The University of Toledo Public and Community Psychiatry
The University of Toledo Adult Public and Community Psychiatry Program was established in 1987. In 2006 the Child and Adolescent Public and Community Psychiatry Program was established under the direction of Michele Knox, Ph.D. The mission of both programs is to enhance the number of medical students that choose Psychiatry as a career choice, and also to encourage graduating Psychiatry residents to practice psychiatry medicine in the public sector in Ohio. Two generous grants from the Ohio Department of Mental Health support the faculty and staff of both programs.
In order for the medical students and psychiatry residents to gain a diverse and broad overview of the range of mental health/other community services and programs available in the region, these individuals are scheduled for shadowing experiences throughout Northwest Ohio. Shadowing allows the medical students and the psychiatry residents to witness the multidisciplinary approach to the care of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness in the region. Collectively, both programs have collaborative relationships with over 40 community organizations in Northwest Ohio.
To provide additional educational experiences to the medical students and psychiatry residents, the Public and Community Psychiatry programs also have collaborative relationships with other University of Toledo departments, including Pediatric Medicine and Neurology. In addition, the Adult Public and Community Psychiatry program maintains a close alliance with Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare – North Campus, in order to further the educational needs of the medical students and psychiatry residents.
The Public and Community Psychiatry programs promote and support community education by sponsoring evidence-based educational conferences that are held either on The University of Toledo Health Science Campus or off campus, regionally, in Northwest Ohio. Noted and esteemed presenters, from the local, state or national sectors of the mental health field, are invited to the University for the on-campus conferences, and faculty from The University of Toledo Department of Psychiatry present at the regional conferences, which are for community mental health providers. These regional conferences are free and open to the public, on a limited basis.
The training and career development that the medical students and psychiatry residents receive through the Public and Community Psychiatry programs help to insure the future of public psychiatry in Ohio. The strengths of the Public and Community Psychiatry programs are the result of outstanding direction from the respective directors, as well as on-going and strong collaborations with organizations in the Northwest Ohio region.
The educational initiatives that are carried out by the Public and Community Psychiatry programs either on-campus or regionally provide a broad scope of over-arching experiences for our medical students and psychiatry residents. By working with interdisciplinary colleagues and maintaining relationships with community organizations, progress towards achieving the mission of The University of Toledo Public and Community Psychiatry programs will be maintained.