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The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University is a multidisciplinary department consisting of 79 full-time and 200 part-time faculty members. Clinical care and research are conducted within the university community and a unique regional network of psychiatric services that integrates two hospital corporations, a network of community services, a 24-hour psychiatric emergency service, an innovative primary care mental health program, and outreach services for children, adults and the elderly.
The stewardship of the Department is guided by Dr. Nick Kates, Interim Chair, and assisted by two Vice-Chairs (Education and Research); Director of Administration, Sid Stacey, and Administrative Coordinator, Wendy Mattingly.
A rich array of resources has allowed us to develop and maintain a vigorous and integrated academic environment that spans multiple clinical teaching sites and programs. It has also fostered strong links with the hospitals, the community and other academic departments. Mental health services within Hamilton and the surrounding region continue to expand and evolve into an integrated continuum of care. Major capital projects include the redevelopment of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s West 5th Campus, the regional tertiary psychiatric facility, the opening of the new RBC Child and Youth Mental Health inpatient unit at McMaster Children’s Hospital — McMaster University Medical Centre, and the development of a new of a Child and Youth Mental Health Ambulatory Unit at McMaster Children’s Hospital (Chedoke site). These and other projects have provided an exciting and unique opportunity for the Department to participate in the reshaping and refinement of the delivery of integrated mental health programs and services for the region.
Major areas of academic excellence within the department include mood and anxiety disorders, women’s health, child psychiatry, neuroscience, and innovative models of mental health care delivery (especially at the interface between Psychiatry and Family Medicine). The department is aligned with the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster, providing a base for our strong child psychiatry research group, and with the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Brain-Body Institute, which has provided us with the opportunity to attract first-rate basic science faculty to strengthen our Mood Disorders Program, Child and Youth Mental Health Program, and neuroscience division.
Education is a major priority within the department, both in terms of teaching and in educational program developments. Within the framework of our Postgraduate Residency Training Program, innovative academic and award winning educational initiatives in psychotherapy training and interviewing skills development have been undertaken in the context of a Faculty committed to self-directed learning and to creating socially responsible life-long learners capable of critically evaluating information and applying it to the clinical care of individual patients and populations.
Principles that guide the academic activities of the department in its aim of furthering our understanding of the determinants of illness and behaviour include:
- Early detection/early intervention
- Synthesis of biological, psychological and community perspectives
- Social relevance, i.e., recognizing the changing expectations of psychiatry and of academic centres
- Focus on the needs of populations as well as individuals
- Creation of partnerships with other academic departments, hospital and community groups
- Support for and enhancement of interdisciplinary collaboration among diverse health care professionals
These principles are reflected in the Postgraduate Residency Training Program which produces graduates who can function as effective consultants to systems and to other health care providers, can integrate concepts from different perspectives and apply these to their clinical management, are adequately prepared to meet the needs of the persistently mentally ill and of patients with concomitant physical illness, can critically appraise their clinical activities, and will provide academic and clinical leadership.
Residents interested in an academic career in research can be attached to a mentor who will provide important career guidance throughout the residency program and beyond. The department has also supported a Clinical Investigator Training Program for over 20 years. This program trains residents in the basic skills needed to be independent investigators through structured course work, and the completion of resident initiated research projects. We maintain important links with the Departments of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Psychology, in addition to ongoing relationships with a number of other schools and departments throughout the University that support interdisciplinary research training. Opportunities to complete a Master’s degree or a PhD are available within the research stream. The development of future researchers is also enhanced through the offering of fellowships and post-doctoral positions available in a variety of basic and clinical research areas under the supervision and mentoring of full-time faculty supervisors.
Our guiding principles are also reflected in the other major educational programs staffed primarily by department members. These include the Faculty of Health Sciences Clinical Behavioural Sciences Program, designed to provide allied health professionals in Hamilton and surrounding regions with opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills in clinical assessment and management; the Clinical Psychology Residency Program of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, and the Psychology Internship Program (Child) at Hamilton Health Sciences. The department is also closely aligned in terms of development and faculty resource allocation with other Faculty of Health Sciences educational programs, such as the MD Undergraduate Program, the Bachelor of Health Sciences Program, the Graduate Neuroscience Program, Graduate Studies Medical Sciences Program and Health Research Methodology Program.
