East Alabama Health Announces Inaugural Cohort of Psychiatry Residents

With the opening of a new 40-bed freestanding center for mental health on the horizon later this year, East Alabama Health has announced the first residents of its new Psychiatry Residency Program. 

On March 21—national “Match Day”—eight students were selected for the program and will begin clinical work on July 1, allowing the residents to acclimate to the program prior to the opening of the facility. The residents are Tej Brahmbhatt, Lee Martin Frazer, Joel McBeth, Edmund Pacleb, Bobby Price, Theodore Rader, Brittany Shah, and Jordan Yacoub.

The mission of the psychiatry residency program is to train and prepare the next generation of psychiatry physicians which will in turn ensure they provide the best possible care for their future patients.  

Peter Lusche, M.D., who has practiced with East Alabama Psychiatric Services and EAMC for the past 25 years, will serve as the director of the Psychiatry Residency Program. Throughout his career, Dr. Lusche has focused on developing systems of care and education. Prior to serving east Alabama, Dr. Lusche served as Medical Director for Children's Services in the community mental health system of southern Arizona. 

“We greeted our incoming psychiatry residents last week, and everyone is excited about the plans for the coming year,” said Dr. Lusche. 

Residents will provide both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care at various East Alabama Health facilities such as East Alabama Medical Center, East Alabama Psychiatric Services, and the new center for mental health which is expected to open in late 2025 or early 2026. 

Over the course of the program, residents will complete rotations for adult inpatient psychiatry, neurology and internal medicine, as well as subspecialty areas such as child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and emergency psychiatry.

“We’re starting the Psychiatry Residency Program and will be moving into the new center for mental health in approximately six months,” Dr. Lusche said. “These are both big milestones for developing improved mental health services for the east Alabama region. We continue to be grateful for the tremendous support shown by our community.”

This new program expands the graduate medical education and residency opportunities available at East Alabama Health. In addition to the Psychiatry Residency Program, the organization also offer an Internal Medicine Residency Program, Transitional Year Residency Program, as well as a Pharmacy Residency Program providing training for PGY-1 and PGY-2, with the latter focusing on Emergency Medicine.
 

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About East Alabama Health

East Alabama Health encompasses East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital in Valley, the Spencer Cancer Center in Opelika, the Auburn Medical Pavilion and a host of other key medical clinics and practices that help provide a continuum of care to patients throughout an 11-county area. EAMC is a 314-bed regional referral hospital that is currently under construction to add 30 critical care beds. EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital provides emergency and outpatient services while its campus also features a nursing home and an ambulatory surgery center. East Alabama Health employs about 3,900 people and is the second largest employer in the region, trailing only Auburn University.