Dr. Ramsey McGowen
Dr. Ramsey McGowen
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Years of Service: 1985-
Ramsey McGowen came to East Tennessee State University in 1985 from Memphis, where she had completed her internship in the Memphis Clinical Psychology Internship Consortium at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. Her undergraduate degree (cum laude) and PhD in psychology are from Auburn University. Dr. McGowen's initial duties at the ETSU College of Medicine involved providing psychological services to medical students and teaching in the behavioral sciences courses. These duties expanded gradually to providing care in the psychiatry clinic, care for residents in all specialties and directing the first year behavioral science course and the second year psychiatry course.
As the medical school matured, so did its curriculum. And Dr. McGowen has been a major influence in curriculum development, having served on the old curriculum committee and its successor, the Medical Student Education Committee. ETSU in its early days, like so many medical schools of that time, divided the curriculum according to disciplines and departments. Dr. McGowen has stressed the importance of behavioral science in the practice of medicine, and has also stressed the psychology of learning in the educational process. As a result the curriculum is now more student centered and involves more active learning experiences and more conceptual integration. Another of her contributions to the curriculum has been to stress the importance of service learning - learning through providing service in a variety of community settings.
The relationship with a psychotherapist is perhaps one of the most private and confidential of the professional relationships. We can imagine the sensitivity and skill that Dr. McGowen brings to this work both from her careful articulation of principles of bio-psycho-social and spiritual aspects of care and from her appreciation of the complexities of the developmental process and the patient support that behavioral change requires. The real testimony of her commitment and skill as a clinician comes from her patients, their families and friends, who appreciate her help in overcoming their difficulties and moving on in their lives.
Dr. McGowen is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and service including Distinguished Teaching Award in the Clinical Sciences, the Dean's Teaching Award, Faculty Leader in Service Learning Award, and the prestigious Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society. Dr. McGowen currently serves as the Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.