This course will focus on caring for patients who suffer from a “serious mental illness” (SMI), those patients with psychiatric disorders that substantially interfere with good societal function and that limit major life activities. More than 90% of patients with SMI are diagnosed with schizophrenia, severe bipolar disorder, or severe depression. While only a minority of all patients with psychiatric disorders fall into the SMI category, patients with SMI require substantial local and federal resources to be optimally integrated into society.