Washington University School of Medicine has consistently been ranked as a top 10 research university, with a mean rank in NIH funding of 4.1. For child and adolescent fellows with a strong research background interested in a potential academic research career, we are able to provide protected time to conduct research with our outstanding research mentors from an internationally recognized faculty.
Faculty mentorship
One of the keys to a successful academic career is a knowledgeable faculty mentor. Our expert faculty take pride in developing quality interactions with trainees and routinely produce more than 300 publications each year, often co-authored with trainees. These papers make an impact on other researchers and clinicians, with a median faculty h-index of 22.5. Faculty are well-connected nationally and internationally, with service to various committees and panels. These connections can be important as trainees begin to navigate their independent careers.
Faculty from other departments are also available to serve as research and career mentors to our trainees. There are over 150 faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis who conduct research in areas relevant to psychiatric disorders, including cellular and molecular neuroscience, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, genetics, epidemiology, and public health.
PRREP Structure
PRREP is a joint program between the general adult psychiatry residency program and they child and adolescent psychiatry program designed to expose psychiatry residents and fellows to the experience of conducting academic research and provide resources to do so. WashU psychiatry residents typically enter the program in their 1st or 2nd year of residency, work closely with a faculty mentor to develop a research project or projects which can be continued throughout their training. WashU residents in PRREP are welcomed to continue working on their projects during fellowship and CAP fellowship applicants with strong research backgrounds from other institutions are also encouraged to apply. During CAP fellowship, PRREP fellows with an active, mentored research project may have up to 20 weeks of protected research time during their first year and up to 2 days per week of protected research time during their second year of fellowship.
PRREP Outcomes
The mentoring and structure of PRREP create a strong academic ethos in our training program that has allowed them to thrive. Their accomplishments have been amazing. In addition to winning awards and presenting their work at national and international meetings, they have co-authored a very large number of research articles. Since its inception in 2016, our PRREP trainees have been authors on over 100 publications, over 20 have opted for a career in academic psychiatry, with many choosing to undergo additionally research training via a T32 training grant mechanism, resulting in multiple foundation grants, mentored K-awards, and several graduates already transitioning into R level funding.
Additional information can be found under our Fellowship pages HERE.