Completion of an ACGME accredited psychiatry residency program that qualifies an applicant to sit for the ABPN Psychiatry Board and completion of all USMLE Steps or COMLEX Parts are the basic requirements for application. Additionally, residents are required to hold an active Colorado physician license and DEA license. Upon formal acceptance to the program, application for licensure must be initiated so that residents are licensed before they begin the program.
To ensure that the process for selecting residents is consistent with guidelines established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the University of Colorado Denver Graduate Medical Education Committee (GME), and to be compliant with University policies, appropriate Federal and State statutes and regulations, this program has the following eligibility requirements.
1. Applicants must provide documentation of the following:
2. Individuals applying for psychiatry fellowship programs must document completion of an appropriate psychiatry residency program, including an ACGME-accredited residency, or meet requirements as outlined in ACGME program requirements.
3. Individuals applying for psychiatry fellowship programs must have successfully completed the USMLE Step 3 examination or COMLEX Part 3, as evidenced by obtaining a passing grade for that examination, prior to applying for a fellowship. Passing scores must be obtained for all USMLE or COMLEX steps in no more than two attempts.
4. Applicants must be eligible for an active and unrestricted physician medical license as granted by the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners (CBME) and a DEA license.
5. Applicants must successfully pass a criminal background investigation (criteria specified in UC and GMEC background investigation policies) and any affiliated training facility investigation as necessary.
6. The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine recognizes that residents enrolled in its programs are trainees, not employees. As such, applicants must be able to meet conditions of the institutional house officer (resident) training agreement. Specifically, residents in our program must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or possess the appropriate documentation to allow residents to legally train at the UC School of Medicine.
ACGME Program Number: 4010721006
For the 2025-2026 recruitment season:
Please visit AAMC ERAS for the Application Revised Timeline in this link.
All fellowship positions are funded and paid at a PGY-5 level.
A Resident Selection Committee for each training program evaluates all eligible applicants. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their preparedness and experience; academic credentials; ability and aptitude; communication and interpersonal skills; and on personal qualities such as integrity, learning motivation, and work ethic, and the ability to function within parameters expected of a practitioner in the specialty.
Programs will review and select applicants in a manner consistent with provisions of equal opportunity employment and must not discriminate with regard to sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, disability or any other applicable legally protected status.
Virtual interviews with program faculty and current or recent residents are scheduled after applicants have been selected to interview. If an applicant has a strong interest in a specific area they are encouraged to let the coordinator know so they can arrange an interview with someone in that specific area.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to interview everyone. The Selection Committee will review your application file, and we will notify you if you have been selected to interview.
Please see "deadlines: section for upcoming deadlines for applications and interviews.
The dates by which we must receive your completed application and for scheduling your interview vary slightly from year to year.
For the 2025-2026 academic year:
4. VA Hospitable - Supervising Attending Dr. Katherine Folse
Name | Information |
Christian Thurstone, MD | Christian Thurstone, M.D., is board-certified in child psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. After finishing his fellowships, he completed 5 years of mentored research training through the AACAP/NIDA Physician Scientist Training Program in Substance Abuse. His research focuses on improving adolescent substance treatment and making it more accessible. Dr. Thurstone serves as a lecturer, attending physician scholarly project mentor, an associate professor of psychiatry and a Lieutentant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. |
Katherine Folse, MD | Dr. Folse is a general psychiatrist and addiction psychiatrist. She is the site supervisor and an attending psychiatrist at the VA. |
Christian Hopfer, MD | Dr. Hopfer is a child psychiatrist and professor at the University of Colorado. He conducts research in the marijuana and genetics of addiction and serves as an attending physician and lecturer for the fellowship. |
Kaylin Klie, MD | Dr. Klie is a family medicine physician and recently completed a fellowship in addiction medicine. She directs the Women and Family Services Clinic at Denver Health and has expertise in the treatment of addiction in pregnant women and the management of neonatal withdrawal. She serves as a lecturer and an attending for the fellowship. |
Patrick Fehling, MD | Dr. Fehling is an addiction psychiatrist who serves as an attending and lecturer for the fellowship. He has expertise and experience in private practice opportunities. |
Laura Martin, MD | Dr. Martin is a psychiatrist and addiction medicine physician who serves as a lecturer to the fellows. |
Paula Riggs, MD | Dr. Riggs is a child psychiatrist, addiction psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado. She is the director of the Division of Substance Dependence at the University of Colorado. She has extensive expertise in clinical research for adolescents with substance use disorders and as a research mentor. She serves as a lecturer for the fellowship. |
Alexis Ritvo, MD | Dr. Ritvo is an addiction psychiatrist and the Program Director for the fellowship. She is the Interim Associate Practice Director and a Faculty Supervisor in the UCHealth Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic at Anschutz Medical Campus. Her scholarly interests include medical education in addiction, mental health and addiction health policy and psychotherapy training. |
Jonathan Ritvo, MD | Dr. Ritvo is a very experienced addiction psychiatrist. He was the addiction psychiatry fellowship training director for a decade before becoming an attending physician at CeDAR. He currently is an attending physician supervisor for the fellowship. |
Joseph Sakai, MD | Dr. Sakai is an addiction psychiatrist who is the director of adolescent services at ARTS. He is the director of psychiatry medical student education, a lecturer, attending physician and scholarly project mentor. His research interests include genetics and neuroimaging. |
Department of Psychiatry
1890 N Revere Ct, F546
AHSB, Suite 4100, Rm 4102
Aurora, CO 80045
Phone: (303) 724-8788
Fax: (720) 724-4963
Email: angela.webb@cuanschutz.edu
Phone: (303) 724-9416
Email: Alexis.Ritvo@cuanschutz.edu