Psychiatry Residency

Psychiatry Residency

The Unity Health Psychiatry Residency Program is dedicated to helping you become the best physician you can be. Our four-year, ACGME-accredited program covers a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings around Searcy and Central Arkansas.

We look forward to telling you more about our curriculum, resources and the community we serve.

Program Director's Welcome Letter

As Program Director for the Psychiatry residency program at Unity Health, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to a wonderful opportunity for advanced education on your road to becoming a behavioral health physician.

While our program is relatively young, we have made great strides in educating our residents. Our three-year pass rate for first-time test takers of both the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Osteopathic Board Of Psychiatry is 100%. Our residents have been recognized in state, regional, and national venues for their presentations of scientific papers and posters. We encourage our residents to think outside of the box. One resident completed an Integrative medicine Fellowship during her residency. That same resident was accepted into a prestigious psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy program offered by the California Institute of Integral Studies. Another will be doing a month-long rotation at NASA. Many of our residents have moved successfully through their applications for Fellowship training in various psychiatric fields, including Child and Adolescent, Addiction Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry. The feedback received from these Fellowships is that our residents are well-prepared upon entry into their programs.

Our faculty is proud to be able to provide each resident with a firm foundation in the nuts and bolts of a psychiatric practice. But more than that, we look at the potential and aspirations of each resident, and we do as much as possible to manifest those aspirations. We don’t accept residents for where they are at the time of selection. We look at their potential and try to see where they will be in four years.

We pride ourselves on being forward-thinkers and evaluate our resident training accordingly. During the past two years, we have implemented Transcranial Magnetic Therapy and have an active ketamine-assisted therapy service. We have also introduced a psychotherapy service focused on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. All of these have been well-received by both residents and faculty. To further our commitment to exposing our residents to Interventional Psychiatry, we are implementing a rotation on an Electroconvulsive Therapy service. We encourage and support off-site electives for our residents.

The program has access to internationally renowned lecturers on the topics of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and political profiling of the heads of foreign nations generally classified as our adversaries.

In closing, we promote a family atmosphere in our program. We offer much more than one might assume available in a rural program. We invite you to inquire about the program, and I am confident you will be pleasantly surprised.

David Draney, DO
Psychiatry Program Director

Curriculum

Our program prides itself on providing our residents with dynamic and engaging rotations. The didactic curriculum features weekly sessions focused on providing tools and resources for our residents that will prepare them for their time here and their future. Examples of the training include psychotherapy and psychopharmacology training, and advanced diagnostic strategies for mental health disorders. The training is complemented by board preparation, Journal Club and PRITE studies.

During the first two years of residency, you'll engage in team-based inpatient care across adolescent, adult, and geriatric populations. You'll also rotate through outpatient neurology and substance use treatment clinics, gaining experience with both inpatient and outpatient care models.

In your final two years, the focus shifts to community-based collaborative care and outpatient psychiatry, emergency consult/liaison services, and forensic psychiatry. These diverse settings prepare you for real-world psychiatric practice in a variety of environments. Included in our PGY4 rotation is the opportunity to lead an outpatient team as a Jr. Attending.

Beyond clinical training, our program emphasizes leadership, scholarship, and service. Residents participate in administrative responsibilities, research projects, hospital service, and community outreach—developing the skills and confidence to become well-rounded, forward-thinking psychiatrists.

Site 1: Unity Health – White County Medical Center; Site 2: Arkansas Hospice
NOTES: 1) Electives may include an additional experience in one of the above rotations or experience in other areas of psychiatric interest. 2) Research and outpatient time are determined by choice of elective. Research rotations entail no inpatient and one half-day of outpatient responsibilities. Most residents do research for QI projects, case reports, or clinical series.

How to Apply

Applications to the Psychiatry Residency Program are only accepted via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Our code number for the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) is 2104400C0. Our ACGME Program ID is 4002800116.

We accept five residents each year who meet the following preferred applicant qualifications:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Dean's letter or Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE).
• Three letters of recommendation.
• ECFMG certification, if applicable, by March of the application year.
• Passing scores on USMLE and COMLEX I and II.

Interested in applying for an audition rotation? Learn more.

The Unity Health Graduate Medical Education department does not allow observerships.