UCI Health psychiatrist named Orange County Medical Association Physician of the Year
June 07, 2014
The Orange County Medical Association has named UCI Health psychiatrist Rimal Bera, MD, as its 2014 Physician of the Year.
Bera is a clinical professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He is also a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, past president of the Board of Directors of the Orange County Mental Health Association and serves as chairman of the Orange County Psychiatric Society’s Public Affairs Committee.
“I am extremely honored to be chosen by the OCMA as the recipient of the 2014 Physician of the Year,” Bera said. “As we enter a very important crossroads in medicine, the opportunity to improve delivery of care to both physical and mental illness has never been more important. As a lifelong Anteater, I truly appreciate the support provided by the UCI community."
Bera said he makes it a priority to decrease the stigma attached to mental illness. He also serves as medical director for the Pat Moore Foundation Substance Abuse Recovery Center, Universal Care Behavioral Health for California, and the John Henry Foundation, a specialized setting for the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia. At both the Pat Moore Foundation and the John Henry Foundation, 4th year UC Irvine psychiatry residents receive state of the art clinical training.
Bera earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from UC Irvine where he also earned a medical degree in 1987. He completed his psychiatry residency at UC Irvine in 1991. Bera has held a full faculty appointment since 1991. His primary area of specialty is adult psychiatry with a focus on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and memory disorders.
He has been a principal investigator and co-investigator in more than 180 clinical trials over the last 20 years and has lectured extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe about the major mental illnesses and their latest treatments. Most recently Bera’s interest has been to develop models of care that combine high level care for both physical and mental disorders with an emphasis on health outcomes economic research.
Bera is the current president of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine Alumni.
OCMA’s Physician of the Year award was established in 1983 to recognize an Orange County physician who has exemplified what it means to be an accomplished physician throughout his or her career.
UCI Health comprises the clinical, medical education and research enterprises of the University of California, Irvine. Patients can access UCI Health at physician offices throughout Orange County and at its main campus, UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., a 412-bed acute care hospital that provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation. U.S. News & World Report has listed it among America’s Best Hospitals for 13 consecutive years. UC Irvine Medical Center features Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program, Level I trauma center and Level II pediatric trauma center, and is the primary teaching hospital for UC Irvine School of Medicine. UCI Health serves a region of more than 3 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
