Rutgers medical students are hosting the first Integrated Behavioral Health Policy Summit inviting medical students across the state of New Jersey, behavioral health providers, and leaders across UBHC, Medicaid, MHANJ, etc. The aim of the policy summit includes highlighting the current challenges in the delivery of integrated behavioral health in New Jersey, through hosting an interdisciplinary panel discussion, research symposium, and resolution writing workshop.

As prospective physicians, greater than one fourth of our patients may suffer from a mental health illness, regardless of specialty, which highlights a critical need to examine the complexities of the behavioral health crisis, understand the mental health policy landscape, and advance advocacy efforts which address both clinical and non-clinical disparities affecting the behavioral health of our country. Supporting the federal government’s initiative for integrating behavioral health, this proposal highlights a formal statewide behavioral health policy summit hosting medical students from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey Medical School, Hackensack Meridian, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University to equip medical students with awareness of Integrative Behavioral Healthcare, and learn from faculty members on novel pedagogical approaches to incorporate robust mental health policy education into their clinical training to support their patients, peers, and themselves.