The UCR School of Medicine was well represented at the Southern California Psychiatric Society's (SCPS) annual Installation and Awards Ceremony and Reception on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the UCLA Faculty Club as Vice Chancellor and Mark and Pam Rubin Dean Deborah Deas MD, MPH, faculty member Ijeoma Ijeaku, MD, MPH, FAPA, Third-year Resident Ruqayyah Malik, MD, and Chief Resident Erin Fletcher, MD, MPH were honored.

The SCPS is the local district branch of the American Psychiatric Association serving about 1,000 psychiatrists who live and work in the greater Los Angeles area.

Pictured above, from left, Malik, Fletcher,  Deas, and Ijeaku.

• Ijeaku, a health sciences associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, received the SCPS Distinguished Service Award. The award was in recognition of her work developing a docuseries project that showcased psychiatry in marginalized communities throughout the greater Los Angeles area and attempts to provide guidelines for best psychiatric practices in those communities. Ijeaku, who served as the president of the organization in 2021-22, was also installed as the SCPS representative to the American Psychiatric Association for the 2023-26 term.
• Deas was presented the SCPS Outstanding Achievement award. The award was presented by Ijeaku and recognized Deas' dedication and commitment to educating a generation of physicians who are linguistically and culturally concordant with the underserved population in Inland Southern California and whose professional identity formation includes social justice core values.
• Fletcher received the SCPS/PER Excellence is Psychiatric Education Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements by psychiatric residents during their training and honors exceptional work by a resident in each psychiatry residency program in the SCPS region. She was nominated by Takesha Cooper, MD, MPH.
• Malik was installed as the minority and underrepresented groups deputy representative position within the SCPS.