Assistant Medical Director, Psychiatry

For more than 55 years, Family Health Centers of San Diego's (FHCSD) mission has been to provide caring, affordable, high-quality health care and supportive services to everyone, with a special commitment to uninsured, low-income and medically underserved persons.

FHCSD is one of the top 10 largest federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in the country. We operate more than 90 sites across San Diego County, including 29 primary care clinics, 23 behavioral health facilities, 10 physical rehabilitation clinics, nine dental clinics, five vision clinics, four outpatient substance use treatment programs, three mobile medical units, two mobile counseling centers, two urgent care centers, and a pharmacy.

Our staff provides care to over 227,000 patients each year, of whom 91% are low-income and 29% are uninsured. FHCSD provides care to all. Services include, but are not limited to adult care, chronic disease management, pediatrics, comprehensive women's care including obstetrics, dental, vision, case management, physical rehabilitation, speech therapy for children, vaccinations, infectious diseases, behavioral health, substance use counseling and a host of specialty services including cardiology, podiatry, endocrinology, dermatology, among others. FHCSD also offers supportive services to those who are unsheltered and in need of intensive case management.


The breadth of our clinic locations, services and programs has grown over the last five decades, making us the largest community clinic provider of health care to the uninsured in the county and one of the top 10 largest community clinic organizations in the nation. We are also the largest health care safety-net provider, largest school-based health care provider and the largest mental health provider in the San Diego region.

General Job Description


In close collaboration with FHCSD Mental Health Administration, provides psychiatric services including assessment/evaluation, diagnosis and treatment in assigned areas. Additionally assumes medical leadership role for psychiatry services assisting with administrative tasks as well as the development of psychiatric/mental health protocols and best practices. You enjoy leading your provider team to excellence, supervising advanced practice providers and may have the opportunity to teach future generations of providers through organizations psychiatry residency program.


Job Roles

• Builds positive relationships, inspires others to perform at a higher level, prepares career development plans and retains an accountable workforce.
• Coaches and counsels staff and administers appropriate disciplinary action in a timely manner.
• Provides oversight and clinical support to other providers, programs and projects
• Completes all required documentation accurately, in a timely manner, and thoroughly in accordance with department standards; in addition, documentation complies with patients' insurance requirements.
• Maintains satisfactory peer reviews: able to assess medical information including pathophysiology, patient presentation, differential diagnosis, etc., in order to facilitate health promotion and disease prevention.
• Meets clinic site and organization needs in a reliable and flexible manner; prioritizes work and makes an effort to adhere to schedule.
• Participates in continuous improvement activities and ensures appropriate Lean tools (i.e., 5S, A3) are deployed and results are evaluated and/or measured.
• Participates in quality/performance improvement and leadership initiatives as feasible and works closely with both assigned Clinic management and therapists to provide high quality mental health services to patients.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Performs psychiatry peer reviews and evaluations; counsels providers on findings when applicable; collaborates with Clinic Director/Manager in provider evaluations.
• Supervises advanced practice providers in a timely and responsive manner
• Provides comprehensive evaluations, diagnosis and treatment of patients with mental illness, emotional disorders and/or substance abuse. As needed, examines patients to determine presence of physical disease utilizing physical finds, laboratory results and medical history. Maintains the appropriate productivity expectation based on contract, program or clinic assignment.
• Provides/ensures staff receive all new hire and annual trainings on time.
• Researches literature on best practices and develops curriculum, interventions, and protocols to adopt best psychiatry/mental health practices at FHCSD.
• Works effectively as a member of the multi-disciplinary treatment team. Communicates with providers, physicians, case managers, scheduling staff, referring providers, and with outside agencies and authorities, in a timely and appropriate manner. Coordinates and links psychiatric treatment plan with both FHCSD therapy, case management, primary care "medical home," and with community support systems as appropriate. In integrated behavioral health sites, provides consultation and support to primary care providers in the management of primary care patients with mental health concerns.
• Supervises advanced practice providers in a timely and responsive manner.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education/Certifications/Licenses/Registrations

• Ability and means to travel as needed in a timely manner within San Diego County. DRIVER REQUIREMENTS: Requires an active Class C California driver's license, proof of liability insurance at $100,000, on vehicle used. No more than 2 points in past 12 months; No suspensions in last 2 years for moving violations; No DUI, reckless or felony Driving within 5 years. No license revocation in 7 years.
• Board Certification in Psychiatry plus 2+ years of psychiatry experience in an FQHC or community health center setting
• Current American Heart Association healthcare provider CPR (BLS), or Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support, or Advance Resuscitation Training.
• DEA license
• Graduate from an accredited school of medicine; completion of a 4 year residency in General Psychiatry.
• Must possess current unrestricted license to practice in the State of California.

Experience/Specialized skills (including Language)

• Ability to maintain good interpersonal interactions with clients and co-workers as a member of a multi-disciplinary community health team with a diverse multi-cultural population.
• Ability to work effectively with patients from diverse social, cultural and economic groups.
• Ability to work well in both a team-based environment and independently.
• Basic computer literacy ability to comply with department needs and expectations (i.e., electronic medical record documentation, obtaining background information and reports on patients, following up on appointments, etc.).
• Bilingual in Spanish/English preferred.
• Clinical skills appropriate to scope of practice and clinical judgment necessary to implement the treatment plan.
• Demonstrated ability to be culturally sensitive and respect diversity.
• Demonstrated medical/psychiatric knowledge and clinical skills, including ability to assess both medical and psychiatric information including patient presentation, differential diagnosis, and psychopharmacology needs.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate effectively with patients and family members who speak English as a second language.
• Must possess a demonstrated commitment to community medicine.

We are excited to share that the salary range for this position is:
269,588.80 - 423,654.40
Information on our extensive benefits package can be found here: FHCSD Wellness - Employee Hub (gobenefits.net)

FHCSD provides Equal Employment Opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.