Departments of Family and Internal Medicine
Primary Care Psychology Track

There are two primary care psychology internship positions and two practice sites for this major track.  This internship program will provide the intern with an opportunity to learn all aspects of working as a psychologist in primary care settings. The practice sites are both University of Colorado Hospital outpatient clinics. The first is a Family Medicine clinic, A.F. Williams Family Medicine Center, which serves patients of all ages including obstetrical, pediatric and hospice care. The second is an Internal Medicine clinic, the Garfield Internal Medicine Group, which provides all aspects of primary care for adults.

Goals of the Primary Care Psychology Track

Our primary goal is to develop psychologists who can provide a full range of primary care psychology services in the context of multi-disciplinary health care teams. We emphasize provision of such services to underserved and highly diverse urban and sub-urban populations.  Interns will complete the internship identifying themselves as important members of health care teams.

Secondarily, interns will develop an understanding of the process and some techniques of medical education. They will become familiar with the roles that psychologists can have in medical education and will participate in training physicians in communications skills at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Required Activities:

1. Interns will engage in the provision of primary care psychology services in collaboration with internal medicine and family physicians, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, RN’s, social workers, medical students and residents. These services may include:

• consultation regarding behavioral health issues
• facilitation of health-related support groups
• individual psychotherapy
• health promotion/disease prevention interventions
• psychological screening and assessments
• attend supervision sessions, twice per week

2. Interns will contribute to the education and training of medical students and medicine residents via:

• facilitation of Balint groups
• small group teaching
• video taping of clinic visits
• medical precepting (supervision of psychosocial aspects of medical care)
• hospital rounds
• collaborative care/clinical teaching

3. Interns will participate in ongoing research and/or program development in community based medicine with options including:

• serving on grant writing teams
• participation in practice based research working groups
• focal study of a selected underserved population

4. Interns will master a primary care psychology curriculum through:

• selected readings
• attending lecture and seminar series
• participation in medical school education activities, including Family Medicine and Psychiatry Grand Rounds.

Faculty:

Psychology

Deborah Seymour, Psy.D. , Associate Professor, Director of Behavior Science in Family Medicine

Bennett Leslie, Psy.D., Senior Instructor, UCH Center for Integrated Medicine

Family Physicians:

Colleen Conry, M.D. , Professor,   Vice-Chair, Department of Family Medicine

Frank deGruy, M.D., Professor, Chair, Department of Family Medicine

Internal Medicine Physicians:

Suzanne Brandenburg, M.D., Associate Professor, Residency Director, Department of Internal Medicine

Brian Dwinnell, M.D., Associate Professor, Course Director for Foundations of Doctoring