Welcome from the Program Directors
Dear Prospective Residents:
We are delighted to invite you to explore our UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program!
Situated on almost 400 acres of land on the west side of Los Angeles, we work with some of the most vulnerable citizens of the community while surrounded by some of the wealthiest parts of Southern California. We offer resources and help for those who have served our country, who are now suffering with substance dependence, recovering from PTSD, or dealing with serious mental illness and homelessness.
With UCLA only a mile away, we have world-class UCLA faculty supervising, teaching and doing research with our residents. Residents have opportunities to work in the community with health services researchers, do quality improvement in clinical settings, and learn interventions like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Residents learn to diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders in the context of specialty clinics using evidence-based psychotherapy and family interventions as well as medication. The focus on whole patient care is experienced in our inter-professional teams, and in our beautiful Integrative Health program, featuring yoga, acupuncture and mindfulness stress reduction training.
Residents also spend part of their time each year at the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, learning how to care for children and adults from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.
We are a friendly, mid-sized program with enormous options. We look forward to meeting you and showing you what we have to offer!
Warmly,
Margaret L. Stuber, MD
Program Director
UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program
Cassidy Zanko, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program
Philip Blumenshine, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program
Jared Greenberg, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program
Welcome from the Chief of Psychiatry
Welcome to the UCLA/VA Greater Los Angeles Psychiatry Residency Training Program!
We are committed to service to veterans, to education of future clinicians, and to research to improve the health and well-being of veterans. We would love for you to join us, and learn firsthand how to work with a community focus, to provide service for vulnerable populations, and be skilled and compassionate clinicians.
Our program offers a wealth of specialty clinics and an amazing collection of faculty who are eager to teach. Please look through the rest of the descriptions here on the website, and see the range of opportunities. We think you will find exciting options for learning at the Greater Los Angeles VA Psychiatry Residency Training Program.
Sincerely,
Barry Guze, MD
Chief of Psychiatry
Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Welcome from the Outpatient Division Chiefs
Dear Future Psychiatrist,
There is a growing crisis in American Mental Health Care that does not exist at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
Our institution provides emergency, inpatient, residential and outpatient care to the entire range of mental health disorders from the mildest to the most severe. We have a full range of treatment options including pure behavioral treatment to innovative interventions including transcranial magnetic stimulation and ketamine. Whether your career goal is to develop refined clinical skills for a community-based practice or deep research interests to launch an academic career, the Greater Los Angeles VA Psychiatry Residency Training Program will provide a rich environment to explore your potential and develop the skills you need to become an outstanding psychiatrist.
The Greater Los Angeles VA is one of the largest mental health providers in the Veterans Health Administration and has unparalleled resources to provide complete psychiatric care to our nations’ veterans. We have a high acuity emergency room staffed by psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and advanced nurse practitioners to address emergent issues. Our inpatient beds provide the highest level of service for the most complicated cases and we have large Domiciliary that has long term residential treatment with specific treatment tracks to address trauma-related disorders, substance use disorders and Women’s mental health.
In addition to our emergency room, inpatient and Domiciliary treatment centers, we have over a dozen subspecialty outpatient clinics that provide ideal training environment to get experience across the full range of psychiatric disorders and treatment interventions. We have a Primary Care Mental Health Integrated Clinic embedded with in the Primary Care Clinics that provides focused and time-limited treatment to patients that do not require specialty care. For complicated and high-need patients, we have an integrated team of psychiatrist, internal medicine physicians, psychologists and social workers that work to provide health care and social supportive services to Los Angeles’ growing homeless veteran population. We also have teaching clinics that focus on specific patient populations including schizophrenia, bipolar spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma-related disorders, geriatric patients and substance use disorders. We have a dedicated Women’s treatment clinic that provides the full range of medical and mental health treatment to female veterans. Our Interventional Psychiatry Clinic delivers innovative treatment modalities including transcranial magnetic stimulation, ketamine treatment and ECT to individuals with treatment refractory mood disorders. Our Telehealth Section delivers mental health care to outlying community care centers using the latest telemedicine technologies. Our Forensic Clinic provides training on the interface of psychiatry and law including disability assessments, violence risk assessments and also integrates with the legal system to provide mental health support for veterans in courts and jails.
All of these clinics are embedded within a highly multidisciplinary environment. Almost all of our clinics include a combination of psychiatrist and psychologists, with the goal to provide both medication and psychotherapy interventions. Additionally, there is a heavy emphasis on incorporating novel, evidence-based modalities into the all of the clinics. All clinics use measurement-based instruments to track patient progress and this measurement-based framework serves as a strong platform for clinical research projects. Almost all of the psychiatrists at the Greater Los Angeles VA have appointments at UCLA and there is a strong bridge between the institutions to promote research and innovative clinical care. This combination of resources is rare and provides a unique opportunity for you to explore career possibilities and then develop a deep foundation for the rest of your career. I look forward to meeting you and introducing you to our program.
Sincerely,
Scott Fears MD, PhD
Division Chief, Subspecialty Mental Health Care
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Dear Future Residents,
We are excited about the opportunities that are available in our residency program and are looking forward to meeting you.
The Greater Los Angeles VA uniquely serves our veteran population with evidence-based treatments from medication therapy and psychotherapy to interventional treatments like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. We have an incredible Trauma Recovery Services program and many other resources for PTSD treatment. A number of specialty mental health clinics, staffed by UCLA faculty, allow for a more specialized experience in Mood Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, or Psychosis. We focus on whole patient care and our integrative health and healing program is a success with our veterans. Our faculty love to teach and share.
Serving the veterans can be incredibly rewarding and the impact that you can make during and after your training will be extraordinary.
Sincerely,
Calvin Yang, MD, PhD
Division Chief, General Mental Health Care
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
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