Child and Adolescent Mental Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Programs - BC Children’s Hospital & University of British Columbia

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Programs
1-year, funded fellowship
BC Children’s Hospital & University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

BC Children’s Hospital Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce the availability of one-year funded fellowships in child and adolescent mental health for 2027 - 2028.

Clinical and/or research opportunities are available in the following mental health subspecialty areas. For more information please see attached advertisements regarding each fellowship opportunity and a contact for any questions:

Acute Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | Consultative service to the BC Children’s Emergency Department, managing psychiatric presentations to the Emergency Department.

Acute Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry (P2) | Clinical training experiences include diagnostic assessments, treatment planning using a bio-psycho-social approach, family meetings for support and psycho-education.

Eating Disorders | Acute medical management and stabilization of children and youth with eating disorders. On-going, active research studies focused on predictors of treatment outcome in children and youth with eating disorders.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health | Diagnostic assessments, individual and group-based treatment approaches for infant/early childhood mental health conditions. This clinic offers transdiagnostic opportunities across both neurotypical and neurodiverse populations, for both challenging externalizing behaviours and internalizing emotional difficulties.

Somatization | Clinical work includes inpatient and outpatient diagnostic assessments, community consultation, family therapy, and individual therapy; additionally, co-facilitating the Mind-Body Together group, which was developed at BCCH and is now implemented at pediatric centres across Canada.

Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders | Family- and patient-centred, integrated, trauma- and violence-informed, harm reduction approach to substance use and concurrent disorders for youth and young adults across the hospital campus, with clinical and/or research opportunities.

Mood and Anxiety Disorders | Tertiary care outpatient clinic specializing in psychiatric assessment, follow up, and therapeutic interventions for treatment-resistant and complex presentations of mood and anxiety disorders. Collaboration opportunities with subspecialty clinics such as OCD and neuropsychiatry.

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders | Weekly outpatient clinics and intensive summer program offering assessments, psychopharmacology and both individual and group/family cognitive-behaviour therapy for the treatment of youth with complex obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Gender Spectrum Health Care | Gender-affirming pediatric mental health care services including psychodiagnostic and readiness assessments for hormone treatments; treatments encompassing puberty suppression and affirming hormones; and group treatment for needle phobia.

Clinical Database Research | Work under an experienced clinical researcher to develop a research question, design methodology, create and submit a UBC research ethics proposal. Conduct analyses with support of a biostatistician, and interpret and present findings. Database resources include Healthview, with 8,000+ records of pediatric mental health patients.

Outstanding and highly motivated candidates at the PhD or MD level are encouraged to apply. The Fellow will participate in clinical and/or research opportunities pertaining to child mental health, in addition to related potential teaching and clinical activities as agreed upon with the Director of Child Psychiatry Postgraduate Training and the fellowship supervisor. The fellowship schedule and rotations will be developed collaboratively with the Director based on Fellow interests and training goals. Fellows may rotate through outpatient clinics as well as inpatient psychiatric programs.

Please note: This is a one-year training opportunity that does not satisfy the Royal College requirements for a designation in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Applicants wishing to pursue the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Subspecialty Training Program at UBC are redirected to: https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/education/residency-and-subspecialty-training-in-psychiatry/subspecialty-training-in-psychiatry/

Qualifications

Successful candidates must have:

A medical degree and successful completion of a Residency Training Program AND/OR a PhD in mental health or neuroscience related fields.
Strong commitment to ethical practice, high personal standards of behaviour and accountability to his/her profession
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Fellows must demonstrate a fluent command of written and spoken English. Applicants must meet the current English language proficiency requirements listed on the CPSBC website at https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/pdf/REG-ELP.pdf . If language proficiency requirements are not met, examination results must be provided.
Eligibility for registration and licensure with the College and Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia or appropriate licensing board.
Demonstrates a commitment to beginning and continuing their personal learning journey related to Indigenous-specific racism and dismantling systems of oppression, as well as addressing racism more broadly. Shows willingness to articulate and share their learning experiences to contribute to a culture of motivation and inspiration among peers.
Demonstrates foundational knowledge of the social, economic, and political realities of settler-colonialism and its impacts on Indigenous peoples and equity-deserving groups within social and health contexts. Understands the impact of social determinants of health-on-health outcomes. Shows a commitment to learning about and upholding legislative obligations and provincial commitments outlined in foundational documents such as the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan, Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study, the BC Human Rights Code, Anti-Racism Data Act, and the Distinctions Based Approach.

Timeline: Applications will be accepted until end of business January 3, 2027. Successful candidates will be notified by email regarding the interview process, which will occur virtually in early January, 2027. Anticipated start date for of this position: between July 1 to October 1, 2027 for 12 months.

Application & Timeline

Timeline: Applications will be accepted until end of business January 3, 2027. Successful candidates will be notified by email regarding the interview process, which will occur virtually in early January, 2027. Anticipated start date for of this position: between July 1 to October 1, 2027 for 12 months.

All interested applicants should forward the following documents to Dr. Kaveh Darabian, Director in Postgraduate Child Psychiatry Training at BCCH. Please note that there is a shared application process for all fellowship opportunities:

One letter of intent. The letter should be two pages in length at most and specify which fellowship the applicant is applying to. Please state clearly why the applicant wishes to train in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and at our training site in particular. Please outline specific goals for the fellowship including proposed clinical and research experiences that will be explored during the interview process. Applicants should indicate their preferred clinical training experience to focus on during the one-year fellowship.
An updated curriculum vitae (CV).
Three letters of reference from supervisors. Each letter should be sent directly by the referee to the Director of Postgraduate Child Psychiatry Training and include a statement indicating the applicant will not know its contents. The letters should be up to date from the last academic year

Please address ALL applications and inquiries to:

Dr. Kaveh Darabian
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Post Graduate Education Director
BC Children's Hospital, Mental Health Bldg
4500 Oak Street, Vancouver BC Canada V6H 3N1
Email: [email protected]

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a global centre for research and teaching. Surrounded by the beauty of the Canadian West, UBC embraces bold new ways of thinking that attract exceptional students and faculty. It is a place where innovative ideas are nurtured in a globally connected research community, providing unparalleled opportunities to learn, discover and contribute.

Faculty members, students, staff and alumni in the UBC Faculty of Medicine are actively engaged in innovative, leading-edge research, education and community service on university and hospital campuses across the province. Together we aim to create knowledge and advance learning that will make a vital contribution to the health of individuals and communities, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. This position will operate out of the BC Children and Women’s Mental Health and Concurrent Disorders at BC Children’s Hospital. BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) provides care for the most seriously ill or injured children and youth from across British Columbia. BCCH is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), which plans, manages and evaluates specialized health services with the BC health authorities to provide equitable and cost-effective health care for people throughout the province.

One of PHSA’s North Star priorities is to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism, which includes ongoing commitments to Indigenous recruitment and employee experience as well as dismantling barriers to health care employment at every level. We welcome Indigenous individuals to apply and/or contact the Sanya’k̓ula Team (Indigenous Recruitment & Employee Experience) for support at [email protected].

Indigenous-specific anti-racism initiatives are rooted in addressing the unique forms of discrimination, historical and ongoing injustices, and exclusion faced by Indigenous peoples. These initiatives align with an Indigenous rights-based approach, recognizing the inherent rights and title of BC First Nations and self-determination of all First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. PHSA is mandated to uphold legislative obligations and provincial commitments found in the foundational documents including the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan and Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study.

UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply. UBC is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. However, Canadian and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.