About the Department of Psychiatry

Mission Statement

Since its establishment in 1952, the UNC Department of Psychiatry has served the citizens of North Carolina, the nation, and where possible, the world community, through its three interwoven missions:  teaching and training, research, and clinical care. 

Teaching and Training

The Department is dedicated to providing the best and most comprehensive psychiatric education to residents, medical students, and trainees in other health professions.  Our ACGME-accredited residency programs in adult, child, and forensic psychiatry attract and retain outstanding candidates.  We provide our residents with excellent graduate medical education and prepare them to assume leadership roles in academic psychiatry, the public sector, and private practice.  We also offer the highest caliber continuing medical education for psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners. 

Research

Through our highly successful clinical and basic research programs, we aim to advance and deepen our understanding of the causes of psychiatric illnesses and their concommitants.  Our program and its graduates have played a major role in the development of more effective diagnostic, treatment, and prevention strategies for a wide array of psychiatric disorders.  Our research encompasses basic molecular, cellular and genetic approaches, as well as biobehavioral and systems neurobiology, clinical investigations, and population-based outcomes research.  

Clinical Care

Our clinical mission integrates state-of-the-art biological, psychological, and social approaches in the care of our patients and their families and provides the foundation for our teaching and research missions.  In all activities, we adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards.  We work closely and collaboratively with colleagues across the UNC School of Medicine to enhance the recognition, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses.  We also collaborate closely with other Schools and units within the University, as well as with the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) system, and with private clinical practitioners throughout North Carolina.  We actively contribute to national and international efforts to advance the expansion and dissemination of knowledge about etiologies and treatments of psychiatric illnesses.