FAU receives initial accreditation for residency program in psychiatry

Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine has received initial accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a University-sponsored residency program in psychiatry, in collaboration with its member teaching hospitals in the FAU College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium.

This new program brings a total of four residency programs to FAU: internal medicine (launched in 2014); general surgery (launched in 2016); emergency medicine (launches this July); and psychiatry (launches in 2018).

The four-year psychiatry residency program is based at Tenet HealthCare system's Delray Medical Center, the primary site for the program, South County Mental Health Center in Delray Beach and Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The program has been approved for 16 positions and will participate in the National Resident Matching Program to welcome its inaugural class on July 1, 2018.

"The United States faces a critical shortage of psychiatrists as the demand for mental health services at all levels continues to rise exponentially," said Phillip Boiselle, M.D., dean of FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. "Working in concert with our outstanding hospital partners in our Graduate Medical Education Consortium we are committed to providing a strong health care delivery system in this region. The addition of our newest residency program in psychiatry is a testament to our continued commitment."

FAU's psychiatry curriculum will include clinical neuroscience, psychotherapy, psychopathology and somatic therapies. The psychiatry residency is led by program director John W. Newcomer, M.D., a leading neuroscientist and psychiatrist, and a professor of integrated medical science in FAU's College of Medicine.

"We are proud to partner with Florida Atlantic University, our colleagues in the GME Consortium and leadership in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine to bring this important program to Palm Beach County," said Mark Bryan, CEO of Delray Medical Center. "Our state-of-the-art psychiatric center provides high-quality inpatient programs and will give FAU's psychiatry residents access to leading physicians and professionals in the field as well as an optimal environment to care for those with various psychiatric disorders and conditions."

In 2015, the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that 9.8 million Americans over the age of 18 suffered from a serious mental illness and an estimated 43.4 million adults aged 18 or older had a mental illness (AMI or any mental illness), representing 17.9 percent of all U.S. adults.

A survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) found that 59 percent of psychiatrists are 55 or older, the fourth oldest of 41 medical specialties. In 2014, 45 states had fewer psychiatrists relative to their populations than they had in 2009. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), the total number of physicians in the U.S. increased by 45 percent from 1995 to 2013, while the number of adult and child psychiatrists only rose by 12 percent, from 43,640 to 49,079.

"This new program will help to enrich psychiatry and general medical care at Delray Medical Center, South County Mental Health Center and Boca Raton Regional Hospital and will grow scholarly activity and research," said Lee A. Learman, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean for graduate medical education and academic affairs, and designated institutional official. "Our psychiatry residents also will teach third and fourth year medical students at FAU to encourage career choices in psychiatry to help address the troubling projected shortages in this important medical specialty."

In fall 2011, the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium was formed in partnership with FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare system's Delray Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center to establish residency programs in specialties that would serve their communities.

FAU's six-year general surgery training program is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the primary site for the program, as well as Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare System's Delray Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center. The three-year emergency medicine training program is based at Bethesda Hospital East, the primary site for the program, as well as St. Mary's Medical Center and Delray Medical Center. FAU's first residency in internal medicine is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the primary site for the program, with participation from Bethesda Hospital East and Delray Medical Center. All five hospitals are member teaching hospitals in the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium.

Hospital members of the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium are Bethesda Hospital East (Roger Kirk, president and CEO, and Daniel S. Goldman, M.D., vice president of medical affairs); Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Jerry Fedele, president and CEO, and Cristina Mata, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer); Delray Medical Center (Mark Bryan, CEO, and Anthony Dardano, M.D., vice president of academic affairs); St. Mary's Medical Center (Gabrielle Finley-Hazle, CEO, and Lawrence Lottenberg, M.D., associate dean for medical education and director of medical education) and West Boca Medical Center (Mitch Feldman, CEO, and Jack Harari, M.D., chief medical officer).

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
From womb to midlife: Prenatal immune disruptions reshape memory and cognitive aging