Behavioral Medicine Section

In Behavioral Medicine, we pride ourselves in maintaining a very close working relationship with our residents, including the provision of fully-integrated Behavioral Health Services for our patients when they are seen in the ECU Family Medicine Center Clinics.

Behavioral Medicine seeks to develop a learning and teaching atmosphere in which residents use a biopsychosocial model to assist with patient care provided to individual patients and their families.

Our goal is to enable residents to:

  • Relate to a wide range of patients and families and establish a positive working relationship with them.
  • Identify important psychosocial data relevant to making a diagnosis and establishing an effective treatment plan.
  • Understand the functional and dysfunctional aspects of individual and family development.
  • Be proficient in the management of common behavioral concerns seen in primary care and provide expert care via short-term counseling.
  • Be familiar with the healthcare, community, educational, and electronic resources available for patients in order to provide excellent coordinated patient care and appropriate referrals.

The Behavioral Medicine Section works closely with the Research Division through grant funded projects to identify best practices to improve the health of our patients through Integrated Care.

Our program works together with ECU departments outside the Brody School of Medicine through Doctoral Program in Clinical Health Psychology and Masters Programs in Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Education to provide graduate students with training in Integrated Primary Care.

Our Behavioral Medicine Program is a past recipient of the “Innovations in Clinical Teaching Award,” an award presented annually by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, for our work in integrating behavioral and procedural skills into a longitudinal curriculum.