RCDMH COLLABORATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – RIVERSIDE (UC-R) SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (SOM)

RCDMH has established a new collaboration with the UC-R SOM in Riverside.  It is anticipated that through this collaboration, the new UC-R SOM and associated Residency Training Programs will provide new physicians and medical sub-specialists to live and work in the Inland Empire, expanding the number of physicians who are available locally to provide direct medical care services for residents of the Inland Empire, and specifically for Riverside County. 

In August 2013, the UC-R opened a new four-year medical school with 50 first-year medical students.  Dr. Jerry Dennis, RCDMH Medical Director and Dr. Andrius Baskys, RCDMH psychiatrist, have been working with UC-R over the past two years to develop a new Psychiatry Residency Training Program for Graduate Medical Education that will be associated with the new medical school. 

In September 2013, an accreditation visit was completed for the new Psychiatry Residency Program to become accredited by the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).  The final accreditation decision is expected in mid-April 2014.  The new Psychiatry Residency Program is planned to open with up to four Psychiatry Residents in July 2014.  When filled, the program will provide the highest quality training in community mental health and psychiatry for up to four residents per year each of the four years of the program.

Also, in September 2013, through the RCDMH and UC-R collaboration, UC-R was also able to successfully obtain an OSHPD, MHSA Workforce Education and Training (WET) grant totaling $1.3 million that will provide funding for the first few years of the Psychiatry Residency Training Program.  RCDMH has also agreed to utilize WET funding to provide ongoing financial support for the Psychiatry Residency Program for future years.

The new UC-R SOM, Psychiatry Residency Program and other sub-specialty residency programs provides an exciting and unique opportunity to build a workforce of physicians and medical sub-specialists to provide healthcare services for millions of Inland Empire residents to provide for the many years to come.