CAMP LEJEUNE, NC  –   The Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune Psychiatry Residency Program is receiving national recognition that will provide additional psychotherapy training for NMCCL physicians-in-training and staff members.

The Victor J. Teichner Award, awarded by the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (AAPPP), provides resources to programs teaching psychodynamic principles and psychodynamic psychotherapy where there is a lack of local assets to assist in psychodynamic education.

NMCCL partnered with Novant Health, along with UNC Health and the UNC School of Medicine, to form the joint Psychiatry Residency Program in May 2023.

“A lot of programs apply for this [award], and only one or two winners are selected each year,” said Lt. Cmdr. Devon Johnston, military program director for NMCCL’s Combined Military-Civilian Psychiatry Residency Program. “The award carries with it a years’ worth of consultation with a national expert to help further develop the training of psychiatry residents in psychodynamic psychotherapy.”

According to the AAPPP website, the Teichner Award gives the program two components: an onsite three-day visit from a Visiting Scholar, chosen by NMCCL from a list of AAPPP members, and roughly 25 hours of distance learning interactions with the scholar over the ensuing year following the visit.

“The site visit will be the opportunity to introduce our programs, walk through the different facilities and do some meet and greet with the faculty, with the [Visiting Scholar] providing some faculty development sessions for both NMCCL and our civilian partner Novant,” said Johnston.

The guidance from the Visiting Scholar will be crucial to the development of the program and will directly impact the level of care NMCCL and NOVANT Health beneficiaries will receive.

“This [award] will help us build faculty development for our psychiatrists and psychologists and build a sustainable program over the next decade which will be a big draw for future recruitment.
 Johnston said. “For our patients, they're going to see better application of these psychodynamic principles and their regular interactions with providers because we're going to have more training and more skill in providing those sessions.”

Other notable award winners include Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic and Tripler Army Medical Center Psychiatry Residency.

NMCCL has provided more than 80 years of dedicated, passionate care for warfighters and beneficiaries at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.