Adult Psychiatry Program
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
This is an exciting time to join the University of Utah Psychiatry Residency Program. On August 23, our Department moved into the expanded University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI). The new UNI pavilion is an extraordinary building that combines architectural beauty with state of the art facilities for inpatient care. Patient care, research, and resident training will be housed in the same space to coordinate these departmental missions. In addition to the expansion of UNI, our Veterans Medical Center has a new outpatient building, which will open in November of 2011.
Training in Utah allows you to live in one of the most beautiful locations in the United States, while at the same time experience a rigorous, academically based education in psychiatry. Our residents are enthusiastic, well-rounded, and collegial. We encourage diligence during work hours, but also believe that having fun during time off is integral to a healthy lifestyle.
Along with our expanding facilities, our program now offers several new rotations to residents. Starting this year, our second year residents have been receiving their forensics experience at the Utah State Hospital. In August, we opened the Resident Continuity Clinic (RCC) in the UNI expansion. This is a new outpatient clinic that will allow residents to follow outpatients for up to three years during their training. The RCC specializes in psychosomatic outpatient psychiatry as well as women’s issues such as psychiatric disorders in pregnancy.
Our clinical and research faculty have continued to grow as well. Our department’s faculty is involved in research in many areas, including the neuroimaging of addiction, mood and psychotic disorders; the epidemiology and genetics of suicide; the epidemiology and genetics of autism; and neuroimaging and treatment of PTSD. Residents have opportunities to participate in research beginning in their second year, and a research track is available for those who want to focus on research during their training.
Our program is dedicated to providing a balanced training with strong experiences in psychotherapy as well as in biologically based treatments. Residents have access to numerous training sites, including a university “medical-psychiatric” unit, a free standing university affiliated psychiatric hospital (the University Neuropsychiatric Institute), the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as well as numerous outpatient clinics. We are affiliated with Valley Mental Health which provides community based care to the severely and persistently mentally ill, and we provide both inpatient and outpatient experiences with this “SPMI” population. Residents have always been happy with the flexibility our program allows in choosing elective rotations, especially during third and fourth years. We offer a wealth of choices and interesting opportunities from rural to international experiences. Our first resident to take advantage of international psychiatry will be travelling to Peru in October of 2011.
We aspire to developing ethical psychiatrists who are dedicated to excellent patient care and are capable of practicing in a variety of settings, whether that setting is a community, academic or research practice. We encourage resident participation in the enhancement and the ongoing quality improvement of our program. Residents are members of our Resident Training Committee, our Curriculum Committee, and our Executive Committee, which is involved in the daily running of the residency program. We hope you have the opportunity to visit our department and learn more about us.
Roxanne L. Bartel, M.D.