Education Office

Phil Luber, MD Headshot

Director for Psychiatry Education

Sabine Schmid, PhD, LP Headshot

Director for Psychology Education

Sabine Schmid, PhD, LP
Assistant Professor
612-273-9116

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 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. This June, each sector of our department will identify specific actionable goals that we will accomplish in the coming academic year (July 2020 - July 2021).

Our work is guided by the following principles:

  • Amplify the voices of those most directly affected by racism and oppression to restore justice. Racism and oppression are not their responsibility to solve; the responsibility to dismantle racism falls on those who have benefited from it
  • Ensure a just, equitable, and inclusive educational, clinical, and research environment. 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
  • Take all needed steps to identify and dismantle unjust and inequitable systems, as individuals and collectively. This includes systems of white supremacy, a political or socioeconomic system in which white people benefit from a structural advantage (privilege) over other ethnic groups, on both a collective and individual level, and other forms of oppression and discrimination within our medical school, our university, and society at large.

In line with these departmental principles, the UMN Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Education Council commits to the following actions:

  • Lead and engage in national conversations on racial justice and the dismantlement of systems of white supremacy in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences based on what we have learned by listening to Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Minnesota following the killing of George Floyd as a result of police brutality by former members of the Minneapolis Police Department. Additionally, we will author and post a statement naming George Floyd and summarizing these perspectives.
  • Affirm and broadcast our anti-racism statement and action steps on our websites, social media accounts, and other internal and external communications
  • Implement the curriculum developed by the American Psychiatric Association Black Caucus, entitled, “Stress and Trauma Toolkit: for Treating Historically Marginalized Populations in a Changing Political and Social Environment” in Departmental graduate medical education programs
  • Engage in proactive outreach, support, and mentorship of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, including current trainees, matched trainees and applicants engaged in the recruitment process
  • Use the lens of diversity as a driving factor during recruitment and applicant ranking activities, utilizing best practices as outlined by the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

   

Psychiatry Education Office

Fairview Riverside West Building
2312 S 6th St., Floor 2, Suite F256
Minneapolis, MN 55454 

Education Program Manager

Carly Dolan
612-624-4624
cldolan@umn.edu

   

Medical Students

Lora Wichser, MD 
Deputy Vice Chair of Education, Psychiatry Externship ADPY 7500
612-273-9118
wich0033@umn.edu

Jeremy Bydlon
Medical Student Coordinator
612-624-4930.

psychmed@umn.edu

Residency
Phil Luber
Interim Program Director, Psychiatry Residency
612-273-9820
 
Associate Program Director
 
Associate Program Director
 
Melvina Bissonette, MD
Associate Program Director - Minneapolis VA site
 
Richelle Moen, PhD
Assistant Program Director
612-273-9810
moenx008@umn.edu
 
Rachel Talcott, C-TAGME
Residency Coordinator
612-626-1596
 
Tolulope Odebunmi, MBBS
Chief Resident, 2022-2023
Fellowships

Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Sheila Specker, MD
Director
612-273-9806
speck001@umn.edu
 
Chris Eriksen
Addiction Medicine Fellowship Coordinator
612-273-9848
erik0020@umn.edu
 

Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

Heather Swanson, MD
Program Director
612-467-2228
 

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship

Program Director
612-273-9040
 
Justin Garcia, MD, MS
Child & Adolescent Chief
 
Erin Myers, MD
Child & Adolescent Chief
 
Emma Fisher
Fellowship Coordinator
612-624-7572
 

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

Chinmoy Gulrajani, MBBS, FAPA
Director
612-273-9731
cgulraja@umn.edu
 
Gao Sheng Lee
Forensic Fellowship Coordinator
612-624-6949
 

Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship

David Atkinson, MD
Director
612-467-4001
david.atkinson@va.gov
 
Gao Sheng Lee
Geriatric Fellowship Coordinator
612-624-6949
 

Support Psychiatry Resident Education

Your gift to the Dr. Eric Brown Memorial Resident/Fellow Fund honors the memory of this brilliant psychiatrist and educator and advances the legacy he established in support of excellence in psychiatry resident education.