Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program

II. Curriculum

The main educational objective of our program is to develop fellow’s expertise through a combination of didactic, clinical, research experiences and exposure to a wide range of patients in a tertiary, state of the art, academic medical center, under the supervision of board-certified Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry specialists.

These experiences are developed to provide the skills and expertise necessary to independently evaluate and treat complex psychosocial, psychiatric and behavioral problems in the medically-ill patient in a multidisciplinary team approach.

The various clinical settings and didactic experiences that comprise the fellow’s training experience at the Stanford Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Program described below:

Clinical Training Experience

1. Main Training Site
   
   Stanford University Medical Center
   
   The Stanford University Medical Center is comprised of three world-renowned institutions: Stanford Hospital & Clinics, which includes the Comprehensive Cancer Center; the Stanford University School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the Western United States; and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, an adjacent pediatric teaching hospital providing general acute and tertiary care.
   
   Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) is a 481-bed general medical and surgical facility with 25,164 admissions a year. Stanford is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. In November of 2019 we expect to open a new Stanford Hospital. Poised to be one of health care’s best-equipped and most innovative facilities, the New Stanford Hospital will combine superb clinical care, world-class research, and Stanford University’s groundbreaking education programs. The new, four towers, seven-story facility, houses a new Trauma Center and Emergency Department, and an enhanced capacity for patient care with 20 additional state-of-the-art operating rooms, 8 interventional/radiology rooms, 3 MRIs, 3 CTs, and 1 interventional MRI, plus an additional 368 beds.
   
   Stanford Health Care's renowned Stanford Hospital has again been recognized as one of the nation's premier hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, earning a spot on its national Honor Roll. As in previous years, U.S. News & World Report gathered and analyzed data for more than 4,500 medical centers. Stanford Hospital was ranked in 10 medical specialties for 2019-20: cancer; cardiology & heart surgery; ear, nose & throat; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology & neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology & lung surgery; and urology.
   
   
2. Specialty Rotations
   In addition to the required rotations, the fellow spends half day a week, on average, in up to three sub-specialty rotations. Available rotations include: Neurocritical Care, HIV/AIDS Clinic, Women Wellness Clinic, Pain Service, Palliative Care Service at the Palo Alto VAHCS, Transplant programs, Pulmonary Clinic; GI Clinic, Psycho-oncology, and Clinical Research.
   
   
3. In-patient Rotations
   
   Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service at Stanford University Medical Center – Inpatient Service
   
   The inpatient Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) Service provides consultation throughout the hospital’s 23 medical/surgical units for the management of psychiatric conditions arising within the context of medical and surgical conditions, including the critical care units, cancer center, and organ transplantation. The service consists of 7 full time and 4 part-time CLP attending physicians, two fellows, 2 – 3 PGY2 psychiatry residents, 0 – 2 internal medicine or neurology residents, and 0 – 2 medical students. Fellows learn to evaluate patients and provide a wide range of treatment recommendations, including pharmacotherapy, hypnosis, cognitive-behavioral management plans, brief supportive psychotherapy, alterations in the milieu, meetings with family or members of support system and recommend interventions by other disciplines such as neurology, social work, the spiritual care, or rehabilitation services. Fellows provide on-going supportive psychotherapy and family counseling, and may arrange and chair, focused, multidisciplinary staff conferences to deal with difficult management problems. They learn to communicate clearly, orally and in writing to medical and surgical colleagues and develop liaison relationships with other departments. They also participate in competency and conservatorship proceedings, as well as in initiating and extending psychiatric holds.
   
   In addition to direct patient care, the fellow is heavily involved in educational activities on the service, providing teaching and peer supervision to other trainees on the team (medical students, residents). This is a required rotation.
   
   Service Director: Jose Maldonado, MD, FACLP, FACFE.
   
   Critical Care Psychiatry [CCP] Service
   
   The rotation’s purpose is to introduce trainees to the diagnosis and management of neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with critical care illness and/or its treatment. Most disorders encountered during this rotation are those associated with acute severe medical disorders (e.g., pneumonia, myocardial infarctions), acute and chronic end organ failure, acute trauma, and immediate post-operative states. The most common diagnoses trainees will be exposed to in this environment include delirium, post-operative neuro cognitive syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury. This is a required rotation.
   
   Service Director: Jose Maldonado, MD, FACLP, FACFE.
   
   Neuro-Critical Care Medicine [NCC] Rotation
   
   This rotation is an immersion experience into the world of Neurocritical Care Service. It also serves as a great refresher of basic neurological anatomy and physiology; presentation and management of acute neurological disorders (e.g., stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury). This is a required rotation; with extra time allowed as elective rotation time.
   
   Service Director: Yelizaveta Sher, MD, FACLP.
   
   
4. Out-patient Rotations
   
   Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) Evaluation & Continuity Clinic
   
   The Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) Evaluation & Continuity Clinic specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric syndromes associated with medical and surgical conditions and their treatment. The clinic provides assessment and management of the major psychiatric disorders encountered in the medical/surgical patients including: Adjustment Disorders, Anxiety Disorders (e.g., Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), Mood Disorders (e.g. Major Depression), Cognitive Impairment Disorders (e.g. Delirium, Dementia), Psychotic Disorders, and Somatic symptom disorders, using combined psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. The clinic also provides pre-organ transplant psychiatric evaluation and post-transplant psychiatric follow-ups for various organ transplant services at SHC. This is a required rotation.
   
   Clinic Director: Mariana Schmajuk, MD.
   
   HIV Psychiatry Clinic
   
   The Stanford Positive Care Program serves approximately 2000 HIV+ patients in two multidisciplinary clinics located in Atherton and San Jose. The Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellow will become experienced in the evaluation and treatment of new and returning patients for a wide variety of conditions, including HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND), substance abuse (predominately methamphetamine), and neuropsychiatric presentations of opportunistic infections, sexually-transmitted diseases, and side effects of antiretroviral medications. Approximately thirty percent of the patients positive for Hepatitis C, management of which involves close psychiatric assessment and treatment. Fellows will also become familiar with the latest treatments for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and the management of drug-drug interactions. Previous fellows have elected to participate more extensively in community activities, including HIV/AIDS support groups, research, and educational programs (e.g., telemedicine consultations and webinars for primary care providers). This is an elective rotation.
   
   Clinic Director: Lawrence McGlynn, MD.
   
   
5. Combined In & Out-patient Rotations
   
   Abdominal Transplantation Psychiatry Service
   
   The fellow will get experience working with organ transplant services participating in pre-transplant psychiatric evaluation, screening of prospective living donors, post-transplant management of psychiatric complications, and inpatient consults of abdominal transplantation (i.e., liver, kidney, pancreas, small intestine) patients. This is an elective rotation.
   
   Service Director: Filza Hussain, MD, FACLP.
   
   Cardiovascular/Cardiac Transplantation Psychiatry Service
   
   This clinical rotation provides a variety of outpatient and in-patient experiences. This service provides primary consultation to the Heart and Vascular Clinics (e.g, General Cardiology, Adult Congenital Heart Program, Amyloid Center, Cardiac Arrhythmia Service). In Addition, this team serves as primary consultant to the Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy Clinic, the Heart Transplant Program, and the Mechanical Circulatory Support Program. In that capacity, we perform pre-transplant/pre-LVAD evaluations, as well as provide support to heart/LVAD post-transplant patients. This is an elective rotation.
   
   Service Director: Jose Maldonado, MD, FACLP, FACFE.
   
   Cystic Fibrosis Psychiatry
   
   This clinical rotation takes advantage of a new embedded clinic developed by Dr. Sher, a recognized expert in the psychiatric aspects of Cystic Fibrosis. This clinic provides trainees with an opportunity to be exposed to the psychosocial aspects of a chronic medical illness process (including end stages) with significant mental health sequelae. This is an elective rotation.
   
   Service Director: Yelizaveta Sher, MD, FACLP.
   
   Hospice & Palliative Care Medicine
   
   This rotation is an immersion experience into the world of the Palo Alto-VA, In-patient Palliative Care Unit; a specialized, inter-professional unit caring for medically complex patients who are seriously ill. The Stanford University Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship is the oldest training program in the nation. We were also the first program in the nation to be funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This rotation takes place at the Palo Alto – Veterans Administration Health Care System, where specialized palliative care is available through inpatient consultation teams at the Palo Alto–VA. During this rotation, fellows participate in the activities common to a Palliative Care Service, including: symptom management; discussion and planning for care options; how best to support patients and families with stress associated with illness. This is a required rotation.
   
   Service Director: Divy Ravindranath, MD, FACLP
   
   Psycho-oncology Service
   
   Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows have an opportunity to rotate on the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) Psycho-Oncology Service. The exact duration of the elective and time invested is to be determined based on programmatic needs and fellow’s preferences.
   
   During the course of this rotation Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows will learn to assess psychiatric symptoms and psychological distress and coping mechanisms in patients at various stages of a cancer diagnosis, including: diagnosis, treatment, and remission/survivorship or terminal disease; develop proficiency in using psychiatric medications in the context of various cancer treatments (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, bone marrow transplantation); develop competency in providing various form of psychotherapy (e.g., supportive, cognitive behavioral, couples/family, and end of life/existential) and dealing with family dynamics, grief, and countertransference amongst medical staff; and gain experience working in a multi-disciplinary setting (i.e. oncologists, nurses, social workers, chaplains) and utilizing liaison skills. This is an elective rotation.
   
   Service Director: Sheila Lahijani, MD.

Formal Didactic Experience – Seminars and Conferences Series

In addition to the extensive clinical experience offered through the various rotations listed above, the CLP Fellowship at Stanford truly provides a rich, didactic environment that promotes a framework for a life-long learning process. The purpose of the program is to provide the foundations to CLP, along with an opportunity to scholarly development and career development, through a number of seminars and conferences as listed below:

1. Immersion into CLP Didactic Series: Based on feedback from previous trainees, we collaborate with partners throughout the Stanford School of Medicine for this innovative seminar, unique to Stanford CLP Fellowship. Occurring during the first 8 weeks of fellowship on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, it is geared towards arming our incoming Fellows with advanced medical knowledge germane to daily clinical work in CL Psychiatry. Topics taught by medicine faculty include ICU medicine, Neuroimaging, Cardiology, Hepatology and renal medicine and Oncology. Our own faculty presents on transplant psychiatry, delirium, and alcohol withdrawal. This is a required didactic activity. Topics covered in this lecture series include:
   
   

   Topic	Detail	Speaker/Department
   Alcohol withdrawal	Benzo sparing Protocol	Jose Maldonado, MD – CLP Psych
   Cardiology	Cardiac side-effects of psychiatric pharmacology, QTc; Mechanical  circulatory support, VADS, ICD	Paul Wang,l MD – Cardiology
   Case Management	Community Resources for Mental Health	Sue England LCSW – Case Management
   Delirium	Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management	Jose Maldonado, MD – CLP Psych
   Hepatology	Liver Failure, MELD, Hepatic Encephalopathy	Aparna Goel MD – Hepatology
   Legal Issues/Capacity	Legal issues in Psychiatry, with special reference to the practice in California	Jose Maldonado, MD – CLP Psych
   Medication-Induced Psychiatric Emergencies	Extrapyramidal Syndromes; Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome; Serotonin Syndrome	Jose Maldonado, MD – CLP Psych
   Neuroimaging	Basics of neuroimaging	Michael Zeineh MD – Neuroradiology
   Oncology	Staging, side effects, survival curves and prognosis discussions	Sunil Reddy MD – Oncology
   Pulmonary Medicine	Cystic Fibrosis, Pulmonary Hypertension; Lung Transplantation	Joshua Mooney MD – Pulmonary Medicine
   Renal	Uremia, Dialysis modalities, pharmacologic considerations in renal dysfunction	Margaret Yu MD - Nephrology
   Respiratory	Ventilation, ABG interpretation, treating dyspnea and air hunger	Paul Mohabir MD – Pulmonary Medicine
   Transplant Evaluation	Transplant Evaluation and the Selection Process; SIPAT	Yelizaveta Sher, MD – CLP Psych

   
   
   
2. Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Journal Club:  On the first Fridays of every month, trainees will take turns presenting a CL-related topic of interest. This trainee-led teaching is designed to help trainees critically evaluate published literature, understand evidenced-based medicine, and practice teaching relevant scientific information around a topic.  Fellows have access to a list of “must read” literature as well, an evolving list of papers important to our field, and previous resident/fellow PowerPoints. Journal presentations are led or supervised by the Fellows. This is a required didactic activity.
   
   
3. Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Trainees Clinical Conference: On every other Friday, trainees are expected to participate in the didactic process through a lecture series covering the different types of medical disorders presenting with psychiatric manifestations, as well as a review of the diagnosis and management of common psychiatric conditions found in the general medical/surgical units. Alternatively, based on particular cases or clinical events, a clinical case conference is held in which medically ill patients with psychiatric disorders or who developed psychiatric/behavioral complications are discussed, followed by an in depth review of relevant literature. This is a required didactic activity.
   
   
4. Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellow Didactic Series: PM-Fellows are given a list of essential PM topics and are expected to research them and prepare a lecture series based on their studies, literature review, supervision with their mentor and PD, as well as develop evidence-based diagnostic and treatment approaches. Fellows will then teach these to trainees on the PM Service as a way of testing their knowledge and consolidate their grasp in the learned material. This is a required didactic activity.
   
   
5. Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Book Seminar: Based on feedback from previous trainees and under the coordination of the CLP Education Committee we have developed this seminar, in which trainees review the best, published chapters of specific CLP topics, under the guidance of CLP faculty members. This is a required didactic activity. The series covers the following topics:
   • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
   • ECT & interventional psychiatry
   • Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
   • Psycho-Oncology
   • Psychotherapy
   • Psychotherapy of the Medically-Ill
   • Rheumatology
   • Sexual Dysfunction
   • Sleep
   • Toxicology
   • Transplantation Psychiatry
   • Women’s health
      
6. Mental Health in Medicine Lecture Series & Case Conference: Conducted during the first half of the year. It consist of a lecture series covering the different types of medical disorders presenting with psychiatric manifestations, as well as a review of the diagnosis and management of common psychiatric conditions found in the general medical/surgical units. During the second half of the year it consists of a clinical case conference in which medically ill patients with psychiatric disorders or who developed psychiatric/behavioral complications are discussed, followed by an in depth review of relevant literature. This is a required didactic activity. The list of covered topics in the include:
   • Alcohol Withdrawal
   • Anxiety disorders
   • Bipolar disorders
   • Capacity Evaluations
   • Delirium Management
   • Depression/ECT
   • Eating Disorders
   • NMS/Serotonin Syndrome
   • Psychotic Disorders
   • Substance Use Disorders/Addiction Medicine
   • Suicide Prevention
      
7. Interdisciplinary Clinical Psychiatry in Neurology series: A clinical case conference in which patients with neuropsychiatric disorders are discussed, followed by an in depth review of relevant literature. This is a required didactic activity.
   
   
8. Psychosomatic Medicine – O/P Clinic Case Review: All outpatient cases seen by PM-Fellows during O/P Clinic are reviewed and discussed with Service Chief and/or senior clinic attending. This is a required didactic activity.
   
   
9. Annual Symposium (Grand Rounds): Once a year PM-Fellows will present a Grand Round session on his/her research or on a clinically significant issue. This is an elective didactic activity.
   
   
10. Bedside Psychotherapy Skills in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: Review of the different types of psychotherapeutic techniques appropriate for the use in the acute setting of the hospital setting; as well as psychotherapeutic techniques useful in the treatment of chronic medical disorders. When possible and available a live interview will take place to allow trainees learn from seasoned clinicians with particular expertise in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. This is a required didactic activity.
    
    
11. Ethics Committee Meeting: At this meeting representative members from all major specialties discuss difficult ethical cases, develop hospital policy, and conduct actual ethical consultations. Often, discussions regarding major bioethical principles take place. This is an elective didactic activity.
    
    
12. Psychiatry & the Law Course (Law School): This course is offered every year at the Stanford School of Law by joint faculty from the Schools of Medicine and Law and is an excellent opportunity to learn about the interfaces and clashes of mental health and the law. The course includes a review and discussion of landmark cases in psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and the Law, issues of competency assessment, decision making capacity, informed consent, right to refuse treatment, substituted decision making, end of life & right to die will be discussed in depth. This is an elective didactic activity.
    
    
13. Long-term Psychotherapy for the Medically-Ill: PM-Fellows are assigned a challenging or complex, long-term psychotherapy case which will be followed longitudinally for the rest of their fellowship (or until the patient needs to terminate for medical reasons, or improvement). A psychotherapy supervisor, skilled in the application of psychotherapy in the medically-ill will watch via one-way mirror/video camera, and provide active feedback and supervision immediately at the end of each session. This is an elective didactic activity.
    
    
14. Scholarly Concentration: New research projects in development and ongoing project updates are presented and discussed by research and clinical faculty, and CLP-Fellows In this forum scholarly projects (e.g.,. manuscripts, abstracts, poster) are discussed and presented. The program offers plenty of opportunities for scholarly activities. Participating Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows are required to join in an existing research project, develop a new research project, design and conducting a case series, or doing an advanced literature review on a particular topic of interest. Fellows interested in developing their own research project will obtain training and mentorship in identifying and developing a research idea, delineating and carrying out the steps required to implement a clinical research project (e.g., write study proposal; compose and obtain IRB approval; literature review; search for funding), and writing and submitting a manuscript for publication, or poster presentation at scientific meeting. This is an elective didactic activity.
    
    
15. Methodology of Research in Behavioral Sciences Seminar: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows have the opportunity to enroll in the Methodology of Research in Behavioral Sciences Seminar in which the instructors review and discuss essential methodological topics in clinical psychiatric research, including randomized clinical trials and effect size, statistical hypothesis testing: significance & power; discussion of reliability, validity, and sensitivity; medical test evaluation and risk factor research. Instructors: Boil Jo, PhD, Helena Kraemer, PhD. Duration: 1 quarter. This is an elective didactic activity.

III. Application Process

We are currently accepting applications for the July 2021 start date. The application deadline is October 31, 2020.

Program Eligibility Criteria and Application Requirements

1. Before entry into the program, applicants must complete or have completed an ACGME accredited psychiatry residency program, or a general psychiatry program in Canada accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, that qualifies them to sit for the ABPN Psychiatry Board.
   
   
2. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen, or possess the appropriate documentation to allow them to legally train at the Stanford University Medical Center according to School of Medicine Department of Graduate Medical Education policy. http://med.stanford.edu/gme/
   
   
3. Applications for training in the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship program must include:
   
   
   1. The Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Common Application for Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship form: https://www.clpsychiatry.org/residents-fellows/common-application
      
      
   2. Curriculum Vitae
      
      
   3. Personal Statement
      
      
   4. Copy of medical school diploma and/or transcripts
      
      
   5. Documentation of post-graduate medical education completed elsewhere
      
      
   6. Copies of state medical license(s), DEA certificate, board certifications, when applicable
      
      
   7. Documentation of ECFMG certification, when applicable
      
      
   8. Three (3) professional letters of recommendation, one must be from the psychiatry training director documenting that the applicant meets the eligibility criterion (#1 above); and at least one from a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry supervisor.
      
      
   9. Documentation of successful passing scores on USMLE parts 1, 2, and 3.
      
      
   10. For International Medical Graduates (IMGs) – Documentation of VISA status:
       Stanford Hospital and Clinics uses the J-1 visa program sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Stanford does not sponsor H-1B visas for graduates of international medical schools. Graduates of Canadian medical schools must also use the J-1 program. For more information visit the SHC-GME website: http://med.stanford.edu/gme/intl_med_grads.html.
       
       
4. Applicants must be eligible for medical licensure in the State of California.
   Graduates of foreign medical schools should contact the Medical Board of California to ensure the requirements to obtain a license and practice medicine in this state have been met. You must obtain an 'Evaluation Status Letter' from the Medical Board of California, stating that your credentials are adequate to practice in this state and submit this letter with your application so your file may be reviewed.
   
   
5. For the July 2020 fellowship start date: The Stanford Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program will be participating in the National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) through the Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®), as are most USA – ACGME approved PM fellowship programs.
   
   Please note the following key Psychiatry Match dates:
   
   • October 7, 2020 - Match Opens at 12:00 p.m. ET
   • November 4, 2020 – Ranking Opens at 12:00 p.m. ET
   • December 2, 2020 – Programs: Quota Change Deadline at 11:59 p.m. ET
   • December 16, 2020 – Rank Order List Certification Deadline at 9:00 p.m. ET
   • January 6, 2020 – Match Day at 12:00 p.m. ET!
   • For more fellowship Match information, please see http://www.nrmp.org/
      
6. Due to the new realities associated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we will not be conducting on-campus visits; interviews will be conducted virtually. Please feel free to watch the following videos designed to provide you with a sense of the Stanford Medical Center and our campus:
   

IV. Faculty and Fellows

José Maldonado, MD joined the Stanford faculty in 1993 and became Medical Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service in 1995. He received his medical degree at Ponce School of Medicine and his psychiatric training at Temple University, in Philadelphia. He completed additional training in Forensic Psychiatry at Temple University, and a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry/Neuropsychiatry at New England Medical Center/Tufts University, in Boston.

Dr. Maldonado is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine; with courtesy appointments in the Departments of Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Surgery, the Center of Biomedical Ethics and the Stanford School of Law. He serves as Chief of the Medical and Forensic Psychiatry Section, Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Clinic, and Medical Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Consult Service. Dr. Maldonado areas of special expertise in the areas of delirium and post-critical care cognitive disorders, alcohol withdrawal syndromes, somatoform disorders, neuropsychiatry, dissociation, medical hypnosis, and organ transplantation.

Dr. Maldonado's research interest include: Neurobiology, Prediction, Prevention and Treatment of Acute Brain Failure (Delirium); Neuropsychiatric Sequelae of Medical Illness and its Treatment; Psychosocial Assessment & Neuropsychiatric Complications of Organ Transplantation; Functional Neurological Disorder; Application of Hypnosis in Psychiatry and Medicine; Neuropsychiatric Sequelae of Traumatic Brain Injury; Pathophysiology and Management of Alcohol Withdrawal; Factitious Disorder & Munchausen's Syndrome; Cultural Diversity in Medical Care; Diagnosis and Treatment of Dissociative Disorders; and Forensic Psychiatry.

Dr. Maldonado has received numerous awards including the Charles Shagass, MD Award, for meritorious scholarly work during residency training, from Temple University (1988). The Psychiatric Times named Dr. Maldonado 2001 Teacher of the Year. In 2002 he received the Best Paper Award on the Application of Hypnosis, presented by the American Psychological Association. In June 2003, Dr. Maldonado was awarded the Henry J. Kaiser Award at the Stanford University School of Medicine Commencement Ceremony for excellence in clinical teaching. In August 2003, Dr. Maldonado received the "Best Researcher/Author Presentation" Award at the World Congress in Psychosomatic Medicine for his work on acute brain failure/delirium. He received the 2004 DLIN/Fischer Award, for significant achievement in clinical research from the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry for his research in the prevention of Post-Operative Delirium and the introduction of novel alpha-2 agonists (e.g., dexmedetomidine) in ICU sedation protocols. He received the Teacher of the Year Award by the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University in 2004, 2009, and 2011. In 2009 he was recognize by the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry with the Dorfman Award, for Best Original Research, for his work on the development of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation.  In September 2012 he was named one of US News and World Report's 'Top Doctors'. In November 2012, he received the Research Poster of the Year Award from the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, for the development of a “Non-Benzodiazepine Protocol for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndromes”. In 2013, he received the Research Poster of the Year Award from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. In May 2014, Dr Maldonado received the Herbert Spiegel Award for Hypnosis Research from the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University & New York State Psychiatric Institute. In November 2014, Dr Maldonado received the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry’s DLIN/Fischer Award, for significant achievement in clinical research for his research on alcohol withdrawal syndromes and the development of the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS). He also received the APM’s 2014 Research Poster of the Year Award for the paper “Cortical hypoactivation during resting EEG suggests central nervous system pathology in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, and the 2014 Visiting Professorship Award. In June 2016, Dr Maldonado received the Sawlow Memorial Award on Neuroscience from the Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland International Neuroscience Symposium planned jointly by psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery. Dr. Maldonado, he has been recognized by his clinical peers as one of Castle Connolly – “Top Doctor Award” every year since in 2003 (2003 – 2016). Finally, Dr. Maldonado was the recipient of the 2018 – Eleanor and Thomas P. Hackett Memorial Award by the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, the Academy’s highest honor, for distinctive achievements in CLP training, research, clinical practice, and leadership.

Dr. Maldonado is a Fellow of the American College of Forensic Psychiatry and the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP); and a member of the Board of Directors and Past-President of the American Delirium Society (ADS). Dr. Maldonado enjoys national and international recognition as an expert in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and specifically in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of delirium and acute brain failure; the neurobiology, prevention and treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndromes; Transplant Psychiatry, more specifically the psychosocial assessment of organ transplant candidates and donors; traumatic brain injury; conversion disorder; and hypnosis. He is also director of the Mental Health & the Law course in the Stanford School of Law.

Dr. Maldonado is Board Certified in General and Adult Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, Forensic Medicine, and Addiction Medicine.  Dr. Maldonado has over 130 publications to his name, over 65 peer-reviewed scientific posters, and delivered over 170 peer-reviewed, organized and directed over 50 peer-reviewed symposia at national and international scientific meetings, and over 365 invited national and international presentations.

Dr Maldonado and his team have developed a number of clinical instruments and tools designed to assist Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry practitioners, including:

• Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT) – developed to assess the psychosocial candidacy of organ transplant and ventricular assisted devices (VADs). Studies have demonstrated that demonstrated that higher SIPAT scores are significantly correlated with the probability of poor medical (p<.001) and psychosocial (p=.002) outcomes. Currently been used in over 175 centers around the world and been translated into 10 languages. 2012, Stanford University.
• Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS) – Developed to identify medically-ill patients at risk of severe AWS, so appropriate prophylaxis and timely treatment could be implemented before the development of clinical complications. Studies have demonstrated the tool has a sensitivity of 93.5%, specificity of 99.5%, positive predictive value of 93.5%, and negative predictive value of 99.5%. I received the 2014 DLIN/Fischer Award for excellence in clinical research from the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry for my work on PAWSS. 2013, Stanford University.
• Stanford Proxy Test for Delirium (S-PTD) – The first and only Delirium diagnostic tool based on DSM-5 and ICD-10 criteria, developed to allow for the timely and accurate diagnosis of delirium, in order to provide early and timely management of this condition. The tool has a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 90% in the diagnosis of delirium in medically-ill patients. 2014, Stanford University.
• Stanford’s Algorithm for Predicting Delirium (SAPD) – developed to help predict those patients at risk for developing delirium; which should provide for the implementation of prophylactic management techniques and monitoring of patients at risk. Validation studies are under way. 2015, Stanford University.
• Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation for Ventricular Assisted Device Patients (SIPAT–V) – a new tool developed for the psychosocial assessment of mechanical circulatory support candidates, including ventricular assist devices (VAD) and total artificial heart. 2017, Stanford University.
• Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation for Living Organ Donors (SIPAT–D) – a new tool developed to assess the psychosocial fitness of living organ transplant, donor candidates. The tool evaluates 21 critical risk factors, in 4 psychosocial domains: Candidate’s Readiness Level; Donor’s Social Support System; Psychological Stability: Psychopathology, including Substance Use Disorders; Donor Decision Making Process. 2018, Stanford University.

Liza Sher, MD received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in Molecular and Cell Biology with emphasis in Neuroscience. She then worked in Molecular Biology Lab at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco, where she conducted basic science research on Complex I and Complex II of the respiratory chain, resulting in several publications.

In 2003, she was accepted to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and was awarded the Olin Fellowship, for “female graduate students with exceptional professional promise.” During medical school, she received several awards, including the Herrmann Award, a peer-nominated recognition for a graduating medical student for their listening and communication skills, and the Peter Halstead Hudgens Award, in recognition of "excellence in research and clinical psychiatry during medical school." She was also elected into Alpha Omega Alpha, Honors Medical Society.

Dr. Sher went on to receive her residency training in adult psychiatry at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, where she was elected to be a Chief Resident and was awarded the Outstanding Resident Award during her final year. During her training at Stanford, Dr. Sher was particularly drawn to and inspired by Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She was a member of the research team that first demonstrated the clinical efficacy of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT) and became the first fellow in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Stanford.

Dr. Sher joined the Stanford faculty in October 2012. She was awarded 2012-2013 Webb Fellowship by the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. During her fellowship and continuing into her faculty time, Dr. Sher has been involved in several research projects, including the development and validation of a tool to help predict severe alcohol withdrawal among medically ill individuals, Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS), and a study designed to validate the SIPAT.

Her most recent clinical and research interests include mental health of transplant patients, in particular lung transplant recipients, mental health of people with cystic fibrosis. In fact, she serves as a consultant to the Stanford Lung Transplant team and is embedded within the Stanford Adult CF Clinic, where she serves as a Director of Psychiatric and Psychological Program. In addition to a number of publications and conference presentations, Dr. Sher co-edited the new book with Dr. Maldonado "Psychosocial Care of End-Stage Organ Disease and Transplant Patients." She is currently working on several other books for transplant patients and patients with cystic fibrosis. Dr Sher is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and serves as Associate Training Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program. She has been recognized for her clinical innovation with The Annual Chairman's Award from Stanford Department of Psychiatry and for her teaching with the Best Teacher Award by the Graduating Psychiatry Residency Class.

In addition, Dr. Sher and her team have developed a number of clinical instruments and tools designed to assist Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry practitioners, including:

• Stanford Adherence Tool for Cystic Fibrosis (SAT-CF) – a new tool clinical developed to quickly identify areas of strengths and challenges in adherence for patients with CF
• Stanford Adherence Tool for Transplant (SAT-T) – a new clinical tool developed to quickly identify areas of strengths and challenges in adherence for patients after transplantation (in particular, lung transplant recipients)

Dr. Lahijani earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a minor in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Rhode Island in 2002. Prior to becoming a physician, Dr. Lahijani worked as a consultant in the Rhode Island Department of Health's Diabetes Prevention & Control Program and as a pharmacist in community settings. These experiences fostered her early interests in the interplay of behavioral health and medicine.

While attending Brown Medical School in Providence, RI, she focused clinically on infectious diseases, HIV, and endocrinology. She investigated skeletal health in HIV-infected patients. She also investigated the screening and primary care management for chronic hepatitis C virus in Rhode Island. Dr. Lahijani’ s interests in psychiatry developed as she appreciated the psychiatric comorbidities of patients with complex medical problems, such as HIV, hepatitis C, and diabetes, during her medical school rotations, particularly on the consultation-liaison psychiatry service. She developed further appreciation for holistic health, communication and cultural contexts through volunteering in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Iran.

Dr. Lahijani then pursued her medical training in the combined internal medicine/psychiatry residency program at Rush University Medical Center in 2007 in Chicago. She has worked extensively in the areas of primary care, endocrinology, HIV, addiction, critical care, and consultation-liaison psychiatry. Dr. Lahijani her Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. She served on the Medical Ethics Committee at Northwestern and participated regularly in teaching activities of house staff. In her fellowship, she also developed greater interest in psycho-oncology, which prompted her to rotate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

She is a member of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry, the American College of Physicians, the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture, and the American Psychosocial Oncology Society. Given her collective experiences, Dr. Lahijani’ s clinical and research interests include the integration of medicine and psychiatry, cultural contexts of health and illness, psychotherapy, medical education, and patient advocacy. Dr. Lahijani joined the faculty at Stanford as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in September 2015; and Medical Director of the Psycho-Oncology Service in 2019. She is working as a psychiatric consultant and clinician educator in both the inpatient and outpatient settings while focusing on psychiatric oncology and integrated care models.

Andrea Ament received her bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in psychology and was a varsity athlete and NCAA fencing champion.  After college, she worked in a cancer genetics lab at Ohio State University, and then attended medical school at Wright State University.  During medical school she was interested in a number of specialties, and received a scholarship award for her work with the the OB/GYN department.  Her interest in the field of consultation-liaison psychiatry was born during medical school, due to her passion for psychiatry and continued intrigue in multiple other fields of medicine.   

In 2012 she started her residency in psychiatry at Stanford University, and in her 4th year served as a chief resident.  During residency she was highly involved in the CL psychiatry service - as a PGY2 she completed her scholarly concentration on brief psychotherapeutic interventions in the medically ill (specifically bone marrow transplant patients), and helped to initiate a brief clinical trial looking at the use of Valproic Acid for the management of hyperactive delirium.  After residency, she stayed at Stanford to complete her CL fellowship, during which time she co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on the critical care management of TBI, and a book chapter on the psychosocial issues related to uterine and penile transplantation.   She has been an active presenter at both the American Psychiatric Association national meetings, and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine national meetings since 2015.   

Dr. Ament was fortunate to join the Stanford Psychosomatic Medicine team in 2017 after completing her fellowship.  She is currently the lead psychiatrist in the Stanford Emergency Department, in addition to serving as a regular attending on the inpatient psychiatry consult service, and seeing patients in the psychosomatic medicine clinic.  Some of her current work involves developing protocols for the assessment of suicide risk and violence risk.  She also maintains a focus on resident and medical student teaching, from organizing psychiatry lectures for the Internal Medicine and Neurology residency programs and Palliative Care fellowship, to being the course director for the 2nd year psychiatry resident's class on inpatient psychopathology and psychopharmacology. 

Dr. Hussain completed her medical education in Karachi, Pakistan, at the Aga Khan University in 2005 and travelled to the US to pursue her interest in Psychiatry. During residency at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota she was awarded the Mayo clinic M.J Martin award for excellence in CL psychiatry. It was at Mayo that she solidified her interest and identity as a Consultation Liaison Psychiatrist. Eliminating Mind body dualism while educating others and addressing stigma against psychiatry seemed like an effortless choice and so she pursued a CL fellowship at Columbia University in New York.

Visa obligations took her first to the UK where she utilized her experience in evaluating CL service performance in large teaching hospitals in the NHS. She subsequently moved back to the US to serve as the sole outpatient provider for 11 different counties in North West Wisconsin with a panel of over 1500 patients at a Mayo clinic satellite. During this time, she was an active board member of NAMI, taught psychopathology in Crisis Intervention Training for the Eau Claire, and Chippewa Police departments and avidly contributed to international health blogs and newspaper articles with an aim to decrease stigma against psychiatry

In Pursuit of a stimulating academic environment and a return to her true passion, CL psychiatry, she joined Stanford as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in 2017. As member of the Education Committee, She has been active in helping to restructure the fellowship education experience, initiating several new seminars including the immersion series, the book seminar, organizing the Chief of service rounds. Her clinical focus is transplant psychiatry, and she serves as the liaison to the Liver and Kidney transplant programs at Stanford. She continues to be engaged with the community and currently participates in the LEARN program, an endeavor educating patients about Fatty Liver disease. Other areas of clinical/research interests include Personality disorders, Suicidology, Cultural Psychiatry and medical pedagogy. She is also working with Dr. Maldonado in developing the SIPAT-D, a tool for evaluation of live organ donors.

Mariana Schmajuk received her medical school education at Boston University School of Medicine in 2013. She completed her General Adult Psychiatry Residency program Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in 2016, serving as Chief Resident with a focus on the early transition from medical school to residency. She went on to complete her Consult-Liaison fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center in 2017. 

Dr. Schmajuk joined Stanford University CLP team in 2017.  She is a primary member of the emergency medicine consultations, working collaboratively with a nurse practioner, social worker and residents.  Clinically, Dr. Schmajuk focuses on treating patients with terminal neurological disorders and oncological processes.  Dr. Schmajuk is the director of the Psychosomatic Continuity clinic where residents and fellows are able to assess and longitudinally treat patients with psychiatric sequelea in the context of complex medical illness. She has particular interest in brief psychotherapeutic interventions.  She enjoys teaching medical students about CL psychiatry and interviewing skills.  At present, Dr. Schmajuk is using techniques of applied improvisation to educate psychiatry residents and others about the building blocks of communication.  She also is an active member of the bioethics committee. 

Dr. Zein received her dual bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Physiological Science at UCLA and worked initially as a healthcare consultant, developing programs that improve healthcare access for vulnerable populations. She returned to school to pursue a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where she further developed her interests in the intersection of medicine and broader social-cultural themes, particularly the impact on mental health. She worked with the International Rescue Committee in Baltimore to help address the acculturation and psychological stress the Baltimore refugee population faced in resettlement.

In 2010, Dr. Zein began her medical training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. During medical school she continue to pursue interests in global and cultural health. She represented McGill nationally as the Global Health Advocate in the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, and focused on national and local clinical projects to support refugee and asylum seeker access to medical and mental health treatment. She was awarded the Mona Bronfman Sheckman Prize in Psychiatry for her work. During her psychiatry residency training at New York University (NYU), Dr. Zein continued pursuing her interest in global mental health, working as a group leader for refugees/asylum seekers in the Bellevue Survivors of Torture program, and the Association for Culture and Psychiatry. She also became interested in Integrated Behavioral Health, particularly the University of Washington AIMs model, or Collaborative Care Model. She founded the Integrated Behavioral Health resident working group and designed a two-year resident training program in the Collaborative Care Model as well as pioneered other electives in HIV psychiatry and psych-oncology. In her last two years of residency she was an APA Leadership Fellow, and served on the APA Consult Liaison Psychiatry Committee. She worked on a Decisional Capacity Guidelines paper with other committee members, and presented on Consult Liaison educational opportunities and Integrated Behavioral Health Models at the APA conference. She completed residency as a chief resident and won awards for Excellence in Resident Teaching as well as for humanism and clinical excellence in the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program

Dr. Zein is one of the most recent graduates of Stanford’s Consult Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship and is joining the faculty this year as an attending. She will also be with the Stanford Employee Health clinics to help design a Collaborative Care model for Cisco and function as their consulting psychiatrist.

Dr. Larry McGlynn is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been on the faculty of Stanford since 2000. Dr. McGlynn began his career as a mathematician. After obtaining a graduate degree in applied mathematics/Operations Research from Stanford University, he was employed by Bell Communications Research to construct mathematical models of fiber optic electronics in the Japanese manufacturing industry. He began his transition to medicine after winning a fellowship in Mathematics and Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, where he utilized applied mathematics in both HIV and cardiovascular health in Mexican-Americans. Dr. McGlynn went on to earn his MD at Harvard Medical School where he was the recipient of the Paul Dudley White Fellowship. Dr. McGlynn used this award to study infant mortality in the highlands of Guatemala. He completed his psychiatry residency at The Cambridge Hospital.

In addition to serving as Clinical Professor and seeing patients in the Stanford-based HIV clinics, Dr. McGlynn is also Director of the Stanford Methamphetamine Task Force, a multidisciplinary group of physicians, nurses, social workers, legal experts and community members who are funded to research and provide education on the abuse of methamphetamine and its connection to HIV infection. Dr. McGlynn is also Faculty Medical Director for the San Jose AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC). In this role, he directs the multidisciplinary faculty (including Infectious Diseases, Primary Care, Mental Health, Nursing, Legal, and Social Work) and curriculum development. The San Jose AETC provides HIV clinical education for providers from Santa Clara County south to San Luis Obispo County.

At the national level, Dr. McGlynn serves as Chairman of the American Psychiatric Association’s Office of HIV/AIDS and its associated steering committee.  In addition, he holds a seat on the APA’s Council on Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

In 2010, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors presented Dr. McGlynn with the Burgiss Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Renee Garcia received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from California State University, Los Angeles in 2005.  She then went onto conduct basic science research in both molecular biology and biochemistry investigating a family of enzymes, DNA glycosylases, involved in the base excision pathway responsible for the removal and replacement of damaged DNA bases.  She continued her medical journey at Loma Linda University, School of Medicine where she earned her medical degree in 2010 and then onto general adult psychiatry residency at University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

During her time in residency, she was honored with resident achievement award for her PGY-1 and PSY-2 years and was chief resident in her PGY-4 year.  She also developed professional interests in reproductive psychiatry, repetitive traumatic brain injury, and decision making capacity assessments in the general hospital setting, as well as academic involvement in graduate medical education committee and residency selection committee.  Her passion for inpatient consultation-liaison work also bloomed during residency leading to pursuit and completion of Stanford’s Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship in 2015.

She subsequently transitioned to Stanford faculty with an academic focus in suicidality in the medically ill, agitation in hospitalized patients, assertive ER psychiatric management and ICU psychiatry.  In addition to her role as an assistant clinical professor at Stanford, she is also director of the Psychiatric consultation-liaison service at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California.  Dr. Garcia has been able to extend the Stanford Psychosomatic medicine comprehensive biopsychosocial model to the community hospital setting along with providing continuing medical education symposiums to community primary care physicians, neurologists, and critical care physicians.

Dr. Ravindranath, a board certified Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry specialist, completed his undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences with a minor in Business Administration at UC Berkeley in 1999. In 2000, he matriculated into the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, earning his MS in Health and Medical Sciences in 2003 and his MD in 2005. He completed General Adult Psychiatry Residency and Fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Michigan in 2009 and 2010 respectively. During his post-graduate training, he received an additional certification in medical education and was the recipient of two teaching awards, the Association for Academic Psychiatry Fellowship, and the American College of Psychiatrists’ Laughlin Fellowship. He has maintained an academic and clinical interest in emergency psychiatry and acute care services, especially as it pertains to the mental health care of veterans. He is the Assistant Director for Inpatient Mental Health, Director of the Mental Health Evaluation Clinic, and Director of the Consultation-Liaison Service at the Palo Alto VA and has served as the site liaison for the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship since February 2014.

Dr. Savant completed her medical school education from Government Medical College, Patiala, India in 2008. She received her residency training in adult psychiatry at Loyola University Medical Center (2009-13). During her residency she was involved in various on-going research projects at her program. She received many achievement awards in research and appreciation for clinical work during residency. She was inducted as a member Medical Honor Society Alpha Omega Alpha during her residency by the caucus of student members of the society. She was actively involved in medical student teaching in psychopharmacology.

She completed her Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship at Stanford (2013 – 2014) during which time participated in the development and studying of a new tool for the diagnosis of delirium, the Proxy Test for Delirium (PTD) among hospitalized, medically-ill patients. After graduating Dr. Savant joined Stanford faculty as a part of Psych-oncology consult team. She also started a group psychiatric practice with focus on developing a mental health focused electronic medical record (EMR). The goal of this EMR would be to use machine learning to recognize behavioral patterns in helping predict episodes of mental illness and also learn physician prescribing patterns.

Dr. Savant's treatment philosophy in her words "I believe in the whole patient approach to treatment. Sometimes chasing a diagnostic criteria leads to loss of sight of the whole patient. In such cases the approach needs to be to understand the patient's symptoms in the context of their world, and biological factors. I enjoy considering all aspects of patients before coming to treatment decisions, be it their current physical health, environmental stressors or heredity. I find it inspiring to be around cancer and other chronically medically ill patients who often deal with breakdown of all aspects of their lives due to illness. I learn how to live daily from my patients and am full of gratitude to be of service to them.

Past & Current Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows

• 2011 – 2012: Yelizaveta Sher, MD
• 2013 – 2014: Vidushi Savant, MD
• 2014 – 2015: Renee Garcia, MD
• 2015 – 2016: Anna Piotrowski, MD
• 2015 – 2016: Luke White, MD
• 2016 – 2017: Andrea Ament, MD
• 2016 – 2017: Earl De Guzman, MD
• 2017 – 2018: Anita Chang, DO, and Tiffany Chan, MD
• 2018 – 2019: Kyle Johnson, MD, and Mira Zein, MD, MPH
• 2019 – 2020: Beatrice Rabkin, MD, and Nafisa Reza, MD
• 2020 – 2021: Dany LaMothe, MD and Jeff Ha, MD