About Us
Introduction
The West Virginia University School of Medicine Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, established in 1961, is located on the campus of the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. Chestnut Ridge Hospital, which opened in 1987, is the academic psychiatry center of the university and serves as the primary training site for all training programs. As a regional referral center, the hospital provides a diverse patient population to support excellence in education. The Health Behavior Research Center and Addictions & Psychiatric Medicine Research merged in July of 2005 to form a comprehensive research facility, the Health Research Center, also located within the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. The full continuum of care spectrum is represented through inpatient, outpatient, subspecialty units, and associated facilities. The department is an important component of the School of Medicines’ many residency, psychology, nursing, medical student, social work, rehabilitation, basic sciences and other training programs.
Programs
The residents' training and interns' primary training take place at Chestnut Ridge Hospital, which opened in 1987 on the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center campus. The Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry sponsors several training programs.
- General Psychiatry
- Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship
- Child Psychiatry Fellowship
- Postdoctoral Clinical Neuropsychology Residency
- Pre-Doctoral Clinical Psychology Internship
- Psychosomatic Fellowship
- Social Work Internship
Faculty
The department recruits faculty invested in teaching. Each faculty has a role maintaining an environment of education. Responsibilities include program development, supervision, course preparation and presentation, mentoring, and clinical and scholarly support, among others. Faculty contribute to the Educational Committees that oversee each training program and have been instrumental in successful implementation of annual improvement projects. These projects have included, for example, a revised vacation policy, significant stipends for departmental awards, major construction plans for a training study area and lounge, and a multistage plan to achieve 100% boards pass rates. Close integration of the training programs tap each faculty’s area of expertise to grant cross-program access to broad content and the best teachers. All faculty are formally reviewed annually for their teaching efforts.
Several faculty have won major national awards for teaching. Others have contributed to or designed teaching programs that have modeled by other universities. The Teaching Scholars Program at WVU is a nationally recognized program that has set the standard for faculty development.
Accreditation
The psychiatry residency training program is fully accredited by the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and meets the standards set forth by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Persons completing combine degree residencies are eligible to sit for both board examinations.
The forensic fellowship is fully accredited by ACGME and meets the standards of ABPN.
The postdoctoral residency in clinical neuropsychology is a member program of the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN).
The predoctoral clinical psychology internship is accredited by the American Psychological Association Committee on Accreditation. It was last accredited in 2003 for a 7 year cycle.
The Social Work advanced clinical placement is an approved Master's level placement for students in the Graduate Social Work Program and the Graduate Counseling Program at West Virginia University.