Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program

The Shaffer Scholars Program in Child Psychiatry Research

The Shaffer Scholars Program in Child Psychiatry Research is an extraordinary opportunity for child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) residents in the NewYork-Presbyterian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program to pursue both substantive research training and excellent clinical training. The Shaffer Scholars Program addresses a critical shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists who establish research as a significant part of their careers. Clinical training is supported by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), and research training is funded by a National Institute of Mental Health R25 (research education program) grant and supplemental philanthropic support.

Overview

Recognizing the importance of clinically grounded research, the Shaffer Scholars Program optimizes both clinical training and research training by extending the traditional two-year child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship to three years. Shaffer Scholars split their second year of clinical training across two academic years, receiving 50% protected time for research in both years. Advantages of this three-year schedule include supplemental financial support during the second and third years of training and key guidance in developing research grant and career development award applications.

Comprehensive mentorship and individualized research experiences prepare Shaffer Scholars for successful career trajectories as physician-researchers. Shaffer Scholars receive substantial targeted research mentorship from world-renowned faculty at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and at Weill Cornell Medicine. With our multi-institutional partnership, we draw on an incredible breadth and depth of research expertise and infrastructure, supporting Shaffer Scholars’ diverse research interests ranging from molecular neurobiology to implementation science.

First Year

The first year of training for a Shaffer Scholar focuses primarily on clinical training in child and adolescent psychiatry, mirroring the clinical training of all first-year NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) CAP residents in the Main Program. Additionally, with the guidance of the Program Directors and Director of Research Training, each Shaffer Scholar meets with faculty to identify a Primary Mentor. The Shaffer Scholar and the Primary Mentor meet regularly to set goals and milestones. Together, they develop a research project and identify the associated knowledge or skills needed to successfully meet project objectives.

Second Year

During the second year of training, each Shaffer Scholar has a half-time outpatient clinical training schedule, permitting them significant time to further develop and conduct a research project. While continuing to meet regularly with their Primary Mentor, each Shaffer Scholar identifies a Secondary Mentor whose area of expertise further enriches their learning trajectory. There are opportunities for each Shaffer Scholar to prepare a poster for a research conference and/or apply for available research grants, such as the AACAP Pilot Research Award.

Third Year

In the third year, half-time outpatient clinical training continues, allowing for rich longitudinal experiences with youth and their families. The Shaffer Scholar continues research begun in the second year, with more advanced research goals that might include submitting a secondary data analysis or review paper(s), presenting at a national conference, and/or preparing and submitting an application for an early career research award, such as a K award, or a postdoctoral research fellowship. Our program provides a pipeline to a variety of additional post-graduate research opportunities, including a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) T32 fellowship and the Whitaker Scholars Program in Developmental Neuropsychiatry. Importantly, Shaffer Scholars maintain a full three years of NIMH T32 eligibility.