Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is the largest rehabilitation hospital in the region. Spaulding has 284 beds and treats more than 3,000 inpatients a year. It includes a 19-bed pediatric rehabilitation unit, one of the few such units in the area. The clinical program consists of a broad range of pediatricians and specialists. Referrals come primarily from New England but are also from other states and foreign countries. The children range in age from infancy to 22 years and come from a very broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds. They demonstrate a variety of medical problems requiring intensive rehabilitation. The average length of stay is approximately one and a half months, ranging from one week to two years. The children’s associated psychiatric diagnoses vary considerably. Organic mood disorders, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and adjustment disorders are frequently seen.

Spaulding is located five minutes from the Massachusetts General Hospital and 30 minutes from McLean Hospital. Child psychiatry residents may rotate, part-time in either year, for three to six months. Consultation experience is required but Spaulding, as a placement, is elective. The faculty consists of one half-time child psychiatrist. The residents attend the pediatric psychiatry consultation rounds at the Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the child psychiatry rounds at Spaulding.

Residents completing this elective are at Spaulding 10 to 12 hours weekly over two or three days and have responsibility for two or three pediatric inpatients and their families. Treatment approaches include individual psychotherapy, family therapy, group therapy with adolescents and psychopharmacotherapy. Behavior modification programs are also utilized. The residents are supervised individually by the staff child psychiatrist.