Jay Davidson
Why UW Child and Adolescent Psychiatry?
"UW's Child and Adolescent psychiatry program provides a broad array of clinical opportunities and exposure to unique and challenging cases ‐ our inpatient services take care of the highest acuity patients from across the WWAMI region and it has been incredibly rewarding to work with these families who often experience significant barriers to care. This aspect of the program was especially important to me because I grew up in the Seattle area and plan to practice medicine in the state of Washington. It has been so rewarding to give back to my community and to work directly with leaders in research and public policy. Because we have two years of continuity clinic we get to build robust relationships with the families we serve and provide them with internal referrals to the highest quality individual and group therapy such as DBT, OCD IOP, and parent management training (to name only a few). I am looking forward to rotating through these subspecialty clinics next year! In addition, I have been impressed with how dedicated the program is to our learning and wellness. We get two half days of retreat this year to bond as a program. ”
Education
Undergrad: Whitman College
Medical School: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychiatry Residency: University of New Mexico
Follow Me For A Week
| Morning: | I bike a few miles to meet with Mick Storck, the attending at Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC). We carpool down to Lakewood (about an hour drive) together while discussing patients at CSTC and pondering greater philosophical questions about life. Monday mornings at CSTC we have interdisciplinary rounds for our specific team (I am currently working with kids aged 11-14) followed by an all staff meeting to hear updates on hospital-wide policies. | ||
| Afternoon: | I observe patients interacting with their peers and meet with my patients. Together we set 1 or 2 goals for the week. | ||
| Evening: | I return home to my sailboat where I live down the dock from one of our attendings! There are many little projects needing to be done on the boat, so I work on these as well as other chores like laundry and grocery shopping. |
| Morning: | My co-fellow and I drive down to CSTC together and grab coffee along the way. We have didactics on forensic psychiatry and trauma-focused CBT. After didactics, we stop by CSTC's school building to observe how our patients are working with teachers and peers. | ||
| Afternoon: | I have individual sessions with patients which may include discussions about medication management, DBT skills, and/or trauma-focused therapy. | ||
| Evening: | It's summer and most days have such wonderful weather. I take my sailboat (home) out on the Puget Sound with some friends and enjoy the evening winds! |
| Morning: | Wednesday is our outpatient clinic day at Seattle Children's Magnuson Campus. I live in Ballard and bike to work along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Getting some exercise along this beautiful trail is a lovely way to start the day! We start Wednesday morning with two hours of didactics, then meet our patients for follow-up appointments. | ||
| Afternoon: | I see my follow-up and meet with my supervisor to discuss my outpatient panel. Every other week I see a new patient in the afternoon. | ||
| Evening: | I play on an indoor soccer team on Wednesday evenings! |
| Morning: | On Thursdays, we go back to CSTC. There are fewer meetings on Thursdays, so we spend more time with the kiddos. | ||
| Afternoon: | We continue to meet with patients and see how they have been doing with their goals for the week as well as check in about any considerations of their medications. Right now the kids are looking forward to summer outings like a backpacking trip and a beach day trip. The fellows rotating on CSTC in the summer generally join for these! | ||
| Evening: | I often spend Thursday night packing for weekend trips. |
| Morning: | On Friday mornings I attend didactics until noon. Once a month, we have a meeting at noon that is catered. | ||
| Afternoon: | While on CSTC Friday afternoons are blocked for research. | ||
| Evening: | I head out of town to the outdoors with a group of friends for a canoe camping trip at Baker Lake. There are so many different places and ways to explore in Washington! |
| Morning: | I wake up on Baker Lake to a view of Mt. Baker in the distance. We spend the morning making coffee and having breakfast. | |
| Afternoon: | We get in our canoes to paddle down the lake and enjoy the continuous view of Mt. Baker towering over us. | |
| Evening: | Find a good camp spot and set up for the evening, make dinner, and play some games with friends while the sun is setting. |
| Morning: | Wake up in my hammock to the sound of birds chirping. Have a leisurely morning, and then canoe to the take out spot about 10 miles from where we started on Friday. | ||
| Evening: | Arrive back home, unpack, and prepare for the coming week of work. |
Clinical Rotations
I am currently working at the Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC), a residential state hospital for pediatric patients.
After this rotation, I will rotate on inpatient psychiatry at Seattle Children's Hospital (SCH), consult liaison psychiatry at SCH, and a variety of outpatient clinics including eating disorders, development, anxiety, autism, and child neurology. As well, we have continuity clinic one day per week with built in time for individual supervision (medication management and therapy), didactics, and other scholarly activities like journal club.
Career Goals
"I want to work with underserved populations, particularly transitional age youth in a comprehensive mental health care model. I also want to have longitudinal psychotherapy patients, likely transitional age youth and adults. "
Average Weekly Hours
- About 40-50 hours per week
Night and Weekend Duty
I opted for night float instead of scattered shifts. This means that most of my weeknight call shifts are in a row, either Monday to Thursday or Sunday to Thursday. While on night float, you are excused from the duties of the rotation you're on.
On weekends, I show up to the hospital at 8am. We usually see the new CL consults. Depending on how busy it is, we can usually get out by 3pm or so. From 5pm until 8am the next day, you have the same responsibilities as weeknight shifts.