FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Contact: Leah C. Payne, Director of Public Affairs, Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, 304-691-1713 

Marshall University School of Medicine approved for psychiatry residency program

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine has been awarded initial accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to offer a psychiatry residency training program beginning in 2015, Dr. Joseph I. Shapiro, dean of the School of Medicine announced today.   The ACGME is the national body responsible for post-M.D. training programs in the U.S.

“The addition of a psychiatry residency training program allows us to continue our mission of educating a physician workforce for central Appalachia, “ Shapiro said. “Physicians tend to practice in the geographic area where they complete their residency training which translates to more doctors for our region. “

Dr. Paulette S. Wehner, vice dean for graduate medical education said the four-year program will train up to four residents a year for a total of 16 resident physicians at capacity.

“The development of a psychiatry residency program is certainly advantageous for West Virginia as well as the Tri-State,” Wehner  said. “The mental health care system is strained by the number of people who need help and a shortage of psychiatrists to meet that need. The situation has reached a crisis point, and under the direction of the new chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral medicine, Dr. Suzanne Holroyd, the creation of this new residency will allow Marshall to address this crisis.”

Holroyd, who joined Marshall in January from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, says the new program will have outstanding training in psychiatry due to community collaboration as well as recruitment of new department of psychiatry faculty. 

“We have worked collaboratively with the area’s facilities and providers to build a residency program that will provide state-of-the-art training in psychiatry, which will ultimately translate into improved access and psychiatric care for the entire region,” Holroyd said. “I am grateful to our community partners for their dedication to making this residency program a reality for Marshall.” 

With the addition of the psychiatry residency, the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine offers a total of eight residency programs in Family and Community Health, Internal Medicine, Medicine/Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Surgery.   Additionally there are five fellowship training programs which include Cardiology, Endocrinology, Interventional Cardiology, Medical Oncology and Pulmonary.

For more information on the new residency program, please visit: http://www.marshall.edu/ucomm/files/web/PsychiatryResidencyProgramFacts_05-15-14.pdf

Article from the Herald-Dispatch (May 15, 2014)

Date Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014