The Department of Psychiatry aims to provide the best in clinical care, education, and research on a range of psychiatric illnesses, at a time when the importance of mental health is increasingly coming to attention globally.
Over 150 Psychiatry faculty are spread across the Valley at primary clinical teaching sites, including Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, Banner M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Barrow Neurological Institute, the Phoenix VA Health Care System, Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Valleywise Health as well as Northern Arizona VA Health Care which supports our students enrolled in the Rural Health Professions Program. These devoted clinician-educators are among the region’s most respected Psychiatrists.
In addition to our clinical offerings and training programs, our Department is engaged in cutting-edge research to uncover causes of and treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, alcoholism, and Alzheimer’s, as well as to understand the physical and psychological impacts of traumatic brain injury. We are involved in national and international research collaborations aiming to develop Precision Psychiatry, which aims to tailor treatments to patients based on genetic and other factors. This work is performed at our downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus and Banner Alzheimer’s Institute.
Education is a centerpiece of our Department. We provide a solid foundation of scholarship to prepare learners to not only diagnose and treat complex psychiatric illnesses, but also to assess and manage behavioral manifestations of medical and surgical conditions.
Our third-year Psychiatry Clerkship and fourth-year electives have been popular and valued experiences drawing increasing numbers of students into our specialty, as well as developing relevant clinical skills for those pursuing other careers in medicine. Our Psychiatry Residency Program continues its rich tradition of training accomplished clinicians, scholars and tomorrow’s leaders in Psychiatry, having been established over 35 years ago. We are continuing to grow our training programs, with both our Child and Adolescent, and our Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship recently graduating their first classes of fellows in the last few years.