Chief, Inpatient Psychiatry Program
Program Director, Psychiatry Residency Program, Memorial Healthcare System

I became interested in working with psychiatric patients during my third year of medical school when I worked in a psychiatric emergency room rotation. It was in that setting that I was able to see firsthand the tremendous impact that untreated and unchecked psychiatric illness can have on the behavior and psyche of individuals with severe psychiatric disorders.

Even though I did not consider a career in psychiatry when I started medical school, my experience as a third-year medical student sparked my interest in pursuing a career as a psychiatry resident. During my psychiatry residency, I became intrigued with patients with comorbid medical/surgical and psychiatric conditions and subsequently pursued fellowships in consultation liaison psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital and neuropsychiatry at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. These psychiatric fellowships solidified my interest in working with the more complex medical-psychiatric patient.

Since completing my training, I have worked primarily in inpatient psychiatric units and consultation liaison psychiatry settings in some of the more prestigious psychiatric facilities, including McLean Hospital in Belmont Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the University of Miami Hospital. After working as an attending psychiatrist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for more than nine years, I decided to join Memorial Regional Hospital as medical director of inpatient psychiatric services in January of 2017.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working at Memorial Healthcare System, as we have begun to assemble a team of excellent psychiatrists to help us in our vision of providing patient- and family-centered care for all of our patients. I'm also quite enthusiastic about the challenge of training a new generation of psychiatrists in our inaugural class of psychiatry residents.

The psychiatric patient is often misunderstood. There is much yet to learn about psychiatric conditions and their treatment, and there continues to be significant stigma regarding psychiatric disorders. It is because the psychiatric patient population is misunderstood and underappreciated that they often do not receive the medical or psychiatric treatment that they need and deserve. In my roles as medical director of inpatient psychiatric services at Memorial Regional Hospital and as program director of the psychiatry residency program, I continue to advocate for psychiatric patients so that their clinical, psychological and social needs will be met in order to optimize their chance at a full recovery.

It is truly fortunate that I get to work for an organization that shares in this ambitious vision and is dedicated to doing right by all those whom we are fortunate enough to help.

Hospital Affiliations

• Memorial Hospital Pembroke
• Memorial Regional Hospital

Gender

• Male

Languages

• Spanish

Education

University Of Miami School Of Medicine, 1999

Residency

Jackson Memorial Hospital, 2003, Psychiatry

Fellowships

Brigham And Women's Hospital, 2004, Psychiatry
Dartmouth Hitchcock Med Ctr, 2005

Certifications

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-Psychiatry
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-Psychosomatic Medicine

Publications

• Kato M, Gonzalez-Blanco M, Sotelo J, Ferreira G, Tuckler A, Currier MB. Metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia. Diabetes. 2003;Suppl. 52:A501
• DiMartini A, Sotelo JL, Dew MA. Organ Transplantation. In: The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine: Psychiatric Care of the Medically Ill.; Levenson JL Ed. 2nd Edition. American Psychiatric Publishing, Copyright 2011
• Durand D, Prudent V, Runyan A, Sotelo JL. Pregnant and Catatonic. Current Psychiatry 2013 August 12; 12(8): 44-50.
• Sotelo JL, Musselman D, Nemeroff C. The Biology of Depression in Cancer and the Relationship Between Depression and Cancer Progression. International Review of Psychiatry 2014 February 26 (1): 16-30
• Sotelo JL. Nemeroff C. Depression as a Systemic Disease. Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry 1-2(2017): 11-25

Scientific Abstracts

• Sotelo JL, Flashman LA, McDonald BC, Crouse EM, Saykin AJ, Sparling MB, McAllister TW. Hippocampal Size Correlates with Episodic Memory Performance One Month after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI).; American Neuropsychiatric Association Meeting. Bal Harbor, Florida, 2005.
• Sotelo JL, Barrera IG, Freed R. Ethical Considerations in the Evaluation of Altruistic Kidney Donors: An Interesting Case and a Review of the Current World Literature. 59th Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Meeting. Atlanta, GA, November 14 - 17, 2012.
• Sotelo JL, Barrera IG, Freed R, Lerner R. Psychosocial Characteristics of Potential Liver and Kidney Transplant Candidates. 59th Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Meeting. Atlanta, GA, November 14-17, 2012.
• Padilla VL, Zeichner-Lerner R, Barrera I, Sotelo JL.; Psychological Outcomes in Altruistic Kidney Donors: A Case Series.  61st Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 12-15, 2014
• Sotelo JL, Sacclarides C. Somatic Delusions Resulting in Vitamin A Toxicity and Liver Failure: A Challenging Case and Review of the Literature. 61st Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 12-15, 2014
• Hodge T, Sotelo JL. Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy in Patients Taking Valproic Acid: A Closer Look. Florida Atlantic University Research Day in Boca Raton, FL, March 1st, 2019

Professional Organizations

• American Psychiatric Association, Fellow
• Florida Psychiatric Society
• Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Fellow
• American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training

Presentations

• December 2008 “Psychiatric Education for Medical Students,” Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, CME, Miami, Florida
• January 2009 “The Treatment of Psychosis in Patients with Medical Comorbidities (in Spanish),” in the symposia “Masters of Psychiatry”, CME, Miami, Florida
• October 2009 “The Evaluation and Treatment of Liver Transplant Patients,” in the Florida Psychiatric Society Fall Meeting, CME, Kissimmee, Florida
• November 2010 “Enhancing the Education of Residents and Medical Students on Psychosomatic Medicine Services (APM Education Committee Workshop),” Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Meeting, CME, Marco Island, Florida
• January 2011 “Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders in the Medically Ill,” Division of General Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida
• November 2011 “Psychosocial Evaluation of Transplant Patients,” in the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine annual meeting, CME, Chandler, Arizona
• November 2012 “Challenges in the Treatment of Depression in the Medically Ill,” Division of Internal Medicine House Staff Didactic Conference, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida
• May 2015 “Cannabis Use Post-Transplant: Pharmacologic Impact and Recommendations for Monitoring,” Annual Meeting of the American Transplant Congress (2015 ATC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• October 2015 “Psychosocial Evaluation of Potential Transplant Recipients” in the Miami Transplant Institute’s Miami Transplant International Symposium in Miami, Florida
• November 2015 “Psychosocial Assessment and Post-operative Outcomes in Altruistic Kidney Donors,” in the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine annual meeting, CME, New Orleans, Louisiana
• April 2018 “Friend or Foe? A Review of Valproic-Acid Induced Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy for the Behavioral Health Practitioner,” Memorial Regional Hospital Department of Psychiatry Lunch and Learn Series
• May 2018 “SSRIs Ain’t as Safe as We All Think… A Review and Update on Serotonin Syndrome,” Memorial Regional Hospital Department of Psychiatry Lunch and Learn Series

Awards

• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
• Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
• Fellow, Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
• Certificate of Appreciation, Mentorship of Clinical Rotations, 2016 Miami Model Summer Program.  Awarded by the University of Miami Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Miller School of Medicine Office of Academic Enhancement
• Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Medical Student Education; American Psychiatric Association
• Ed Messner Teaching Award; voted by second-year residents in the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital psychiatry residency program for being influential as a teacher and for contributing to the training of junior residents in this program