VA Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment

The fellowship training program is designed to create an environment that fosters professional growth and development in young investigators, allowing them to mature into independent researchers capable of and interested in pursuing independent research that contributes to the overall VA mission of health care. Each fellow will have a committee of mentors. Consultants from off-site faculty may be included. The fellowship director will be on each fellow's committee to provide administrative oversight and to monitor the fellow's progress toward completing each specific task required by the fellowship. The second committee member will be the primary mentor, who will have experience conducting research in the topic areas that the fellow chooses to pursue. This mentor will have primary responsibility for guiding the fellow to meet the research and education goals. Other mentors may be included based on fellows’ interests and needs. Fellows will meet with their primary mentor on a biweekly basis and with their mentoring committee quarterly. The program director will meet with the fellow semiannually to review the fellow's progress.

At the beginning of the fellowship year, the mentoring committee will meet with each fellow to individualize the training experience and to enhance the fellow's existing expertise, academic preparation, and research interests. All fellows are expected to:

• Participate in ongoing research projects and grant writing in their area of interest
• Develop a research project in their area of interest that should result in a publication in a peer-reviewed journal and/or grant application
• Make a presentation at a national meeting
• Participate in clinical activities as assigned
• Participate in teaching opportunities
• Attend biweekly MIRECC Fellowship video teleconferences

Fellows may participate in Baylor College of Medicine faculty development programs. Fellows will also have the opportunity to co-lead and participate in the bimonthly Psychiatry Journal Clubs. Finally, fellows will be given teaching responsibilities by their clinical mentors and will receive feedback on their teaching.

To customize each fellow’s learning experience, a rich selection of relevant coursework is available from the University of Texas School of Public Health, University of Houston, and Rice University. All fellows will be able to complete an MPH through the University Of Texas School Of Public Health, if so desired. Fellows may also attend content-specific course in Health Services Research or Psychopharmacology, as outlined below in the Health Services and Psychopharmacology emphasis sections.