Jennifer Erickson, DO graduated with a Bachelors in Neuroscience from Washington State University. She completed her osteopathic medical degree at Western University of Health Sciences. Her adult psychiatry residency and outpatient chief year were completed at the University of New Mexico. She finished a fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York.
During her chief year, Dr. Erickson worked primarily with the outpatient university clinics and developed an acute awareness of how co-located care and community mental health centers’ referral process affect patient access. During fellowship she worked closely with PCPs who often struggled with managing psychiatric problems while awaiting psychiatric support. Collaborative care offered a way for patients to access psychiatric care and a way to support primary care providers as they manage psychiatric issues.
Dr. Erickson was excited to expand her experience with this model at the University of Washington Medical Center. She currently works at the UW Medical Center, three outpatient clinics, and one telepsychiatry clinic that use the Collaborative Care Model. Her interests include neuropsychiatry, medical ethics, population health, and medical education. Five years from now she anticipates that collaborative care experiences will be part of residency education. She feels that her most important work is teaching patients, trainees, and collaborators about psychiatric presentations and collaborative care.