Redmond eager to start new psychiatry residency program

Redmond Regional Medical Center is planning to help the shortage of psychiatrists in the area by starting the only psychiatry residency program in Northwest Georgia.

John Quinlivan, Redmond’s CEO, says, “The biggest limiter of behavioral healthcare in inpatient and outpatient services is not only a lack of beds but also a lack of psychiatrists.”

A March 2016, Community Needs Assessment for Redmond indicated a need for 12 adult psychiatrists and six child and adolescent psychiatrists. By 2021, the need in this region is anticipated to grow to 19 psychiatrists.

Georgia ranks 40th in the nation for the number of psychiatrists per capita. There are only 6.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in Georgia versus the national average of 8.9 psychiatrists per 100,000 people. The Northwest Georgia region fares worse in that it has the lowest number of psychiatrists in the state.

“There is a significant deficit in mental health services and especially in providers of mental health services — from technicians to nurses to psychologists to psychiatrists. This is not only true in our region and in our state but also nationally. One of the areas we can make an enormous impact is in training psychiatrists,” states Dr. Daniel Robitshek, director of Redmond Graduate Medical Education.

The goal of the Redmond psychiatry residency program is to have these well-trained psychiatrists stay in the Northwest Georgia region.

“According to the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce, graduates tend to reside in or near the geographic area where they train,” said Dr. Julie Barnes, Redmond Chief Medical Officer. “Therefore, graduates of Georgia medical schools who attend Georgia residency programs are 70 percent more likely to stay in Georgia.”

The psychiatry residency program will have up to four psychiatry residents per year over a four-year training period, resulting in up to 16 residents in the program. The program will be developed around the training requirements of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the group responsible for overseeing the quality of training programs.

Psychiatry residents will train in adult general psychiatry in both the hospital and outpatient settings at Redmond. The residency program will also partner with community resources such as Highland Rivers Health, Harbin Clinic, and other local psychiatry and psychology offices.

Residents will also rotate in other specialties at Redmond and participate in the education of residents in other successful Redmond programs such as Internal Medicine residency. “It is important for psychiatrists to learn how behavioral health issues may play a role or be affected by other medical or surgical conditions,” says Dr. Robitshek.

“Many of our current psychiatry training programs are at large academic institutions that train psychiatrists who then become academic psychiatrists and do mostly research, which is important,” Robitshek said. “However, we need community-based psychiatry training programs that have real-world training and develop psychiatrists who have a commitment to compassionately care for patients in their communities. Our vision is to bring a high level of academic education to the community through the Redmond psychiatry residency program.”

Many local psychiatrists and psychologists are enthusiastically committed to supporting both the psychiatry residency program and the Redmond behavioral health unit. Once the Redmond behavioral health unit is approved by the Department of Community Health, Redmond will start developing the psychiatry residency program.