The Queen’s University Child & Adolescent Psychiatry program offer a 2-year Royal College (RC) accredited residency program. The program adheres to the Royal College Competence by Design Model (CBD) for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and the curriculum is organized around four graduated stages of training defined by the RC’s competence continuum including 1) Transition to Discipline, 2) Foundations of Discipline, 3) Core of Discipline, and 4) Transition to Practice. The stage-specific organization of the curriculum ensures that residents have an increasing level of professional responsibility as they demonstrate entrustment of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs).

Our program is notable as the first Child & Adolescent Psychiatry program in the country to have implemented a competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum and training program since 2018. In July 2021 all Child & Adolescent Psychiatry programs were transitioned to CBD, the Royal College framework of CBME. At Queen’s, we piloted the Royal College Child & Adolescent Psychiatry EPAs in the 2020 academic year which has allowed us to trouble shoot challenges with the online educational platform, refine assessments, strategically design the rotation schedule in order to best achieve the EPAs, incorporate resident input, and engage in continuous quality improvement of the program.

Training is tailored to suit the residents’ learning objectives, with protected time to meet the residents’ educational needs in addition to their clinical activities within the framework of the Royal College training requirements.

Clinical Highlights:

Our program offers comprehensive clinical training across diverse settings, providing residents with rich exposure to the assessment and treatment of children and youth with complex mental health needs. Trainees work within collaborative, multidisciplinary teams, gaining hands-on experience in inpatient, urgent care, outpatient, and specialized clinical settings.

Inpatient Care (KGH)

Trainees rotate through a 9-bed specialized child and adolescent psychiatry unit, where they participate in admissions, treatment planning, and discharges under the supervision of two CAP psychiatrists. As they progress, they assume increasing independence, engaging in consultations, co-facilitating therapy and behavior groups, and collaborating with pediatric inpatient teams. In their final training stage, residents take on a junior consultant role, supervising junior learners and refining leadership skills.

Ambulatory Urgent Care (HDH)

At the Child & Youth Mental Health Urgent Consult Clinic (CYMHUCC), trainees assess and manage acute presentations, including suicidality, psychosis, and behavioral crises. Working alongside a team of psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and psychometrists, residents begin with closely supervised assessments and gradually advance to leading treatment plans. By the end of training, they function as junior consultants, guiding care for high-acuity cases.

Outpatient Ambulatory Care

Trainees develop expertise in diagnosing and treating a broad range of disorders—including anxiety, mood, neurodevelopmental, eating, and disruptive behavior disorders—through various outpatient clinics. Optional rotations in specialized services (e.g., Eating Disorders, Day Treatment, First Episode Psychosis, and Youth Addictions) allow for focused skill development. Responsibility escalates with training level, culminating in supervisory roles for junior colleagues.

Additional Clinical Rotations

To ensure well-rounded training, residents gain exposure to Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics, Developmental Disabilities, and Community Psychiatry, fostering an understanding of child and youth health across multiple systems and specialties. Furthermore, clinical rotations in Refractory psychosis and inpatient eating disorders are available through our regional affiliate sites. These experiences enhance trainees’ ability to navigate complex, intersecting medical and psychiatric needs.

Our program ensures that trainees graduate with the confidence and competence to provide high-quality, evidence-based care to children, youth, and their families.

Resident support:

The Program Director has an open-door policy in addition to formally meeting with the residents on a regularly scheduled basis, both individually and as a group.

There is an emphasis on resident wellness and safety, which is a topic discussed at each RPC, as well as individually with residents.

Each resident is assigned an academic coach who meets with the resident regularly to monitor progress, review their electronic portfolio, and mentor the resident to ensure their success in CBD and their training.

Psychotherapy Training

Our program provides robust training in evidence-based psychotherapies, ensuring residents develop proficiency in multiple modalities tailored to the needs of children, adolescents, and families. Under expert supervision, trainees gain hands-on experience in individual, family, and group therapies, with opportunities to refine skills across diverse clinical presentations. The different modalities of psychotherapy offered at Queen’s University include: CBT, DBT, Family Therapy, IPT, ISTDP, Emotion Focused Therapy, Parenting Skills Training and Behavioral interventions. These therapies can be provided in individual and group settings. Trainees will coordinate with our Psychotherapy Lead to plan their psychotherapy learning activities in accordance with the subspecialty requirements and their own learning objectives.

Scholarly Activity

There are numerous opportunities for the residents to engage in scholarly activity and research in diverse areas including education scholarship, clinical research, as well as several teaching opportunities at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As a division we also engage in, and mentor our residents in, knowledge translation. Some examples of opportunities residents have engaged in include presentations at local, national or international conferences.

The residents get 1 dedicated scholarship/research block during each year of training, which is dedicated to them developing, executing, and completing their project. They are supported in this by our Research Leads (who include: a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and a widely published PhD neuropsychologist), by the department research catalyst, and by their research supervisor. In addition to the dedicated blocks, there is protected academic time each week both on and off-service to continue to work on the project and engage in other scholarly and continuing medical education activities. The residents also have access to a budget for educational resources and conferences.

The Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) is also available for Queen’s psychiatry residents. The CIP’s mandate is to assist in the career development of clinician/investigators by providing a formalized postgraduate educational program that fulfills the existing clinical specialty training requirements of the Royal College, as well as a minimum of two years of structured rigorous research training. Up to one of the research years may also be credited to fulfill the individual’s specialty requirements. It is preferred that the two years of research be sequential.

Academic and Scholarship Highlights:

The division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry is comprised of a very strong faculty complement with a national reputation for excellence in research and pioneering development in the field of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Our faculty is actively involved in our national organization, the Canadian Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CACAP). Several of our residents have been supported by our faculty in research projects and have been recipients of Research awards. Our faculty members also play an active role in the Royal College Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Specialty Committee.

Our half day curriculum is based on the Royal College training requirements and experiences, complemented by other innovative educational initiatives. In addition to bi-weekly seminars, which are a combination of didactic and case based teaching, some other highlights include:

• Collaborative rounds with Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
• Divisional case rounds
• Expert guest lectures from various specialties
• Collaborative sessions with allied health members
• Combined resident and faculty development sessions
• Journal Club

There is emphasis on ongoing continuous improvement and enhancement of the curriculum with regular feedback and input from residents and faculty members.