Position Overview

Understanding the Role

Making a Profound Impact on Young Lives

As a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Cape Fear Valley Health System, you'll step into a role where your specialized expertise is not just valued—it's essential to the mental health of an underserved pediatric population. Your practice will primarily focus on outpatient care, where you'll provide comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and treatment planning for children and adolescents facing a wide spectrum of mental health challenges.

Each day in your practice brings the profound satisfaction of positively influencing young lives during their most formative years. You'll experience the gratification of seeing children progress toward emotional stability and developmental milestones through your specialized intervention, while building trusted relationships with families who depend on your guidance during challenging times.

A Community with Unique Pediatric Mental Health Needs

The Cape Fear Valley service area presents distinctive opportunities to make a meaningful difference in pediatric psychiatric care. Located near Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), the community includes a significant military population, creating a unique clinical landscape:

  • The region is designated as a "compassionate assignment site" for military families with special needs children
  • Higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorders and developmental conditions
  • Significant population of children experiencing PTSD and anxiety related to military family life
  • Children with depression and adjustment disorders related to frequent relocations and parental deployment
  • Diverse socioeconomic backgrounds creating varied clinical presentations

This distinctive patient population creates a practice environment that is both challenging and deeply rewarding, allowing you to make a substantial impact on an underserved community with specialized needs.

  • Serve a diverse pediatric population with significant unmet psychiatric needs
  • Develop expertise in treating the unique mental health challenges facing military families
  • Make a lasting difference in a community with limited access to specialized pediatric psychiatric care
  • Practice with the full support of a health system committed to behavioral health services

Structured for Pediatric-Specific Practice

Your daily practice has been thoughtfully structured to accommodate the unique demands of child and adolescent psychiatry. You'll typically see two new patient evaluations (60 minutes each) and approximately 18 follow-up appointments (20 minutes each) daily, with scheduling that respects the collaborative nature of pediatric care:

  • 60-minute new patient evaluations allowing for comprehensive assessment and family integration
  • 20-minute follow-up appointments accommodating family participation
  • Maximum of 20 patients daily, respecting the complexity of pediatric psychiatric care
  • 15-20% no-show buffer built into scheduling to maintain appropriate pacing
  • Quarterly in-person visits required even for telemedicine patients to ensure quality care

This thoughtful structure acknowledges the unique demands of pediatric psychiatric practice while maintaining a sustainable patient volume that allows for work-life balance.

Academic Environment with Teaching Opportunities

Cape Fear Valley offers a stimulating academic environment through its Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program with 4–6 fellows. As an attending physician, you'll have the opportunity to shape the training of future child psychiatrists while benefiting from the intellectual stimulation of an academic environment:

  • Opportunity to supervise and teach child psychiatry fellows according to your interest
  • Participation in case conferences and didactic sessions
  • Stimulating collegial environment with academic discussions
  • Balance of clinical care and teaching responsibilities
  • Potential for involvement in a developing medical school program launching in 2026

The academic component of this position enhances your professional growth while contributing to the development of much-needed future child psychiatrists for the region.

Growth Opportunities in a Developing Service Line

While your primary role will focus on outpatient care, Cape Fear Valley's expanding behavioral health services create exciting opportunities for professional growth and practice development:

  • Potential involvement with the 16-bed inpatient adolescent unit for weekend rounding if desired
  • Opportunity to help shape a new adolescent unit being developed at Central Harnett Hospital
  • Possibility for school-based telemedicine services as the department expands
  • Potential for specialized program development (eating disorders, autism spectrum, etc.)
  • Future possibility of partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs

These growth opportunities allow you to shape your career trajectory while contributing to the expansion of much-needed pediatric mental health services in the region.

This position offers a rare opportunity to practice child and adolescent psychiatry in a supportive environment with a compelling patient population. You'll experience the immediate impact of your specialized expertise on an underserved community while enjoying the benefits of a well-structured practice model that promotes both clinical excellence and personal wellbeing.

© Copyright 2023 Pacific Companies. All Rights Reserved.