The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences is launching a new residency program to help address the critical need for psychiatrists in the state.
The newly accredited University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Psychiatry Residency Program is a four-year education and training program for medical school graduates that will prepare board-eligible residents in the field of psychiatry.
The residency will allow for six residents each year, with the first class to start June 2026.
Dr. James Reeves, who will direct the Tuscaloosa Psychiatry Residency, said the program will expand mental health services by producing well-trained psychiatrists who understand the needs of communities in West Alabama.
“Our goal is to recruit and train psychiatrists to work in West Alabama and fill the ongoing need for mental health care in Tuscaloosa and surrounding communities,” said Reeves, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine with CCHS. “There has always been and continues to be a demand for mental health services that is not being met. We hope to finally address this with highly trained psychiatrists who will improve the mental health of those in need.”
Alabama has the lowest ratio of all states of mental health providers per capita, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The state also has a higher suicide rate than the national average and high rates of depression and substance abuse.
“Our patients and the community will benefit tremendously from this new program, as the need for mental health services and psychiatrists is greater now more than ever,” said Dr. Richard Friend, dean of CCHS.
The College was notified Feb. 14 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education that the Tuscaloosa Psychiatry Residency had received accreditation. ACGME is an independent, nonprofit organization that monitors education standards essential in preparing physicians to deliver safe, high-quality medical care.
“The inception of this psychiatry residency is an enduring investment in the mental health of the population of West Alabama,” said Dr. Thad Ulzen, professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine with CCHS. Ulzen, Reeves and Dr. Marisa Giggie, associate professor and vice chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine, were instrumental in developing the residency.
The new residency will provide opportunities for psychiatry residents to learn and work alongside highly skilled and experienced medical professionals in a wide range of inpatient
and outpatient practice settings, including urban medical centers and smaller and rural community sites.
Psychiatry residents will work at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, on the hospital’s inpatient unit, in the psychiatric emergency room and will handle psychiatric consultations. DCH is the region’s advanced trauma center.
Residents will also work in community mental health at Indian Rivers Behavioral Health in Tuscaloosa and in community mental health and rural psychiatry at Horseshoe Farms in Greensboro, Ala. In addition, residents will have addiction psychiatry rotations at Bradford Health Service’s rehabilitation unit in Warrior, Ala., and they will work with physicians at University Medical Center and the UA Student Health Center and Pharmacy, both of which are operated by CCHS. UMC, the largest multi-specialty community practice in West Alabama, serves as the foundation of the College’s clinical teaching program for its medical students and family medicine residents.
“The UA administration, DCH Health System, Indian Rivers Behavioral Health and our other partnering sites have been unwavering in their support for this new program,” Friend said. “Their commitment to providing high-quality, accessible mental health care in this community is notable and appreciated.”
The new psychiatry residency joins The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program, also operated by CCHS and one of the oldest and largest family medicine residencies in the nation. Reeves said psychiatry residents will work alongside family medicine residents on the joint provision of behavioral and primary health care.
“We plan for the psychiatry and family medicine residencies to be synergistic, with joint case conferences and providing family medicine residents with new learning opportunities they don’t have now,” Reeves said.
Friend said the psychiatry residency “will enhance the learning experience of our family medicine residents, medical students and other CCHS learners through collaborative and innovative care for our patients.”
The Tuscaloosa Psychiatry Residency joins other Alabama psychiatry residencies located at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine in Birmingham, University of South Alabama in Mobile, UAB Huntsville Regional Campus, North Alabama Medical Center in Florence and UAB Montgomery Regional Campus.