URMC / Psychiatry / About Us

About Us

The Department of Psychiatry at University of Rochester Medical Center has had a long and distinguished history since John Romano and George Engel founded the Department in 1945. Our department is the birthplace of the "Biopsychosocial Model of Medical Illness" that serves as the cornerstone of education and training of students and trainees across the field of psychiatry. With the biopsychosocial model as the core organizing principle, we strive together to develop the Rochester model of psychiatry as the international leader in clinical care, community service, education, and research in psychiatry. Our aims are as follows:

Through our clinical service, we aim to provide excellence in general and specialty psychiatric services along with innovative, integrated care models that deliver cost-effective, quality behavioral health service to all medical and surgical patients.
In our community, we aim to advocate for and deliver accessible, quality behavioral health service, assist medical care of psychiatrically vulnerable population, and enhance ongoing educational and research partnerships with local community organizations in the Greater Rochester area.
Through our education, we aim to train the future leaders — clinicians, administrators, researchers, and teachers — in these times of value-based healthcare and translational science based on a curriculum of collaboration, communication, complementarity, competence, and compassion.
Through our research, we aim to expand the department’s existing research strengths in clinical epidemiology and prevention studies and build upon our partnership with the Del Monte Institute to develop translational research in major psychiatric disorders.

H. Benjamin Lee, M.D.
Department Chair

Mission

Provide high-quality, compassionate behavioral healthcare in the Finger Lakes community, powered by our world-class researchers, teachers, and clinicians.

Vision

As a Department of permeable boundaries across missions, disciplines, and care settings, we strive to be an innovative model of academic psychiatry providing team-based, humanistic care driven by cutting-edge science and education excellence.

Values

Upholding the spirit of the biopsychosocial model, collaboration, communication, complementarity, competence, and compassion are foundational values for how we work together to advocate and support our vulnerable patients through our clinical care, education, and research.