About

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences condemns racism, discrimination, and oppression in all forms. We affirm that racism and oppression are public health crises with serious mental and physical health consequences for the communities we serve.

We commit to listen to and promote Black, Indigenous and People of Color. We also commit to amplify their calls for change. We have work to do. We are part of a system that has allowed racial disparities in medical outcomes to persist for far too long.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s mission statement and ongoing initiatives address diversity in all forms as the path to excellence in each of our mission areas. In addition, during the 2020/2021 academic year, we will actively:

• Continue to diversify faculty, staff, and learners via proactive recruitment, mentorship, and pipeline development activities by taking actions such as:
• Identifying and developing a relationship with new diversity recruitment networks to enlarge our connections to diverse pools of candidates for departmental positions
• Initiating a BIPOC mentoring process for faculty, admin, clinic, and research staff by assessing interest, desires, and needs

• Support the retention of diverse department members by improving our culture of equity, inclusion, and anti-racist activities by taking actions such as:
• Continuing to engage in self-inquiry and deep discussion at the individual and division level
• Developing the habit of identifying missing perspectives/voices in every meeting

• Widen the lens through which we approach our clinical and educational work with patients and families by taking actions such as:
• Revamping the complex case conference to explicitly include a cultural formulation and an understanding of the effects of systemic racism on the health and wellbeing of our patients
• Engaging in reflection on our own actions and biases as providers.

Each of our divisions have also committed to specific goals for this academic year as described in this document. We fully expect that our goals will continue to evolve. As we accomplish these objectives, there will be new objectives to replace them. As we grow into our ability to operate according to the principles outlined in the document, the world will continue to change around us, demanding that we stay flexible and involved. See the complete 2020/2021 plan.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota strives to fulfill the tripartite mission of the Medical School: excellence in teaching, research, and clinical service.

To fulfill our overall mission, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences offers courses and clerkships all four years of the Medical School, including a valuable third-year clerkship during which medical students work directly with patients suffering from mental illnesses. Furthermore, the department offers a General Psychiatry Residency, a Child and Adolescent Fellowship, a Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship, and Fellowships in Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Recently, the department embarked on a new direction, with the creation of a new Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship.

To become pre-eminent in psychiatry research, the department is focusing its efforts in three areas that are thought to provide the greatest potential for discovery in psychiatry – brain imaging and applied clinical research. The department collaborates extensively with the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research and the Domenici Brain Science Center at the Minneapolis VA to conduct clinical research using state-of-the-art imaging techniques. Research on genetic variables is woven into a number of our current studies, ranging from the genetic basis of smoking to genetic correlates of biologic measures in schizophrenia. 

Clinically, the department has expanded its inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services to accommodate the high demand for mental health services in the Twin Cities region. In addition to improving access to the Department of Psychiatry’s clinical services, the department has created new specialized programs to help patients and their families who suffer from significant illnesses. New programs in schizophrenia, impulsive behaviors (e.g., borderline personality disorder and pathological gambling), and eating disorders are just some of the many ways we are helping our patients improve their mental health.  

Again, welcome to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences website. We hope you will enjoy learning about the activities in the department and find our efforts to be of interest.