Children are a reflection and innocent recipients of structural inequities in our society. Through advocacy and compassionate care, we hope to reduce the impact of mental illness in children, improve the systems that serve them, and promote well-being and resilience in their communities.
The mission of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program at Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine and Science (CDU) is to train physicians to lead with their humanity and to develop the clinical acumen to provide excellent clinical care to under-resourced communities.
Using innovative and evidence-based approaches, we train child and adolescent psychiatrists to evaluate children and families in the context of the communities to which they belong. Understanding the impact of racial and structural disparities, historical and present-day trauma, as well as the resilience and strength of the people of South Los Angeles, CDU fellows have a strong commitment to progressing the field of child and adolescent psychiatry and are dedicated to social justice producing lasting and positive change.
Rotation Curriculum
Our program directly intervenes and outreaches into our communities and especially those with unmet need and lesser resources.
We recruit professionals who share our passion for social justice and health equity, and we commit to training physicians who are interested in the same.
Our distributed training programs accesses sites throughout Service Planning Area 6 (SPA 6). This includes the South LA communities of Athens, Compton, Crenshaw, Florence, Hyde Park, Lynwood, Paramount, and Watts. These communities are well-known for having large groups of medically underserved peoples.
Year 1 Required Rotations
CDU – Community Health and Introduction to Specialty
Rancho Los Amigos: Consult and Liaison
Harbor UCLA: Adolescent Psychiatric ER
UCLA Resnick: Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Pediatric Subspecialty
Pipeline CDU Pre-K – 12th Medicine and Science Program
Year 2 Required and Selective Rotations
SCHARP: General Outpatient
Olive View: Pediatric Neurology Outpatient
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Pediatric Neurology Inpatient
Compton Mental Health: General Outpatient Continuity Clinic
Vista Del Mar: Wraparound Clinical Services and Residential Care Services
MLK-HUB: Child Abuse Clinic
Rancho Los Amigos SHARK: Consult Clinic/trauma Clinic
EMPWR: LGBTQ+ Health Clinic
SCHOOL: Lennox and Lynwood School Districts
Forensic: Juvenile Halls and Camps
Pipeline CDU Pre-K – 12th Medicine and Science Program
Healing the Healer: CDU Faculty
Research: CDU Faculty
Year 1 and 2 Didactics Topics
Community Health
Tenets of Infant Mental Health
Mental Health Consequences of Adversity
Development and Psychopathology
Interventions in Psychiatry
Wellness and Practice of Medicine
Psychotherapy
Structural Competency
Research Literacy
Fellows
Co-Chief Residents
Hadijat Wemmy Audu, MD
Jasmine Gray, MD
Year 2 Fellows
Hadijat Wemmy Audu, MD
Jasmine Gray, MD
Year 1 Fellows
Carolina Galindo, MD
Keerthi Reddy, MD
Salary & Benefits
Base Salary 24/25 YEAR
PGY1 $72,301.16
PGY2 $74,209.26
PGY3 $78,064.87
PGY4 $84,123.48
Base Perks
Meal Stipend +$6K
Housing Allowance+$10K
One Fully Paid Conference Attendance During Training
Annual Education Fund +$1,100 (rollover)
Chief Training Conference & Stipend
Other wellbeing offerings include but not limited to:
CPI – Nonviolent Crisis Prevention & Intervention Training
Three Letters of Recommendation including one from your Program Director
USLME Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 Transcript or COMLEX Level I, II and III
ECFMG Certification (if applicable)
For the three letters of recommendation: At least one letter needs to be from a faculty licensed in the specialty you are applying for who can comment directly on your clinical performance in that field. Letters from individual faculty members are preferred.