The hospital is recognized as a valuable training institution for mental health professionals. Residents or interns receive training here from most of the major local universities including UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Northridge and the California School of Professional Psychology. The intern programs include Nursing, Social Work, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Therapy, and Dietary. The hospital has a Learning Community which provides daily classes for staff, interns and community professionals. A staff library is on grounds. James Hall is also utilized for large training events throughout the year.

The hospital is recognized as a valuable institution for higher learning and training of mental health professionals. Residents and interns from major universities in the Southern California area attend classes and work shops on the campus as well as working on a unit with patients and as a member of the treatment team. The universities include UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, Cal State University Long Beach, Cal State University Northridge and the California School of Professional Psychology. The intern programs include Nursing, Social Work, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Therapy, and Dietary.

The hospital has a Learning Community which provides inservice classes for all levels of staff, interns, students and community professionals. The Learning Community has a professionally equipped TV studio with a satellite dish for teleconferences. The TV Studio also provides filming services for other state agencies.

A staff library is on campus and provides research assistance for staff. The Library has over 10,000 books and subscribes to 65 journals and periodicals. Video and audio tapes for information, education, research and pleasure are available.

Initial Orientation:

Each employee attends an initial orientation program within 30 days of employment which consists of a minimum of 32 hours of instruction. This orientation includes general hospital information, 16 hours of MAB instruction, 8 hours of CPR instruction and a facility orientation. Nursing staff receive an additional 40 hours of training in nursing policies and procedures prior to working in patient care. Program/Unit specific training is provided for specialized programs.

Continuing Education:

The Hospital offers a broad range of professional development and mandated training activities, building on existing educational and experiential bases for the enhancement of practice, education, administration and research to maintain and improve the health of the patients, employees and public.

Psychiatric Fellowship Program for Child Psychiatry:

Metropolitan State Hospital has an affiliation with the University of California School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Los Angles/ Harbor to provide clinical & didactic training to Psychiatric Fellows on rotation at Metropolitan Psychiatric Residents. Under this agreement Metropolitan has a contract with the University to support a public service psychiatric fellowship training program. Administrative and financial status are determined by a contract which is renewed annually, reflecting changes whenever indicated. The fellows receive supervision from both hospital and University staff and joint appointments are encouraged. The fellowship affiliation at the hospital is under the joint monitoring of the UCLA/Harbor Child Psychiatry Director of Training and the Metropolitan Chief of Professional Education.

Medical Student Clerkship Rotation:

MSH has an agreement with the American University of the Caribbean, School of Medicine, and with Ross University, School of Medicine. Under these agreements MSH provides a six week clerkship in Psychiatry to medical students approved by the universities for said clerkship. In addition to this 6 weeks of core training, the Medical students may be granted additional elective clerkship in psychiatry not exceeding the total duration of 6 months. The medical students are on voluntary status during their six week tenure at Metropolitan State Hospital, and the university reimburses MSH $100.00 per week per student for these services. The program is directed by the Chief of Professional Education and the students receive supervision from a designated unit attending physicians. Participation in this program requires recommendation from the students medical school and approval from the California Medical Board on an individual basis.

F.M.G. (Foreign Medical Graduates):

This is a special program offered to Foreign Medical Graduates, who need to correct their deficiency in psychiatry as mandated by the California Medical Board, to be qualified for Medical licensing. Participation in this program requires approval from the California Medical Board on individual basis. This FMG program consists of the same components of the Medical students clerkship program but of shorter duration, 4 weeks instead of 6.

Psychology Services

A Continuing Education Provider that has been approved by the Board of Psychology. The hospital conducts a predoctoral internship program in clinical psychology. The internship program is a member of the Association of Professional Psychology Internship Centers and selects interns from schools and universities nationwide. Each intern is assigned to one treatment unit per rotation and is under the supervision of a licensed Psychologist.

The Psychology Department has 5 full-time pre-doctoral interns each of whom provide comprehensive patient care under the supervision of a seasoned clinical supervisor. Psychology Interns are engaged in conducting individual and group psychotherapy, psychological assessments and evaluations, staff consultation, and attend unit interdisciplinary team meetings. Interns participate in case conferences, classes and other training/education activities. Interns spend five hours per week in a combination of didactic training classes and supervision sessions. Interns spend the rest of their time on their assigned unit and work closely with the supervising psychologist.

Social Services:

A Continuing Education Provider that has been approved by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. The training is provided to Psychiatric Social Workers, other discipline staff and a limited number of Social Workers from the Community. The hospital provides field work training opportunities for first and second year social work intern students, both at the accelerated summer block placement and within the regular academic year. The hospital is affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and California State University of Long Beach and Los Angeles. One of the two predoctoral students graduated with his Doctorate from the California Institute of Clinical Social Work, the other resigned his position at Metropolitan State Hospital.

Each discipline within Rehabilitation Services has the opportunity to develop and implement an internship program at Metropolitan State hospital. There are currently approved internship programs for Music Therapy, Recreation Therapy and Dance/Movement Therapy. All interns are accepted from Universities with accredited programs throughout the country. All programs have clinical coordinators who direct the intern application, placement and training process. The internship process is overseen by the Chief of Rehabilitation services, who reports internship status to the Clinical Administrator and the Chief of Professional Education.

Nursing Services

A Continuing Education Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. The hospital is affiliated with Nursing Programs from Cerritos, Cypress, East Los Angeles, Long Beach, Mt. San Antonio, Rio Hondo and Saddleback Community Colleges, Azusa Pacific University and California State University, Los Angeles to provide clinical affiliations for Psychiatric Technician and Registered Nursing Students in Psychiatric Nursing. Approximately 400-500 P.T., R.N, B.S.N. and M.S.N. affiliate with the hospital on an annual basis. Planning is in process for students from Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and California State University-Long Beach.

The Dietary Services:

Affiliates with California State Universities at Long Beach and Los Angeles by providing internship training for baccalaureate students in nutrition and food systems management. These students will become registered dietitians upon completion of this program and successful completion of the national board examination. The hospital also provides clinical and administrative affiliation training to Dietetic Technician students from Long Beach City College. All of these programs are accredited by the American Dietetic Association.

The Department of Pharmacy

Serves as a teaching site for fourth level pharmacy students from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. During their 6 week inpatient psychopharmacy clerkship, students observe and participate in the care of patients with various types and stages of psychiatric illness. The goal of the rotation is to make the student a contributory member of the interdisciplinary team that cares for the patient. Heavy emphasis is placed on the development of clinical skills including interviewing techniques, medication groups, written allergy assessments, interpretation of laboratory data and drug monitoring.

The Department of Health Information Management

In affiliation with East Los Angeles College, provides internship training for Accredited Record Technician students in health information management. The students develop professional practice experiences performing technical tasks-record analysis, abstracting, coding, releasing information. Health Information Management Department has been involved with this program for several years.