Benjamin Yu
Why UW Child and Adolescent Psychiatry?
"I interviewed broadly for CAP fellowship last year and was looking for a program with a diverse, well-rounded set of clinical experiences. UW really fit the bill for me, and I was especially intrigued by the flexibility and elective time present in the F2 year, as well as the opportunity to work longitudinally in community clinics that serve patients from a variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Life-wise, I had never lived in the PNW before and have spent the last nine years up and down the east coast but had family ties pulling me here at this point in my life. My partner and I have enjoyed beginning to explore all the new hiking, food, and experiences that are available to us here.”
Education
Undergrad: Northwestern University
Medical School: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Psychiatry Residency: Yale University
Follow Me For A Week
| Morning: | Get up early to drive out to the North Cascades for a long day hike with my partner. Eat trail mix and PB+J overlooking Maple Pass. Spend forever talking about geocaches but don't end up finding any. | |
| Afternoon: | Pick up takeout sushi and ice cream on the way home. Then grocery shopping, laundry, and the all-important meal prep for the week. |
| Morning: | It's Monday! Manage to get myself out of bed for a run around Green Lake before work. Bike to work on the Burke-Gilman trail, arriving at Seattle Children's around 8:15am to chart review before consult team rounds. Spend the rest of the morning seeing new consult patients and follow-ups with my attending. | |
| Afternoon: | Round on a few more follow-up patients and discuss the cases with the team. Later in the afternoon, present at our twice-weekly eating disorder rounds, which are a mix of interdisciplinary provider-only discussions and case conferences which include families of currently admitted patients. In the evening, eat dinner at home, feeling grateful that we planned ahead and meal-prepped the day before. |
| Morning: | Bike to work earlier today to spend a bit more time chart reviewing (getting to the hospital ~8am), as I hold the consult pager today and am in charge of running the list during team rounds. Run the team meeting. Spend the morning seeing patients, triaging pages and consults from medical teams, and discussing interview technique with the psychiatry resident rotating on the consult service. | |
| Afternoon: | Participate in an interdisciplinary care conference with a primary care provider for one of our patients who has had a complex hospital course. After biking home and making dinner, veg on the balcony with a cup of tea and watch the sunset. |
| Morning: | Didactics in the morning. Depending on what I have going on in the afternoon, some days I will head to SCH and join virtual didactics from there, while other days I’ll get some balcony yoga in before joining virtually from home. | |
| Afternoon: | See clinic patients — I am still building my outpatient panel so most visits are patients new-ish to me. Supervision with my attending in the afternoon. That evening, playtime with our cats! They like playing fetch with toy mice and eating treats off the robot vacuum while it runs. |
| Morning: | I hold the pager again today, so I get to the hospital around 8am. Run the list and see patients. | |
| Afternoon: | See a few more follow-up patients. Participate again in multidisciplinary eating disorder rounds. I also pop into a virtual outpatient visit with Dr. Read, who graciously invited the fellows to join her outpatient clinic to see ongoing therapy for one of her patients with selective mutism. In the evening, head to the gym before getting takeout from a new place we haven't tried. |
| Morning: | Didactics and fellows' business meeting in the morning where we discuss matters pertaining to the fellowship with the PD and chiefs. | |
| Afternoon: | Head back to the consult service to help out for the afternoon. Wrap up a few loose ends, and write a consults sign out email to the weekend team. Have dinner with family and watch a movie at home. |
| Morning: | Sleep in. Our apartment is near a year-round farmers market. We pick up fresh berries, mushrooms, and other treats for the week. Plot our upcoming vacation to Glacier National Park at the end of next month. | |
| Afternoon: | Brewery hopping in Ballard with my partner and a few friends. End up trying both a fried chicken place and a pizza place, debate which is better (they're both great). |
Clinical Rotations
Currently on Consult-Liaison service at Seattle Children's Hospital. This is a 3-month rotation in the F1 year, and my first rotation of fellowship.
I have continuity clinic each Wednesday through the year.
My other rotations will be inpatient (PBMU), outpatient clinics (Anxiety, Eating Disorder, Autism, Typical Development, and Neurology Clinics) and the Child Study and Treatment Center (residential).
Career Goals
"I completed a Public Psychiatry fellowship last year, and in the future I would like the bulk of what I do to be clinical work with underserved populations. I plan to practice a mix of adult and child psychiatry and would love to make therapy a large part of my practice. I would also like to further my interests in advocacy and teaching."
Average Weekly Hours
- Approximately 45-55 hours per week
Night and Weekend Duty
I've opted for majority night float as opposed to scattered call shifts. There are pros and cons to each approach, but I prefer clustering my call, so I end up with more weekends free overall. I do still end up with a few scattered weekend call shifts (approx. 1-2x/month).
On weekend shifts I head to the hospital in the morning to see direct admits to the psych unit, as well as consults and occasional follow-up patients in the emergency room. This averages 0-2 new patients and 0-2 follow-ups. I usually finish up and bike home before 5pm, when I begin to cross-cover the inpatient unit from home overnight until 8am the next morning.
For night float: I have approximately 1 week of night float during each rotation, so 4 weeks total this year. Night float starts with a typical Sunday weekend shift, with Mon-Thurs night, 5pm-8am pager call from home that week as well. Getting called into the hospital overnight is rare, and I have not had this occur so far. Sleep varies, but I'm usually able to get 4-6 hours, even on call.