News

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has promoted Dr. James Tew, Jr. to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry.

Dr. Tew is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the psychiatry residency program and the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC (WPIC).  He was appointed to the Department of Psychiatry faculty in 2006 and has earned a well-deserved reputation as a compassionate clinician, an excellent clinical administrator, and a thoughtful teacher and mentor.Dr. Tew?s clinical and administrative focus is on improving systems of care for older adults with behavioral health issues. He served as the medical director of the VA Pittsburgh Medical Center?s Behavioral Health Laboratory from 2007-2011, where he led the implementation of a model to integrate evidence-based behavioral healthcare assessment and treatment into primary care clinics within the VA Healthcare System.  In recognition of his work, he was presented with the 2010 American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award for Innovation in Mental Health. It also resulted in Dr. Tew being invited to serve as an expert advisor to the Hartford Foundation/Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) ?CareAlign? program, which strives to improve primary care specialty care collaboration so as to deliver the greatest value, efficiency, and quality to consumers. In January 2012, he began his current role as medical director of WPIC?s Collaborative Care Management, where he has led an efficiency initiative on WPIC?s geropsychiatry inpatient unit.  The success of that initiative resulted in significant and positive changes to this important service, and has been applied to other units in the hospital. In September 2015, Dr. Tew was appointed as the Associate Chief of Clinical Services at WPIC.

In addition to his extensive clinical and administrative duties, Dr. Tew is dedicated to medical education and the career development of our clinician educators. In recognition of his outstanding teaching skills, he has been presented with numerous honors including the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine?s Clerkship Preceptor of the Year (2008) and is a four-time recipient of the School?s Excellence in Education Award (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014).  Dr. Tew was appointed in 2014 as the Director of the Department of Psychiatry?s Clinician Educator Faculty Development Program, an innovative two-year training program for junior clinician educator faculty is designed to better prepare them for careers in academic psychiatry.  

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Tew on his promotion!