Program Overview
The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at CHKD, in partnership with Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, offers a dynamic training experience within Children's Pavilion, CHKD's mental health hospital.
With nationally recruited faculty, a collaborative learning environment, and flexible, individualized training opportunities, the program is designed to prepare compassionate, skilled psychiatrists ready to lead in the field.
Why Choose CHKD?
The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program at CHKD is thoughtfully designed to meet the evolving needs of pediatric mental health care, combining advanced clinical training, expert mentorship, and a full continuum of care within one integrated system.
The program launched in 2023 as part of CHKD’s major expansion of pediatric mental health services in Hampton Roads. This community-driven effort focuses on improving access to high-quality mental health care while training the next generation of child and adolescent psychiatrists.
Fellows develop the clinical judgment, psychotherapy skills, and adaptability needed to succeed in academic medicine, hospital-based practice, and community settings. Training emphasizes a whole-child approach, integrating biological, psychological, social, and structural perspectives.
Program highlights include:
- Multiple specialized inpatient units serving distinct patient populations
- Access to a full continuum of care, including inpatient, IOP, and PHP services
- Training at Children’s Pavilion, a modern, purpose-built facility
- Flexible, education-focused training with opportunities for self-direction
- Nationally recognized faculty with diverse expertise and leadership in the field
- A strong emphasis on psychotherapy training and supervision
- A collaborative learning environment with residents, fellows, and medical students
- Opportunities to build community through quarterly social events and team gatherings
Curriculum
The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at CHKD provides a comprehensive, education-focused training experience that prepares fellows for a wide range of clinical settings.
Fellows gain exposure to both traditional mental health environments and innovative models of care. Because the program is designed around learning rather than service coverage, fellows have flexibility to individualize their clinical experiences and patient populations while meeting all ACGME requirements.
During the first year, fellows concentrate on acute care experiences, including inpatient psychiatry, partial hospitalization, and pediatric consultation-liaison services. Training is delivered within interdisciplinary teams and emphasizes a family-centered approach. Fellows build strong skills in developmentally informed assessment and learn to apply a full range of treatment strategies, including psychopharmacology and evidence-based therapies.
Fellows also begin a longitudinal outpatient therapy clinic in their first year, which continues throughout the program. Through both clinical work and structured teaching, fellows develop a deeper understanding of normal development, the ways psychiatric conditions present across developmental stages, and how children and families adapt to illness.
Learn more about first year rotation clinics
The second year emphasizes continuity of care in the outpatient setting. Fellows expand their experience in individual and family therapy, multidisciplinary team-based care, crisis assessment, and early childhood mental health. A longitudinal elective allows fellows to explore specific clinical or academic interests. Across settings, fellows further strengthen their diagnostic, psychopharmacologic, and therapeutic skills.
Because of the program’s small size and strong educational focus, fellows have meaningful opportunities to tailor their training to align with their career goals while fulfilling all required competencies.
Clinical services at CHKD operate independently of fellows, so call responsibilities are designed purely as a learning experience.
- First-year fellows complete one weekend of call during each of their three inpatient rotations. Overnight call is not required.
- Second-year fellows do not take call.
- Optional moonlighting opportunities are available at a competitive rate.
Our fellows have a protected half-day of didactics every week throughout their training.
Our curriculum is immersive, with one core theme per month. Didactics each month include historical background, assessments, hallmark studies, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options related to the core theme.
For example, in July 2025 our core theme is 'typical development' and the didactics for this month are titled:
- History of Childhood; Temperament
- Attachment; Developmental milestones assessment
- Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development
- Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
- Kohlberg's and Gilligan's theories of moral development
- Vygotsky's and Bandura's theories of social learning
- Theories of racial identity development
- Impact of culture on child development
Practical application of these important theories is discussed to make the information relevant for our fellows when they provide patientcare.
For August 2025, our core theme is 'child and adolescent mood disorders' and the didactics for this month are titled:
- Diagnosis, rating scales, comorbidities and course of illness of depressive disorders
- Diagnosis, rating scales, comorbidities and course of illness of bipolar disorders
- Hallmark articles (treatment of adolescent depression study TADS, treatment of resistant depression in adolescents TORDIA, treatment of adolescent suicide attempers TASA, treatment of early age mania TEAM, clinical outcomes of bipolar youth COBY, and collaborative lithium trials CoLT)
- Pharmacological treatments
- Interventional treatments (ECT, TMS, ketamine)
- Cognitive behavior therapy for depression and suicidality
- Dialectical behavioral therapy for depression
- Interpersonal psychotherapy for depression
- Mentalization based therapy (MBT)
- Risk assessments in the ED
We also have regular Quality Improvement didactics and journal club that are sprinkled throughout the didactic curriculum. Outside of the half day per week for didactics, our fellow also attend monthly mortality and morbidity conference and grand rounds.
- Child Psychiatry Grand Rounds: Monthly presentations by local and visiting experts
- Schwartz Rounds: Quarterly interdisciplinary discussions focused on compassionate care and communication
- Clinical Skills Verification (CSV): Annual program-wide assessments, with additional opportunities during rotations
- Psychiatry Grand Rounds (optional): Monthly lectures
- Pediatric Grand Rounds (optional): Weekly lectures
- Insights into Autism (optional): Annual regional conference featuring national speakers
- Professional Development: Fellows are encouraged to attend the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day
The CHKD Difference
CHKD’s fellowship emphasizes psychotherapy training. Fellows work with faculty who are skilled in teaching therapy techniques and dedicated to helping trainees build confidence in psychotherapy as a core part of their practice.
This emphasis helps distinguish the program by ensuring fellows graduate with both strong biological psychiatry training and meaningful therapeutic skill development.
CHKD offers broad exposure across multiple care settings, giving fellows the opportunity to work with patients at different levels of acuity and across different phases of treatment. This range of experience helps prepare graduates for the realities of modern child and adolescent psychiatry practice.
Training takes place at Children’s Pavilion, a modern pediatric mental health environment designed to support comprehensive, compassionate, and coordinated care.
As a purpose-built facility, Children’s Pavilion offers a training environment that is both welcoming and highly functional — an important advantage that distinguishes CHKD from many peer programs.
Dr. Rajesh Mehta
Dr. Mehta is a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, a think tank of leading psychiatric experts whose insights and recommendations help shape and advance modern psychiatric theory and practice. He also serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Religion and Spirituality Committee and has received the AACAP Psychodynamic Faculty Initiative (PsyFI) Mentorship Award. Read Dr. Mehta's full bio.
Dr. Mariam Rahmani
Dr. Rahmani is a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, a think tank of leading psychiatric experts whose insights and recommendations help shape and advance modern psychiatric theory and practice. She also serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Women’s Committee. Read Dr. Rahmani's full bio.
Dr. Michael Shapiro
Dr. Shapiro serves as the Associate Editor-in-Chief for the PRITE and Child PRITE —an important distinction that highlights CHKD’s academic strength and national reach. He also serves as co-chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Psychotherapy Committee and as Program Advisor for AACAP’s Psychodynamic Faculty Initiative. Read Dr. Shapiro's full bio.
Dr. Leslie Torbert
Dr. Torbert serves as the state of Virginia's Delegate to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, further underscoring the program’s strong connection to the broader field. Read Dr. Torbert's full bio.
Dr. Jeffrey Wilson
Dr. Wilson helps select national reading materials for board certification maintenance as part of a highly selective group of experts. He also serves on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Maintenance of Certification Committee. Read Dr. Wilson's full bio.
Specialized Inpatient Units For:
- Younger children
- Adolescents
- Patients with medical and mental health concerns
- Children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Expanded Continuum of Care
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
- Outpatient clinical experiences
- Interdisciplinary pediatric mental health care
Mission
Our mission is to train the next generation of child and adolescent psychiatrists in a hospitable and nurturing environment to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all children across a full continuum of care.
Embedded in a free-standing children's hospital and offering an array of different levels of care, our program prepares physicians to provide comprehensive evidence-based, high-quality, compassionate, and trauma-informed psychiatric care for youth and their families.
Program Aims
- AIM 1: 100% of our graduates will be board-certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry within five years of graduation from our fellowship program.
- AIM 2: Develop a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry workforce adept in treating children of all ages and conditions, especially those with neurodevelopmental disorders.
- AIM 3: Our graduates will incorporate individual psychotherapy and family work in their clinical practice.
- AIM 4: 50% of our graduates will practice primarily in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Virginia, giving back to the local community.
- AIM 5: Our graduates will be competent in providing care to all populations including military families.
Additional Information:
Questions?
Ready to Apply?
We welcome applicants who are passionate about pediatric mental health and eager to train in a program designed to prepare them for the future of child and adolescent psychiatry.
The Fellowship Experience at CHKD
Life in Hampton Roads