Steve Koh, MD, MPH, MBA is Clinical Professor, Chief of General Psychiatry Division and Director of Community Psychiatry Program at University of California, San Diego. I am Board Certified in Adult and Geriatric Psychiatry and carries certification for Community Psychiatry from American Association of Community Psychiatry.

I graduated from Johns Hopkins University and medical school at UC San Diego. I received Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. I finished internship at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, general psychiatry residency at UC San Diego and geriatric psychiatry fellowship at UC San Diego.

At UCSD Department of Psychiatry, I am the Chair of the Compensation Committee, member of the Clinical Council, and oversees its Oncall, Clinical Training, Quality Improvement and Measurement Based Care initiatives. I also serve the wider UCSD community on the Interdisciplinary Practices Council. I have had research support and funding at Johns Hopkins Lipid Research Laboratories, Palo Alto VA Hospital, Intramural Program of NIH at National Institute of Aging, UC San Diego Dept of Psychiatry, Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence, San Diego Hospice and Institute for Palliative Care, and T-32 NIH program. I currently have grants and contract support from HCAI, HRSA, SAMHSA, San Diego County BHS, and Price Philanthropies.

I currently serve on Government Affairs Committee for California State Association of Psychiatrists, President-elect of San Diego County Medical Society, Member of Finance and Audit committee and Social Determinants of Health Committee member of American Psychiatric Association. I am Educational Committee Chair for the San Diego County Alzheimer’s Disease project and member of California Medical Association’s telehealth committee. I am Past President of the San Diego Psychiatric Society, Association of Korean American Psychiatrists, and Board of San Diego NAMI, and Past representative on the Board of American Psychiatric Association, and American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. I have been active on APA Council on Advocacy and Government Relations, Quality Improvement and Political Action Committees, and past Chair of APA Early Career Psychiatrists.

What is your most important achievement?

My most important achievement really is being a new dad and keeping my son alive! It has been an amazing experience and nothing like what I expected. Observing his growth also allows me to be reflective about myself and to encourage me to be a better person, professional and partner, every day. Learning from him has been both humbling and exciting. Being a dad has forced me to really understand the meaning of priorities and importance of one’s actions. It has been the singular experience of my life and everyday brings me sense of achievement.

Where does the profession of psychiatry need to be in five years?

I believe that psychiatry needs to evolve to embrace our identity as a physician, to become a data driven field, and to be leaders in the behavioral health environment as a whole. I view myself as being a physician with expertise in psychiatry. This perspective has led me to believe that we need to move towards no longer being carved out from rest of medicine. We must become more objective and data driven in our practices. Measurement based care and informatics should guide our practices. I believe that we should be physician leaders working with larger behavioral health team comprised of our physician colleagues, social work, therapist, advanced practice providers and health administrators. We have the skills to be ideal physician leaders.

What is something about you most people don’t know?

Most people don’t know that I cannot cook worth anything. Love food and definitely going to good restaurants is a joy for my family but can’t actually cook. I find it very stressful. I am not sure why but I get very frustrated in even following a recipe. I think I can talk about food quite a bit and so people think that I know how to cook but the opposite is true. I love watching cooking shows and such but not because I would actually do it. It just impresses me to see how good cooks do their thing.

Professional Activities

100% University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry
40% Clinical
20% Teaching
40% Administrative

Professional Income

100% University of California, San Diego