With generous philanthropic support, we have begun working with the School of Nursing and UW Medical Center to create an exciting, one-year psychiatry residency program for Nurse Practitioners. The goal of the new residency program is to improve the reach of psychiatric services, to deliver much needed mental health access to underserved populations and to retain this workforce in Washington state, especially for patients with complex psychiatric care needs.

Trainees will work in inpatient and outpatient behavioral health care settings to gain crucial experience in assessment, clinical management and team leadership alongside psychiatry residents, and with supervision and mentorship from experienced nurse practitioners, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. The program will provide standardization and recognition of the training and skills needed for advanced practice providers to take important clinical leadership and supervisory roles in behavioral health. The Behavioral Health Workforce Expansion and Lifelong Learning (BWELL) program directed by Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD, will represent our department in this exciting new educational partnership.