Program Director

On behalf of the Department of Psychiatry, we welcome your interest in the newly accredited psychiatry residency program at North Alabama Medical Center/Shoals hospital.

Our primary clinical sites are North Alabama Shoals Hospital (NASH),    North Alabama Medical Center (NAMC), and Riverbend Center for Mental Health (RCMH).
NAMC is a newly built state-of-the-art 263-bed multispecialty hospital with over 200 physicians of various specialties on staff that serves northwest Alabama's needs. Residents will complete Internal Medicine, Neurology, Emergency Medicine, and consultation liaison rotation at this
hospital.

NASH is a multispecialty hospital that provides various subspecialty services, including 52 inpatient acute care psychiatry beds. It serves adults and the geriatric population with various psychiatric emergencies, including psychotic disorders, bipolar disorders, major depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and neurocognitive disorders, substance-induced psychiatric disorders. NASH is the only acute care psychiatric hospital serving a population of approximately 300,000, serving around 2000 patients a year in their acute inpatient service. Residents complete their core adult and geriatric inpatient psychiatry rotations at this location.

RCMH has been a community mental health center providing mental health and substance abuse services to residents of Colbert, Franklin, and Lauderdale counties for over five decades. It serves approximately 8000 patients each year in a variety of clinical settings. Residents complete
part of their third-year outpatient clinic rotation in this location.

These are exciting times in the field of psychiatry. Rapid advances in somatic treatments, neuromodulation, and psychotherapy provide practitioners with tools that offer hope for those struggling with mental illness. Recognition of the social determinants of mental health has shaped how we now understand our patients. This awareness drives the need to integrate care's neuroscientific, social, cultural, religious, and psychological aspects. Our faculty members are enthusiastic and motivated to begin teaching and training residents. We seek to recruit a class of well-rounded and diverse residents who are flexible and excited about being part of a developing program.

Sincerely,
Praveen Narahari, MD
Program Director
NAMC Shoals Psychiatry Residency Program.