The department of psychiatry educates medical students, interns, residents, fellows, practicing physicians and other health care providers to improve the lives of Kansans. We aim to accomplish this through research, educational programs, scholarly pursuits, community involvement and patient care activities of the departmental faculty and staff.
Welcome from the Chair
Russell E. Scheffer, M.D.
Welcome to our Web site and thank you for your interest in our department.
I arrived as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in June 2007. I truly believe in a four pronged approach to academic psychiatry and behavioral sciences. These four areas include education, clinical care, research and community involvement. Research can help bring new and innovative treatments to patients suffering from very common psychiatric conditions. Education must better prepare our medical workforce to identify and treat these conditions. Community service and involvement reminds us that academic psychiatry must take a lead in public policy and informing decision makers about treatments that work. Clinical care is the final common pathway for all of our endeavors. Bringing our research supported expertise to many clinicians who ultimately treat human suffering is the goal of all of our endeavors.
My previous position was at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. I served as the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and as an associate professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. I also held the Chucker Airing Chair of Child Psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
I have extensive experience in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. I have been the principal investigator on numerous research projects including federal, foundation and industry sponsored research. My research interests include: psychopharmacology, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, ADHD, depression, pharmacogenomics and neuroimaging. It is my intention to foster the continued excellence in the research endeavors of the department.
We are currently experiencing and planning on significant growth. We have expanded from seven full-time psychiatrists to ten and have four full-time psychologists as well as valuable volunteer faculty. We are actively recruiting more child and adolescent and general psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and therapists. In addition to our clinical work, medical student education and research activities, we train 20 general psychiatry residents, one neuro-psychology intern, and two neuro-psychology fellows. Child and adolescent psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry are gaining renewed interest and additional training opportunities in these areas are planned. Our goal is to be the best psychiatric treatment group in the region.
Despite our many activities, our faculty maintains close personal contact with all trainees. Ours is a multifaceted department. Our faculty has specialized areas of expertise. We have faculty who are nationally and internationally acclaimed in the areas of psychiatric diagnosis, treatment and nosology. This recognition is exemplified by contributions from our department to DSM-IV, psychopharmacology (demonstrated by the number of important major medications which had early testing in our department), as well as pharmacoeconomics, neuropsychology, and family systems approaches.
In addition to diagnostic and psychopharmacologic approaches to psychiatric illness, there is a strong emphasis on psychotherapeutic approaches. Expert psychotherapy teaching and supervision is provided by the psychologist members of our faculty. Residents also benefit from the integration of psychotherapeutic principles in all of our clinical activities on a daily basis.
Our faculty is well-trained and well-known; members serve as officers, committee members and chairs, editorial board members, etc., for major national organizations and publications. The vast majority of our psychiatrists are board certified in general psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Two faculty members have additional certification in child and adolescent psychiatry, and four have added qualifications in geropsychiatry. Three of our faculty regularly serve as board examiners. Yet, with all of these accomplishments you will find our faculty approachable and accessible.
Ours is a community-based psychiatric department. As with the rest of the KU School of Medicine-Wichita, rather than having a narrowly based realm of activities within a university hospital, our department has its clinical base in the community. The department operates teaching services at local hospitals organized under the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education (WCGME). This provides a broad clinical base which includes patients from various walks of life. In addition they are seen in different settings. Thus, our department is in the “real” world, and is positioned for shifts in the ever changing medical climate.
