Community Psychiatry

With the increasing clinical demands and the growing fiscal concerns relating to the provision of psychiatric care, the need for leaders in community psychiatry has become greater than ever. Few training programs address this need, and, as a result, there is a scarcity of well-trained, qualified candidates interested in and prepared to assume leadership positions in community psychiatry. This has had a profound impact on the capacity of public mental health systems to sustain effective management of the wide array of programs that are essential for providing mental health services to those who rely upon the public sector for these services.

We have set forth a plan to develop, implement, and manage, in partnership with San Diego County Mental Health, a specialized community psychiatry training program that will:

• Increase the awareness among psychiatry residents at UC San Diego of the need for and opportunities in community psychiatry, with emphasis on San Diego County and the State of California.
• Attract motivated and qualified fellowship candidates to the program; and
• Provide the highest level of training to participants in the program with the goal of preparing graduates of the program for leadership roles in community psychiatry.

The California voters approved Proposition 63 during the November 2004 general election. Proposition 63 became effective on January 1, 2005, as the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). Through encumbrance of a one percent tax on personal income in excess of $1 million, the MHSA provides a unique opportunity to increase funding, personnel and other resources to support county mental health programs, and increase access to services for children, transition age youth, adults and older adults with mental health needs and their families.
The UCSD Community Psychiatry Program was funded to create and train physicians to take leadership roles in Community Psychiatry. The program trains psychiatry residents on how to work as community psychiatrists and become community psychiatry leaders.

The program is designed to:

• Advance the concepts of Community Psychiatry,
• To provide additional trained psychiatrists to work in Community Psychiatry.
• To train them to take leadership roles in Community Psychiatry.
• To offer the University stable funding for selected trainees as well as for faculty who supervise the fellows.

The Faculty and fellows will also be teaching medical students and other psychiatric residents about Community Psychiatry.

This funding may allow, to the extent resources are available, for fellows to engage in research about Community Psychiatry as it relates to General Psychiatry and/or Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Such research is subject to mutual agreement with the County and aimed at public mental health system improvements.
All fellows must be licensed in California prior to commencing the fellowship in Community Psychiatry.

We will begin accepting applications starting now for the 2013-2014 year.

If you have any questions and/or are interested in applying please contact both Community Psychiatry training directors:

David Folsom, MD, MPH:  dfolsom@ucsd.edu
Alejandra Postlethwaite, MD: apostlethwaite@ucsd.edu

Office phone number: (858) 966-5832 extension 3621