Dr. Vanessa Lauzon will present at the APA Institute on Psychiatric Services on Oct 7, 2012

One of our co-chiefs, Dr. Vanessa Lauzon, is a presenter at the APA Institute on Psychiatric Services (IPS) meeting this weekend in New York City. IPS is the "APA's leading educational conference on public, community, and clinical psychiatry." This exciting national meeting brings together psychiatrists who are interested in wide-ranging but pragmatic topics such as innovative models of service delivery, integration of mental health with primary care services, and the public health aspects of mental illness and prevention.

Dr. Lauzon will be speaking at a workshop on reducing recidivism of mentally ill individuals in the correctional system. She will be highlighting San Diego's Serial Inebriate Program (SIP), which targets individuals with multiple alcohol-related arrests and 911 calls, and offers them residential substance treatment in lieu of incarceration. Our clinic, the St Vincent de Paul Village Family Health Center, has been the "medical home" for SIP clients since 2004. Our UCSD combined residents are proud to work with SIP clients, most of whom have comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions in addition to alcohol dependence and, usually, a long history of chronic homelessness. Our third-year combined residents do an average of 2-4 new SIP intakes per month, during their outpatient clinic sessions at St Vincent de Paul. The experience of working with these individuals demonstrates the unique value of the physician with combined training.

Read more about SIP, and the role of SVDP and our residents with the program, here.