Burn-Frostbite ICU and Outpatient Clinic

The Burn-Frostbite Psychology minor rotation includes work in two settings: 1) University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Consultation Liaison (CL) Service seeing patients on the Burn-Frostbite Intensive Care Unit (BICU) and 2) outpatient Burn-Frostbite Clinic. Interns completing this minor rotation will have exposure to a variety of clinical settings and experiences that align with an interest in health service psychology. 

The scope of the Psychiatry CL Service spans all of the inpatient medical services in the University of Colorado Hospital. Licensed psychologists are members of the CL team and provide focused consultation and treatment on the BICU, the Solid Organ Transplant Center, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and across other inpatient medical units. Typically, patients admitted to the BICU are admitted for burn injuries, frostbite, hidradenitis, and/or specialty wound care, and may have co-occurring psychiatric and psychosocial concern. These psychiatric concerns may be present prior to the patient’s admission to the hospital or may arise during the patient’s stay. The patient’s Burn-Frostbite medical team requests the services of the consult team (psychiatry and/or psychology) when there is a psychiatric concern and the team will conduct an evaluation, make treatment recommendations, provide psychological services, and follow up with the patient as needed.

The outpatient Burn-Frostbite Psychology Clinic is a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic that sees patients as they step down from inpatient hospital care, as well as patients who were never admitted to the hospital for medical management of their injuries, but present to clinic for outpatient wound management. The role of psychology in this clinic takes several forms ranging from single visit courses of care to support transition out of the hospital, to ~16-20 visit courses of care targeting trauma, anxiety, depression, pain, body image, etc.