After a year-long, national search, Ryan Kimmel, MD, has been appointed as Chief of Psychiatry at UWMC. He takes over this role during exciting times for UWMC, with the recent incorporation of the Northwest Campus and ongoing planning for a new, 150-bed, behavioral health teaching hospital. He has served as Interim Service Chief since January, 2019.

Dr. Kimmel attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of California – San Diego. Since returning to the UW in 2007, Ryan has seen patients in a variety of UWMC’s inpatient and outpatient programs, as well as via telepsych to rural hospitals in Washington and Wyoming. Ryan most recently served as the Medical Director of Hospital Psychiatry at the UWMC and he continues to direct the Psychiatric Consultation and Telepsychiatry Program. Ryan’s faculty appointment is in the Clinician Educator Track and he has twice won Faculty Teaching Awards from the psychiatry residents. His publications and residency didactics focus on treatment of refractory mood and anxiety disorders.

If you Google “Ryan Kimmel professional surfer,” Ryan notes you can see some pictures of his career prior to entering medical school. (Author’s Note: When questioned why these pictures don’t much look like him, Dr. Kimmel noted he has “had a lot of work done” since his surfing days.)

A big thank you to Mark Snowden, MD, who chaired the search for this important leadership role!