The University of Arizona has joined with The University of Arizona Medical Center - South Campus to provide a jointly sponsored, ACGME-accredited general psychiatry program. This Program blends academic and community psychiatry experiences to form the best possible preparation for psychiatric practice. The University of Arizona Psychiatry Department offers formal didactics, research opportunities, and access to faculty with a wide range of clinical and academic expertise. The South Campus has a multi-service community hospital in Tucson and serves as the setting for inpatient psychiatry, consult-liaison, emergency psychiatry, and medical rotations. Together, the University of Arizona and the South Campus provide residents with a rich exposure to community psychiatry and a strong foundation in academic psychiatry.

Our residency program currently has 22 residents.  We have received a five year accreditation, the longest accreditation length available from the ACGME. This is a great honor and reflection of the strength and stability of our program. Our growth is not only reflected in the increase in residents, but also a major expansion of psychiatric services at The University of Arizona Medical Center at South Campus (see section below). The expansion allows for a wide variety of clinical opportunities available to residents in the program. Residents have access to a large number of supervisors and mentors from the UA Psychiatry Department with an excellent faculty to resident ratio.

Two new psychiatric buildings have opened on the South Campus. These new facilities will expand the opportunities for resident training and education. The large, state of the art Behavioral Health Pavilion opened August 2011 and contains 48 psychiatric inpatient beds, an outpatient psychiatric clinic, mental health courts, telemedicine, and educational and conference spaces. The Crisis Response Center also opened August 2011 and provides triage and assessment services for adults and children in crisis. It houses a 15-bed sub-acute inpatient unit as well. For more information, click here.

The Program follows all ACGME requirements for accreditation for a four-year general adult psychiatry residency.  Residents planning to apply for additional training in Child and Adolescent Fellowship programs may arrange to meet all general psychiatry requirements in three years. This permits residents to start a Child and Adolescent Fellowship in their fourth post-graduate year.

The atmosphere at the South Campus and in the Psychiatry Department is relaxed, informal, and personal. The Program places a strong emphasis on education through clinical experiences, individual supervision, didactics, and research. Residents treat patients from diverse demographic backgrounds, receive substantial training in psychotherapy, and participate in multi-disciplinary community-based psychiatric care. The blend of community and academic psychiatry, in an attentive and supportive learning environment, provides an ideal setting for this psychiatric training. 

The University of Arizona College of Medicine at South Campus Psychiatry Program aims to train excellent, well-balanced psychiatrists.  Thank you for your interest and we encourage you to contact us with any further questions or comments.

Aimee Kaempf, MD
Program Director