Steve Epstein, M.D. Department Chair

The Department of Psychiatry of Georgetown University Hospital provides comprehensive programs in clinical patient care, education, research and community outreach. In the tradition of the broader mission of Georgetown University Hospital, the specific missions of the Department of Psychiatry are:

The Department of Psychiatry provides over 15,000 visits per year for individuals with a wide range of mental disorders. At Georgetown University Hospital, we provide inpatient and partial hospitalization care. We also provide consultations to the medical and surgical services of the hospital. In our outpatient department, we have multiple specialty programs staffed by faculty experts in Chemical Dependence, Eating Disorders, Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychopharmacology, Psycho-oncology, Transplant Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry.

The department offers a residency training program in psychiatry that trains 24 residents across all four years. In addition to their rotations at Georgetown University Hospital, Georgetown Psychiatry residents also rotate at other premiere medical institutions, such as the Washington Hospital Center and the flagship hospital in the VA system, the Washington DC Veteran's Affairs Medical Center. Our residents benefit from the expertise of over 40 core faculty and 250 clinical faculty with areas of expertise that span the entire range of psychiatric disorders and treatments.

Department faculty also teach in all four years of the curriculum of the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Educational programs include: Patients, Physicians, and Behavior (1^st year); Psychiatric Disorders (2^nd year), the Core Clerkship in Psychiatry (3^rd year), and 4^th year electives in Inpatient Psychiatry (Acting Internship), Outpatient Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, and psychiatric research.

Our department has an active research program in many areas of mental health. The department conducts nationally recognized and federally funded studies in mental health services for low-income populations, trauma/PTSD, psychotherapy, schizophrenia, adolescent substance abuse, cross-cultural psychiatry, and physician decision-making. The department is proud of its Centers of Excellence in Women's Mental Health/Trauma Research and Schizophrenia Research with our faculty at the Washington VAMC. 

In addition, Georgetown University Medical Center has opened the Georgetown Center for Trauma and the Community , a collaborative research initiative focused on developing effective mental health treatment in primary care settings for low-income women and their families. Georgetown's Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine and School of Nursing and Health Studies are partnering with United Biosource International; Unity Health Care of DC; the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland; the Health Department of Prince George's County, Maryland; and the Greater Baden Medical Services of Marlboro, Maryland in this new effort. Interdisciplinary teams within the Center conduct research to advance culturally appropriate and innovative methods and research designs for trauma intervention. The Center also provides coordinated research training and mentoring, and maintains ongoing community partnerships to inform its direction and to implement collaborative research activities. 

Finally, we are proud of our Center for Mental Health Outreach, which is dedicated to improving the mental health of underserved children, adults, and families in the Greater Washington D.C. area through education, public awareness, direct clinical care, and collaboration with social service providers.

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