University of Memphis Awarded $1.89 Million Health Workforce Grant to Fund Practicums and Internships

June 15, 2021 — The University of Memphis has received a four-year, $1.89 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Behavioral Health Workforce, Education and Training (BHWET) Program to establish the INTEGRATE program – Interprofessional Teams Grounded in Apprenticeship, Telehealth and Evidence. The program will provide funded practicums or internships for students in the following degree programs: Master of Social Work, Master of Science in Counseling, Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology and Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology.

“The Mid-South includes several shortage areas for mental health professionals,” said Dr. Susan Neely-Barnes, principal investigator on the grant and professor, director and chair of the School of Social Work. “Through the INTEGRATE program, the University of Memphis will be able to address workforce shortages in the Mid-South region.”

Students in the INTEGRATE program will receive interdisciplinary training in areas critical to addressing the community’s behavioral health needs including integrating behavioral health care into primary care settings; interdisciplinary teamwork; cultural humility and competency; substance abuse treatment; adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); and violence prevention and recidivism reduction. 

The grant is a collaboration of faculty from the School of Social Work (Dr. Susan Neely-Barnes; Dr. Laura Taylor, assistant professor; and Dr. Paige Pirkey, postdoctoral fellow and adjunct professor); the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research (Dr. Michelle Brasfield, assistant professor; Dr. Ashley Batastini, assistant professor; Dr. Chi Li, assistant professor; and Dr. Suzanne Lease, associate professor); and the Department of Psychology (Dr. Kristoffer Berlin, associate professor; and Dr. Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, professor).

For more information on this grant or the INTEGRATE program, contact Neely-Barnes at snlybrns@memphis.edu.