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.