General Psychiatry Residency Program
Introduction Letter
Donald W. Black MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Director of Residency Training
Few professional decisions pose such a challenge as selecting the right residency program for this next stage of your career. It is a matter of finding the balance and compatibility in a residency program that best suits your personal needs and professional aspirations. As you review this program and consider your choices, I hope you will be excited by the potential that a career in psychiatry offers. I also hope that you will be impressed by the strength, opportunities, and balance our residency program offers in the areas of education, clinical experience, and research excellence.
The growing recognition of the importance of mental disorders, and the great advances in our ability to treat these conditions, make this an exciting time to pursue a career in psychiatry. The World Heath Organization has pointed out that four of the ten leading causes of disability worldwide are mental disorders. The country is moving towards the long overdue commitment to mental health parity and the provision of high quality care to persons suffering from a mental illness. Our department is committed to enhancing the scientific understanding and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Our Department and our residency program each play a vital role at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, one of the country’s finest medical centers. We place great emphasis on the manner in which our educational mission is carried out. We take pride in offering an academically rigorous program in which excellence coexists with a collegial and supportive learning environment. Our program is large enough to provide a diverse, multidisciplinary faculty that teaches a comprehensive biopsychosocial approach to psychiatry, and yet is small enough that close and rewarding learning relationships are readily established with even the most senior faculty. We provide a program that will enable our graduates to be fully capable in understanding and utilizing the latest scientific knowledge to provide evidence-based care. Psychiatry is the field in medicine that arguably most emphasizes the importance of the physician-patient relationship in the healing process. The program embraces these psychosocial aspects of patient care. Our graduates will have the training and supervision they need to become exemplary psychiatric physicians.
We also are proud that residents and faculty enjoy excellent working relationships, frequent social gatherings, and the pursuit of personal development alongside professional accomplishment. The program is further enhanced by the fact that Iowa City is a relaxed, yet vibrant place in which to work and play.
We wish you every success in your quest for the right program for you. We are confident that as you consider our program, you will find that it offers a unique combination of educational excellence, academic rigor, and collegiality. We are delighted that you are considering our program and are eager to provide any information you need to help you with your choice.