Message from Division Lead, Patricia Rosebush
General Psychiatry is the subspecialty at the interface of psychiatry and medicine. The primary focus of the service is the provision of psychiatric and psychological consultation to, as well as care for, all adult in-patients on the medical, intensive care and surgical units at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences hospitals including the Hamilton General Hospital, Juravinski Hospital and Juravinski Cancer Centre. The focus upon the mind-body interplay is very key aspect of diagnosis and treatment, as well as teaching and research endeavors, in General Psychiatry and encompasses those with physical disorders who become mentally unwell and those with major mental illness who develop medical conditions. Another major aspect of the General Psychiatry service is assessing, treating and arranging follow-up for those who have survived serious suicide attempts. Our service also has several out-patient ‘arms’. These include the psycho-oncology service at the Juravinski Cancer Centre, which began in 2019; the renal transplant service; a psychiatric clinic associated with the Firestone Institute for those with chronic lung disease; the respirology rehabilitation service and a neuropsychiatry clinic. The General Psychiatry service offers teaching and supervision to medical students, residents in psychiatry, and PhD students in psychology.
Our mission and purpose is to address psychiatric illness in those with major medical comorbidities and to provide care and follow-up for those who have attempted and survived a suicide attempt.
In addition to daily clinical teaching rounds with involved staff and students, there are monthly consultation-liaison rounds which are open to all in the department.
The General Psychiatry services at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences are made up of teams of psychiatrists, psychologists and advanced practice nurses.
Research endeavors emerge from the clinical problems encountered in caring for those who are both medically and psychiatrically unwell.
We invite you to learn more about the Division of General Psychiatry and the opportunities that are available at McMaster University. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.