The UCLA psychiatry residency program believes that a well-rounded clinical experience coupled with a comprehensive core curriculum is the key to training the next generation of innovators and healers in the field of psychiatry. Structured educational opportunities take a variety of forms in the UCLA program. Grand rounds presentations are held weekly both at the UCLA and West LA VA campuses. Weekly catered lunches on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays host invited speakers and journal club presenters. For the PGY2-PGY4 residents, formal didactics are held one half-day a week during protected time, during which residents are excused from their clinical responsibilities. For the PGY1 residents, didactics are held one half-day per month during protected time.

The curriculum during the PGY1 year is focused on the basics of diagnosis, psychopharmacology, emergency/acute care psychiatry, and patient case presentations. Instruction during the PGY2 year consists of advanced psychopharmacology, diagnosis, treatment, and introductions to child psychiatry and psychotherapy. The core of the PGY3 and PGY4 curriculum continues with advanced psychotherapy, recent advances in psychiatry, and career development lectures.