Dr. Tai P. Yoo, MD, MBA, DLFAPA

Expert Publications

• The effects of sociodemographic factors on psychiatric diagnosis.
• Clinical note: use of clonidine to detoxify opiate-addicted patients.

Media Releases

Get to know Psychiatrist Dr. Tai P. Yoo, who serves patients in Loma Linda, California.

A well-respected psychiatrist, Dr. Yoo has over five decades of experience in his field. He is the Chief of Outpatient Psychiatry at VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, and a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Loma Linda University. 

The doctor’s areas of expertise and interest include population health care, academic program development, transcultural psychiatry, health care financing, psychiatric integrated care, and psychopharmacology.

Back in the early days of his academic career, Dr. Yoo graduated from the Chonnam National University Medical School, South Korea and served for over three years as an Army physician in the South Korean Army. After completing his Master of Business Administration degree from the Madonna University School of Business, a rotating internship in Michigan, and a residency in psychiatry at New York Medical College, he worked for over twenty-three years at the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan. He served as the Vice President, Medical Director, and Chairman of Psychiatry within the Department and Behavioral Services while serving as the Director of Psychiatry at the Harper University Hospital and the Wayne State University in Michigan for one year. 

In 2001, he became the first Joint Chairman and Director of Psychiatry at the Kern Medical Center and the Kern County Mental Health in Bakersfield, California. He developed the UCLA Kern Psychiatry Residency Program in 2003 as the partnership between UCLA and Kern County. He also developed the UCLA Kern Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program in 2007 and the UCLA Kern Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program in 2014. 

An expert in his field, Dr. Yo is an Editorial Board Member of the World Korean Medical Organization, a Distinguished Fellow of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DLFAPA), and a Life Member of the American Association for Physician Leadership.

The former President of the Association of the Korean American Psychiatrists, he is board-certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). The ABPN is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to serving the professions of psychiatry and neurology.

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behavior, cognition, and perceptions. Psychiatrists evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. They conduct thorough psychiatric evaluations, develop treatment plans, prescribe medication, and evaluate treatment results.

Throughout his fruitful career, Dr. Yoo has received numerous awards from various organizations: the LifeTime Achievement Award from the Central California Psychiatric Society, the John Doubenmier Award for the Outstanding Public Services, and the Victor Teichner Award from the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training & the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry for the Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Education. 

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