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(Associate Professor/Clinical UT Health
San Antonio) and and Dr Mercedes Ingram (Community Initiatives and and Population Health
Health
University Health
System) San Antonio Texas is the the the 7th largest city in in the the the United States Much of the the the local population in in San Antonio is an an underserved mental health community In Bexar County there is a a a a a a a a a a chronic need for and and shortage of counseling mental health and and substance abuse treatment services for vulnerable (i e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e less less privileged and less less a a a a a a a a uent) populations including the urban poor rst generation immigrants those whose sole language is is Spanish and marginalized groups Although our county has a a a a a a a a a a a psychiatric facility for children adolescents and and and adults the demand for mental health providers and and and psychiatric beds exceeds the supply (Pliska Adams Taylor & Velligan 2016) Additionally data show that primary care has become the the de facto mental health system for much of the the United States (Katon & Un Un tzer 2013) In response to to this identi ed ed ed need in in 2017 UTSA Counseling Program faculty applied for for and and received this Behavioral Health
Health
Workforce Education and and and Training Grant In fact the Health
Health
Resources and and Services Administration (HRSA) funded 136 grants to expand the the Behavioral Health
Workforce around the the nation and and 19 counseling programs were included in in in these grants (HRSA 2018) Through the the PITCH initiative UTSA Counseling faculty established a a a a a a a a nationally-distinct graduate
certi cate in in Integrated Behavioral Healthcare UTSA’s Clinical Mental Health
Health
Counseling students who are selected to participate in in PITCH and the connected certi cate program take a a a a a a a a a series of four courses The team developed two specialized didactic course course o o o o o o o erings in in in primary care behavioral health (PCBH) integration The rst course introduces students to the primary care setting (e g g g family medicine pediatrics geriatrics) the PCBH model
of care behavioral health health consultation common mental and and chronic health health conditions encountered in in primary care and and and o o o o o o o o o o ers ers a a a a a a a a a a a basic understanding of brief cognitive behavioral interventions used in in in in primary care (Robinson & Reiter 2016) In the second course students begin applying foundational knowledge
of PCBH as as as well as as as practicing functional and and contextual assessment and and cognitive- behavioral intervention skills for the primary care setting PITCH students also complete two semester-long clinical rotations in in primary care Students are are required to clock 300 hours each semester 120 of which must be direct clinical clinical engagement engagement Direct clinical clinical engagement engagement time includes patient visits consultation with the primary care team and facilitating psychoeducational groups tailored to unique clinical populations UTSA faculty members sought consultation for the program’s development with Dr Stacy Ogbeide Associate Professor/ Clinical at at UT Health
San Antonio Fall 2019 28 CHI SIGMA IOTA EXEMPLAR