FEATURE

Proposed New Psychiatry Residency Program Moves Ahead

According to Dr. Benjamin Liptzin, Chair of the Psychiatry Department, a proposed new psychiatry residency program has been approved by Baystate’s Physician Leadership Team, the Board of Trustees and the Graduate Medical Education Committee. This summer an application will be submitted to the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee who is expected to perform a site review in spring 2008. If approved, recruitment for the psychiatry residency program will begin in the fall of 2008 for enrollment in July 2009. Dr. Liptzin will be the residency program director.

Several factors favor the establishment of this new residency. There is increased recognition of the seriousness of psychiatric illness—psychiatric and substance abuse disorders are the leading cause of disability in the developed world. With western Massachusetts having higher utilization rates for psychiatric services than the national average, most hospital-based and community mental health programs in the area have been struggling to recruit qualified psychiatrists. And, whereas a decade and a half ago managed care adversely affected funding for psychiatric services, now Congress is expected to pass legislation assuring that health insurance plans provide equal coverage for psychiatric illness and other medical disorders. In 2007, the national psychiatric residency fill rate was 94.6%— just ahead of the average rate of 94.2% for all specialties.

Baystate, the sole academic healthcare institution in the region, is the only organization able to build and run a credible psychiatry residency program. As recipients of NIH and NIMH grants, the Psychiatry Department has been a leader at BMC in academic productivity and its faculty serve in leadership roles in national subspecialty organizations. The Department has substantial educational experience as well—faculty have been involved in teaching residents of other departments, some have served as residency or fellowship program directors at other academic institutions, and its core third-year clerkship is rated among the best Tufts clerkship sites by their medical students. With these qualifications, the Psychiatry Department should be very competitive in recruiting quality residents.