Since 1998, under new leadership and with an influx of many new faculty, the Department of Psychiatry is moving in a distinctly different and innovative direction. The integration of clinical, training, research, and community outreach characterizes these remarkable changes. There are now three major research centers which shape our efforts in other areas. These centers are: The Alcohol Research Center (ARC), the Neuropsychopharmacology Treatment, Research, and Training Center (NTRTC), and the Center for the Study of High Utilizers of Health Care (CSHUHC).

As the State’s medical school, we envision ourselves as part of the public sector. We are a support and a resource to other State of Connecticut systems and to our community. As an academic department with gifted trainers, teachers, clinicians, basic scientists, and clinical researchers, we are in a position to not only advance the knowledge in our field, but also to operationalize that knowledge to improve the level of care within Connecticut. As a training system, we have the opportunity to educate public-sector-oriented Clinician-Scientists who represent the future clinical, research, and leadership workforce of the State. And as a clinical academic system, we are developing a cadre of excellent faculty who provide the most contemporary and sophisticated approaches to assessment, treatment, and follow-up based upon the research and clinical literature. Thus, treatment is individualized, focused on prompt relief of a problem, results in reduction of suffering and illness burden, achieves improved outcomes, can be accomplished at a reasonable cost, and still retains the “art” of what it means to be a compassionate clinician. We want our trainees to learn this approach.