Overview
The ACGME-accredited Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic offers a distinctive and immersive training experience at one of the world’s leading academic medical centers. Internationally recognized for clinical excellence, innovation, and a strong commitment to education, Cleveland Clinic provides fellows with unparalleled exposure to medically complex and diverse patient populations.
This one-year fellowship accepts two fellows per year through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) as part of the Psychiatry Fellowship Match. The program is designed to prepare psychiatrists for expert practice at the interface of medicine and psychiatry, offering a rich variety of clinical rotations across multiple medical and surgical services, including oncology, transplant, cardiology, critical care, and women’s health.
Fellows benefit from:
- A collaborative, multidisciplinary training environment
- One-on-one mentorship with nationally recognized faculty
- Opportunities for academic research and scholarly activity
- Participation in teaching medical students and residents
- A structured didactic curriculum covering core topics in consultation-liaison psychiatry
Program Leadership
Leo Pozuelo, MD, MBA, FACP, FACLP
Chairman
Board Certified in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Clinical Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology
Anna P. Shapiro-Krew, MD
Program Director
Board Certified in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Director of Epilepsy Psychiatry
Jack Owens, MD
Associate Program Director
Board Certified in Adult and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Director of the Consultation-Liaison Service at Hillcrest Hospital
Nona Nichols, MD
Associate Program Director
Board Certified in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Director of the Consultation-Liaison Service at Fairview Hospital
Alicia Coleman
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program Manager
Application Process
Eligible applicants must have completed an ACGME-accredited residency or equivalent training approved by the AOA, ACGME-I (with Advanced Specialty Accreditation), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), or the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).
Applications are accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), and the program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). We encourage early submission, as applications are reviewed holistically and interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Interviews are typically conducted virtually in September and October.
Important Dates
- Early July: ERAS application opens (9:00 AM ET)
- Mid-July: Programs begin reviewing applications (9:00 AM ET)
- September 1: Application deadline
- September–October: Virtual interviews
- November:
- NRMP ranking opens
- Meet our faculty at the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP) Annual Meeting
- December: NRMP rank order list deadline
- January: Match Day
Visa Sponsorship
Cleveland Clinic supports H-1B and J-1 visa sponsorship for qualified applicants.
Salary & Benefits
Explore a detailed overview of trainee compensation and benefits on the Cleveland Clinic Graduate Medical Education website. Discover resources to help you thrive both personally and professionally during your training.
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Curriculum
Overview
Our program follows a modular schedule, with each module consisting of a 4-week block. Over the course of the academic year, there are 13 modules that encompass inpatient and outpatient services, continuing education, and dedicated time for research.
Inpatient Consultation Liaison
Fellows spend approximately 10.5 modules of the academic year rotating on inpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry, with most of that time based at Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus. Here, fellows conduct advanced-level psychiatric consultations, actively participate in teaching, and have the opportunity to lead a team in the role of acting attending. The Main Campus consultation-liaison service includes three attending-led teams, along with residents, medical students, and a dedicated licensed clinical social worker to provide comprehensive wrap-around care.
The teams manage more than 3,000 consultations annually. In addition to their Main Campus experience, fellows complete one module at a Cleveland Clinic regional hospital, gaining exposure to consultation-liaison psychiatry in a high-volume tertiary care setting. Fellows also spend two weeks on a palliative medicine consultation service to broaden their interdisciplinary training.
Outpatient Consultation Liaison
Throughout the academic year, fellows gain experience in both general and specialized consultation-liaison clinics. For 12 modules, they participate in the CL Fellows’ Consultation Clinic for one half-day per week, where they evaluate complex cases such as pre-operative assessments for high-utilizing patients, individuals with significant psychiatric comorbidities, second-opinion evaluations, and referrals from specialty clinics.
For six modules, fellows also rotate on half-day per week through core specialty immersion clinics, which include movement disorders, transplant psychiatry, epilepsy, brain health, and psych-oncology.
To deepen their expertise, fellows spend four modules in an elective immersion clinic of their choice. Elective options may include any of the core specialty clinics or additional areas such as Multiple Sclerosis, the COVID Recovery Clinic, Cardiology, Women’s Health, Transgender Surgery, Movement Disorders, or Geropsychiatry. Elective experiences are customized to align with each fellow’s individual interests and career goals.
View our Consultation-Liaison Fellowship Schedule
Reasons for consultation on the inpatient CL service include:
- Delirium
- Crisis Intervention/Code Violet
- Substance Dependence/Withdrawal
- Depression and Anxiety
- Capacity Evaluations
- Catatonia
- Conversion Disorders
- Coping with Medical Illness
- Neuropsychiatric Syndromes
Consulting services include:
- MICU and SICU
- Cardiology
- Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Epilepsy Monitoring Unit
- Colorectal/GI
- Transplant
- Oncology
- Respiratory Institute
Didactics and Conferences
Weekly conferences include case conference/journal club and psychiatry grand rounds. In addition, fellows can attend weekly psychosomatic didactics. The fellow also attends the five-day Cleveland Clinic Intensive Review of Internal Medicine CME course every June with complimentary registration.
Research
Fellows will have one month of dedicated research time split into two 2-week blocks during the year. Our fellows have presented their research locally, regionally, and nationally, including poster, oral and workshop presentations at the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Cleveland Consultation-Liaison Society meeting, and the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.
Call Schedule
There are no required call responsibilities for our fellows. However, optional weekend moonlighting is available, offering 12-hour shifts on an adult inpatient psychiatry service at Cleveland Clinic.
Our Fellows
2025-2026
Erin Driscoll, MD
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
Residency: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic Psychiatry
Facundo Sanchez, MD
Medical School: Universidad Austral Facultad de Ciencas Biomédicas
Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center Psychiatry
2024-2025
Mohamad El Zein, MD
Medical School: LAU Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine
Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Staff Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist at Lincoln Hospital in New York, NY
Jacob Wardyn, MD
Medical School: University of Nebraska College of Medicine
Residency: University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Director of C/L Psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic Akron General in Akron, OH
2023-2024
Brian Tong, MD
Medical School: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Residency: Carle Foundation Hospital
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Staff C/L Psychiatrist at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, NY
Sukanya Vartak, MD
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Residency: Maimonides Medical Center
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Inpatient C/L Psychiatrist at Mt. Sinai-Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, NY
2022-2023
Edward Hamrick, MD
Medical School: West Virginia University School of Medicine
Residency: West Virginia University Hospitals
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: C/L Psychiatry Program Director at the WVU School of Medicine
Molly Howland, MD
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
Residency: University of Washington School of Medicine
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Staff Psychiatrist
2021-2022
Raghid Charara, MD
Medical School: American University of Beirut
Residency: American University of Beirut
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Fellowship: Neuropsychiatry Fellowship, Chicago, IL
Post Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Staff Psychiatrist
Columban Heo, MD
Medical School: Touro University Nevada
Residency: Unity Health – White County Medical Center
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
Post Fellowship: Staff Psychiatrist at Talkiatry (Private Practice)
