Child-Adolescent Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Post-Graduate Child-Adolescent Psychiatric (CAP) Fellowship Program is made possible by generous support from Price Philanthropies. The PMHNP Fellowship, or PRICE fellowship program, is led by nurse practitioner Alex Sietsma, APRN, PMHNP-BC and overseen by a distinguished roster of UC San Diego faculty.

The program is designed to build on knowledge and skills gained in PMHNP graduate programs. The program caters to youth and families suffering from severe mental illness in underserved communities. Training sites will be throughout San Diego County, with a particular focus on high-risk populations in the Central San Diego region. The ideal fellow will have an ongoing desire to work with vulnerable and disadvantaged populations in San Diego after program completion.

The program fosters a balance between theory and clinical experience evaluating and treating youth and their families. It will span 12 months and will include didactics, supervision from faculty, and clinical experience at continuity care clinics and specialty rotational sites.

In the clinical training facet of the program, continuity care clinics will allow fellows to become proficient in psychiatric care in outpatient settings. Program participants will also be engaged at rotational sites. This model will provide ample time for the fellow to gain proficiency in areas such as inpatient care, urgent and emergency care, and vulnerable and special needs populations.

For the didactic aspects of the program, fellows will participate in mandatory weekly sessions that ensure a thorough knowledge of child and adolescent psychiatry as well community psychiatry across the lifespan.

The program is seeking accreditation as a Practice Transition Program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Graduates from this program are prepared to provide high-quality, collaborative care to patients and families across the lifespan seeking mental health services in a variety of community health settings.