Department of Psychiatry

The University Behavioral Health Center, is the new clinical and academic home of the Department of Psychiatry. Directly adjacent to the University and VA Hospitals, the Center recently completed a facility-wide renovation and redesign.  It houses the offices of the faculty and residents in the outpatient clinic.
	Memphis Veterans Administration Hospital, a modern 750-bed general hospital, provides treatment to acutely disturbed psychiatric patients on a 23-bed psychiatric service that is staffed on a multidisciplinary basis by the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Psychology, College of Nursing, and School of Social Work. Adjunctive services include recreational therapy, occupational therapy, and a full range of medical and surgical consultative resources. Resident assignments include the psychiatric inpatient and outpatient services, consultation-liaison services, alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs, and medical inpatient services, including neurology.
The Regional Medical Center of Memphis, (The Med) a large metropolitan hospital complex staffed by the University of Tennessee, Memphis faculty gives psychiatry residents their first systematic exposure to crisis intervention techniques in the active psychiatric emergency room. Psychiatric consultation is also provided to medical and surgical units.
	Memphis Mental Health Institute is one of five state psychiatric hospitals in Tennessee and serves the Memphis community. MMHI admits almost exclusively patients who cannot be admitted to area private hospitals. The patients often have chronic mental illnesses and many have histories of multiple hospitalizations. Most of the patients are referred on an involuntary basis because of an acute episode which poses a risk of danger to themselves or others. Some are referred from the court for a pre-trial evaluation, and a few are referred because of a medical need for detoxification from alcohol or other substances.
St. Francis is a JCAHO approved hospital with 4 inpatient units located on the 14th, 15th, and 16th floors of a General hospital (General Adult, Geriatric, Child, Adolescent). The admission office, called the Clinical Assessment Center, handles a standardized assessment and insurance approvals for all admissions, and sees walk-ins and Emergency referrals for psychiatry. Trainees are responsible for the University of Tennessee cases admitted in the hospital and work with the CAC to improve assessment skills during their rotations.