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Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program

I. Division of Medical Psychiatry

Introduction

Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) encompasses the study, prevention, and management of psychiatric disorders in the context of comorbid medical conditions. Thus, our patients usually present with medical, surgical, obstetrical, and neurological conditions, who then develop behavioral or psychiatric complications – either due to the primary illness process, or as a secondary effect of medical treatment. Physicians specializing in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry usually work within the context of more extended medical team systems, always partnering with primary or specialized treatment programs, to whom we provide acute consultation regarding specific patient presentations, or develop ongoing, long-term liaison relationships in order to enhance the quality of the care delivered.

History

The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine was originally founded in 1953; its name, and thus the name of the specialty was changed to Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) in November of 2017, The Academy of the Psychosomatic Medicine voted to change its name to the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. It followed a similar change in which the American Board of Medical Specialties voted to change the name of the field to Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.

Psychosomatic Medicine was the officially approved name of the subspecialty when it was first recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) in 2003. It was not until 2010 that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) granted the specialty board certification status. That same year Stanford Hospital and Clinics began its CLP Fellowship training program. Since its inception, Dr José Maldonado has served as Program Director. Dr Yelizaveta Sher, currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford was our first fellow.

Finally, the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences created the Division of Medical Psychiatry in 2021, under which the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) Service and its corresponding fellowship training program reside. The Division of Medical Psychiatry consist of seven parallel services: CLP Service, Critical Care Psychiatry, Emergency Psychiatry Service, Psycho-Oncology, Transplant Psychiatry, Integrated Behavioral Health, and a Center for integrative Medicine. In addition, all members of our faculty maintain specialty liaison functions in multiple clinical medical and surgical services and clinics throughout Stanford Medicine. The Division of Medical Psychiatry is actively involved in both basic sciences and clinical research. 

We invite you to watch this video for a better sense of the Stanford Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship, as well as the Division of Medical Psychiatry. It features an overview of the fellowship itself, as well as commentary from our team regarding working in the Division of Medical Psychiatry at Stanford.