VERO BEACH — The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida has appointed Dr. Aileen Camacho and Dr. Michael Huggins to one-year medical fellowships in Vero Beach at the UF Center for Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. The full-time academic positions are designed to prepare the physicians for careers in psychiatry and addiction medicine.
“The UF Center in Vero was established by Indian River County philanthropists to address the local impact of the nationwide shortage of psychiatrists,” said Dr. Wayne Creelman, the McCabe Clinical Eminent Scholar and medical director. “Our goal is to attract, train and retain the next generation of psychiatrists and addiction medicine physicians to Indian River County and the surrounding area.”
Dr. Camacho received a medical degree from Universidad Central del Caribe Medical School in Puerto Rico and completed her psychiatric residency at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
She will serve a one year fellowship in Community Psychiatry with weekly rotations at the UF Center in Vero Beach, New Horizons of the Treasure Coast, the Indian River County Public Health Department and the Mental Health Association in Indian River County.
Dr. Huggins will complete his fellowship training in Addiction Medicine over the next year, working toward certification by the American Board of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Huggins received his medical degree from Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and completed a Diagnostic Radiology Residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
His training will include clinical and basic science research, medical education as well as direct patient care in an outpatient setting at the UF Center in Vero Beach and in a residential setting at The Hanley Center in West Palm Beach.
As of July 1, four physicians have completed fellowship training at the UF Center since it opened in Vero Beach in 2009.
“Two of the four physicians chose to continue their practice in Vero Beach,” Dr. Creelman said. “We consider this a great success for our community, where access to psychiatry and addiction medicine has traditionally been limited.”
According to Dr. Creelman, the short-term benefit of the training program is increased access to care for Indian River County residents who require psychiatric services.
Since opening, 2,163 patients have been treated at the UF Center for a variety of mental health issues ranging from chronic depression and anxiety to bipolar disorder and substance abuse. Patient visits total 11,921.
The UF Center is located at 840 37th Place, Suite D in Vero Beach. For more information contact Dr. Creelman at (772) 794-0179 or creelman@ufl.edu.
