Psychiatry

The USD SSOM Psychiatric Residency Training Program provides state of the art psychiatric services in the heart of the Midwest. With a unique mix of urban and rural experiences, we prepare residents to provide exceptional care in any demographic setting. As the leader in Psychiatric services in our area, we remain at the forefront of technologically advanced practice; offering full-service outpatient, inpatient, consult, child and adolescent, and telepsychiatry opportunities to a growing and culturally-diverse population. We are dedicated to providing residents with a first-class training experience through a rigorous educational environment that is built on a strong work ethic, compassion, and integrity: offering excellence in care with a healthy work-life balance.

Mission

To foster the lifelong career development and personal growth of Physicians who will excel in the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of psychiatric conditions.

Aims

The educational experience has been designed to ensure that graduates will possess sound clinical judgment, requisite skills, and a high order of knowledge about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of all psychiatric disorders, together with other common medical and neurological disorders that relate to the practice of psychiatry, and the competence to render effective professional care to patients.
Residents will develop a keen awareness of their own strengths and limitations and of the necessity for continuing their own professional development. Residents will receive thorough and well-balanced presentations of psychological, sociocultural, and neurobiological observations, theories, and knowledge of major diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the field of psychiatry.
Residents will receive the education and training necessary to understand the major psychiatric literature, to evaluate the reliability and validity of scientific studies, and to incorporate appropriately new knowledge into the practice of medicine.

Program Curriculum

Throughout all four years of training, residents will participate in a variety of educational experiences including didactic seminars, case conferences, grand rounds, and self-directed learning experiences. The resident receives close supervision, with feedback provided in a timely manner regarding overall performance and achievement of competencies.

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Training Sites

Five facilities. A wealth of Psychiatric experience.

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Photo Courtesy of Journey Construction

Photo Courtesy of Experience Sioux Falls

Life in Sioux Falls

Get to know Sioux Falls, SD, the largest city in South Dakota. With a metro area of greater than 250,000 residents, our program’s home base has everything you want out of a big city but with the low cost of living and safety of smaller communities. We hope you'll call it home as you continue your me

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Why Choose this Program

This program exemplifies what it truly means to care about mental health. There is a beautiful, large facility that allows us to admit more patients than other cities. This allows residents to see a wider breadth of patients and makes a statement regarding the importance that mental health should have in health care.

Sarah Campbell, DO Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2024 Meet Resident
I am a native South Dakotan, it is a beautiful state and a great place to practice medicine. The program and school are wonderful! I wanted a place that prepared me to be a well rounded physician, and I felt like this was the place that would do it!

Brett Montieth, MD Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2024 Meet Resident
This is a great program with fantastic faculty that will prepare you for your future job as a psychiatrist.

Christiaan Bates, MD Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2023 Meet Resident
This is a community of residents who become your family.

Janice Gerlach, MD Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2023 Meet Resident
Find a program that allows you to be a confident physician after residency. Find a program with supportive co-residents and attendings. Find a program that allows you free-time to enjoy your individual interests outside of work. For me, that program is USD.

Eric Novak, DO Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2023 Meet Resident
If you are a lifestyle and/ or family oriented person who wants to have a great learning opportunity, tremendous work life balance, and close relationship with your coworkers/ friends, then USD psychiatry is for you. I am Missouri born and raised without ever living anywhere besides Missouri for K-12, undergrad, and med school, and USD psychiatry was too amazing to pass up.

Matthew Tochtrop, DO Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2023 Meet Resident
My favorite aspect of our program is the ability to spend your inpatient months alongside your co-residents of various levels. Some of the best learning and future advice comes from the resident lounge! There is also opportunities to rotate with your colleagues at the outpatient sites and it provides such a great learning atmosphere!

Courtnee Heyduck, MD Psychiatry Resident, Class of 2022 Meet Resident
We are here for you! We are not a cookie cutter, one size fits all residency program. We want to meet each new resident at their knowledge and skill level, and then work with them to develop an individualized training experience that matches their learning style and educational goals.

Shawn Van Gerpen, MD Program Director Meet Faculty Member
The Resident physicians in our program become a family. The competition ended when they graduated from medical school. Now, our Residents support each other, play together, teach each other, lean on each other. They become lifelong friends while expanding their knowledge and understanding of mental illness.

Josette Lindahl, MD, PhD Psychiatrist Meet Faculty Member
Psychiatry's best kept secret...great training with great people in a great family friendly place.

Robert Nuss, MD Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatrist Meet Faculty Member
This is a solid, all around residency program with a good regional reputation.

David Schlagel, MD Psychiatrist Meet Faculty Member