The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is a premier academic center within MUSC, emphasizing excellence in teaching, research, and clinical care.  The Department of Psychiatry is headquartered in its own buildings, the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP) and the IOP Annex, where the majority of the Department’s faculty, residency training programs, research programs, and administrative offices are located. The Department is ranked among the top psychiatry departments in the US with respect to level of research support. Faculty interests span the study of basic brain mechanisms and genetics of complex human behavior to the development and application of innovative new treatments of mental illness and other brain-related disorders.  Ongoing research ranges from basic neuroscience and brain imaging, to clinical pharmacology and cognitive-behavioral and systems treatment studies. Research on addictions, mood and anxiety disorders (particularly major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder), dementia, and the impact of violence on its victims has gained national and international attention.

The Institute of Psychiatry includes a 90-bed inpatient hospital, which is a major and integral component of the MUSC academic health center campus. The IOP, a principal clinical teaching facility, was named one of the best hospitals in the US for the treatment of psychiatric disorders (U.S. News & World Report, 2003), and was recently named Hospital of the Year (2005 and 2006) by the South Carolina Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The IOP houses five inpatient treatment units, focusing on acute care, general adult, addiction, youth, and geriatric services. Also housed in the IOP are a variety of day treatment programs, the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs (CDAP), the Brain Stimulation Laboratory, and other psychiatry research space, including two wings where neurobiological studies pertinent to the understanding of psychiatric illness are conducted.

The MUSC campus is centrally designed and easy to navigate, so that researchers, educators, clinicians, and students in all departments collaborate on a daily basis.

Please use the links on the left to access more detailed information about our educational programs, research programs, and clinical services.