Director's Welcome

Kelley A. Volpe, MD
Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital and Health Sciences System (UIHealth) embodies the hospital’s mission of providing patient-centered care to our community and promoting health equity, while training the next generation of health care leaders. The heart of our program is located on the west side of Chicago within the Institute of Juvenile Research (IJR), which has been at the forefront of promoting the mental health of youth and families for over 100 years.

Fellows in our program explore the full range of opportunities in child and adolescent psychiatry; from comprehensive inpatient services to collaborative and innovative outpatient clinics. Highlights from the program include working with the State of Illinois to provide care for youth in care of the State; specialty outpatient clinics in young child, perinatal mental health, mood disorders, stress and anxiety disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and a psychiatry clinic that is coordinated with our pediatric primary care clinic. There are experiences working in the community and school consultation. As a part of a university hospital on the west side of Chicago our clinics serve children and families with a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, comorbidities, and complexities. We are dedicated to the care of the families in our community. We intend not only to continue our work to promote the mental health of children in underserved communities but also to expand our emphasis on addressing the multitude of social inequities the members of our community face.

As we know, there is a great need for child and adolescent psychiatrists and yet we remain a small group. This need is becoming even greater as recent and current events bring into focus the realities of adverse childhood experiences and emphasize the importance of early intervention. Each of you who is considering or who has made the decision to complete fellowship training is very special to us. Beyond increasing the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists, we must multiply our ability as individuals to serve children and families. To do this, we continue to develop collaborations with our colleagues in the medical center, our local communities, the city, the state, and across the nation. Fellows have the opportunity to work with the committed community researchers at IJR. Partnerships with other healthcare and mental health care professionals is paramount to our training program. Our child psychiatry faculty and staff exemplify the UIHealth values of compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence. Our program creates a collaborative, supportive environment to train excellent child psychiatry fellows, ready to practice at the top of their field.

Our fellows come from programs across the country and go on to careers in a variety of settings, academic, community, and private. We hope that you consider our program and apply for a CAP fellowship position at UIC/IJR. We utilize the ERAS system to accept applications. Please know that we are participating in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) specialty match for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for all three of our available fellowship positions.

Please contact us with any question you may have about our program. We look forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,