Mission Statement

Our department values the creation and practical application of new knowledge; excellence in teaching and evidence-based clinical practice; and the care of disadvantaged populations, including the seriously mentally ill and the rural underserved.  We believe that psychiatrists are physicians who, as experts in brain and behavior, have a responsibility to advance the quality of psychiatric care and to reduce stigma associated with mental illness, not only through specialty practice, but also through consultation to other physicians and mental health care providers.

Graduates of the University of Washington Psychiatry Residency Program pursue careers in research, teaching, and clinical practice.  The primary mission of the residency program is to train all of our graduates, regardless of their career goals, to be outstanding, well-rounded, and empathic clinical psychiatrists, able to integrate emerging science and clinical practice.  We aim to teach those choosing clinical and academic teaching careers to bring a spirit of scientific inquiry and lifelong learning to clinical practice, and to ensure that those pursuing research careers have the clinical expertise and experience to recognize and pursue important, clinically relevant research questions.