About Us

Since our beginning as one of the original departments in the School of Medicine, the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry has focused on a comprehensive and balanced approach to its educational, research, clinical and community missions. Our programs range from outreach to the state’s most isolated rural areas to cutting-edge, collaborative research with partners around the country. Each day, through our multiple missions, our faculty and staff dedicate their professional careers to improving the lives of all New Mexicans facing mental illness.

Here are just a few highlights from the past several years:

Education:

Excellent national recruitment into our accredited General Residency, Addiction, Geriatric, and Child and Adolescent Fellowships and Clinical Psychology Predoctoral Internship
New accredited Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship
Development of primary care-psychiatry program in the basic residency
Development of managed-care model general outpatient clinic for residency training
Establishment of the Institute for the Development of Education and Advancement of Science (IDEAS) in Psychiatry

Research:

Completed the EARLY Psychosis Project in May of 2011
RAISE project underway and recruitment is best in country
New NIMH research grants including an RO1 to study ethical issues in informed consent and a Research Infrastructure Support Program for Minority Mental Health Services Research
Renewal of NIDA Clinical Trials Network grant for 2010-2015
Expanded research faculty at CRCBH with focus on Native American historical trauma, Jail Diversion for Women with PTSD, and Veterans Jail Diversion
Provided national leadership for NIDA Clinical Trials Network Protocol: Screening, Motivational Assessment, Referral and Treatment in Emergency Departments (SMART-ED)

Clinical

Staff the only 24/7 PES in the state
Fully launched primary care clinic at ASAP
New addiction psychiatry participation in child and adolescent psychiatry
Increased training and supervision in psychosocial treatments of substance use disorders
New clinical services at UNM Psychiatric Center for acute outpatient psychiatry, continuing care of patients with serious and persistent psychiatric disorders and partial hospitalization
Development of a primary-care psychiatry ambulatory program at the VA medical center

Community

Telemedicine program in specialty clinics including HIV, Pain and Hepatitis B with rural sites
Increased affiliations with new rural family medicine residency programs
Established public programing through IDEAS in Psychiatry
Hosted Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for a free public presentation on Mental Health
Continued efforts to partner with local and state organizations to improve education and understanding about mental illness throughout the state
Initiated survey to establish a baseline about stigma and New Mexicans’ attitudes toward mental illness

Mission statement