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Program profile · California

Psychiatry residency at Imperial County Behavioral Health Services

Last verified July 27, 2026 · Checked against the program's official website

Verified facts

Checked against official sources on July 27, 2026.

Program
Psychiatry Residency Program
Sponsoring institution
Imperial County Behavioral Health Services
Location
El Centro, California
Program type
General (adult) psychiatry
Training length
Four years (PGY-1 to PGY-4)
Accreditation
ACGME-accredited. See the ACGME ADS finder for the program's current accreditation status and identifier.

Reported by the program

The program describes the following on its official website, reviewed on July 27, 2026.

Program director
Bushra Ahmad, MD, MPA, medical director of Imperial County Behavioral Health Services and a board-certified adult and addiction psychiatrist, per the program's official site. The associate program director is Henry Marquez, MD.
Setting
Imperial County Behavioral Health Services runs the program in El Centro in partnership with UC San Diego, and it was accredited in 2025 as the county's first psychiatry residency. Residents train across county behavioral-health sites plus UC San Diego Health, El Centro Regional Medical Center, and other partner sites, with a focus on the underserved, largely rural border region.
How to apply
Applications run through ERAS, and the program takes part in the NRMP Main Residency Match under its own National Resident Matching Program code, so applicants should confirm current requirements, rotations, and interview timing on the official program page before they apply.

shrinkiatry context

Imperial County Behavioral Health Services runs the county's first psychiatry residency, built in partnership with UC San Diego to grow the mental-health workforce in the underserved Imperial Valley on the California and Mexico border. Residents rotate across county behavioral-health programs and UC San Diego sites, covering inpatient, emergency, addiction, child and adolescent, geriatric, and community psychiatry. The program emphasizes public-sector and safety-net care for a largely rural, bilingual population.

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Sources

  1. Imperial County Behavioral Health Services, Psychiatry Residency Program. https://bhs.imperialcounty.org/psychiatry-residency-program/
  2. ACGME, Accreditation Data System public finder (for current accreditation status and program id). https://apps.acgme.org/ads/public/

All verified California programs · The Residency Guide standards

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