For Applicants
Why Brown?
The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (DPHB) is considered to be among the outstanding academic departments of psychiatry in the United States. A self-study written by the University of Arizona listed the Brown Medical School DPHB as one of the seven benchmark academic departments of psychiatry nationwide. The list was unranked and included the University of California at San Diego, the University of California at Los Angeles, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Stanford University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Yale University.
The DPHB is the first of the Brown University clinical departments to adhere to a “Shared Chair” structure. The Shared Chair provides an innovative and responsive system to a department that continues to grow at an accelerating pace. Under this system, the chair is Executive-Psychiatrist-in-Chief at each of seven affiliated hospitals which contribute resources to Brown University to support the Chair and core departmental functions.Much of our research, education and training depends upon the alliance of these seven affiliated hospitals: E.P. Bradley Hospital, Butler Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, The Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Women and Infants Hospital. The success of the shared chair has been instrumental in the growth of the department, allowing for more centralized recruiting and planning for teaching service development.
The DPHB has a diverse and talented faculty. Their diversity is a natural consequence of the multi-institutional nature of the department, but is also a reflection of the active efforts to recruit talented people with complementary interests and backgrounds. The department takes special pride in the presence of a broad representation of MDs, PhDs, and non-doctoral faculty members as well as a significant proportion of women and minorities. This diversity is essential to providing role models for our trainees. The faculty’s commitment to a common academic mission combined with the unifying energy and vision of the Chair has allowed the DPHB to thrive. Click here to read more about Brown's commitment to diversity.
Our faculty members provide their expertise and talents in fulfilling the educational objectives of the DPHB. The DPHB training programs provide Brown medical students with educational opportunities in Psychiatry, three residencies, two fellowships, a psychology internship program, and seven postdoctoral training programs
Innovative research programs are integral to the department’s continued success, as they further our understanding regarding the etiology and treatment of psychiatric illnesses. In addition to our historical strength in psychosocial research with mental illness and addictions, the department has substantially increased research activity in biological bases of behavior and psychopathology. Funding for these studies is provided in recognition of our faculty’s research excellence, as they are consistently awarded federal grants, non-federal grants, and clinical trials. In 2004, the Association of American Medical Colleges ranked the Brown DPHB as one of the top five of schools receiving substantial grant funding for psychiatry research.
The considerable evolution and increasing variety of the clinical programs within the department constantly provide students and staff with new opportunities and challenges. The majority of the clinical activity undertaken by the departmental faculty takes place at one of our seven affiliated hospitals. Each of these institutions is committed to the long-term presence of a strong psychiatry component and support for academic faculty and programs.