Psychiatry Residency Program

Message from Dr. Theibert

Greetings from Meritus Health! We are excited to introduce our new Adult Psychiatry Residency, a program started out of passion for education, advocacy, rural osteopathic medicine, and the uplifting of our community. I am personally delighted to share our vision for this residency and show you why Meritus Health’s Psychiatry Residency is a program you will not only receive exceptional opportunities on your path to becoming a psychiatrist but do so in a caring, supportive atmosphere where you can thrive as a physician leader, colleague, and healer.

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am pleased to serve at the residency’s inaugural program director. I am a mother, a wife, a psychiatrist, a teacher, a mentor, a learner, a volunteer, an advocate, a hiker, a crafter, a baker, and a fellow traveler in life. I am originally from Ohio but was drawn to the Maryland area by this amazing opportunity to become program director. I chose to lead a psychiatry residency program at Meritus Health because of the unique opportunities offered including a new osteopathic medical school and academic training center, the rural Appalachian setting, and the outstanding quality and reputation Meritus Health has as a community health center dedicated to its patients’ quality of lives. Additionally, I chose to go into psychiatry because I love the science and mission of our field. I feel a love and compassion for our patient population with a desire to heal through psychiatric care, advocacy, and service. My specialties are in adult psychiatry and addiction medicine, but I enjoy every aspect of psychiatry. My true passion is the education and development of learners. I cannot express my joy and excitement to start this program and serve the people and learners of Hagerstown!

I would now like to describe some of the important aspects of our program. The Meritus Health Psychiatry Residency prides itself on its service and advocacy-focused mission. Within our curriculum is a chance to practice psychiatry in the community with Meritus’ Mobile Clinic program where our residents will start their longitudinal psychiatric clinic on day one out in the community where our patients need us the most. We also are excited to provide a community psychiatry rotation where residents will work with community leaders to support our patient populations through education, volunteer work, advocacy, and psychiatric care. Our passion for advocacy starts at the PGY-1 level with advocacy opportunities built into the curriculum. We are also excited for any resident ideas for service and advocacy with an abundance of opportunities for you to leave your mark on strengthening our community through action.

Meritus Health is also thrilled to introduce to you our proposed School of Osteopathic Medicine. With a proposed plan for 190 medical students per class, our vision for resident teaching experience and education goes beyond the wards. We plan not only for residents to be active leaders in education during the students’ time in the hospital, but our goal is for active resident participation throughout medical student education from teaching to mentorship to research and beyond. For the Meritus Health Psychiatry Residency, education is a passion and calling we want our residents to feel throughout their careers.

Although the Hagerstown community and the proposed Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine will serve as distinct educational settings, our two main sites of education will be Meritus Medical Center and Brook Lane. Meritus Medical Center currently is a trauma level III (with plans already underway to obtain Level II status) certified medical center. We are a more than 300 bed hospital with several unique psychiatric services including an 18-bed inpatient psychiatric unit, a walk-in mental health clinic, Emergency Department psychiatry services, inpatient psychiatry, addiction, and geriatric consult-liaison services, outpatient psychiatric and therapy services, Intensive Outpatient Programing, and a novel Crisis Center where individuals experiencing withdrawal from substances or are experiencing a mental health crisis can voluntarily stay, receive psychiatric and therapeutic care, and obtain rehabilitative and community linkage and resources. Our partnership with Brook Lane, the second largest standalone behavioral health center in the state of Maryland, provides learners with several educational opportunities. Their services consist of two child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric units, one 18-bed adult inpatient psychiatric unit, Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs for both adults and child and adolescent patients, an addiction-specific Intensive Outpatient Program, a school for children with special needs, ECT and TMS treatments, and adult and child and adolescent outpatient services. We believe our superior educational resources will provide exceptional clinical-based psychiatric training.

Through our residency training, we hope to instill crucial values into our residents. Here at Meritus, we are committed to serving those who experience marginalization and disenfranchisement. Spearheaded by the proposed Meritus Scholl of Osteopathic Medicine’s Associate Dean of Health, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, we have developed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion curriculum not only for the psychiatry residents but for our faculty throughout the medical center. We teach a biopsychosocial model of healthcare, complete with consideration of the ethical, spiritual, and cultural factors of each patient encounter at the forefront of care. Our dedication to this mission is also exemplified in the advocacy and care we provide in the community where we are needed the most. This commitment to whole person care and our legacy-to-come as an osteopathic academic center fuels our future goal of gaining osteopathic recognition.

We also value resident and physician wellness. The profession of medicine is rewarding yet taxing, and we know from experience and research that physicians need not only self-care but an environment and organization that supports it. Our program’s dedication to the health and well-being of our residents is seen through our resident wellness initiatives, physician wellness committee, time off policy, Employee Assistance Program services, and individual and group resident supervision. Your wellness is our top priority.

Lastly, I want to share the characteristics we are looking for in our future residents. With our inaugural class, we are searching for residents who want to be a founding and active part of our legacy. We seek to find hard-working, compassionate team-players with dedication to helping us mold our program to meet the needs of this generation’s physicians and set a culture for an exceptional educational experience for years to come. We also want residents who aspire to be physician leaders in social action, dedicated to practicing psychiatry in and for the community we love and who are committed to direct patient outreach, advocacy, and equitable, compassionate care for every person.

In closing, I want to convey my genuine excitement for this program. Our mission is to create a better community through service and action. We here at Meritus Health believe we have designed a psychiatry residency program that meets the needs of physicians who are passionate about excellence in compassionate psychiatric care. If you are interested in our program, we are excited to hear from you! Please contact us to see if Meritus Health Psychiatry Residency is a good fit for you.

Sincerely,
Heather Theibert, D.O.