The Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) position at Choate is a 36-week, part-time, administrative faculty position reporting to the Director of Counseling. The exact hours and days are to be determined on a contractual basis each year. Regardless of the contracted schedule the Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) needs to see Choate students, in-person at least a half day to a full day per week; attend the weekly, integrated team meeting, in-person, for an hour each week; and consult via virtual meetings, by phone, or by email with the Counseling Team/Health Center at other times throughout the week when not physically present.

The Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) provides individual professional services to those students referred by parents, deans, faculty, and especially the counseling team. In addition, this position assists the counseling team in diagnosis, therapy, treatment, and advice on individual students. The Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) assists the school on emergencies, crises, education, and advice in those areas for which he/she is particularly trained and qualified.

Clinically, the Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) will:

• see patients as scheduled, normally during the planned hours weekly, currently Tuesday afternoons (subject to change as needed). Such patients may be self-referred (rare), referred by the counseling team (normally, after triage), or referred by advisers, deans or parents. In most situations, patients scheduled to see the psychiatrist have been seen apriori by a member of the counseling team who determines that is the best plan.  Normally, the student’s family will be well-aware of such consultation prior to the appointment.
• see patients in the office, either to allow for more time in continued therapy, more privacy for those concerned with seeing a psychiatrist in the Health Center, or when the time on the Choate campus does not permit an appointment at Choate.
• coordinate with the Director of Counseling, the Medication Nurse Manager, and the student’s family, prescribe medications as indicated.  
• see patients on an emergency/urgent basis as requested by the counseling team. This may include night or weekend consultation in person or by phone.
• provide emergency coverage for mental health crises during the school year. 
• evaluate, consult, and advise the school in situations involving potential medical leave for possible psychiatric reasons.
• consult and advise the school to assist in the decision as to a student returning from a medical leave for possible psychiatric reasons.

Educationally, the Consulting Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP):

• attends counseling meetings weekly to provide expert consultation to the counseling team as requested.
• attends faculty meetings when requested to answer questions regarding a difficult campus mental health situation (for example, a suicide), or to help on faculty education (dealing with parents, depression, stress, sleep etc.)
• advise the school as indicated or requested on issues of policy and education on mental health issues (for example, disciplinary response and/or counseling for substance abuse).