The University of Florida College of Medicine is an elite, nationally ranked institution - equal to Brown and Tufts in the latest rankings. We are also a major academic research medical center. In addition, believe me, the weather and quality of life is far better than the older Ivy med centers.

Here are my top ten reasons that our training program is one of the best in the country.

Number 1 - The McKnight Brain Institute. Psychiatry is an integral part of the McKnight Brain Institute with access to imaging and other facilities for research and training. Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery have many collaborations at the Brain Institute. Neuroscience and Neuroanatomy is the core, the basic science of Psychiatry. We have numerous collaborations with neuroscientists. We learn how antidepressants work, where panic attacks may come from, how children learn, how drugs change gene expression, and many other areas of training from our basic science colleagues. Our Chief resident and other residents, along with the Neurosurgery and Neurology residents, teach medical neuroscience to the UF med students.

Number 2 - The abundance of double- and triple-boarded clinical experts. Trainees interested in clinical psychiatry can learn from internist-psychiatrists, neurologist-psychiatrists, pediatrician-adult & child psychiatrists, and anesthesia-pain-addictions psychiatrists. At last count, we have 15 faculty members who are boarded in a non-psychiatric discipline. The significance of this has shown in our Interns/Residents match as we have not only matched but matched in our top 10. We have been quite fortunate to have double-board eligible trainees as residents as well, with a current board certified neurosurgeon and a board certified cardiologist in the psychiatric training program.

Number 3 - UF is psychiatry of the future in the present. Ultra-specialization is accessible for trainees. They see double- and triple-boarded experts in areas such as addiction, child, forensic, geriatric, and research psychiatry in the department. Residents learn how to examine, evaluate, and treat patients by seeing new patients and presenting them to attendings and other experts. In our teaching clinics, every patient is seen by the expert and the trainee. The training is absolutely second to none.

Number 4 - All trainees are expected to be competent in medicine. The attendings are highly competent themselves and expert in neuro-bio-medical-psychosocial model. Our interns and residents are selected on the basis that they are highly competent physicians and our UF psychiatry intern's orientation reflects the importance of being a physician and then a psychiatric specialist.

Number 5 - UF Department of Psychiatry has more inpatient beds, residential beds, and patient visits than most other Departments. Inpatient psychiatry is a core competency of our Department. We provide referral and expert consultation services for psychiatrists throughout the Southeast in Psychiatry and nationally for Addictions. Our consult services and inpatient facilities are in the main teaching hospital on the campus of the UF medical school and not isolated in an offsite location.

Number 6 - We are fiscally strong and essential for the College of Medicine. Last year, the teaching hospital gave Psychiatry two out of its six new residency slots.

Number 7 - Teaching medical students. The Department's experts teach everything from Introduction to the Practice of Medicine with Internal Medicine and Medical Neuroscience in year one to psychiatric rotations and electives in the other years. Residents play an important role in med student training and enjoy the quality of the UF students. 15% of the UF students place in the top 99% nationally on Step 1 exams.

Number 8 - Neurotechnology teaching. UF's Department of Psychiatry experts like Drs. Goodman, Baxter, Liu, Wang, and Blier use the Brain Institute to teach deep brain stimulation, PET, fMRI, proteomics, and neurotransmitter neuroanatomy. They can teach fMRI and other imaging, demonstrate DBS and other intensive/invasive approaches that other institutions can not possibly do or teach.

Number 9 - Range and breadth of types of patients in different surroundings. We have community mental health center clinical services, child and adolescent, student mental health, addictions, homeless, veterans, psychiatric specialty clinics, pain, and eating disorders.

Number 10 - For the psychiatrists interested in private practice, we have a large group of Visiting Professors who are prominent psychiatrists in private practice. These psychiatrists come to UF once or twice a year and have two days on campus sharing experiences and mentoring those who want to practice in Palm Beach, Naples, Tampa, etc.

Psychiatry at UF is not like psychiatry elsewhere in the country. We have a major presence in the teaching hospital, the brain institute, and on campus. We are not only responsible for the traditional psychiatric range of services but also for many others, including pain evaluation and management. We are responsible for eating disorders and obesity. We are the responsible experts in this vast medical center for tobacco, alcohol and other drug problems and addiction. The residents can and do learn everything from pain to eating to drugs to depression and schizophrenia in patients from early childhood to older adults... It is without question, that we are equal to many of the traditional power-houses; but the weather, quality of life, and future are better in Gainesville.

To access the latest Residency Training brochure, click here:
http://www.psychiatry.ufl.edu/education/residency/Residency Brochure 2004-2005.pdf