Psychiatry & Neuroscience Academy: Clinical Application

• Map neurotransmitters and connect neural pathways to clinical conditions

• Examine brain anatomy through a guided laboratory activity

• Conduct a patient interview and complete a mental status examination

• Evaluate psychiatry cases in an ethics board simulation

• Design multidisciplinary treatment plans for complex patient scenarios

• Present a capstone plan for continued exploration of brain-science careers

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain how neural mechanisms and clinical evidence inform mental-health assessment

• Apply ethical and multidisciplinary reasoning to patient cases and treatment plans

• Conduct and communicate a structured analysis of a psychiatric scenario

You’ll leave with your clinical case work, personal exploration plan, and a certificate of completion.

Psychiatry and neuroscience require careful reasoning because biological mechanisms, lived experience, behavior, and social context can all shape a case. Students practice gathering relevant information, distinguishing observation from assumption, and connecting a treatment decision to evidence and ethics.

Patient simulations strengthen communication and perspective-taking. Treatment-plan workshops require students to weigh medical, psychological, and social needs rather than reaching for one simple answer. Ethics reviews add questions of consent, fairness, stigma, and responsibility. These habits matter in medicine and mental health, and they also strengthen how students evaluate sensitive information, discuss difficult topics, and make reasoned decisions when evidence is incomplete.

For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.

Curiosity about the brain can lead to questions about the decisions behind mental healthcare. This academy gives you cases to think through. Role-play, group planning, and presentations offer ways to explore psychiatry, neuroscience, psychology, public health, and related fields. No clinical experience is expected.

The course addresses mental illness, trauma, eating disorders, and substance use. Students and families should consider this mature subject matter when deciding on fit; respectful discussion is central to the work.

Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UC Berkeley program.

UC Berkeley gives high-school students the opportunity to pursue serious academic exploration in a campus environment shaped by scientific inquiry, new ideas, and an active connection to the wider Bay Area. The Berkeley Hills, distinctive architecture, and green spaces make the experience feel different from an ordinary school routine.

Students learn alongside peers, become more independent, and experience the pace and possibility of university life. The Bay Area context adds exposure to a region influenced by research, technology, entrepreneurship, culture, and public debate. For families, the value is not campus prestige alone. It is the combination of academic depth, community, and a student gaining clearer insight into the subjects, environments, and possible directions that genuinely motivate them.