and nondiscriminatory environment where students, residents, faculty, and staff of all ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, ages, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, and life experiences feel valued and respected.
Clinical rotations are open to fourth year medical students. If interested, please contact: dha.bethesda.wrnmmc.mbx.gmerequests@mail.mil.